Ask the Author: Molly Ringle
Answered Questions (13)
Molly Ringle
Hi! I've found Instagram to be one of the best places myself, since "bookstagram" (readers posting about books) is a huge trend there, and there's often cross-posting to TikTok from it. It does help to already have a decent Instagram presence or following, but even if you don't, using relevant hashtags can bring people to your post—like #giveaway and whatever the genres and subgenres are for your book.
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For Instagram or any other social media platform, I usually have people comment and tag a friend, and/or share the post to their own feed, to enter to win. Here's an example of one such post I made:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7T-lDhA419/
This could all be done on, say, Facebook too - wherever you get the most engagement.
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For Instagram or any other social media platform, I usually have people comment and tag a friend, and/or share the post to their own feed, to enter to win. Here's an example of one such post I made:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7T-lDhA419/
This could all be done on, say, Facebook too - wherever you get the most engagement.
Molly Ringle
Hello! There is a central m/m love story, a f/f marriage between secondary characters, a nonbinary character with "they/them" pronouns, and in general widespread acceptance and no drama about any such issues in the country where it's set. The conflicts instead have to do with fae enchantments, witches' magic, and commonplace human flaws. :)
Molly Ringle
The second Eidolonia book: not a sequel to Lava Red Feather Blue, but a story taking place elsewhere on the island around the same time. (2020, that is, not 1799.) It will probably have some cameos from the LRFB characters eventually, as well as the Ula Kana problem that affected the whole island, but otherwise a totally new set of characters and their magical and romantic problems. (This answer edited in October 2021 to reflect current project.) :)
Molly Ringle
Hi Dean! Ha, you know, every time I embark on a novel I tell myself I'm only going to write what I currently want to write, and thereby immerse myself in something I love, which usually would mean staying out of the uncomfortable zone. However, I then always find that eventually I do have to make bad things happen to my characters in the name of drama (would be a boring plot otherwise), so one way or another, I do always have to explore traumatic events that I would never want to experience myself. It isn't comfortable, but I do it anyway. Still, I like to spend far MORE time in the parts that are enjoyable.
The other aspect in which I challenge myself is by having to do research for each novel. I tend to feel, pretty much constantly, that I don't know enough about any given subject (Imposter Syndrome), so I have to do a lot of looking stuff up and asking my more knowledgeable acquaintances when it comes to law, medicine, technology, or what have you. It ends up being fun to learn these things, though, so it's not too bad a challenge!
The other aspect in which I challenge myself is by having to do research for each novel. I tend to feel, pretty much constantly, that I don't know enough about any given subject (Imposter Syndrome), so I have to do a lot of looking stuff up and asking my more knowledgeable acquaintances when it comes to law, medicine, technology, or what have you. It ends up being fun to learn these things, though, so it's not too bad a challenge!
Molly Ringle
I guess I’d give the common advice “write the book you want to read." When you’re looking for something good to read, what blend of things do you want that you're not finding very often? Write that book—one with the specific blend of features you wish more books had.
Still, we can never guarantee it’ll get noticed even it’s unique. Which is part of why I hate the marketing aspect. :)
Still, we can never guarantee it’ll get noticed even it’s unique. Which is part of why I hate the marketing aspect. :)
Molly Ringle
I would so love a week using Bag End as my vacation rental while Bilbo and/or Frodo were out of town! I'd sleep tons in their quiet half-underground rooms, enjoy the gardens, stargaze (because I bet the Shire doesn't have much light pollution), tromp around in the woods, and snoop through their library and treasure chests. And of course keep an eye out for any Elves, dwarves, and/or wizards coming down the road.
I also would love to see Rivendell, which seems super tranquil and scenic, but I'd be wary of getting forced to sit through any long councils while I was there, which might potentially end in my being talked into carrying something dangerous to somewhere equally dangerous.
I also would love to see Rivendell, which seems super tranquil and scenic, but I'd be wary of getting forced to sit through any long councils while I was there, which might potentially end in my being talked into carrying something dangerous to somewhere equally dangerous.
Molly Ringle
I do! Like a lot of people, I feel LGBTQ lifestyles are underrepresented in fiction, and it may be especially important to include them in books that teens read, because in the teen years it’s likely people haven’t come out yet and could use extra courage and inspiration. Besides, LGBTQ characters broaden the types of romances the story might contain, and I find those fun to explore.
Right now I'm working on two different novels with male/male love stories in them as more of a central focus, and hope to have at least one ready for the world in the next year.
I also look at LGBTQ issues from a more paranormal angle in the Persephone series, because the main characters can remember their past lives (going back to ancient Greece and beyond), in which they sometimes were a different gender or sexuality than they are now. So they have to have a more open mind about all types of relationships, having been in them firsthand!
Right now I'm working on two different novels with male/male love stories in them as more of a central focus, and hope to have at least one ready for the world in the next year.
I also look at LGBTQ issues from a more paranormal angle in the Persephone series, because the main characters can remember their past lives (going back to ancient Greece and beyond), in which they sometimes were a different gender or sexuality than they are now. So they have to have a more open mind about all types of relationships, having been in them firsthand!
Molly Ringle
Ooh, ghostly manor! I like the idea! I do have a big old house with magical features in the one I'm working on, though not ghosts precisely. But also, I've started listening to the Lore podcast, which has some really creepy and intriguing supposedly-true ghost stories. There was one about a mining tunnel that totally stuck in my head (look up the Hoosac Tunnel...*shudder*), which made me think of ghost mining towns we've visited in the woods around here. So I did put a note in my story idea file about ghosts having to do with old mining towns--a possibility someday!
Molly Ringle
I've recently finished edits on The Goblins of Bellwater, a stand-alone modern paranormal novel about goblins and other fae causing complications in a small Puget Sound town, with some love stories woven in. It's due out in October 2017 and can be read on NetGalley, or via special arrangement with my publisher, if you want to write an advance review for it! Meanwhile I'm working on two new books, both of which feature male/male love stories, though they're otherwise unrelated. One of them is undergoing revisions and beta-reading right now, and the other is just getting started in its first draft and I'm still figuring out where it'll go.
Molly Ringle
As if I could name just one. Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester come to mind first. Oh, the chemistry! The banter, despite the social difference and age difference! The crazy Gothic atmosphere!
In Les Misérables, Marius and Cosette also come to mind. (As readers of the book will know, there's TONS of romantic material about them, and very little for Eponine, despite the focus she gets in the musical.)
And more in the modern day, there's a couple I completely adore in Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series. I won't name them because spoilers, but go read it if you haven't. (The relationship part doesn't get underway until book 2, though.)
Also, I have reasons for liking Hades and Persephone. I hear that's a thing. ;)
In Les Misérables, Marius and Cosette also come to mind. (As readers of the book will know, there's TONS of romantic material about them, and very little for Eponine, despite the focus she gets in the musical.)
And more in the modern day, there's a couple I completely adore in Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series. I won't name them because spoilers, but go read it if you haven't. (The relationship part doesn't get underway until book 2, though.)
Also, I have reasons for liking Hades and Persephone. I hear that's a thing. ;)
Molly Ringle
I used to think the best thing would be getting published and hearing from happy readers. But that's only the second-best part (though it is awesome!). The absolute best part is still the phase when I'm creating a new story, and it's just me and the characters and the exciting freshness of it all. The creation is the important thing.
Molly Ringle
Thank you! I am indeed working on book 3 now. That might wrap up the series--currently that's my hope--but there's always the possibility of more installments.
I think there will be some giveaways soon in which people can win both of the currently published books. The read-for-reviews are usually set up for just the first one in the series. But my publisher and I can always work individually with reviewers who are interested in the books!
I think there will be some giveaways soon in which people can win both of the currently published books. The read-for-reviews are usually set up for just the first one in the series. But my publisher and I can always work individually with reviewers who are interested in the books!
Molly Ringle
Easy: from Greek mythology! Like many kids, I had a book of Greek myths when I was little, and was fascinated by them. And, like many grown-up people, I found that the myth of Persephone kidnapped by Hades and turned into the Queen of the Underworld was the one that stayed alive longest in my mind. It has everything--marriage, crime, family, seasons, magic, the land of the dead--but it's also full of ambiguities and unanswered questions, which makes it rich for any novelist to take on and explain as she will.
I'm not the only one to do so, though when I first started a draft of the story that eventually became Persephone's Orchard, I didn't realize how popular an idea it would someday become. Still, the popularity of it only encouraged me, because none of us will tell the tale in the same exact way, especially when we expand it to novel length. I love seeing the various ways in which different writers have made a myth their own new story. It's a tradition I hope to keep working in for a while yet.
I'm not the only one to do so, though when I first started a draft of the story that eventually became Persephone's Orchard, I didn't realize how popular an idea it would someday become. Still, the popularity of it only encouraged me, because none of us will tell the tale in the same exact way, especially when we expand it to novel length. I love seeing the various ways in which different writers have made a myth their own new story. It's a tradition I hope to keep working in for a while yet.
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