Romance Recs

Interview with author Chelsey Ann Tompkins

• Jordan • Season 2 • Episode 27

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Jordan sits down with indie author Chelsey Ann Tompkins. They discuss Chelsey's latest title- Straw and Gold, unique female main characters, grumpy male leads, their love for the bookish community, and her journey thus far as an indie author. There's a lot of laughing and bonding over all things romantasy.

Straw and Gold is out August 15th! It's spicy reimagined Rumpelstiltskin novella! You'll find it full of tension, a strong willed FMC, chemistry, and one grumpy Fae King! While it is a stand alone, it is connected to the first in the series- Curse & Spindle (out now!). You can also find Chelsey's complete debut trilogy A Conduit of Light out in it's entirety. 


To follow Chelsey or find her books:

https://www.instagram.com/chelseyanntompkins/

https://linktr.ee/chelseyanntompkins?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAafWmpUjPl2LgCowQCf4vsgLkUfI0-4DqV_0fqP8kbuL8YsIIbhi4HgNziMjOg_aem_Ik6svLqff02ywerHZ7pIbg

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Jordan:

Welcome to Romance Recs. We're usually three romance obsessed, besties, best sharing book recs broken down by genres and tropes so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want out of your next read. I'm Jordan, and I'm currently listening to Rejection by K. Lorraine and Meg Ann. And today with me, I have,

Chelsey:

Hi, I Chelseysea Ann Tompkin, and I write romantasy.

Jordan:

are you reading anything right now?

Chelsey:

I am. I'm reading three things, which is very unlike me. This is not usual. It's usually a one. I'm a one girl. I am listening to the Ever Queen. I just finished the Ever King is very good. Enjoying the Ever Queen. And then I am reading a Crooked Kingdom, the second book in six of Crows Duology. And I'm also reading a Conduit of Light, which is my first book. And I'm doing that with one of my best friends. And we are looking for breadcrumbs that lead to the twist in the book because I'm doing a panel about adding breadcrumbs to your stories at once upon a con. So we're both like hunting through and it is so much fun. We are having a great time.

Jordan:

sounds like my favorite thing ever.

Chelsey:

It is so much fun to read with her because she's so good at anything we read together. She's so good at finding those, like little tidbit, little sprinkles of things in the book and you're like, oh, I missed that. I didn't even hear it. And so she's so much fun to read with. We're having a blast.

Jordan:

That is like what I do naturally on my own and rereading all of my like favorite series, so That

Chelsey:

But instead of talking aloud to yourself, you're like texting your friend. It's great.

Jordan:

is funny. Ha. Oh, I knew this would happen. I'm

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

there's no one else who has read it.

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

Yeah

Chelsey:

we're having a great time doing that. So those are three books I'm reading again. Very unheard of.

Jordan:

that's funny.'cause usually I have at least two, so it's strange that I have one.

Chelsey:

that you're at one.

Jordan:

Swapped.

Chelsey:

We're just swapping over here.

Jordan:

Love it. Perfect. I'm so excited to have you on. I'm so excited you're here with us.

Chelsey:

I love being here. This is great. I mean, we met a while ago.

Jordan:

Yeah. You and I met, I think last summer,

Chelsey:

Yeah, it was June, And I remember talking to you a little bit about your podcast, and I was brand new.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

I was like, what's going on?

Jordan:

I was brand new too. I was,

Chelsey:

who's a person? And

Jordan:

Who reads

Chelsey:

yeah, what's going on? But the thing I remember the most was the logo. Your logo. And I remember being like, I'm obsessed with this logo. And then later when I found you later too, I was like, yes, the logo lady.

Jordan:

the curvy lady. The curvy

Chelsey:

I love

Jordan:

she get, she gets ya.

Chelsey:

And now here we are, here we're.

Jordan:

know. It was so fun. And we were right across from each other this year at the same event at Emerald City Romance Writers and Readers

Chelsey:

Yes, which was fun.

Jordan:

I know it was such a

Chelsey:

That was really fun. I feel like that whole aisle was very loud and I feel like we were a part of that.

Jordan:

I like to think

Chelsey:

there

Jordan:

I like to think that we were the heart of the party. Yeah, absolutely.

Chelsey:

Your shiny cowboy boots running around. It was amazing.

Jordan:

Listen, I like to make a statement when I can. All right. I, my mom attire day to day, I don't always get the chance. So when I do,

Chelsey:

I know it right. No, I did the same thing. I wore a super bright dress. It's come look at me

Jordan:

We matched, we were wearing

Chelsey:

We did. We did. We're on the same wavelength of like right across from each other in red. Here we go.

Jordan:

look at me. It was perfect. Okay. Before we get too far off the beaten path here we do like to try to do quotes. We don't try. We do eventually

Chelsey:

Yes.

Jordan:

but we like to do quotes at the beginning of every episode of something we've recently read or one that really stuck with us for a while. Do you mind if I read one from your new, latest book that I

Chelsey:

I do not mind, Jordan.

Jordan:

Okay,

Chelsey:

That would be lovely.

Jordan:

so I'm gonna read a quote from Straw and Gold by our very own Chelsey Ann Tompkins. I just went with one that I felt really represented our FMC and her relationship towards our leading man.

Chelsey:

Okay, I'm

Jordan:

What a, okay. Ready?

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

What a fool. My husband had been trying to deny the instant attraction between us. Well, I wouldn't have it. I wouldn't let him do it any longer. This fire in his eyes was mine, and I'd see it as often as I could.

Chelsey:

You know, Jordan,

Jordan:

Is that your lie? Is that the quote you grabbed? Shut up.

Chelsey:

I can't shut up because I literally, Talk about the same wavelength. I came on here with a quote, which I will read from six arose, which I just finished. Right. It's fantastic, but I was like, I should have something from strong gold just in case. I literally wrote down. I didn't write that whole thing, but I wrote the end because it needs to be heard again because this is Marella, this is her, this fire in his eyes was mine and I'd see it as often as I could. And that is just like her stance, this entire book in a nutshell. She is,

Jordan:

I'm excited to dive more into her and this book in just a little bit. I, it was actually really close to that between that one and another one. Maybe when we talk about her later, I'll read it.

Chelsey:

Okay.

Jordan:

but obviously it's a really good quote.

Chelsey:

yeah, it's it and I think it really does, like I said, it just sums up what, how she feels about the whole situation. This is how she's feeling about that.

Jordan:

too, and Okay. Yeah.

Chelsey:

Okay. We'll get into that. Can I read my, uh, six A crows one?

Jordan:

Yes

Chelsey:

So six of crows, you know, came out a bajillion years ago. And I just got around to reading it because I'm trying to read more Heisty books and I'm writing a Heisty book soon, which we'll also talk about later. But I love Kaz Brecker. I cannot get over this character because he is so complicated and yet, so, it's so simplistic Who he is it he's a beautiful character. And so, a line from him is, there was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken. And it's just, he's such a dynamic, interesting character. All of the characters in that book are fantastic. I absolutely adored it and I read it super slow. And if I'm reading a book super slow, I you like, you know, it's good because I'm just like soaking it in and dreading the last page basically.

Jordan:

Yeah, I like it. I have only heard I haven't read it. Obviously I know of it. I know Christina's talked about it and the characters, and so I've heard a lot of the names, like I've heard of and I've heard

Chelsey:

you watch the show? Did you watch Shadow and Bone? Yeah, so they, they like combined six of Crows and Shadow of Bone and I remember watching the show and being like, well, let's get back to the storyline of Six and Crows. Six of Crows. Right. It was so good. And I fi yeah. I finally got around to reading it. It's totally worth a read. It's fantastic. Five stars.

Jordan:

Yeah, I'll add it. I'll add it to the G Again,

Chelsey:

Move that up. Move that up. The TVR.

Jordan:

and then other things like push it down and then it goes back up and then more things push it down.

Chelsey:

Yeah. And as like romance readers, right? You and I, there's not a lot of that in there. It's in, but it's not the focal point. And I didn't think that I would be okay with that.

Jordan:

That's fair.

Chelsey:

I was obsessed with it though. Like it's just that good, that it's like romance, who, I mean, there is some romance and of course the romance that was in there, I was like, I gotta hyper fixate on this because that's just who I am. But yeah it's a fantastic book.

Jordan:

I should say on in that vein, I feel like maybe two or three times a year I find myself like, I need to either read like something just straight fantasy or mystery, like a suspense or mystery. I'm like, but then I find the romance plot within that, and I'm like, oh, yeah, there, it's, yeah.

Chelsey:

And it's like that draw. It's the high, it's the fix and let's make it end game.

Jordan:

Technically I am also reading, listening to Dune right now for the first time because my husband has been begging me and he is read two series for me,

Chelsey:

Okay.

Jordan:

so, and I've tr.

Chelsey:

You feel like you need to reciprocate?

Jordan:

tried. He had me trying, no, listen, Chelsey, he had, I don't know what you know about War Hammer 40 K, he had me trying to read one of those,

Chelsey:

we talked about this at dinner

Jordan:

uh,

Chelsey:

I

Jordan:

like

Chelsey:

that you were drawing.

Jordan:

this and I was like, I just can't. So Dune, I've watched Dune. Cool. Great. Cute movie. I'm probably the one calls a cute movie, but I go to Dune Park in Tacoma. That's like cool. I, it's so hard.

Chelsey:

Yeah. I get it.

Jordan:

People come, people who complain about books when the moon hatched I'm just like, this is child's play. I have attempted War Hammer, like the dry, like listing of like world set up, world build and all this stuff. Anyways, I digress.

Chelsey:

different, it's a different category than you're used to.

Jordan:

But it's good to know six of crows has more of that and it's more

Chelsey:

six of crows and you know, it's, ya, I typically stray away from it. If it's, if something is young adult, because I feel like I've just, I don't know. I've just moved on from that age group of care of characters. Not that the writing's bad, not that the story's bad. I'm sure these things are lovely, but just the age group of the characters, I tend to shy away, but they don't feel 16 and 17.

Jordan:

Oh my God. Are they that young?

Chelsey:

yeah. And I'm reading it and I'm like, how was he 17? Excuse me. He's talking like he's at least 25.

Jordan:

Oh, okay. That, that totally just changed my whole perception of that path. Wild. All right. Okay. Well that we're like 13 minutes in can you share a little bit about yourself, like who you are as an author and your latest release? Give us like who is

Chelsey:

Who am I? I'd love to. So, uh, I am a romantasy see author. That is what I write. It's what I read. It's what I love. I live in it. I wish I lived in, I don't live in it. I live in a more contemporary style. But I, uh, came out with my first book, A Conduit of Light in November of 2023. So it's coming up onto two years soon that I've been doing this. Very wild and very joyful and everything that I wanted pretty much right, except, you know, other things that could have happened. But that's fine. It's been a wonderful journey. And so I finished my first trilogy at Conduit of Light Trilogy. In the last day of 2024.'cause I wanted to have written two books in 2024. So that's what I did. And it is, yeah. And so that trilogy, a Con of Light trilogy is not your typical romantic. It is very twisty. It has a lot of nature magic and there's not a lot of like sword play and war and there's no assassin FMC and she doesn't wield a sword. So it's a different kind of romantasy, uh, and it deals a lot with themes of hope and uh, holding on to what you believe in and what you love as well as generational trauma. And all of these things came together in my life after I had been through depression through CVID and I was like, this is it. It's time. Like I knew that I was going to be a writer forever. I always knew that I would do it, and it was just a matter of when, and it was time. And so that trilogy really helped me heal myself. And I love talking about it to people who just walk up to my table or they just find me, on Instagram or something because there's so much of myself into it. It's like, how do you get across like how epic this story is

Jordan:

I love that.

Chelsey:

So that is my trilogy and, it's complete, it's done. It has been so hard to move on from. So what I did was I moved on into super spicy fairytale retailing.

Jordan:

How can I deal with this writing? Let down

Chelsey:

yep, that's exactly the thought process. I was like, how am I gonna do this? Because saying goodbye to your characters after so long of having them there with you every single day, you know, it was writing Curse Spindle was like, whoa, we have to completely 180 this. And so, I wrote a very spicy, sleepy beauty novella, Curse and spindle, but I put my spin on it where it's still has themes, has messages. There's like an overarching, you know, romance that is very endearing and there's a lot of chemistry. And it's actually became like this really beautiful novella that I'm very proud of because writing a novella is just a whole nother ball game,

Jordan:

I bet.

Chelsey:

40,000 words. You have to have a complete story, and if it's romance, you gotta make it believable. And

Jordan:

Yeah,

Chelsey:

so it was a challenge that I really loved because it really put me into a head space of having to really focus on these characters and kind of get out of a conduit of light. And so I wrote that, that came out at the end of April this year. And that was wonderful because I met so many new readers through that book. Because it's a standalone, you could pick it up and read it and a day. Right. And so then I just am releasing straw and gold on August 15th. That is a rumble stilts skin retelling, as you know. Oh, I forgot I gave you the character art.

Jordan:

I have the character

Chelsey:

Oh my God. We're only a couple pre-orders away from sharing that, and I'm very excited.

Jordan:

Oh,

Chelsey:

but straw and gold is not quite a novella. It's a little over, but it had to be, you know, it's kind of

Jordan:

it really did.

Chelsey:

Author things where I'm like this can't be Curse and Spindle. That has to be a little bit over,

Jordan:

Uh, yeah, that was my only complaint about the whole thing, was that it wasn't longer. I was like, I need this drawn out. I need to know more. I was like, this is amazing, and I just wanna keep going with these characters.

Chelsey:

I completely understand, and I've heard that complaint many times

Jordan:

it's not a true complaint. It's more

Chelsey:

I know,

Jordan:

loved it so

Chelsey:

And it kind of counters what I'm trying to do with these fairytales because I'm trying to give you something all, every single fairytale in a realm of revelry, and there's gonna be a bunch more, right. Every single one is going to be the length where you can sit down on a Friday night and you're done by Sunday. I want them to be quick. I want them, you know, have adorable moments and a really good chemistry, and I'm bringing in these pieces of these stories that we know, and I'm just like, twisting the hell out of them. They're like to the point where you're like, I see how this is Rumpelstiltskin, but also there's no creepy man. There's no creepy, like baby stealing. It's it feels like a romantasy book. And so straw and gold comes out August 15th. I'm really excited and proud of it. It was another labor of love after Chris had spindle getting to it, but I think I spent every single lunch hour of mine from like January to, I don't know, through April. Writing that book. Yeah,

Jordan:

That's a lot. Lunch hour is precious.

Chelsey:

yeah. And I, that's what I was doing, lights off.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

That's what was happening. And it's, and I do it because it, it makes me happy. And if I'm not, you know, working on a book or I'm not writing I feel something is just missing. It just is. If I'm not developing some story somewhere, whether I'm actually writing it or editing it or preparing it for release it, it's just so a part of me now that I can't imagine my life without it.

Jordan:

Oh, I love to hear that though. That's so amazing. It's so nice to hear like you and how passionate you are about these stories and how invested you are and because it really comes across when you talk to people about it who either haven't read it or you know. Who stopped by your table, who have

Chelsey:

Right.

Jordan:

Just like you talking about the characters. Even though you spent so much time with them, you're still so excited about them and it's just so fun to hear you genuinely love your characters

Chelsey:

author who, yeah I am right there with you. You know when you're reading those moments and you're giggling and kicking your feet, I am there. When you're reading those moments and you're crying and you hate me, I also hate me. I am also there with you

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

it's both. It's all of it. A hundred percent.

Jordan:

Yeah, and honestly arc commitments, that's how I finally made time to read one of yours. I was like, yeah, I will take an arc of straw and gold because then I will like actually have to pencil it in and I'll have ap, I'll have to, because that is like how I'm getting through. Most things these days. But oh my God, now I'm so excited to go back and read it Curse and spindle because you do see, you get glimpses and you get an idea for the characters from that in straw and gold.

Chelsey:

Yeah,

Jordan:

But, so if you do wanna pick up strong gold first, you can. Absolutely. You can. I did it. I'm sure you would have an even greater understanding if you read Curse and Spindle first, but okay, can we talk about the chin holding in straw and gold like was like, oh, my good lords

Chelsey:

I think

Jordan:

oh.

Chelsey:

that it's, for me, it's like, it's not just how he grabs her face. the, it's that the grumpy sunshine really shows in those moments. Killian is the most, grumpy giant, you know, very typical MMC that I have ever written in my life. And I thought, I honestly thought I was going to argue with him more, you know, in my head with you can't do that.

Jordan:

He just means, well,

Chelsey:

I was like,

Jordan:

he just means, well, his assholeness comes from a

Chelsey:

I know he's,

Jordan:

He's an ass because he cares.

Chelsey:

of

Jordan:

about my man like that. Okay.

Chelsey:

this is very typical that I would write an asshole who's actually the sweetest, kindest person. This is very on brand for me, because generally the men that I write. Are very kind, caring, uh, thoughtful, just it's all there gushing on you as you're reading, as you're like, oh my, I know, right? Oh, I'm very good at putting innuendos into things like this. But, uh, it's, that's very my style of MMC. And so I knew that Killian was going to be different, and I really thought writing his chapters that he and I were gonna get in, you know, some arguments, right? Like he and I were gonna have some about what was appropriate to put in there. But the fact that he holds this anxiety and trauma Really helped his character be understood right from the get go. And I think that's what's so endearing about Killian is because you get it. You're like, yeah, he's a jackass. I, but I get it. Know, but that's the thing is he though, I mean he is, he's not very nice.

Jordan:

he, and here's the thing, it doesn't, I never felt that he was that big of an asshole, but it's because I often saw him from the lens of the most prob, possibly the most unique FMC I've ever read.

Chelsey:

Yeah. Let's talk about

Jordan:

tell you, let's, this is my, this is one of my new favorite characters of all time, Marella. She knew this was arranged, marriage was coming since she was, what, 15

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

you guys. She ran to this wedding. She did not run away. Like most arrangement. She never fought this. She's yeah, I'm gonna go be queen. But it's not for power. You guys, she didn't go and she's not some snob, like she has her reasons, good reasons, but also just for herself, she's I can make this life work and I think I can be meaningful in it, and I can do this and I can find love out of this. And it was like, what is this plot possible? Have we ever seen this?

Chelsey:

me, I asked myself that same question.

Jordan:

But I loved it because self-assuredness her, she knew her worth, she like, even through her own traumas that she went through, she was steadfast in herself and in her goals.

Chelsey:

She was unwavering in what she thought was going to happen.

Jordan:

I'm, and she was determined to make it happen. She wasn't waiting around for it to happen. One of my all time favorite moments from this book, and it's near the beginning. So I mean, if you really don't want a small spoiler, just skip like 30 seconds or a minute, guys. But like when she drags her trunk across and on the first night, it was like, I am not sleeping in a room away from my husband. I am married and I will make him fall in love with me. And if he's not going to do me, at the very least, he can share a room with me. And she's just trying to drag the, and then he opens the door and she's there you are. You can bring my trunk. I, I was like, fuck yeah. You're not even gonna make, you're gonna make him help. Yes.

Chelsey:

She just dives into the bed like that's it. When I, so all of, I will tell you, let's preface this so all of my characters talk to me. I'm sure you've heard authors talk about this. It's a thing. And if, you know, if you're an aspiring writer or you do write and your characters are talking to you, I always say, you're on the right track because this is what it, this is what it feels like. Okay. I've been watching so much K-pop, demon hunters. Oh my God. Okay.

Jordan:

My daughter's been singing it. It's okay.

Chelsey:

My characters talked to me and so I remember the story developing right after Kirsten Spindle because this, if you don't know Marella is, uh, the MMC from Kirson. Spindle Korvin. It's his sister. And as soon as I was like, who the heck is his sister? Who would be Korvin's? Sister, because Korvin is a unique character all on his own. And I'm like, who would his sister be? Right? And her like, she's coming to me. This was one of the first scenes that came to me is that she's fucking dragging her own trunk out of the room. That her husband, she just married, put her in, he put her in a separate room and she says, F no. Dragging it out in her nightgown at 2:00 AM this is her. And I was like, okay, we're just going with it. We're going with it.'cause that is a beautiful scene right there. I

Jordan:

taking what she's owed without I mean, It's a matter of fact and everything that she feels like, this is a matter of fact,

Chelsey:

Yeah. Yeah. And so, her concept of her character was, you know,'cause she is, she's very different than what you've read before and I, trust me, a huge part of me was like. This is too different. Uh, you know, and it came down to Chelsey, what are you doing? This FMC is not what people are going to be used to. I don't know how it's going to be taken.

Jordan:

I loved.

Chelsey:

And she is a person where she knows what she wants and she knows that it might not be, she eventually comes to around to realize, okay, this is gonna be harder than I thought it would be to get it right.'cause the poor thing came into that wedding going, woo, this

Jordan:

Look at me in my blood Red

Chelsey:

Yeah, the rest of my life right here. And she was rudely awakened during the wedding, but she's just a person where she's an FMC, where even though he puts up the walls, even though he. He does his darnedest to push her away for reasons, very good reasons.

Jordan:

are always reasons folks.

Chelsey:

she said, I'm not having this. You are my husband. This is it for us. This is it for you. This is it for me, and this is going to happen. And that is so different than what we're used to, than what I have written before because all of the FMCs I've written before are very like, independent. This is what I want. I'm gonna take it. You could come along if you want. That's the kind of general

Jordan:

The thing she wanted was a husband, and not just any husband but him. She's this was my destiny.

Chelsey:

She wanted, yeah, she wanted that life together and she felt like she was getting out of her, you know, her brother's wings, so to speak. Right. He's a Raven fa prince with wings. And she has wings too, which is also

Jordan:

that. She was the one that

Chelsey:

has wings. Yeah. She has these black wings with

Jordan:

that are very Tint.

Chelsey:

It, they are and she's just a very different way to write a woman, but also very, I feel like, accurate way. I like to write FMCs who are, you know, very varied. Who are different than each other. I don't wanna ever write the same exact person into a book because women are so different from each other while also having so many similarities. You know, that's such a generic thing to say, but it's true. And as we read these books that we

Jordan:

the experience of being a woman.

Chelsey:

Yeah. We get to live in other people's, other women's, you know, minds and feel what they feel and reflect on different ways of thinking about things. And Morella definitely thinks differently about things.

Jordan:

yeah. So here's another quote I was going to, I was actually going between three. This is one of the other ones. Do you believe your feigned indifference fools me. I trace the side of his face. It's these eyes, Killian. I see the fire in them. When you look at me, when you watch me, when you dream of tasting me again, when you touch yourself, imagining my lips replacing your hand, like the audacity. And here's the funny thing is they are both so stubborn. Like she, I mean, really at the bottom of this, it's a lot of it is stubborn and refusing to hear him. Like

Chelsey:

A Raven Fe trait for sure.

Jordan:

yeah. But it's not, it doesn't come to an explosive head and but it is this constant back and forth push and pull with them. And it's just, it's so fun to read.

Chelsey:

Because when she realizes, she comes to that realization that he does want her and that he would like to have her and a lot of that comes out through their intimate moments when he's teaching her about sex and different kinds of sex acts because she just, she doesn't know. And that's

Jordan:

her first experiences was lie, and I did like that, that it wasn't like she was coming and she totally saved herself for him. Like she knew she was destined to be with him this whole time or promise him or whatever, but she was like, I'm

Chelsey:

It's been 15 years. Yeah.

Jordan:

I'm still gonna have experiences. It just

Chelsey:

And

Jordan:

that great.

Chelsey:

yeah, no, it

Jordan:

Been there.

Chelsey:

laugh about it so much. It's so fun to make fun of that poor guy. I need to have him in another. Fairy tale guy,

Jordan:

Oh my God, that would be so funny. Like in a tavern somewhere while they're traveling or

Chelsey:

Deal Tree, just like their name dropped.

Jordan:

I

Chelsey:

Oh my God. I think it's gonna happen for sure.

Jordan:

I'm gonna, we need merch. Poor Breen, like I hope Brick and learn some lessons. Some lessons. Like something with Breen, RIP, Breen.

Chelsey:

where's

Jordan:

We know you were like, he's just a poor teenage guy. Just

Chelsey:

He was just 19 and figuring it out himself and it, and they just make fun of him, the whole book. It's great. But but uh, when she realizes, when Marella realizes that Killian wants her and is holding back for whatever reason, that's what she kind of goes feral. She's well, here it is. The evidence. Yeah. Basically, right? She's no, I was right. It's you and me. I was correct. And then she just takes off from there and there's no stopping her.

Jordan:

Yeah. And she doesn't ever let self-doubt win

Chelsey:

No

Jordan:

any, and this is

Chelsey:

she doesn't.

Jordan:

Has been the last almost two years you've been writing so much. You said you've always wanted to do this. Did were you, did you go into it like, yes, I wanna do indie? Did you try to query, did you

Chelsey:

No.

Jordan:

Initially, what did you,

Chelsey:

I, you know, I wish I remembered how I even knew about Indie publishing. I don't recall. I'm sure it was one of my. Hyper fixated, deep dives into something but I wrote a conduit of light and I am the most impatient person you've probably ever met in your life. I hide it really well. I am so impatient. And very much like the character in a conduit of light, the main character Kharis. And so I wrote that book and I was like, no, I'm going to do it. Like I'm not gonna query it. I'm not gonna wait. Heaven forbid I wait to let my dreams come true was really like, honestly the Pisces in me that is so dramatic and I want this and I.

Jordan:

Is Marella a Pisces? Is that how

Chelsey:

I don't think she is, but there's definitely me in every single one of these FMCs. So, I decided that I was going to research how to do it, and that's exactly what I did. And I think the biggest thing for me was producing this book, releasing this book, and then being like, now what do I do now? What? Everybody's gonna read it, right? Everybody's gonna read it. Right. And the kind of, you know, the rude awakening of wow, there's millions of us, this is lovely. And truly joining like the community of indie authors and people who read indie especially too, has been so just beneficial to my mental health. You know, these people are just, we're all rooting for each other, which is incredible because then it's just one big support fest. And then you really feel like you could do it. You really feel like you can get one day to be in every Barns and noble, you know, like, where's, where are your Chelsey Ann Tompkins books? It really feels like you could get there someday. And so I love this community and so, you know, going, I have no regrets. Absolutely none. I have loved it. And I even did the covers for Curse and Spindle and Strong Gold myself, which was an even cooler thing because now, I hear people say oh wow, I love this cover. I'm like, oh my God, thanks. I did it. And it adds to just an even more just wow, I'm really doing it. Like I'm really following

Jordan:

You can do it all. I don't know.

Chelsey:

so long. And it's just lovely and wonderful. But, to segue for that, I am querying my next book.

Jordan:

Yay. I saw you post about that, I think, yesterday or a couple days ago. Because you have done so much and such a relatively short

Chelsey:

Oh my God, Jordan it's insane.

Jordan:

a breather, and I know it sounds like you just wanna you're like, okay, what's my next thing? What's my next But also to acknowledge what you've just done

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

and fully embrace that, recognize it, and just slow down a little bit. Are you like just gonna like heels in, dig in and,

Chelsey:

exactly. It's part of the like impatient part of me is I'm always like, what's next? What's coming out next? What can we all get excited about next? And that is how I have written. Five books, boop, you know, it less than two years. And so this next story that I'm working on that guy came to me, they always just, they always come into my dms. And by that I mean my head, right? And, he's just slipping. And this guy,

Jordan:

is just

Chelsey:

I mean, once,

Jordan:

It's your list of

Chelsey:

yeah, once it like opened, starting to write, it's just it's hard to close the flood gates, right? And so this guy came to me, metaphorically speaking, it's all in my head, people. But

Jordan:

Don't worry. Everything's in my head.

Chelsey:

It's fine. I got it.

Jordan:

Me. There.

Chelsey:

you know what though, if you write it down, people accept that you have people talking to you, and that's fine as long as you write it down.

Jordan:

That's fair?

Chelsey:

But he came to me right after I wrote a conduit of light and it was off to the editor and I was like, Ooh, this is an interesting, this is a really interesting story. And the first thing that came to me was the twist. Of course, it's always the twists with me. And I was like, okay, back burner. Sit back here because I'm writing this like really epic trilogy right now. I can't talk to you. And you know, as I was finishing up strong gold and I felt so drained writing that book, I loved writing that book. I I really enjoy it now, but it took me time to like it. And I think that's because I was so done creatively.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

I was done. I was I'm shooting out these romance stories and at this point I'm like, is this just me rehashing things? And I don't think it is at all, but I recognized I need to slow down. And my plan was like, okay, strong gold, boom, here we go. Third realm of revelry fairytale, which like right, is like very much conceptualized in my brain already. But I decided this time to sit down with this guy from two years ago and start writing his story. And the note that I have on my phone where I've been writing all the notes about this story is that Come to Me is it's titled The Guy who was very loud because he's so loud in my head. And the twist came to me. And then just like his dark. Love for this FMC of you can hate me, but know that I loved her and you know, getting that was just like, oh God, there's something really good here. And so strong gold was done. And I was like, this is it. I have to, this is just the time to write chorus. And Chorus is like the code name. That's not the title, but it's, that's what I'm calling it. And it's this dark romantasy that has all the things we love, all of the things that we expect to see. It's got enemies to love, true enemies to love. They're trying to murder each other. They're

Jordan:

Thank you. Thank you. I really need an, I need a, not like you first see them and you're like, oh, I lost after you, but I can't,

Chelsey:

of that. Absolutely none. And that's gonna make it so lovely later. But

Jordan:

Yay.

Chelsey:

it's that true enemies to lovers where the first book I don't, I think we're gonna get a kiss. And that's probably it, right? Like it's slow burn.

Jordan:

me.

Chelsey:

It's,

Jordan:

Edge me. It's fine.

Chelsey:

I love it. I love it when readers say that. And it's faded mates too. So it's like these very generic tropes. We've read them how many times have we read these

Jordan:

For a reason.

Chelsey:

for a reason, right? And I'm like, how do I take these lovely things that I love? And how do I make them twisty? How do I make them in a way where people are reading this book and they're like. Oh my God, I see what you did there. That is just like my favorite thing ever when the twist comes about. And so I've got this whole board right now in my room of just parchment paper, and it has it, it looks like a madman. Came into my room and started writing down gibberish because I had 18 notes, 18 pages of notes from those two years that I went through. And it is ready to go. It. I am gonna take my time with it. I'm gonna sit with it and let it simmer.

Jordan:

Enjoy those characters. Like really? Yeah.

Chelsey:

It's so cool to world build again, because writing the fairytales there is world building, but you can't spend a lot of time on it. So the world building comes through over the, over time in the fairytales you get to know more about the world. But I miss that. I miss building. Something, some world from nothing and really, uh, getting readers to, to feel like they're escaping and diving into it. I'm excited for that part. Very

Jordan:

very exciting. I love

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

So, really quick, so you laid it all out. So you're a, are you're a plotter then. Do you plot everything first?

Chelsey:

No. Uh, over the past two years, I have become more of a half and half person where when I start something, I've got it plotted.

Jordan:

Uhhuh.

Chelsey:

Half of that doesn't happen. You know, like I, I start out, I get a base, I'm like, here's where it's headed, and then I'm like, scrapping

Jordan:

You have an outline?

Chelsey:

A very general wiggy wiggly outline.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

Most of it ends up being pants where I sit down and I'm like, what's this chapter? I don't know. Let's find out. And it's so fun when you write twists because sometimes, you know, parts of the twist come to you as you're writing And it feels like a reader. You know, you're sitting there oh no, you know, you have this same reaction of I can't believe this is happening in real time and I highly recommend

Jordan:

That's so funny. That reminds me of what Hannah said when we interviewed her recently, talking about Evie and the villain, because we were talking about how slow of a burn that is, and she's guys, it's not me. I literally tried to shove their faces together and are like, kiss, kiss, and they're like, no, I won't. She's I'm trying, guys. I'm shoving their heads together. They won't do it. So

Chelsey:

Yeah. That's some intense slow bird

Jordan:

Yeah. Okay, we're gonna shake this off because we're all like, we can chat, obviously, but we're gonna take a break. We're gonna do this or that just to.

Chelsey:

Oh, yay.

Jordan:

Shake things up. I'm gonna give you two options. First thing that comes to mind, your opinion. There technically are no wrong answers, but let's be honest,

Chelsey:

But everyone will judge. Yes, I get it.

Jordan:

We'll start out, hopefully easy with physical book or ebook.

Chelsey:

Physical

Jordan:

Okay.

Chelsey:

specifically. Paperback.

Jordan:

Oh, paperback? Yes. Okay. That's fair. That's much more doable when you're actually holding it for that long. These fantasy books. Sweet or salty snacks, while you're

Chelsey:

Salty.

Jordan:

Okay. I agree. Hidden identity or newfound magic ability.

Chelsey:

Hidden Identity. Okay.

Jordan:

Yeah. One horse or one bed.

Chelsey:

One bed. You know, that's my favorite trope. That's what I told you. It's my favorite. I love one bed. Live for it.

Jordan:

so good. Small town or billionaire.

Chelsey:

Billionaire, but I haven't really read much of either. But I would guess billionaire, Uhhuh.

Jordan:

You'd rather see just the luxury of

Chelsey:

I grew up in a small town. I don't see the romanticism in it. I'm like, I don't know. I don't see it.

Jordan:

like the people you see all the time are not this nice. It is not that

Chelsey:

Or that good looking. Go ahead.

Jordan:

Yes, you and I can talk about that later. Uh, standalone or series

Chelsey:

Series.

Jordan:

fake dating or marriage of convenience, Korvin or Killian.

Chelsey:

Oh, God, you're so evil. could you do this? Okay,

Jordan:

knew it. I was like, what if, what can I do that's just for

Chelsey:

that's perfect. I, Korvin

Jordan:

Okay. That's fair.

Chelsey:

partial.

Jordan:

Nope, you don't get

Chelsey:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I wanna Okay. Korvin a har a hard decision. Very difficult but Korvin has my hearts for sure.

Jordan:

Love it. All right, and top three book.

Chelsey:

I,

Jordan:

Book partners, boyfriends.

Chelsey:

oh, top three book boyfriends. Okay.

Jordan:

Could be yours or other people, like

Chelsey:

oh, no, it's not gonna be mine. That's boring. Of course. I love Reic to death. No, rev is end game for everyone who reads Continental Light. Anyway, trust me. So number one, Barons Jericho Barons from the Faye Fever Series by Karen Marie Monning.

Jordan:

I have not heard of

Chelsey:

it's old. It came out, I wanna say like early two thousands. I hope I'm, I hope that's accurate.

Jordan:

There's Google. We can figure it

Chelsey:

hands down favorite series. It is like Urban Fantasy Romance, romantasy slow burn. It has Faye and it's got like the Sealy, unseelie fa oh my

Jordan:

I love Celia. And Celia.

Chelsey:

I got my, one of my best friends to read it with me. This, you know, in January at the start of the year, she became completely obsessed with it. And I said see. So Jericho Barons number one like that man. It changed me forever. Number two, I would have to say I'm looking behind me right now.

Jordan:

I love it. That we, this is always our ending. This is always our ending question, and everyone always turns around to their books. I love it.

Chelsey:

Will have to say, so I don't know. I'm kind of going off of, not necessarily who would I want to live with for the rest of my life, but I'm going off of what MMC has always stuck with me. And Cardin from the cruel Prince has always stuck with me. I think

Jordan:

will love to hear

Chelsey:

such a good char, such a good character. Like the letters that he wrote her I am, I'm still, I think about it, you know what I mean? So definitely there. And for number three how about all five men from the bonds that tie series? Except the one, I can't remember his name and he was a jerk and I didn't like him, but the rest of them like Griffin? Yes.

Jordan:

Griffin, we've talked about this. Oh, Griffin, Shore. The that you are. Oh,

Chelsey:

so not all five, but all four. Those four.

Jordan:

Knox, you're thinking of Knox

Chelsey:

am thinking of NOx. I

Jordan:

Listen, NOx, you have a tragic backstory. We get it. But like also, there is a

Chelsey:

but also, what the hell? Okay. Uh, there is, you crossed it and I'm

Jordan:

never apologized. And you never groveled. No, thank you.

Chelsey:

So, yeah. So the last one is four men.

Jordan:

I accept that answer. Yes. That is the correct answer

Chelsey:

I think it is the correct answer.

Jordan:

Have you read the Mortal Fate series by J Bree?

Chelsey:

I haven't yet. Is it done? Is it done? Is it the okay.

Jordan:

But

Chelsey:

I mean, that's not a deal breaker for me, but I was just, I was

Jordan:

hands down

Chelsey:

I've heard this.

Jordan:

the best enemies to

Chelsey:

It's

Jordan:

ever read.

Chelsey:

it's one of those ones that I know I'm going to be completely consumed by, and so

Jordan:

Absolutely.

Chelsey:

I know I will save it I'm like, wait until it's consumable time, because right now it's not,

Jordan:

But who

Chelsey:

this, and this.

Jordan:

And I'm gonna be honest, I would say that after the first one, my husband read them and

Chelsey:

Oh, really? Oh that's interesting.

Jordan:

Dev just reread them and Dev does not reread

Chelsey:

Oh, really? Okay. I mean, no, trust me.

Jordan:

I'm just saying. I'm just saying

Chelsey:

it. I am well aware. That I will go down that hole and be like, I'm not coming out of this.

Jordan:

no and the world. Oh. So anyways. So do you mostly read. Is that like where your heart lies, not just in writing, but also in reading.

Chelsey:

for sure. And it really stems from fantasy being such a huge part of my, you know, childhood growing up. And then I also read so much historical romance growing up

Jordan:

Okay.

Chelsey:

and it just made sense that those kind of just aligned

Jordan:

well

Chelsey:

well, Really well. And, so that's mostly what I read is romantic. I also write it, so I like to see what other authors are doing.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

You know, it is. One thing that is rough as an author is that I don't enjoy books the same way I used to because I'm constantly like, oh, I see what they did there. You know, I'm always thinking about the author as I read their book, and I'm always thinking like, why did they make that choice? Why did they do this? Or oh, I see where they're trying to lead me down. And,

Jordan:

Yeah. Oh, it's like this war and so it's gonna do this, or, oh, they got ideas from that and

Chelsey:

It's a lot easier, I feel to predict books once you've written them.

Jordan:

Or read hundreds

Chelsey:

That too.

Jordan:

hundreds in the same genre.

Chelsey:

Yeah, that too. That too.

Jordan:

I'm sure writing is a whole nother realm of that, of understanding.

Chelsey:

And everything I read has a fellow fantasy element to it. It is very rare for me to read contemporary romance. It's rare to read sci-fi. I don't read horror because I am terrible at horror. I can't do it. Can't even happen.

Jordan:

I understand that. That's fair. I like mystery and suspense. I don't really go in for horror.

Chelsey:

Yeah it's a whole, it's a whole nother thing. My husband loves like horror movies and things like that. As I've gotten older, I've been like, I'm uncomfortable and I'm not gonna finish watching this with you.

Jordan:

That's fair. I,

Chelsey:

Not something I would've said in twenties. Not something I would've just beared with it.'cause it's my husband. At this point in my life though, I'm like, I have other things to do. I am not finishing this movie with you.

Jordan:

I'm gonna go read in the other Have fun.

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

Yeah. What are your favorite reads from the past year?

Chelsey:

Oh, yeah.

Jordan:

or like the last year or so, do you have any favorite

Chelsey:

Yeah. I did, I wrote down I kind of looked since January just to kind of get okay, what's fresh in my mind? These are all indie books. I believe so. Actually, I'm not sure about the third one now that I think about it, but I recently read Smoke and Scar

Jordan:

Okay.

Chelsey:

by Gretchen Powell Fox, who is a lovely person. I love her. And she's blowing up right now. She's gonna be everywhere pretty soon. Just wait. But it felt very, Dungeons and Dragons, which is something I used to play and I used to dm and so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. And then I grabbed this indie book off of the shelf in the library for Pride Month. And I was like, give me, gimme some raw Mm, romance. And I grabbed this book, it was so good. It's called Yield Under Great Persuasion. And it feels, it's fantasy, but it feels almost historical. And the main male character in it is such an ass hat. Like he is such, he is a walking red flag. But because we get all of the book from his perspective, he is constantly talking about all of the things wrong with him. And then the man that he is in love with is the sunshine character of a grumpy sunshine. And he just thinks, you know, the world is built around this very toxic man that we're reading about. It was so good. I absolutely adored it. So that was yield under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Roland. I don't know anything else about her. I just pull this book off of the library and is aqua. It was just like really random. And then the other one, if you really like fairytale retellings. Scarlet St. Clair wrote Mountains Made of Glass. And I haven't read her other one that's like in the same, don't know if it's a series or not, but Mountains Made of Glass is very short, very weird, but feels very original, fairytale esque. And she has like several fairytales like in it, including Rumpelstiltskin. And I just loved it. I was like, this is so freaking weird, man. I, I. But I loved it. It just felt other worldly, old fashioned fairytale. It was very good. I really enjoyed it. I need to read her other one. I think it's like Apple's dipped in gold, I think. And I feel like that one was picked up. Maybe

Jordan:

okay. I feel she

Chelsey:

I'm not sure she at least started indie. I know that.

Jordan:

Yeah. I've seen her a lot, but I'm now, I'm like. She,

Chelsey:

She might be. She might

Jordan:

things that are trad,

Chelsey:

Yeah. She might be

Jordan:

some trad, some indie. But I actually kinda love it when authors do that because they're like, these are my passion projects. Yeah. These I love, but also I'm gonna let someone else take care

Chelsey:

Yeah. Somebody else grabbed these out of my hands, please.

Jordan:

Someone take care of these. I'm gonna work on

Chelsey:

Uhhuh.

Jordan:

Just throw this out for people. I kind of love

Chelsey:

That sounds like the dream, honestly.

Jordan:

absolutely. So good. So I mean, we already talked about your next project you're already, that's so exciting. What is like long-term goals as an author? Do you have any big, like benchmarks you're hoping to get to? What's like your big overall

Chelsey:

Like I was saying, I think just you know, for me it's truly about telling the story and being a storyteller. And so I would love to make enough money to do that full time. That's a big goal, right? I would say like the biggest like end goal would be to, like I was saying, just know my books are in like all the Barnes and Nobles, right? Like they're accessible. They're, they have reach, which is part of why I'm querying because it is so hard to get reach. It really is a difficult thing. And you know, people like you, Jordan and this podcast are so lovely to help us with that. Truly they are, you know, even if just one person reads any of my books from this podcast it's amazing to be, and again, talking about the community and how supportive it is but the end goal is to eventually just be able to walk in a Barnes and Noble or. You know, whatever your preferred bookstore is, and it's oh yeah there's stories that I've written.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Chelsey:

You know, I don't need to like, have a movie or be on, the New York Times bestseller lists five times or so. You know, it is, that doesn't matter to me. I just want people to be able to walk into a store and be able to pick up a story that I wanted to tell them.

Jordan:

I love that goal. I be her happy.

Chelsey:

Oh,

Jordan:

I love it. I know, and that's probably my favorite thing about the podcast is just like kind of being a cheerleader

Chelsey:

Yeah.

Jordan:

authors and especially indie authors, and it's just so much fun. I love it. I love this part. I love talking about. People's passion with them

Chelsey:

And we love you for it.

Jordan:

them. My passion is reading these stories

Chelsey:

love you for it. Uhhuh.

Jordan:

Oh, thank you. There's just love going all

Chelsey:

It's just everywhere. Here we're,

Jordan:

I love that note. Do you wanna give your socials, your handles? Where can people find you? Speaking of accessibility, where can they

Chelsey:

I know, right. Speaking of reach, so I used to be on TikTok a lot. I'm mostly on Instagram now. I have kind of found my community there and so I'm on TikTok though. TikTok Instagram and Threads all are@chelseyanntompkins. That's it. Really easy. Find me, DM me. I love Jordan, the dms where somebody is reading one of my books and they DM me and they're either pissed off right. Conduit of light trilogy, you'll get mad. Respectfully. Respectfully, ma'am, how dare you? And then the people who come into my dms and they say, I just got to such and such scene, and I had to, I can't tell you how many times people have done this. I had to put it down because there was too much distraction and I needed to savor it. I love those dms and any kind of capitalization of letters and exclamation marks, like I, I live for it. Indie authors love when you go into their dms and you tell them how much you're loving the book that they wrote. And it's literally will I like suck it in you know,

Jordan:

Yeah. And then that energy

Chelsey:

so refreshing. Right. And some of the things that people have said, I have literally on sticky notes and I'm looking at them right now. And I just have them around me because especially a small indie author, it's so easy to get lost in how obscure you are and how small you are. And it's so easy to see all the success of people, and you're like, I am so happy for you. But you're also like when do I get that? And so I do, I write down things that people say to me and it's just there to remember that I am doing this, to tell these stories because I'm a storyteller and that's what I am. One of the most ancient professions ever. Right. Storytelling. People have been telling stories since people have been able to communicate them. And I love that I get to do that and that I have enough talent to do that to where people want to know my stories.

Jordan:

Yeah. Ask for

Chelsey:

yeah. And so it's really lovely when people reach out to me and are just like, either, how dare you, or, oh my God, I'm dying. Right, right. One or the other. I love that part.

Jordan:

Thank you so much and we love it. We love to hear it. Chelsey, Ann Tompkins, wherever you can follow her, wherever you have your own accounts. Thank you for joining me

Chelsey:

Thank you for having me. And keeping in touch in like over a year. Right.

Jordan:

it's worth it. People go download the books. But thank you everyone for listening to us ramble about Chelsey's books. If you're looking for more romance recs, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Threads and sometimes on TikTok at Romance Recs Pod. You can find our favorite book Recs from our episodes, as well as behind the scenes content. Again, that's at Romance Recs Pod, so make sure to give us a follow and we'll be back soon with season three. We'll be starting soon and season three is

Chelsey:

Look at you. Go.

Jordan:

Yeah, so it's gonna be a little bit different. Thank you. I

Chelsey:

it's so exciting. Yes,

Jordan:

so there will be different kinds of content too. We're gonna head over to new platforms as well as where we are now.

Chelsey:

Big thanks. Big thanks coming. I'm so

Jordan:

Thank you.

Chelsey:

you.