#make my torture worth it

[scarlettgauthor]

Hello, Tumblr, and I hope you had a merry holiday (or simply enjoyed the weekend off)! I am so excited to finally share some absolutely amazing news: There's an audio book of His Secret Illuminations, and it is available for purchase now!!!

[intense, relieved, distant screaming]

I am so pumped about this you wouldn't even believe it. I started trying to produce this audio book in June of this year. June. You might note that it is now December. This is a project six months in the making. I went through multiple rounds of auditions and thought I'd found a narrator twice and both times they had to back out of recording. I exhausted everyone who sounded right at one service and went to fellow self-published fantasy author Virginia McClain for advice, and she pointed me to Antoine Bandele of AB Book Services and his roster of narrators, where I found Martin Martinez. Martin auditioned for me with a perfectly sweet Lucían and a wonderfully strong Glory. His reading was deft and playful and exactly what I'd been hoping for, and the sex scenes? Well, to quote the illustrious burlesque icon Miss Kitty Baby: "There won't be a dry seat in the house."

Please give it a listen if you're an audio book person, or tell your friends to give it a listen if you aren't. Martin really gave a beautiful performance, and I think everyone should hear the heart and soul he gave these characters. 

(People other than me definitely need to hear it. I have listened to the entire thing three times as I reviewed it, which is too many times for an author to have to be presented with their writing from three years ago in a medium where they cannot elide certain word choices they would not have made now. It's a great audio book! It really is! I never want to listen to it again!)

Ahem.

Where can I buy it?

On several platforms that audio books are sold, with more coming soon! Here are some specific places:

https://scarlettgaleauthor.com/shop/audio-books https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-secret-illuminations-scarlett-gale/1142856730 https://bingebooks.com/book/his-secret-illuminations https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/614996148/His-Secret-Illuminations-Their-adventure-will-test-his-skill-and-his-self-control https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781669668374 https://www.storytel.com/se/sv/books/3683133 https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/his-secret-illuminations-2 https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Scarlett_Gale_His_Secret_Illuminations?id=AQAAAEDCkgXS1M https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/his-secret-illuminations-by-scarlett-gale  https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/his-secret-illuminations-their-adventure-will-test-his-skill-and-his-self-control/653033

Not at Amazon/Audible?

Not yet, anyway! It's been submitted to them for review and is still pending. The audio book will be available on Amazon... eventually.

Where should I buy it?

Wherever is easiest for you! That said, if your goal is to support me as directly as possible, please consider buying it from my website. 

It's a little more troublesome (I had to break it into five parts in order to get around the file size limit) but everything I sell on my website is DRM-free and I get the entire $24.99 cover price (minus credit card fees). Purchasing it through another platform means I only get the royalties, which end up between 20% and 50% of the cover price.

When will His Sacred Incantations be available as an audio book?

The unfortunately mercenary answer here is "As soon as I can afford to produce it." As a self-published author I am on the financial hook for anything and everything I want to do with my books. Part of the reason it took this long to get the first book produced was because I needed to save up enough to pay for the production of it. His Secret Illuminations cost about $3600, which I paid out of pocket. I expect that His Sacred Incantations will cost about the same. I hope to be able to produce it in 2023--the better my sales are, the sooner I can get started!

P.S. If I manage to sell 144 copies of this audio book through my website, that will cover almost the entire cost of producing the second book.

How can I help out?

Spread the word about the audio book! As Patrons you get the news first, but I'll be sharing this on social media in the next couple of days. Like, retweet, reblog, reshare, leave good reviews of the audio book where appropriate--all of that is a huge help to me, someone who is her own marketing department.

Thank you so much for your support! May your holidays be happy, and your winter nights warm.

[ohshinytrinketsmine]

My Ex-Morning (Trailer)

[copypastus]

Tamsand timeline as told in ACOLAR.

Using the free day of @officialrhysandweek to gush about my favourite piece of ACOTAR fan content out there.

@ashintheairlikesnow can you tell I really liked your fic? I REALLY liked your fic.

[ravenpureforever]

So guess who finally watched JJK

[aastarions]

i cannot believe that since i posted the last chapter of my zhongli multichap (in july 2022) right

ive gotten engaged

ive gotten married

AND

ive gotten pregnant 🧍🏼‍♀️

specifically pregnant with identical twins 🧍🏼‍♀️🧍🏼‍♀️

[heynhay]

How draw like you T^T

Do you have any advice for learning to draw better? Like, resources or practices or anything?

Time. and referencing. No way around it but to put in the hours.

[fizzseed]

When that sky rains fire on you, and you’re persona non grata I’ll tell you how I’ve been there too and that none of it matters.

Taylor Swift — The Albatross Good Omens (S1E1, S2E6)

[promptsbytaurie]

do you have any good references for kiss scenes 🥲

of course!! let me know if you want/need more :D

fics for reference: good kiss scenes

the art of missing the ground - not too exaggerated of a kiss, feels very natural, sweet

paths are made by walking - a bit spicier ig?? i dunno these are more lighthearted

where you go, i will follow - kiss has meaning!!! kiss as a plot device!! good example of more 'negative' reasons ig (still soft tho)

but you saw enough - more climactic? also kinda spicier soooo...? (help me)

pick me up and dust me off - literally so soft you will get cavities. top tier fic. natural kiss too, not too exaggerated

shrapnel - good example, shows that not every relationship has to begin with or star a kiss

(ain't nothin' like) the real thing - definitely spicier. nice example of buildup and that good ol climactic approach where you're literally just screaming 'oh my god kiss already'

listen (he's already told you five times) - another good example of when kissing is not the only form of love!

i counted days, i counted miles - excellent buildup, the kiss has... meaning? it isn't just a kiss yknow it has emotional depth

but we can try - also has meaning. i'm not a huge fan of the trope where like 'oh they aren't in love/dating until they kiss' but this fic actually writes it really well!

[freddie-77-ao3]

trying to reheat leftovers is like creating a bomb. you gotta be very percise, down to the millisecond, or it's not gonna be right.

[rubenesque-as-fuck]

Anyway I got notified that I'll be getting a nice $$ bonus from work today and I wish that I could celebrate with someone in a way that didn't just feel like obnoxious bragging. Like beyond the financial aspect, it's just nice to be recognized for good work and I actually feel... good?? about this job??

But it feels so silly to say I want to celebrate when I just got back from what felt like my first real vacation in a very long time and am doing cool comic con stuff this weekend and am scheduled for a new tattoo next weekend. I am already doing lots of things to try to make myself feel good! It feels selfish to want more!

But I guess even with all of that, there's just still a hunger for external validation from trusted sources. Will I ever grow out of wanting someone to be proud of me?

[kavehater]

Chappel Roan saying she’s sad she’s demisexual and then there’s me being aroace as a whole like don’t you think I’m even more sad 😭

[dirtytransmasc]

after all the times Rhaenyra lied through teeth, she never got any better at it.

[imaginesomethingrand]

I have to believe that the small things I do matter even though I barely get any notice or feedback. Probably because they're so small people barely notice them. Even small things take a lot of effort from me, or seem to.

I have hope, otherwise I wouldn't do them and would give up.

I do wish I could do more than just small things. At least know i made a difference in some way. Perhaps these things are too small... well, they do matter but larger things would make more of an impact. If I could do more than just post things on social media that barely get any response. (Or have enough $ to give more than just a drop in the bucket) Or if I could help the people who really need it, be part of rescuing them. Make a difference so i actually help save someone, and so I know that I'm not just doing just the minimum, barely above nothing.

Small things matter, but larger things matter more since they actually help get things done rather than being a tiny pinpoint against the dark (so small most ppl might need a telescope)

I want to be able to help more, be someone who can do something meaningful for the things I care about. But am I even capable of more than this -- mentally or emotionally capable of doing something meaningful. Having the capacity to do something valuable that someone actually wants (research/writing that helps the ones being hurt by russia; fight Russian propaganda; raise awareness/ be an influencer-- be an expert that people listen to and respect-- "make the world a better place") - how when I'm the sort of person (could i become stronger, tougher when I'm this sensitive artist-- part of the reason I care in the 1st place...) that falls apart at small amount of pressure-- if things got so bad I was threatened with prison, bodily harm-- would i back down? Would I acquiesce bc I was too scared? Have convictions but suppress them? Or by "accepting" the awful reality, the evil overlords, would I begin to gradually accept what they do-- I would be responsible for allowing them to hurt others. But i wouldn't be able to do much against them in the 1st place. One could easily expect this cowardly position from me despite my convictions-- but would it come down to it, would i make the right choice? What would going to prison do other than hurt me- no one would notice. I would know. Someone has to stand up to it... if no one does, if they all give in, of course the darkness wins then. Few would notice if i died standing up for what's right. Being such an insignificant person, how much would it matter either way. Perhaps it would make a difference in some way... perhaps give my life meaning... or perhaps standing up for it would mean staying true to my convictions, true to myself... do i really believe it if I'm not willing to sacrifice for it. I would at least find out what i was made of, if I was capable of doing the right thing under impossible pressure (somehow not fall apart.... find the strength in the end

[quietlyblooms]

also we love a woman who goes from shyly biting your neck and clinging to you, to biting your wrist while maintaining eye contact. we love a woman who gains her confidence over time <3

[phagodyke]

ohhh sunday evening we're really.in it now.....