Ink and Flame Episode #9
H.L Hamilton: Author of the Curses Duet Series

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Transcription

Tina Koutras (00:00)
Welcome to Ink and Flame. I'm your host, Tina Koutras, and we're sitting down today to talk with Holly.

She is the author of the Cursed Duet, well, two books, Cursed Duet of Curses and Contempt and Hexes and Hatred. Hi, Holly.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (00:15)
Hey, nice to meet you, nice to be here.

Tina Koutras (00:18)
Thanks, nice to meet you too. I'm really excited to hear some stuff about your books. How long have you had them out?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (00:24)
excited.

So book one of Curses and Contempt came out in November of 2023. I had to think about that for a second, how long it's actually been. And I'm like horrified it's been so long because I feel like that was such a big moment in my life. I never thought I was going to get here so I was like oh my god that was so long ago. And then of Hexes and Hatred it came out in August of last year so it hasn't even been a full year yet for that one.

Tina Koutras (00:33)
Yeah.

Wow. That's nice. Very cool. Can you share your journey from growing up in Chatham, Ontario to becoming a published author?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (00:58)
So I actually grew up even just outside of Chatham, Ontario. So it's like a small blink-and-you-miss-it kind of town. There weren't a lot of kids my own age that lived in Merlin. And the ones that did, if anybody reads my books, you'll know that I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. I didn't really relate to other people. So the only things that really made me happy were the stories that I made up in my own head to pass the time. And so Locke and Lark have in large part been with me since I was a child.

Tina Koutras (01:16)
Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (01:26)
to some degree. So the fact that they are now real and tangible for other people is probably one of the most insane things I've never thought I would experience. I've had people that maybe talked to me in high school or in public school, messaged me to be like, hey, I read your books. my God, that's so cool. And I'm like, It's weirder when someone's met me in person and then I know they read my spice. I'm like, that's weirder than anything else.

or like even my mom's friends are like, my God, I love Holly's writing. and she's spicy. I'm like, I hate this so much.

Tina Koutras (02:01)
Yeah, I could imagine that would get awkward. Wait till you have children.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (02:04)
It's... oh.

Not thankfully, I don't want to say that, but we're actually not having kids and I'm part of me. I'm so glad I'm not because of that. Because if my kid ever came home and was like, Mom, I want to read your books, it'll be like, mm-mm. Nope, immediately no.

Tina Koutras (02:19)
Not today, not today.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (02:20)
Well, and I know growing up, my mom

also loved spicy books and I didn't really know anything about that, but I wanted to read and I wanted to read anything I could get my hands on growing up. So when I was 13, maybe even a little younger, I grabbed my mom's books and they're like those little smutty Harlequin novels, right? So I'm reading them and I'm like, he's putting her what where he's putting, he's inserting what into her, which I.

Tina Koutras (02:40)
you

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (02:46)
no idea what these euphemisms were. No one told me anything until I was well older. I was very late to that particular party. And with the euphemisms, I was just like, what the hell is happening? I didn't know. I didn't know until an embarrassingly long time later.

Tina Koutras (03:01)
It's awesome.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (03:01)
So it's funny I write spice now.

Tina Koutras (03:02)
So what first sparked your love of storytelling? This is a very interesting tangent, but let's go a little further back of when you first started telling stories.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (03:15)
I have a distinct memory of being in like first grade trying to write a Powerpuff Girl comic book. My parents still have it somewhere. So like, think I've always had that love of storytelling, even if I didn't think I would ever actually write it down. tried once in high school, there was a story I tried to write and it just didn't come to fruition. It didn't, I didn't know how to create a story. I just knew I had a story in my head, but I didn't know how to craft one.

I tried in college after reading Julie Kagawa's The Iron Fae series, because I fell in love with Meghan and Ash, and that ultimately went absolutely belly up. I gave up on it at that point. I just thought that I was never going to write again. There's no reason to write again. I knew I was never going to be picked up by a public. What? No, that was never going to be my journey. It wasn't until I read A Court of Thorns and Roses by, of course, everyone's, know, Lord and Savior, SJM.

that I saw a world that was so similar to the one that I had in my head growing up, the one that, you know, it mirrored so similarly what my own inside of my head looked like. that was the first time I was like, holy shit, I think maybe I could do this. And it was when COVID first happened that I started writing and I was like, I got nothing else better to do. I wrote. Justin even got me my tablet for me.

so that I could. He's like, you know what, you wanna fuckin' write, you go right ahead, let me see how you do it. And I wrote of curses and contempt for me. It was my story to tell, and I was like, you know what, fuck it, I'm just gonna do it. I never intended to actually finish it, I didn't think that was gonna happen, so when I did it, I like, I wrote the words the end, I was like, what? How is this real life? So that's really cool.

Tina Koutras (05:00)
That is really cool. I absolutely love that story. So I'm assuming you didn't have any aspirations of actually publishing.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (05:10)
I didn't even know that was a possibility until I got onto TikTok and I was on TikTok for, you know, just S and G's. Like I wasn't on book tok per se. wasn't, I was more on horse tok of anything being an equestrian and I was really taking my riding more seriously. So I was more on equestrian tok than anything and it just so happened.

that somebody had recommended me a Court of Thorns and Roses. And I swear to God, the algorithm heard it. And so was like, here's all this bookish content. Enjoy the cult that you're about to be in. And that's actually how it got started. I was like, my God, all these book recommendations. And I had been in such a reading rut for five years. Nothing was giving me that same zhuzh that the new books today do and that indie authors typically do. And I'm so excited to have all these.

Tina Koutras (05:44)
Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (06:00)
worlds that inspired me so much and to have them so readily available and my gosh you mean for $6.99 I can have a new ebook on my Kindle right now? Hell yeah. So it was so inspiring to see all these indie authors sharing their stories. I didn't even know that was an option. So now I had of curses and contempt and you mean I can publish that and people might actually want to read it?

It was insane. It was insane. I still to this day cannot believe that someone has a copy of my book on their shelf on purpose.

Tina Koutras (06:31)
Right. That is so cool. And it's definitely like the indie world has totally opened things up, right?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (06:39)
And it's so supportive. It's a wonderful community. like, of course you're going to have your little moments where it might not feel like such a great community, but at its very core, it really is wonderful. And it's been so supportive and so inclusive and kind. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for booktok

Tina Koutras (06:50)
Yeah.

Oh, I totally agree with you. So what's your transition story from sports and healthcare into writing romance? Like, how did you go that route aside from, you know, being given ACOTAR

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (07:14)
The beautiful thing is because I do what I do where I get to set my own schedule, I don't have to give one up or the other. I don't have to have necessarily a whole balancing act as far as work and play and writing go. I at the time wasn't working Fridays at all, which I was a spoiled brat at that time. I just worked Monday to Thursday. So literally Friday was my writing day, my content creation day, my taking my dogs out for a really long walk. And that's usually when a lot of my creative processes would happen and I'd come back and write.

Tina Koutras (07:23)
Yeah.

It

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (07:44)
And I'd get so much done just on Fridays alone and anything else Saturday or Sunday was bonus and extra.

Tina Koutras (07:50)
So how long did it take you to write your first book?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (07:54)
The first draft took me three months. It took me almost no time at all. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. have 15 minute intervals between clients and as my clients were walking in, I'm like, just go get on the table. I'm writing the rest of this scene really quick. I was a psycho. Justin had to drag me off the sofa and put me to bed at least three times that I can remember because I was so into what I was doing.

Tina Koutras (08:10)
Hahaha!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (08:20)
I'd come to bed and I have my tablet, my stylus, and I'm doing like my edits. Justin was like are you ever gonna put this down? It was an ADHD hyper fixation that I wish I could get that mentality and that mindset back. So I've not been able to write like that since.

Tina Koutras (08:35)
I wish you could bottle it.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (08:37)
I know, I wish I could sell that shit. Not only would I be able to help my other indie authors, I'd be able to make a profit.

Tina Koutras (08:42)
That's hilarious. You mentioned that they were kind of with you when you were younger.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (08:45)
Yes.

They had so many different names over the years. I believe Elden was his name, which actually ultimately became a character in Of Curses and Contempt in a wildly different role, kind of like a stepfatherly kind of vibe to our main character. So it's a whole different thing, but I also love seeing characters, even if it's just their name, coming through from old works in progress to kind of seeing them.

Tina Koutras (09:05)
Yep.

Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (09:16)
Getting the life that they deserve like that's really cool I like being able to see that and I said my biggest thing is growing up in a small town and not being able to relate to people very easily and now I understand it's my ADHD and it was Very unnoticed. No one knew about it. I only found out in the last couple of years So it makes sense now why I couldn't relate to anybody but because I didn't

my imagination was all I had. I realize how much of a dork I sound like. But remember, this is like the early 2000s, there wasn't social media at that point. It was books, it was TV, it was video games, and it was what was going on in your own head.

Tina Koutras (09:49)
you

I, most of the time I would agree that what's going on in your own head is so much more fun.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (10:01)
it's so

much more fun, and you make the rules. Why not be in a place where you make the rules? That doesn't make me sound like a control freak whatsoever.

Tina Koutras (10:05)
Exactly, it's fantastic.

So what does your typical writing routine look like with your ADHD brain?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (10:15)
It is chaotic. It can be anything from me trying to take the time and be an adult and be completely practical and go, wow, why don't I set my laptop here? I'll sit and spend two hours doing writing sprints. Here's a scene, let's outline it, let's do it. That's me being good. Most times it's, there's a word or a song lyric or a scene in another book that just.

off goes the scene in your own head and I'm chaotically writing it on my phone of all things and poor Justin, he thinks I'm texting or whatever and he'll come tok to me and I'm like, if you speak to me right now, I'll hit you with a shoe. I have been known to throw a flip flop at him from time to time. He doesn't know what I'm doing. He'll just say, she's just scrolling on TikTok. I'll come tok to her and I'm like, I will end you.

Tina Koutras (11:01)
Hahaha!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (11:01)
poor guy,

I feel, he needs a medal of honor for putting up with me when I'm writing, cause it's never, it's so sporadic!

Tina Koutras (11:08)
That's awesome. So do you have a specific routine or it's literally just everywhere?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (11:18)
It's vibes, it's chaos. I want to be the person that has a routine. Unfortunately, I am a gremlin that thrives on this chaos and that's the best I can do. Sometimes I spend all day. yeah, 100%. I get most of my writing done between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. It's psychotic.

Tina Koutras (11:27)
And are you more of a night owl?

wow.

So it took you, you said three or four months to write your first book. So you must have had everything kind of already planned out a little bit, like the plot line and the, yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (11:42)
The first draft of it, yes.

I sort of, I

am not a pancer. No disrespect to my pancer babes. I have several of my friends who are pancers, but they scare the shit out of me. It's, it's, that is a level of chaos. Even I can't descend to, I have to line out every single thing that happens in the story moment by moment. And basically the book's in point form, separated into chapters and even annotated before I even start to write.

which is why I've been struggling in my current book because I can't seem to figure out how I want this sequence to this sequence to go. So I'm toying with it and I'll figure it out eventually, but not right now. That's a later thing.

Tina Koutras (12:26)
Yeah.

Okay,

so we'll get into that a little bit later because I am curious about that one. Okay. So what do you find to be the most challenging part of writing the book for you? And how do you overcome it?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (12:33)
For sure. For sure.

For me, it's just motivation. I know I can hammer out 2,000 words a day if I actually just sit down and make the attempt to do it, but it's so easy for me to go, I'm hungry, I want a coffee. Ooh, it's a nice day outside. I think I'll take the dogs for a, I can't say the W word, otherwise we're gonna have a lot of screaming going on. I caught myself just in time.

Tina Koutras (12:51)
Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (13:03)
Or, no, social media is right there and now I'm scrolling for god knows how long. Whoops, there goes my two hours that I had for writing. I'm embarrassingly bad for that. As far as overcoming it, still, the jury's out. Depends on the exact day, the exact moment. I need medication, I swear to god.

Tina Koutras (13:18)
More living with it.

you

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (13:25)
working on it. It's a work that itself

is a work in progress.

Tina Koutras (13:28)
So how do you approach your world building for your fantasy novels?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (13:33)
I'm very plot centric. Everything I do has to circle back to the plot. All of the writing advice I've ever seen has been to kind of start plot wise. So it makes sense for my brain. So when I wrote of curses and contempt and of hexes and hatred, I actually wrote the end scene, how this book ends first, before I wrote anything else. I knew how I wanted the story to end and I reverse engineered the entire story. So in order for, you know,

plot point Z to happen, there's my Canadian showing, plot point Z for my American babes. In order for that to happen, A through Y has to happen, but how does that, I reverse engineer everything so that it makes the most sense. I don't know if I'm making any sense at all whatsoever. Thank you, I'm so glad that made sense. That way I don't write myself into a plot hole. That's like my biggest fear.

Tina Koutras (14:09)
you

That's genius. I think that's genius.

It makes total sense to me. I think that's wicked.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (14:31)
Thank you, I'm so glad. I'm so glad I sound sane.

Tina Koutras (14:36)
So, what's your secret to writing the compelling romance and chemistry between your characters?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (14:42)
I am going to sound so damn cheesy when I say Justin, my partner of going on nine years. He is the snarkiest, most sarcastic person you'll ever meet. And it's so funny because anytime someone meets him, he makes me a liar because he's so sweet and you know, this very, very easy going guy. And he totally is, but you'll never meet someone more snarky than him. And a lot of our conversations...

sound like lock and lark and I didn't even realize that until I started reading it back. I'm like, haha, that's something Justin said last week. The silliest stuff.

And then this is gonna sound also weird, because it's gonna go in a different direction. But the other most sarcastic person I know is my mother. If I want a quick reply that's funny and snappy, my mom has it. I have to take 20 minutes in a shower before I think of something funny. My mom is with it. It's amazing.

Tina Koutras (15:36)
super witty.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (15:37)
She is! She's just naturally like that and I'm forever envious of that. Let tell you, I can be funny, I just, I need a minute. Or ten.

Tina Koutras (15:46)
I think you're doing pretty good right now.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (15:48)
I'm so glad you

think so.

Tina Koutras (15:50)
So do you ever struggle with writer's block or because of the way that you write backwards, for lack of a better word, do you feel like you kind of mitigate that?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (16:00)
No, Writers Block does still get me. I've kind of dealt with it the last couple of weeks slash months off and on. It kind of comes and goes. I find that when you're in doubt, and I say this for myself, but I give this out to everybody, with this information what you will. I find it helps when you re-inspire yourself, whether with your story or the stories that initially inspired you and gave you that spark to begin with, whether it's right reading your favorite authors.

Tina Koutras (16:24)
Mm-hmm.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (16:26)
especially ones that align with the way that you write. So I like to, I'm by no means comparing myself to SJM, but the way she writes is similar, I think, stylistically to the way that I write. So I like reading SJM's books when I am super depleted of inspiration. Sometimes it's just a word, a phrase that starts off an entire scene in my head. And that's what helps me.

Tina Koutras (16:50)
Wicked.

That's very cool. So that begs the question, which of the three series is your favorite?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (16:59)
I am so basic when I say ACOTAR I am a Rhys girly hardcore.

All my friends are Cassian girls. am, as much as I love Cassian, I'm not shitting on him by any stretch, but I am such a Rhys fan. And actually, I have to say, I have to admit, this is an admission, I am a fraud. I went to a night in Terrasen ball last year, and I have not read Throne of Glass. I know, I'm a terrible person. I was like, wow, I feel like a fake.

Tina Koutras (17:22)
really?

Well, I mean, you like what you like and ACOTAR is definitely a series that's worth loving. so for me, when I read ACOTAR and it came to a horrible final page, I was so devastated. Yeah. And the next step obviously was to start reaching and grasping for whatever she had next. So I know that it was written in the reverse order, but Tog came next for me. And

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (17:41)
Of course.

Right?

Tina Koutras (17:53)
The, I find for me, like the spice isn't in TOG It's just the plot.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (18:00)
the thing I'm a hoe

and I need my spice I've gotten to that point when the big lead-up is a kiss what are we in high school like I just I can't anymore fair okay fair that is fair I just I can't with the fade to black I just I just I I gotta see the cube I want the cucumber what can I say I just I have to have the spice

Tina Koutras (18:09)
What you want, I think,

Peace.

You want that open door.

So how do you balance writing with your other passions, like your video games and your career in healthcare?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (18:34)
So it sounds like such a cop out, but I haven't played video games in like a little while other than like Justin and I will play Dead by Daylight all the time, but it's not a game where it's like an RPG, story where I'm driven by the story. That used to be my big love. Now it's just DBD or Dead by Daylight simply because it's something that I love that Justin and I love together and we do this most nights. And it's just a fun way of decompressing together. It's something that we do as a couple.

together all the time and it's become our thing and I love it. And it's become just somewhere fun that we can do on our own. We don't even invite our friends. I feel like such a jerk when I say that, but like it's our thing and I love it that it's our thing. It's just, he's my favorite person. I like hanging out with him.

Tina Koutras (19:08)
That's awesome.

Mm-mm.

I suggest one to six.

That's awesome. And I can definitely relate. When Paul and I started dating, we played Dungeons and Dragons and we first started playing with a bunch of people. And then eventually it was, I've had so many. also, I wrote a book about one of my favorite characters and she was, there's two that, cause I had two characters at the same time. I actually had more than that, but.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (19:34)
What was your character?

What was your favorite?

Tina Koutras (19:49)
because we didn't have a group of people that we played with at the time. It was, I had a mage and a warrior and they both had a whole lot to their story because Paul's an incredible storyteller as well. But it was our thing and we didn't care to invite anybody into our world. It was fun that way.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (20:07)
love that and I feel like people who are really good dungeon masters, if we watch how they do it, we could learn a lot about world building. I swear to God, some of the most intense stories I've ever seen have been from dungeon masters.

Tina Koutras (20:15)
Yeah, for sure.

Yes, for sure. Absolutely. I love that. And it's so true. And they have the rules of the world locked down pretty tight.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (20:29)
I've never seen magic systems like when I've seen- I've never actually gotten into a really engaging game of Dungeons and Dragons because none of my friends were as nerdy as I was and it was really frustrating. But this is how nerdy I was. I would watch other people online play Dungeons and Dragons because nobody would play with me.

Tina Koutras (20:45)
Wow, it's become a

very popular thing to do now. Everybody does that.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (20:49)
love it. I was born

in the wrong era. This is bullshit. I want to redo. I was made fun of for my bold eyebrows. I was called bushy brow for fucking ever. And now what does everybody have? A bold brow. And I'm like, this is bullshit. Oh, and the other one that makes me mad. Everyone's drawing on their freckles. I was called freckle face forever. I still get it from some family members and like,

It's not too bad right now because my freckles aren't trying to leap off my face and say hi to you. But in the summertime, I swear to God, they just try to connect.

Tina Koutras (21:23)
You

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (21:23)
And now people are like drawing them on. I'm like, fuck everybody.

Tina Koutras (21:27)
Okay

Okay, so that was a tangent, but it was a fun one. So let's talk about the Cursed Duet What inspired the idea for the series itself?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (21:32)
I'm glad it was fun.

Yes.

So this is where things get a little more somber. I talk about how it's a mental health advocacy book as well. So like people with rejection, trauma, anxiety, maybe people who tried to self un a live. These are all things that I myself have dealt with. And when I said, when I first wrote this, I didn't write it for anybody. I wasn't necessarily planning on publishing. I wrote it for me. So Lark's story is not necessarily a full on self insertion, but it is, it.

Tina Koutras (21:56)
Mm-hmm.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (22:10)
Her character, where she becomes real, it's because it's based in real. And that's what I love about her. And that's what I find a lot of people have really responded to. A lot of people have messaged me to tell me I've never felt so seen after reading a book. I had one person message me that they got a tattoo of something that Locke says to Lark written on their forearm. And they sent me the picture. I freaking balled.

Tina Koutras (22:40)
No doubt.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (22:40)
It's,

I wanted ACOTAR to be darker, grittier, more angsty, but I wanted that rejection trauma put into it. I wanted to see that. And I, the fact that I wrote it, at least I'll never get over

Tina Koutras (22:55)
So, Locke and Lark's banter is a fan favorite. How do you create this dynamic? I mean, aside from chatting with your mom to maybe trigger a thought. I think it's pretty cool.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (23:05)
I know, how weird is that, right? But it's true.

Sometimes I see writing prompts online and they're just like these witty little things. And sometimes it's enough to kind of go, ooh, there's a whole conversation in there that we can have, or it's a funny thought. And if I want to have comedic relief, I really like that moment of comedy relief in a book, especially after we've had like, after I rip your heart out, I want to make you laugh at least a little bit to make you not hate me entirely.

I love those moments where we have that banter, that back and forth. That's what makes us fall in love with the characters. And I take it from, again, my own inspired conversations. Absolutely. For people who read of Hexes and Hatred, the mashed potato scene when Lark gets drunk, that's all based on a very real story. Don't ask for too many details because I don't remember most of them, but that is a very real story. A lot of it's based in realism and it's my favorite thing about my stories. There's something...

Tina Koutras (23:57)
you

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (24:01)
more, I like to think authentic about it.

Tina Koutras (24:04)
I think that's pretty cool. What's your favorite scene or moment from it? Well, we'll start with the first one of Curses and Contempt.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (24:12)
I have two, one from each book. The first book is the first I Love You scene at close to the end of book one. I won't get into spoilery details, of course, but nope, no spoilers. It's lovers to enemies to lovers. So you know what's gonna happen. There's gonna be an I Love You somewhere, but the first I Love You in book one, it gutted me in all the right ways.

Tina Koutras (24:15)
Okay.

Yeah, I was gonna say, no spoilers.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (24:37)
and it wasn't originally going to be in the story. I think that's my most favorite part. My friend sent me a writing prompt and I was like, excuse me, but this is now my entire personality. And it's still to this day, one of my favorite, favorite scenes. It's angsty, it's gut wrenching, it's exciting and it's vindicating all at once. And I'm so here for a scene that can evoke multiple emotions, even if I wrote it. I know that sounds really narcissistic to say.

Tina Koutras (25:01)
you

I love it. And what about the of hexes and hatreds favorite moment?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (25:07)
I'm dropped.

I just scared the dogs because I dropped one of my books but in this one my favorites my favorite section is the proposal scene which happens earlier in the book than you think and it's it's really funny because Locke and Lark are talking shit at each other the entire time even through the proposal and she's got her hands in her in her face and she's like is this really happening he's like well you're kind of missing it I'm down here and I'm being endearing

Are you gonna open your eyes and look? And she's like, if you don't stop that, the next thing that's going to be, you you're gonna be flying across the floor. Like, can you stop? It's just this natural back and forth that I love. And again, it's kind of inspired by my own partner in Eyes Dynamic. That's the way we are. We're very adversarial with each other. And I, there's something so adorable about them.

Tina Koutras (25:55)
It sounds very fun.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (25:56)
There's a few moments in of Hexes and Hatred where I make my readers absolutely despise me, so I had to give them these little tidbits of

Tina Koutras (26:04)
Okay, now I'm nervous. You fall in love with characters, you get really invested sometimes.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (26:10)
If it makes

you feel any better, we also get invested. There's characters that I do dirty, I'm not gonna lie. And I do hate myself a little bit for it, but it was necessary for the story, but it doesn't make it any easier. I still cry when I read certain sections. And to be fair, my editor also told me that I owe her for her therapy during of Hexes and Hatred.

Tina Koutras (26:25)
you

You

So are there any characters, in your books that are based on characters in real life.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (26:40)
So I didn't talk about this one. My best friend in the whole world, her name is Nicole. She's been my friend for a number of years. She's been with me for this entire process. And I bounced more ideas off of her in the original plot outline than anyone else. And including at like three in the morning, she's a nurse. She works in the O-R, or sorry, in the E-R, wrong one. And she's like, why are you awake? I'm like, cause I can't sleep. Okay, this is in my head.

She is Aquarius, so for those of you who don't know or are not familiar with my books, I have the astrology characters and the zodiac signs as characters, and my best friend is Aquarius. Like, you meet my best friend in the story, and it's really cool for me, and she loves it too.

Tina Koutras (27:25)
that is very cool. I love that.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (27:29)
She thinks it's weird seeing how I view her through my eyes. And she's like, oh, that's how you see me? I'm like, yeah, you're a short, sassy brunette. What do you want from me?

Tina Koutras (27:39)
What's the most surprising thing that you've learned about your characters while writing them?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (27:43)
This one's gonna sound like it should have been a no-brainer, but I wasn't anticipating this. Aspen is one of my most favoured main characters by a lot of people. First of all, I never expected that. Secondly, he's a ho. I did not know this. As I was writing a particular scene where Locke and Lark are hungover, Aspen's a bit of a healer, so they're like, well maybe he can fix Lark's hangover.

and they intruded on a moment and there was multiple people in that particular room and I'm like, excuse you, sir. Put your pants on, do something productive. Like it's seven in the morning, dude, figure it out.

Tina Koutras (28:17)
Yeah

I imagine that part was fun to write.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (28:25)
It was, it was just a small moment. it's, it's, it's not in passing per se, but it is a thing that we see. And I'm just like, Aspen where did that come from? Like that was all him. I had nothing to do with that.

Tina Koutras (28:38)
So if you had to describe the curse duet, curses duet in three words or three or five words, what would it be?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (28:46)
Ooh, heartbreaking, angsty, swoony. Couple different things in there. And I picked one that I kind of want to go with that I said earlier, vindicating. For people with also trauma and like bullying, I like to think vindicating.

Tina Koutras (29:00)
Okay. So do you want to elaborate on any of them?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (29:04)
I mean, my whole goal as a writer is to rip your heart out before giving it back to you. That is what I wanted. say that knowing that Caroline Peckham and Suzanne Valenti, the people who wrote Zodiac Academy, are two of my favorite authors and they give some of the worst heartbreak that I've ever experienced. And I don't mean just fictionally, I mean in general. They ripped my heart out in such a way that I didn't think I was ever gonna get over it.

Tina Koutras (29:28)
Hehehe

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (29:31)
looking at you, book seven specifically. I wanted to do that. I want to evoke such an emotion in my readers because isn't that why we read to feel a different emotion and to, I mean, those are the books that we remember the most. So how special is it that I can rip your heart out and give it back to you stitched up and you're like, hell yeah, that was great. That's cool.

Tina Koutras (29:41)
Mm-hmm.

That is cool. It's like a lot like going on a roller coaster. We know it's going to have the twists and turns and we know it's going to make our stomachs leap, but we go on it.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (30:02)
Exactly. But we and

we say thank you. I'll do it again. Yeah, that's the best thing ever.

Tina Koutras (30:06)
That's right.

So what themes or messages do you hope readers take away from your books? So the vindication aspect. Let's explore that one a little.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (30:19)
I hope that people who read my books, there's two camps. I hope that it serves as a reminder that our actions and our words have a severe and profound effect on other people. And in a way that we may never even anticipate. And that's not saying that we don't all screw up from time to time, but we shouldn't be intentionally going after other people.

And that's something that I see still happening today, not necessarily with myself, but I see it online. I see all kinds of negative things and it makes me so sad. I want to see that people feel accepted. feel all the, don't even know how to describe that. I feel like I'm not making as much sense as I'd like to, so pardon me. I want people to be mindful of that. And then for the people who like me have experienced that trauma where

Tina Koutras (31:01)
No, you're doing great. No, it's awesome.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (31:11)
They question whether or not they belong at all, where they wonder if they can ever carve a place in the world for themselves. I want them to see that it can be done. They are worth being here and the world is better with them in it. That is ultimately what I want people to realize. It gets better no matter how dark things get, no matter how rock bottom you feel like you are, the world is better with them in it.

Tina Koutras (31:36)
That's beautiful. And I totally agree. I love that. So that's a very deep moment. Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (31:44)
It is, it is, it is a lot,

it's a lot. They're heavy books, they're heavy and lighthearted at the same time they go back and forth, but there is a lot of angst in my books. And some of the angst isn't all just romance, some of it is taking back your power, some of it is finding that you had power to begin with, both literal and figurative. These are such big moments in these stories and

Having power when you thought you didn't, that can do something to a person where you're like, why didn't I know about this? My life would have changed so much with it. And it makes such a big difference for people.

Tina Koutras (32:16)
Yeah.

It sounds like a very beautiful takeaway. I really, I love that. How has reader feedback, like reviews from Goodreads or the like influenced your writing or your perspective as an author?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (32:29)
Thank you.

This is going to sound so bad. I don't think feedback itself has influenced me. It's more gotten me to realize that not everybody is for me. Not all of everybody who reads my book is not for me. So if it's influenced me in any way, it's influenced how I perceive things. It's actually made me a little stronger.

because some reviews are not the nicest. I will say I haven't had any nasty reviews, thank goodness, because I would cry. I am very sensitive. I always say I give myself an hour or two to really feel in my feelings and then I move on. But there's only ever been one review that's ever really hurt me. And so I was also surprised by my own strength for that, because I thought more sad reviews or bad reviews or one star reviews were gonna hurt more. They don't.

It's okay, people are allowed to feel the way that they want to feel. But yeah, there's only ever been one that hurt and I got over that fairly quickly. So I was really excited about that. I was like, you mean this? I have thicker skin the way my dad always told me I should have. Hell yeah.

Tina Koutras (33:47)
Jessica Leigh was one of the first authors that, she was the first author that I spoke with on it in Ink and Flame. And she was funny because she said that whenever she gets a bad review that makes her feel stuff, she just goes on and reads what people think of Tolkien or other incredible authors that make her, totally grasp, that it's not for everybody. Like you're going to have.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (34:10)
Absolutely.

Tina Koutras (34:11)
The lovers and the haters, it's just the way the world turns.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (34:13)
The way somebody else said this, so these aren't my words, I'll be so for real, but I cannot remember who it was that said this, but I think anybody who's an author or an aspiring author needs to hear this. If you're getting one star reviews, it means that your book has left your immediate community that feels compelled to give you good reviews. These are not people that know you. They don't give two shits about you, which is good. It means you're reaching into new communities of people. That's your whole goal as a writer.

Tina Koutras (34:44)
Very true. That is very true. So that's right. It's definitely the beginning of a good thing. So do you have a favorite interaction with somebody who has read your book? you've already mentioned where somebody got an actual quote tattooed.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (34:48)
So it's actually a sign of a good thing.

That was,

to this day, the most insane thing that anyone has ever said to me ever on purpose. And I was like, my God. Like, really? And she showed me, she said, it was right here, it was let the flames fuel you, don't let them consume you. And it's a tok about how revenge is fine to want, but that's not the only, don't make it your entire personality, basically, which is fair. But thank you. I can't believe I wrote it. I have quite a few things where I'm like, I wrote the-

Tina Koutras (35:09)
Ha ha ha ha ha

Right? It's a great quote.

Ha!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (35:29)
Shit!

Tina Koutras (35:30)
Yes, I think that's probably the third time since Ink and Flame started that I've had an author say that, wait, I wrote that?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (35:37)
yeah, people are like, hey I love

this quote that you wrote and I'm like, shit where was that? Did I write that? shit I did. People know my books better than I do.

Tina Koutras (35:41)
Yes.

So your bio mentions a love for caffeine and cereal. What's your go-to cereal when you're deep in writing mode?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (35:52)
I am a child, okay? I need you to understand that. How I'm 31, I don't know. I Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes. That's it. It's all I want. They're so good.

Tina Koutras (36:00)
Broster Flakes is one of my favorites. mean, I don't eat

them anymore, but I did love them for forever.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (36:06)
So

good. I have a whole thing of Costco sized Froot Loops in my thing right now and it's probably going to be my dinner later. Justin's like, why is that all? Golden Grahams. I don't know if I've ever had that. I don't even know if I know what it is. I'm sure they are. What was the other one? Huh, ain't that the truth? What was it? Sugarcrisp. I used to love Sugarcrisp. That was...

Tina Koutras (36:10)
I also loved Golden Grahams when I was younger. Golden Grahams was like, yeah.

You're kidding. They're on your shelf. guarantee it. I mean, they might not be this week. Who knows?

Yeah, me too.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (36:34)
That was just a sugar high waiting to happen. They're so good though. my God, they taste so good.

Tina Koutras (36:37)
They all are. I know.

So if your rescue dogs, Allie and Easton, and your cat, Cinder's, could talk what would they say about a day of writing with you?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (36:46)
Mm-hmm.

They'd say that I'm not paying enough attention to them. They're very selfish in that regard. They're actually, I know if this video will show, both of them are sitting next to me and then the cat is actually across from me. I'm actually using his cat tower to place my video chat on and he is pissed right off actually. Oh, he was. I'm surprised you guys couldn't hear it. He was screaming at me about 10 minutes ago. He's not thrilled.

Tina Koutras (37:03)
it.

you'll have to thank them for not howling at us.

At

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (37:23)
But yeah, they like to curl up.

Tina Koutras (37:23)
least he's not batting your phone off.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (37:25)
No, thank God he is bad for that at nighttime. But no, they love to sit next to me, but they also want me to pet them while I'm trying to write. Easton likes to sit on my lap. He is a 60 pound cane corso mix, and he wants to sit on my lap while I'm writing. Very helpful. Not Demir, not considerate.

Tina Koutras (37:46)
I have a Connie Corso too and she'll paw at me like the whole time she just paw, paw, paw. Yep, exactly. So if you could co-write a book with any author living or dead, who would you choose and why?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (37:50)
Yes! Little haymakers. And it's like, dude, your paws hurt. Do you mind?

love this question because I am going to be co-writing with one of my best friends and I'm so excited. We're writing a dark romance together. we, she writes more contemporary semi-dark romance anyway. I write fantasy and I like dark romance as well. We have the whole story planned out. We've started writing it. We've got like vibes, a huge ass Pinterest board and like six or seven scenes, including a spicy scene.

Tina Koutras (38:12)
cool.

Cool.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (38:36)
I'm really excited about it, it's gonna be really good. We both are just, she has 27 works in pro, I shit you not. It's actually disgusting how many she has, I'm scared of her, I never wanna piss her off, because with that level of psychosis, I'm not living. I love her to death. For those of you who are maybe not sure who I'm talking about, B. Declan, she wrote Behind the Mask, it came out in April last year. She's the sweetest human being, and the fact that I get to co-write a book with her later is pretty...

Tina Koutras (38:51)
Hahaha!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (39:05)
awesome!

Tina Koutras (39:06)
Is she also Canadian?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (39:07)
She's American. I actually can't remember where the hell she's from, because at first she was in Connecticut, now I think she's in Georgia. She's all over the place.

Tina Koutras (39:09)
Okay.

Awesome! That's really fun. I'm just writing it down.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (39:21)
Book tok brings

us all together and like all of my friends are like, most of my friends that I've connected with are American. One is coming up from Pittsburgh later this year. She's my editor. She's coming up to meet me for the first time later this summer. I'm so excited.

Tina Koutras (39:23)
Eh.

Yeah.

Very cool. So, what is your favourite fantasy or romantasy trope to write about?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (39:45)
love the good enemies to lovers. I love the idea that someone can see the worst of you and still fall in love with you.

Tina Koutras (39:51)
That's a really good way to put it. think that's cool. I like enemies to levers too, especially when it's done right and you can really feel that hatred. But I like the way you just said that.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (39:53)
It's...

Yes, and I'm here for it.

I wrote, in this case, in my books, I wrote a lovers to enemies to lovers. So it's, I got a couple of people who called me out for it first. How is it a slow burn and an insta love at the same time? And it is, fated mates is a thing, but trauma and betrayal and revenge all happen as well.

Tina Koutras (40:20)
wow, that sounds pretty cool.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (40:22)
It gets a little intense.

Tina Koutras (40:24)
I imagine. So if you could live in any fictional world, including the ones you've created, which one would you pick?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (40:32)
I feel like it's really narcissistic if I say I would live in my own world, because I kind of already do. But I would live in Meridian. I loved it there. It's cool as shit. I'd go live in Laugh Valen, because specifically it was modeled after like Minas Tirith. Like that's kind of how I picture it. So like I kind of want to go there. That'd be cool as hell.

Tina Koutras (40:35)
I don't think so.

Okay.

What's your favorite way to celebrate finishing a book?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (40:56)
can show you.

Tina Koutras (40:57)
I love it!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (40:57)
I

got a tattoo for the first one, although I'm a little nervous to do it again because this one got hella infected and I was like three or four months in as an outpatient getting all kinds of needles. So I was a little nervous to do it again, but it turns out I might be allergic to color. Who knew? I didn't even know that was a thing, but I'm still gonna do it again when I finish my Hades and Persephone retelling. I'll get a Hades and Persephone coated tattoo somewhere on my body.

Tina Koutras (41:15)
wow.

Interesting.

Maybe do it in black.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (41:27)
I'm thinking black, yeah, 100%,

no color ever again, not going down that route.

Tina Koutras (41:32)
So interesting. I say that because my left arm is all tattooed without any colour and I never had any problems. My only coloured tattoo is on my right side and it infected. Very cool. Very interesting. Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (41:41)
Mm-hmm.

You too.

And yeah, it's not my first tattoo. That was my first one. no, I mean, if you can call that a tattoo, it's pretty small. know it was my first tattoo. was nervous to get something and no issues whatsoever. Actually, I didn't think this one hurt at all. I almost fell asleep. I was sweating like crazy because I was so nervous. I sweat through the thing. I was like, I'm so sorry. And then with.

Tina Koutras (41:52)
Good.

You got it in a bad spot for your first set too.

really?

Hahaha!

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (42:11)
And then thankfully with my forearm, I again almost fell asleep with it. It was only right next to my elbow that I was like, how long are you gonna be here? And she's like, about a minute. In the ditch, yes. I was like, please make this like a 30 second thing because I'm gonna cry and I don't wanna bitch out.

Tina Koutras (42:18)
Yeah, in the ditch.

you

So if your books were adapted into a movie or TV series, first, which would you prefer, a movie or TV series? I love...

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (42:34)
I would think TV series, because there's a lot of little

things that I feel like a movie would just not do. And if they, they wouldn't. A TV series, dare I say, an anime, I think would be my vibe.

Tina Koutras (42:40)
Do it justice.

I love that. I do, I love that. So who would you cast then?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (42:52)
Dove Cameron has the fine features that I feel like Lark has. The pretty blonde hair that is very Lark coated. I see her as Lark all the time. Or if you really want to get persnickety too, the girl who plays Ciri, Freya Allen in The Witcher. I can totally see her. For Locke, I have so many ideas only because I don't know any names, but my friend swears to God it's Timothy Chalemette

Tina Koutras (42:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Very cool.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (43:18)
And I'm like, you know what? Sure, I can see it.

Tina Koutras (43:22)
Well, he's definitely making a name for himself now, so.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (43:25)
He's so cute. I don't know if I can say that on a podcast. I feel like that's a creepy thing to say, but like, we're going with it.

Tina Koutras (43:27)
You

I think

we're Who knows?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (43:33)
timothy chalame, if you hear this, i am dying. don't ever tell

me that you've seen this.

Tina Koutras (43:38)
Well, I mean, it would be kind of cool if you reached out and said, Hey, I saw your podcast. I mean, what would you do?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (43:44)
Cease

to exist, okay? On a level that I cannot even comprehend, I would cease to exist.

Tina Koutras (43:49)
That's hilarious.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (43:50)
Dork when

I'm single, okay? Like it's a good thing my husband likes me because if I had to date again, I'd be the single most awkward human being on the planet. There's a scene from She's the Man where they're like, do you like cheese? That's me, okay? I can't flirt. The fact that I write flirty banter and spice, I don't know how because I'm such a dork in real life.

Tina Koutras (44:04)
Ha ha ha!

It all plays out the way you plan it when you're writing it. It's just, it's, it's an unknown when it's in real life.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (44:15)
It's

kind of rude how I have this conversation scripted in my head and people in real life go off script. The audacity.

Tina Koutras (44:24)
How rude, right?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (44:26)
It's so rude! It's so inconsiderate!

Tina Koutras (44:28)
So do you see yourself exploring other genres in the future?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (44:33)
I'm so excited to, as much as I love my fantasy romance and my dark fantasy romance, I'm really excited to do Objective Obsession with B. Declan. That's gonna be a hella dark romance. It's probably gonna be, rather than morally gray, it sounds like Dawson's gonna be more pitch black. And I'm really excited to kinda get into that. And in my Hades and Persephone, he's also gonna be morally questionable at best. I'm like, Locke is and he isn't

Tina Koutras (44:58)
Mm-hmm.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (45:01)
Like you understand why he's doing what he's doing and he does it for her and he's very selfless. Whereas I don't know if that's the case for my future MMCs. They're very different and they're getting more and hinged as I go and I don't know what that says about me.

Tina Koutras (45:17)
Practice makes perfect.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (45:19)
Apparently, and

I keep reading more more dark romance and I'm finding a lot more inspo for it and I'm like, I maybe I do belong on a list. That's what something that Justin told me the one time he read over my shoulder and saw some something very hella spicy. And he said, you belong on a list.

favorite thing ever.

Tina Koutras (45:36)
What is one piece of advice that you would love to give to aspiring authors who want to write fantasy or romance?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (45:44)
This is gonna sound so cheesy, it's gonna sound so stupid, but bear with me. Writing in general is fine. When you sit down to write, even if it's shit, you can edit shit. You can't edit a blank page. You have to get something down, even if it's absolute flaming garbage. You can fix garbage. Garbage is great. It's better than nothing. Or as my mother always says so eloquently, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye. You gotta have something to do.

the other thing, if you want to get on a more technical level is one that I usually use. that is vary up your sentence structure. Start with, you know, a longer sentence. Then a short sentence, then like a three word sentence. It varies up for your reader. So they're not reading in a same monotonous tone all the time. And that helps change your writing that changed mine overnight.

Tina Koutras (46:37)
I love that. That's a pacing tactic.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (46:40)
It helps so, so much. That changed my writing. It went from, don't know what this is, to, my God, I wrote that? Totally different.

Tina Koutras (46:45)
I love that.

Yeah, that's awesome. Nicole Holland is the one that taught me about how significant the size of the sentence is for your pacing. I think that's awesome.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (47:02)
These little tips,

these little tips you don't even ever think about until someone says it you're like, well, shit, that makes a lot of sense.

Tina Koutras (47:11)
Right. So where can listeners connect with you and stay updated with your work?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (47:17)
I'm very active on my social media. So my TikTok, my Instagram is where I'm the most active. I do have a newsletter. I'm not married to doing my newsletter. I'm so sorry to my newsletter folks. I think I've done one so far this year. And before that, I think I did it in September. like I'm very, I don't like spamming people. I'm never gonna be spammy, but that's how I keep my people up to date. I give like little extra extras, you know, if I have.

If I wrote something fun for Locke and Lark, my newsletter people get it, my street team gets it. Like that's all the, extras that I do have go in there. Occasionally I'll do a, hey, if you get the newsletter and you're going to come to see me at one of my signings, here, show me the newsletter and I'll give you a free art print, something. I do all kinds of stuff like that. So that's where I, I like to stay in touch with my readers as much as I can. I really love that I have them.

Tina Koutras (48:03)
Yeah. Cool.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (48:10)
So like, like it's still kind of cool. Like there's a question mark at the end of that. People know who I am on purpose. So I'm really grateful to have a readership.

Tina Koutras (48:18)
you

Do you want to show off your books at one more time, nice and slow, and maybe tell people where they can find them?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (48:24)
Yes!

Absolutely, so I have Of Curses and Contempt, I have the hardcover here, and it's a pretty naked book too. I'm a sucker for a hardcover that's pretty with and without the dust jacket, because not everybody likes to read with a dust jacket, I found out. So Of Curses and Contempt is a lovers to enemies to lovers story. For those who wished ACOTAR was a bit darker, it's available on Amazon. I believe it's still available on anywhere you would get books in a retail facility, like Chapters or Indigo or

Tina Koutras (48:39)
Yeah.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (48:56)
Barnes and Noble, all of those are there. And the second installment of the curses duet is of Hexes and Hatred. Same thing. I made it pretty on the inside and the out, just like everybody is. Personally, this one's my absolute favorite and just little fun thing. Everybody needs to watch my social media for the next couple of days, because there's something really exciting coming up. I'm just going to say that. And I'm really excited.

Tina Koutras (49:18)
That's awesome.

Very cool. So finally, if you could leave your readers with one message or one piece of wisdom, what would you choose?

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (49:29)
I know if I'm a wise enough person to leave wisdom for anybody, but if I could say one thing to my readers, it's how much I genuinely love and appreciate them. I wouldn't have this without them. the fact, like I said, the fact that I have a readership at all is incredible. I've had such incredible, I guess, interactions with my readers. I even have this. I brought it up with me.

This is one of the single most special things that someone ever did for me. And it was at my very first book signing last year. It's a little bookmark and they made this for me and they brought it with them to the signing to give to me. I, that's the most thoughtful thing ever. And like the fact that someone cared enough to do that, like I have the best readers in the world. I will not, I will take no criticism on this. I feel very fortunate. It's, it's, it's really wonderful.

Tina Koutras (50:09)
beautiful.

And it's a beautiful dragon. love that too.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (50:21)
I'm a lucky girl, that's all I can say.

Tina Koutras (50:23)
I love that you take it from that perspective. mean, most of the people that I speak to, they have that humble, you know, gratitude about them. But it's really nice when you get to experience like you had somebody tattoo on their skin something that you wrote. And it's just amazing. think that's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (50:44)
said, when I published that, was like, if one person has my books on their shelf on purpose, I will be thrilled. And I know there's hundreds out there. If not, I don't even know if we've broken the thousand mark yet, but if we haven't, we're really close. So like, I'm absolutely thrilled that I have that many people out there that like me, that like my books. And then there's, guess, thousands upon thousands that I haven't discovered yet and that haven't discovered me. And that's a wild ride too. That's my goal for 2025.

Tina Koutras (51:13)
Well,

I am definitely going to be one of those people that has your books on your on my shelf because aside from the fact that they're gorgeous, the plot has me and that's I keep joking around about the fact that every author I'm talking to having experienced the story from their perspective has constantly got me. I have another TBR. I have another TBR.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (51:20)
Thank you.

It's so much

fun tok and being a part of book tok, whether you're a writer or a reader, when you interact with authors and you see things from their perspective, it is so much fun. And you almost get like the director's cut when you text an author or message them like, hey, I'm at this scene. It's like, hey, here's the fun behind the scenes things about this scene. I love doing that. And I love getting, I have a couple authors that do that for me too. And I'm like, I feel special that I get the director's cut.

Tina Koutras (52:00)
That is so fun.

That's so cool. All right, Holly, thank you so much for sharing your evening with us and for talking about your stories and about what's coming next, because I'm definitely going to keep that on my radar for sure. I find that exciting. And I love it when people have a what's next, what's coming, because it gives us something to look forward to when we fall in love with you in the first place. So

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (52:30)
Yeah, I'm

not gonna be a one and done. There's gonna be more. It just might take a while, because I'm writing Hello Slow right now. But I promise you haven't heard the last of me. And thank you so much for having me. I had such a fun time.

Tina Koutras (52:40)
Me too. It was just awesome. Thank you so much.

H. L. Hamilton fantasy romance author (52:43)
Thank you so much.