Booktrovert Reader Podcast

Meet the Author of 'Symbol of Hope': Fantasy Book Author Amber Paige

Charity the Booktrovert Reader Season 2 Episode 29

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Hello Readers!

One of the best things about Bookstagram is meeting indie authors. In this episode, I meet another author named Amber Paige who wrote Symbol of Hope. She has much to share with you readers on her journey and her book.

What is discussed in this episode:

✨Inspiration behind her characters

✨Amber Paige’s writing process and her being a mood writer

✨Talking about the tough challenge of writing fantasy is the world-building

✨Amber Paige talking about Imposter Syndrome and mental health in her personal journey

✨Advice for first-time authors going into self-publishing

Connect with Amber Paige:
Instagram: @amberpaige_writer
Website: Amber Paige Author Website

Book Review: A Coming-of-Age Fantasy: Symbol of Hope

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Author Interview Amber Paige 8.15.23

 U1 

 0:00 

 Hello, readers. This is Charity, your host of Booktrover reader. I have an exciting guest with me today. Her name is Amber Page. She wrote a fantasy romance by the name of Symbol of Hope. I invited her just to get to know her as an author and to get to know her book that's already released. Amber, just tell me about your book. 

 U2 

 0:20 

 So symbol of hope is about it follows Princess Alana. She is our main character. Ed is one POV. It goes through a lot of emotional loops and twists, and it's mainly about her discovering who she is and growing into this role that she has to kind of fulfill and follow. There's a lot of tribulations along the way, a lot of romance, and it's her journey. And I grew up kind of writing it. I think it took me about ten years to finish it. Part of myself is in her. So it's a combo of our adventures together. 

 U1 

 1:01 

 You said you wrote it in the series of ten years. Is that any of your characters based on yourself or anyone in your life? 

 U2 

 1:11 

Mainly myself. I think that's how it started. I say ten years. It's kind of like an on and off process. So the idea kind of formulated when I was in I think I was like 13. I was very sick at the time. I daydreamed a lot to escape. I didn't start writing it until I was 16, and I was still in that headspace. I was still very mentally and physically sick, so I was using it as a form of escape from reality. I did finish the draft. I was in twelveTH grade at the time, but then I dropped it, and I didn't do anything with it for years. And I would pick it up as I go. And Alana changed as I grew up and as I changed and went through my own personal journey, but nothing stuck until I picked it up again last summer. And I'm really happy with the way it 

 U1 

 2:04 

 turned out. Yeah, because I think the first thing that drew me is the I mean, nobody judged the book by its cover, but I did. Yeah. And I love the storyline, of course, what I'm reading so far. She was hidden away in a village for a very long time, up to like age twelve. I see the correlation. And she was suddenly found out that, hey, I'm a princess, and my father I'd never heard of or never knew of, decided to say, hey, you're my heir to my throne. You want to let me go? You need to come with me. And we're transitioning. Where she has a stepmother, a stepsister. So she's being mistreated by that. And then I think one aspect of it is I've seen the reviews and everything is that the PTSD that she experienced that she goes through. So I thought that was very interesting to see those emotions and to see that her going through that trauma and processing it, which. Is normal for people, but people don't talk about it. You told it that you wrote it over time. You picked it up last summer, and you decided, I'm going to publish that. What gave you that push to finally do that? I can't say for certain. I just had this gut feeling that it's time. Something is telling me to get this story out. Her story is finally ready, and it's to the point where I'm not questioning it anymore. I just decided to listen. And it's been a crazy ride, but 

 U2 

 3:35 

 yeah, I don't listen to my gut often, but when it's screaming at me, I try to listen to it. 

 U1 

 3:44 

 So have you always written fantasy romance in general or it's just this story in particular? I think 

 U2 

 3:52 

 I get in moods, so I think I just kind of fell into that genre because that's just where the story took place. I've toyed with writing thrillers and mysteries. I had a paranormal romance drafted from college, so I try not to put myself in a box just because it's so much fun to step out of it. It gives yourself a fresh mind space, too, so you get to kind of grow with your writing instead of sticking in one little space. 

 U1 

 4:24 

 So do you have anything in the works other than fantasy? Right 

 U2 

 4:27 

 now? I do. This October, I'm releasing it's my first contemporary romance. It's a college romance mental health rep found family, two points of views, lots of banter, and the humor moments. And I wrote it right after Symbol of Hope, and it was so different because I was kind of stepping out of the medieval kind of vibe straight into the modern world. But it was so nice because I was able to take a break if I was editing Symbol of Hope, and I didn't feel like doing it the next day, but I wanted to write, I was able to switch into that different genre, so it kind of gave me mind reset. 

 U1 

 5:10 

 Oh, okay. I find that very interesting, like, people needing to take a break, and it makes sense, but writers usually just go gun ho and don't stop until it's finished. Even as a reader, you need a mental break from 

 U2 

 5:26 

 reading. Yes. 

 U1 

 5:29 

 I like that. It's so relatable. Yes. How did you approach your characters with it royalty being the main theme? Because you have a lot of complex characters in this story. 

 U2 

 5:41 

 Yeah, I daydream a lot, and I tend to use that as my brainstorming. That's how I brainstorm. I try to formulate how they act and react and what they say and how they respond before I get it on the page and. If it doesn't seem right, I keep replaying the scene until I feel like it's good. It took me a while to get some characters right. I will say Alden wasn't Alden. 1s His personality 1s in the first draft is nothing like the personality he has now. It took beta readers and alpha readers to kind of get me into that, like, okay, this is where I want him, but I don't know how to get him there. So it was nice that they were able to help know it took time. Alana was easier because I was able to put myself into her to kind of view things from her point of view. Some of the characters kind of stayed the same throughout the years, so that was also easy. Darien also changed. He didn't change much from the first draft from last summer, but from the original, original draft, he was supposed to be older, like an older king who was looking to remarry. So I'm happy that he changed because he was very creepy, 2s but it just takes time, and for me, it's all about just kind of playing it like a movie until I'm happy with it. 

 U1 

 7:14 

 I see 1s the love triangle that you've developed in there. You immediately see her conflict from the get go. What inspired you to because I want to understand what inspired you to get to that point without revealing anything. 3s I didn't intend for it to be a love triangle. It was supposed to just kind of be like her trying to talk herself out of it. Like, yes, I'm feeling these feelings for this person, but I can't focus on that because that is not what my future is dictating me to do. Things happen, your feelings get in the way, and your heart kind of takes the lead, and you got to listen to it. And I think that's also a good theme in the book is listen to your heart and not always your mind 100% of the time, because it can be a battle. Darian and Alden are very different, and they have their similarities, but 1s I don't know, it's complicated when I think about the two of 

 U2 

 8:17 

 them 1s without revealing too much. But I tried to make it clear right away that it was an internal battle. 

 U1 

 8:28 

 Right. Yeah. Because I think a few times she's like, I got to stop thinking about that. Yeah. Stop 

 U2 

 8:34 

 looking that way. Don't stop thinking about him. She was definitely immediately attracted to Aldrin, but 1s she's royalty line. She was never really interested in being married in the first yeah, yeah. 

 U1 

 8:51 

 And of course, because she's a woman, 

 U2 

 8:54 

 you know? Yeah. Which didn't help either, because she immediately walked in with the mindset of, I'm going to get rid. This guy 

 U1 

 9:01 

 and 

 U2 

 9:02 

 make it seem like he left on his own accord. And then Alden steps in, and that kind of adds more to the, oh, well, if I get rid of him, then he leaves. 

 U1 

 9:14 

 I did have to ask because usually when it comes to the kings, the fathers, 1s the men rulers, they're usually really dictatorial. They're really mean, they're evil a lot of times. But you wrote him as a very kind and very generous father, and I'm like, who inspired him? Because that's not what the normal fantasy does. 

 U2 

 9:37 

 Yeah, my dad played a good part of that without revealing things. The kind of turn also follows the path my dad took, but I wanted it to know Alana deserved a good parental figure and a good support system, and I didn't want that to come from just Meredith. So I was like, why not be different? Why not make it so the king is absolutely head over heels with his daughters and he loves them and he kind of lets them do and get away with whatever they want. And it was fun because I was able to put what I hoped my father would do growing up and what I expect a parental figure to be like. So I was able to kind of manipulate that and add it into him. And he was a blast. Really fun to write. And it healed part of my childhood. 

 U1 

 10:31 

 Yeah, I can see that because he even defended her in some situations with the stepmother. Even though he loved the stepmother, he was like, yeah, you're not going to treat her like that. 1s I thought that was very interesting to see for once, totally aspects that I thought that was fun to read. Yeah. 

 U2 

 10:51 

 I try to make a balance because obviously he loved his wife, but his daughter comes first, 

 U1 

 10:59 

 the heir to the throne. 1s Would you say you a plotter or a prancer? Obviously you took time to write this and you would think daydream about everything, but did you like, okay, here's my idea, then just write it out, or did you plot everything in the characters? 

 U2 

 11:17 

 No, I'm a panster. 

 U1 

 11:20 

 You're my first pantser. Yeah. 

 U2 

 11:24 

 I often say it's bad. I'll go in with a general idea of what I want the story to be, but the moment I start writing it out, it can happen after chapter one, it can happen after chapter two. The characters will kind of come to life and tell me how it'll go. And at that point, I'm just dictating it. 1s It's such a magical feeling, but at the same time, it's nerve wracking because you don't know what's going to happen. So when I started next release in October, her, it all revolved around one daydream I had I had to formulate a story. Around it, and I knew I wanted to write it because I was obsessing over this scene in my head. Remember I was sitting in my office at work, I had my laptop, and I just started writing chapter one, no Plans, just went for it. 

 U1 

 12:12 

 And 

 U2 

 12:15 

 it's like, okay, I don't know how good this is, but let's just see what happens. I don't know, the idea of plotting kind of scares me just because it's a lot and don't 

 U1 

 12:25 

 know, overwhelming. 

 U2 

 12:27 

 Yeah. For me, it kind of takes the fun out of it because I like that moment where the characters are like, okay, now it's my turn, and you kind of back away. Do you give 

 U1 

 12:37 

 room to it? Just whatever it feels? I just want to ask because you say you daydream. Do you have like, a notebook or do you just remember all your daydreams? Because I would forget. 

 U2 

 12:50 

 I remember the ones I obsess about. Okay. I do have note column on my phone for things that just kind of sporadically happen, and if I don't think I'm going to remember it, I try to jot it down. I'm trying to be better at it because my memory is I don't know where it's going. Yeah. I tend to remember, but only if it's good. If it's a split second, I try to write it down. 

 U1 

 13:18 

 Yeah. I can see that sometimes you struggle with just like, going to the other room and you're like, what am I doing in here 

 U2 

 13:25 

 for you? Yes. And I have so many stories in progress. It's taking up too much space for everyday activities. 

 U1 

 13:34 

 You're running out of Ram space or something. Hard drive space. 

 U2 

 13:38 

 Yes. 

 U1 

 13:39 

 Do you have any other fantasy books in the works? Because I don't think Symbol of Hope has another book, but unless you're doing a spin off or 

 U2 

 13:47 

 something. So with Symbol of Hope, I do plan on doing a it's going to kind of interconnect into it. So it's going to take place prior before the ten year like within the ten year gap from the prologue in chapter one. And then I don't know how deep it'll connect into the book because I don't want to take that story away from Alana, but I do plan on something, and I don't want to say who it is because then it kind of reveals the ending. But I have that in 2024. I have a magical Academy Grumpy Sunshine romance fantasy story coming out, and then I'm working on a fantasy romance series. Okay. Yes. 

 U1 

 14:31 

 So you got a lot in the works coming up. Yeah. 2s The Academy one is with Alpha readers that I'm hoping will go to editing in November. Anything happens with my fantasy series, I want all three books to be done because I'd want to rapid release them. I don't do well with Cliffhangers, 

 U2 

 14:50 

 and I know a lot of people don't, so if I could rapid release, that would be the dream. It so when you say rapid release, just maybe, like, all of one year. Just release them all. Yeah. So if I release the first book in May, then the following book might come out in July or August. There would be a few months gap. 

 U1 

 15:13 

 I think that's the hard part about I did recently read an Arc, and it was so good that you're still waiting for the date for it to be published, and there's no date on when the second book or will be written, so I think that's a great idea to do. Yeah, it's rough, 

 U2 

 15:29 

 and this way, the story is fresh and the excitement is fresh, and you don't have to kind of remind everyone what 

 U1 

 15:37 

 it was about. Take 30 pages. Like, oh, yeah, this happened, and this happened. 2s Some troopers actually read a book before the series that I'm like, or they reread it, and you're just like, oh, man, 

 U2 

 15:53 

 I applaud you. 

 U1 

 15:55 

 I know I can't do that. I tried. Especially the 700 to 800 page books that people reread before the next one. And I'm like, 

 U2 

 16:05 

 yeah, I don't know how. Or, like, they do it for just, like, a comfort read. And I'm just like, man, 

 U1 

 16:12 

 that's not on my comfort read. No, that's a Lord of the Rings journey right there. You're just going to the late mordor when you could just fly an eagle to get there. Yeah, 

 U2 

 16:23 

 exactly. 

 U1 

 16:24 

 All right, so what is the hardest thing about writing a fantasy book, and how do you overcome it? I've discovered it's the world building. 1s Okay. Well, I guess it started with my Academy One. 1s If you have magic, you have a magic system, too, along with the world building and the character building. You want to try to weave it in the whole thing so it's not all bam. Right in your face. Especially in the beginning of the book. I had to learn how to do that, and it took some time. I did some research, and I read some books, and to see how other authors did it. 

 U2 

 17:05 

 Building Symbol of Hope was easy because it was in my head for so long, building this new world for the new book, it took some time. Again, I use Pinterest a lot, too, for aesthetic boards, and it helps me imagine things and even describe things. I feel like that helped a lot, especially with the world building. The magic was easy. It's more of explaining the rules of the magic that can be kind of tedious and kind of redundant, if you will. But it's fun. But again, you kind of want to learn how to trickle it in so it's not like, shoved in your face as soon as you open the book. 

 U1 

 17:45 

 Yeah, because sometimes, as a reader, 1s I like world building. I love world building, but sometimes it can make or break a read if you're too heavy on it. And I understand the intricacies of it, but. You want people to finish your book? 

 U2 

 18:01 

 Yeah. 1s Personally, I don't want to read paragraphs on end of just world building. That's where I tend to get bored and I'll start skimming. If I could do paragraph or two, give me some dialogue, give me some action, and then if you had to keep explaining the room or the situation, do it. Then just kind of break it up so it not all it just goes and goes and 

 U1 

 18:27 

 goes, right? Yeah. You're the second person I heard about the Pinterest for us, and I think that's so fascinating. But it's imagery, so it helps you keep those things in mind. Do you have a spreadsheet or anything to keep track of characters or anything like that? 

 U2 

 18:46 

 I need to start 2s I had to start so with Symbol of Hope and Forever Crush, which is my book coming out in October. I didn't need it because it was easy, because everyone's names are easy to pronounce. In my next one, that's when I had to start coming up with really fantasy and witch and wizard heavy names. So I had to start writing things down, but then I would notice, I would forget things like character traits, what they looked like, what their eye colors were. My recent editor sent me a spreadsheet and I was like, this is brilliant. I think I need to start doing this instead of just having a notebook and then losing it and then just deciding to just go for it. 

 U1 

 19:32 

 Oh, yeah, I could see that. Like a textbook. And you're like, I know something about it. Mentions this, but I don't know where to find 

 U2 

 19:40 

 it. Yeah, 2s I'm pretty sure this is how their name is spelled, but I can't remember. And it's like you don't want to scroll until you find them again. I think the spreadsheets are absolutely brilliant. I think there's even some apps. I haven't dove into any of those yet, 

 U1 

 19:58 

 though. You're still prancer, but you're, like, trying to revitalize a little plotting. A little planning. Yeah, 

 U2 

 20:06 

 it's just to kind of keep up with my brain. 

 U1 

 20:08 

 Yeah. We're human. We don't remember everything. If you do, I'm like, So you got a lot of fantasy works and you're publishing a romance. Are you still entertaining getting into other genres in the future or still in the back burner? 

 U2 

 20:23 

 This one story that kind of plagued my mind for a while. I don't think it'll have a romance or fantasy component. I think it's more fiction. Maybe thriller a little bit. Okay. But I haven't 1s done anything with it. I think the last time I picked it up was, 1s like, my last year of college to 2017. But I just kind of got back into reading or writing, and I have just too many ideas I'm trying to keep up with. It's on my list to kind of play with. If something else is calling to me more strongly, then. He kind of gets pushed down. I 

 U1 

 21:02 

 get this vibe of exactly how a mood reader does things, and I love that 2s because even in work, I'm just like, this is my attention. This is what I'm feeling like, and I'm doing it for reading as well. So it's refreshing to hear that. Yeah, 

 U2 

 21:21 

 I'm absolutely a mood writer. It's like, I don't hate it because I don't want to ever have to force myself into doing something. So I always try to have some kind of work in progress so I don't get distracted or if I don't feel like it, then I try not to have too many open at the same time because then I get overwhelmed. Like, right now I have the spin off for Forever Crushed in the work and then the next story of my fantasy series. So I can kind of flip flop it if one gets not too boring, but if I get distracted by it and want to kind of dive back into fantasy, 

 U1 

 21:56 

 it's like I hate saying this, but do you have a day job? I do. Yeah, 

 U2 

 22:01 

 I do. 

 U1 

 22:03 

 So may I ask what you do for 

 U2 

 22:06 

 yeah, I'm a blood bank supervisor at a hospital I live around. It can get more complex being on the supervisor end. I'm doing a lot of reviewing, making sure everything runs smoothly, and a lot of meetings. It can be a lot of running around because I'm also in the lab as well as my office. Yeah, it can be hard to juggle, but also kind of why I wanted to write, to kind of give myself an outlet. 

 U1 

 22:32 

 Are you like a morning writer or evening writer? 

 U2 

 22:35 

 I'm a little bit of everything, honestly. It's whenever the mood strikes. If I feel like writing and I have time in the morning, then I try to do it in the morning. Or if I'm on my lunch break and I want to try to get a few words out, then I'll try to do it then. But I think my heavy writing is mostly after work. That's when I'll just be on my computer and I'll just go. I 

 U1 

 23:00 

 heard a few times that it's like a form of self care for some people to be writing. Like, maybe I should take up writing. 

 U2 

 23:07 

 Yeah, it has its dark side too. I kind of joke, but writing sent me back into therapy. 2s When I started last summer, I didn't know that when you write, part of yourself gets exposed. And I was having feelings come up that I thought I got over, and I ended up just kind of bottling down. The impostor syndrome got really dark for me, and I had a complete mental break. I was like, 1s I need to get back into therapy. I need help. I can't keep going day to day like this. And it was dark for a while. I avoided writing for a few months, but I also missed it, so it never really became writing. 1s The villain, I guess, right? If anything, it saved me because who knows how long I would have really lasted until I cracked. But I'm able to use writing as a way to heal and a way to cope, a way to distract myself and have fun. The impostor syndrome, it exists. Every author, every person goes through it at one point in their life, right? But I kind of use it, kind of educate people too, and just be like, hey, you're exposing yourself when you're writing. It might come up. Don't let it win. Kind of acknowledge that it's there and let it ride out. Because the second you bottle it down, it's going to come back stronger. It will get worse before it gets better. 

 U1 

 24:50 

 I was going to ask you anyways because like you said, anyone and everyone can go through impostor syndrome. And I definitely feel like I'm going through my ups and downs with Impostor syndrome, but I think that's something I probably need to myself. Start acknowledging it, as you would say. I think once you acknowledge, what would you say that you did next in that process to not let that impostor syndrome get to you? 

 U2 

 25:19 

 It took a lot of practice. I would kind of just say to myself, okay, I hear you. 1s Because when you go through impostor syndrome, I kind of read and I kind of learned that it's because your body is trying to protect you from the unknown. It doesn't know if you can handle whether A or B happens. So I took it as my brain is trying to protect me even though it's being mean. So I would just kind of say to myself, hey, I hear you, but I don't agree with what you're saying. As crazy as it sounds, you kind of have to talk yourself off that ledge and just be like, I understand you're there, but I don't want to go down that road. I don't have time to kind of listen to that negativity right now. Once you calmed yourself down, I just recommend do something you enjoy, whether it be watch something funny on YouTube or watch a comfort show or read a book or listen to some music, as long as you focus on your feelings and don't push them down. Because the second you push them down and it might come back the next day, but it'll come back stronger again. It took time for me to get there. I feel like I wouldn't be where I am without seeking mental health treatment, finding a support system of my own. It's comforting also to know you're not alone. There's other people going through this and other people who can relate. All you have to do is ask for help. If you need help, 99% of the time, people are going to help you because they can relate. 

 U1 

 26:50 

 I think people need to understand it's normal, it's okay to be going through something like that. But it's what you do to get yourself through it? It's so pivotal. You moving forward with your dreams, your aspirations, your goals. So it's encouraging to me because it's something I struggle with as well. 

 U2 

 27:08 

 You take it one day at a time 

 U1 

 27:10 

 and don't give up. I think that's even if you want to. Yeah. So you went a self publishing route. Did you try to go to a publishing house at first, or you just went straight to self publishing? 

 U2 

 27:24 

 I did. I did try to query. I got impatient. I got tired of getting the generic rejections or just no rejection or just no response at all. After researching, I liked the prospect of self publishing more because I'm able to keep my rights, I'm able to keep my story, and I don't have to alter it to fit Big House. Whatever image of my story and whatever's in right now. 1s Self publishing in itself is its own monster. But I absolutely think it's worth it. 1s I work with and I talk with a lot of new authors. I mean, I'm still new, I'm still a baby, but I try to offer as much advice as I can, because when I was starting, I had so many questions that I had no one to ask. It was a process, but it was absolutely worth 

 U1 

 28:20 

 it. I've been coming across a lot more indie authors lately, and I've been finding that they're just as amazing writers and talented storytellers that I'm like, wow, they're coming out of the woodworks right now. Especially with Kendall Unlimited being more accessible to the average reader. Did you find that helped you with your writing, getting it out there? It absolutely did. I was able to reach more people, and more people have access to it. I have been kind of watching a slow uptick, which is really nice to see. And Kindle Unlimited has KDP has its own downside, but I feel like every big name 1s is a challenge and you just kind of have to go with it, unfortunately, until something more friendly comes along. But 

 U2 

 29:13 

 it's super helpful. It's given me access, and it gives everyone really access to kind of follow their dreams and the author route. 

 U1 

 29:21 

 I know that sometimes just being able to have more access to titles is what's beneficial, yet, like you said, it has its downfalls. But it might be the one thing that helps authors just get in front of people. If when you're reading Fantasy, this is kind of almost off topic a little bit, that's, okay. What is the one thing that you wish that authors would stop doing? That's a good question. The first thing that comes to my head is to stop trying to be like other authors. I feel like stories are kind of too similar to other stories. I kind of just wish authors would kind of show themselves more instead of. Trying to be like other big name authors because everyone has their own style, everyone has their own sense of uniqueness. Readers get bored. I don't want to read the same type of book by a different author my entire life. I don't want to read the same kind of story because then I'm going to get bored. I understand there are some worlds and some I guess the term would be kind of like myths or mythologies that are extremely similar but throw a unique twist to it. You don't have to kind of take the standard route, right? Because as soon as you throw a twist, that's what's going to keep my attention and the reader's attention. That's when you kind of learn the type of writer you are too. A lot of romance books, I'm reading more of them now that I'm writing them. And I'm discovering a lot of authors follow the third act breakup. It's a common formula. I won't lie. When I started writing, I thought I had to do it. Even though I absolutely hated it. I was like, I don't want to do this, but I have to do it. I feel like it's kind of an easy way out. But challenge your brain. Challenge yourself to kind of think outside that box. There's so many more options than just following that road. For my book coming up, it takes a deep dive into mental health and it becomes more of an internal struggle than an external struggle. I think that follows in terms of fantasy, too. I feel like a lot of books try to be like AKATAR or 

 U2 

 31:28 

 what's another one? That's what I'm noticing. I don't 

 U1 

 31:31 

 know. Everyone is like Akatara. Yeah, 

 U2 

 31:34 

 which is fine because the Faye world, I know it's very linear. It has its own myths and rules. But put a twist to it. It's okay. You can change it up a little bit, give it some originality and just have fun with it because I think that's important too. It's not all about making money. It's just about having fun and providing an escape for yourself and for your readers. I think that's what's really tough too, because not only as a reader has to not always comparing everyone's books creatively because there are going to be similarities. There's not always going to be the total original ideas. At the same time, it's like you said, everyone is trying to mimic some form of whatever's popular or whatever's going around. And it's like, I did read a book that felt so similar to AKATAR that I was just like, I can't do know it's like I wanted to love it. Because they did put their own unique twist, but they were putting elements that were in. See that? 

 U1 

 32:35 

 I can see that. Just to kind of start wrapping things up, what advice would you recommend to others, authors who are starting out self published? Just 

 U2 

 32:44 

 go for it. Don't let the idea of publishing scare you that obscured me for a while and that threw me off track for a very long time. Get your story out. Out. Have fun doing it. Find a support group. I feel like that's very important with other. Authors who you can ask questions, ask advice, brainstorm, create your own little community, because self publishing, it's a challenge. It's a roller coaster. It's going to have its highs, and it's going to have its lows. And my best advice would be find someone you can share those moments with because it's rough when you're doing it 

 U1 

 33:19 

 alone. I can see that. All right, well, thank you so much, Amber. Just tell about some places that you can find your book online and where they can go to get it. Yes. 

 U2 

 33:31 

 So Symbol of Hope is available on Amazon and Kindle unlimited. It is also available on Barnes and Noble. Just online, not in stores. Maybe in the future, who knows? 

 U1 

 33:42 

 Just make sure you get a know with your book Noble So. All right. And I'll just list everything in the show notes to be able to find her information. Make sure you follow Amber on Instagram because it sounds like she has so much going on in the future that I'm excited to see 

 U2 

 33:58 

 what she has going forward. 

 U1 

 34:00 

 Thank you so much, Amber, for joining me. 



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