Bestselling author K Arsenault Rivera returns to the NoNaMe Storyteller podcast for a vibrant conversation packed with laughter, insight, and a love of storytelling across genres. Arsenault Rivera is joined by hosts Aki, Al, and Celeste, and discusses everything from epic fantasy and sapphic romance to supernatural noir and licensed IP.
We dive into her expansive body of work: the fan-favorite Ascendent series (The Tiger’s Daughter, The Phoenix Empress, The Warrior Moon), her ongoing Oath of Fire romance series (she won’t tell us the next title — we tried!), and the noir thriller The Shadowfiles of Morgan Knox, co-written with a writers' group and adapted into a full-cast audio drama on Spotify. Arsenault Rivera shares how writing specifically for audio shaped the story, pushing her to think deeply about how every word would sound to the listener.
She reflects on the writing process — including her thoughts on “show, don’t tell”, how it gets misused, and its surprising connection to a classic CIA psyop. For one of her latest projects, she discusses adopting Saxon-rooted language à la Tolkien, and how deliberate word choices affect tone and resonance. Her love of the editing process becomes a dialogue with her past self — full of surprises, challenges, and insights.
We also talk about her writing setup, complete with a Moonlander keyboard, and the routines that help her stay creative and productive.
Arsenault Rivera also shares the reality of the long road to publication — from her first rejection at 16 to over 70 agent rejections before her breakthrough. Her advice to writers? You just need one “yes.”
🎧 Tune in for a genre-spanning conversation full of laughter, hard-won wisdom, spicy narration moments, and the joy (and chaos) of the writing life.
Keywords: sapphic fantasy author, K Arsenault Rivera podcast, noir fiction writing, The Shadowfiles of Morgan Knox, writing for audio drama, Spotify audio fiction, writing romance scenes, audio narration, CIA psyop show don’t tell, editing as dialogue with self, Saxon vs Latinate language, Tolkien style prose, writing in a group, storytelling podcast, queer fantasy books, rejection stories, cross-genre writing, speculative fiction, LGBTQ+ authors, fantasy worldbuilding, Brooke Bolander, Gabino Iglesias, Sunny Moraine, Martin Cahill, Catherynne M. Valente, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, iambic pentameter, Etrigan, Japanese crime fiction, creative writing process, Moonlander keyboard, writing setup.
Enigma by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100241
Artist: http://incompetech.com/