Fantasy Romance Month wraps up as Caty Rogan joins Devin and Pete to talk Kissed by the Gods, her recent traditional release with Requited and the first book in the Eternal Wars series. Caty writes feminine rage, winged war horses, and epic battles, and she made a believer out of Pete, a lifelong classic-fantasy reader who connected with this one harder than anything else in the genre lately.

We get into the world her husband stress-tested down to the population math, why language "rules" in fantasy are mostly made up, and the Star Wars DNA running under the whole series. Caty cops to Riot and Lena being her grown-up Anakin and Ahsoka fix-it fic, walks through Lena's training arc as someone who already had the badass part and had to learn how not to kill people, and lands on the line that took a few drafts to earn... found and furious.

Plus the pantser problem of fantasy, characters who refuse to do what you plotted, why duet audio is the only way, epigraphs she now regrets making this good, and the side couple that came to her the easiest. She also drops a strong rec on the way out.

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Connect with Caty https://www.instagram.com/catyrogan/

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome and introduction to Katie Rogan

02:00 - Katie’s background in fantasy and transition into romance

05:00 - Making characters emotionally real and side characters memorable

10:00 - Worldbuilding: Landmass, population, and logistics

15:00 - Writing spicy scenes and audiobook experiences

20:00 - Social media's role in publishing success

25:00 - Developing her next project with a focus on character growth

30:00 - Indie versus traditional publishing: benefits and industry shifts

35:00 - Parenting, deadlines, and balancing creative life

40:00 - Audience questions on favorite quotes, reader reactions, and favorite reads

50:00 - Final book recommendations and upcoming projects

58:00 - Closing thoughts and thank you to Katie Rogan