Subject: Queer Characters in Fantasy + Story Behind My Freebie ❤️ 📚

Sci-Fi Fantasy Fiction + Genre Writers, Tools and Events to Feed Your Creative Soul

🚀 Empowering you with core principles, mindset tools, and doable roadmaps to build your sustainable creative career on your own terms.


🐲 For science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers and creative entrepreneurs serving writers.



Queer Characters in Fantasy + Story Behind My Freebie ❤️ 📚




Let's jump right in!


Weekly Podcast


This week's How To Write The Future podcast episode:

Also in this newsletter:

  • The story behind my freebie

  • The latest Writer's Fun Zone posts


❤️

** This email may show up long in your inbox, so you may need to click to expand and to read the full email. Or read online.

Friday, Oct. 17, 2025

Hi Friend,

You've finished your first draft! Congrats! Really, congrats! that is awesome!


But you may be wondering, Now what?


And that is why I created my Ready to Edit checklist and video series freebie.


Here's the story behind my freebie real quick:


I made this because so many novelists hit the same wall after “The End.”


You’ve got a full draft, a head full of questions, and a mix of pride (”I did it!” ) and doubt (”Ack! Now what?!” ).


I wanted to give you a simple, confidence-boosting first step so you don’t stall out.


This checklist distills what I teach in my editing mastermind into a quick, friendly guide you can act on today.


Who it’s for:


- Novelists with a completed first draft

- Especially sci‑fi, fantasy, and genre‑blending writers

- Writers who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what to do next


The quick win it gives you:


- Clarity on where your draft stands right now

- A focused next step so you stop spinning and start revising

- Instant relief from “Is it any good?” with a simple, objective check


Here's my call to action, if you don't already have it:


But first, are you ready for that first or next confident step?


Then grab the “Ready to edit your novel?” Checklist here.


Or use this link:


https://writersfunzone.com/blog/ready-to-edit-your-novel-checklist/


Happy Writing and Editing!


❤️

On to the weekly podcast...

Seamless Queer Characters in Fantasy World Building with Chad Grayson

“I’m not asking for everybody to center queer characters in their narratives in world-building, which would be nice, actually, you know, as nice as that would be.


But just to include us and to show that we exist and in whatever ways are appropriate in your world, whether that is a more like marginal existence in some worlds.”

– Chad Grayson



In “Seamless Queer Characters in Fantasy World Building with Chad Grayson,” I interviewed fantasy novelist Chad Grayson about the importance of queer and neurodivergent representation in world building, protecting your creativity, and productivity tips for neurodivergent writers.


The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace.


Enjoy!


🤩 Sneak peek


In the next episode, Ep. 175, I interview Kaizen Muse Certified Creativity Coach, end-of-life doula, and author, LA Bourgeois about being a creativity coach and much more!


Stay tuned!


Where you listen to podcasts, be sure to like, follow, subscribe -- all the things!


And please, tell your friends. Thanks!


⭐️ 🎧🎙️ All previous episodes of How To Write The Future podcast listed here.


❤️


Happy Writing!



Best,

Beth


PS.


☕️ Applications are opening soon for the editing mastermind for science fiction and fantasy writers who have finished the first draft. Details coming soon.


❤️ Also, opening soon: the Romancing the Subplot intensive by Gala Russ, happening mid-November.

 


🌟 If you find my resources helpful, please forward them to a friend who may need them too. Thanks!



Beth Barany
Creativity Coach for Writers

Teacher, Speaker, Workshop Facilitator
bethbarany.com

I not only teach and coach novelists, I am one too! 

I'm the author of 12 published novels of *Magical Tales of Romance, Mystery, and Adventure* author.bethbarany.com



__________________________


Subscribe to be notified when each blog post goes live. Or wait for the weekly round-up in this newsletter. *Write for us.

Support This Creative Entrepreneur


My mission is to support your adventure as a creative and step into your next best self.


If you want to support my mission, I invite you to:


📚 buy my books: Fiction | Nonfiction


☕️ buy me a coffee


Or share my work with your friends. Thanks!

Beth Barany is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist, and certified creativity coach for writers.


She specializes in helping writers experience clarity, so they can write, revise, and proudly publish their novels to the delight of their readers. 

Here be the legalese: In connection with the operation of this newsletter and business, Creativity Sparks includes affiliate links to trusted partners. Barany Consulting earns a commission from the Affiliate Links which commission is based on the number of sales that are made as a result of users of the Newsletter clicking over to the Affiliate Link and purchasing from the Affiliate Link a product and/or service. Thus endth the legalese.

live in the territory of Huichin, part of the stolen land of the Chochenyo Muwekma Ohlone, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County, in Oakland, California, the San Francisco Bay Area. Northern Hemisphere. Earth.


The Solar System. → Carina–Sagittarius Arm in the Milky Way galaxy. Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Local Sheet → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Local Hole → Observable universe → Universe.


*

I stand with people of Ukraine and all peoples 🎗️ in their fight for freedom from oppression and the right to self-determine. Yes, all peoples. Not just some.



No longer want to receive these writing and publishing tips? I totally understand. Blessings on your path. You can unsubscribe below. However, please do not report us as spam. This negatively impacts our ability to send emails to your fellow subscribers -- the 3,800+ people who enjoy these tips each week -- and I'm sure that's not your intention.