What happens when the characters you want to read about are not the characters you keep seeing on the page?

In this episode of The Author Next Door, Angela Haas and Cassie Newell talk with urban fantasy author Deborah Wilde about her journey from screenwriting to novel writing, creating older female protagonists, finding her voice, and building an indie author career around the stories she actually wanted to tell.

Deborah shares how her creative background shaped her approach to storytelling, why representation of older women matters to her, and how writers can turn something that initially feels like a limitation into part of their creative strength.

The conversation also explores the realities of indie publishing, author branding, marketing, Kickstarter, character development, and why building a sustainable career often requires experimentation, iteration, and asking for help.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Deborah’s transition from screenwriting to urban fantasy
• Writing compelling older female characters
• Turning perceived limitations into creative strengths
• Using emotional exploration to develop characters
• Building and evolving an indie author brand
• Navigating marketing without losing your creative identity
• Using Kickstarter and community to support your author business
• Why authors do not have to do everything alone

Learn more about Deborah Wilde:
https://deborahwilde.com

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https://theauthornextdoor.com/

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