🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where enchanted libraries hide dangerous bargains, sentient books offer forbidden power, and entering the woods may change the course of magic forever.

This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with fantasy author Analeigh Sbrana to discuss the Lords of the Wilds Duology, including Lore of the Wilds and Lore of the Tides.

Analeigh shares her unconventional journey from Bookstagrammer and aspiring indie author to landing an agent through a viral cover reveal and sending her book to auction only two weeks later. She opens up about querying for a year and a half, investing her own savings into publishing, building a passionate reader community, and using her experience in the bookish space to approach marketing and special editions with an indie-author mindset.

We also dive into Lore of the Wilds, where a human woman enters a cursed Fae library, discovers a sentient grimoire, and makes a bargain that transforms her into the world’s first witch. Analeigh discusses writing a soft, whimsical Black heroine, the temptation and consequences of magical power, and expanding the sequel from familiar forests into ships, siren kingdoms, underwater libraries, and dangerous new betrayals.

📚 What would you sacrifice for the power to protect your community?
✨ Can Lore control the magic she fought so hard to obtain?
🌊 And what happens when the safety of the forest gives way to treacherous seas and an underwater kingdom?

This is a must-listen for romantasy readers, lovers of cursed libraries and ruthless Fae, Bookstagrammers dreaming of publication, and anyone eager for soft Black heroines centered in magical adventures.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Analeigh’s journey from childhood storyteller and fanfiction writer to published author.
✨ Returning to writing after photography school, motherhood, and a creative break.
✨ Funding Lore of the Wilds with savings from her Bookstagram preset business.
✨ The viral cover reveal that caught the attention of her future agent.
✨ Going from indie preparations to representation and a publishing auction in two weeks.
✨ Why indie authors should give themselves enough time to market their books.
✨ Building newsletters, ARC teams, preorders, and reader communities early.
✨ Transitioning from Bookstagrammer to author without losing her love for the bookish space.
✨ How Analeigh secured multiple special editions for her books.
✨ A human woman, a Dark Fae lord, an abandoned enchanted library, and the sentient grimoire that transforms Lore into the world’s first witch.
✨ Writing Lore as a soft, whimsical Black heroine who embraces vulnerability.
✨ Why visible representation and character art mattered for the original cover.
✨ The sacrifices Lore makes for magic and the danger of beginning to enjoy her power.
✨ Moving from forests and libraries into ships, oceans, sirens, and underwater kingdoms.
✨ The challenges of writing a sequel in a completely unfamiliar setting.
✨ Analeigh’s upcoming dark-academia epic fantasy, Heir of Prophecy.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Analeigh Sbrana – @AnaleighSbrana

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