Bethany Spiller | Updates

Prince Cyrus and the Great Test

Bethany Spiller — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:41:53 -0400

Published as part of White Crown Publishing's Princess Moments series, Prince Cyrus and the Great Test is a short story about a young prince who sets out to rescue a princess from a tower.

]]>

The Royals From This One Specific Messed Up Family

Bethany Spiller — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:50:21 -0400

This is a detailed sneak peek at current series in progress, an interconnected fairytale retelling.

]]>

tumblr account

Bethany Spiller — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:53:05 -0400

This isn't an essay or article, but you can check out this blog to stay up to date with behind the scenes looks at my works, primarily Maristella Arrington: The Admiral's Daughter and other stories from The Arrington Chronicles.

]]>

In Defense of Romance (A Genre Uniquely Set Apart)

Bethany Spiller — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“What are you reading?”

You shudder.

The question itself isn’t so bad. You’re reading a book, and at that, it’s a book you enjoy, with positive themes that spark your interest. Still, you hesitate, because if you keep talking, you know you’ll say that word, the one that leads to a look of false understanding and an unspoken judgment:

Romance.

But here’s why you don’t need to be ashamed about that romance novel you’re reading.

In literary discussion, we’re always taught that there are certain conflicts in stories, and all stories fall under one of these conflicts. In a story of Man vs. Man, two characters face each other. In Man vs. Nature, it’s a person (or persons) against the elements, a quest for survival. Man vs. Society highlights how the rules and expectations that govern our actions war against the way one would like to behave. Man vs. Technology, a newer source of conflict, is a battle between a character and some machine, (a struggle which anyone who owns a printer can relate to.) In a Man vs. Supernatural story, the hero tries to overcome forces far more powerful than they, and we cheer for the underdog. Man vs. Self is about a character’s journey to understand and face their very nature, the things that make them who they are, and to seek to win and overcome. The final conflict, Man vs. Destiny, is all about someone stopping the unstoppable from coming to pass.

Here’s what sets romance apart as a genre. All of the above are tales of “Man versus” or “Woman versus” or “army of child soldiers versus” or “anthropomorphic animal versus” or any other such conflict. We want to see our character triumph over their enemy. We want the underdog to win, and we want one character to defeat another, and we want the character in the woods to make it out alive, and we hope that, if someone in a story is able to overcome their conflict with themselves, maybe we can, too.

But a romance is not a tale of “Man versus.” It’s a tale of “Love versus.”

In the above conflicts, we pit man against its surroundings and see if it will conquer. But in the romance, the champion horse we bet on isn’t either of the characters; it’s the love they have for each other.

Love Versus Man: Is Love stronger than the person who tries to stop it? Is there anything one person can do that will circumvent the Love of others? Is Love more powerful than any man?

Love Versus Nature: Is Love enough to get us through until help arrives? Can Love guide the way to safety? Is Love getting in the way of survival, or is Love the very key to our survival?

Love Versus Society: Is Love strong enough to endure when others tell it not to? Is Love worth the risk of what others might think of you for it? Is Love enough to see what everyone else deems crazy as the only logical thing to do?

Love Versus Technology: Is our Love going to matter in a world of ones and zeros? Is it possible for something mechanical to know what Love is? Is Love what sets us apart from what’s unnatural?

Love Versus Supernatural: Is Love going to protect us from something greater than us? Is Love the true magic that overcomes evil? Is Love going to stand the test of time, even up against a force that claims itself more powerful?

Love Versus Self: Can Love fix the parts of me I didn’t even know were broken? Is Love worthy of sacrifice? If Love is allowed to change me, who do I become?

Love Versus Destiny: Is Love what pulls everything together, or are there other forces at play? Is Love able to overcome obstacles that are as fixed as the stars in the heavens? Is Love powerful enough to change what is written in stone?

Aren’t these questions the ones we all ask? Is Love real, and is it powerful, and is it enough to triumph in even the circumstances I put it through? As we ask these questions, we know the answer we want to hear. We want the answer to be “yes.” Do you know what it is to ask a genuine question, not knowing the answer, but knowing what you wish the answer to be?

It’s hope, and it’s the point of every good story. It’s believing in something impossible, creating a world where right prevails, and knowing, even when everyone tells you not to, that things can work out in the end. To tell a story is to create a hope, and there is no nobler hope than to hope in the power of love to conquer all.

]]>

Which Maristella Arrington: The Admiral's Daughter character are you?

Bethany Spiller — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Today on "Things I Did Instead Of Writing," I made a uquiz so each of you can discover which character you are from Maristella Arrington: The Admiral's Daughter. Are you cunning, like Maristella and Adrian, or loyal and competent like Verity and Evelyn. Perhaps you're as smart as Conroy, or have as much little-explored depth as Victor!

Which MA:TAD Character Are You?

]]>

The Dying Art of Brainstorming (And How To Revive It)

Bethany Spiller — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Maybe ideas come easily for you. Maybe you excel at figuring out what to do next. Maybe you don't stop in front of the blank canvas and the empty document and cower in fear over a failure that doesn't even exist yet.

Or maybe you're like me.

Maybe sometimes you wonder where your story's supposed to go. Maybe you can't figure out what comes next. Maybe an idea is bursting within you, and you have no idea how to break it out.

And if you're like me, here's seven methods for brainstorming, and fleshing out your story in a way that only a human ever could.

1. Spend Some Time Unstimulated.

Do you ever wonder why "shower thoughts" have become the birthplace of modern philosophies? I don't suppose it's a coincidence that we have more original thoughts while showering, and that showering is also one of the only times spent staring at a blank wall, doing a wordless task, and not listening to any music, tv shows, or advertisements. Protect that time, and times like it, and seek to increase them.

Keep a notebook in the bathroom to collect stray thoughts without autocorrect trying to fill them in. Try to do a few routine tasks without music and see where your brain leads you. Leave your phone in another place as much as possible, charge it on the other side of the room at night, and before you turn to doomscrolling to cure your boredom, ask yourself if it's such a bad thing to just let yourself be bored. Stop filling your brain with a steady stream of other people's thoughts, and let your own thoughts take root.

2. Take A Hike!

No, seriously! Go for a brief walk before you start writing. It can even be inside if it has to. A study¹ has shown that the act of walking is what gets the creative juices flowing, not the mere change of scene from doing so outside. Taking a walk, especially if you can do so without external stimulation, as mentioned in the previous point, can get your creative juices flowing in ways that just sitting and thinking won’t.

Pace the room. Go around the block. Walk to the library and back and note what you see and hear around you. Describe things in your head as though they were a poem. See if you can do it all without your phone or any music. Listen to your thoughts. As soon as you're back, start writing any ideas that come to mind.

3. Brainstorm In Your Own Handwriting.

Technology is awesome, but sometimes it's a little too awesome. We want to type something perfect, fill in exactly how the page is supposed to look, and have no choice but to backspace “bad ideas.” Stop it.

Grab a cheap notebook or an old whiteboard or even a napkin. Write it down. Capture any scattered thoughts on the paper. Not a great idea? Scribble it out, but not so hard you can't come back to it. Doodle arrows and timelines and smiley faces. Need to restart? Turn the page, but keep the old one. Let some words be bigger or smaller or messier or neater, or even different colors. Just keep writing.

4. Worldbuild Your Way.

Figure out what it is that excites you about a fictional world, and let it come alive for you. What interests do you have that can help shape the world your characters live in?

Make a map for your world. Draw art of your original characters, or create them on Picrew or Heroforge, and think about every detail you put into them. Write detailed lists and histories. Construct elaborate family trees full of people the audience will never see. Create diagrams of vehicles and vessels. Write in-universe materials. When you come up with an idea, write it down, even if you know it won’t be canon lore. Develop a language or alphabet or font. Find a list of questions about your characters and answer them all. Create creatures. Once you see what the story looks like, it'll be easier to see where it takes you.

5. Let Other’s Worlds Help Shape Yours.

One of the most prevalent crimes an author can commit against themself is to avoid media that reminds them too much of their story, for fear of plagiarism (and perhaps, admittedly, to feed their desire for self-reliant uniquity.) Instead of fearing inspiration, let it transform your works. Just as you are an amalgamation of all of the things you’ve ever loved, your story can be shaped by what you observe around you in a way you would never be able to write on your own.

Read books of a similar genre. Make playlists of songs that remind you of your characters, and stare out the car window while you listen to them. Make a movie marathon of films that fit your story’s vibe. Find a fellow author who writes in your genre and ask for advice and feedback. Keep a commonplace journal of quotes and lyrics that can inspire your story. Write an epigraph if you want. Don’t be so precious with your words that you’d sacrifice the best version of your story for the sake of your own shallow pride over it.

6. Get Yourself A Rubber Duck.

"Rubber duck debugging" is a programming term, in which, while describing a frustrating, problematic line of code to a rubber duck, a programmer figures out where the problem or bug in their code lies. This works for plot holes and writer's block as well.

Find a dedicated "rubber duck" to "debug" your writing to. Your rubber duck could be a literal rubber duck or inanimate object, but it could also be a journal or a notes app, a housepet or houseplant, or even a conversation with another person. Start from the beginning and explain the whole thing in terms someone who knows nothing about your story can understand. Along the way, you’ll find the problem, and you’ll probably figure out how to fix it, too.

7. Just Start Writing.

I don't know if anyone's told you this recently, but you have permission to make bad art. You don't have to write world-shaking lines with every session. Just start writing. It can start bad, and you can always fix it later.

Let the first draft open weakly. Skip the opening entirely and start in the middle. Put stuff in brackets instead of diving into that Wikipedia rabbit hole. Write a non-canon scene, or something you know you’ll cut out later. Name someone "Placeholder." Skip a climactic scene. For now, what matters is that you're writing. Keep writing.

Those are my top tips for brainstorming, but what about you guys? What helps you come up with ideas?

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2014/04/walking-vs-sitting-042414

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Have you ever read an article and thought "man, I wish I could read this same exact article again, but on a different website? I have excellent news for you! This post was made in collaboration with NoQuWriCo, an online writing challenge with a high community focus. You can read this article again at the link here, and check out the rest of their website to learn more about this awesome event!

]]>

The Quest of an Indie Author: Begging for Permission

Bethany Spiller — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For the past month, I've been on this insane sidequest to get my book on shelves in stores. As an indie author, that's no small feat. There's no one-size-fits-all specific guidebook for this, no publishing house or agent fighting for you. It's just you, your computer, and an unwavering belief in your words against the world.

What has that process looked like? Lots of emails, a few phone calls, several DMs and a ton of Google Forms. There's been quite a bit of looking up "bookstores near me" and typing "bookstores looking for indie books" into the instagram search bar. And don't forget, recording content all the way and posting it as reels that get a few hundred views, in case one of those views is a bookstore willing to take a chance on you.

And all that, for what? DMs that get left on read. Emails and form responses that you don't know if are seen and or deleted or just lost entirely. Being excited to receive a rejection because at least it means one less store you're waiting on. Finally hearing back from a store that wants to hear more, and sending a response, and wondering what that response must've contained that scared them off from ever touching base again.

Yesterday in particular, it hit me like a truck, as I pushed through another hopeless plea for attention for my stories and hit that milestone of thirty stores reached out to: two that had rejected me, twenty-six that might not have even noticed I exist, and two that had reached out to me, then ceased conversations without a word of warning.

I want to make this abundantly clear: I understand them. Life's busy. These stores are doing exactly the same thing I am: using the power of words to make a difference in this world. They don't owe me their time or attention or customers or partnership, and I value the service they provide to the community.

But, of course, I make it all about me. Maybe my pitch wasn't pitchy enough? Maybe I'm too distant from them? Maybe I sound like a bot or a scammer? Maybe the stories I wrote just aren't good enough for them.

That's what it all comes back to, isn't it? This quest for approval, for validation, for someone to look at my words, or maybe even me, and to say "you are enough."

In my latest reel about this sidequest to get my book on shelves, from the depths of my burnout and frustration, I said the following:

"I guess I'm just feeling burnt out right now, because I just hate asking people for things, and ninety percent of the job as an indie author is just asking people for things: begging people to read your book, to read your email, to take a minute to look at your site or review your book. And I think, too often we get ourselves wrapped up in 'I have to have this approval...'

"A [traditionally] published author already has permission. A [traditionally] published author has been through agent, editor, publishing house, and has finally gotten that acceptance—that feeling that 'I am allowed to be doing this. I'm not just pretending to be doing this 'til I get caught. I have permission to write and make this my job.'

"And as an indie author, you're independent. You don't have that permission, and a lot of the quest of an indie author is trying to get people's approval, get people's permission, get people to like your story enough to read it—and maybe this time, maybe this review will be enough, maybe this number of sales will be enough, maybe I'll finally get that approval that I need....

"I'm writing this... to tell you guys, you do not need anyone's approval to be an author. Just keep writing."

I don't think I'm the only independent author who feels this way. I don't think I'm the only one who's ever fought for their stories to have them rejected and ignored, and to internalize that rejection. Don't. If you're looking for approval, you can have mine, but I need you to realize: you don't need it. You don't need anyone's permission or favor or approval. You are already a writer.

Keep writing.

]]>

Free Samples of Spilled Stardust Volume I

Bethany Spiller — Thu, 3 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Would you like me to mail you a FREE mini zine with three poems from Spilled Stardust Volume I? All you have to do is fill out this Free Sample Google Form!

]]>