On today's episode, we sit down with YA fantasy author E.A. Winters, a mom, Licensed Professional Counselor, military spouse, and—dragon rider?? Well, dragon writer, anyway!

E.A. Winters has loved reading since childhood and wanted to be an author around the same time she wanted to be a dolphin trainer. Neither panned out at first, but then in 2017 she started writing her debut novel, The Forgotten Stone, a Lord of the Rings meets Narnia vibe quest adventure standalone.

The Forgotten Stone took a year to write and another year to edit, but Winters was bitten by the writing bug and soon dove into book one of a dragons and assassins series, The Blood and Flame Saga. Book 1 took her four months to write, and she's now working on a branch-off series called The Melderblood Chronicles that can be enjoyed on its own or enriched by reading the original series first.

Inspired by fast-paced, high-stakes stories that sweep you away the minute you open the page, E.A. Winters' books might be what you're looking for if you love stories of blackmail, kidnapping, royal intrigue, dragons, and assassins—especially if you love romance intertwined, but would rather skip explicit language and sexual material.

Learn more on her website at https://www.eawinters.com and follow her on Instagram at @e.a.winters and TikTok at @eawinters.

Ready for some dragon and assassin adventures?

Dive into Dragon's Kiss today at books2read.com/u/bQNq8P

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Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Dragon's Kiss at https://bookshop.org/a/

A little about today's host-

Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.

She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.

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Welcome to Author Express. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, one of your hosts, and the founder of Authentic Connections Podcast Network, which makes this podcast possible. This podcast is where you discover the voice behind the pages of your next favorite book, and I'm excited about the author we have for you today.

E.A. Winters is a YA fantasy author writing fast paced, high stakes, clean fantasy. If you like dragons, assassins, blackmail, and royal intrigue, her stories can be right up your alley. The E stands for Erin. So, that's what I'll be calling her for our interview today. Thank you so much for making time to come on Author Express. I'm glad to have you here, Erin.

I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Yes. Tell us something interesting about where you're from.

Something interesting about where I'm from. I don't know if it’s the most interesting part. Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina, and my favorite part about it is going to Goodberry’s, which is a frozen custard place.

Oh, frozen custard is very interesting.

It's a weird thing to explain because it's, like, creamier than ice cream. Anyway, it's important to me. I don't know if it's important to anyone else. Where I live now, they have frozen yogurt, which is good, but not as good. So, it's like frozen custard. Ice cream, frozen yogurt.

Yes. Gelato which for me is up there by frozen custard, but yeah. Have you heard of Shake Shack? Do you know Shake Shack?

Yes.

Yes. They have frozen custards. That was my first introduction to frozen custard with Shake Shack. I'm sure that, do they have different flavors at the one in Raleigh? Of the different kinds of custards?

Yes. It’s also possible that I'm not really meaning all frozen custard. I might just mean this one place. I don't know, but it's my favorite.

That makes perfect sense. What's your favorite flavor?

It tastes like childhood. I don't know. They have these things that you can blend, so I like, you can do Heath bar and marshmallow or whatever and, like, blend everything. So, I get different stuff, but it's very good.

Nice. So, it's like that blend thing. Like, you can do frozen yogurt, but

Yeah. All kinds of different stuff, but they, like, blend it and do the upside-down thing. Like, it's built in.

Oh, nice. I love it.

And you just give them what you want them to put in it. Anyway,

Perfect. I like it. I dig it. That's the interesting, exciting thing. I dig it very much. So, sticking with your childhood and where you grew up, who was your best friend growing up or who's one of your best friends growing up?

Growing up, I had, like, a group. There were, like, a group of 4 of us through high school. And then I had a friend when I was, like, 8 up through high school. She was one of those close friends then too. So, we had a group of us. It was really fun.

How would they describe you? What would they have described you at like when you were younger?

When I was much younger, my granddad apparently actually called me kidnapped proof because as you are about to find out, it was because I talked a whole lot, and they would just bring me back. Like, it would be too much for them. And now I have kids and my four-year-old, I think he gets it honest. You know? Like, he just goes. He just goes. So, probably that it was really loud. Well, talkative. And when I was really young, I was particularly obnoxious, I think. I would like to think that I have toned it down. But when I was little, it was a good time.

I think that imaginations are developed in such children. So, I think that you becoming a writer is right in suit with that. Did you think?

You know what? It's a great point. It's a great point. And also, my parents, my dad is a mechanical engineer, and my mom did, like, biochemistry, zoology in school, a scientist, and so, like, very critical thinkers, like, that was really important growing up. So, I wanted to be a writer as a kid at the same time that I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. And I remember neither panned out at first if you're wondering. And one of them definitely didn't. And, but I've remember when we were, like, 10, and I got to go to, like, SeaWorld or whatever, and see them. And then they were like, okay. Well, you said you wanted to be dolphin trainers, so you should ask them questions. So, I was like, okay. So, I asked them, like, how to be one, and like, the process and as exciting as working with the dolphins would be, I was a little disillusioned with the process and was like, okay. Maybe I don't want to do that. That sounds like a lot.

That sounds like a lot.

Yeah.

There you go. Well, maybe that easy worked into your book. So, if you fantasy, like, with dolphin trainers in the fantasy books, they don't have to go through all that training, right?

I can still write about doing those things without doing them. So, it's basically the same. You know? Any fascination with the cool creatures and stuff? I can't have it in the books.

And you could have even cooler creatures that don't even exist because you write fantasy.

Um, dragons.

Yes.

All of them. All of the fun ones.

All of the fun ones. I love it, which brings us to talking about your books. So, tell us a little bit. You have completed an entire series, which is a very exciting accomplishment. So, can you just give us a little overview of your series and your books?

Yeah. Absolutely. So, I do have a standalone novel that I like to say is like Lord of the Rings meets Narnia as far as the kind of vibes. It's like a quest adventure sort of thing. But my series, that one is The Forgotten Stone. It's here. I'll show you briefly. And this is the, like, Quest Fantasy stand alone. And then my series is a four-book saga. This is the first one, Dragon's Kiss. I'll just show you really quick because Broken Bonds, Noble Claims, and my favorite one is Crimson Queen. Extra points to people who read it and figure out why the covers are what they are. And Dragon’s Kiss. So, basically, the idea is we've got this village called Kalma, and they think that the dragon is just coming and snatching a child every month, stealing this child and taking it away and eating it or whatever. But Semra was one of those children, and she knows the truth. There’s a dragon lord in the mountain, raising them up into his own personal syndicate of assassins. So, she becomes his star asset. She was a kidnapped child when she was four. She goes up through the program. It's a very structured thing. And she becomes the 1st graduate to graduate a year early in her class. And then she uncovers something that he was holding back and risks everything to expose him.

Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it.

Thank you.

And so, with your writing this entire series, what first gave you the idea for all of that?

Short answer is I don't exactly know because I feel like a lot of the things about, for me, being a writer, I know where some of my ideas come from, but some of them is just like, you're in the shower or you're driving or something and, like, something pops in and you need to write it down before it dies. You know? Like, you just need to keep it.

Yeah.

So, I just put it down somewhere? I don't know where it started. I don't, but I know where some pieces of it came from. You know what I mean?

Yes.

So, yeah. That's sort of a sad thing because that's something that everyone asks me, and I don't know exactly.

Yes. Do you have, like, specific characters that you root for the most when you're writing, especially for an entire series?

Yes. Because I have some that are really, like, extra fun to write, and some of them are surprising. Like, one of my favorite characters to write, I actually don't have in their very much, but she's really fun. She's kind of, she's got this thin high, reedy voice, and she's sort of a strange character, and she's really unique and fun to write. Like, I enjoy her. And so, I gave her kind of a surprising extra appearance later in the books to kind of resolve some of the things that we saw from her. So, I do like some of my more prominent characters too, obviously, because one of them becomes the main character of my new series coming up, but I have some favorites for sure.

Very cool. So, your new series is coming out, when is that coming to launch?

Yeah. So, basically, this series, Dragon’s Kiss and the Blood & Flames Saga, that one wrapped up in June before it came out. So, the whole thing is here, and then I took a secondary character in that one. And that is launching into the Melder Blood Chronicles coming December 12th. So, you don't have to have read the previous series, you’ll enjoy the Easter eggs if you have, but you don't have to have read it to enjoy the new series.

Nice. They have something to look forward to once you get this. And right now, you have an entire series to bend, which a lot of times, like, when you find an author, you just have to, like, wait through to get this series, but your series is there, and they could already look at it all. And talk a little bit because I know that one of the things because you and I have actually met in person, which is lovely. I don't get to meet all of my authors that I interview in person. And when we met, I love chatting with you about this, this concept of clean fantasy because I think that that's really exciting. That was something that you were excited about to have this because that is something we don't have a lot of. And so, it's really exciting to have. That's YA clean fantasy, that's an option. So, tell me more about what drew you to writing in that area.

Yeah. It's kind of funny, right, because what I think of when I was reading fantasy growing up, it was mostly clean fantasy, not necessarily just because I was a kid, because, you know, Lord of the Rings, and now we have Sanderson, you know, people like that. And nobody questions really that that's clean and not necessarily YA. I do write YA now, but it's just honestly the easy answer is, I just, I write what I like to read, and I don't, that's just what I like. Like, I like to read fast paced, high stakes. I can't manage to focus too much. I do have romance throughout the books. I have some, you know, my readers tell me that it's, like, swoon worthy, warm, fuzzy parts, but also, like, has the tension and stuff in it. So, definitely that's there. I don't put anything sexually explicit on the page, anything like that. But I'm an adult, and that's what I like to read. So, like, if you're an adult and you want to read it, but you also want your teams to be able to safely enjoy it too, you'll probably both enjoy it or enjoy it together. So, it's safe, and it's just what I enjoy, but I can't manage to do only romance without having a significant risk of death close to every page. I just can't manage it. It's too fun to have. I need high stakes, high danger, and then they'll be like, they felt safe for a whole, you know, a few paragraphs. Like, that's not cool. Like, we need more things to happen. I just try to, I don't know. I like it. It’s fun.

Yeah. Without even going up on the books too, there's, you don't need to pack anything else in there. So, you got all the right things packed in there. I mean,

That's why I like it. You know?

And so, you mentioned that, like, when you were a kid, you were interested in being a writer. So, has that been something you've always known you've wanted to do then?

No. I kind of, like, went away from, like, I wanted to do it when I wanted to be a dolphin trainer or whatever. Somewhere I have stories that I wrote as a kid. I remember the look of the old bin they were in. I don't know where they are. I'm not sure whether or not I would want to find them. But, no, that kind of just went away, and then I didn't write for a long time, at least not, like, stories. You know? I enjoyed writing in school, I ended up going on to do my undergrad in psychology, and I got a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling, and I went on to do my residency, and I'm a licensed professional counselor. I am still practicing. Not as much now. I spend more time with my kids and then with writing, but I do still have some sessions with clients as well. So, yeah, I've done academic writing as well. It hadn't been creative writing until 2017. Kind of, it came back to me. And it felt like it was out of the blue. It felt very, like, on a whim, but I've fallen in love with it. Like, it's not going anywhere. You know, this is me now. I feel like.

That's amazing. So, what do you feel like brought it back in 2017?

So, all through my life, I will say, and this is sort random probably too. I do like writing. I've always enjoyed, like, for academic stuff, you know, I had other classmates who would say like, oh, we have this big paper, and it's worth so many points. And I was like, I know. That's great because if I don't do as well on the quiz, I'll make it up on the paper. 200 points will be fine. And that was very helpful for me. It's like, it's alright. We have a big paper. It'll be okay. So, I always enjoyed writing, like, in general, and research and stuff. And also, like, poetry. Sometimes, you'll see it, like, in a prophecy or in a song that I'll sneak in my novels you know, things like that, you'll see some poetry in there. But mostly, I've only used poetry when, not in a super dramatic way. But, you know, if I was had my personal journal and if I was, probably like songwriters feel, like, if there was something really going on with them emotionally and I couldn't shake it, I would usually end up putting it in rhyme to express it, sort of like a song, and I knew it was good when it flowed well, and I read over it. And when it felt good, I was like, okay. That's cathartic like that is a release for me. And so, some things that just feel poetic or are described a certain way. Like, I don't know. It, like, hits me some way. So, I have this line pop into my head that I thought was kind of poetic, and I couldn't let it go. So, I wrote it down because I was like, I don't know what this is about, but I will write it down. And I wrote it down. And later that week, I had this kind of idea of this character popped into my head, and it was sort of like, if Gaston had more depth. You know? But it was also kind of the inner workings of like, what his wife was watching and seeing of him and kind of like how his insecurities played out in this persona that he had and I don't know if that was also part of, I'm wondering now, like, which clients did I have at that time, or if that was impacted by that at all? Or, there's also people that I know in real life that aren't clients like not clinical, but I've drawn a lot from that. But just people in general and things that I've learned about humanity, both personally and through experiences I've had, I guess. But that description, I just started writing it and I had this paragraph and it was just alone. And it's not even of the main character. It's of a main character, but not my MC. And that is a largely untouched, except he has a name now. Let's, it's basically an untouched paragraph in my debut of how that came out. And, yeah, I kind of like, jumped in. I just couldn't shake it. I'm really awful at doing things halfway. So, when I had this idea and then it started flushing out, it just snowballed. And I just, I'm really am terrible at doing things halfway. I couldn't have ever done this as a hobby. I think I told myself that I would at first, but, like, it's not my personality.

You're there now, but we love that because we get the benefits of that because we have your books now and more to come, which is brilliant. I love it. That’s wonderful.

I love it, too.

Yes. I'm glad you've jumped in. That's perfect. So, what is the best way for folks who are listening to be able to find you and keep up with you and your books then.

Yeah. So, TikTok and Instagram are probably where I spend the most time on social media. I also have Facebook, I'm on there as well. There's a newsletter, but I would say, TikTok and Instagram, EA Winters. On Instagram, it's E.A.Winters. And then if you want signed copies of books or, you know, kind of an overview of them, you can go to my website, eawinters.com. I'm on Amazon. If you want to just grab a copy real quick, and, yeah, whichever one you feel more comfortable in.

There's good to have options. That's fabulous. And then we always wrap up our episodes with asking our authors, what is the book or story that inspires you the most? Which is a hard question.

It is and it's not. I mean, there's different stories that inspire me in different ways. Writing wise, maybe both. I think, The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker really struck me in a lot of ways. Both personally, I love the depth and the roundness and the beauty of how he crafted his world and his people and it was nicely done. Something else that I loved about him storytelling wise, which I tried to instill in all my stories is just his immediate, like, crash into action. Where dropped in first scene, I remember vividly this moment, right, where I'm dropped into this book and I'm in an alley in Brooklyn, and someone, I'm, you know, running down an alley. Somebody's shooting at me from behind. I don't know why. You know, why is this guy running? Where's it? Yep. What's going on? And then, like, it doesn't stop. And for that book, when he passes out, he wakes up into a fantasy world. And anytime he goes to sleep or gets knocked out, or goes unconscious for whatever reason in one, he wakes up in the other and discovers they're both equally real and has to kind of figure it out. It was really interesting. But it has that fast paced. It does include that romantic elements pieces of it, but I had one editor once that I don't work with now. And she was like, well, what's happening? What's going on? I'm like, those are good questions. That's on purpose. Like, are you,

That's intentional.

Yeah. Like, I like you to ask those questions. She was like, well, I don't know what's happening. I'm like, reach at the end of the page. Like, I think it'll be okay. You know, I love that. I love that. Like, drop me into action immediately. So, at the beginning of my books, like, that's what I try to do. Like, for Forgotten Stone, opening page, she's running after, somebody's trying to kill her. And next book we're dropped into an assassination attempt gone wrong. So, I just, I love that. So, he inspired me as a writer, but he also personally the way that his stories are very moving. Both sides, he hit it for me.

That's awesome. Thank you. I love that. I love when we get to learn about new ways of doing things when it comes from who's been inspiring. Thank you so much for jumping in and sharing with us today.

Yeah.

It's great to get through you and your writing a little bit.

Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it. It was so fun. Well, other people wouldn't know, but the first time we tried to schedule, I had this weird allergic reaction. So, I appreciate your patience with me getting this together, but it's great. I really enjoy you.

Thank you so much, Erin, and I can't wait for your set to come out December 12th, 12-12.

Yes. Yes. New series will be, I haven't showed this to anybody, but new series is Melder Blood. That's coming out December 12th. So, thank you so much.

Perfect, thank you. Thanks for joining us. I hope you take a second to give us a review or a couple of stars on your favorite podcasting platform, and we'll be here again next Wednesday. Follow us on Instagram, @AuthorExpresspodcast to see who's coming up next. Don't forget. Keep it express, but keep it interesting.