Lisette Blythe's Blog

To be frank, every single thing. I’ve been at events, been writing, and spending time with my family. I’ve been pushing through my 9-5 while trying desperately not to crush under the weight of depression.

Since I’ve been gone, Melanin in May happened, and that was an actual blast. I met author Lanee Lane from another event and convinced her to come with me.

I’ve finished the Sorority Rejects Series and am truly pleased how it ended.

As of tomorrow my ninth book will be out! It’s an anthology with four other authors. Set in a ficticious university (sound familiar?) Harriet Tubman College was an all women’s university, until a lawsuit changed that. Now with men stepping foot on campus, bonds will be forged, broken, and tested.

Welcome to Harriet Tubman University.

Each person has written a wonderful story. I hope you’ll check it out! You can still pre-order and it will be available tomorrow! (6/27/2025).

I think in my last post, I wrote that I was nominated for an award. That was nearly a year ago. I didn’t win. I lost to… well…

When me and my publisher found out the name of the book that I lost to, we both had hysterical, disbelieving laughter. Then I looked around. The majority of the awards were given to white authors. That’s when I got pissed and decided to do something.

I dry snitched.

I told every single Black author I knew to nominate their books for review. EVERY ONE OF THEM! This year, the awards ceremony has some color to it. I hope some of them win. I can’t believe this was a year ago. The awards ceremony is next month. I’ll report back if any of the people I spoke to won!

In more personal news, roughly a year and a half ago both our cat and dog died. Lily, my dog, was elderly, incontinent, and had dementia. She was the light of my life, my soul dog. Boots, our cat was beloved by everyone in the house.
None of us were ready for a new pet for a long time. Until we were. Everyone, meet Tallulah (Lulu)

If you talk about my crusty nose, you’re racist. I have bad allergies.

She’s acclimated to our home and is feisty as the day is long. I wear mostly dresses in the summer and she attacks the skirts as they walk past her. Lula’s favorite place to sleep is on my chest as you see above. This is a nightly thing. If you follow me on Tiktok, you can see quite a few videos of her asleep.

Will I get another dog? The thought of doing so twists my heart and makes me want to cry, so I know I am not in a place to entertain that at the moment. Right now Tallulah is working just fine for my family.

What have you been up to? Any exciting news?

Until next time!

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*Dusts off shoulders*

It’s Lit Literary Awards is hosted by Black Girls Who Write. A couple of days ago, they announced award nominees for each category.

I was hopeful to have one of my books nominated in the Best Black Interracial book category. Imagine my surprise when not only was I nominated for that category, but also the Best YA/NA category as well as Author Queen!

I am pretty excited, especially after last year’s disaster. *Cough*

If you’re interested in voting, check out the awards right here! Voting is open until February 18th, so you have about 11 more days!

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There has been so much going on lately, that I haven’t really had time to write on my blog. Instead, I’ve been flitting around social media spreading the good word. If you aren’t signed up for my newsletter, you may want to consider doing that, because they are the first to receive news.

The first and most important thing: Shownu read something I said in his chat out loud. I’ve died, was resurrected, then died again. I’m just a shell of a ghost typing to you now.

Next item is actually in my title. My publisher has declared that it’s Book Girl Summer! What does that mean for you? Well, basically Three Fortnights Press is running a book giveaway. Myself along with more than twenty other authors have graciously given books to her to be given away to you! All you have to do is sign up!

Go ahead and click the lovely picture above to be taken to the sign up for the contest. I hope you get a new book!

Finally, unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ll know that I have a new series releasing this year. It’s set at Silver Leaf with a new group of people. Our first book is Glory: A Sorority Reject Tale.

Glory is the story of figuring out what you would do for friendship, even love. It’s up to you to figure out if the cost is one you’re willing to pay. We go live in thirteen days, but you can pre-order right now on Amazon. The paperback just went live today as well! Hooray! Go pick it up!

This past weekend I was at the Juneteenth Celebration at the Indianapolis Public Library. It was a ton of fun! The DJ was one of the best I’ve heard in very long time.

Next month I have Imaginarium, where I’m up for an award for Best Romance novel!

This is my first award nomination so I am beyond excited. I’ll also be presenting a panel about writing diverse characters.

In August, I have Tha Block Party here in Indianapolis. It will be my first event outside. I don’t like heat, so I’m a bit nervous, but we’ll make it through.

Then in September, I’m back in Kentucky for the Lexington Book Bash. Will any of you be there? I hope so. It seems as if it is going to be a lot of fun. As for later in the year, I don’t have much of anything lined up, but if I remember correctly from last year, I ended up signing up for a bunch of things at the last minute. There were festivals that weren’t recruiting until closer to the date of the event.

I’m excited for you guys to read Glory, as well as see the growth in my writing. I hope you’ll enjoy her, Moira, Nadine, and Birdie, as much as I do!

The post Book Girl Summer, New Book Release, Summer Events, and More! appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

While it is only February, this year can get lost. Seriously.

My cat died, then my dog died. I finished writing a four book series and now I’m sitting here blankly. I have two other story ideas that I need to write out, but I am slightly fried, so I’m taking a break from writing and simply doing editing on my completed works.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing a little reading. To my absolute surprise, after editing and writing, I am finding that I am incredibly selective on what I read. For the first time in a very long time I have DNF (did not finish) a book. I couldn’t do it. I won’t name it here, but how are you a literal genius but have no clue about bodily functions, or how your body works? That just tells me you are walking around stankin’ because you are unaware of puberty. That’s not why I DNF’ed the book though. It was just a crawl. Another book, I finished it, but barely. It seems as if the author wrote it, then immediately put it out with no edits. Without even thinking about it, I started notating all of the grammatical and continuity errors I saw. It was to the point I was taken out of the story, as I was just editing. When I told my publisher, she immediately told me to stop, that it wasn’t my job. The story was incredible, so I finished it, but, yeah, I won’t be reading anything else of hers. My publisher informed me that with writing, I’m going to discover that I can no longer just read whatever is placed in front of me. Because of the writing and editing I do, I’m going to have discernment. I don’t know how I feel about that.

I did however read a book that I got from Stuff Your Kindle. It was so good that I bought the other three. As someone who had Kindle Unlimited, me buying books is rare, so you know I enjoyed it. Fatkini by Monica Ross was so good that I reached out to the author to let her know how much I enjoyed it. As someone who has Graves Disease (in remission), it was an absolute shock to see a book character with it. It’s considered a reverse harem I think, so if that’s your bag, check it out.

So that’s where I’m at right now. Drowning in a sea of depression, missing my dog desperately while trying to be a strong person for my kiddo who is missing her cat just as badly. Reading books, trying to find what I enjoy without being judgmental. I’m also going through, and making sure my books are displayed properly on Goodreads and StoryGraph. Remember, if you’ve read any of my books, please consider giving a review. It gives the books more visibility.

I hope your year is shaping up a lot better than mine is. I’ll catch you later.

The post New Year, Stressed Out Me appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

Franklin Holiday Market, let’s talk about it.

I’m going to admit to you, I was a little leery. I haven’t been to Franklin, Indiana in a while. At my former job, I stood up the technology portion of the fuel center that went in there. It was one of the first fuel centers I did on my own. That will always be a point of pride as it went smoothly.

Prior to that however, I went to hear Tomi Adeyemi speak on her experience of being an author. It was when the second book of the Legacy of Orisha series came out. I have an adorable picture of her giving my kid a fist bump.

At the time I was there to just hear an author speak. There was nothing in my mind about me publishing a book, let along a series. But look at where we are. Four books deep. An entire series completed with several more on the horizon.

That isn’t what I’m here to talk about though. So the Franklin Holiday Market was held right next to the place I saw Tomi at. I saw that as a good sign.

You guys. The amount of fun I had at this event was unreal. UN. REAL. Everyone was pleasant. They were excited to have an author there. I was excited to be there. The Elks Lodge was so warm and accommodating. When I was getting set up, I was a little concerned because my network was sparse. That’s how I run my credit card reader. Suddenly one of the hosts for the event popped with the Wi-Fi password. I had no issues the entire night.

I spoke to a young girl that wants to be an author. Her mom told me how she writes on her phone. She looked delighted at the fact that I told her I do that from time to time as well. If my tablet or my PC isn’t available, it’s optimal. I got to speak to other authors that were just doing their shopping. They recommended I talk to the local bookstore to maybe do a reading or something there, which I will.

Here are some of the things I learned this time around.

Business Cards – I JUST bought brand new business cards. I thought I’d set them in my kit. They were nowhere to be found. I need to keep them thangs on me.Don’t be afraid to talk about your product. – You need to have an elevator pitch to talk about your book. It can be longer than thirty seconds, mine is, but the shorter the better! Your books aren’t for everyone – A woman scurried away after she read a passage that I would consider light spice. That’s alright. Everything isn’t for everyone. Also ma’am, please don’t ever look up booktok. You may combust.Water – The last few events, I’ve forgotten to bring my water bottle. I’m someone that has to stay hydrated. I get muscle spasms if I don’t. I remembered my bottle this time, so I was in a lot better shape the next morning. If I don’t drink enough, I get something akin to a hangover the next day. It’s not fun. Always continue to refine – My sticker set up is perfect for the most part. I need something a bit bigger, but the way it is set up, I have easy access to everything. I need to get on the same level for my bookmarks and other things. I’d like to be completely out of cardboard boxes by the middle of next year.

So yeah, new lessons learned. Also next year, I think I’m going to strive to make sure I have an extra day off from my 9-5 after an event. It is always a struggle to go in after only one full day off a week.

So I am done for the year as far as events go. These are lessons I will take with me into the new year. I hope that this year has been a good one for you, that you’ve been prosperous, healthy, and happy. I’ll see you in the new year. Thanks for rocking with me!

The post Every Event is a Learning Experience! appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

Let’s get ready to write!

Last year’s National Novel Writing Month, I sailed through with no issues. I wrote one 50k novel in less than two weeks. It had been on my mind for a while. I then got 10k of another novel started, that I’ve yet to finish because, well, I’m struggling with it. I could get into that if you want me to, just ask.

This year’s NaNoWriMo, I have a story to execute. It is the second story in a group of four. The first story is nearly finished, so it only made sense to continue on. If I finish it before time is up, I’ll move on to the third book. All four books have been lightly outlined. The main characters are set up, but I’ve been moving things around in my head since I did that.

I keep all my character ideas in a notebook, kind of like a travelers journal, then flesh them out as time goes on. If I wanted a true challenge, I’d start writing about Barbara. However, Barbara is going to take a bit of research on my end. I know I want her to have a happy ending, but I don’t know what a happy ending is to Barbara.

In the meantime, I’m just sitting here, gearing up, ready to type those starting words. While I’m at it, I should clean my writing area in my office, so that I start off with a nice tidy area. It’s looking rough over there. Do you have any organizational tips for your writing area? I’d show you a picture, but I’m ashamed.

Shame, shame, shame.

I hope you get through your set number of words this year, that everything comes to you incredibly quick, and it’s as cohesive as you saw it in your brain! See you on the other side of November!

The post Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this blog post, this is just a reminder that book four is up for pre-order. You can click here to order. It’s just like the last three, the paperback copy will be available the day of publishing!

If you have seen me at an event, you will know that I am a typically friendly person. I’m not an extrovert in the slightest. By the time an event is finished, I’m exhausted. It’s nice talking to everyone, but it is a lot of people.

This past weekend I was back at my local library for an event. I had a great time except for a few hiccups.

Like many authors, I am a pen person. I have a ton of pens, I love them all. I typically do not loan out my good pens. However a gentleman approached me when I was initially setting up (and I can’t swear on it, but I’m pretty sure this was the guy that also is the cause for my title) asking me for a pen. I’m thinking he needs to scribble something down really quick, so I grab the nearest pen I have. It’s from a set. I’m ANAL about my pen sets. It drives me nuts if any of the set goes missing. THE SETS NEED TO STAY TOGETHER. This man said “Thank you,” THEN WALKED OFF WITH MY PEN!

In a former life, I used to work at a doctors office. I don’t know how it is now, but pharmaceutical sales people would come through, dropping off pens, notepads, all sort of office supplies. My favorite pen from that time was made by Boniva. It is a white and purple pen, with a thick, soft purple cushion right where you held it. It also wrote very well. I cut a deal with the Boniva rep at that time. He bought me two cases of those pens and I let him back to see the doctors whenever he was in town. Those pens took me through two college degrees, and we still have two or three around the house. After that man ran off with my pen, I saw a Boniva pen in my bag. It made me so sad. He could have taken that one. Also, this happened while I was on Tiktok live, so people witnessed the absolute shock on my face. At the time, the guy was creeping me out, as he was staring at me a little too intently. I’m going to be honest with you, I’m cute to a very specific demographic of people. Don’t believe me?

If you think this pic is cute, congratulations, you are probably in the demographic of people that chase after me. Most are polite, but then you get the ones who stare me down while they lick their lips, and it takes everything in me not to fling a knife at them. The pen stealer fell into one of the categories above as he took my pen. I mostly ignored it, because, what are you going to do?

As the day went on, I had an amazing time. I spoke to a lot of people, my neighbor to the right was chatty and just the sweetest bean I had the pleasure of meeting. The event (at least the book selling part of it) was wrapping up, but I had a slight problem. The book fair ended at 2. I had a reading at 2:20. There was no way I was going to be able to tear down my table, get everything locked up in my car, then make it back up to do my reading in time. However, there was no issue as the helpful staff of the event offered to sit with my stuff as I did my reading.

When I got done with that, I thanked the staff graciously as I packed up. A woman had followed me from the reading to ask questions about being an author, which I answered while I packed. Then the man came up as I talked. He was hovering, staring me down as I talked to this woman. She asked for my business card. I gave her my last one. That was when he asked me for one as well. I apologized, explaining the same thing I just told you, I’d given her my last one. I let him know that all he had to do was google my name; my website is the first thing to pop up. Pretty much every single hit after that is me as well for at least ten rows. He took my picture. I did not like that at all. Why do you need my picture? My picture is on my website. It felt gross and uncomfortable. I was trying to be polite because 1. I’m a woman, it’s ingrained in us (trying to make sure my kid doesn’t feel the need to be polite while she’s uncomfortable. We break cycles over here) and 2. initially he reminded me of my father who is deceased. It didn’t take long for that to go away however.

I’m tired. I’m so very tired. Just because I’m polite doesn’t mean I’m flirting. I’m literally selling a product. Buy a book or a sticker, grab a candy, talk about my book, or move on. It isn’t that difficult. Do I think that man is going to come to my website to learn about my books? No. Do I think he’s going to use that picture for his personal spank bank? Yes. At the time, my blood sugar was crashing no matter what I was doing, I had muscle spasms from the insulin I took earlier, and I was tired because I don’t sleep well before events because I have anxiety. This interaction didn’t make anything better. I do want to thank that woman for sticking around. I think she felt the whole situation was bizarre and so she stayed. When I got home and rewound everything in my head, it made me roughly 87% sure that was the same guy that took my pen. I can’t be certain though, there were a ton of people.

After this interaction I needed sustenance, so I filmed an episode of “Will Seonghun Eat It?” While at Fat Dans. That can be viewed here:

@lisetteblythe

#WillSeongEatIt It has been a while since I’ve done an episode. Sorry about that, I just haven’t had time to edit them. Anyway, I’m in #indy today at @fatdanssobro trying to escape the desolation a man caused in me. #Italianbeef is the way to cure that. Seong would definitely eat here. Curious about Seonghun? Check out my Silver Leaf University series, available anywhere you buy books. Link is in my bio. Pre orders for book four are available now. #romancenovel #collegeromance #collegeseries #leavewomenalone #iwasworking #localeats #foodtiktok #foodtok #indy #indianapolis #blackbooktok #blacktok

♬ original sound – Lisette Blythe

I was angry, sad, and hungry

My blood sugar is crashing as I talk about this. This is how irritated I am. The only time I crash randomly like this is when my emotions are high. When I found out Lance Bass was coming to the state fair here in Indy and you could meet him, my blood sugar bottomed out. My co-workers were terrified because I couldn’t calm down long enough to even eat anything. I got it together eventually though. And I met Lance Bass…and got into a verbal altercation with Aaron Carter. That’s a story for another day though.

The post Please do not sexually harass your friendly neighborhood author. appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

This past weekend I was super excited to be part of the Monroe County Public Library Author Event! I got to meet different people, as well as talk about my book. I also met someone as much into K-dramas and K-pop as I am (hi Joanna!).

I’ve only been to two events thus far, but I’ve learned something from both of them. At my first one, I learned that while it is nice for my husband to attend to be my helper, it’s also difficult because he doesn’t really talk to people. He’s just there to to keep an eye on stuff. I need a helper that can chat to people about my books.

This event was no different. Here are some things I learned.

Organization is an absolute must – My books are in these cute little organizers I have, which is fine. However, my stickers, tea, and bookmarks are in this wooden box. When I chose it, I thought it would be a cute kitschy design for my display. However it is unwieldy and takes up a lot of space. As a result, I’ve ordered a few things to replace to boxes. I chose these flat boxes for tablecloths, electrical supplies, and things like that. For stickers and bookmarks I chose this box that has mini boxes in it. They are a standard shape, so they will fit into my little wagon. Hopefully it will also allow me to get rid of the cardboard boxes that I’m constantly dragging with me as well. I need to reorganize my stack as well. Things got chaotic when I was trying to pack up.Knowing how to end a conversation – There was a gentleman who unfortunately did not get a table at the event. He did not care. He decided he was going to show up and pitch his book for purchase to every author at the event. However when he found me, he stuck to my table for over an hour and a half. The event was three hours long, so you can see how this was problematic. This is also my lot in life. It has always been this way for me. People like me even though I am a terrible awkward mess. The event coordinator tried to get him away, but he wasn’t taking the hint. She even offered me the out of getting something to drink so maybe he’d go away, but I’d chosen a corner slot and with that, I was sort of stuck getting out by my wagon. I now have some handy phrases in my pocket to gracefully eject myself from a conversation.Water – I had a water bottle on my list of things to bring. I forgot my water bottle. I am someone that needs to constantly remain hydrated. I think I’ve talked about it before, but if I don’t drink enough water, I get muscle spasms. When I got home I slammed water. Half of me wants to just keep a water bottle in my things, so I don’t have to remember to pack one each time. But that’s the half that really enjoys buying drink containers and needs to cool it. Btw Meoky, sponsor me. Cool it with the bags – Going into my 9-5 job, I carry three bags. There’s my laptop bag, my massive purse, and my Telfar bag that has my tablet, writing supplies, camera, and social media stuff. At an author event I need to consolidate. I typically bring my purse and my Telfar. I need to get it down to my Telfar, especially during events where it is just me with no help. That reminds me, I need to charge my ring light.

I’m sure once I think about it, there will be more that I learned, but these are the primary things. Have you ever learned anything from an author event? Please feel free to share. Also, this Saturday I’ll be at The Center for Black Literature & Culture at the Central Library from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for their author event. Make sure you stop by, have a chat, and maybe buy a book!

The post Every Author Event is a Lesson Learned appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

August has come and gone. The heat in Indiana is still oppressive, however, the mornings are cooler. It has made weekend soccer games much better at least. I realized the weather was changing this morning, and immediately sneezed so hard for so long, that I was sweating. Note to self: Pick up allergy medication ASAP (no rocky)

This past weekend I was supposed to be at an event, however it got postponed. They pushed it out until next year. It’s okay though. I was feeling mighty sluggish, and didn’t really want to go anywhere. My next event is October where I will be in Monrovia, Indiana at their library’s author fair. I hope to see you there. I’ll be there with my books for sale, along with tea, bookmarks, and more.

In some very exciting but long shot news, I put in an application to be part of the C2E2 Writers Block. For those of you that don’t know, C2E2 is the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo. It is huge. They have an Artist Alley, but I never dreamed of applying. One of my readers (Thank you Emily!) tagged me on the Writers Block application. It is a curated space, not first come first serve, so they will make the final choices. Here is to hoping I am one of the chosen. I let my publisher’s team know and Alexis Craig signed up as well. I hope we both make it.

Can you believe that the first Silver Leaf University series is wrapping up? Book three is out now, and November will end this part of the journey for Seonghun. That isn’t the end of our friends though. I hope you will continue on with us as well! You can actually pre-order book four (Kindle only for now) today!

Speaking of the series, the store on my site is now open! For now you can get books one and two. Book three will be available soon, as well as some of the products I’ve designed, as well as the Liah’s Lemon Poundcake tea!

Those of you that have reached out either on Discord, Twitter, and Instagram, letting me know how you feel about the books are appreciated. Your words make me laugh, make me think, and I am so grateful to each one of you.

Well, I need to go continue to edit as well as get some other things done. Make sure you check out my social media to see what I am up to during the week. I’m going to leave you with some links to free books, so check them out, see if they are up your alley!

KU Romances
Hot Paranormal Romances
Help! My Kindle is Starving!
Love in Every Shade (Seonghun would approve)
Daddy and Damsels
Let’s *Fall* in Love this September
Story Sneak Peek September
Enemies to Lovers

Talk to you again soon!

The post I’ve been living my best life, I hope you have too! appeared first on Lisette Blythe.

This past weekend, arc copies were sent to people. This is one of the more exciting parts of writing, and I watch the arc download page almost obsessively to see if people are downloading their copies.

It’s the first time I’m able to discuss the book with someone who isn’t on my writing team. Sure, I may hint about some things in the Discord, but I can’t outright talk about stuff without spoiling it. I hope my arc readers enjoy and bring great feedback to me!

The post Arcs are Out in the World! appeared first on Lisette Blythe.