Interview with Veronica Lancet

A romance can be a love story and a locked door at the same time. I sit down with USA Today bestselling author Veronica Lancet to unpack why her gothic romance and dark fantasy books don’t rush to explain themselves, and why that slow drip of answers is exactly what makes readers binge. From the fever-dream immersion of Fairydale to the moody, genre-blending pull of her newest release Sinister, Veronica shares how she builds stories that dare you to keep reading until the truth finally snaps into place.

We get into the real mechanics behind her work: drafting momentum, writing slumps, and what it’s like to live inside a single project until the last scene lands. Veronica also compares self publishing vs traditional publishing from her perspective, especially when a finished manuscript gets picked up later and protected from heavy creative constraints. Along the way, we talk morally gray characters, point of view choices, and why long standalones can be the best delivery system for clues, payoffs, and deep character development.

Then we dive into Sinister itself: a dark academia gothic romance with dual timelines, a present-day prep school storyline, and a shadowy thread that reaches back to 1896 with versions of Petra and Sin that raise bigger questions about who’s good, who’s dangerous, and what love costs. We close with craft advice for aspiring authors, the role of luck in publishing, a peek at her next project Velacor, plus a few personal surprises including the fictional puppy that became a real one.

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Follow Veronica on IG: @authorveronicalancet

Cover Art by: moi

Intro/Outro Music: positive vibes by nanaacom on Capcut

Contact Email: spillthesmutpodcast@gmail.com

Podcast IG: @spillthesmutpodcast TT: @spillthesmutpodcast

Jordan IG: @sipsoffiction TT: @sipsoffiction

Transcript

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Welcome And A Big Writing Week

Jordan 0:21

She's a USA Today bestselling author known for crafting dark, epic love stories that blur the line between right and wrong, just the way we like our books. She's the mind behind one of my all-time favorites, Fairy Dale, a haunting dark gothic fantasy that belongs on everyone's fall TBR, if it isn't already. And if you loved Fairy Dale, her newest release, Sinister, is a dark academia gothic romance you want to dive into immediately. Please welcome to the podcast, Veronica Lancet. Hi.

Veronica Lancet 0:55

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Jordan 0:58

Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I am so excited to interview you. You have no idea.

Veronica Lancet 1:05

I'm excited too because this is officially the first sinister podcast I'm doing. So you're the first.

Jordan 1:12

Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. Oh my goodness. Okay, so before we dive into the interview, I do want to ask you what the highlight of your week is so far.

Veronica Lancet 1:22

So we're just starting the week since it's Monday, but I can say that I've had a very productive writing week. So that has been very uh usually, you know, uh before I started writing this book, I've been a bit in a slump. Uh it was a bit harder to get into writing, but I actually did a 8,000-word writing day on Saturday, so I was like, oh my god, it's glorious. Oh my goodness, that 8,000, that's a lot. Yes, that's a lot for me too. Usually uh I kind of like aim for 5,000 today, so that was like me on a roll. But this this entire book has been just like me writing on a roll, and it reminds me so much of Fairy Tale because that's how I was writing Fairy Tale as well. See, it took me like a month and a half to finish Fairy Tale, which it is insane considering the size. But this book that I'm writing right now, uh, I mean, I'm almost at 200,000 words, so it's definitely going to be longer than Fairy Tale.

Jordan 2:25

Oh my goodness. But I can't I love that you write long books. I think it's so cool. And you you stay immersed as like the reader, at least I do. That the the way you write, I don't want to leave. Like I never wanted to leave Fairy Dale, so it's just like one of those things that I was like, can I just have more? So the the page count, it almost like didn't even seem long, if that makes sense. And then, but unless you're holding the actual book, you're like, wow, this is a big book. Okay, so we will dive on into the questions. And the first question I have for you is what inspired you to start writing and to write romance books?

Veronica Lancet 3:03

Oh, this is a kind of like goes back to when I first started reading. So I was I started reading late actually. I was in 10th grade, so about like 15, 16 when I first started reading,

From Late Reader To Romance Writer

Veronica Lancet 3:16

and reading more romance. I started started with YA books and then going into like more explicit adult books. But I I think that was the first time where I kept having all of these ideas, and I even like my my first I wouldn't even call it a book, but my first book was written on my phone during classes in school, and it was so funny because I I had my stacks of books in front of me, and I would put my phone like this, and I would just like you know, like type while while paying attention, and that one ended up being like 50,000 words. It it wasn't like anything, you know, but it was entirely written on my phone during classes.

Jordan 4:01

No, and I feel like 50,000 words for a first like book is pretty good.

Veronica Lancet 4:07

I mean, back then, to be honest, because I didn't have a lot of time, it was exactly during the the period where I was uh taking my SATs and preparing for college. So it sort of like went into this area where I didn't have any more time, and then when I got into college, I kind of like had bursts of time here and there, and I would start more books, but I could never finish them. So it was always like I had all of these ideas, and I would write like uh I remember I had one that was about like 20,000 words, one that was 40,000 words, but I would never really have the time to like finish them. I would start doing them maybe when I was in between finals or maybe in the summer vacation, and then I would just like okay, I don't have time for this anymore. But uh it all changed during COVID, of course. Uh, because I I was doing my my dissertation and I was like, I I don't want to do that. How can I procrastinate? So it ended up being that writing a book was my procrastination at the time.

Jordan 5:11

I like it because I feel like writing a book is way more fun than working on a dissertation.

Veronica Lancet 5:16

And my excuse was that because my first book, Morally Corrupt, was kind of like a bit of a mix between a romance and thriller, and kind of like crime syndicate, and my dissertation was also on human trafficking, so I was like, oh, there is a connection here, so it's not totally outside of my area of study. I was thinking about it like that. I was like, okay, this is I'm I'm researching, I'm researching for my dissertation, but also writing on the side.

Jordan 5:46

It's like you're researching for your dissertation, but it's also kind of it can work in the book, too. So it's it's like a a double whammy, yeah.

Veronica Lancet 5:55

And that one, uh actually, uh even now thinking about it, I surprised myself by finishing it also in like a month and a half or something. And it was my first ever project that I finished from like start to finish.

Jordan 6:08

Oh my goodness. Wait, so do you typically write books really fast? Depends.

Veronica Lancet 6:15

So I used to write really fast until I started my PhD, and then that's when kind of like I started struggling a little bit because I had to split myself into like courses and everything else. And then on the other hand, I was trying to hit my my word counts, and also because my books are so long, uh, it ended up being a little bit slower than I would like. So now that I am on a break, so I'm in vacation, I can finally like just like focus and write from beginning to the end, like all day long. That's what I'm doing. I'm writing. But that's kind of exciting. Yes, hopefully. Yeah, my plan is to finish this book uh within like the next month, fingers crossed, because then I have another book to start. Before school, I want to just like get everything out of the way.

Jordan 7:03

Oh, you're you're like ready to roll. You're like, go, let's go.

Veronica Lancet 7:07

Yes. So it it it also depends on the book, I'd say. Uh sometimes I have troubles with a book where my process, how it goes, is that it has to be in my mind, like I have to have that kind of like feeling that it's on the right track. Uh so usually before I start writing, I already have the image of the book in my head. And if I'm not satisfied with what I come up with in my head, then I cannot write. And if I don't have time to like daydream, then usually it turns out that I don't really have time to do the preparation for writing.

Jordan 7:42

That I kind of makes sense, but then it's like, do you ever find that you like if you're it if you're busy, do you find that you dayd daydream more, or do you find that it's harder to do it?

Veronica Lancet 7:55

It's harder to do it just because I'm I'm the type of person that's mostly single-minded. Like when I start something, I need to focus my attention only on that thing. That's why I can't do multiple books at once, even though I wish I could do it, because then it would be so much more productive. But because when I start a book, it just like takes up everything in my head. So that's all I can think about. When I go to bed, like before uh I actually fall asleep, all I can think of is like the next scene, how am I going to write the next scene? So it uh when I go by bus, by train, when I go on a walk, that's all the daydreaming that's happening. So it's really hard to like do anything else when I'm so focused on the book in front of me.

Jordan 8:37

So you have self-published some of your books, and now some of your books are traditionally published. How is self-publishing differ from traditional publishing for you?

Veronica Lancet 8:49

I mean, I think for me, especially because they were picked up after they were they were written, uh,

Self Publishing Versus Traditional Publishing

Veronica Lancet 8:57

it's quite the same in a sense. Like I haven't had the opportunity so far where uh you know how they pitch an idea and uh they want to publish it and then you start writing it. So for for me, it wasn't like that. The book was already done. We just like went through like line edits and all types of edits, but the story was there. So I can't really say there's much of a difference in from this point of view, just because I didn't have any really constraints about what I should write, how I should write it, uh, about content guidelines or anything like that. So from that point of view, I I would say the the experience has been the same.

Jordan 9:36

You never think I like never would I mean I can't write, don't get me wrong. I can't I cannot write, but it kind of makes sense because the book already exists and they're picking up the book that exists in the world. Yes, also like for your fans too, like we wouldn't want a different book, so like you wouldn't want to change too much.

Veronica Lancet 9:55

Yes, and that's the thing I feel with traditional publishing that sometimes uh especially when they buy an idea and not the completed manuscript, you have to follow the idea. And my writing process is that even though I start with an idea, usually it kind of like develops from there and it changes, it can change completely. So I I don't know if it would be like the the best fit for me. I prefer it where the work is finished and we can just like edit it together, but the content remains the same.

Jordan 10:28

That's fair, and then that way too, it like stays like true to you and that your voice and your writing. So you write books that are on the darker side. What do you think makes a morally gray hero heroine or hero?

Veronica Lancet 10:47

This is a hard one because you know I never really even in the beginning, it it I I don't think the terms morally grey

Morally Gray Leads And Point Of View

Veronica Lancet 10:57

were that popular back then, which is funny because my first book is called Morally Corrupt. So uh ahead of the train. You were uh yeah, the terms came kind of like a year or two afterwards with like the Morally Grey here and everything. But for me, when I started writing, it wasn't uh so much uh the you know the archetype of like a morally grey uh character, it was more so of trying to explore um let's say qualities that some people would think as false and see kind of like how how those work in different contexts. Uh, because morally corrupt, for example, she's a sociopathic assassin. And I I was really curious to to explore that type of mind, and then kind of like all types of you know characters that were not typically regarded as heroes came to me, and that was the beginning of because that that series was called Morally Questionable, there's even a morally ambiguous, so it all started snowballing from there, and I I just feel like I I've tried to write, you know, because in my day-to-day life I prefer to read really sweet comfort tweets. I don't really like dark. So uh I always want to try to write something like that, and it never works out because some somewhere along the line they make questionable decisions.

Jordan 12:24

I love I I love it, but I also never would have guessed that you like the sweet comfort reads.

Veronica Lancet 12:32

So I but I love hearing that dark. I don't read uh angst, I don't I don't even read that much romance actually. Um what I do like is historical romance that uh I started reading that I I think those were the first romance books that I started reading, and those are still my favorite to this day.

Jordan 12:51

I actu I haven't read any historical romances, but I really want to. I feel like so many people say they're so good, and I'm like, I need to do it. Just need to.

Veronica Lancet 13:03

For me, it's also I really love a reading third uh person point of view, and most historical romances have that. Whereas with more contemporary ones, it's harder to find a third person point of view.

Jordan 13:16

You're you're right. A lot I I don't know if it was just a trend that happened, and then it's everything.

Veronica Lancet 13:24

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because yeah, I I feel like from uh maybe in the mid-2010s, it started with like first person to become really, really popular. And it even for me, I was reading a lot of third person point of view, but at the same time, uh, that's the the time when I was in high school when uh indie publishing started to become more prevalent and more first person point of view started appearing, and I started writing a mix of both of them.

Jordan 13:54

Okay, then can I ask how is it going back and forth? Because I know for a reader, it like I'll read first person, I love third person, but when I read third person, it takes me a minute to get it's like almost like I have to switch my brain into interesting because I feel for for me it's the other way around, maybe because I'm so used with third person point of view, that when I do read first person, it takes a little bit of getting used to. I think it that and that probably is it because I feel like a lot of the books I read now are first person, so it's probably the same, just reversed for us.

Veronica Lancet 14:32

I mean, with with writing is the same because I was catching up on one of my books the other day, and then the one that I'm writing right now is third person, and I had to catch myself when I was writing it because I suddenly was like, wait, I'm writing in first person.

Jordan 14:46

Does that happen like mid-book sometimes where you're like, yo, write in third person to start, and then when you stop for the day and you pick it up the next day, will you start writing in first?

Veronica Lancet 14:56

No, it's only if I read something in first and my brain becomes like stuck on that. Because then I usually just like no. I I read a few sentences from before and I'm like, okay, yeah, no, no worries. But because I was going back and forth with the books and one of them was first person, suddenly I found myself, oh whip, whoops.

Jordan 15:16

Gotta backtrack here. We got we gotta go back to third person. Okay, so before we dive into your new release, I want to talk about Fairy Dale. When you were writing Fairy Dale, did you know that it was gonna be as big as it is today and that it was is going to like I think I think Fairy Dale is considered the fall book to read every fall season. Like it's on every list.

Fairy Dale Success And Reincarnation Themes

Jordan 15:41

It's I mean, I'm also recommending it every fall, but I see a lot of people talking about Fairy Dale as like a fall read. So, like, did you know that this was gonna happen while you were writing it?

Veronica Lancet 15:55

I I wrote it so when it was first released, I think it was released in August of 2022 for the first time. And I was writing it in July. In yeah, I started end of June, and I was writing it in July for the August release date. So yeah, it went very fast. And honestly, just like looking back uh retroactively right now, I can I can say that maybe uh it was the way it overtook me, and it's like so many readers describe it as a fever dream, and I think it was a fever dream for me too when I was writing it, just because I was so stuck stuck into the story. I I literally could not think of anything else. I would wake up, write, then entire day of writing, then I would go to sleep, and I would still like have my note up next to me to jot down ideas, and I would go to sleep dreaming about it to wake up and start all over again.

Jordan 16:51

Oh my goodness. Oh, I know, I mean, like for reading it wise, I remember I had the I have the paperback, I got the Kindle, and then I got the audiobook for like when I couldn't read my Kindle or paperback. I was listening to it because I didn't, I I couldn't stop. I just needed to keep going. I feel like because it's like so cool, like in the beginning, you're kind of confused. You're like, what is going on? And then you're like, what is going on? And then you're like, oh, oh, and then you just like can't stop. At least that was for me.

Veronica Lancet 17:25

Yeah, no, I I feel like this is this is the type of book and Sinister as well, is a type of book for uh a reader that doesn't want all of the answers at once and kind of like wants to be the detective in the story, and I find it works because I know uh Fairy Dale, and probably Sinister will be the same as well, uh, is a very divisive book in the terms that some people love it, some people hate it, and it's for the same reasons, which is kind of like crazy because it it's so uh intentionally confusing that sometimes some people don't want to stick with it until the end to see how it ends. And some people love the kind of like the build-up, the anticipation, and just like wondering alongside the narrator how it's going to end.

Jordan 18:12

No, I get I can see that. I can see that. Where I know for myself I was just like, I need to know what happens next. So I see that Fairy Dale is the first book in the Eternal Cycles of Love. Was this always going to be the plan to have like the interconnected standalones that come after this one?

Veronica Lancet 18:32

No, actually, that was a midnight decision. Oh my goodness. Wait, really? Yes, yes, because um, so I wrote Sinister and then I started writing this book, which is going to be another standalone, and then I have a few other standalones planned, and they all kind of like have the same uh themes of like gothic, reincarnation, um uh past lives, and all that type of stuff. So I was like, I should just like have a series for them because they're all for the same type of reader.

Jordan 19:09

No, and that kind of makes sense because I I also like too that they're similar, but they're not the same, like it like you could read them together because I feel like as reading Fairy Dale and now reading Sinister, I feel like they fit, but they're not you wouldn't have to read them in order if you don't want to. But I feel like if you love Fairy Dale, then you love Sinister and then the next ones.

Veronica Lancet 19:34

Yeah, my my thing uh in a way, uh I think because I love reincarnation so much and I love writing reincarnation, but with every single story, I want to try to explore if there's a new facet of reincarnation that I can play with, like what can I do to make it different? Just because I I feel like at this point it's kind of like my brand because my other fantasy books as well all have reincarnation, so it's all about how can I make this new every single time that I write it? And it's hard. I'm not going to lie, it's hard.

Jordan 20:08

But but you're you're up for the challenge, you are ready, yes, and you are here to go. Okay, so now we can dive into Sinister. Your book, Sinister, just released yesterday. Can you tell the listeners a little bit more about the book?

Veronica Lancet 20:26

I would say go into it with an open mind. That's the the first thing. Uh, because it can read as a lot of genres and a lot of voices at the same time because it's a dual timeline.

Sinister Setup Dual Timelines Mystery

Veronica Lancet 20:38

So the the first timeline is in high school in present day, and the protagonist is in freshly 18-year-old Petra, um, who is a bit of a loner at school. She goes to this like really fancy prep school. Uh, but because her parents are sort of new money, everyone uh looks down upon her. On the other hand, we have Sin, uh, who is the the hero, and he is considered the golden boy of the town. He's like good at everything, everyone thinks he's so polite, he's so nice. And uh let's just say that the the uh this timeline uh mirrors the second timeline, which is set in the 1900s. Uh 19th century, not 1900s, 1896. Uh in 1896, and uh that one I'm not going to give too many spoilers, but I will say there's another character also named Petra, and another character also named Sin. Yes, so uh, and you'll you'll find you have the present day, sort of like high school typical but not so typical uh academia book, but then you also have the the the past that raises more question marks and kind of like deepens the mystery between who is the good guy, who is the bad guy, and you won't know until the end.

Jordan 22:04

Okay, so how did this story come to you, Petra and Sin's story? Did you always know that it was gonna be this like dark academia gothic romance?

Veronica Lancet 22:14

Like fairy tale, no. I actually so uh I will tell you how most of my stories start. I see a cover. I'm like, oh my god, that would be such a cute cover for a cute story. Cute. Cute. It never ends up being cute. I buy the cover and I'm like, okay, let's write this cute story. And it's like, I'm not even a couple of chapters in, and it turns into like, oh, there's dubious consent. Oh, uh, he's m manipulative. Oh, wait, he's not that cute.

Jordan 22:43

Do you are you like a plotter, or do you just kind of buy this like cover and then you're like, oh, like let's just start writing, or are you kind of do you like plot it out from the cover?

Veronica Lancet 22:53

Both in the sense that I I need to like I'm pretty much type A, so I need to know where things are going, but at the same time, I always leave room for things to change. So if they change, I just have to figure out a new plan that I can look forward to. So I always need a plan, but I don't always stick to the plan.

Jordan 23:14

I like it. I feel like that's the best way. So it's like you have a plan, you're plotting it out, but then you're like, well, but I'll see where this characters take me, because who knows? Because they could take you on a wild ride over here.

Veronica Lancet 23:25

So it's definitely the best. Which sinister because I bought this kind of like sports cover. I was like, okay, a high school, because from the beginning, I was like, okay, I want uh like a uh teen pregnancy. I wanted a but a cute, you know, kind of like high school sweetheart type of you know, teen pregnancy. Yeah, uh didn't happen.

Jordan 23:51

Like the complete opposite, but I love it. Because it's like I feel like I also like and I know it it happens like relatively in the beginning, so you like don't see it coming, but like I didn't see it coming. I was like, because there's like a part in it where it's like two months later and you're like, wait, what? Come again. I was like, hold up, hold up, did I miss something? Like I just didn't see it coming, and I was like, Oh, plot twist, but I I love I love that. I just love not knowing what's gonna happen.

Veronica Lancet 24:23

It's so funny because uh I think the other day I came across the the first uh like plan that I made for for sinister where it was just like you know the high school story, and then I could see progressively changing the beats where it was getting darker and darker and darker, and oops, there is another murder. Here's another one, yes.

Jordan 24:46

Oh I love it. Okay, so if you could only pick one song to pair or sum up the book, what song would you pick?

Veronica Lancet 24:56

Ooh, that's a hard one, especially for for sinister. Uh there wait, late let me because I have one that is called it's called Blood, but I'm not exactly sure who is the singer. Oh, sh her name is Mo Mofika. Mofika Blood. It's it's very like vampy, gothic. Yeah, it it gives you gives you that vibe of kind of like cryptates.

Jordan 25:28

Ooh, I feel like that fits the book. I don't I haven't even listened to the song, but you describing it, it fits the book.

Veronica Lancet 25:34

It's something that you know, you you would have a candle, one of those like uh candles, handheld candles, and you would go down a darkened corridor and you would see the paintings, that that kind of vibe.

Jordan 25:47

Oh, I like it. I like it. Just oh, I think like sorry, like side note, I think just gothic romances in general are an another type of breed that are just so good. But I also love the like walking down a dark hallway with a candle, and you see paintings, and I just I like that vibe just like screams to me. Okay, so what do you hope readers understand about the story or characters that might not be obvious at first?

Veronica Lancet 26:20

Oh, I think sacrifice is the the main thing that comes to mind. And sacrifice, not in uh I don't want to say too much. It's uh it's very hard, you know, not to as I'm I'm always the type of person that uh will give spoilers one way or another, so I'm trying my best to not do that. But I I would say sacrifice, but like mutual sacrifice. Okay, I like I like that. You know how in some books you you have one person that gives more than the other? It is a bit more like equal.

Jordan 26:59

We do like things being equal. So I I'm here for it. Okay, do you have any advice for someone who wants to be an author and to be traditionally published?

Veronica Lancet 27:11

Um, I would say just like keep writing. I know it's so cliche, but uh at the same time I remember so when I first published my book, I wasn't even thinking about like getting traditionally published. I was just like, I wrote this book, I want to get it out there, and then I stumbled upon some readers, and I was like, oh, people actually like to read what I write. So I kept writing, and I kept writing, even though like in in the beginning I didn't have like a lot of readers or anything like that, but I just like I kept going and going and going. And now looking back, it it was it it's so strange to me how I had the motivation and sort of the ambition to keep on writing, even though it wasn't like it was basically not even a it was a hobby, but it wasn't a job because it wasn't paying. I was just like, you know, writing. So just like keep writing because uh I feel like this industry is more about luck than anything else. So as long as you keep writing, keep promoting, keep doing whatever you do, there will be your time. Your time will come.

Jordan 28:22

I I agree, and I do kind of agree with the luck. I almost feel like it is luck of like who sees your book, when you put your book out, like just kind of like everything that happens with it. So you're so right.

Veronica Lancet 28:35

I think people like don't really talk about it, but like I was thinking the other day that you know, like writing is not one of those

Advice For Authors And Publishing Luck

Veronica Lancet 28:43

jobs where uh you know, like um the earnings are proportional with the effort. Because every offer I know, like we work from day to night, and if we were to like split everything by like paid by the hour, it would be kind of like insane. So we shouldn't do that, but yeah, it's not a proportional uh type of job. So uh it's not if you work harder, you're necessarily going to get more rewards. Indeed, it does pay off, but at the same time, I feel like luck is very much kind of like the central piece because there are so many good books out there, and it just like takes one person, like the right person, to read it and to put it in front of like more people. And I I feel like that's the the recipe for success, and you you can't judge a book by how popular it is, like say it's good or bad, because there are so many undiscovered gems, and it's all a matter of time. So true.

Jordan 29:43

Okay, so are you currently working on any future projects? And if so, is there anything you can tell us? I know you kind of mentioned working on something earlier, but I don't know if you can tell us anything about it or like what book it might be.

Veronica Lancet 29:58

The third one in The Cycles of Love. So the the title for this one is Velacor, and it's an another this one is more so it's a gothic, dark, gothic romance, but it's more epic fantasy and Mr. Lovers.

Jordan 30:15

I love how they're like changing. I like that it's not the same. I know you already said this too, but I love that it's not even like they're not like so like dark, like dark gothic fantasy, then dark academia gothic, but now this is like dark gothic high fantasy. Like I like that they're all almost these like different genres that you're writing in, so you do get something different every time.

Veronica Lancet 30:44

So this one is in the same universe actually as uh uh Sinister and Fairy Dale, and there there is actually one character in Sinister that is part of the larger universe, he's the main character in House of Krios trilogy, but in this one, this one is kind of like in the past, it's in the realm of demons and gods, and uh there is this like illness that's wiping out demons, and the demon princess decides to go to a peace summit with the gods to find an artifact that might cure the illness for the demons, and it's a lot of like political ideology that clashes because the the demons uh are like soul suckers, basically, they consume souls, and the gods condemn them for that. So it's very much a back and forth. So we have the princess, the demon princess, that's and then there is this like 10,000-year-old imprisoned dragon that is sent to basically destroy the chances of the summit, so there's no peace between them. This sounds so good, it's very slow burn. Oh my god, you have no idea. Because I am 200,000 words into it, and there's been like one kiss.

Jordan 31:59

Oh, oh, but like a slow burn just is so good. It's chef's kiss. So then do you okay? I'm curious because if this one's at like 2,000, 200,000 words, do you ever cut it down or do you just write until the story's done and you're like, no, I need to keep everything in, like, we must have it all.

Veronica Lancet 32:21

I mostly uh keep everything in except for like where I can see that okay, maybe I can trim some of the exposition down so it's not you know so much info dumping. I can cut those, but usually if it serves a purpose in the story, I don't cut it. No.

Jordan 32:41

Okay, that makes sense. And then I feel like that's also like good. You don't wanna don't want to cut that stuff out.

Veronica Lancet 32:46

Uh and it I feel like especially with long books, it's always sort of like a conflict because you you know there are some people that will read long books, but then you also inadvertently get the reader that are like this could have been like 500 pages less. And then you're like, but it couldn't really have been like that. You can't cut it out, like you have to keep it in. Because what I love most about writing is getting very much into the characters in exploring them, and I feel like that's uh that's a result of you know, the the result is me writing really long books because I really love developing with the characters, I want to see the progression with the characters, like I leave with those characters what they leave. So uh when it gets too long, I'm like every time I'm like, should I split the book? Should I do it in like two volumes? Even my mom was like, How how how much have you written? And I'm like, Well, almost 100,000. Are you splitting it? I'm like, no, no, no. I promise the standalone, I'm going to keep it a standalone.

Jordan 33:55

That's fair. I wouldn't even think about like splitting it. Like, you don't even think like, but like you could make it like a duology, but then you also gotta find like a spot where you could split it if you didn't want to.

Veronica Lancet 34:07

One thing that I've learned like with Fairy Dale and because Sinister is also 200,000 words, so it's a a really big book as well. Uh Fairy Dale is 200,065. 165,000. So it's kind of like another book extra. This one is probably going to be longer than Fairy Dale. And what I've noticed is that when I write these really long standalones, uh, the way I think of the story and the way that I start the story is for the like payoff to be in one book, not to be split in like more books, because every single hint accumulates, and then if I'm splitting it and people don't read it one after another, then there's a possibility that a lot of people will miss clues, will miss things. So it's not going to hit us good when it ends.

Jordan 34:59

That's a good point. Like, you don't think about that. Like if you're leaving almost like hints, Easter eggs to like later in the book. But people, if there's like a gap between releases, because I tend to forget things, like I usually have to reread uh the book before before diving into the new one because I kind of forget. And it's just like those little things that I definitely forget, like an overall pop plot line I can remember. But if there's like little hints, forget that. I gotta reread it.

Veronica Lancet 35:29

Yeah, that that's why because I think of books as an experience from like start to finish. And if I were to split it, it wouldn't wouldn't be the same.

Jordan 35:37

Okay, so that was it for authoring, but now we're diving into reading. Are there any authors who you looked up to before becoming an author, or even any authors you look up to now?

Veronica Lancet 35:48

So my favorite author, uh, this is I started reading her uh yeah when I was in high school, and I still read her, Sherilyn

Favorite Authors Quotes And Reading Obsessions

Veronica Lancet 35:57

Kenyon. She wrote Dark Hunters.

Jordan 36:01

I don't think I know that series, but now I need to look it up.

Veronica Lancet 36:04

Oh my god. Uh, and uh she has another sci-fi series as well, and she has some historical romances. I I don't know, she is literally my favorite. Uh, and I think, in a way, my role model, because uh, you know how in trad publishing and before indie, let's just like take it before indie, when it was mostly trad publishing, you wouldn't really get a long books uh because publishers have an expectation of it must be a certain number of words, a certain number of pages. And some of her books, like standalone, but within the series, are like a thousand pages. Yeah, a thousand pages. So uh probably like reading that and reading it at the point where it was influencing me and how I view storytelling, it made me uh want to delve deeper into like everything that has to do with the characters instead of just like having a flashback where it's like, oh, here's what happened, bye. Uh so it's more developed, and I think that was the first time, and it's still like you don't really see that often books that are super, super long that are, for example, immediately trad published. Usually, if they're longer books, they're picked up after they already gained their audience. It's exactly because publishers don't want to gamble on like the cost of paper, the cost of everything. It's it's a lot. You don't know if it's going to be successful, but because she had such a successful series, she had the trust of her publishers to like publish these really long tomes, so yeah. I would say try the series, it's so good.

Jordan 37:43

Okay, I I wrote it down, I now need to try it. But like, good, like that's a good thing that like you saw her do it, so then you could know you could do it, in the sense of like of course you could write like a long book, but I think it's kind of nice that she did it, and you were like, Okay, so there are people that will read loud. Yeah, exactly. Like there will be people that will read this. Because I feel like if you just see books that are, because you're you're right. I feel like the average length is around 300 pages that you see Trad pub doing, and so I feel like if that's all you're seeing, I feel like in my head, I would be like, I could never write a longer book because no one's gonna read it.

Veronica Lancet 38:24

And at the same time, you know, when when you kind of like uh think about what trad publishing accepts and the word count and everything, and it's not always about the craft, because sometimes uh the story does require more into it. But if it's a story that they can cut, they will cut because it brings down costs. So at the end of the day, it is an economical decision more so than it is like a craft decision, and unless you have like a lot of backing behind you where they'll be like, okay, yeah, sure, do whatever you want. You you sell books anyway, uh, yeah, they're they're probably not going to accept something like really long.

Jordan 39:06

No, I know that I feel like that that makes sense. It does. So, okay, that I want to ask about like your what is your favorite quote that you have ever written?

Veronica Lancet 39:16

This is a hard one. I will say that the the quote that I remember verbatim is the one from Fairy Dale. It might be evil personified, but you'll you won't you're the only one I'll ever be good to, and that's because everyone asks me to write it on their books when I find them. So that one I know by heart.

Jordan 39:37

But it it is a good one.

Veronica Lancet 39:40

It is a good one.

Jordan 39:43

Okay, so then I know you kind of answered this before, but I'm still gonna ask you again what genre is your go-to genre to read, unless it's different, because I know you said historical romances for romances, but for romance, yeah, it's historical romance, and uh for the others, I really like uh like Chinese web novels.

Veronica Lancet 40:04

I know this is a this is pretty pretty out there, but my favorite series is Lord of Mysteries. It's also another like really, really long one. But uh I actually started learning Chinese so I can read it in uh the original. Oh my goodness. I feel like that is dedication. That is dedication. I am obsessed with it. It's like so good. I remember when I finished it, I was like, what am I going to do with myself now? Well, learn Chinese so I can read it all over again.

Jordan 40:35

I like it. I like it. I feel like that's that's the right way to do it.

Veronica Lancet 40:40

I mean, I have all of the books here. Look, wait. I have the Chinese textbook.

Jordan 40:48

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I love it. So, like, I think that's so cool though. I tried to learn Dutch once and it didn't last very long, and I gave up. That was my experience.

Veronica Lancet 41:05

I mean, Chinese is is very hard, but I'm focusing mostly on reading, so not on like I do still have to do the writing and speaking, but mostly on reading. So that makes it a little bit easier for me.

Jordan 41:19

Mm-hmm. If you say so. Okay, so the last question in reading is what is your favorite book, a book you would recommend to anyone and everyone?

Veronica Lancet 41:29

I will say Lord of Mysteries. It's it's not just one book, it's eight volumes, but it's really, really good. There's no romance, unfortunately. But the world building is just like it's absolutely insane. I hear the Chinese version is even better.

Jordan 41:49

And you will find out, you will find out one day and you can report back that it is indeed fact better. Okay, so on to personal, which is the last section. These are the last three questions. So, when you're not writing or reading, what do you like to do in your free time? I mean, I'm learning Chinese now. That's fair.

Veronica Lancet 42:13

That is actually pretty cool. Thank you. Uh, what else do I sometimes just like YouTube? I I just YouTube

Life Outside Books Puppy And Background Noise

Veronica Lancet 42:22

sometimes I just like scroll aimlessly on X or on TikTok, and that's kind of like my okay, let's calm down, let's get back to Earth.

Jordan 42:31

I am so I do the doom scrolling so hard. I just love I love the story times. Yes, I love also like TikTok. I love just people talking to me, yes, apparently. So like I just watch all these random videos of like random people just like talking about random things, and you know, I I think probably this is a result of me watching so so much of like TikTok and people speaking to me.

Veronica Lancet 42:57

But recently when I'm writing, I like to have in the background either like a podcast or something or like a documentary because I need to hear people talk. It needs to be going on in the background, yeah. Yeah, like true crime, something, anything. I just like I as long as I like your voice, if I like the voice, then you could listen to it. So, for example, the that that podcast, uh Rotten Mango, I really like that one. It's like a true crime podcast. She has the best voice for like storytelling, so it's very kind of like I can write and listen.

Jordan 43:28

I've never heard of that podcast. I like I I know of like crime junkie, and then there's like my favorite murder for like true crime ones. I don't typically listen to too much true crime because it scares me, especially when like they're not found, like the killers aren't found.

Veronica Lancet 43:43

I'm just like telling like ones that are I don't either, but she has a really interesting way of like storytelling. It's like very uh you're immersed into what she's saying. So it's she tells it like a story as well. So it's not just you know, like reporting the fact, it's also like a story. Okay, okay.

Jordan 44:08

I'll have to give this one a shot. I'm gonna I'm gonna give it a shot. What is a fun fact about you that your readers and the listeners might be surprised to learn?

Veronica Lancet 44:18

I have a puppy that I I actually got because I was writing a puppy and I fell in love with the puppy in my book. Oh my I love it. That's like the best way. Because everyone thinks that I I wrote the the puppy in Barbie and the villain because I have one myself. It's a po it's a white Pomeranian. So everyone thinks that I wrote it based on mine, but no, it was the other way around. I was writing it and I was like, okay, no, I have to get one. I'm just like, I'm too gone. I'm gone for a fictional dog.

Jordan 44:51

And but like it's so cool. It's like manifestationslash you brought it to life. You were like, I brought my fictional puppy to life. And now it's exactly.

Veronica Lancet 45:01

So I had to get her exactly the same as in the book. I love it. Wait, so did it take you like a minute? And honestly, even the personality, it's like she read the book and she's like, Well, this is how I act.

Jordan 45:14

This this is I'm supposed to be this. Yes. So since you needed to get the same kind, did it take you a minute to find the same puppy, or did it like fall in your lap?

Veronica Lancet 45:25

Did she like kind of like so? I wanted the white Pomeranian, but it it's really hard to find them. So I had a few like failed attempts to get any color. And then I just like randomly found like an advert on like some kind of like it wasn't Craigslist, but it was something similar to Craigslist. I was like, maybe this is a scam. But I texted them and they were like, she's available, paid the deposit, met them, got her, perfect. Oh my gosh, it was meant to be. It was meant to be exactly, exactly. And do you think that because before that I wanted a pet, but I was like, maybe it's easier with the cat? But because I I started writing the the book about a dog, it had to be like a white Pomeranian.

Jordan 46:11

It just it had to be. There was no other way around it.

Veronica Lancet 46:14

Yeah.

Jordan 46:16

Okay, so the last question I have for you is what is one future goal that you would like to achieve? And this could be in writing, it could be in authoring, personal.

Veronica Lancet 46:27

Probably to be more comfortable with traveling. Uh I I don't do well with traveling, but I wish I could because you know, I wish I could do more signings and more things of that nature, but it's just like so hard, it always takes a toll on me, and I end up sick for like days after.

Jordan 46:45

My goodness. It's it's like your body's way of being like no more traveling for a bit.

Veronica Lancet 46:51

Yeah, yeah. So I I kind of like wish that could change, but we'll see. Because I I have to split my time between like Europe and the US anyway, so it's always like I hate the travel part.

Jordan 47:04

That's fair. I also don't like to travel either.

Travel Anxiety And Airport Horror Stories

Jordan 47:06

I hate getting on a plane, I hate flying, I hate the buildup of getting on the plane, of like getting to the airport. So I feel you.

Veronica Lancet 47:14

Because it's a lot of time that you have to account for, and it's just like it's lost time.

Jordan 47:18

It yes, and it's so stressful. Like the whole time I'm just thinking I'm gonna miss my flight, and then I I don't know if it's me being a millennial, but then I think of like final destination, and I'm like, maybe I'm supposed to miss this flight. Like, actually, oh my god.

Veronica Lancet 47:34

No, I I totally get it because I always prefer taking the train. I feel like it's easier because with a plane, you have to be there like two hours beforehand, you have to go for security, and then whenever you you get some of those like really intimidating security, like TSA agents, you're like, Well, I just want to get to my destination, please.

Jordan 47:56

Like, please just let me through. I know you probably don't want to be here right now, but like please be nice to me.

Veronica Lancet 48:03

This was the first time I ever went to the US, and I I I remember I had my carry on and I was going for security, and uh my my back just like slightly brushed by the security guy, and he yelled at me that he was going to arrest me, and I was like, What?

Jordan 48:20

Please, oh my gosh, I've like, oh I I I hate the airport, I hate the airport. I had one security guard, well, not security, it was like a TSA person, yeah. Where you know how you have to go through the thing and you're putting your hands up and it's like scanning you. And when I went through, something like went off, so they had to like pat me down and they asked me if I like wanted a room or if they could do it there, and I was like, no, just do it here. Like, I need to get going. But now this was what's weird. At least I got a female TSA person to do it, but I had this random person guy that was staring the whole time that she was like patting me down, and I was so uncomfortable. I was like, can you not stare? And then he and then afterwards he was like, Do they always do that? And I'm like, Well, yeah, if your thing goes off, but it's like you didn't have to look the whole time, like it was so uncomfortable, and I've never felt like that uncomfortable in like TSA. I'm usually stressed.

Veronica Lancet 49:25

The thing is, it accumulates with all of the stress and everything. Of course, you're going to look like guilty, even though you're completely innocent because you're like sweating, you're like, Oh my god, what are they going to accuse me of?

Jordan 49:36

No, exactly. I'm like, and I always think there's something in my bag that shouldn't be. Oh, I hate traveling. Like the plane. I agree with you. The train is way better.

Veronica Lancet 49:44

If I can I would rather be on a train for six hours than a plane for like especially with my dog, because apparently there is this scheme where like, I don't know, draffickers apparently have dogs with them to seem innocent, maybe. So they always pull me to the side to like the separate, like, you know, like checks where they have to they even they have to put me for like a double machine and pat me down and do everything, and I'm like for my my little dog. Really?

Jordan 50:14

Like, it's just a cute puppy.

Veronica Lancet 50:16

I swear exactly, it doesn't have any drugs. Please find me from this.

Jordan 50:25

Oh, oh, the airport. Oh, it's just a great time. So okay, so that was all the questions I had for you. I did want to give you the floor for like where people can find you, where they can find your books.

Veronica Lancet 50:40

Okay, so I'm mostly on Instagram, active on Instagram, and you can find me there or on TikTok. Uh, but I mostly respond on Instagram. So if you want to tag me or anything when the book comes out and when you've done

Where To Find Veronica And Final Notes

Veronica Lancet 50:55

reading it, I love reading people's thoughts. So if you're reading the book and you want to message me reactions, welcome to do so.

Jordan 51:03

To the party. Welcome, welcome. We're all welcome.

Veronica Lancet 51:06

I I I just love seeing people's reactions.

Jordan 51:10

Fair. And then I feel like you can find fairy tale in all like bookstores. I see it everywhere.

Veronica Lancet 51:17

Yeah, and that should be the case with Sinister as well.

Jordan 51:20

Yeah. I think uh yeah, I think so too.

Veronica Lancet 51:23

And don't forget that the first print run of Sinister has the double covers. Wait, I didn't know this. So the first edition, the first one when it releases, is going to have the art on the other cover. It's going to have the the nice abstract red cover, and underneath it's going to have on both sides the the portraits for the main characters. Wait, that is so cool. I did not know that. Can't wait to get my hands on them.

Jordan 51:52

I know. I have to get my hands on them. It's so good to know. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Veronica, and letting me interview you and letting me ask you all the questions. Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. Oh, good. I had so much fun.