IWSG June 2026: Where do the ideas come from? + ARCs!
- Rosie J.
- Jun 3
- 6 min read
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the June 3 posting of the IWSG are Victoria Marie Lees, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and C. Lee McKenzie!
The following link will allow you to peruse everyone in the Blog Hop.
Link | IWSG Blog Hop Participants
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June 3 question - Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?
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Hello, friends!
Getting this posted a bit late today. Again. The first of the month has snuck up on me.
May was honestly pretty quiet, for me. Especially compared to April. I took the time to decompress a bit. I had some editing client things to tie up. Finished a Query Package Critique and booked a new client for later this year. Scoped out my calendar for the rest of the year so I don't overbook myself, especially ahead of my book launch. I've been working through judging some contest entries, which consists of the first thirty pages of unpublished novels. And I've been working through my pass pages. Both of these things are due after this weekend so I'm going to have a busy weekend.
After that, though, I think I may be able to relax some more this coming month and maybe do some writing. I haven't drafted anything new in a while. I don't have any editing clients booked and once my contest judging and pass pages are done, I think I'm free! Aside from the never-ending social media marketing loop and getting some more things sorted out for bookish giveaways.
Something super exciting did happen last month though! I got my physical ARCs! Just look at these beauties!
I was really so excited to get these. Theres a whole unboxing video over on my Instagram.
I mostly just stare at this stack on my desk. I have some plans for them. Some are already earmarked for some booktok/bookstagram people, some for giveaways. I've marked one of them as mine to have my grubby hands on for random things so I don't give away the one that I've turned into the Velveteen Rabbit of ARCs from handling it so much.
So that was exciting! And I got my final author photos. I had such a hard time picking out just five that I ended up buying more, which in reality, I didn't need ten different author photos, but it made my decision making easier.
I haven't posted them all live yet, but here are a few of my favorites!
Credit: Rachel Woods at Smoke Signal Photography
It was an absolutely beautiful day on the parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had been in a drought so there wasn't a lot of "smokiness" going on, but the sunset views of the mountains were perfect. Not to mention the happy accident of the purple clover matching my purple dress!
So that's fun. The fifth one in the gallery with the panoramic view of the mountains and my hand to my neck is the one we're using in my press kit, and likely my book photo.
What am I going to do with the rest of them? I'm not sure. But I hadn't had professional photos, other than school/work photos, done since I was probably a senior in high school, which was still a school photo but more than just a yearbook picture, and unless I get a massive advance in the future, I'll be using these for a while. So I decided to just get all the ones I liked. And if I'm honest, I could've gone with a few more!
I think that's really all that's happened writer wise in the past month. The Tinsel Twist is available on Edelweiss and has gotten one review from a bookseller. We're still five months out so it's a bit early yet to ramp up publicity stuff, but there will be more soon! It's also gone out to authors who have agreed to read to provide a review blurb. I am anxiously awaiting any of them to respond. At least I hope they don't hate it and do respond with a complimentary blurb, LOL.
I am taking applications for my Street Team and ARC Team, if anyone is interested in applying, here are the links! You don't have to be on the ARC Team to get an advanced digital copy when they're available on NetGalley. It's just for people who might want to be more involved. Or maybe if you're in another country that doesn't have NetGalley and might want to read/review early. I can get a copy to you if you're on the list.
Link || Street Team
Link || ARC Team
Well, thanks for following along with my journey through trad pub and me chronicling each step that happens every month. On to the IWSG question!
June Question
Today's question asks: Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?
My mind is a utter chaos. So yeah, they come from all over the place. I found an old Discord message the other day when I was looking back through stuff for "how it started" social media posts for The Tinsel Twist and found one where I was just like... welp... okay... I guess I'm writing a holiday romance for NaNoWriMo this year (2022).
Which, believe you me, that is the last thing I ever thought I would write. Let alone, be the thing that got me an agent AND a book deal. Christmas is probably my least favorite time of the year. So ask me where that inspiration came from? I don't know. But here we are.
I also write a wide variety of things. I have a horror story on The NoSleep Podcast that was inspired by a real place (Centralia, PA). I have other horror stories in the works. I have monster romance/erotica. I have dark fantasy. I have urban fantasy. I have spy thrillers. I have other contemporary romance. I watch a show and think, oh that's cool, but what if this character did that? I observe an interaction between two people and wonder what the backstory to that was. I hear a tidbit of information about something and run with it. My brain is constantly latching onto things and noodling on them until something comes of it. And sometimes nothing does, but it goes into the idea bank, which sometimes just lives in my brain, and sometimes actually makes it to a Notes app or random Google Doc.
I know some people struggle with ideas and what to write next, but if I could be a full time author, I would not be lacking ideas to sit down and write. Now, are they all good ideas that would end up being worth publishing? That is highly unlikely, lol!
Would love to hear about where your ideas come from and what's been going on in your writer worlds.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
Looking forward to traversing the blog hop and reading about other people's experiences with their old writing.
For now,
Rosie J.
The Tinsel Twist in which a recipe for love requires a dash of danger releases November 3rd from Turner Publishing.
Add on Goodreads or preorder wherever books are sold (including internationally).
Link | Linktree
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