books

  • When the Middle Unlocks the Magic: Creating Harmony from Chaos

    The Story Behind Introducing My Second Protagonist By Peggy Arthur Greetings! When I first started writing The Pretender’s Game, I tried giving every chapter a different character perspective. It seemed ambitious and artistic, until it completely stumped me. Instead of one novel, I suddenly had multiple stories pulling me in different directions. Too many voices, too

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  • How I Use Artificial Intelligence to Shape The Pretender’s Game

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings! Artificial intelligence, or AI, has become one of my most valuable tools as I craft the world of The Pretender’s Game. I use it in three key ways: research, planning and plotting, and formatting. Research While The Pretender’s Game is a work of fantasy, it’s deeply rooted in reality. And contrary to popular belief – I don’t

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  • Because the Journey Is Meant to Be Shared: An Interview with Book Coach Dianne Pearce

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings! I had the opportunity to interview my Book Coach, Dianne Pearce of Current Words Publishing. I met Dianne at the 2025 Atlanta Writers Club Self-Publishing Conference this past March, and she helped me gain confidence in myself as a writer. Please allow me to share this inspiring conversation with you especially if you’re an

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  • Stephen King’s Fairy Tale: The Perfect Halloween Audiobook for Dreamers and the Brave

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings! Recently, I decided to journey into Stephen King’s Fairy Tale via Audible. The audiobook runs about twenty-four hours long; but every minute was worth it. King weaves an extraordinary tale that begins in grief and unfolds into a sweeping adventure that feels both timeless and familiar. What truly elevated the experience for me

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  • Rooted Reads: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Greetings! The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of those rare novels that merges history, memory, and mysticism into something deeply transformative. It’s a book that doesn’t just speak about freedom, it moves through it, pulsing with ancestral rhythm and remembrance. The Story At its heart, this is the story of Hiram Walker, a young man

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  • Man, Myth, and The Pretender’s Game

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings! One cannot separate man from myth or myth from man. Each feeds the other, like a two-headed snake endlessly consuming itself. Mythology has always lived at the edges of our lives, shaping how we understand good and evil, right and wrong, light and shadow. It’s not just ancient tales carved into

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  • Rooted Reads: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

    Greetings! This novel stirred so much inside me. It reminded me that women’s rights have been restricted for generations. That what remains undiscussed in the home is most certainly not taught in schools. So where, when, and from whom do we learn these hidden truths? We learn from courageous authors unafraid to share the truth

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  • Review: Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings, writers and readers! When it comes to the art of writing novels, there are countless methods. Some resonate, some don’t. Recently, I had the unique experience of not only reading Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell but also attending a live Zoom session hosted by the Atlanta Writers Club,

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  • Ten Years in the Making: What Writing a Novel Has Taught Me About Myself

    By Peggy Arthur I’ve spent nearly a decade writing, editing, rewriting, and starting over. Honestly, I’ve lost track. Year 9? Year 10? At this point, time feels like a blur stitched together by pages, paragraphs, and characters who refuse to be quiet. But here’s what I do know: this year, I’ve accomplished more than in all

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  • Rooted Reads: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

    By Peggy Arthur Greetings! This Rooted Read stretches forward in time but remains deeply anchored in the past. Unlike the previous books I’ve recommended, Parable of the Sower was written in 1993 and at the time, set in the future, 2024. But not the far-off, flying-cars kind of future. No, the world Octavia Butler imagines

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