<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[RM is Writing]]></title><description><![CDATA[High-stakes espionage romance and atmospheric supernatural worlds. Home of lethal heroines and morally grey protectors.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4TZ5!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d7c00a1-595e-4747-8393-3e605b61418b_1280x1280.png</url><title>RM is Writing</title><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:23:13 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[rmmcdonaldiswriting@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[rmmcdonaldiswriting@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[rmmcdonaldiswriting@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[rmmcdonaldiswriting@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Pick My Book Cover]]></title><description><![CDATA[Weigh in on book cover designs for an up and coming werewolf romance.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/pick-my-book-cover</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/pick-my-book-cover</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:37:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3eb4f50d-b8f5-4f01-9125-5b529e17a958_700x990.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re a romance reader, what type of cover pulls you in? There is a lot of criticism in cover design these days, from the need to move away from cartoon covers to abandoning the overdone skulls and roses. Book covers are meant to speak to genre so the reader knows just by looking at a cover that a book is fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, etc. Covers serve a subliminal purpose&#8212;that said&#8212;I loathe the norms.</p><p>If you&#8217;ve seen the covers of my romantic suspense duet, they aren&#8217;t exactly conventional, but they are badass. They hint at all sorts of things, and I&#8217;ll put book one below for you to see what I mean, but you might not think &#8220;romance&#8221; when you see it. This is the fine line I am trying to walk. To me, I see the sexy mouth and that signals that there is something &#8216;spicy&#8217; inside, but other readers need hearts and cupids on the front to reach the same conclusion. It&#8217;s tough, but I absolutely DO NOT want covers that blend into the background.</p><p>RAVENS features spies, espionage, politics, and violence. I think this covers nails it. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg" width="1456" height="2330" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2330,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2697754,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/203411777?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kq4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3bf36abf-60ac-4e0a-9d42-1699d7953784_1600x2560.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Now to the point of this post: Below are two cover designs, followed by a poll. I&#8217;d love for you to select the cover that intrigues you the most, or the one that you&#8217;d be most excited to display on your bookshelf. Bear in mind that <mark data-color="#d5a6bd" style="background-color: rgb(213, 166, 189); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">these designs are mockups that I made myself and not the final, professional versions</mark>, so I&#8217;m looking for a reaction to the concepts rather than the &#8216;quality&#8217; of the designs.</p><p>Genre: Paranormal/Supernatural Romance (Werewolves)</p><p>Themes: Found family, dismantle the patriarchy, power struggle, the burden of womanhood, family secrets</p><p>Tropes: Forced proximity, touch her and die</p><p>Misc: 3rd person limited, dual POV, reverse harem, new take on werewolf lore/rules/politics, book one of a duet</p><div class="image-gallery-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;gallery&quot;:{&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fbcba636-3487-486b-a58c-267ab684ad84_1410x2250.png&quot;},{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f9d9eab7-f87f-44fd-b93f-90775acfdd6f_1410x2250.png&quot;}],&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Potential Book Covers for WEREWOLF&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Two images of book covers featuring the title \&quot;Werewolf\&quot; along with the image of a woman and flowers.&quot;,&quot;staticGalleryImage&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3ac06a06-5636-42fc-972a-5867a0dea930_1456x720.png&quot;}},&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true}"></div><p> WEREWOLF is doing something different in the Omegaverse, and I want an atypical cover that conveys an atypical plot while still saying &#8220;Werewolf Romance.&#8221;</p><p>What do you think?</p><div class="poll-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:644522}" data-component-name="PollToDOM"></div><p>Hugs &amp; Kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[To Serialize or Not to Serialize. You decide.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Take the poll and be heard!]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/to-serialize-or-not-to-serialize</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/to-serialize-or-not-to-serialize</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:41:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been strongly considering a serialized release of my paranormal romance (werewolf) once it&#8217;s ready, but I&#8217;m still undecided. That&#8217;s where you come in!</p><p>As subscribers, I&#8217;d like you to decide. Here is a little more information about the story.</p><p>It is set in the Canadian prairies, it is why choose MFM, and it takes a feminist approach to werewolf mythology, dives into wolf politics, and incorporates the elements into pack identities. It is the first book in a duet, and the gist of the story is this:</p><blockquote><p>The werewolf gene has been watered down and whatever wolves still exist, are hardly anything special. Sarah Miller, an unwitting carrier of the gene, bumps into Deacon Cot&#233;, a loner who is more farmer than wolf. When his touch inadvertently activates her gene, Sarah finds herself thrust into a world that runs beneath the surface of society, and in that world, she is the ultimate prize. Lucky for Sarah, Deacon happens to come from a long line of guardian wolves. Too bad that&#8217;s just code for some guys with good immune systems and muscles. If Sarah has any chance of survival, she is going to have to learn to protect herself.</p></blockquote><div class="pullquote"><p>As a side note for those who believe real why choose must feature same-sex encounters, the reason that this is MFM and not MMF is that all the males in this story are related to each other. I support queer romance, but I do not support incest.</p></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg" width="736" height="1308" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1308,&quot;width&quot;:736,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:159534,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200334105?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z4aD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc34926f0-0175-4259-b265-96433b39ed8b_736x1308.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p>This book is approximately 85K words, and 27 chapters. So a chapter a week serial would take nearly seven months to reach the end of, strictly speaking. That said, I think where shorter chapters occur, I would do a second publication in that week so that would cut the time down.</p><p>So, what do you think? Are you down for the anticipation of the next chapter dropping, or would you rather wait to have the completed book in your hands or on your eReader?</p><p></p><div class="poll-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:523345}" data-component-name="PollToDOM"></div><p> Hus &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Book I Am Querying]]></title><description><![CDATA[An inside look at my fantasy romance world.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/the-book-i-am-querying</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/the-book-i-am-querying</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:40:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>This is the mood board for the atmosphere I&#8217;ve created in my unpublished fantasy romance, as well as some more specific information about the storyline. I am actively querying this story, and the full Agent Guide is posted to my <strong><a href="https://www.threads.com/@r.m.mcdonald_author">Threads</a></strong> account if you&#8217;d like to see it all.</p><p>Please enjoy a brief behind the scenes glimpse at <em>Aether</em>, book one of <em>The Endless</em>.</p><p><strong>Mood Board</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg" width="736" height="1308" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1308,&quot;width&quot;:736,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:178600,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200322250?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4Yqe!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdea0bb11-4903-4c5a-a94a-2b864988bd41_736x1308.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Back blurb</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png" width="1080" height="1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;width&quot;:1080,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1441524,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200322250?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-vFM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd4edb01-adda-48e8-aa4b-b8f4b8357fda_1080x1080.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>If you like the following books then you might like Aether!</strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f69Q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd377933d-91d2-4dde-955e-e09b79fb6dc9_1080x1080.png" width="1080" height="1080" 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pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Thanks for taking a peak!</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[First 100 subscribers?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Great! You're in the raffle for free audiobooks!]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/first-100-subscribers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/first-100-subscribers</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:34:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m looking for spicy romance readers to join my community where you will have access to up and coming serialized stories, ARC applications, a chance to join my street team, and even receive PR boxes!</p><p>To kick things off, I&#8217;m giving away 5 sets of my romantic suspense duet. That means five separate people will win both audiobooks in A Tripoli Duet! Book one, Ravens, is narrated by the incredibly talented Dani Soleil, and she reprises her role in book 2, Three Over Aces, alongside Freddie Wills.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg 424w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wsC!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb04445c-583c-4281-ac34-17619baa07d5_2208x2944.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>To get your name in the raffle, all you have to do is subscribe to my Substack, yes- FREE tier subscriptions count!</p><p>When we hit 100 subscribers, I will do the draw, so the faster we hit that number the sooner you get a chance to win free audiobooks!</p><p>How can you help? Subscribe and share this post! I have a referral program in place and the more you share the more rewards you get, which consist of character art and free ebooks!</p><p>Thank you for helping me build my community and reach my audience.</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are These Your Vibes?]]></title><description><![CDATA[This is my romantic suspense series. Buckle up.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/are-these-your-vibes</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/are-these-your-vibes</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:34:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/200195715/f8ea02b65ed5b184098bba4976bc048f.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When a covert operative meets a British agent that she been assigned to assist, her entire world gets flipped upside down.</p><p>Ravens + Three Over Aces = A Tripoli Duet</p><p>Bottlecap &amp; Babylon = A Tripoli Novella (read last)</p><p>Get into it on <strong>Kindle Unlimited</strong>.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Music: Inspiration for Stories]]></title><description><![CDATA[Something tragic has transpired.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/music-inspiration-for-stories</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/music-inspiration-for-stories</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:27:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg" width="682" height="1024" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1024,&quot;width&quot;:682,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:51456,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200134723?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fMXF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49edbbd3-c003-40df-9058-c41c69e547f8_682x1024.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This is a dedication of sorts to a woman I didn&#8217;t know, but who&#8217;s name happens to coincide with the FMC in A Tripoli Duet, Theresa Collins.</p><p>I don&#8217;t want to be transparent for privacy sake during a difficult time, so I will just refer to her simply as Ms. Collins, which is how her students knew her. She was a young music teacher in my community who lost her life this past weekend. I&#8217;d met her once, but she taught one of my children and the school is mourning her loss greatly. It is such a shock to lose someone so young out of the blue, and the children will be digesting this loss for some time.</p><p>It got me thinking about the way music shapes us. Music informs our philosophies, I believe, which is why (I think) we see such monumental shifts in general &#8220;personality&#8221; from one generation to the next. The messaging in music is far more powerful than some give it credit for. The more nonsensical and shallow music has become, so too has the generation consuming it.</p><p>That said, music often inspires my stories. My fantasy romance series, which is two trilogies (unpublished) is entirely inspired by Eagle&#8217;s <em>One of These Nights</em>. That&#8217;s right, six whole books inspired by a single song. It inspired the love story, the personalities, the plot, the worlds . . . it is so full of feelings that transcend the words that I could probably write scores more with just that in the back of my mind.</p><p>Ravens, book one of my duet and where we meet my Ms. Collins, grew out of <em>Dreams</em> by Fleetwood Mac. My new paranormal romance, tentatively titled Fever, was spawned from Honeymoon Suite&#8217;s <em>New Girl Now</em> and The Loving Spoonful&#8217;s <em>Summer in the City</em>. Pretty strange considering it is a werewolf romance.</p><p>So, in honor of Ms. Collins and her dedication to music and teaching, tell me the songs that inspired you to write stories around them.</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[An Espionage Romance]]></title><description><![CDATA[Getting to know the characters in the action-packed Tripoli Duet]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/an-espionage-romance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/an-espionage-romance</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:03:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png" width="1456" height="2060" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2060,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:11648105,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200024952?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!G48E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbca8872-22a9-4da5-8040-de825eacce86_2480x3508.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Ravens</em> (Book one of A Tripoli Duet) is a single POV romantic suspense conveyed through Tripoli, our heroine&#8212;as far as morally grey people can be heroes. She is the one we know the most about, and yet, so much is still a mystery.</p><p><strong>Operative:</strong> Theresa Collins</p><p><strong>Code name:</strong> Tripoli</p><p><strong>Age:</strong> 28</p><p><strong>Height:</strong> 5&#8217; 10&#8221;</p><p><strong>Location:</strong> Chicago, IL</p><p><strong>Employer:</strong> The Agency</p><p>Tripoli is the pilot recruit for the Raven program, a covert team of twelve men and women, uniquely skilled at donning personas in order to facilitate missions at home and abroad. Even when you think they aren&#8217;t working, they are. No one&#8217;s information is safe from a Raven. Tripoli is used to playing beneath her skill level, but when she encounters York she has to decide if playing the weak, vulnerable woman is the best way to stay alive or if it&#8217;s time for her true nature to show through.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>Operative:</strong> David Crossley</p><p><strong>Code name:</strong> York</p><p><strong>Age: </strong>38</p><p><strong>Height:</strong> 6&#8217; 0&#8221;</p><p><strong>Location:</strong> Chicago, IL</p><p><strong>Employer:</strong> Unknown</p><p>York is a domineering, mysterious British agent on an equally mysterious mission that requires Raven assistance. He is opaque, but blunt. While you can be certain he is telling you as little as possible, rest assured the things he does say will be a little too honest and probably mean. This man is not shy with his body, but his emotions are as mysterious as every thing else about him.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>Operative:</strong> William Brown</p><p><strong>Code name:</strong> Bottlecap</p><p><strong>Age:</strong> 32</p><p><strong>Height:</strong> 6&#8217; 5&#8221;</p><p><strong>Location: </strong>Unknown</p><p><strong>Employer:</strong> Unknown</p><p>William is a trained sniper with a soft Texan accent that makes the girls swoon. Practiced at keeping his emotions in check, beneath the surface he feels everything more than he wants to. In Tripoli&#8217;s presence he is forced to deal with feelings of betrayal and failure from his past, and they don&#8217;t even know each other. The question he continually asks himself is, can he follow York&#8217;s plan, or will he let his anger for this Raven get the better of him?</p><p><strong>Sound intriguing? Ravens, book one of a Tripoli Duet is available free for those with </strong><em><strong>Kindle Unlimited</strong></em><strong>, for a small fee on </strong><em><strong>Kindle</strong></em><strong>, and in paperback on </strong><em><strong>Amazon</strong></em><strong>. If you are an audiobook lover, it is available on </strong><em><strong>Audible</strong></em><strong>, narrated by the wildly talented Dani Soleil.</strong></p><p>I&#8217;ve been so fortunate to reach 100+ reviews on Goodreads for this first book and although I know I should stay out of reader spaces, I can&#8217;t help myself. I read the reviews. Maybe one day I won&#8217;t, but for right now, this is my debut foray into the publishing world and I am eager to see what the readers think. Sometimes (the best times) the feedback is uplifting and validating, sometimes it&#8217;s a one-star rating with no review at all, and other times the reception is lukewarm. Regardless, it&#8217;s valuable. I&#8217;m learning and honing my craft and getting the temperature of my readership is part of that journey. I want to be the best I can be, but I also know I can&#8217;t please everyone. </p><p>Thank you to those who consistently review books, and thank you even more to those who do so constructively. At the end of the day, authors are real people.</p><p>Next up? I&#8217;m going to skip going into Three Over Aces (Book Two) or Bottlecap &amp; Babylon (Novella) in any great detail to avoid spoilers, but I will touch on some general information and coincidental aspects of the story!</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p><p><em>Custom character art courtesy of Vladimir S on Fiverr. - commission him <a href="https://www.fiverr.com/s/kLqapbo">here</a>.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/an-espionage-romance?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/an-espionage-romance?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading R.M.'s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[It Really is a Coincidence.]]></title><description><![CDATA[How real life imitated my second book, and no, I'm not clairvoyant.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/it-really-is-a-coincidence</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/it-really-is-a-coincidence</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:02:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png" width="1080" height="1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;width&quot;:1080,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2317578,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/i/200032825?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!amNL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F210e3966-44fb-4d70-98cf-e4bb76bd4bfb_1080x1080.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Book two of my romantic suspense duet, Three Over Aces, was written in late 2024-early 2025 and published in August 2025. It largely takes place in Venezuela, and deals with cartels and a corrupt government. Do the events of the book echo the real life events in Venezuela as of January 2026? Kind of. But just remember, I wrote and published the book before America intervened politically there. </p><p>Could Trump have used my book as a roadmap? Well, an instruction manual couldn&#8217;t hurt the guy, but I&#8217;m just a Canadian romance author who loves action films. I&#8217;m not qualified to weigh in on such things . . . although I am as qualified as our last prime minister was, so . . .</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading R.M.'s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Funny story, I had a conversation with my editor in the margins of the manuscript that went something along the lines of:</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>Editor: </strong>You keep saying &#8220;president&#8221; but it might be better to actually name him.</p><p><strong>Me:</strong> I don&#8217;t want to invent a name when there is a very real one, but I also don&#8217;t want this to read like a threat of some kind. Maybe that&#8217;s silly and overly paranoid, but keeping it vague feels safer LOL</p><p><strong>Editor:</strong> I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s fine but there is no harm in being cautious, I guess.</p><p><strong>January 2026 Headline:</strong> <em>Trump Captures Maduro After &#8220;Large-scale Strike.&#8221;</em></p><p><strong>Me: </strong>Holy shit.</p><div><hr></div><p>Anyway, it was a complete coincidence and the real life mission parameters and execution were nothing like the book. The book is messy and imperfect and way too small scale, plus the outcomes aren&#8217;t the same either. Like the headlines say, Maduro was captured. The mysterious president in <em>Three Over Aces</em> is not, but you&#8217;ll have to go read the duet if you want all the messy details.</p><p>Speaking of messy details, this is probably a good time to talk about <strong>trigger warnings</strong>. I like to put notes in the beginning of my books as opposed to trigger lists. The reason for this is some triggers are obvious and some aren&#8217;t. Some people consider an &#8220;ick&#8221; as a trigger these days, and for me that&#8217;s a misuse of a trigger warning. Further to that, I feel like I wouldn&#8217;t know what to list beyond the usual suspects (non-con, dub-con, gun violence, SA, etc.). To that end, I greatly rely on the reader to know themselves best and to not read material (genres) that carry a high risk of harming their mental health.</p><p>An example of one of my notes is as follows:</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><em>Three Over Aces</em> is a why-choose romance about three morally gray contract killers who are emotionally delusional. As such, you can expect to encounter firearms, foul language, killing, explicit (consensual) sexual encounters, and on-page torture (not our MCs). This story takes place in the world of organized crime, and as such, challenging topics, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, and sexual assault, are mentioned. Although none of these things happen on-page, if you struggle with these topics, please reconsider reading past this point.</p></div><p>I think this is a pretty solid warning, but I did have someone reach out to me via social media and complain that I didn&#8217;t have trigger warnings. To be fair, this reader saw the author note and skimmed by it in search of an actual list, without reading the note. I can&#8217;t remember off the top of my head what it was that triggered them, but I do remember it being something I NEVER would have flagged as a trigger. Readers must be aware that sometimes triggers are niche and unique to them, and aren&#8217;t going to make it to a list or warning notation. This is why we all must read with caution, especially if we suffer from PTSD, CPTSD, Anxiety, etc., and know that we are sensitive to certain things.</p><p>On a personal note, when my father died, I couldn&#8217;t read or watch anything with parental death in it, not even Hallmark Christmas films. I&#8217;m better now, but I had to be SO careful when I was reading because it is a topic that comes up in every genre. Whether it was cozy romance or cozy fantasy, I was forever asking people &#8220;is this character an orphan?&#8221; whenever I found a book I thought I might enjoy. It was exhausting.</p><p>Anyway, I&#8217;m going to go off and try to think about more topics to write on.</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading R.M.'s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Take it easy on me . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[From a millennial who was never a blogger.]]></description><link>https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/take-it-easy-on-me</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/p/take-it-easy-on-me</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[R.M. McDonald is Writing]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:04:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vMzf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F44a7ce41-7c60-4f5c-a5da-34f3cc1aea8d_1280x975.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>You may have stumbled upon this or you may have joined my mailing list via my website, either way, welcome and I hope you stick around.</p><p>Joining this platform is a little scary, I&#8217;ll admit. There is something about this format that is so much more intimate than writing and publishing a book is. Those characters aren&#8217;t real, they aren&#8217;t me, although arguably there is a little of me in each and every one. Not this though. This is <em>all</em> me, and somehow it feels even more personal than my Tiktok account, which puts my face and words out into the wilds of social media for ridicule and debate. At any rate, I will do my best to be interesting, and I&#8217;d ask you to bear with me while I adjust to sharing my failures as well as my successes. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rmmcdonaldiswriting.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading R.M.'s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>As I move forward with this publication, the free subscription will act as a newsletter and the paid tier is where I will share snippets of WIPs and cover art, but also notices to apply for ARCs and join my street teams. As an indie author, I can only offer a limited number of PR boxes, and so the most sensible way to do that (I think) will be to select from those who join my street team. We can raffle them off among members or something else like that that makes sweat.</p><p><strong>Now, to the point. What the heck does this woman write?</strong></p><p>I write spicy romance&#8212;but not too spicy. Generally 2-3/5 on the chili pepper scale. I think that&#8217;s the sweet spot. In more detail, I write across subgenres of romance. Currently I have a romantic suspense duet + an origin story novella that were all self-published 2025/26. These books are near and dear to me, and spawned over 13 years ago when the first iteration of book one was completed. It flopped spectacularly on Amazon. I was young, had no marketing chops, limited access to editors/artists () and social media only really consisted of Facebook&#8212;IG was in its infancy. There weren&#8217;t the tools and guides that exist now to make it possible at any budget, but things have come a long way, and so have I. It was a blessing because I was able to go back to that story and turn it into what it is today.</p><p>Beyond my published work, I am in the querying trenches with a fantasy romance series that I dedicated over two years to drafting. The series consists of two separate but related trilogies and other than the first book, they all need a lot of redrafting but the bones of the overarching story arc are there. I would love to traditionally publish this series because it is so large that I don&#8217;t think I can achieve it on my own unless I move at a snails pace. I just don&#8217;t like the idea of it taking a decade or more to get the whole series out on my own. If I can&#8217;t find an agent to champion that epic story though, you may just find me over on Kickstarter (if I can figure it out) trying to get some traction to prove them all wrong!</p><p>What else? I&#8217;ve completed a paranormal romance (werewolf) that is currently with beta readers, and that is planned to be a duet. Its ultimate fate is undecided as of yet. I am considering querying it, but I also think it would make a great addition to my self-pub catalogue. I might also consider publishing it here as a weekly serial first, and then self-pubbing after. Actually, that sounds pretty cool! </p><p>For incomplete work, I have two books in various stages of their first drafts. One is a standalone dark romance, and the other is a standalone paranormal romance about witches that is laced with feminine rage and waves a constant middle-finger at the patriarchy. I&#8217;m very excited about that one!</p><p>Okay, so that is the gist of things here! In my next post I&#8217;ll introduce you to the cast of characters in book one of my romantic suspense duet, Ravens.</p><p>Hugs &amp; kisses you feral readers.</p><p>RM</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vMzf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F44a7ce41-7c60-4f5c-a5da-34f3cc1aea8d_1280x975.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vMzf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F44a7ce41-7c60-4f5c-a5da-34f3cc1aea8d_1280x975.png 424w, 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