Worldbuilding and the Power of “What If” with Fantasy Author A.M. Deese

Grab my free Worldbuilding Simplified guide. 

Fantasy author A.M. Deese (aka Alexis Marrero Deese) joins me to talk about her immersive Dance of the Elements series, how she builds layered magical worlds, and what it really looks like to write through fear, doubt, and procrastination.

We dive into the challenges of writing a dynamic fantasy series, how to track all your world details without losing your mind, and why your first draft is supposed to be messy. Whether you write fantasy or not, this episode is packed with truth, tools, and encouragement to help you keep going.

✨ You’ll hear about:

• Crafting a multi-POV fantasy series with political intrigue and elemental magic
  
  
  
• How to approach worldbuilding without getting stuck in the weeds
  
  
  
• The power of a “what if” and the value of trusting your process
  
  
  
• Tools Alexis uses to stay organized (hello, series bible + style sheet!)
  
  
  
• Her new adult fantasy romance project under the pen name Lexi Lopez

Timestamps:
 00:00 – Embrace your shitty first draft
 00:32 – Welcome to the Write It Scared podcast
 01:30 – Meet fantasy author A.M. Deese (Alexis Marrero Deese)
 02:23 – Why worldbuilding matters for all writers
 03:17 – Alexis’s journey to publication + #PitMad success
 07:52 – Inside the Dance of the Elements series
14:23 – Building complex worlds + magic systems
20:00 – Series Bibles, style sheets, and staying consistent
27:06 – Pushing past fear, self-doubt, and rejection
31:15 – Spicy fantasy romance + writing as Lexi Lopez

To connect with Alexis and find her books please visit

• Website: www.amdeese.com
• Instagram/Facebook: @authoramdeese
• TikTok @authoramdeese 
  
  

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Don't be afraid of your shitty first draft. Literally, you can't be, because it is gonna be shitty. You can't edit a blank page. Like there's so many of those that we hammer into young writers, and I think the point of it is because it's true. You just have to go. It is a scary thing. It is a terrifying, gut-wrenching, vulnerable spilling thing to put your words into ink. But I will hold your hand while I say this. Have to do it.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Welcome to the Write It Scared podcast. I'm your host, Stacey Fraser, a formerly repressed creative soul, turned fiction writer, story editor, and author accelerator certified fiction book coach. At Write It Scared, we tell the truth about why writing a novel is so hard by acknowledging that most writers grapple with two stories: the one they want to put on the page to the best of their ability, and the often subconscious internal story that prevents them from doing it. This show is designed to help you identify and rewrite the internal narrative holding you back while you discover and write the story you want to tell and learn all the tools to help you do that successfully. Join me each week for a new episode where we'll talk about writing to deepen our understanding of the craft and of ourselves as writers. Writing a novel is an inside job that we do not do alone. Welcome to Write It Scared. I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in. Hey, hey, writer. Welcome back to another episode of the Write It Scared podcast, where we talk about the brave and messy act of writing our novels so that we can do it with more confidence and more clarity, and know that we're not so alone in the madness of it all. I'm your host, Stacey Fraser, and today I'm in conversation with fantasy author AM Deese, and she's talking to us about the process of writing her dynamic fantasy series, The Dance of the Elements, and how she approaches her world building. And though our conversation leans heavy into writing fantasy and building magic systems, world building is not just for writers of speculative or historical fiction. Regardless of genre or setting, every novelist needs to worldbuild. And it can be a huge topic, and we can spend forever hammering out the details and get really mired down in that part of the process. So if that's an issue for you, I want to help you streamline it. I created a free worldbuilding guide called World Building Simplified that will take you through a series of strategic questions to help you approach your world building process more systematically so that you gain clarity and not get so distracted by nuance. So think of it this way: you'll start with that spark of the idea you have for your story and treat it as a seed that you plant in the soil of your imagination, and then you water it with these questions. So you'll start a bit wide and then narrow your focus as you go, as you also give yourself time and the creative headspace to do your dreaming and do your research. So you can find that link in the show notes. And though world building is a colossal topic. Remember, it really just boils down to a couple of things: relationship and impact. How will your characters be in relationship to their world? And what impact will that have on them as they go after their story goals? All right, so now let me give you Alexis's bio and then we will jump into her interview. Alexis Morrero Dies is passionate about fantasy and publishes magical stories for children and young adults under the name A.M. Deese. Her favorite authors include Brandon Sanderson, Jacqueline Carey, and Robin Hobb. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and is the author of The Dance of the Elements and Tales of a Sixth Grade Wearcat series. She also publishes adult romanticy under the pen name Lexi Lopez. When she isn't writing, Alexis is probably cooking an elaborate feast, writing unicorns, slaying monsters, or simply curled up with a good book. Hi, Alexis. Thank you so much for coming onto the show. How are you today? I am great. Thank you, Stacey, for having me. Wonderful. Well, I already gave the listeners a bit of a bio, but would you please share a bit more about your journey to becoming a writer and a published author with our audience?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

I love that you use the word journey because that's definitely the best way to describe it. I mean, I've always wanted to be a writer. And I mean always like from the time I was like a baby girl, like drawing pictures with yellow legal pads showing people the stories that I wrote. When it came time to actually learn how to get the stories that are in your head, you know, into like full-blown books that you can actually publish. But there were a lot of steps of learning just how to get the words on page. And then after that happened, it progressed into kind of a, okay, well, now I have to get a query letter together so that I can get an agent. So that was where I started. But I heard a thing called PitMad. And it is a tradition they did on Twitter, now X. And basically you could put a quick little elevator pitch to an agent or a publisher directly. And if they retweeted and liked your pitch, it was an invite for you to then query to them. So I was able to get a small publisher and it's y'all. I was like through the moon excited. This is back in I think 2017, maybe 2016. It was a whole other new journey, just like kind of figuring out like how to work with an editor, because prior to this, I had only exchanged stories with friends and other co-writers that I'd met in like classes or Facebook or something. So that was a journey too. But we had a finished product and I loved it. I loved the original covers. But as sometimes happens, the series was released from the publisher after two years or after two, well, maybe three. I'm not sure. Anyways, I digress. The point is I got the rights back, which is sometimes a battle for some people. So I was happy to be able to get full rights back and able to then republish. I had a choice to query again, but I had kind of learned a little bit of the process of publishing and at this point self-publish Tales of the Sixth Grade Warecat, which is a middle grade adventure. And so I decided to give it a try and I did a re-release. And now we've got ignited submerged hand windswept all available under the Dance of the Elements series. And a fourth and final one is upcoming. That's so amazing. So do you remember the pitch that you shared? I I honestly don't remember it. The basic gist was in world where water is currency, Jura must use her wits to survive. And I said it was racing meet Avatar the Last Airbender. And I think the comps were interesting comps. And then, you know, with the the actual full-on blurb that I was able to send out with my query letter, which that was an evolution too. I mean, the original query letter that I wrote to the one that got me to a publishing deal, to even to what's on the back of the book now has just changed so much.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Oh yeah. I remember you describing it to me one time as Game of Thrones meets Airbender. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

I was like hooked. It definitely has the political intrigue and that sort of like the backstabbing and the palace, you know, the secrets and the betrayals. And then of course it has the elemental magic, which I am a huge fan of.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. So we're gonna talk about that today. So the series that we've been talking about that you introduced us to is called Dance of the Elements. And I think you said currently there are three books: ignited, submerged, and windswept, and they are in order. And this is a dynamic series, right? This is you have to read it, it needs to go in order.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Exactly. There is a little bit of recap if you happen to skip a book, but it's told, you know, just throughout conceptual clues and bits of dialogue throughout the prose. There has been a little bit of a gap in years between books three and four. I am going to print a synopsis at the beginning of the book, just because I myself know as an avid reader, it gets confusing all the worlds and like where you left off. So I plan to have like a previously on so you can kind of catch yourself on it.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Um such a good idea. And I enjoy that too. If I've been waiting for a series for, you know, a final book and a series. For example, like if the if the last book in the game of boat ever comes out, I'm gonna need a synopsis. So you told us a little bit about the hook for this series, but tell us a little bit more about what it's about and what drew you to write it.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

What drew me to write it, and then I'll circle into what it's about, is I love to tell stories that show you all the different sides of the choices that someone made. I really love stories that show a blend of characters, of different ages, how everyone kind of works together. So in this world, I've got this weird politics. There's these 13 rulers, and they all have votes in this council. And if you're the first of the rulers, that means you're like the top dog. And it goes down in rank and you get less and less votes. It's a very savage world. They're able to kill one another and had no repercussions for it. And this is all done because you're trying to either gain rank, rank would be one of the 13, or move up in rank. So if the sixth dies mysteriously, then the person who is seventh gets to move into the next spot and so on. So when we join this story, we are meeting the daughter of the first. The first has mysteriously gone missing, the daughter is kind of trying to step into this role to not show how vulnerable she is to the rest of the council members. You know, she has to appear strong, not only to keep her family's rank, but to keep her very life. So she is kind of desperate, and her only thought of any other source of power outside of the 13 is that of the shadow dancers. And they're just this like secret group of like assassins. So she happens to have one in her prison. So she decides that she's gonna break him out and make him help her. So her and Tyla have an unsteady alliance. And while all this is happening, you also meet Ashar. He is one of the 13. He's actually the 10th, and he's probably one of my very favorite characters. He's morally gray, a bit corrupt, but also just weirdly good at times, and very smart. He's smarter than I am. I joke with people all the time. I really struggle when I'm writing his scenes because I'm like, he's too smart to get in that situation. Like he would know what to do, and I'll have to fix and edit him. And then my other two characters that I adore are Ash and Kay. Ash is a retired fire dancer in this land where water is currency and the desert is all. They force anyone who had any sort of fire wielding magic to battle dragons in the arena. And this is all done primarily for the entertainment of the 13. Kay is a little seven-year-old firebending prodigy who gets thrown into this whole mix of politics just because she's really good at bending fire. Um, and then everyone kind of converges, and you realize that the politics of the palace are corrupting the arena, which is kind of in turn corrupting the entire world and smart enough and book savvy enough to kind of figure out what she needs to do to kind of stop all that. Wow. And Kay was one of my favorite characters. I adored Kay. And what's funny is in the creation process, she actually was not a POV character. She was just someone who was in there, and then I just was loving her sass, and I was like, no, we need more of her. And then there's more and more chapters, and then she actually has her own little novella too that you can get. It's called Fetch the Flame. But yeah, she's a great character.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Yeah, yeah. So this is a huge, expansive series with multiple POVs. Yes. Um there's a tremendous amount of world building that goes into this story. So and it has this robust magic system too. So uh could you share a little bit of what your world building process is like?

SPEAKER_00 13:13

I really like uh taking what you what magic idea you have and seeing it in maybe ways that hadn't been explored for far enough or ways that are, you know, unique and different. So for instance, in my elemental magic world, yes, I have them that, you know, they can move fire, but then I also have certain ones that can move the fire source itself, and in doing so can actually like embody dragons. And there's also the subversion of that, which is the shadow dancers who in their own way are manipulating light and heat and making themselves appear invisible. So I kind of just like exploring all the different ways that the magic can be used. And I guess whenever I'm developing new stories, it for me, anyways, always starts with the magic. I know some writers start with character or a certain scene, but for me, I always start with the magic. And it kind of just comes from a what if.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Are there any best practices that you adhere to or try to follow along with when it comes to building a magic system?

SPEAKER_00 14:30

It's an oldie and goody. I like to stand by the magic should have some sort of price. And it doesn't have to be like a physical price. You know, sometimes you see it, it's just it took a bit of energy, or it could be like a physical thing that got used and burned up. But whatever it is, I think there should be some sort of rules or limitations set to it. And I think that's what makes it more real.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

So as far as writing a series like this, one that is dynamic, it's pretty fluid. One piece of the story flows into the next, flows into the next. What have been the challenges that have come up in doing that?

SPEAKER_00 15:10

I definitely use my series Bible and my style sheet heavily. And those are are tools, I think, that if you don't have them as you're starting, especially a larger series, it's something that you do want to get started. I regret that I didn't do that from the start. Because there's been, you know, moments where I've caught myself or my editor or my beta reader has been like, hey, it's can't I do this? Didn't happen actually with the ignited series, but in my Wearcat series, I had forgotten that like one of the little rat characters he can talk. And I forgot he could talk. And I was like, oh, he's allowed to talk. So it's just I think you really have to not only remind yourself of the lore, but hold yourself accountable to it. You know, like you created these roles, and once you did their canon, so you know, make sure that you have those references that you can go back to as you're creating more. And how do you go about creating a story Bible? So I it's funny because I've actually had a lot of people ask about my series Bible, and I just feel like it's like the most basic little thing. It's not even like formatted on like an Excel or anything. It's literally a finder. I'm a terrible habit of like writing scrap notes whenever I get ideas. I'm trying to get better and put them on like a keep notes app so I can, you know, just email them to myself. But in the meantime, I've got all these little like scrapbooks of like scenes or something that I'm know I need to add into this next edit that I'm doing. So those all get stuck in there. But I also have like printups of a list of characters, maybe like a final idea that I had for a specific character. Like, I'm not sure exactly where this scene fits in, but this has to happen to him or her at this point. So that'll be in there in a little bit of detail. And then I try to include all the things that I know I'm gonna forget, like the minor characters. If I mentioned glowing green eyes, we'll make sure that they have green eyes later, you know. So he those are mentioned as well. Outside of that, I guess I also include just some of the like overarching like plot points that I want to include in the series as a whole. And then I also try to see if there's any like dangling plot threads from a you know, from the first in the book. So from ignited, I want to make sure that if something was brought up, it was brought up for a reason. So especially as I'm finishing up this fourth book, I want to make sure that everything is settled.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yeah. And you mentioned the style sheet. You want to tell us what that is?

SPEAKER_00 18:03

So style sheet is a tool that is created by your editor typically, and a great reference sheet. So at its bare minimum, it's gonna include your main character names, any made-up words or languages that you might have, any sort of like things that are unique to your story specifically. For instance, if if you're saying someone that is a burner, if that means something more specific to just someone who's burning a piece of wood. So you would have that with like that explanation. And then it would just kind of have a reference, like if it is a series and there's unanswered questions, they'll be like those included in there as well. Just it's kind of like a series Bible, I guess, but just more like with the editor in mind. So it's like an easy link for them, but also for you yourself, the author, to reference. So it's kind of part of the dictionary, you know, or the yeah, the that's a great way to phrase it, but yeah, like the book's dictionary.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Well, thank you so much for sharing more about your series, The Dance of the Elements, and how you go about approaching world building and and looking at magic systems and how that comes forward for you. And I love that you said that it comes from the magic first, like that is the thing that you love that and I know, like just I know you. You're one of the most brilliant will world builders I have ever met. Seriously. Yeah, side note, backstory. Alexis and I get where we know each other. I've never met her before. This may or may not make it into the podcast. All right, well, let's transition. Um, because a big part of this podcast is dedicated to telling the truth about why writing can be so hard and exposing the unhelpful narratives that many of us writers face when we craft our stories. And so these are the internal voices that say, You're not good enough. It's not good enough, it's never gonna be good enough, or you know, it was already done, or so-and-so did it better, those kind of things. And so the reason that I bring this up is that I want to identify them, normalize them so that it helps more people work through those doubts so that they keep writing, because that's what makes you grow in confidence, is doing nothing. Absolutely. And because of that, we'll get more stories in the world from people have heard from. So that's the point. So given all of that, will you share a time when you struggled with the writing and you maybe wanted to give up or you thought you'd never figure something out? And would you share what it was like and then what helped you move through it?

SPEAKER_00 20:42

There is honestly, this is sad, but also hopefully encouraging. There have been so many struggles in writing. I think we are all, all us writers, crazy to some degree because it's it's you know, it's very, I don't even know. It it's a part of yourself that you leave. So it makes you very vulnerable throughout the entire process. You know, you're sharing your words, you're putting yourself out there in marketing, you're putting yourself up there for rejection when you put out your query letters. So there really have been so many stories. Even before I got hit mad, I was accepted by another small publisher and so excited. But they were open for like eight months, and all of a sudden they went under. And I mean, I had never signed a contract even with them, really. I I mean, I did, but there was no like advance, there was no schedule publication. Like they were just getting up off their feet. And it was a new business. So I mean, I get how it struggled, but that was to feel at one, you know, point that I was getting published finally, to then kind of realizing a month later, two months later, that it wasn't gonna happen. But it was actually one of the people that I met through that publisher that told us or that mentioned to others that the Pit Mad Fest was happening. And so because of that, it was, you know, a window opened or how they say. So really it just comes down to wanting it more than not having it, I guess. So just wanting it more than not having it. Keep putting it out there.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Do you ever struggle with procrastination or every day.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

I I think the procrastinating, especially for me, I'm I'm blessed that I get to just work at home and make my own schedule to write and do as I please. And it's really hard to first make yourself sit down for an actual writing session, you know, and and put away the media distractions or the friends or the pets or whatever it is that you're trying to stay away from. I really love using time writing sprint. If I give myself a set, like not even a word count. It's like I'm gonna do at least one 20-minute writing sprint for the day. Chances are I'm gonna knock out at least a hundred words if more, but at least it gets your butt in the chair and makes you actually do something.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

I love that. Yeah, writing sprints are a go-to for me, also, especially when I'm drafting. I haven't really figured out how to use them in revision.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Do you know? No, it's hard. And revision is a whole other baby, I feel like, because that one you you take the time away from the story after you're like literally eat sleeping and breathing it, and then you look away from it, and then you bring it back and you kind of love it, but you also kind of hate it. So it's it's this like weird relationship that you have with it now at this point. I like to read out loud and then just kind of, you know, accept if I'm getting actual feedback from copy editor or line editor at this point. I kind of just accept they know what they're talking about and lean toward what I can do to make what they said make sense in my world. Because, you know, you're not gonna just drop everything and change it because they said a question. You're just gonna say, How did I not answer that question earlier? So you just kind of look back and like oftentimes it's in the beginning of a story where you kind of need to fix something.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Right. Usually when I work with writers and they're struggling with something, they they can't figure out how to move forward in a in a scene, whether they're drafting or they're in Rayvision, the answer is in what came before, because that's where the emotional logic lies. So always go back maybe a chapter or two or just work in the book. But it took me forever to learn that. Yeah, it's it's in what came before. And if you can pick up those emotional threads and through lines, you can pull them forward. Still, it to me, like when I do this in the revision, it looks like a hot choppy mess.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

But eventually. But the shitty first draft is a thing for a reason, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah, and the second draft is a thing for a reason, and that is also okay. For yeah. Neither of them are polished or finished. Yeah. Right on. So when you look back at your writing life, as a young writer, what kind of doubts did you struggle with? And now that you're more seasoned, what does it look like now? Has there been any change?

SPEAKER_00 25:29

There's definitely been a change. I mean, my first dream as a young, unpublished author was just to get published. I mean, just for me to be able to hold my book in my hand. That was all I wanted. And then once you once you achieve that, you know, it lasts for a little while, but I guess it's like a drug. You need your next fix. So for me now, I would say my caution comes from like when I try new projects, like maybe something that's a different genre, or even just like if I'm taking, you know, the violence in the Dance of the Elements series further than I had before, you know, pushing other boundaries. It can be a scary thing. You want to make sure that the readers you do have are still happy and supportive of the words that you're creating. So I don't think that that imposter syndrome or that fear ever goes away. But I do think that you yourself learn to manage it more.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

And that's such a good point, you know, when you're writing across different, you're writing in a series, you have readership, and then if you decide to branch out and do something new, that's valid. That's valid. So it's a bit of a dance between like how you know, how how far can I go with what I want and how do I honor my readership? But there's no cut right answer there, I don't think, at all. If there is one, if somebody knows it, please please please call in. Please email us. How important has reading been to your journey to learning the ins and outs of craft?

SPEAKER_00 27:12

For me in Tibro, I cannot imagine a writer who is not a reader. To me, that just like my read doesn't, that doesn't make sense to me at all. I read voraciously. I'm one of those who's like, you know, 150 books a year, like let's go. If I find a new author, a new series, I tend to binge read. It's probably why I haven't written as much of my own series. But I do stay up to date on like from like I guess from the business standpoint. I do try to stay up to date on what covers are currently going with the market, you know, for the different genres and what is selling at the forefront. Because it is important to be savvy and to know all that. But at the end of the day, I think I read for pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

So I read for pleasure too. I would do it whether I was a writer or I wasn't writing. But I'm here read and also I think when you write, at least this has been my experience. When I decided to sit down and write a story, and then I decided that reading books was one of the best ways to teach myself. It ruined me as a reader in some way, because it you know, it stopped me from fully inhabiting the experience. Yeah. So there's that. But still I love it because sometimes I will find a book and it will just whisk me away on this amazing adventure. And sometimes my brain decides I don't want to be analytical and I just want to sink into the story and just be entertained and but I just love that it has all of those facets. So I couldn't imagine not reading either. But maybe there's some people out there who are not big readers, um and they still do write. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's just like not my process. Okay, just a couple more questions before we wrap up. What do you think the best piece of writing advice is that you've ever received that you've held on to?

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Uh-huh. I love that it fits into the theme of your podcast, which is, you know, writing it's scared. Don't be afraid of your shitty first draft. Literally, you you can't be because it is gonna be shitty. That's that's the point. You can't edit a blank page. Like, there's so many of those that we hammer into young writers. And I think the point of it is because it's true. Like, yeah, you just have to go. It is a scary thing, it is a terrifying, gut-crenching, vulnerable spilling thing to put your words into ink. And I'll hold your hand while I say this. Have to do it. What is your wish for your fellow writers out there? I would hope for writers to do everything in their power to make sure that their stories come out and find their readers. I mean, it's such a subjective art form that it's crazy because somebody's favorite book could be something that somebody else hated. You never know when you're gonna find that person that just tells you that story that you wrote is exactly what I needed to read. And it could definitely happen. And all you need to do is put the words out because it can't happen if you don't write them. So it I would just think that everyone is staying brave and being fearless and putting yourself out there. And if you find that you're not in a situation where it's gonna happen this way, find another. It didn't work with that agent, find another, didn't work with that publisher, self-publish, find something, you can do it. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

So, is there anything you're currently working on that you want to share? And then where can listeners find you?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

You can find me on basically all the socials under author A D's my website is AMDs.com, and there's all the links for all the things there as well. And I do have a super secret, not really secret, new project that's coming out. It is my first adult book that I have written. It is an open door fantasy romance, and it is spicy enough that we're doing a pen name so that the littles and my other readers and fans of Andes, there might be some crossover if you like sex with dragons, but if that's not your thing, I don't want you to stumble upon it. So that is coming out in October 2025. It's called Fairy Bones and a Dragon's Eye, and that will be by Lexi Lopez. And yeah, I'm excited about that. I can't wait to find new readers and hopefully carry some of my old readers with me on a new uh journey.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

I am so excited for you and for that. Will it be a series or do you see it as a standalone?

SPEAKER_00 32:30

It is a standalone, but I would say it's got series potential in that there are a lot of single friends of the main characters. And I do really like the world and the magic buildings that I'm creating in there. So I would love to visit it again. I've already got an idea of what my next couple would be, but it would kind of follow that format of while it is all in the same world and while there is some overlap, it would be a couple meets couple together. There isn't a poly relationship yet, but might have sounded like there might be.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Thank you so much for coming on the show, Alexis. It was awesome to talk to you. I'm excited for the last book in the Dance of the Elements series and then for this new project under Lexi Lopez to come out into the world. So I will make sure to post all the links in the show notes where listeners can find you and readers too. Perfect. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for listening to the Ride It Scared podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please make sure to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode. And please leave a review. Reviews help other writers like you find the voices and messages they need to hear to continue to write their stories. Let's lift each other up. Remember, you can be scared and still be unstoppable. I'll see you next week.