Episode Details

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where dreams can devour your soul, villains hide behind crumbling masks, and falling asleep may be the most dangerous thing you do.

This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara Santillan sit down with fantasy author Logan Karlie to discuss the Shadow Weavers Duology, including Dream by the Shadows and its highly anticipated finale, Cursed by the Dawn!

Logan shares her journey from high school English teacher and lifelong perfectionist to indie author and traditionally published success. She opens up about writing chapters late at night while teaching and raising two young children, refusing to give up on the story she had carried since high school, and why there is no countdown clock on achieving your dreams.

We also dive into Dream by the Shadows, where Esmer enters a haunted dream world to avenge her family and becomes trapped with the Shadowbringer, the masked Prince of Darkness blamed for cursing her kingdom. Logan discusses soul-devouring dreams, forced proximity, fractured masks, and the Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, and Labyrinth inspirations behind the series. She also teases escalating trials, dream gods, devastating twists, and a world-ending race against time in Cursed by the Dawn.

🌙 What happens when the villain you were taught to fear is the only person who can help save your kingdom?
🖤 Can Esmer and the Shadowbringer escape the dream world before it claims their souls?
🎭 And what truth is waiting beneath the mask?

This is a must-listen for dark fantasy readers, lovers of haunted castles and masked love interests, Beauty and the Beast fans, and anyone who wants romance tangled with horror, mystery, and dangerous dreams.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Logan’s journey from English teacher to full-time fantasy author.
✨ Overcoming perfectionism and the fear of sharing your writing.
✨ Why there is no deadline for achieving your creative dreams.
✨ Self-publishing Dream by the Shadows after a year of querying.
✨ How social media led to an agent and major UK and US publishing deals.
✨ Leaving teaching after receiving an offer from her dream publisher.
✨ Esmer, the Shadowbringer, and a kingdom where dreams can consume your soul.
✨ The real dream that inspired the masked Prince of Darkness.
✨ Transforming the story from a contemporary portal fantasy into a haunted secondary world.
✨ Blending romance, horror, mystery, and hopeful YA storytelling.
✨ Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, and Labyrinth influences.
✨ Forced proximity, enemies-to-allies tension, and the appeal of a mysterious mask.
✨ Trials, dream gods, higher stakes, and the end of the world in Cursed by the Dawn.
✨ Why book two contains more romance, action, twists, and emotional devastation.
✨ Logan’s upcoming vampire standalone and its dangerous love triangle.
✨ Favorite characters, perfect plot-twist placement, masked men, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Logan Karlie – @AuthorLoganKarlie

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