Romance Author
Elizabeth "Lizzy" Castle

I was playing one of my favorite video game franchises when the idea for The Cantwell Quartet came about. The stories percolated a while before I sat down and outlined what would become one of my favorite series to write. The order the stories were told was important, and there was no question which character's story would end the series. To keep the characters authentic, I created character sheets and backstories of who each character was. Their names were intentionally chos

Indie authors and indie bookstores are not always the perfect pair. I am not upset when an indie bookstore only sells traditionally published books. Every business has to do what is right for them and their customers. But I am, as are other indie authors, thankful to indie bookstores that do carry indie books. There are many wonderful authors out there who went the indie route. I've spoken to this before; there are many reasons for the path an author chooses. It's a choice, n

I'm surprised by how many people set reading goals each year. If you're going to set goals, it's a great one. But for years, my life was regimented. What time I eat. What time I sleep. The hours I work. The days I get groceries. I bore myself. I have to keep a sleep schedule. I had insomnia a few years ago. I went to a sleep clinic, and eventually I was able to start sleeping mostly normally. But get me off that cycle, and forget it. I eat too much, so food schedules, when I

I see the question from time to time. It's a great question because the reasons vary. It's not just because the author couldn't get a traditional contract. Some of us, myself included, have never tried. The publishing landscape is changing. Trad-published authors are doing most of the work unless they can afford an assistant. Why do I publish Indie? I don't want to write the book someone else is telling me to write. There. I said it. I'm not talking about constructive critici

Saturdays are generally my laziest days. I work Monday through Friday. I'm the poster child for the 9-5 crowd, though my hours exceed that. It's more like 8-6, and lunch is non-existent. Frankly, lunch and after five are the only times I get to work undisturbed. I don't mind it most days. But on Saturdays, I'm exhausted from the work week. This past year, there wasn't much writing or editing. I started a new job at my company in a new department, and it was intense. A new man

I have a holiday cold (flu?) and it's been kicking my butt. I spent an afternoon with my nephews on a Santa train. We all had a great time, so I don't regret going. But I picked up a bug of some kind. It wasn't COVID, and it wasn't strep, so that was good news. Could have been the flu, but by the time I made my second trip to quick care, it was too late to test for it. Today marks day twelve. Am I better than I was? Yes. Am I better? No. My ears still ache, likely from all th

Since I took a new role at my company, I've been working more days and hours than I have in years. I took an afternoon off, which, instead of being four hours off, ended up being only two. So much to do. But I have vacation time to use, and I wanted to be out and about, not on a weekend. I wanted to do toy donations this year, but I hadn't had the time to shop. I saw Toys For Tots drop off at Walgreens, and I was headed to Hobby Lobby. I thought they might have some reasonabl

Promotion time - Smashwords Winter Sale is on! The sale starts today, 12/8/25, and runs through 1/1/2026. All my books are included, and I made Falling Slowly and For Now And Always (series starters) free. I also made my two novelettes free. Unraveled and Ask Me To (books 2 in the two above series) are 75% off. The rest are 50% off. Smashwords is a great platform for ebooks by authors that don't sell exclusively on Amazon. There's lots of time to read one or two and get a cou

Of all my books, Going Home , published in 2020, has been my most-rated book. I did a giveaway over the summer, and ratings still trickle in. I can imagine a reader looking through their TBR pile, once again intrigued by the storyline. Then they read it, like/love it, and leave a rating, which is not commonplace. The book rates in at 4.3 on Amazon, 4.4 on Goodreads, and 4.0 on Apple. I couldn't be prouder. This book was a labor of love. Mason and Tessa have resonated with rea

Being a published author for the last eight years has been a fun ride. Authors, trad or indie, wear a lot of hats. We write, we edit. We blog, post on social media, and try to engage with readers and other authors. We try to be graphic designers, book formatters, and marketing experts. It can be fun. It can suck. But one thing it is not is boring. To every single reader who has read through my books, you are what keeps me going. If I never had another reader, I'd still wear m

New books 2026? As my readers know, I did not publish new work in 2025. I started a new job and it has sucked up all my time and energy. Good news is I have a book written, and most of a second. On the downside, both books are book 2 of a two-book series, and book 1 is not written in either case. "Can't you just make them book 1?" Nope. That is not how this writer's brain works. My ultimate hope is that there will be at least two books in 2026; I just need to sit my butt down

I love books with men in uniform. All Of My Days features an FBI agent. All Of My Nights features a Chinese cop. Going Home features a police chief. I'm working on some new ideas with two men in the Army. When writing the Cantwell Quartet, Gideon had to be a cop. The character he is based on was a protector: both the sword and the shield. Gideon could have gone the other way; he could have ended up in a life of crime. But one fateful night determined the course of the rest of

Those who follow me likely know the Cantwell Quartet was inspired by a video game. I haven't said which one, because the books are in no way fan fiction, and you likely wouldn't recognize the characters in my books even if you have played the game. It wasn't the storyline, but the relationship between the four men that inspired me. Trenton is based on a character who is a clone. I don't delve into fantasy or science fiction, but can you imagine what that would be like? Growin

Nash was the story I wanted to tell when I first thought about writing this series. Knowing that there were four men, I knew I needed to end the series with Nash, not start it. I wasn't sure who the heroine in the story would be. I did know it was not Iris, Gideon's sister. Gideon might be in love with Nash's sister, Penny, but Nash was not pining away for Gideon's younger sister. Iris had a crush on Nash, but who wouldn't? Along came Freya. She had a small part to play in Gi

Of all the books in the Cantwell Quartet series, Isaac's story was the most difficult. I had a clear plan of what Gideon's, Trenton's, and Nash's stories were. Isaac was harder to pin down. Who is he? What motivates him? What in his past would come back to haunt him? He seems like a straightforward man. He's a genius, no doubt. He loves to cook. He wears glasses and hates computers. But what else? Then he meets Lilah, a woman the opposite of him. She's a little messy, a lot