Hi, It's Me.

I'm the problem, it's me?

Damn it Taylor Swift. I can't even introduce myself without being weird now.

Hello. I'm Alessandra. But I guess maybe you knew that since you are on my blog. If you don't know me yet, I'm a lifelong fantasy enthusiast who has been writing since childhood. I have a passion for robust world-building, intriguing characters, and complex magic systems. And when I'm not writing, I work as a speech pathologist at my own private practice helping children become confident communicators.

My family is everything. I met my husband at Princeton when I was only 18, and he fell madly in love with my much-nicer dorm room -- I mean, me. We got married in 2016 in a woodland fairytale wedding. My ballgown dress fulfilled all my princess dreams. It also poured (is that really good luck?) but at least we got this artsy photo:

Now, I am a mom of two fiesty toddlers. B is almost 4 years old. He loves music, going fast on his scooter, and jumping wildly onto things. N is almost 2 years old. She is desperate to be a big girl, copying her older brother and sharing lots and lots of opinions. We are also expecting our third little gremlin coming later this summer.

I became a parent only shortly before the pandemic began, which has been the most challenging time of my life. One silver lining has been that my husband now works at home almost 100% of the time, which has given us so many family moments that would never have happened if he was still commuting into the city for work.

The pandemic was also the time that I really doubled down on writing my debut novel: Spell Weaver. Amidst the chaos of being a parent, I needed a creative outlet even more than ever. And with so much shut down, it was the perfect time to turn my ideas into reality. I'm so excited about this story and can't wait to share more with other readers.

Now, without further ado, let me introduce myself using 10 songs and 10 (uh ... 12?) books.

Get To Know Me: Music

I love music. Whether I'm working or playing video games or just hanging around the house, I tend to have some sort of music playing on Spotify. I am a mood listener, and I'll listen to similar playlists for a while until I need to change it up.

So here are my all-time favorite songs. I haven't even attempted it yet, and I'm already worried that this is going to be too hard. How can you choose only 10 ...

Well, here I go.

1. Sugar We're Going Down - Fall Out Boy This song alone basically got me through high school. I saw them in concert once as an adult, and honestly all of their songs are such bangers. I listen to their stuff all the time, and they were really my gateway into the pop/punk/rock genre.
   

2. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison This was my daddy-and-me song growing up (the clean version, people ... come on!) And yes, I do have brown eyes. I love a lot of oldies but this one is definitely my favorite. My dad and I danced to this song at my wedding before we started grooving to You Never Can Tell from Pulp Fiction. Yes, yes, we're cool, I know.
   

3. Red -Taylor Swift This whole album was prime Swift time for me. I'm generally an old Swiftie, preferring her early albums and only a few of her most recent songs. Red just always spoke to me. Maybe it was the colors? Anyone who's read Spell Weaver knows I like describing colors.
   

4. Hamilton Can I just choose the whole album? These songs rocked my world when it first came out. I was at the Boston esplanade with friends from graduate school when someone started playing it on their phone. It was love at first listen. The rhyme structure, the poetry and lyricism, the history jokes ... wait, who the heck is Lin Manual Miranda? He's a genius! We got to see Hamilton in person when it came to Boston and it was worth every penny spent. My favorite songs include: Wait For It, Dear Theodosia, Room Where It Happens, Non Stop, Satisfied, Helpless, Guns & Ships ... um ... okay fine, I like them all.
   

5. Castle - Halsey Another artist I could listen to on repeat. Besides its haunting, addictive melody, the lyrics are on fire. And, like many of her songs, she makes me want to break down the patriarchy.
   

6. The Monster - Eminem, Rihanna I'm a fan of a lot of Eminem songs and Rihanna, too. Similar to Miranda's Hamilton above, I am obsessed with Eminem's rhymes. The lyricism, internal rhymes, incomplete rhymes ... they make my brain happy. I may or may not belt this one out in the shower. Well, pre-kids at least. Now, I use the shower to hide.
   

7. Uprising - Muse Has there ever been a better anthem song? Okay, fine, there are a lot of good anthem songs but Muse just has this quality to them. And sure, I found Muse after becoming obsessed with the baseball Twilight scene and their banger Supermassive Black Hole, but what teenage girl didn't get obsessed with that scene.
   

8. Unholy - Sam Smith Um, this song. Instant dopamine rush. I immediately start dancing and, if you are looking through my windows or saw me in the backyard the other day, I do not apologize. This song demands movement. And damn do I feel sexy doing it.
   

9. Underground - Lindsey Stirling Honestly, anything by Lindsey is incredible. She was my first introduction to nonclassical violin music. Her combination of violin melodies with rock, pop, and even dubstep are so fun to listen to. My Lindsey Stirling playlist is actually my go-to writing playlist. I have trouble writing when I'm listening to songs with words (mostly because I just try to sing along), and I find her music pumps me up while classical relaxes me too much.
   

10. Not Fair - Lily Allen Okay ladies, if you haven't listened to this one, go listen. Not only is it a total banger but it's hilarious too. This was also a shower jam. There is nothing like singing in a bad British accent using bathroom acoustics.

Okay that was ... challenging. My mind wants to add like 20 more, so I will just be listing several other artists I love here:

• Florence + the Machine

• Panic! At the Disco

• Lana Del Rey

• Ed Sheeran

• Six: The Musical

• Hey Violet

• Avril Lavigne

• Matchbox Twenty

• Imagine Dragons

• The Struts

• Billie Eilish

Get to Know Me: Books

Okay and if I thought music was hard, choosing books is going to be near impossible.

In case it wasn't clear from being a fantasy writer, I love fantasy. Fantasy is creativity. Fantasy is escapism and exploration and imagination. Fantasy has always been a genre that has brought me so much enjoyment over the years.

But I have tried to include some non-fantasy books that really stood out in my life. Because, well, sometimes I read stories without magic.

Let's do this:

1. Sabriel - Garth Nix This book. What can I say. This book became my entire personality for the longest time. I was obsessed with bells, necromancy, and sarcastic white cats -- with Tim Curry's voice, of course (the audiobook is incredible). This story is still the pinnacle of what I think YA fantasy should be.
   

2. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling These books were undoubtedly the biggest part of my life growing up. I was a natural Hermione -- in temperament and in looks - and I found myself in those books more than any others. The controversy around Harry Potter due to the author's personal/political views is so hard for me. I stand with the LGBTQ+ community who are so hurt by her words while still saving space for what this book and this story meant for me as a child.
   

3. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens See, look, I read classics too. But seriously there is just something about this book for me. I need to do a reread soon because it's just one of those books that calls to me from time to time. The prose, the story, the mystery, the symbolism. I remember annotating this book as a freshman in high school, and I know the other kids thought I was weird. Maybe I was.
   

4. Broken Earth Trilogy - N.K. Jemisin Besides being a page-turning, intriguing fantasy novel, Jemisin plays around with voicing in a way that I had never seen before. Using the second person "you" narration for dramatic effect, Jemisin weaves a complex epic that touches on themes of parenthood, racism, climate change, and violence.
   

5. My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante Another non-fantasy on the list. This Italian novel is the story of two young girls growing up outside of Naples in the 1950s. The series continues through the lives of these two friends, as the neighborhood, the city, and the country changes over the years. It is an absolutely flawless depiction of friendship, poverty, culture, language, education, and emotion. On a personal level, it is has been a window into my own background as both my mother and Nonna were born in Italy, in a town not too different from Lena and Lila. The Neopolitan dialect, the expectations for women, the conflicting desires to leave and yet never leave the neighborhood ... it's scarily accurte and beautifully portrayed.
   

6. Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree This book was advertised as "high fantasy with low stakes," and I can't think of a better pitch to describe this book. Reading this story feels like a hug. It's heartwarming, uplifting, and just plain cute. Would I read tons of books like this? Nah probably not. But it was so unique and refreshing to read something so different in fantasy. Give it a try if you love a good video-game side quest or if you are the person who spends all their time crafting and designing their own home in Skyrim.

7. The Magicians - Lev Grossman The magic is dark and dangerous. The characters are often unlikable and pretty much always depressed, but there is such a raw grittiness to it. Plus I might never think about arctic foxes the same way again (#ifykyk). ⁠I watched some of the show -- and I liked it -- but I thought the books were much better. ⁠I actually use this as a comp for Spell Weaver. So if you like exploring the dark side of magic in the Magicians, you'll love my magic system too!⁠
   

8. Song of Ice & Fire - G.R.R. Martin Okay, let's be honest ... I almost didn't put this on the list. This unfinished series has caused me so much frustration. And yes, his food descriptions are way over the top. No books need to be this long. However, these books were a delight in world-building and political intrigue. Arya and Littlefinger remain some of my favorite fictional characters to this day.
   

9. Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson There was definitely going to be a Sanderson book on here. While it was tempting to put the Stormlight Archive on here, Mistborn will always have a special place in my heart as the first Sanderson/Cosmere book I've read. It was Sanderson who first made me realize how much I love magic systems! And Hoid is perhaps my favorite character of all time.
   

10. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern First off, if you haven't listened to this as an audiobook yet, run and do it now! Jim Dale (narrator of the HP series) is just phenomenal. The story itself is beautifully written with spellbinding magic, star-crossed lovers, and a truly imaginative world. It is definitely not your typical fantasy plot-driven story, but it was beautiful all the same.
    

11. Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir Ah I can't leave this one out. This book was an absolute joy to read, with gorgeous prose, irreverent humor, and a plot that will literally blow up your mind. I'm so in love with Harrow and Gideon!
    

12. American Gods - Neil Gaiman A "classic" fantasy as, of course, so much of Gaiman is. Although closely ranked with Neverwhere as my favorite Gaiman, this one came out on top because I'm just obsessed with mythology and folklore and, well, Gods. I love the way he modernized these characters and wove them all together in one epic tale.

Oh man that was hard. There are so so many other books that I love. It is hard to find a place for all of them on such a short list. Perhaps it goes without saying that I am also a huge fan of the big names like V.E. Schwab, Tolkien, Sarah J. Maas, Scarlett St. Clair, Maggie Stiefvater, Holly Black, Jay Kristoff, and Leigh Bardugo. And I am equally enamored with non-fantasy authors like Sally Rooney, Brene Brown, and Liane Moriarty.

This list is very much not exhaustive.

Let's Connect!

If you are still here reading, thank you! I'm so excited to connect with more book-lovers and writers as I continue my journey to publish my book babies.

You can find me mainly on Instagram @aspauldingauthor and sometimes on Twitter @AlessSpaulding.

You can always reach out via email: hello@alessandraspaulding.com.

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