Hypatia Rhodes
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Fantasy Romance Author
This video is old but important. Getting into a high speed crash taught me that my job does not care about me. I was not given an opportunity to rest or recover, and days off were viewed as an inconvenient weakness. The genuine care given by my book community was such a contrast to my experience at work, and just reminded me why I love this community so much. Also it reminded me why I’m working so hard to make this my primary income. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to make the “Hypatia Rhodes is a full time author!” Post, but for now I’ll just keep working my butt off until I can make that dream a reality.
09/05/2026
Q: what do you think I missed? Let me know what you keep diving headfirst into despite the outcome 🤪.
Us authors (either indie, romance, or both) have it pretty tough, between AI accusations, pirating, marketing, etc, it’s a LOT. Yet, whether it be determination or delusion, or something just intrinsically in us that demands us to continue to produce art, we keep on going! And let me just say, I’m proud of us for that. Without authors, these fantastical stories and books wouldn’t exist for this community to enjoy.
09/03/2026
Q: what books do you think best embrace women’s voices?
Behind the scenes of the decision to write The Fallen Star series.
When I originally started writing House of Darkness, I ironically had not watched or heard of The Handmaids Tale (believe me or don’t, but it’s the truth 😅). When a reader mentioned the similarities, I dove in. The cruel irony is two (likely many more) women completely on their own chose to write a world where women are viewed as br33ding objects. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a pattern. And in a world where our rights are being attacked and years of progress are being threatened, coming together over shared stories and bonding over our experiences is the best way to combat it.
DARK ROMANTASY AUTHOR WRITING LOVE NOTES TO HER FOLLOWERS UNTIL SHE HITS 5K FOLLOWERS!
This week’s love note goes to the amazing Jana - Bookish content. ARC reader. All genres. 🥰🥰! Hopefully I did you justice!
Because consent is important, If you want your own love note, please comment on this video letting me know! That automatically enters you for next week!
This challenge was inspired by the thought of all the yearning and romance I write into my books and “book boyfriends”. Who doesn’t want a bit of that love for themselves? Hopefully this is as fun for you all as it is for me!
Give me your most unhinged spicy scene recommendations! If I hit 4K by the end of the month, I’ll take the one with the most votes and write it into an actual, readable s**t scene 😈. This is your chance to use a dark romance / monster romance author’s powers for evil.
Rules:
1) I won’t write real people
2) i don’t write NC
That’s it! Everything else is on the table 😈😜🫶. Dont let me down! Put your recs down below, then go like your favorites. Share this with friends to vote on your pick too 😉.
09/01/2026
The much requested topic: content pillars for bookish creators! This is something I’m working on fine tuning personally, and has greatly improved my reach and efficiency. As an indie author, I’m trying to include more “author life” and behind the scenes content, which is a new pillar for me personally I hope you all enjoy 🥰.
Q: I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments on good Bookstagram content pillars!
08/30/2026
Some thoughts on the literary s3xual revolution we’re seeing in romance books and purity culture that may not be what you expect from me. Please note this is not specifically discussing any one person, but rather a conversation starter for the topic as a whole. It’s a nuanced topic, as most important things are, so I hope my explanation of my feelings does it justice 🥰🫶.
My personal choice to include s**t and spice in my books was heavily influenced by my own experience with conservative religious sects and purity culture. I wanted to offer a safe space to explore things you might be interested and to grow beyond our societal conditioning. I also want to be a space for all women to find community, even if that means my books are too spicy for them. I will not, and will never, remove the spice from my books, and that may mean it’s not for some people. And that’s okay.
In all, give some grace if you meet a woman that’s uncomfortable with what we read. There are centuries of societal conditioning behind that reaction, and closing this community to vulnerable women is not the way to fix that.
08/29/2026
Check out this amazing dark paranormal romance author and show her some love to her socials! Her book “Claim My Soul” is a witch x troll shifter romance is available on the Zon now 🥰. Complete with mythology and a grumpy shifter MMC.
This isn’t meant to be an attack, nor is it really about either of these posts. But the fact that both discussions are happening back to back in the bookish space really just shows how much of an issue this is.
Reading books is one of the easiest ways to expand your mindset, learn about other people’s lived experiences, and build empathy. If you are a reader in this space, it is your responsibility to seek out and read diverse stories that are explicitly outside of your own lived experiences and hardships. If the thought of reading diverse stories makes you uncomfortable, it’s time to acknowledge your internalized prejudices and lack of empathy, and do some self work to improve. That’s your job as a growing, learning adult. There is always room to improve in how we interact with the world and people around us, and maybe-hopefully- this is will be a time for growth for us all.
Hopefully this helps!
08/28/2026
River Kai and Hypatia Rhodes are hitting the road to Seattle September 4-5 for two amazing local bookish author events! Friday we will be hanging out at Lovestruck in Seattle for the Knotty Night Author event to talk werewolves, monsters, and all things knotty 😋. And Saturday we will be at Kirkland Arts Center for the Kirkland Pride Author Event! Hope to see you all there 🥰🫶.
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