Meet Poppy Roberts

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Poppy Roberts a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Poppy , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I have always been a creative. Growing up, I was always in art, theater, or music at any given moment, and I can confidently say that hasn’t slowed down in the slightest as an adult. My husband or any one of my friends can tell you that I am always doing something to keep that part of my brain active, my house is a minefield of craft supplies at all times. Writing has become one of the more interesting ways to fuel my creativity because it carries so many possibilities. I have new ideas for stories all the time, and the beautiful thing about writing is that those are all possible. I can create any world and swim in any sea my mind can create, and it stretches the limits of my creativity regularly.
For me, there is something really freeing in being able to bounce between different creative outlets. It keeps me from being stagnant or overwhelmed by the drive to do this one thing perfectly. It also leaves me free to stop something that isn’t bringing me joy in the moment and come back to it later. I think creativity is a lot about balance. Balancing your emotions, your time, your energy output, and in the end, really being able to find yourself in the center of the whirlwind.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I read an enormous number of books a year, like a number that makes people on social media argue. So about two and a half years ago, I started writing my own book, ‘A Crown Forged in Blood,’ which came out in December of 2024 and is book one of a duology. The second book of which comes out in the autumn of 2025. It was my first foray into writing something that I intended for someone else to actually read, and it was terrifying. It still is, to be honest. It was so much world-building and magic, and I enjoyed learning the process of getting a book into the world.
My second published book came out in June of 2025, titled ‘Vessel,’ and it is entirely different than the first. It’s a novella, and that came with its own challenges of telling a full story in a significantly smaller word count. It is also a paranormal horrormance so there was far less world-building than you have with fantasy. There will also be additional novellas in this world coming in the near future, so I’m very excited about those.
As for events, I will be at Villains & Vixens in Dallas September 5th and 6th, and am looking at some events local to me here in Fayetteville, NC as well!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

For me, one of the most important qualities needed is patience. It can feel so much like a race. A race to get books out, against yourself, against other authors, but it just isn’t. The entire process takes time, and it should. It’s not a game of who’s fastest. The second is time management, it sounds like a resume buzzword, I know, but the ability to fit writing, marketing, and admin work into your daily life without letting other things suffer is a hard-won skill. Finally, as simple as it sounds, research. You have to research so much, from learning all about the publishing industry and the tiny steps in between the big steps, to making sure everything in your book has purpose and is accurate and isn’t harmful or stepping into a closed practice. Research is not a skill to be taken lightly, and bless whoever FBI guys monitor an author’s search history.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I consider myself to be extremely lucky in this regard. Before I started the journey of publishing my own book, I was already deeply entrenched in the bookish space because I own a small business. So, coming into publishing, I had a well-established group of indie authors to help me when I had questions, to help make connections when I needed things like editors or cover designers. Throughout this process, that network has also grown significantly. I think authors are a fantastic community, and we help each other wherever we can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://authorpoppyroberts.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author.poppy/