We received an email from Megan, who wanted to know about the possibility of building a rating system for sex in books. TL;DR, we don’t think it’s entirely feasible given how subjective heat levels can be for different readers, but the idea gives us a lot to talk about. We also talk about Prime Day this week, my younger child’s bar mitzvah, which was last weekend, virtually, from our backyard, and different levels of friendship. … Continue reading 427. Mailboxes to Bonetown: Amanda and Sarah Talk Sex Ratings →

Today my guest is Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries, one of my absolutely favorite discoveries this year. My inner thirteen year old barely kept it together as we spoke about Murderbot, romance and science fiction, and what she’s currently obsessed with like I’m obsessed with Murderbot. IMPORTANT NOTE: we take a deep dive into the plot of the four novellas and Network Effect, so if you haven’t read the series, this may spoil … Continue reading 426. All About Murderbot with Martha Wells →

My guest this week is Natalie Zina Walschots and we are talking about her book, Hench, which you might have seen my review of – spoiler alert, I LOVED it. We talk about villainy, hench people, working for terrible people in real life and fantasy, humanizing collateral damage, and the utterly exhilarating catharsis of a satisfying revenge. … Music: purple-planet.com

Courtney Milan’s new book The Duke Who Didn’t is out this week, and you had questions! In this conversation, we talk about narrative structure, writing, the impact of conflict, finding joy in the process of creating, and managing the emotional ups and downs of the current hellscape. Special commentary from Pele, and thanks to Amanda, Claudia, Malia, Olivia, Shana, Catherine, Rhode, and Emily for their questions! … Music: purple-planet.com

Today I’m talking with Zoraida Córdova and Dhonielle Clayton, authors, podcasters, and conversational ebullience personified. Zoraida co-edited a new anthology Vampires Never Get Old, and Dhonielle and Zoraida both have stories inside – so we discuss all things vampire. We talk about all the things they’re working on – and there are a LOT of things – and are very honest about business, ambition, needing sleep, podcasting, accountability, and the prospective titles of our autobiographies. … Continue reading 423. Vampires and Spicy Blood with Zoraida Córdova and Dhonielle Clayton →

Amanda’s back with your recommendations for romances psychic pining, plus discussions of making graham crackers, macaroni and cheese and soup. Yes, I will share recipes. Basically we intersperse talking about book recs and talking about food and recipes, with a side trip to psychics having sex. Then, remember episode 417 from early August with psychic Carol Cotrell? Amanda made an appointment with her and shares what her experience was like. We talk a little bit … Continue reading 422. More Psychic Pining and Real Psychic Conversations with Amanda! →

Ms. Bev is back! Today my guest is the inestimable Beverly Jenkins, which is always a fun conversation. Recently she tweeted about reader letters and reader mail, and she was kind enough to pull some from her archives (of course she keeps all of them!) to read and share with us. There are some that are incredible, and some that are rather shocking. And some might make you a little sniffly, so get a tissue. … Continue reading 421. Love Will Get You Through: Reader Letters To Beverly Jenkins →

Alyssa Cole is back on the podcast, this time to talk about the release of When No One is Watching, which is out on September 1. We also talk about her speech at the Chicago North Spring Fling, and hosting online events for Date Night with Loyalty Books. Plus, you’ll hear roosters. Lots of roosters. TW/CW: discussion of racist garbage people, and the awfulness of history for Indigenous and Black Americans. Music: purple-planet.com … Looking … Continue reading 420. When No One Is Watching, with Alyssa Cole →

Today my guest is award-winning author Alexis Daria. We talk about a little of everything, including graphic design, art, typography, languages, writing, planning, journaling, and of course, her new book, You Had Me at Hola. We also discuss how writing contemporary romance is changing given, well, the contemporary landscape. … Music: www.purple-planet.com

Amanda and Sarah are back with reader recommendations! We start with Amanda’s current attempts to learn resin art and preservation, our cats, and then: get ready for psychic pining! Leanne is looking for romances with telepathic main couples. I have thoughts on different variations of this trope, on how romance has changed over the years, and, of course, we have a lot of suggestions. We have a LIST, but we want to hear your ideas, … Continue reading 418: Romance Recs with Amanda and Sarah: Psychic Pining! →

We are going to talk about writing psychic characters, being a psychic medium, researching paranormal investigations and doing those investigations, and discuss spirits, haunted places, experiences with the paranormal, and portrayals of paranormal in the media. … Music: purple-planet.com