This week, Sarah and Amanda are talking about the book clubs, crafting classes, and reader gatherings Amanda is coordinating, running, or attending, and how much she is enjoying all of them. She has advice for anyone who might be thinking of joining an existing group, or starting their own romance reading group, too! We take a brief detour into discussing mental health, the changing symptoms of depression, and antidepressant medication, and then move on to … Continue reading 339. Gathering in Person With Actual Humans: Amanda and Sarah on Book Clubs, Self Care, and Organizing the TBR →

Today I’m chatting with New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins about All The Things. You might know her name from the Hex Hall series, the Rebel Belle series, or the Royals series, or maybe you were as excited as Elyse and Carrie when she announced her next project would be rewriting Jane Eyre as a Southern Gothic feminist rage story. Either way, we have a LOT to talk about. We discuss several different facets … Continue reading 338. “We’re All Unlikeable Heroines Now:” An Interview with Rachel Hawkins →

This week I’m chatting with New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose, and this episode was almost titled, “The catharsis of killing lots of people.” She has a new book out February 12th titled Say You’re Sorry. It is the start of a new romantic suspense series with an overarching storyline throughout. Please note that at various times in the interview, we talk about trauma, violence, PTSD, and other elements of building murderers, serial killers, … Continue reading 337. Lots and Lots of Murder: An Interview with Karen Rose →

This week, we are talking about reading sanctuaries. Well, we started by talking about reading sanctuaries, but you might guess from the title that we got a little sidetracked. Amanda, Elyse, and I all require different elements to build the perfect reading sanctuary, and we talk about what we have, what we need, and what we absolutely must not include in order to reach optimal reading enjoyment. We cover blankets, locations, lighting, noise, and whether … Continue reading 336. Reading Sanctuaries, Cat Poop, and Murder: A Conversation with Amanda and Elyse →

If you are familiar with the Dairy Burger, the chocolate bar, Nicholas Morrow, Winter Carnival, and 1BRUCE1, well, this episode is for you. Sometimes I get to interview people whose work I admire, and it is SO much fun. Today I’m chatting with Karyn Moynihan and Anna Carey from the Sweet Valley High podcast, Double Love. We start by talking about Irish slang, and then we get into what it is about Sweet Valley High … Continue reading 335. Sweet Valley Nostalgia: An Interview with Karyn Moynihan and Anna Carey from the Double Love Podcast →

Today I’m chatting with award-winning audiobook narrator, actress, and author Lorelei King. You might have heard her voice narrating The Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones, the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, or books by Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell. I’ve received a number of email messages from you about audiobooks – how they are made, what narrating is like, and how one gets a start in audiobook narration. All your questions shall be … Continue reading 334. The Interpretive Art of Narrating Audiobooks: An Interview with Lorelei King →

Paul Jarvis is a writer, designer, consultant, podcaster, and author whose latest book, Company of One is out on January 15th. I subscribe to his newsletter and find it to be one of the most interesting and useful email messages that arrive in my inbox. His specialty is reframing how we perceive success, productivity, and in this case, thriving as a business. Company of One is about deliberately staying small and specialized – and since … Continue reading 333. Thriving as a Company of One: An Interview with Paul Jarvis →

Happy New Year! Sarah, Amanda, Elyse, RedHeadedGirl, and Carrie gather for the second part of our end of year episodes: looking ahead to 2019! We talk about what we want to see in our reading, and what we are looking forward to most: books, comics, tv shows, and more. Among the things we mention in our wishlist: catharsis, humor, hopefulness, smuggling, glorious sci fi romance, alpha women, and warriors. Then we talk about what books … Continue reading 332. The Bitches Look Ahead to 2019 →

Sarah, Amanda, Elyse, and RedHeadedGirl get together to talk about reading – and other things -of 2018. Which books rocked our brains in the past year? We cover a LOT of books (I certainly do – I brought a list) and we talk a little about how we read, too. Some of us read and listened to a lot of books this year, and some of us moved from digital to print. We talk about … Continue reading 331. The Bitches Recap 2018 – Reading and Otherwise →

Elizabeth Hoyt has a new historical series! We talk about her new book, Not the Duke’s Darling, the start of her new Greycourt series which comes out December 18th. Here are some words that will grab your attention: there is a secret society of women in this series, and it sounds delightful. No kidding: the heroine is undercover at a house party as part of a secret society of wise women trying to prevent legislation … Continue reading 330. Autonomy is the Original Witchcraft: An Interview with Elizabeth Hoyt →

Sarah chats with Beverly Jenkins, known in the romance community as Ms. Bev, one day after she finished and turned in her latest book. So of course we talk about that! We also talk about her new film, adapted, directed and produced for screen by Iris Bolling, which premieres on Amazon on December 15 – and of course we have links where you can watch it. We talk about the process of bringing Deadly Sexy … Continue reading 329. “Catching My Breath” – A Look Back and a Glimpse Forward With Beverly Jenkins →