Podcasts about hfn

Dé grote nieuwigheid van de Halloween Fright Nights in Walibi Holland heet Us vs You. Bezoekers worden onderdeel van een lugubere tv-show waarin ze zogenaamd geld kunnen winnen als ze overleven. Benieuwd wat er precies gebeurt in het spookhuis? In de podcast wordt de beleving uitgebreid besproken. Robin Schulte, Wesley Groos en Wessel Wit zetten scène voor scène uiteen wat je kunt verwachten. Ook vertellen ze wat ze van de ervaring vonden.

Denna gång träffar vi e-handelsveteranen David Olhed som är CEO på Home Furnishing Nordic. Home Furnishing Nordic är en av norra Europas största e-handlare inom möbler och inredning och ingår som ett av två segment inom BHG Group. I Home Furnishing Nordic AB ingår flera online-butiker b la Trademax, Chilli, Furniturebox och WeGot. I intervjun berättar David om hur de arbetar med lagerhållning och distribution av stora skrymmande varor såsom sängar och soffor. Vi pratar även om marknadsföring och om vilka kanaler som fungerar bäst för gruppens olika bolag. Medverkande: David Olhed Podcastvärd: Jonny Rosengren Producent: E-commerce Recruit   E-commerce Recruit har specialiserat sig på personal inom e-handel och digital marknadsföring! Vi erbjuder rekrytering, executive search, konsulter och styrelserekrytering. Vi finns i hela Sverige med kontor i Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö. Kontakta oss gärna om du behöver stärka din organisation och vill ha hjälp med rekrytering, search eller konsulter. Nyckelord: Trademax, Home Furnishing Nordic, HFN, Ehandel, E-commerce Success, entreprenörskap, framgångsrik e-handel, e-handel, driva företag

Hace 10 años algunas personas ya tenían claro lo que hacían en nuestros cielos sin nuestro consentimiento. Entrevistamos en febrero del 2014 a Josefina Fraile la portavoz del grupo Guardacielos para preguntarle que es la geoingeniería. ¿De verdad están modificando artificialmente el clima mediante la dispersión en la atmósfera de sustancias químicas? ¿Son las estelas de los aviones que luego se difuminan simplemente vapor de agua? Estas y otras interesantes preguntas serán respondidas de manera clara y precisa por nuestra invitada, la única persona que ha llevado adelante una denuncia pidiendo que los organismos oficiales nos aclaren que todo lo que vemos por encima de nuestras cabezas es simplemente vapor de agua o tal vez no. Un podcast que os ofrece una gran cantidad de enlaces en la descripción y otros programas sobre geoingenieria que os mostraran todas las vertientes de este problema. ………………………………………………………………………………………. Invitados: Josefina Fraile portavoz del grupo Guardacielos https://guardacielos.org/ …. UTP Ramón Valero @tecn_preocupado Un técnico Preocupado un FP2 IVOOX UTP http://cutt.ly/dzhhGrf BLOG http://cutt.ly/dzhh2LX Ayúdame desde mi Crowfunding aquí https://cutt.ly/W0DsPVq ………………………………………………………………………………………. Enlaces citados en el podcast: Charla original publicada en Ivoox el 23/02/2014 Geoingenieria o de como riegan por encima de nuestras cabezas https://www.ivoox.com/geoingenieria-o-como-riegan-encima-de-audios-mp3_rf_2859238_1.html UTP11 Lo que ignoras de las Fumigaciones I https://www.ivoox.com/utp11-lo-ignoras-fumigaciones-i-audios-mp3_rf_10516128_1.html UTP36 Lo que ignoras sobre las fumigaciones II https://www.ivoox.com/utp36-lo-ignoras-sobre-fumigaciones-ii-audios-mp3_rf_22714848_1.html UTP72 Nos fumigan https://www.ivoox.com/utp72-nos-fumigan-audios-mp3_rf_43785819_1.html Artículo 1923 Popular Science Geoingeniería USA https://www.dropbox.com/s/45yey3zga8pecvg/Art%C3%ADculo%201923%20Geoingenier%C3%ADa%20USA.jpg?dl=0 LISTA DE PATENTES NORTEAMERICANAS DE FUMIGACIÓN Y MODIFICACIÓN CLIMÁTICA http://anecieloslimpios.blogspot.com.es/2013/08/lista-de-patentes-norteamericanas-de.html?m=1 Científicos de Harvard avanzan en los planes de experimentos de geoingeniería atmosférica https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603974/harvard-scientists-moving-ahead-on-plans-for-atmospheric-geoengineering-experiments/ Cada vez hay más apoyos para manipular el planeta contra el cambio climático https://www.technologyreview.es/s/7517/cada-vez-hay-mas-apoyos-para-manipular-el-planeta-contra-el-cambio-climatico Manipular el clima: una medida desesperada para salvarnos del cambio climático https://www.technologyreview.es/s/7704/manipular-el-clima-una-medida-desesperada-para-salvarnos-del-cambio-climatico Gobernantes y ciudadanos, hay que decidir qué hacemos con la geoingeniería https://www.technologyreview.es/s/7760/gobernantes-y-ciudadanos-hay-que-decidir-que-hacemos-con-la-geoingenieria Inician programa científico para alterar el clima y frenar el calentamiento global https://www.grandesmedios.com/programa-geoingenieria-solar-harvard/ Campaña de aerosol indirecta y semidirecta. El impacto de los aerosoles árticos en las nubes http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2010BAMS2935.1 http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2010BAMS2935.1 Curriculum Vitae Dr. Alexander Laskin http://aerosol.chem.uci.edu/people/CV/Alex_Laskin_CV.pdf Cambio climático y geoingeniería articulo de El Periódico http://www.elperiodico.com/es/opinion/20171130/cambio-climatico-y-geoingenieria-mariano-marzo-articulo-el-periodico-6461751 Articulo de Dane Wigington http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/documents/HFN_33-1_3-31-2015.pdf articulo 15.000 científicos advirtiendo del cambio climático https://www.google.es/search?q=bioscience+articulo+15.000+cientificos&oq=bioscience+articulo+15.000+cientificos&aqs=chrome..69i57.25734j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/67/12/1026/4605229?redirectedFrom=fulltext Video de Desmontando a Babylon con Rosalie Bertell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyuVxRlIUag Artículo sobre nanopartículas, autores españoles Revisión bibliográfica sobre daño en la salud y medidas preventivas de NP. https://www.dropbox.com/s/tslwbi3zml5p3r5/02_especial.pdf?dl=0 NanoAwareness: Nanoparticulas en el aire Min 3:53 Normalizando la presencia de nanopartículas en el aire. Enseñan molécula de dióxido de titanio en medición de nanopartículas en Instituto de nanotecnología de Aragón. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsxnNAqlyr4&feature=youtu.be Las patentes USRE29142E y US3630950A se ocupan de la composición d combustibles y mezclas de metales y químicos para la generación de aerosoles destinados a la modificación de nubes y al control del clima, junto a procesos de# dispersión d dichos aerosoles, Aluminio y polímeros. https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE29142E/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US3630950A/en La patente US3659785A: se ocupa de la modificación del clima mediante materiales micro encapsulados. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3659785A/en La patente US3769107A: describe composiciones para la modificación artificial del clima, basadas en Yodato de Plomo, Aluminio, componentes orgánicos modificados y resinas Epoxy. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3769107A/en La patenteUS4096005A: describe compuestos químicos para la siembra de nubes, aplicados en la modificación artificial del clima con un cóctel de aluminio y componentes químicos. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4096005A/en La patente US3677840A: describe una composición química para la modificación artificial del clima basada en oxido de Plata, Aluminio y polímeros orgánicos fluorados. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3677840A/en La patente US3813875A: involucra a la NASA y consiste en aerosoles químicos compuestos por átomos d bario libre (Ba), iones de bario (BA) y Aluminio, para crear nubes ionizables en la atmósfera superior. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3813875A/en ………………………………………………………………………………………. Música utilizada en este podcast: Tema inicial Heros ……………………………………………………………….. Epilogo HOTAUVE - CHEMTRAILS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqdJeWIyGrU

Nieuwsgierig naar de nieuwe spookhuizen van Walibi Holland? Het pretpark presenteert dit jaar twee nieuwe haunted houses tijdens de Halloween Fright Nights: The Final Slay Ride en Urban Explhorror. Bovendien kwam er een bijzondere escape room. Filmen en fotograferen is verboden, maar in een nieuwe aflevering van de Looopings Podcast wordt wel uitgebreid nagepraat over de toevoegingen.

Coach Timmy Chang is back on the podcast as we celebrate Hawaii Football Now's 100th Episode! Timmy joins Josh & Hunter to talk everything Hawai'i Football as Fall Camp begins this week! We want to give a big mahalo to all our fans that tune in and support the show and cannot wait to continue to grow our HFN 'Ohana! Mahalo! Mahalo to Spectrum Sports Hawaii & HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union for supporting Hawaii Football Now!

Player progress, more recruits, and much more to talk about in this latest episode of HFN! Mahalo to Spectrum Sports Hawaii & HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union for supporting Hawaii Football Now!

The battle is over, but the war is far from it. With the hunters dead and the Council's lies out in the open, the entire paranormal community turns on the witches. And none more than the vampires who have a score to settle. The only way to stop them lies in the past. And it's scarier than anything we've ever faced before. But what's scarier is losing Caleb. Will I get to him on time? Can I save my soulmate from the face of true evil? I don't know the answer, but I'll die trying. Vampire Heart is the third book in a gay urban fantasy romance series, and it's best listened to in order. It's filled to the brim with magic, heart-pumping action, and steamy times. Book three ends on a satisfying HFN. ©2020 Rhys Lawless (P)2023 Rhys Lawless

These episode is all about the Romance Beats. Want to make sure readers fall in love with your love story? Then be sure and follow these seven beats! ORDINARY WORLD MEET CUTE ADHESION FUN AND GAMES Dark Moment Grand Gesture HEA or HFN

High Reliability, The Healthcare FM Podcast is brought to you by Gosselin/Martin Associates. Our show discusses the issues, challenges, and opportunities within the Facilities Management (FM) function.  In this episode of High Reliability,  we introduce the Healthcare Facilities Network, the YouTube channel that focuses exclusively on healthcare facilities management.  The Healthcare Facilities Network (HFN) is a grassroots, collaborative effort initiated by Gosselin/Martin Associates to help promote the unique discipline of Healthcare Facilities Management. The mission of HFN is simple: Increase the visibility of the facilities management role by any means necessary, informing, educating, and boosting awareness that this rewarding career is open and available to all. "Filling the Pipeline," the topic of this podcast, is a collaborative group effort by the Healthcare Facilities Network to promote and attract new employees to the discipline of healthcare facilities management. Learn more about it.  Check out and subscribe to the Healthcare Facilities Network   Website for the Healthcare Facilities Network @Healthcare Facilities NetworkCheck us out at https://gosselin-associates.com

On this episode of The Smutty Book Podcast, Fabienne and Jordan are back with another coffee & books episode, where we discuss happily ever afters? And what makes a book have a HEA or even a HFN? What's the difference between a romance and a love story? Can one have a tragic ending or is everything happy and nice for an ending? So come grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and join us in this very game show driven episode.Cover art by the amazing Fabienne and JordanContact email: smuttybookpodcast@gmail.comIntro/Outro music: Gulag Ghouls via Free Sounds on Capcut Follow Us:Podcast: @thesmuttybookpodcastFabienne: @thepagepilgrimJordan: @sipsoffiction

Join Jordan Helle & Hunter Hughes in Episode 78 of HFN! They discuss the University of Hawaii's search process for the new Athletic Director and desired qualifications. They also mention the start of the new XFL season, tracking Hawai'i players in it, and potential NCAA conference changes in the future. Mahalo to Spectrum, and HawaiiUSA FCU for sponsoring Hawaii Football Now!

In the spirit of election season, Jordan and Hunter start Episode 63 of HFN, by discussing this question; "Of the guys you played with, who'd make the best Governor?" The boys move on to talking about Hawaii's rough loss to Fresno State this past Saturday and look forward to Hawaii's next home game against Utah State (4-5 overall, 3-2 MW). Utah State has won the last six games against UH and won with a margin of 20+ points in five of those six games. The game is slated to start at 6:00pm at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex.

On Episode 54 of HFN, Jordan and Hunter recap the Hawaii's second game of the 2022 season against Western Kentucky. Looking ahead to a challenging match up against #4 ranked Michigan, Jordan and Hunter discuss what the Braddahhood needs to get out of this game. Mahalo to Spectrum, HawaiiUSA FCU, and Battery Bill's for sponsoring Hawaii Football Now!

As we move through the second half of Spring Football, the Rainbow Warriors kick things into a higher gear at practices as they've begun to suit up in full pads and prepare for Island Day on April 16th. Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes bring you a Spring practice update and share their thoughts on the significance of the football team bringing back the ha'a to their pre-game routine. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #GoBows #RainbowWarriorFootball #BRADDAHHOOD

In Episode 31 of Hawaii Football Now, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes complete their Spring season depth chart evaluation that they started last week by taking a first look at the defensive side of the football. For those who were unable to make it to the T.C. Ching Athletics Complex or to the lower campus parking structure for the first Spring practice, Hughes describes what he saw as far as team energy and standout players. All practices on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 AM and Saturday at 9:00 AM are open to the public. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #GoBows #RainbowWarriorFootball #BRADDAHHOOD

This week on the 30th Episode of HFN, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes talk about the competition, team configuration, and excitement that come with the start of Hawaii Football Spring Practices. They take a first look at the offensive position depth charts and identify the positions to watch out for as guys compete for the starting role. Helle and Hughes also begin to predict what type of offense fans can expect to see with the given roster and talent. HFN fans, you can expect the same depth chart analysis for the defensive side of the ball next week on Episode 31! Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #GoBows #RainbowWarriorFootball #BRADDAHHOOD

Coach Abe Elimimian joins the HFN Podcast to chat with Jordan and Hunter about the recent University of Hawaii Pro Day at UNLV and the fast-approaching start of Spring Ball on March 22, 2022. Coach Abe is entering his 8th year at UH under Timmy Chang who is his fifth head coach. Also, we want to note the Colt Brennan Celebration of Life which is taking place this Sunday, March 20, 2022 (8:00am) at Waikiki Beach near Duke's. The public is invited to attend. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #RainbowWarriorFootball #GoBows #HawaiiFootballNow #Braddahhood

This week on Episode 28, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes get you pumped for the start of Spring Ball which will be open to the public! Fans and spectators can witness the rebuilding of this program, watch position players compete for starting roles, and help shape a great experience for the Rainbow Warriors. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #RainbowWarriorFootball #GoBows #HawaiiFootballNow #Braddahhood

This week on Episode 27, Defensive Coordinator and Outside Linebackers Coach Jacob Yoro joins the Hawaiʻi Football Now Podcast as its first official guest! Coach Yoro talks about how he's handling his new responsibilities as DC, and shares what he envisions his defense will look like. Lastly, Coach Yoro talks about how the team is finding its leaders and progressing each day under Head Coach Timmy Chang and the new coaching staff. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFootball #HawaiiFB #JacobYoro #TimmyChang #Braddahhood

Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes discuss their outlook on the Rainbow Warrior's 2022 season schedule which will start with a game at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex on August 27th against Vanderbilt University. Helle and Hughes round off Episode 26 with a conversation about some exciting transfers which were announced by the players, but not yet confirmed by the University. The more recent transfers include three Power 5 athletes, Kahuku graduate and former 3-star recruit Micah Mariteragi (OG), McKenzie Barnes (DB) from the University of Arizona, and Jojo Forest (DB) from Oregon State University. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFB #HawaiiFootball #HFN #TimmyChang #Braddahhood

This week on HFN Ep 25, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes talk about Head Coach, Timmy Chang's commitment to recruiting locally. Helle and Hughes discuss how keeping good local talent home affects the team chemistry and brings excitement to the program for fans and supporters alike. Helle and Hughes end the episode talking about ways in which a winning culture and a unique gameday experience can be created at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex for this new UH Football Program under Coach Chang. Mahalo to Spectrum, Zanthosyn, and Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union for sponsoring HFN! #HawaiiFB #HawaiiFootball #HFN #TimmyChang #Braddahhood

This week on HFN 24, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes talk about coaching chemistry and the importance it carries for ensuring individual player success as well as overall team success. Helle and Hughes also discuss the Football Program's scholarship management, roster construction, and walk-on tryouts which are on Feb. 25. Per Coach Timmy Chang's post on Instagram, we are less than 200 days away from kickoff which seems both near and distant at the same time. Needless to say, we cannot wait for the day when we kick things off at the T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

Since the last recording of Hawaiʻi Football Now, 11 coaches have been hired and 7 players confirm their commitment to play/coach at the University of Hawaiʻi. This week on HFN, Ep 23 Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes offer their impressions of Coach Chang's coaching staff thus far and also discuss the incoming players and the potential impact they might have on the team. Mahalo to Spectrum & Zanthosyn for sponsoring HFN! #GoBows #HawaiiFB #hawaii #football #HawaiiFootballNow #BRADDAHHOOD

Hawaii Football Now Ep: 22 welcomes in the Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warrior's 25th Head Coach, Timmy Chang. The St. Louis Alumni and UH Legend previously held the NCAA record for career passing yards with 17,072. This will be Chang's first head coaching job but has experience as a wide receivers coach at Colorado State, grad assistant at SMU, and offensive coordinator at Emory & Henry and Jackson State. Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes also discuss the details of the June Jones contract which was offered before Chang's. A lot remains unknown when it comes to UH Football including, how Chang will manage NCAA signing day, UH Football walk-on tryouts, and choosing his supporting coaching staff. Mahalo to Spectrum & Zanthosyn for sponsoring HFN! #GoBows #HawaiiFB #hawaii #football #HawaiiFootballNow #BRADDAHHOOD

Check out HFN Ep21 and Hunter Hughes' mug which pretty much captures the reactions of Jordan Hells, Hughes, and all of the UH Football stakeholders. After running out of time to talk about the State Senate Hearing in Episode 20, Helle and Hughes forgo the second half analysis in order to focus on the bombshell, which is the resignation of Head Coach Todd Graham. Listen to Helle and Hughes' take on what type of coach the Hawaii Football Program needs in order to rebuild. HFN wants to know, who YOU think should be the next Head Coach! Mahalo to Spectrum & Zanthosyn for sponsoring HFN! #GoBows #HawaiiFB #hawaii #football #HawaiiFootballNow

This week on HFN Ep20, Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes talk about the new incoming players including All-American Linebacker, Demarii Blanks and four-star recruit, QB Cammon Cooper. Helle and Hughes then go headfirst into the meat of this week's podcast, debriefing all that happened in the State Senate Hearing. Luckily for you, if you missed the 2-hour event, or didn't read through the 86 pages of written testimonies, Helle and Hughes condensed it down for you! Mahalo to Spectrum & Zanthosyn for sponsoring HFN! #GoBows #HawaiiFB #hawaii #football #HawaiiFootballNow

Many of you know Warren Shoulberg the journalist, writer, editor, consultant, and singular source of home furnishings industry insights via HFN, Forbes.com, and many others. Here, Warren shares his Magnificent Seven of Retail. Important for manufacturers, vendors, and buyers to hear his thoughts the Good, the Bad, or the Ugly of retail (we talk about a couple dozen retailers, like The Good: Target, RH, Amazon, TJX, Williams-Sonoma brands, Magnolia Home in Waco, TX, good independent specialty retailers, also The Bad: Lame Department Stores, Lame Zombie Brands, and The Ugly: BBB, JCP, and many others. 3:23 – about retail “it's a business, but there's a certain flair to it that other businesses don't have… if you want to understand a (retail) business… just walk into their stores and you'll get a really good idea about what they're doing.” 5:03 – about one of the seven membership requirements “that define a good retail business… omni-everything… to reach the consumer however they want to be reached.” 10:20 – “the store as a destination: if you're going to ask the shopper to go the a physical store, you better make it worth their while… best example is RH, with spectacular physical stores… also a big part of the IKEA story…” 14:17 – about hospitality “retailers are getting back into that… RH is a great example, putting restaurants in all of their stores now… doing as much as 20% of the volume… and hard to get into…” 20:53 – “Right now Target is the best (national) store in America, they're doing so many things right… they put (a couple billion dollars) back into their stores, they put it into their digital business, same day delivery… and the good old fashioned independent specialty retailer… there are some great stores with clever merchandising. 24:36 – on great merchants vs. big data/AI: “good merchandising overcomes a lot of other bad decisions… but that by itself is not enough... you got to have both.” You can find Warren's writing at the Robin Report, Forbes.com, Business of Home, or you can email him at WShoulberg@gmail.com.  

Jordan Helle and Hunter Hughes dive into the new developments surrounding the negative cloud that continues to linger above the UH Football program and the up-and-coming EasyPost Hawaii Bowl 2021. Mahalo to Spectrum & Zanthosyn for sponsoring HFN!

I'm raving about the new Christmas RomCom, LoveHard, and then I'm indulging in a spoilery rant about the season finale of Lucifer and why I hated it. Why is the concept of an HEA and a long-term loving relationship so hard?LoveHard is here (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10752004/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).You can order DARK WIZARD here (https://jeffekennedy.com/dark-wizard) and preorder FIRE OF THE FROST here (https://jeffekennedy.com/fire-of-the-frost).If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).You can watch this podcast on YouTube here (https://youtu.be/SM7_hP2mUyY).First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!Support the show (http://paypal.me/jeffekennedy)

A jornalista Patrícia Raposo fala sobre a HFN, que vai até o dia 5 de novembro e movimenta o setor no estado.

Photo:  Logo of the Communist Youth of Chile, the youth wing of the Communist Party of Chile #NewWorldReport: Chile turns bookish Marxist.  Latin American Research Professor Evan Ellis,  @revanellis U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.HFN   https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/chile-presidential-candidate-boric-tests-positive-for-covid-19/ar-AAQi07N Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the social alienation (German: Entfremdung, lit.'estrangement') of people from aspects of their human nature (Gattungswesen, 'species-essence') as a consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity.

Photo: DOD dreaming of cyber, AI, hypersonic, quantum computing and more magic. Patrick Tucker, @DefTechPat @DefenseOne, Defense One technology editor, & author, The Naked Future: What Happens in a World That Anticipates Your Every Move.  HFN  https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/10/exclusive-pentagons-top-science-official-how-dod-will-pursue-breakthrough-technology/186008/

Photo: .Tysons Corner in 1936 CBS Eyes on the World with John Batchelor CBS Audio Network @Batchelorshow #NewWorldReport: Memories of 9-11-01 at Tysons Corner, Virginia. Latin American Research Professor Evan Ellis, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. @revanellis HFN . 

FranceAgriMer updated its French wheat crop data this week with changes that highlighted the poor quality of its crop. Domestic and export milling specifications demand that grain specific weight meets at least 76kgs but only 30% of the crop is estimated to have reached that standard. Such poor French wheat crop quality is unusual; last season over 98% of France's crop met the minimum 76kgs standard. The Hagberg falling number (HFN) is also an issue, with only 67% meeting the minimum 220 specification. With up to 70% of French wheat only at feed standard, traditional UK feed wheat export homes will be extremely competitive. This likelihood has contributed to the additional negativity seen in UK wheat futures this week. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's nothing more intimate than a letter, card, text or message written for your eyes only. The epistolary novel has been popular for centuries, and romantic stories using this device can feel like the best kind of eavesdropping.https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.comMovies/TV ShowsThe script for Love & Friendship takes Jane Austen's epistolary novel Lady Susan to new heights. I always call this director "Will Stillman" but it's Whit.84 Charing Cross Road will always have a special place in my heart. The book and movie are delightful.Daddy Long Legs has it all: So playful and Parisian! The costumes! The music! Slightly inappropriate with the age-difference trope! Kevin Bacon plays the titular character in I Love Dick and the whole thing is a visually fascinating, messy, complicated look at desire.I find most Hallmark movies insipid, but the lead actors' chemistry, locations and script for Her Pen Pal made it super enjoyable.BooksYou can read Lady Susan by Jane Austen on Project Gutenberg.I cried multiple times while reading the romance-novel-in-text Way Down Deep. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but it's an HFN and the characters are beautifully fleshed out despite learning about them in short messages. Their emotional journeys are unbelievably compelling.From the smart banter and hilarious plot, to the funny heroine and gorgeous grumpy hero, The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl is one of the best romances I've read this year. Can't wait to read the whole series.In Flashed, a former male model and party boy gets in a near-fatal accident and hides away at his secluded ranch. He reluctantly hires a local art student as his live-in cook and housekeeper with one rule--she's not allowed to see him. So she resorts to texting him.Stay is about an exclusive virtual assistant service that promises its VIP clients anonymity--until the owner figures out that the customer sending her mildly flirty texts requiring her attention at all hours is a hot hockey superstar. The World Needs More Love Letters is a wonderful letter writing project.The Penpalooza penpal project started in Spring 2020 as a way to connect people during the pandemic, and now has more than 10K members.

Show Notes Episode 1 What make a Romance NovelRomance stands on three points1. The ending, HEA or HFN2. The main plot of the story is the growing emotional/physical connection between the main characters3. Must include at least two people and when, where, and how did they meet. Telling the story of two separate people that come together.Expectations:The primary romantic characters should meet or be introduced to the reader in the first quarter of a book. They don't have to be together romantically that quickly but if they don't at least meet the story is more about an individual's journey rather than the romance itself. For the majority of romance novels they will meet and have some type of spark by the end of chapter two.How fast should a couple connect physically? Depending on the heat level of the romance novel this answer can vary wildly.The higher the heat the faster the connection usually occurs. The most common in a steamy novel is for the spark to be instantaneous not instalove but perhaps insta-lust. There is a physical draw, and the reader should feel that from the moment the two characters meet. In most romances by the end of the first three chapters, there is an expectation to see a physical draw between the lead characters. Even in sweet romance there should be sparks, or an emotional bond. A romance wouldn't be a romance without that connection. Could you imagine a mystery novel wher the mystery doesn't start until two-thirds of the way through the book?What is heat level?Heat level has two elements 1. Steam - This is the push pull of physical desire. Do they want to snuggle and hold hands or rip one another's clothes off.2. Explicit - What sexual activity is described on the page? Do the author close the door on the sex scene or invite you to watch? HEA vs HFN (Happily Ever After vs Happy For Now)HEA: Sleeping beauty is the ultimate HEA in the end, love conquers all. That can happen in a single book or a series. The reader is left with the sense that everything has been resolved and the couple has no more dragons to slay. It is often accompanied by a wedding or baby possibly in an epilogue that wraps up and small loose ends.HFN: Is often used in series or short stories where an HEA is not believable. The reader feels like the couple has overcome their current issues and are happily paired up even if everything is not completely settled. It is the belief that the HFN could lead to the HEA eventually that leaves the reader satisfied.Contact Information:Ann JensenAnnJensenWrites@gmail.comhttps://annjensenwrites.com/https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Jensen/e/B08VRMR5SK/https://www.facebook.com/annjensenbookshttps://www.instagram.com/annjensenbooks/Skylar Westhttps://www.authorskylarwest.com/https://www.amazon.com/author/skylarwesthttps://www.facebook.com/authorskylarwest/https://www.instagram.com/author_skylarwest/?hl=en

Two episodes this week! Huzzah! Today we're joined by the extremely delightful, extremely brilliant Nicola Yoon to discuss her extremely romantic new book, Instructions for Dancing, and YA Romance in general! We talk about Nicola's love of romance novels (which she shares with the heroine of her book), about her history with them, and about what makes YA Romance so extremely delicious. We also talk about her new project with the Obamas and her new imprint for young readers at Random House.Our next read along (next week! we told you it was coming!) is Cat Sebastian's wonderful Unmasked by the Marquess. Get it at Amazon, Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, or Bookshop.org. Thank you, as always, for listening! Please follow us on your favorite podcasting app, and if you are up for leaving a rating or review there, we would be very grateful!Show NotesWelcome Nicola Yoon! Along with Instructions for Dancing, she and five other Black women authors just published the Blackout anthology, which has been picked up by the Obamas for TV and film for Netflix.Nicola and her husband David Yoon are also creating the Yooniverse, including a new YA romance imprint called Joy Revolution at Random House.Poltergeist and its infamous curse scared everyone back in the 80. Nicola wasn't sure what imprint she was reading when she found her first romance under her aunt's bed, but she mentioned Harlequin Blaze, one of our all time favorite imprints which was shuttered in 2017. Just a quick reminder that HFN means “happy for now” and HEA means “happily ever after.” YA has evolved over time, a process which has ramped up in the past 20 years and is now a publishing juggernaut. YA is far more progressive that adult romance, but also grapples with the influence of adultreaders of all kinds and gatekeepers who want to stop kids from reading about sex & gender, race, and other issues around identity. According to the Library of Congress, most of the earliest entries from Urban Dictionary date back to 2003.Before Covid, It used to be hard to explain the terrifying rise of HIV was in the 1980s, along with the way the Reagan administration ignored the epidemic. This timeline tells the history of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and here is an explainer for why Covid vaccinations were developed so fast when we still don't have one for HIV.The Heads of Your Enemies as love language appears in Shadow's Claim, when Trehan literally gives this gift to Bettina while they are courting. The Wrath and the Dawn is a retelling of the Scheherazade story, which is the framing device for The Arabian Nights. If you are GenX or Millenial and were a reader, you'll love the book Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of 80s and 90s Teen Fiction. It's full of images, so read it in paper or on a full-color reading device!Jessica Trent is a different thing entirely than Jessica Wakefield. Along with other changes, the Sweet Valley High twins are size 4 now, which we don't like at all. I Believe in a Thing Called Love was also just optioned for Netflix, but they aren't going to have much luck checking The Wirecutter for road spike recommendations, because this was the closest thing I could find to them.“The Hellmouth or whatever,” is a reference to Sunnydale, the setting of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You can pre-order signed copies of Sarah's Bombshell from WORD in Brooklyn, and you'll get a Fated Mates sticker with your signed book!

Episode 061: Valentine’s Day Romance with Guest Taryn Ruf Forever by Judy Blume and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne Hi Listeners, just a quick reminder about our Patreon page: we gave everyone a free look in January - and everything is still available to view! We hope you decide to become a member to support our little podcast. Also, sign up for our free newsletter here! On today’s show we have Tami’s older daughter, Taryn, as our guest to teach us all about the differences between the Romance Genre and romantic fiction. We had such a great discussion and WOW are there a lot of books for you to see below! As we discussed the Romance genre throughout the episode, Taryn gave SO MUCH wonderful information we’ve decided to give you a convenient list right here: In Romance, the woman is always the Heroine and the male is always the Hero. HEA (Happily/Happy Ever After - story is complete) - HFN (Happy For Now - story continues in a series) In a Love triangle the choice isn’t between two men, it's between two life paths for the heroine. The man is metaphorical for these two life paths.  Romance has a number of tropes, such as - friends to lovers, best friends brother/sister to lover, enemies to lovers, road trip romance (forced proximity on a journey).  Sub-Tropes: Sick bed, communication mishap, secret identity Romance is about the journey not the end! Romance Genre fiction vs. romantic fiction - What is the difference? Taryn: Two requirements for Romance: 1)The main plot in the story is the romance between the two characters.2) There must be an HEA or an HFN romantic fiction example: Beach Read by Emily Read Romance Genre example: The Bridgertons Series (The Duke and I - Book 1) by Julia Quinn Why teach genre fiction in high school? We had an in depth discussion of why teaching genre fiction is important and why it should be included in high school. Choosing to teach the structure of a Romance novel means that you can talk about heroes and false heroes and structure details such as every first chapter sets the universe where the heroine is located and what she must break out of for her happily ever after.  We discussed how Romance novels are ‘feminist’ novels. Here’s a great article from March of 2020 from The Atlantic called The Unexpectedly Subversive World of Romance Novels that sums it up really well. For this Episode We Read and Discussed: Tami Read: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (Enemies to Lovers - sub trope is rivals to lovers) Amie Read: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - Inspirational Romance - extremely famous  Taryn's Romance Recommendations by sub-subgenre Paranormal: Vampires/Witches/Fey/Valkyrie - Immortals After Dark Series - The Warlord Wants Forever (Book 1 of 17 in series) - Kresley Cole Regency Romances - Bridgerton’s Series (8 books total) by Julia Quinn Regency Romances - The Duchess Deal (Book 1 of 4) in The Girl Meets Duke Series by Tessa Dare Contemporary - Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn Fantasy - A Heart of Blood and Ashes (Book 1 in A Gathering of Dragons) by Milla Vane The Bride by Julie Garwood    Taryn's recommendations For Amie - Romancing Mr. Bridgerton  (unrequited love / best friends brother) by Julia Quinn For Tami - Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters    Books Mentioned 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy by E.L. James The Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks The Beyond Series Books 1-3 (explicit content) by Kit Rocha Beautiful Bastard - Book 1 of 10 in series by Christina Lauren Immortals After Dark Series - The Warlord Wants Forever (Book 1 of 17) by Kresley Cole Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Book 1 of 3 - Love By Numbers Series) by Sarah MacLean The Return by Nicholas Sparks - romantic fiction Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (kindle edition is currently free) Lord of the Rings Boxed Set by J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles Tweet Cute by Emma Lord Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers Jessa Kane Novellas (Very Explicit-Erotica) You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria (Taryn said Adriana Herrera by mistake in the show) Mangoes and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood  Media Mentioned Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley  Bridgerton Series on Netflix  Hallmark Channel - mass market paperbacks in films Kindle Unlimited by Amazon - monthly subscription Audible Plus - monthly subscription  Libraries that sell library cards to out of state residents Brooklyn Public Library subscription Queens Public Library subscription Orlando Public Library subscription Houston Public Library subscription 

Katrina Jackson never actually left: we talk about Scandal, why impermanence and entropy are the root cause for readers' desire for a happily ever after - or at least according to my theory, and how Katrina's research on Black romance as liberation is coming along. We also discuss Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden, a true romcom novella that turns the one-day courtship trope on its head.03:05 - What Kat’s been up to. Scandal. Contagion. Growing jalapenos.14:21 - Kat’s Research: Black Romance as Liberation41:53 - HEA, HFN, Andrea’s grand theory of romance50:53 - The fantasy of resolution59:16 - Blind Date With A Book BoyfriendShelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com58 Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of HopeCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeGuest: Katrina JacksonTwitter | Instagram | Kat’s Email newsletter | Beautiful & DirtyWe Read:Blind Date With A Book Boyfriend by Lucy EdenNotes:03:05 - What Kat’s been up to. Scandal. Contagion. Growing jalapenos.Shelf Love Episode 017 - An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole with Katrina JacksonShelf Love Episode 023. Katrina Jackson: Communication, Polyamory + Financial ConversationsIce Planet PodcastAndrea’s episode of Ice Planet PodcastKatrina’s episode coming soon!American Queen by Sierra SimoneThe Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan14:21 - Kat’s Research: Black Romance as LiberationResearching the Romance Conference - Kat’s PresentationShelf Love Episode 013. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams with Steve Ammidown (Steve is the archivist at the Browne Pop Culture Library at BGSU and was organizing the Researching the Romance Conference)Beverly Jenkinsbell hooks All About LoveBe Not Afraid by Alyssa ColeThat Could be Enough by Alyssa ColeLet Us Dream by Alyssa ColeShelf Love Episode 041. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang with Dr. Maria DeBlassie - we discussed “bodice rippers” and the origins of the romance genre, problematic warts and allGeorgette Heyer was an Antisemite and Her Work is Not Foundational Historical Romance by Felicia Grossman on Romance Daily NewsFelicia was also on the podcast and discussed this in the episode about History“The dynamacy” - Shelf Love Episode 014. Equivalent Exchange by Christina C. Jones with Funmi B. - Black Indie RomanceShelf Love Episode about Rose Lerner’s Work41:53 - HEA, HFN, Andrea’s grand theory of romanceWhat are Romances About? Twitter Survey with responsesAndrea’s Venn Diagram - scroll to the bottom of the page50:53 - The fantasy of resolutionHappier with Gretchen Rubin with Dan Harris - the episode that got me thinking about entropyKit Rocha’s Beyond Series59:16 - Blind Date With A Book BoyfriendThe Ripped BodiceZaida PolancoLucy Eden’s NewsletterSierra Simone’s Harvest of Sighs featureLydia San Andreas storyBefore moviesJodie Slaughter’s Just One MoreJack Harbon’s Meet Cute ClubMan at Work by Elaine Fox58 Novellas for a Quick Hit of HopeBeautiful & Dirty by Katrina Jackson

Life doesn’t always lead to Happily Ever After (or Happily For Now) - like a romance novel. However, romance novels tap into something deep in our heart and psyche - keeping us turning the pages to see just how it’s all going to unfold. You can use the lessons from fiction to craft your own personal love adventure. This week we’re talking to Mara Wells, author of Cold Nose, Warm Heart - about the craft of romance writing, to learn what fuels our real-life desires. You’ll avoid the mistakes that not only would destroy a good plot line - but that also would send a perfectly good relationship down the tubes. And you’ll get some ideas for how to keep the passion flowing when you’ve moved past seduction - to doing each other’s laundry. As always, I’m looking forward to your thoughts on this episode and what revelations and questions it creates for you. Join us in the Relationship Alive Community on Facebook to chat about it!  Sponsors: Find a quality therapist, online, to support you and work on the places where you’re stuck. For 10% off your first month, visit Betterhelp.com/ALIVE to fill out the quick questionnaire and get paired with a therapist who’s right for you. Resources:  Pick up the new Mara Wells Book, Cold Nose, Warm Heart - and support independent booksellers! (or you can pick it up on Amazon as well) Check out Mara Wells’s website for more information about her novels. FREE Relationship Communication Secrets Guide Guide to Understanding Your Needs (and Your Partner's Needs) in Relationship (ALSO FREE) www.neilsattin.com/romance Visit to download the transcript, or text “PASSION” to 33444 and follow the instructions to download the transcript to this episode with Mara Wells. Amazing intro/outro music graciously provided courtesy of: The Railsplitters - Check them Out Transcript: Neil Sattin: Hello and welcome to another episode of Relationship Alive. This is your host, Neil Sattin. What do we know about what drives the human heart? And not just in terms of love and connection but also in terms of desire. There are any number of ways to approach this question and I wanted to try something a little bit different in today's episode because I happen to be good friends with someone who is an author in the romance genre. And I thought what would be better than to dive in to romance writing and to figure out what that can actually teach us about how we operate as humans. And if there weren't something there, it wouldn't sell millions and millions of books every year and so there's clearly something there that romance writing taps into, and so I wanna mine it for all it's worth with today's guest. Her name is Mara Wells and she is the author of the new book, Cold Nose, Warm Heart, which is the first novel in the Fur Haven Dog Park series. Neil Sattin: And I gotta say, it's actually the first bit of fiction that I've read in years because I'm mostly reading non-fiction for this podcast and I really enjoyed it. It was just such a great escape for me to take a couple of days and dive into the world of Fur Haven Dog Park. And we'll find out a little bit more about what that means but is as usual, we will have a transcript for today's episode, which you can get if you visit neilsattin.com/romance or you can text the word Passion to the number 33444 and follow the instructions. And I think that's it. Let's just dive in. Mara Wells, thank you for joining us today on Relationship Alive. Mara Wells: Thank you so much for inviting me, Neil. I really appreciate this opportunity. Neil Sattin: You're welcome. You're welcome. And as I was talking just a moment ago, I had this sudden hesitation like, "Is it okay to call this a romance novel?" Is this a romance novel, what you wrote? Mara Wells: It is absolutely a romance novel. Neil Sattin: Okay. [chuckle] Mara Wells: The definition of a romance novel is that you have a guaranteed Happily Ever After or at least Happily For Now. In the industry, the HEA or HFN, and if it meets that criteria, the guaranteed happily ever after ending and that the relationship is the primary focus of the story, it's a romance. Neil Sattin: Got it. Yeah, that makes sense. Mara Wells: It's a big, big world. Neil Sattin: And I was wondering because as I was talking to a friend of mine about this interview, I was like, "Yeah, this... " Like, it's a romance book, it's got sex and romance and relationship and she was like, "Well, there are a lot of books that have that." So we were sitting with this puzzle of like, "Well, what does make it a romance book versus just like a good book that has sex and heart-centered interactions and steamy interactions and... " So is that the working definition right there or is there more that defines it? Mara Wells: Yes. A romance novel has a relationship as the primary focus, a romantic relationship as the primary focus of the story and then we have a guaranteed happily ever after ending or at least happily for now. Within the novel, there's some expansion in the definition. Sometimes we see the happily ever after is guaranteed at the end of a series if we're following one couple through a series but usually it's contained within the one novel. Neil Sattin: Got it. Yeah, and I think part of what fueled me as a reader was I knew that was gonna happen and I was wondering how it was gonna play out. So there's maybe a bit of a beauty in that when you pick up a book like this where it's like, okay, you know that it's probably gonna work out, it's gonna work out on some level. You may not know all the twists and turns, and discovering those twists and turns is part of what keeps you going. Mara Wells: Right. We read for the twists and turns. We read for the journey and I think I've... Before I was a romance writer, I was a romance reader and so for me as a reader, there's comfort in knowing what the ending is going to be and so I'm actually able to enjoy that journey more. And to see the ways in which it plays out individually for every different couple. Neil Sattin: Now I hadn't thought about this at all but just hearing you say that makes me wonder if there's some element of that when you actually meet a person that part of why you can meet someone and within a few seconds you can make a snap decision about whether or not this person is gonna be a good person like a good fit for you, romantically. And that's not always true, right? 'Cause we can meet people where we don't necessarily think that and then they surprise us because we get to know them a little better and we uncover the things that draw us to them. So it's not true 100% of the time but I'm thinking back on any number of relationships that I've been in and wondering if that's part of it. You meet someone and you're like, "Oh, something's gonna happen with this person and now let's uncover the twists and turns that get us there." Mara Wells: Right. If we think of story and then also the story of our own lives as being focused on the journey rather than the outcome because unlike fiction, the outcome in real life isn't guaranteed. But being able to focus on the journey makes that process enjoyable. Neil Sattin: Right. Well, in terms of the happily ever after or the happily for now ending, I'm not really sure what that means for the genre. It wouldn't surprise me if... It's just the stereotypical... Like the movies, they never show you what happens after the people get together and that's so much of what we face in our lives is we live that romantic journey that brings us together with a person but then there's the laundry, I can't remember who said that but. Mara Wells: [chuckle] Right. And I think that's actually one of the reasons why series are very popular in the romance genre because we live in the same world with the characters so, for example, in my series, book two goes on to follow... Caleb is the main hero of book one and he has a brother Lance who becomes the hero of book two and another brother Knox who becomes the hero of book three but Caleb doesn't go away. So in book two when we're invested in Lance and Carrie's relationship, Caleb and Riley from book one are still around. And we get to see how their life is playing out as they become secondary characters in the series and I think that's some of the delight of the series' experience for readers and actually, I'm experiencing it as a writer now, that we do get to see what happens afterwards and who is doing the laundry. [chuckle] And how are they balancing all of the challenges that they had as a couple to get together. Did they actually come up with a working solution so they can stay together? And, of course, the answer in romance is they did. [laughter] Neil Sattin: But you get to see that in an ongoing way... Mara Wells: Yes. Neil Sattin: In which it... That's cool. Yeah. Mara Wells: Yeah. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: So you get to check in with them and who's pregnant now and now what's happening and... In my series, you get to see the dogs again and you get to see that that happily ever after is really actually happening. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Wow. Now I really wanna read book two. I love how in Cold Nose, Warm Heart I love how the dogs play a role from the very beginning. You've got Caleb who enters this building and... Can I reveal a little bit of the intro of the plot? Mara Wells: Yes. Absolutely yes. Neil Sattin: So Caleb walks into this building and he's on a mission to save the family business, resurrect the family business because it's gone through this huge upheaval. And so he walks into this building that his grandfather has potentially offered him and he's just noticing how it's fallen into disrepair and there are just all these things wrong. But he's also assessing it for its potential as an economic engine to revitalize the family business and then at some... One of the very first things that happens is this cute little poodle runs over to him. So he's scratching the poodle and even that is a source of irritation for him because there aren't supposed to be pets in the building but there's this poodle that's running over to him but he's good with dogs like any good hero would be, I would think. Mara Wells: Yes. Neil Sattin: Right? The villain kicks the puppy, the hero scoops him up in his arms. And so, he's cuddling the puppy and at the same time thinking about how he's gonna have to fire the building manager, this horrible dude named Riley Carson who clearly is not doing his job. And then this beautiful woman runs down the hall to recover her escaped poodle and they get into this bantery conversation and in the end I think he asks her out for dinner. I might be remembering this not quite right but he's like, "We should get dinner." And she's like, "You don't even know my name." And he's like, "Well, what's your name?" And she introduces herself as Riley Carson so... And that's where the plot just goes from like, "Oh my god," for me, like, "How am I gonna deal with this?" I'm reading a romance novel, 'cause that's where I started, to like, "Oh my god, what's gonna happen?" I had that initial like, "How is this gonna work out?" Mara Wells: Right. And she says, "And you are?" And he says, "I'm here to fire you." Neil Sattin: Right. Mara Wells: And so that starts off their... The trope is enemies to lovers, right? They're on opposite ends. He wants to take the building down and rebuild it as luxury condos, she wants to preserve it and restore its art decor history. Both of them can't have their way. How will that work out? And it occurred to me when you were describing the book, about how he's coming in to assess the building and to think about it, its potential for the future. Isn't that a nice metaphor for relationships as well? Neil Sattin: Right. Right. And with maybe the interesting twist of that being with a building, there is the sense of like, "Well, if I had to, I could tear this sucker down and start over." If you enter a relationship thinking, "Alright, I'm gonna tear this sucker down and start over." [chuckle] Neil Sattin: It might not be the best start. Mara Wells: I think some people do. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: They do. That's for sure. That's for sure. Mara Wells: But he has to learn that that's not the best way forward. There's something beautiful about the history. There's something beautiful about the cracks in the terrazzo and the crumbling facade that's worth saving. Neil Sattin: Right. Right. And I think one thing that's really lovely about the plot of your book is that they do negotiate that and navigate that really beautifully in a way that makes it feel like change happens pretty organically, the way that change does happen in real life 'cause it's not that people don't change but when you wanna introduce wholesale change with a person, that's a recipe for challenge and disaster. People resent that. And so, that initial tension, "I'm here to fire you," and, "I'm gonna tear this whole place down," that introduces that same level of conflict and resentment. "Well, wait a minute." Like, "That's not okay. You can't take this place that I love and that I manage and just toss everyone out and... " Like, "That's not gonna work." Just like in real life. Mara Wells: Yes, I have a controlling belief in my own life that you can't change people but people do change, so the opportunity to change comes and people will take it or they don't but you can't force it on them. I think what's also interesting about the building as a metaphor is that Caleb is also not wrong. That place is deteriorating and there's the population, it's a 55 plus building so they're all senior citizens, with the exception of Riley, the building manager. And they're living in a building that the elevator is about to break down, that the plumbing is very inconsistent, that there's a lot of hazards for them living there. So it can't just go on as it is. Neil Sattin: Right. Mara Wells: It is deteriorating. He's not wrong but she's not wrong either. And for me that was the fun of the book, was how can they both... How can they be on opposite sides. And how do they come to understand. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: Yeah. Neil Sattin: Yeah. So that makes me start to wonder about the general principles of romance writing and how we start extracting even more about what fuels us as humans. And I wonder if you can give us some insight into how those problems are so important to the structure of the form of romance writing. Mara Wells: Yes. So my thinking about romance changed drastically a number of years ago when I read a book by Jayne Ann Krentz called... Oh, of course my brain just blanked on it. Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, and it's a sort of academic treatise about the romance genre in which she argues that romance is inherently feminist because what it's ultimately arguing for is a balance. A Yin Yang balance by the end of the book, that nobody has more power than anybody else in a relationship, in the world that's created in the book, that ultimately all romances the arc is toward balance and partnership, equal partnership. And I think that's a really beautiful way of thinking about it. [chuckle] There are many tropes and almost inside jokes in romance at this point and one of them is that the hero has to grovel at some point. He has to be taken down a peg. [laughter] Mara Wells: And that doesn't happen. Again, anything I say about romance isn't true of every single romance but there are definitely trends that we see. But again, it's not that he's being taken down, it's often that men do have more power, especially in particular societies and time periods that the stories might be happening in. And so, it's not that they have to be taken down to be taken down, it's that if we're going to have an equal partnership, there has to be an acknowledgement of who has advantages and who doesn't, and a balancing of power. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And how does that stack up for you in terms of the differentials in power being part of what creates the tension versus wanting to end up at a place that feels more balanced? Mara Wells: So I think the driving force in writing romance for me has been that there are these disparities between them, there is this unequal balance. Caleb is from a very privileged family, Riley is not, something as basic as that, but ultimately they desire each other. There's some sort of attraction that they just can't shake. And there are moments of rejection where it's like this just can't work, this person is not for me but it's that desire that brings their attention back to each other over and over again. So I'm not sure what I'm saying there except perhaps that the logical reasons we might choose to stay or not stay with somebody are overridden in romance by this attraction, this desire, this wanting, and the wanting is for everything that other person is. And often, the other person has some aspect of life that the hero or heroine is lacking. Mara Wells: So Caleb has this money, this privilege, this utter confidence that anything he does will turn out right and Riley needs that. But Riley has connection and love and family, and Caleb doesn't and he needs that. So the physical attraction is, again, I think a metaphor for attraction to the missing parts in their own lives. Neil Sattin: Yeah, and that is super true in real life for sure, is that we often connect with other people who illuminate aspects of ourselves that are underdeveloped or that we really want or need in our own lives. And at the same time, they can highlight the places where we might feel incompatible or like, "Well, that person, they don't have strong ties with their family. So how could I be with that person?" And I think that represents some core conflicts that people... Inner conflicts that happen in the choice of a partner is navigating that question of like, "Well, okay, they have these things that I don't have and I want that or they don't have these things that I do have and that frightens me." Yeah. Mara Wells: Right. And the choice to move ahead in the relationship anyway is always a risk because as much as you might long for something that's not in your life, it's also not in your life for a reason. Right? Some fear perhaps is holding you back, some hurt from the past has shut down that part of yourself and so you can long for it and be afraid of it at the same time. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: So it's attraction and repulsion can be happening in the same moment. Neil Sattin: In the same moment. Yeah. Mara Wells: Yeah. And then... Neil Sattin: Yeah. And you see that in the characters in your book. I'm thinking about the way that they are, even in this initial scene where they are sussing each other out and then you also get a glimpse into their inner monologue around the proximity of their hands on the dog's back. They're both petting the dog and their fingers are a mere inch apart and how many times does that happen where you're in that moment of wondering like, "Well, what would it be like to just cross the distance?" What would it be like to actually follow through on an impulse and at the same time to have all those inner resistances coming up like, "Well, here are all the reasons why I shouldn't do that." Mara Wells: And I think we, in real life, we're socialized that certain things are acceptable and not acceptable in interactions and we navigate our lives very carefully. And I think the promise of romance is that when you reveal who you really are, your partner loves you. That it's unconditional acceptance of the good and the bad. And of course, it's the bad that we're hiding for most of the book. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Right. Mara Wells: But the worst has to come out at some point so that the person can be loved with that as part of the understanding. Neil Sattin: Right. Exactly. Exactly. Or else it sets you up for a disastrous book two of the series. Mara Wells: Yes. [chuckle] Mara Wells: Yes. The new couple can't be getting together while the couple from the first book is breaking up like that. [laughter] Mara Wells: That is not acceptable. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah. Just out of curiosity, when would that be acceptable in a romance book for a couple to part ways? Would it ever be acceptable? Mara Wells: That is the type of relationship that happens before the book starts. So we might have heroes or heroines who are coming out of a bad relationship or a relationship that wasn't quite right for them but we don't... Yeah, I'm trying to go through the library in my head but again, the promise of romance is that happily ever after. Neil Sattin: Right. Mara Wells: So even if a couple does break up over the course of the story, they are gonna get back together. Neil Sattin: Right. Right. So if you're a long time listener of the show, you might understand that that kind of ending, I might feel a little jaded about that at the present moment. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: And Mara, you... We've known each other a long time so you know that as well. And in fact, that was maybe my hardest, the hardest thing for me in the book as just someone who's been through a divorce is appreciating every single aspect of the journey. And then there was something about the happily ever after that I loved. It actually brought tears to my eyes as much as I hate to say it but it did and at the same time I was like, "Damn." Like, you went all the way there, in those last couple of chapters and I was like, "Did it have to? Did it really have to?" But maybe someone like, where splitting up is slightly less fresh for them would appreciate that a little bit more. Mara Wells: Right. And the other thing is that romance is in many ways a fantasy of what... It's a fantasy of equality and equal partnership, right? Neil Sattin: Mm-hmm. Mara Wells: It's not claiming that this is real. It's not saying, "This is how all relationships work out." It's saying, "Wouldn't it be beautiful if this is how relationships worked out? Isn't this something to aspire to?" Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, so there's that danger, I suppose, in... There's the way that it can fuel us, that ideal, and I think that vision is such an important aspect of how we construct our relationships, holding on to an ideal vision, and at the same time, being willing to accept imperfection as part of real life versus what happens in a fantasy novel. Mara Wells: Right. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, it's a tough balance but the beauty, I guess, of a book, is that you can preserve the fantasy of where romance takes us, which is... Yeah. Mara Wells: Right. And the... You know, the first step of change in the real world is imagining that change can happen. And so, I think, in a lifetime of reading romance, that's what I'm imagining, right? Neil Sattin: Mm-hmm. Mara Wells: That that change is possible and equal partnership is possible, and that there's hundreds of thousands of ways for that to play out. You know, Caleb and Riley's journey is not your journey, but it's a journey. Neil Sattin: Right, right. What have you loved about... What drew you to romance as a reader, I guess, first? And then I'll be curious to hear about that as a writer, 'cause you haven't always been writing romance. Mara Wells: I started reading romance when I was about 10, which is probably on the young end of the spectrum, for reading romance. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: I know, I was thinking about that, actually, with this book. I was like, "Well, it's about dogs." And I couldn't find my copy, the first copy of the book that you sent me, I couldn't find it. I have the sneaking suspicion that it could have ended up upstairs in my daughter's room, 'cause it's about dogs, you know? So, I should go look a little bit more thoroughly [chuckle] for that, probably. Mara Wells: Yes. Luckily, we don't outgrow our love of dogs. So, I started young, but I think it was piggybacking right off my love of fairy tales. I would dress up as Cinderella for Halloween for almost every Halloween of my childhood. So, I loved fairy tales a lot and romance novels seemed to me to be the grown-up version of fairy tales. And I think you can see a little bit of Cinderella in Cold Nose, Warm Heart. Neil Sattin: Yeah, absolutely. Mara Wells: Yes. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Now that you mention it. [chuckle] There's even a fairy godmother. Oh my gosh, that's funny. Okay. Mara Wells: Yeah. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: But there is no wicked... I'm just trying to think. There's no evil stepmother, really. There's the absent mother, which may be is a little bit, right? Mara Wells: Right, there's the absent mother. And I think that I personally don't believe in evil people that are just purely evil. And so, the... Caleb's family is evil. His dad is evil, right? Neil Sattin: Right, right. Mara Wells: But even they have redeeming qualities. Nobody is the villain in their own story, so they might appear villainous in someone else's story, but they have their reasons. They've made the best choices they can make. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, so important to recognize 'cause I think that is a part of how we victimize ourselves, is by projecting someone else being evil onto them, as opposed to looking for, "Well, what was their intention?" I don't think I've ever done that with the Cinderella story, is like, well, what... You know, the stepmother, she was just trying to get those dresses made for her daughters, she was just... I mean, she did say some pretty cruel shit to Cinderella, you gotta admit, but... [chuckle] Mara Wells: Yes. Yes. Or not... Yeah. No one is at their best all the time. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Isn't that the truth? Yeah. So, it being an extension of that, that's what drew you in. And then, what drew you to writing in this genre? Mara Wells: I've been writing for a long time, and I had published a young adult novel many years ago. And I was just feeling really frustrated, and I had written this book that had gotten many, many beautiful, beautiful rejections. [chuckle] Mara Wells: And I had done one more round of revisions and sent it to my agent, and she said, "So, what are you gonna work on next?" And I just started crying, I was like, "I don't know. I feel like I've been knocking on this door for so long, and it's never gonna open again." I had my shot and that was it. And I said, "I can't even stand to read anything right now, except romance novels. I'm just binging romance novels, many, many, many per week." And she said, "Well, why don't you write a romance novel?" And I was like, "Oh, ha ha ha. I'm not gonna ruin my one true escapist thing that I do to escape the world. That's my hobby, that's my relaxation time. Why on earth would I turn that into my job?" Mara Wells: But she kept talking to me, and she convinced me to do it. And that's why I had been avoiding it for all these years, was I thought if I became a writer of romance, I'm going to read them differently, more critically, more craft-oriented. But what I found is that I have the same joy in writing the romance novels that I have in reading them. So, I'm really excited that she pushed me in that direction because writing has become more joyful for me now. I enjoy figuring out the twists and turns along the way, and what made me a romance reader is really feeding the romance writing, as well. So, I've been telling people we get advice, as writers, all the time, to write what you know, which I think is pretty terrible advice 'cause we have a pretty limited worlds, [chuckle] most of us. [chuckle] Mara Wells: But I think "Write what you love" is very good advice. Neil Sattin: Yeah. And that comes through. One, I have to say your skill as a writer comes through in reading the book. There was never a place to me that felt awkwardly worded or there were places where I could tell that I was like, "Oh, that's kind of an inside joke." Or "That's Mara being clever." [chuckle] Neil Sattin: And I liked it. I loved it. And so your skill as a writer definitely comes through and for it being your first book in this genre, like that... I think your love of the genre also came through, your knowing it backwards and forwards, in the way that the journey was really useful for me. Mara Wells: I'm glad. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: Yeah. Neil Sattin: I have a confession to make, which is that this is the first romance novel that I've ever read cover to cover. There are plenty of romance novels, mostly in my teens, I would say, and early 20s when it was really hard to access anything that was remotely erotic or sexual. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Where I would skip to... I'd find a romance book and I'd skip to the good parts that I never... I don't know what happened in any of those books. I just know that who fucked who basically and so it was nice, actually, to sit down and really enjoy the whole way through which was... It was cool. Cool to experience that. What do you think... Let's talk about the erotic for a minute because we're talking about longing and attraction and... What is it that fuels eroticism in a romance novel and yeah, makes it compelling in that way? What... Something that turns us on. Mara Wells: I think it's the longing. I think it is that moment of not knowing if you should touch fingers or not, that plays out later in the sex scenes. So that the thing that makes the sex scenes very satisfying is tension and longing that lead up to it. So I would say to your younger self, who was just skipping to the erotic scenes like, You missed out. [laughter] Mara Wells: You missed the part that made... Neil Sattin: Oh, poor guy. Mara Wells: Yeah, that made those scenes more powerful because they are finally a release of this tension and a culmination of this partnership and that ultimate integration of the opposites. So I think it's the wanting that makes having satisfying. But that said, there are... In romance, we call it heat levels. There are varying degrees of heat levels and so it spans from the story ends with kissing, right? That once they kiss, we know that they're gonna have their happily ever after and we never see more than that, that's one end of the spectrum and on the other end, we have erotica. And the romance novels fall all along that spectrum of heat. So I will say that when I decided to write romance, I was nervous about that part of it. [chuckle] And I read all over the heat spectrum. I enjoy all of it but I didn't know as a writer where I would fall comfortably. Neil Sattin: Yeah. And so was that just a discovery process for you or did you have a target heat level or... Mara Wells: Yes. I did not have a target heat level, I just thought, "Well, let's see how it goes." So I got to the part in the first draft where I knew that I had to write that scene. That scene. And at the time, my father was living with us because he had been having some medical problems and I tend to write early in the morning, and he's an early riser and he kept... He would wander through the room that I was working in and talk to me, and I was like, "Oh, I can't... I can't write this scene." [chuckle] Mara Wells: Thinking that my dad's gonna walk in any moment, right? I just can't. I can't. [laughter] Mara Wells: So I went... [laughter] So I put it off until I had some time and I went to a coffee shop that's in my neighborhood and I sat there. I have this couch I like to sit on and I wrote it, and I was pretty happy with it. I was feeling very proud and then I looked up and I'm sitting in this room with music playing, surrounded by a bunch of people and I had been so much in my own little bubble world there that I... I just remember feeling so hot, I know I must've blushed dark, dark red and I texted my friend Kait Ballenger who's been a really beautiful, wonderful mentor for me on this romance journey and I was like, "So I just wrote my first sex scene in a coffee shop and I don't know how I feel about that." And she texts back, "Welcome to Romancelandia." [laughter] Mara Wells: "You're gonna find yourself writing them in lots of places." [chuckle] Neil Sattin: That's so funny. And even the... For me, I think about what runs through our head potentially when we're at a coffee shop so there's that level and even the beautiful aspect of your father walking through the room or that fear of what that's like to feel. How many parents of young children are trying to find time to be sexual but the kids could bust in at any moment. And you're in the bathroom with the shower on and the door locked and hoping that they don't pound for too long 'cause that would be child abuse, right? If they're like, "I can't get in." Never been there, so... Mara Wells: Yeah. [laughter] Neil Sattin: Yeah, so that's some of the real life aspects of it as well. In terms of determining the heat level, is that about language or... Mara Wells: Yeah, it's about specificity. And so I think that I landed in a heat level that I... This is not a technical term, but I call soft focus. So we have some idea of what's going on, but I haven't really zeroed in on every breath, every touch. It's kind of I picture the camera pulled back and we got kind of a fuzzy lens on. Neil Sattin: Right, which leaves some up to the imagination. Mara Wells: Yes, yes. And so, you can go less heat than that where it's even more fuzzy, I guess you could say, and then other novels get much steamier and more specific in what's going on. Neil Sattin: Yeah, I actually have another friend that... Someone that I've known even longer than I've known you, who writes... I wonder I should chat with her, she might consider it more erotica than romance, but it's all based around aliens so it's people having sex with aliens. And I imagine you have to get fairly explicit and it still leaves a lot up to the imagination once you're dealing with alien body parts. Mara Wells: [chuckle] Yes. Neil Sattin: And I'm taken back... I actually wanna just mention that I feel somewhat vulnerable and laid bare with that talking to the young part of me, and that is interesting for me to just sit within this moment, that sense of how much what fuels attraction and those maybe moments of culmination where you're actually kissing someone or you're being sexual with someone. How much of that is the longing, the tension that leads up to that moment? And this is a classic challenge for... And it's not really necessarily a gendered thing, but some people are just sexual and they don't actually need all of that build up. They're able to talk about sex, think about sex, and then let's have sex versus there are other people who are more focused in the tension, the build up, the longing and that just needs to be there in order for there to be fuel for the actual coming together, so to speak, to be desirable. You don't get there without the tension and the longing, for those people. Mara Wells: And then what happens when you're in a long-term relationship? Neil Sattin: Right, right. Mara Wells: And that tension and longing has been satisfied. Then what fuels desire? Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: Then I end the book so the rest is for you to figure out. [laughter] Neil Sattin: Right. Right, I don't have to figure that out. Yeah, that's why those characters become secondary and tertiary characters. You just get to assume that they're doing whatever it takes to make that happen. Yeah, but that is the big challenge of any long-term relationship is how do you fuel passion and juice? And so often this falls into what we were talking about a few moments ago where people land in different places and it's very common for someone who needs tension and longing to end up with someone who doesn't. And so how do you do that, how do you... How do you cross worlds? And it's a challenge for both people to figure out 'cause sometimes that person who needs the tension and longing, it's helpful for them to figure out what do I need to do in order to show up so I can just be in a sexual experience with my partner that didn't require sexy texts for three days to get us to this moment? [chuckle] Neil Sattin: And vice versa. Where the 0-60 in 0.3 seconds partner can be like, Alright, what do I need to do to... What does get my partner in the mood? What helps them, what helps fuel their desire, so that they'll meet me there 'cause it's so easy for me, it may not be for them. And it's actually not a problem with them, it's just how they're wired. They're wired differently. Mara Wells: Yeah, and the romance answer to that is both people are right. And the relationship is about negotiating that. How do you accept that about your partner and integrate that into your life together? Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah, I like that for a real life answer as well. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: That both people are actually right and so if both people are right, what does that mean? That forces us to get creative as opposed to making the other person wrong and then forcing them to change, which was one of the very first things we were talking about. Forcing them to change, being not the most sustainable approach. Yeah. Mara Wells: If you wanna stay together. If you're looking for a way to break up, it's probably fairly efficient. [laughter] Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: But this also makes me think about... Romance has had a history of readers being shamed for their reading choices and I think in the past few years, the conversation has really changed where romance writers are pushing back and saying, What's shameful about female desire? What's shameful about fantasy, right? Why do we call it a guilty pleasure? Why can't we just call it a pleasure... Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: To read. And I think that that extends beyond reading choices. I think that in relationships as well, you can't have a guilty pleasure or a secret desire that you're keeping from your partner and have that work out long term. And so I think part of romance's job is to take the shame out of whatever desire people feel because again, ultimately, that happily ever after is guaranteed, and the partners have to accept each other exactly for who they are. So whatever is revealed over the course of the novel is accepted and loved. And isn't that a beautiful thing to think about happening in the world as well? Neil Sattin: Yeah, definitely, definitely. Yeah, I hadn't really thought about that. There is that place where... And shame is kind of the... What's the word I'm looking for? Shame is the challenge of someone who maybe is a little kinky, where something being a secret or being taboo does fuel them, does create a little bit bit of charge and juice for them, and shame is the shadow of that. The potential for it to feel shameful because most people aren't turned on when they're feeling shame. They're looking for a way to escape from that feeling of shame. So yeah, I hadn't really... That hadn't occurred to me, that romance in and of itself could be a way to reduce the shame that people feel around different kinds of desire and as a way of experiencing differences as being acceptable and accepted. Yeah. No wonder I liked your book so much. [laughter] Neil Sattin: Yeah. I think it's instructive. As I was reading it, maybe because there are aspects of it that are when you read it, you know. I knew, "Okay, this is when... I can see it coming. This is when they're gonna kiss for the first time," and it's like... So even the knowing, there was something about it that... Yeah, I feel like in this moment, could actually be more instructive for a person to read than reading a book that talks about how you might need tension in order to fuel longing in a... You might need tension and wanting and desire, and it's enough to know that that's true, but then to actually read a romance novel, I think it gives you a sense of how that actually plays out and how that works. Mara Wells: Right. And do you know that they're going to kiss? And you can feel that kiss coming, and it's that anticipation doesn't ruin the fact that they're going to kiss. It sweetens it. And so you keep reading, not because you're like, "Maybe they're not gonna kiss," but because they are and you wanna see how it goes down. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: Right? Because every first kiss is different and every moment, every intimate moment that people share together, there might be certain moves or phrases that various scenes have in common, but ultimately, every moment is unique. And that's what draws us to it, and it's not... I don't know, it's not... It's predictable, but not in the negative sense of that word. It's predictable in that sense of anticipation way. Neil Sattin: Right. Right, that phrase, "How's this gonna go down?" That actually came up for me several times as I was reading where I was like, "Alright, how's this gonna... I know that something... This is gonna work itself out somehow, or this, I know this twist, or I know there's a twist coming. What's it gonna be like? How's that gonna go down?" And yeah, it really kept me engaged as a reader and I loved escaping for... Yeah, it was the better part of... I guess it was most of a day and then the day before or a half of the day before where I was just like... That's the privilege of being able to read as part of my living is I could just set a day aside to do that. It felt good. I might have said a guilty pleasure, but I'm not gonna say that anymore. Mara Wells: There's nothing guilty about it. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Mara Wells: I just heard a statistic that romance readers read four times as many books as other types of readers. So I think you can see the... You got a little taste of what drives that market. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did. Mara Wells: Right? Neil Sattin: What surprised you about your book? As you were writing it, knowing that there's a form to the genre, what... Yeah. Mara Wells: This isn't always true, again, but my book is in a fairly standard point of view, which is alternating between the hero and the heroine, third person close. And I had never written a male point of view before. Neil Sattin: Wow. Mara Wells: I just decided to. And so I think that I was surprised all along the way at how much Caleb had to say and his attitudes, and I guess it shouldn't be surprising because obviously he came out of my mind, but it's like, "Oh, he's just a person too. There's nothing scary about writing a male point of view." [laughter] Mara Wells: But the thing that absolutely surprised me is in the first scene where we meet Riley's grandmother and I found out that she's still in love with her ex-husband, 'cause I thought they were just straight up enemies. That I hadn't been planning on, but then it turned into a delightful thread in the book. I enjoyed writing the senior citizen romance quite a bit. [laughter] Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah, this is one of those things where I'm for you, listening, it's so hard for me to not do any spoilers or plot reveals here because there are so many beautiful moments that I would be sharing with you right now, Mara, because I just loved how they went down and also some of the... 'Cause it's not all sweetness. There's a lot of sarcasm, there's a lot of people digging each other in ways that are affectionate, but also quite cutting at times. But the whole way along, I felt very uplifted at the same time, that people were being really honest with each other. And so I think that the temptation in being like, "Oh, this is a romance novel, that's the fantasy of romance," is to feel like the interactions somehow don't feel real, but I didn't feel that way at all, as I was reading. In fact, you're talking about Caleb's point of view, the male point of view. That's another place where it felt very seamless to me, where I was never like, "Oh I would never, as a guy, I would never think that." Everything he was thinking, I was like, "Yeah, of course, that's exactly what I would be thinking in that moment." [laughter] Mara Wells: That's funny. What you were saying about the conversations feeling real and the interactions, it reminded me of something that the writer Richard Peck said in a workshop that I took with him one time. He said, "If you're gonna have a ghost in the scene, you better describe the wallpaper." [laughter] Mara Wells: When you have a fantasy element, you have to... The real world of the story has to be absolutely grounded, and I think that that happily ever after isn't believable if everything has gone smoothly and people are all sweet and nice to each other for the whole thing, that doesn't... Right? That doesn't feel real. So the satisfaction of the happily ever after is that it did feel real and they had real problems, and yet somehow managed to transcend that to be together. Neil Sattin: Yeah, that's I think what part of what makes it inspiring, is that it feels real along the way. Mara Wells: Yep. And I do describe the wallpaper. I describe the building a lot, so... [laughter] Neil Sattin: That's true. Now that you mention it, that is true. Mara Wells: Yes. My great love of South Beach architecture comes through, I think. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, and I felt like I was there, even though I've only been there once or twice in my life, but it was very vivid, but not in a burdensome way. Some people really get off on reading a lot of scene and setting stuff, and I am not one of those people. I'm like, "Give me the... What's happening? Okay, enough, there are some flowers. What's happening?" [laughter] Neil Sattin: Thought you balanced that really well. Yeah. Mara Wells: Thank you. Neil Sattin: Well, Mara Wells, congratulations on your first book being out. And in our understanding is that it's doing really well. I saw a lot of really good reviews on Amazon. It's called Cold Nose, Warm Heart. If someone wants to find out more about you and what you're doing, what do they do? Where do they go? Mara Wells: They can go to my website, marawellsauthor.com and sign up for the newsletter. And then I'm also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Neil Sattin: Awesome. And how many... Mara Wells: Marawellsauthor. Neil Sattin: How many books are coming out in the series, at least as far as we know at the moment? Mara Wells: As far as we know at the moment, there's three. So book two is called Tail for Two, it comes out in July, and Paws for Love comes out March 2021. Neil Sattin: Awesome. Congratulations. Mara Wells: Thank you so much. Neil Sattin: Yeah, I'm really excited for you. And actually, before... We gotta address the dog thing for a minute. Mara Wells: Oh, okay. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: So first, why dogs? Why did you personally make that choice to bring dogs into the mix? Mara Wells: Well, my mother was a dog breeder, so I grew up with the dogs as part of the family. And I've had dogs all my adult life, and I just... I've been thinking a lot about the relationships we have with animals, especially our pets, and how they're not humans. They aren't humans, but they are still part of our lives, really important part of our lives and part of our families, but they don't speak and they don't act human. [chuckle] And so it's this weird... I'm just fascinated by the interspecies aspect of it and how passionately we can feel for dogs because they aren't complicated human beings with other motives going on that we don't know about. They're just love. And if I'm gonna write a romance novel in which unconditional love is an important part, who better to model that for us than dogs? Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, I think it's hilarious. I hadn't really even considered this until this moment, but you know this and actually a lot of my listeners know that part of what led me to relationship work was my prior life as a dog trainer. So we both have that actually, which I hadn't even really thought about a lot, but... And part of that journey for me was that very thing that you just mentioned about how much dogs are about heart and expression of heart energy. And so that was something that I really appreciated in the book. The dogs and their heart and their personality, they wove in in ways that also seemed very authentic, and I liked that. You just described it beautifully, the way that they're woven into the fabric of who we are, it felt natural, it felt more... There was more texture, really, for me in what I was reading because those beings were included as well. Mara Wells: Thank you. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Funny, what an interesting thing that we have in common there. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Yeah. And so it's a series that revolves around a dog park. Mara Wells: Yes. Neil Sattin: Yeah. What keeps that interesting? [chuckle] Mara Wells: Well, [chuckle] there's an infinite number of dogs and the people attached to them who can come through the dog park. So it gives me a very rich tapestry to pull from, I guess, of characters for upcoming novels. And I think it's a pre-test of people. If you have a dog, then you love the dog and the dog loves you. So you're pre-approved as a decent person, deserving of a novel, perhaps. [laughter] Neil Sattin: I love it, I love it. Mara Wells: Yeah. I was looking for some sort of premise that has the potential for new people to be coming and going. And when we first moved to South Beach, the first place that we made friends was at the dog park. Neil Sattin: Yeah? Mara Wells: Yeah. And so the first parties we went to in South Beach were hosted by people we met at the dog park. And so I know that it's a very fluid and welcoming community. Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah. And you point out well in the book the ways that when you know people that way, there's so much that you don't know about them because generally you have those conversations that are about your dogs and things that impact your dogs, but... And I like that uncovering that happens in your book about how those people also get to know each other in a more deep way, which is really sweet to follow. And so funny in real life when you're like, "Yeah, I've been hanging out with you for three years and I don't know anything about you." I've had those conversations with people before where it's just like, "Yeah, we were dog park friends." Mara Wells: Yep. Neil Sattin: And then here in Portland, Maine, where I live, we had this dog park that was known all over... There were some national public radio stories about it. I think it was very early in the dog park era that this dog park existed, but unfortunately it was also in a historic old cemetery so the people who were the preservationists of the cemetery, and maybe the big wealthy houses that surrounded the cemetery, at a certain point decided that they didn't like hundreds of people showing up there with their dogs. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: So that actually went away. There are other dog parks in this town that I haven't explored, but that used to be such a community center. So I think anyone who has a dog who's done the dog park thing will totally relate to that as well. Mara Wells: Yep. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Well, Mara, thank you so much for being here with us today on Relationship Alive. This was definitely outside of my wheelhouse to have a conversation like this versus going straight at someone's relationship advice, but this is good stuff for all relationships. I'm really glad that you came on the show and for the joy of reading your book as well as the instructiveness of reading your book. I hope people check you out. Mara Wells: [chuckle] Ah, thank you, Neil. Thank you. This was really fun. Thank you for inviting me on your show. Neil Sattin: You're welcome.

Contributor: Dylan Luyten, MD Educational pearls: Clinical management of COVID-19 is rapidly evolving, relying on case reports and clinical experience In just a month, the consensus around management of COVID patients with severe hypoxia has shifted from an early intubation strategy to other, non-invasive means Intubating early can quickly consume ventilator resources, require increased intensive care monitoring, and likely leads to longer hospital stays and once COVID patients are intubated, extubation can take days to weeks. In Italy, ventilator supplies were depleted leading to the use of helmet CPAP machines, which appeared to be effective in management of respiratory distress in COVID, though not available for use in the US Non-invasive ventilation such as CPAP/BiPAP is thought to increase risk to staff for infection via aerosolization, and has often been avoided in COVID patients High flow nasal cannulas appear to pose less of a risk of aerosolization of viral particles (especially when a surgical mask is placed over the patient’s nose, mouth and apparatus) Anecdotal evidence from NYC has shown success allowing conscious patients to maintain hypoxia on HFN, where they will self prone to help with lung recruitment, and seemingly do well despite persistent saturations in the 80s or less Hospitals around the country are moving away from the intubate early methodology in favor of high flow oxygen therapy as long as they are not having issues with work of breathing or other complications The pathophysiology of respiratory distress and hypoxia in COVID patients is evolving as well, and some presentations appear similar to disease processes such as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) rather than acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in that patients are quite well appearing despite phenomenally low oximetry readings.  These select patients appear to be excellent candidates for non-invasive means rather than an early intubation strategy   Editor’s note: do not take lightly that intubation is one of the highest risk aerosolization generating procedures, along with many peri-intubation procedures like suctioning, BVM, etc.   References [1]. Sorbello, M. et al. The Italian coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: recommendations from clinical practice. Anaesthesia. 2020 Mar 27. [2]. Giwa, AL. Desai A. Duca A. Novel 2019 coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): An updated overview for emergency clinicians. Emerg Med Pract. 2020 May 1;22(5):1-28.  [3]. Ather B, Edemekong PF. Airborne Precautions. [Updated 2020 Feb 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan. Summarized by Jackson Roos, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD  Photo Credit: New England Journal of Medicine https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2007589?query=RP

En esta edición semanal de HFN hablamos sobre los directores de Doctor Strange y Capitana Marvel dejan la dirección de sus proyectos por diferencias creativas, tambien discutimos el rumor de Taika Watiti haciendo una película de Star Wars, igual platicaremos de el trailer de Clone Wars temporada 7, Morbius y mucho mas. esperemos te agrade nuestro contenido y no olvides suscribirte al canal High Flyin Nerd! Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Lautrek: https://twitter.com/LAuTrEK?s=20 Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mariano:@mago_eller Lautrek: @lautrek13 no olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

En esta edición de HFN hablaremos sobre los rumores de la serie de Darth Maul, los trailers de New Mutants y Birds of Pray, esperemos les guste y no olviden suscribirse High Flyin Nerds. Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Lautrek: https://twitter.com/LAuTrEK?s=20 Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mariano:@mago_eller Lautrek: @lautrek13 no olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

HITN and HFN editors Mike Miliard and Susan Morse join host Jonah Comstock for an on-site recap of the HIMSS Media Healthcare Security Forum, held in Boston this week. Jonah, Mike, and Sue talk trends, lessons, and how the world of healthcare security has changed over the years.Other coverage from the Healthcare Security Forum:What we learned at the HIMSS Healthcare Security ForumMachine learning, AI, telemedicine and other technologies will pose data security risks, says Dr. John HalamkaFormer Twitter CISO: Biggest cybersecurity threats are old problems, not new onesCybersecurity needs to be put in business termsHHS cybersecurity leader describes the active threats on agency's radarManaging risk in a hyper-outsourcing world requires facilitating good vendor relationshipsHospitals embracing IoT must be prepared to secure a decentralized environment

The HFN team discusses some recent pieces of news from federal and state governments, and speculates on how these developments might fit into a more patient-centric healthcare future.Articles mentioned in this podcast: CMS releases final and proposed rules on price transparency bound to get provider and payer pushbackAmerican Hospital Association, provider groups to sue over final ruleCalifornia bill may have ramifications for telehealth reimbursementTelehealth laws, especially for behavioral health, are increasing access despite remaining legislative barriersFormer Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini talks about CVS, the Amazon experience and how insurers stay relevant

In onze allereeste aflevering van Pretpark praat bespreken we een attratie van Toverland die na 3 maanden weer gerepareed is en hebben we het over het laaste weekend van de HFN in Walibi, Ook bespreken we het kleinste spookhuis ter wereld gemaakt door Bobbejaanland en in de Efteling blijft het niet stil namelijk de sluiting van PandaDroom komt eraan!

En esta edición de HFN hablaremos sobre el regreso de Brandon Routh al Arrowverse como Superman, tambien platicaremos de los trailers de Kingsman y Birds of Prey y tambien sobre la serie de Obi Wan que tiene como directora a Deborah Chow y Joel Edgerton regresa en su papel de Owen Lars, gracias p acompañarnos High Flyin Nerds! Suscribete al canal para recibir notificaciones Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Mikel: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mikel:@DrftnArchtkt Mariano:@mago_eller No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

Gracias p acompañarnos una vez mas en HFN en esta edición hablaremos sobre la película de Breaking Bad "El Camino" que estará en Netflix, después hablaremos sobre Jonah Hill y los rumores de que estará como un villano en la película The Batman, tambien platicaremos de el cast original de Jurassic park regresa para Jurassic World 3 y especulamos sobre cual sera la película que Kevin Feige hara de Star Wars, no olvides suscribirte y nos vemos la próxima High Flyin Nerds! Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Mikel: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mikel:@DrftnArchtkt Mariano:@mago_eller No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones y síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

Hola High Flyin Nerds gracias por acompañarnos en esta edición numero 11 de HFN semanal, en esta ocasión hablaremos de los trailers de la temporada 4 de Rick y Morty, tambien platicaremos sobre el regreso de Tom Welling como Superman en Green Arrow, despues daremos nuestra opinion sobre la escena eliminada de Nick Fury que Kevin Feige agrego al paquete de Infinity Saga y para finalizar revisaremos el poster de Birds of Pray. gracias por seguirnos, no olvides darle like y dejar un comentario, suscribete High Flyin Nerd. Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Mikel: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mikel:@DrftnArchtkt Mariano:@mago_eller No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

En esta edicion de HFN platicaremos de lo sucedido en la semana como nuestra opinion de los trailers de Doctor Sleep y Watchmen, despues hablaremos sobre la pelicula de el Joker ya que gano un premio y la confirmacion de Robert Pattinson como The Batman entre otras cosas, esperemos lo disfruten High Flyin Nerds. Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Mikel: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Instagram:@high_flyin_nerds Mikel:@DrftnArchtkt Mariano:@mago_eller No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

Esta semana en HFN hablaremos de lo sucedido en el ppv de AEW All Out, después veremos algunos próximos estrenos como la película de Birds of Pray, Los Dos Papas y las reseñas del Joker. Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Mikel: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0mYrGgN2pr72LvWXHLdMeV Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

En esta edición de HFN traemos para ti el Evento Estelar donde en ocaciones especiales traeremos invitados y platicaremos sobre lo que mas nos llamo la atención del mes en los temas que mas nos gustan. En esta ocasión nos acompaño Lautrek y Vicente de monsters and geeks por favor busquenlos en sus redes sociales y siganlos. https://www.instagram.com/lautrek13/?hl=es-la https://es-la.facebook.com/monstersandgeeks/ Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mikel: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta Mariano: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Instagram:@magoeller @DrftnArchtkt No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

En este HFN semanal platicaremos lo sucedido en la Expo Disney 23 como las diferentes películas y series de Marvel que saldrán en los próximos años y lo que se viene de Star Wars como el Mandalorian y la serie de Obi Wan. Ve este podcast en Youtube: https://youtu.be/8piBSJ5qzEM Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Mikel: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones o síguenos en Spotify Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

En esta edición de HFN semanal recordamos lo que sucedió en el NXT takeover Toronto y el Summerslam 2019. Después, platicamos la cancelación de la película The Hunt, el poster de la dama y el vagabundo para la expo D23, tambien discutimos sobre Star Wars resistance segunda temporada y los rumores de la serie de Obi Wan con Ewan McGregor. Síguenos en Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlyinNerds Mariano: https://twitter.com/DrftnArchtkt Mikel: https://twitter.com/marianoarrieta No olvides suscribirte al canal para recibir notificaciones Manda tus preguntas: hfncontacto@gmail.com

The guys talk about the television they’ve been watching so far this summer, including American Ninja Warrior on NBC, FX’s Pose, American Masters: Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life on PBS, Grand Hotel on ABC, Good Trouble on Freeform and What/If on Netflix. Jeff reviews In Case You Forgot by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar. Jeff interviews Roan Parrish about Raze, the latest book in the Riven series. They talk about the research she did for the series, including going on tour with a band, as well as the eclectic music she enjoys. The origin of Roan’s collaboration with Avon Gale is also discussed along with what got Roan started with writing gay romance. Complete shownotes for episode 196 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Interview Transcript - Roan Parrish This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. You can get information on how to join them at patreon.com/biggayfictionpodcast. Jeff: Welcome, Roan, to the podcast. It is so great to finally have you here. Roan: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. Jeff: And it's a perfect opportunity because just last week, you released raise "Raze," just the third book in the "Riven" series. And for those who don't know, tell us about the series and, of course, this latest installment. Roan: Sure. So "Riven" starts out with the book, "Riven," also the series title. And it's kind of an anti-rock star romance. It's about Theo, who's the lead singer of the band, Riven. And they've suddenly hit it big and are super famous. And everyone in the band loves being famous and their success. And Theo hates it. He hates being famous. He hates being the center of attention. He hates, like, people knowing things about him or looking at him when he leaves the house. So he loves the music, but he finds fame, like, the worst thing ever. And so he's about to go off on a new leg of the tour and is sort of, like, wandering the streets of New York, feeling a little bit sorry for himself. When he hears this song coming from a bar, like, someone just strumming guitar, and it's one of the most beautiful things he's ever heard. So he goes in the bar to see who's playing this or what the song is. And he meets Caleb, who is the one playing the music. And Caleb, we learn later, has been a musician for a long time, a working musician, but has sort of gone away from the scene and hidden himself away in his uncle's house out of town because he's had some addiction issues, and he's trying to stay clean by staying away from everything that reminded him of the scene, including music. So they start to talk to each other and they bond over music. And then little by little, they fall in love. The problem being, of course, that for Theo being in the scene and being public is kind of part of his thing. And for Caleb, everything about that just brings back a lot of bad memories. So they have to sort of work together to figure out how that's gonna impact their relationship and if they can get through it. And then it kind of takes a hard left, I feel like this is the thing that I should say for people who haven't read the series, is that the series really does hang together. It has the same secondary characters. It deals with a lot of the same themes, like, the themes of ending up someplace that you never thought you would be. But then in book two, we met Reese, or we've met Reese in book one, but we have a book about Reese who was Caleb's best friend and Reese's husband, Matt. And Matt has nothing to do with the music scene. And the book is told from his perspective. So for people who go in expecting that the whole series is about music, it is in some ways, like, music as a through line. And certainly, this idea of fame and this idea of struggling with fame is a through line. But book one is sort of anti-rock star. And then book two is like working musician and person who's not involved with music at all. So I feel like that's the thing I should say. Jeff: Well, they it does hang together because you've got the working musician. Roan: Yeah, totally. And Reese, who is the working musician is someone who toured with Caleb when Caleb was still playing music. So the characters all hang together and the series hangs together, but it's not a kind of musician book, if that make sense. Jeff: Yeah, that makes sense. Roan: And then "Raze," which is book three, it also hangs together. "Raze," it's similarly about characters ending up someplace that they never thought they would be. And in this book we meet Huey, who was in the first two books, and has been a sort of a little bit of a shadowy figure who we never knew his backstory, we didn't know who he is, he just pops in and dispenses wisdom, and pops out again, he doesn't say much else. And so he was Caleb's sponsor in Narcotics Anonymous. And he's still been working as a sponsor. And he is so used to taking care of everyone else being a sponsor, helping people work through their own addiction issues, dealing with his own, that he doesn't really ever focus on his own life. He's built up this kind of wall of focusing on everyone else, so he never has to think about himself. And we meet Felix, who is doing the same thing, taking care of everyone else but him himself, but through his family instead of through NA. So he grew up and help take care of his younger brothers and sisters, and always helped his sister get whatever she wanted, and has now found himself as his sister goes off to do her music thing, found himself kind of like, "What the hell am I doing with my life? Who am I? I kind of forgot to ever notice what I wanted." And so the two of them come together. And two people who are so used to looking out for everyone except themselves, as you can imagine, when it comes down to trying to make a relationship, they kind of don't know how to do it. They don't know how to ask for what they want. They don't even know what they want from each other. And so feelings kinda bubble up and nobody knows what to do with them. And then it ends really happily. Jeff: As all romance must. Roan: That's a must. And there's even a kitten. So, yeah. Jeff: What attracted you to writing this series? Roan: I think that there's themes that go together. I love music. And I've always been a huge music fan. And one of the things that I've always thought was interesting is that music is so personal, to me, anyway. And I know for many other people, like, each of us, listens to music and feels something - has associations that are deeply personal. And something about the weirdness of something so personal, experienced on a large scale of fame has always struck me as really odd. So you can be at a concert with the band and have thousands and thousands of people there. And each person has been hit with his music in a really personal way. And yet, we're all there together in a super public space, having kind of a personal experience, like, smooshed up together with each other. And I've just always found that really strange. And I know for people who make music, the process of making music is really personal. And it's really different than the process of performing music. And so I think I was interested in what would it feel like to do something really personal in front of a lot of people and then watch as this thing that you've made gets loose on the world, and you no longer have any control over it or what people think of it. And to me being famous seems like absolutely the worst thing I can imagine outside of, like, actual torture. And I know that for some people, that's not the case. But, yeah. So I was interested in writing, like, the genre of rock star romance is a thing. And I was interested in looking at it from the perspective of what would a rock star romance look like, if instead of rock star being a desirable thing, it was a terrible thing or a thing that caused a lot of problems for the rock star. Jeff: What was the process around some of the research, because, like, you talk about this very personal thing. How do you research that? And then how do you try to read and put it in a book so everybody else gets it? Roan: You know, I mean, I don't know. I can't really claim that I did it correctly. I've never been a musician. I like singing karaoke to Paula Abdul once with five other people very drunk in college. And that's about my performance level. But my sister-in-law, my sister's wife is a musician. And she's very personal and writes very personal music and then performs it. And, you know, I've been to many of her shows, obviously. And I went on tour with her in Europe once, like, carrying her stuff and hanging on for the ride. And one thing that struck me was, like, people would come up to her after the show and tell her like, "Your music has meant so much to me. I was going through such a hard time and your music spoke to me in these really hard moments." And so I would see that and I know that people are having these personal responses and have personal relationships with the music. And I know that my sister-in-law does as well. And then, like, the moment that the two of them would be having together would be personal. But there was still this whole performance element that I kinda…yeah, just seems like a very strange crucible of the personal and the public smooshed together, and maybe the performativity of that, in some way, like, hides the personalness…or not hides necessarily, but, like, you need a little bit of distance, like, the lights and the smoke machine, and the darkness, and the space between the stage and the crowd to insulate you a little bit in order to take something that's so personal and project it out in public. Jeff: I love how you kinda had the personal research going on there that you actually went on this tour and got to see all of it kinda go down about as close to it as you could without being the actual performer. Roan: Yeah, yeah, which is awesome. And I mean, like, I've had many friends who do music. So I knew that if I had, like, specific questions, you know, I had some questions about, like, the studio stuff and how you laid out tracks that I was able to ask friends about. But I really do think it's, like, the feeling of performing that I was trying to capture and the sense of what it felt like to have something that was yours, like, the music, and then watch other people make it theirs. And although I've never been a performer in any way, I mean, that's a little bit, like, what happens with books is that I sit at home in my pajamas, like, with cat hair all over me, and I write these books. And then when they're published, it's not mine anymore, it belongs to the people who read it. And I don't really have any control over it. So that part was easy to kind of understand. Jeff: Of course, you mentioned your love of music. And your bio actually mentioned that you listen to torch songs and melodic death metal. Now, I get eccentricity because my playlists are, like, wildly, you know, strangely hooked together in some way. But these two seem very different. What attracts you to these two individual styles? Roan: I think I was trying to write my bio in a way that was, you know, like on dating sites, you wanna say the two things that seem most opposed. So you can be like, "Listen, this is what you're getting as a human being who is essentially at odds with himself," maybe that's just me. Anyway, yeah, I love both of those genres. I think they're both simultaneously really raw and really beautiful. Like, torch songs, I love because they are heartbroken, and tender, and they tell a story, and they're so vulnerable, and beautiful. And melodic death metal is like, doing the same thing, only it can't be vulnerable, or, like, it needs a really harsh bass riff, and loud guitar, and loud drums in order to do something that's that tender and that personal. And I find not like screamy death metal, but yeah, melodic death metal. I find it like one of those puppies that growls at you until you get a little bit closer, and then little by little it sorta lets you pet it. And then by the time you're petting it, it's like, "Oh, no, I really do love this. Please don't ever stop petting me," but then, like, someone else walks in the room and they're all growly again. Jeff: I love that analogy. So awesome. Jeff: Now, speaking of music, with the "Riven" series seems such an obvious thing to perhaps you write to music if you're a writer who does that. Was there a particular playlist that sort of pushed you along in the writing of the series? Roan: You know, I actually didn't listen to music at all writing the series, which is sort of strange when you say it like that. I go through phases of whether I like to write with music on or not. And there have been books that I've written where I listened to the same music over and over. Like, when I wrote...what book was it? Oh, "Out of Nowhere," which is the second book "In the Middle of Somewhere" series, I listened like obsessively to "The Civil Wars" just over, and over, and over. And for some reason, the mood of those albums was, like, exactly the mood that I needed to be in to write that book. But with the "Riven" series, I didn't listen to music at all. Jeff: Interesting. Okay. Roan: Yeah. And none of the music in the books is real. Like, I made up all the band names and all of the music. And I wonder if maybe part of it was like, I didn't want real music in my head because I was making it up. Jeff: That would make sense. Yeah. If you're having to write any kind of song lyrics or anything inside the book, I could see where you would wanna, like, accidentally just pick up something. Roan: Right. Well, it was super adorable actually because one of my best friends who reads all my stuff first is, like, she likes music a lot, but she's like a top 40 radio kind of tastes music person. And so she thought that all of the musical references in my books in the "Riven" series were real, because she knows that I like lots of different kinds of music, and she just didn't know that they were fake at all, which is totally adorable. Jeff: Oh, that's awesome. So you could have an extra career then as a songwriter if you're writing lyrics. Roan: Maybe a band-namer. I like the band names more. Jeff: So I have to ask for the audio book then that you've got song lyrics - does that mean your narrator is actually singing the lyrics? Did you make Iggy sing and Chris sing? Roan: No. And, you know, I don't think that I have a chunk of lyrics long enough to be sung. They're like a couple snippets. But I didn't even think about the fact that I could have written a song of it for the audio book. That would have been awesome. Too late. Jeff: Something to think about maybe for a future book or another installment in the series. Roan: Yeah, yeah. I could do it as like an extra or something, I guess. Jeff: And speaking of the series, is there more to come in this series? Roan: There's not. Like, The Good Place that we were talking about earlier, I have decided that book three is the end. Jeff: Okay. Time to wrap up that universe. Roan: Yeah. And, you know, I say that and obviously maybe I would go back in the future and write another one. But I think the fact that the last book is about a character whose story we've kinda been wondering about for the whole series, it felt like a good place to stop because it's sort of the wrap up of, like, solving the last interpersonal mystery. So that felt like the right place to stop. And there are definitely tendrils. Like, people who've read a bunch of my books will notice that Riven, the band, is mentioned in another book, and that some characters from the "Middle of Somewhere" series are briefly alluded to in "Riven." So there's, like, little Easter eggs for people who have read all the books because I sort of think of everything as being connected in that way. So it'll pop back up, I'm sure. Jeff: I love that. I love the broad interconnected universe thing. Roan: Yeah, yeah. Secretly in my head, all of the books are connected in lots of ways that I don't necessarily put on the page. But, like, I like to get a couple in there. Jeff: Nice. Now, you also co-write with Avon Gale. What got that collaboration going? Roan: You know, that collaboration happened completely by accident, or on a whim, I should say. And I'm so glad it did. So I was living in New Orleans a couple years ago. And Avon and I were friends on the internet. And she offered when I was moving back from New Orleans to Philadelphia, she was like, "I love a road trip. What if I fly to New Orleans and drive with you," because it's a many day drive and you have a cat. I had like my truck and then I had my car hitched to the back of the truck, and it was a whole big thing. So I was like, "Oh, great. This will be fun." So we started driving from Louisiana to Pennsylvania. And it was, like, a torrential downpour. And we couldn't hear the radio. We couldn't do anything. And so Avon was like, "Okay. Well, I'll just tell you about this book that I've been working on. And I am really stuck on it. I can't get the plot right." So I was like, "Okay." And I'm pretty introverted and Avon is very extroverted. And we going in... Jeff: And it's very true, she is. Roan: Yes. And, you know, I really just love a clear communicator, so I loved it. She was like, "Basically, I talk constantly. And if you want me to stop, you have to tell me to stop." And I was like, "Oh, that's amazing. I run out of steam socially in approximately two-and-a-half hours, and I'm still listening to you, but I won't respond." And she was like, "Okay, great." And thus, it was. And so she basically narrated to me the entire plot of this book that she was trying to write, and she was having trouble with it. And I kept doing this probably obnoxious thing where I was like, "Oh, what if you did this?" Or, "What if you did that?" Or, "Oh, my gosh, it's so funny, because if that were me, I would totally do this." And she, instead of being annoyed, was like, "Well, you should obviously write this book with me." And that book was what it turned into "Heart of the Steal," which is the first book we wrote together. And it was so fun because then as we were driving, we just plotted the whole book. And she had her little, like, computer that she was typing on while we drove. And I drove the truck the whole way. And so I would like yammer at her and she would take notes, and then in the hotel rooms at night, we would kinda hash it out. And so it happened on a total whim, and then turned out to be really fun. And so we planned it on that trip. And then I went and visited her months later, I guess. Yeah, some months later, and we actually wrote "Thrall," which was the second book that we co-wrote together, like, in the same place. So we wrote it, like, together, even though we don't live in the same place. So it was two very different writing experiences, but both equally awesome. Jeff: That's fantastic. And I have to imagine it's a nice way to kill the time in a road trip to just write a book. Roan: Oh, yeah, totally. And it's really fun because I don't know about you or about other writers in general, but, like, I find that traveling is one of the best, like, brain, what do you call it? Like, catalyzers, brain catalyzers, something about moving through space constantly, whether it's, like, on a train or just walking or whatever. It's, like, the rhythm of moving through space makes my brain also work in a forward rhythm. And I find myself, excuse me, getting so many ideas when I'm just, like, walking a long distance, or on a train, or on a bus, or something. And so something about driving and plotting the thing together was, like, super, some word… Jeff: Awesome. Roan: Yeah, awesome. Jeff: Probably better than awesome, but awesome was the first thing that popped into my head. Roan: Yeah, yeah. Jeff: And then I totally get what you're talking about there, too, because I've done a lot of plotting and some writing on planes. Because it's like, yeah, there's something about just that that just you've got the time, and, like, the brain is working, so use it. Roan: Yeah. And it's, like, looking out the window of something moving through that kinda space with everything passing so quickly, it almost feels like it changes the rhythm of thoughts or something. Jeff: Yeah. And kudos to Avon for being able to type in a moving vehicle because I don't know that I could do that. Roan: Oh, my God, she has, like, motion sickness proof. I swear to God. Jeff: That's just crazy. Roan: Oh, I know. Jeff: But we definitely got to talk a little bit about "Thrall." I reviewed it back in Episode 157. I was just blown away by it. For folks who don't know, tell us about what that book is and what in fact does make it so special? Roan: So "Thrall" is our modern "Dracula" retelling, basically. And for anyone who's read "Dracula," you'll remember that "Dracula," it's an epistolary novel, so it's told through letters, and diary entries, and, like, newspaper clippings, telegram, stuff like that. And so we did "Thrall" in the same way, we made it an epistolary novel. But since ours was modern, and that one was 19th century, instead of letters and journal entries, and stuff like that, we have emails, and g-chats, and tweets, and podcast descriptions, and stuff like that. So the whole thing is written in that way, this combination of different print media. So we have the main characters that people will recognize from "Dracula." And Mina, and Lucy, who are the two characters that people will know from "Dracula," in our version, have a podcast, a true crime podcast in New Orleans. And they get caught up in basically trying to solve the mystery of Lucy's brother who seems to have disappeared. And so in getting caught up in that mystery, they stumble upon this a role-playing game kind of thing, where they use an app, and they go to different places, and they try to solve clues, hoping that it will take them to Lucy's brother. And so in addition to it being an epistolary form in general for the whole book, then kind of within that epistolary form, there's this mystery that they're trying to solve on a computer, I mean, on a phone app. So it's like a game inside an epistolary novel that's an adaptation of another epistolary novel. Jeff: And epistolary just not something you see very much. At least I don't, especially in the romance genre that I tend to read in general. What was it like as a writer, and just plotting to take on such a different narrative format? Roan: Yeah, it was awesome. It was really, really cool. I love form, like, I'm super interested in what different things you can do with form. And one of the things that, like, when I'm reading other things I'm always interested in is what form did this author choose, whether it's something simple, like, short chapters, or long chapters, or, like, flashbacks versus telling everything in order, all of that stuff, I think, has such an impact on the way the story gets delivered. And so I was really excited to play with the form. And I think that with the genre of romance, one of the reasons why we don't see epistolary stuff so often is that it's, like, an additional level of remove between the two characters. And romance seems, to me, to be all about intimacy and connection. And sure, it can be really romantic or sexy to write a love letter or love email, I guess, in 2019. But there's still something where you're not in the moment. There's no, like, tracking a touch as it happens, or a kiss, or whatever it is. And so I think that going into "Thrall," we were like, "How the hell do we make a romance happen when the characters essentially are never in the same scene?" Like, in order to be texting each other, they probably aren't together. In order to be chatting each other, they're probably not together. And so any evidence of an encounter, which is all we could show, also demonstrated their distance. So that was a challenge. And we got around it in a couple of different ways, including characters literally writing out sex scenes that they wished would happen like fantasies, having chats that were more intimate. But yeah, the romance part, I think, was actually the hardest to portray via the epistolary form because it introduces that necessary distance, which is sort of the anti-romance. It was much easier, for example, for the mystery, or the suspense parts because those things can be portrayed that way no problem. But, yeah, the romance part was tricky. Jeff: Well, as I said the review, I think you guys pulled it off so amazingly. If people have not read "Thrall," they should really pick it up and give it a try. Roan: Oh, thanks. Jeff: Because maybe a little much to call it a breath of fresh air, but it's certainly gonna be something very different than what I think most people tend to read. Roan: Yeah, it definitely is different. And it's one of those books that Avon and I knew going in, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's an adaptation. It's an adaptation of "Dracula." It's an adaptation of "Dracula" without vampires. It's a romance where you don't ever see the characters touch necessarily. But like, I feel, like, for people who are interested in form for people who are interested in Dracula or interested in suspense, and all that stuff, we were really excited to just do something totally new for us. Jeff: Yeah. It was super cool. Please do more of that sometime. Roan: I would love too. Jeff: So laying a little bit of your origin story, how did you get involved in writing M/M romance? Roan: You know, at the risk of making, it sound completely accidental, it was kind of accidental. My good friend from graduate school, got a job in Phoenix, and didn't know very many people. She didn't have many friends. And she and I both started reading both young adult and M/M mysteries in grad school. And so I went to go visit her and she was having a hard time. Like, I said she didn't know very many people, didn't have any friends, and she just wanted like, escape reading. And we were, like, in the kitchen cooking dinner or something, and she was saying that she just wished that there was, like, a romance novel that she could read about someone who was in her situation. So someone who was a new professor in a new place, didn't know very many people and was kind of struggling to fit in. And because she's my friend and I wanted to make it all better, I was like, "Oh, no worries, I'll write you a story. Everything is gonna be okay." So on the plane home from Arizona, I wrote the first chapter of what would eventually be "In the Middle of Somewhere," my first book, thinking that, like, I would send it to my friend, and she would read it and be like, "You are such a nerd. I can't believe you actually wrote me this story. I was just complaining. You're weird." But instead, she read it and wrote back and was like, "Oh, a story. Oh, my gosh. What happens next?" And, of course, I didn't know what happened next because there was no next. I thought that it was going to be a little one-off thing. But then I wrote the next chapter and I emailed it to her, and she wrote back and was like, "What happens next?" And I actually wrote the whole first half of the book that way just chunking out a chapter, emailing it to my friend, and I was really writing it for her. I never thought I would show it to anyone. I never intended to send it to a publisher. I didn't even have a plot, I just was writing these little sections. And around halfway through the book, I suddenly realized that, like, it was getting kinda long, and I should probably figure out how it was gonna end. Otherwise, I would just end up writing this, like, email missive to my friend forever, which was really fun. But also, I thought she would get sick of it eventually. And then when I finished the book, I thought that was gonna be the end of it. And it was my friend who was like, "No, you should totally try to publish it." And I owe it all to her, I never occurred to me to send it to anyone. And I would never have done it if she hadn't made me. Jeff: Well, kudos to her for making that happen. And that's the best accident story ever. I mean, just amazing. Were you writing before that at all? Or was this just really like, "Hey, I could write. I'll write you something. No worries." Roan: Well, you know, I've always written different things. I was a poetry major in college of all the super useful things to pursue. And so I wrote poetry or some short fiction. And then I did my PhD in literature. So, you know, I wrote a dissertation, I wrote nonfiction for years, and years, and years. But I've always loved to write. And I love reading novels. And so sitting down to write a novel, I think it actually helps that I wasn't thinking of it as writing a novel. I just thought of it as writing the story for my friend. So I didn't have any of the self-consciousness or like that internal editorial voice that I'm sure if I had planned to send it out, would have like, killed me as I was trying to start. And in terms of, like, as we get back to your original question, which I don't know that I actually answered in terms of, like, why M/M romance specifically. I hate misogyny, and sexism, and can't deal with stories where I read female characters and feel intensely alienated from them. And I find often in romance, not all by any means, there are some amazing, amazing, like, revolutionary really amazing people writing romance with women, but I've often found that reading romance novels that are, like, heterosexual romance stories make me feel alienated, and angry, and the opposite of anything that I associate with romantic. And so, yeah. Jeff: Who are sort of your author influences? Roan: Oh, man. Well, you know, growing up, I read everything. I'm a real, like, moody reader. So I go through phases. And when I'm in that phase, that's all I read. So, like, when I was in elementary school, I was obsessed with S. E. Hinton Hinton, "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish," those books. And she writes with this very kind of, like, spare style, but lots of sensory detail. And I think that that's definitely something that I've always really admired was the ability to evoke feeling even while being very spare. And then when I was in middle school, I was obsessed with Anne Rice, obviously, because middle school. And I read her books over, and over, and over. And I think that she is like the master of the kind of Baroque sentence structure that when you're deep in, reading one of her books, you don't notice that she's, like, in a strange Yoda way, like, flipping a subject and predicate to make things sound, more flourishy and purple prosy. You don't notice it because you're so deep in it that, like, of course, that character would talk that way. But if you go and you read another author or another book, you realize suddenly what she was doing. And so I think from her, I got just, like, I really respected this immersive detail-rich all the senses engaged kind of writing. Also, I really love long books, and the ability to sustain a story over 800 pages, and keep going with this level of detail. I mean, I know it's not everyone's bag, like, some people really like a short one and done, but I mean, I will read a series that goes on forever if I'm still engaged. And I just think that she does that incredibly well. Then, oh, gosh, I'm taking you on a tour. I don't know if this is actually answering your question, but I do think... Jeff: It is actually. Yeah. Roan: Oh, okay, good. The real answer is, like, I learned things from every single author I read. And sometimes, it's things that I don't ever wanna do. And sometimes, it's things that my mind is blown because I'm like, "Holy crap, I didn't even know you could do that." Sometimes it's like I feel like I'm weak in one area at a moment. And so I wanna go read someone who I think does something really well and try to learn it. Oh, Francesca Lia Block was a huge influence when I was a teenager. She writes this kind of magical realism that is, like, very urban set - in LA, deals with real world problems, but has this, like, pink fog over the entire thing. And I was really, really taken by that. That way of combining urbanity with fantasy, and so that's definitely something that I took from her. I went through a really deep, like, epic historical fiction kick, which maybe is that same kind of, like, very immersive detail, huge cast of characters, all that stuff. And, oh, gosh, I'm totally blanking on her. Oh, Sharon Kay Penman is her name. Okay. Sorry, this is maybe a tangent. But this story blows my mind and is, like, one of the more impressive things I've ever heard in my life, if you'll indulge me for a moment. Jeff: Of course. Roan: So Sharon Kay Penman writes these, like, hugely epic, 1,000-page long, British Isles historical fiction. And she wrote this book called "The Sunne in Splendour," in, like, I wanna say the early 80s, maybe mid-80s. And the book is epically long, and just detail, and hundreds and hundreds of characters, and like tons of things translated into Welsh. It's about Welsh civil wars, or wars with England. Anyway, she wrote the book and, like, on a typewriter, and had it in one of those, you know, the boxes that reams of paper come in…you would put your manuscript in this box. So she was going to drive her book to her publisher. And she stopped at the bank to, like, deposit a check or something. And when she came back out, her car had been stolen with the copy of the book inside, the only copy of the book, which I don't even know how that happens. So the car stolen, she's just sure she's never gonna get it back. And whereas, like, I don't know, I would probably immediately go home and, like, order seven pizzas, and you wouldn't see me for a month. She drove home and started writing the book again. Jeff: Wow. I would have done the seven-pizza thing and then walked away for, like, at least a week. Roan: Yeah. Like, I would have told every single person who would listen that my life's work had been ripped from me. And it was the worst thing that ever happened to me and which, you know, I think that's actually speaking pretty well of my life that that would be the worst thing. But, yeah, I just, like, that level of tenacity and dedication to a project, it just blows my mind. Anyway, she's amazing. Jeff: Yeah, that's awesome. And just, like, I can't even imagine, it speaks so well to these days where we're like, "Did you back that up on Dropbox?" Roan: Yeah, at least someone's like, "Oh, man, I just spent, like, 20 minutes writing that email and it got wiped." And I'm like, "Sharon Kay Penman." Jeff: So what's coming up next for you? What's yet to come this year? Roan: Well, do wanna be the first person to know because I actually just found out yesterday? Jeff: Oh, breaking news. Roan: Breaking News. Yeah, I just sold a new book, which I'm pretty excited about. Okay. The concept is, there is a guy who has a bunch of animals. He's like, kind of antisocial, kind of pissed off at the world for reasons that I will not divulge yet. And he likes animals better than people. So he has all these rescue dogs and a bunch of cats that hang around. And basically, all he wants to do is take his dogs on these long rambling walks and think about how fucked up his life has gotten. It's the only thing keeping him sane, it's just, like, rambling walks with these dogs. And one night he is walking with the dogs and one of them starts chasing something. And he starts chasing the dog and falls down a hill and breaks his ankle. So all of a sudden, he can't do the one thing that he's liked, which is walk his dogs. So he goes online, and he finds this app that, like, match makes pet owners with people who wanna hang out with animals, but can't have pets of their own, because he's looking for someone who could help him walk his dogs, since he can't do it anymore. Then you have this other character, who's super shy lives with his grandma is, like, husband saving up to try to, like, get a new apartment so that he could have a dog. And then his grandfather dies, he has to move in with his grandmother, and he can't have an animal because she's desperately allergic. So he goes on the matchmaker app, and gets matched with this dude who needs someone to walk his dogs. And so the Meet Cute is a dog walking app, and a grouchy meets a shy guy, and lots of animals, and love. Jeff: Well, this sounds awesome. When do we get to see this? I'm guessing 2020 sometime? Roan: I think so. I don't have a date on it. I'll start working on it soon. But, yeah, I think it's gonna be, like, cute-ish in tone. And I don't know, I keep, like, accidentally writing animals into every single one of my books. And I don't even mean too. And this time. I was like, "Well, I mean, I keep doing it by accident. Maybe this time, I'll just, like, actually do it on purpose." Jeff: And what's the best way people can keep up with you online and find out when this next thing comes out? Roan: Well, they can check out my website, roanparrish.com, where I post all things that exist. And then in terms of social media, I've been very active on Instagram stories lately. I just bought a house, my first house, like the first non-one-bedroom apartment that I've been living in. And I've been doing all these, like, garden planting, and baking, and projects, and stuff. So I've been really liking Instagram stories. So people should follow me there and tell me all the things that I'm doing wrong in my garden. Jeff: They may not think you're doing wrong. Roan: I mean, it's my first time and I feel, like, I'm doing everything wrong. But we'll see, it might grow. Jeff: I bet it does. And congratulations on the first house. That's such a huge thing. Roan: Oh, thank you. I really went, like, in the space of one month from a person who thought that they would always live in one-bedroom apartments to a person who bought a house. And so it was very shocking for me. I keep wandering to the extra room and being, like, "What's gonna go in here? I don't know." Jeff: It's part of the fun of home-ownership. Roan: Yeah. Mostly, it's like my cat goes in there. And that's what happened. So I mean, I'm on all the social media things. I'm everywhere as Roan Parrish and people can find me. But Instagram stories is totally the most fun. And for people who, like, wanna know about when books are coming out, but don't dig the social media vibe, BookBub is a great place to find me because they'll just get emails when I have books coming out or on sale. Jeff: Fantastic. Well, we will link up to everything we talked about in the show notes. We wish you the best of luck with the release of "Raze." And thanks so much for hanging out with us. Roan: Oh, thanks so much. It was a blast. Book Reviews Here's the text of this week's book reviews: In Case You Forgot by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar. Reviewed by Jeff Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar are new to me authors and I loved reading their first collaboration, In Case You Forgot. Frederic and Chaz are two black gay men writing about two black gay men living in West Hollywood. This year in the life story left me wanting sequels because I want to read even more about these two interesting characters. Zaire James and Kenny Kane are in similar positions. Coming up on his 30th birthday, Zaire decided it was time to separate from his husband, even though a lot of his family and his friends thought Mario was perfect for him. Kenny, approaching 40, was dumped by Brandon-Malik via text as he was en route to his mother’s funeral. Both of these guys need a reboot. For Zaire that means moving into WeHo--it happens that he moves in across the street from Kenny. He’s got a new job at a social media firm and he’s looking for what comes next. He’s got a family that wants him to find it too--the James Gang siblings--brother Harlem and sisters Langston and Savannah--are always on him to get his life together and find his happy. Kenny, on the other hand, is working on getting his consulting business off the ground since he’s recently finished his doctorate. He’s trying to mostly focus on the business, but he also wants to find Mr. Right. Kenny also carries the weight of having watched his first boyfriend, Jeremy, die after a stabbing. He’s working on his life with some therapy. So what happens in this book? Life. Kenny and Zaire, at times together and at others separate, look for a good date that may lead to more, celebrate birthdays, experience success and failures. The last line of the book’s description captures this perfectly: “...they hope new opportunities, energy, mindsets, and connection will reinvigorate what is missing in their lives--drama and all.” That’s exactly what I liked about In Cast Your Forgot, the slice of life feel. It’s happy, sad, angry, messy and full of great triumph and really bad mistakes. It takes a lot to make this kind of loose plot work, especially since the two lead characters aren’t always together as the year progresses. Frederick and Chaz made it work though. One of the reasons it works is the cast of supporting characters from family, friends, roommates and co-workers. Among my favorite parts of the book was the use of social media to plan their lives and sometimes even to stalk their exes, at times to the chagrin of the friends trying to help them move on. There’s also a Labor Day trip to Palm Springs that was one of my favorite parts of the book because of the realness of how it unfolded and how it tweaked Kenny and Zaire’s relationships. The characters reminded me of Noah’s Arc, a show I loved that ran on Logo in 2005 and then was a movie in 2008. The show focused on queer men of color in various states of life and relationships. Kenny and Zaire would fit right in there. I do want to set some expectations around this book. As you may have figured out, it’s not a romance. It’s categorized that way on the Bold Strokes Books site as well as at retailers. I think that’s wrong. It doesn’t have any of the typical romantic story beats and, most importantly while Kenny and Zaire date for a bit in the middle of the book they don’t get an HEA or HFN as a couple….although the book does end with both characters in good places. If you want a great look at a year-in-the-life of some terrific characters who are trying to get their lives together, I highly recommend In Case You Forgot. And I’d love to see sequels to this book. Frederick, Chaz, please write romances for these guys...

Podcast up! In this episode, Cherry and Stephanie take on the concept of HEA vs HFN and how it applies to Kdrama. (Finally, something we don’t agree on!) Stephanie questions what to bring for dramas for the 16-hour plane ride she has coming up and then, as a leftover from last week, they find out the answer to a very important question… Which male idol born in the year off the pig is their soulmate? To read the complete show notes, please visit the official website.

Show Notes- Update: Jen got THREE books for Christmas this year! These two from her brother, and her best friend gives perfect, #onbrand books. Sarah got Thomas Madden's Venice and the Great British Bake Off coloring book. Does that count as a book? - Sarah loves The Great British Baking Show, so you should watch. Or maybe you would just like to admire silver-fox, Paul Hollywood. -Here's a 1979 New York Times article about this new craze sweeping the nation: hand-raised pies. Everthing old is new again in Sarah's house!- Jen no longer has the decorative wooden book item, but she does like to window shop for glass jars full of...things.- "You can put your weed in there" is an old SNL joke.- Gatsby's books are a symbol, but maybe more than you wanted to know about how books are put together and how pages are cut.- Read some more AMAs if you're in the mood, and you know Jen can't wait to read that first one. - Strawberry Rhubarb pie is Sarah's favorite, and although Jen didn't mention it, a favorite pie she makes every summer is Strawberry Margarita pie.- Our favorite pie shops in Houston, Northern Michigan, Chicago, and Brooklyn.- Charlotte Stein and Sophie Jordan are auto-buys, and A Kingdom of Dreams and Dreaming of Youare comfort reads. Sarah's most re-read IAD book is Sweet Ruin, and Jen's is Demon from the Dark.- Kresley announced in her newsletter a few months ago that the next IAD book is Munro (he's Uilleam's twin brother).- It's not only romance where we talk about unlikable heroines, but it's also that we only ask women authors if their female characters are likable.- A quick overview of Gender essentalism.- A very long twitter thread where all of Romancelandia picked their IAD dream cast.- Olivia Dade made a list of cinnamon roll heroes.- The ultimate romance rule is HEA or GTFO (Happily Ever After or Get the Fuck Out). There's also HFN, or Happy For Now. Here's the rest of Jen's Romance Rules.- More about the the problematic fave- Your Kink is Not my Kink, a very useful way to be respectful when something just isn't your jam. Also, Sarah would like to remind you that decent people don't yuck other people's yum.- Jen could write odes to the arms of Linda Hamilton and Angela Basset forever.- Aidan Quinn, then and now.- We'll be ringing in 2019 with Neomi and Conrad.

For anyone new to the queer romance industry or thinking of joining it, this episode, the first of two, is basically a 101. Part one covers what authors need to know prior to submission--everything from defining the genre, HEA vs HFN, the role of editors and betas, author mills, and the community itself. Part two will cover everything authors need to know after submitting their work.

A long time friend of the Throne, our main man in Copenhagen, Kasper Bjorke has been a tastemaking force as a producer and DJ for ages. We're proud to have him delivering our latest podcast mix in advance of his forthcoming remix of Hardway Bros for TOB. Kaspers new album is coming out September 22nd on HFN Music incl. collaborations with Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Nomi Ruiz and loads more amazing artists ...more info here on the next single and album: http://hfn-music.com/releases/kasper-bjorke/tnr-feat-jaakko-eino-kalevi

Marius Jost speaks with Duncan Chapple about how analyst firms are changing, what what means for the way that end-users 'consume' analyst services. This is part of a series of 'top tends' podcasts Marius made for HFN.