POPULARITY
What if the most transformative thing you can do for your writing craft and author business is to face what you fear? How can you can find gold in your Shadow in the year ahead? In this episode, I share chapters from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words. In the intro, curated book boxes from Bridgerton's Julia Quinn; Google's agentic shopping, and powering Apple's Siri; ChatGPT Ads; and Claude CoWork. Balancing Certainty and Uncertainty [MoonShots with Tony Robbins]; and three trends for authors with me and Orna Ross [Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast]; plus, Bones of the Deep, Business for Authors, and Indie Author Lab. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. What is the Shadow? The ‘creative wound' and the Shadow in writing The Shadow in traditional publishing The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author The Shadow in work The Shadow in money You can find Writing the Shadow in all formats on all stores, as well as special edition, workbook and bundles at www.TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbook Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words The following chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn. Introduction. What is the Shadow? “How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.” —C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul We all have a Shadow side and it is the work of a lifetime to recognise what lies within and spin that base material into gold. Think of it as a seedling in a little pot that you're given when you're young. It's a bit misshapen and weird, not something you would display in your living room, so you place it in a dark corner of the basement. You don't look at it for years. You almost forget about it. Then one day you notice tendrils of something wild poking up through the floorboards. They're ugly and don't fit with your Scandi-minimalist interior design. You chop the tendrils away and pour weedkiller on what's left, trying to hide the fact that they were ever there. But the creeping stems keep coming. At some point, you know you have to go down there and face the wild thing your seedling has become. When you eventually pluck up enough courage to go down into the basement, you discover that the plant has wound its roots deep into the foundations of your home. Its vines weave in and out of the cracks in the walls, and it has beautiful flowers and strange fruit. It holds your world together. Perhaps you don't need to destroy the wild tendrils. Perhaps you can let them wind up into the light and allow their rich beauty to weave through your home. It will change the look you have so carefully cultivated, but maybe that's just what the place needs. The Shadow in psychology Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist and the founder of analytical psychology. He described the Shadow as an unconscious aspect of the human personality, those parts of us that don't match up to what is expected of us by family and society, or to our own ideals. The Shadow is not necessarily evil or illegal or immoral, although of course it can be. It's also not necessarily caused by trauma, abuse, or any other severely damaging event, although again, it can be. It depends on the individual. What is in your Shadow is based on your life and your experiences, as well as your culture and society, so it will be different for everyone. Psychologist Connie Zweig, in The Inner Work of Age, explains, “The Shadow is that part of us that lies beneath or behind the light of awareness. It contains our rejected, unacceptable traits and feelings. It contains our hidden gifts and talents that have remained unexpressed or unlived. As Jung put it, the essence of the Shadow is pure gold.” To further illustrate the concept, Robert Bly, in A Little Book on the Human Shadow,uses the following metaphor: “When we are young, we carry behind us an invisible bag, into which we stuff any feelings, thoughts, or behaviours that bring disapproval or loss of love—anger, tears, neediness, laziness. By the time we go to school, our bags are already a mile long. In high school, our peer groups pressure us to stuff the bags with even more—individuality, sexuality, spontaneity, different opinions. We spend our life until we're twenty deciding which parts of ourselves to put into the bag and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.” As authors, we can use what's in the ‘bag' to enrich our writing — but only if we can access it. My intention with this book is to help you venture into your Shadow and bring some of what's hidden into the light and into your words. I'll reveal aspects of my Shadow in these pages but ultimately, this book is about you. Your Shadow is unique. There may be elements we share, but much will be different. Each chapter has questions for you to consider that may help you explore at least the edges of your Shadow, but it's not easy. As Jung said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” But take heart, Creative. You don't need courage when things are easy. You need it when you know what you face will be difficult, but you do it anyway. We are authors. We know how to do hard things. We turn ideas into books. We manifest thoughts into ink on paper. We change lives with our writing. First, our own, then other people's. It's worth the effort to delve into Shadow, so I hope you will join me on the journey. The creative wound and the Shadow in writing “Whatever pain you can't get rid of, make it your creative offering.” —Susan Cain, Bittersweet The more we long for something, the more extreme our desire, the more likely it is to have a Shadow side. For those of us who love books, the author life may well be a long-held dream and thus, it is filled with Shadow. Books have long been objects of desire, power, and authority. They hold a mythic status in our lives. We escaped into stories as children; we studied books at school and college; we read them now for escape and entertainment, education and inspiration. We collect beautiful books to put on our shelves. We go to them for solace and answers to the deepest questions of life. Writers are similarly held in high esteem. They shape culture, win literary prizes, give important speeches, and are quoted in the mainstream media. Their books are on the shelves in libraries and bookstores. Writers are revered, held up as rare, talented creatures made separate from us by their brilliance and insight. For bibliophile children, books were everything and to write one was a cherished dream. To become an author? Well, that would mean we might be someone special, someone worthy. Perhaps when you were young, you thought the dream of being a writer was possible — then you told someone about it. That's probably when you heard the first criticism of such a ridiculous idea, the first laughter, the first dismissal. So you abandoned the dream, pushed the idea of being a writer into the Shadow, and got on with your life. Or if it wasn't then, it came later, when you actually put pen to paper and someone — a parent, teacher, partner, or friend, perhaps even a literary agent or publisher, someone whose opinion you valued — told you it was worthless. Here are some things you might have heard: Writing is a hobby. Get a real job. You're not good enough. You don't have any writing talent. You don't have enough education. You don't know what you're doing. Your writing is derivative / unoriginal / boring / useless / doesn't make sense. The genre you write in is dead / worthless / unacceptable / morally wrong / frivolous / useless. Who do you think you are? No one would want to read what you write. You can't even use proper grammar, so how could you write a whole book? You're wasting your time. You'll never make it as a writer. You shouldn't write those things (or even think about those things). Why don't you write something nice? Insert other derogatory comment here! Mark Pierce describes the effect of this experience in his book The Creative Wound, which “occurs when an event, or someone's actions or words, pierce you, causing a kind of rift in your soul. A comment—even offhand and unintentional—is enough to cause one.” He goes on to say that such words can inflict “damage to the core of who we are as creators. It is an attack on our artistic identity, resulting in us believing that whatever we make is somehow tainted or invalid, because shame has convinced us there is something intrinsically tainted or invalid about ourselves.” As adults, we might brush off such wounds, belittling them as unimportant in the grand scheme of things. We might even find ourselves saying the same words to other people. After all, it's easier to criticise than to create. But if you picture your younger self, bright eyed as you lose yourself in your favourite book, perhaps you might catch a glimpse of what you longed for before your dreams were dashed on the rocks of other people's reality. As Mark Pierce goes on to say, “A Creative Wound has the power to delay our pursuits—sometimes for years—and it can even derail our lives completely… Anything that makes us feel ashamed of ourselves or our work can render us incapable of the self-expression we yearn for.” This is certainly what happened to me, and it took decades to unwind. Your creative wounds will differ to mine but perhaps my experience will help you explore your own. To be clear, your Shadow may not reside in elements of horror as mine do, but hopefully you can use my example to consider where your creative wounds might lie. “You shouldn't write things like that.” It happened at secondary school around 1986 or 1987, so I would have been around eleven or twelve years old. English was one of my favourite subjects and the room we had our lessons in looked out onto a vibrant garden. I loved going to that class because it was all about books, and they were always my favourite things. One day, we were asked to write a story. I can't remember the specifics of what the teacher asked us to write, but I fictionalised a recurring nightmare. I stood in a dark room. On one side, my mum and my brother, Rod, were tied up next to a cauldron of boiling oil, ready to be thrown in. On the other side, my dad and my little sister, Lucy, were threatened with decapitation by men with machetes. I had to choose who would die. I always woke up, my heart pounding, before I had to choose. Looking back now, it clearly represented an internal conflict about having to pick sides between the two halves of my family. Not an unexpected issue from a child of divorce. Perhaps these days, I might have been sent to the school counsellor, but it was the eighties and I don't think we even had such a thing. Even so, the meaning of the story isn't the point. It was the reaction to it that left scars. “You shouldn't write things like that,” my teacher said, and I still remember her look of disappointment, even disgust. Certainly judgment. She said my writing was too dark. It wasn't a proper story. It wasn't appropriate for the class. As if horrible things never happened in stories — or in life. As if literature could not include dark tales. As if the only acceptable writing was the kind she approved of. We were taught The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie that year, which says a lot about the type of writing considered appropriate. Or perhaps the issue stemmed from the school motto, “So hateth she derknesse,” from Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women: “For fear of night, so she hates the darkness.” I had won a scholarship to a private girls' school, and their mission was to turn us all into proper young ladies. Horror was never on the curriculum. Perhaps if my teacher had encouraged me to write my darkness back then, my nightmares would have dissolved on the page. Perhaps if we had studied Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or H.P. Lovecraft stories, or Bram Stoker's Dracula, I could have embraced the darker side of literature earlier in my life. My need to push darker thoughts into my Shadow was compounded by my (wonderful) mum's best intentions. We were brought up on the principles of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and she tried to shield me and my brother from anything harmful or horrible. We weren't allowed to watch TV much, and even the British school drama Grange Hill was deemed inappropriate. So much of what I've achieved is because my mum instilled in me a “can do” attitude that anything is possible. I'm so grateful to her for that. (I love you, Mum!) But all that happy positivity, my desire to please her, to be a good girl, to make my teachers proud, and to be acceptable to society, meant that I pushed my darker thoughts into Shadow. They were inappropriate. They were taboo. They must be repressed, kept secret, and I must be outwardly happy and positive at all times. You cannot hold back the darkness “The night is dark and full of terrors.” —George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords It turned out that horror was on the curriculum, much of it in the form of educational films we watched during lessons. In English Literature, we watched Romeo drink poison and Juliet stab herself in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. In Religious Studies, we watched Jesus beaten, tortured, and crucified in The Greatest Story Ever Told, and learned of the variety of gruesome ways that Christian saints were martyred. In Classical Civilisation, we watched gladiators slaughter each other in Spartacus. In Sex Education at the peak of the AIDS crisis in the mid-'80s, we were told of the many ways we could get infected and die. In History, we studied the Holocaust with images of skeletal bodies thrown into mass graves, medical experiments on humans, and grainy videos of marching soldiers giving the Nazi salute. One of my first overseas school field trips was to the World War I battlegrounds of Flanders Fields in Belgium, where we studied the inhuman conditions of the trenches, walked through mass graves, and read war poetry by candlelight. As John McCrae wrote: We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Did the teachers not realise how deeply a sensitive teenager might feel the darkness of that place? Or have I always been unusual in that places of blood echo deep inside me? And the horrors kept coming. We lived in Bristol, England back then and I learned at school how the city had been part of the slave trade, its wealth built on the backs of people stolen from their homes, sold, and worked to death in the colonies. I had been at school for a year in Malawi, Africa and imagined the Black people I knew drowning, being beaten, and dying on those ships. In my teenage years, the news was filled with ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and massacres during the Balkan wars, and images of bodies hacked apart during the Rwandan genocide. Evil committed by humans against other humans was not a historical aberration. I'm lucky and I certainly acknowledge my privilege. Nothing terrible or horrifying has happened to me — but bad things certainly happen to others. I wasn't bullied or abused. I wasn't raped or beaten or tortured. But you don't have to go through things to be afraid of them, and for your imagination to conjure the possibility of them. My mum doesn't read my fiction now as it gives her nightmares (Sorry, Mum!). I know she worries that somehow she's responsible for my darkness, but I've had a safe and (mostly) happy life, for which I'm truly grateful. But the world is not an entirely safe and happy place, and for a sensitive child with a vivid imagination, the world is dark and scary. It can be brutal and violent, and bad things happen, even to good people. No parent can shield their child from the reality of the world. They can only help them do their best to live in it, develop resilience, and find ways to deal with whatever comes. Story has always been a way that humans have used to learn how to live and deal with difficult times. The best authors, the ones that readers adore and can't get enough of, write their darkness into story to channel their experience, and help others who fear the same. In an interview on writing the Shadow on The Creative Penn Podcast, Michaelbrent Collings shared how he incorporated a personally devastating experience into his writing: “My wife and I lost a child years back, and that became the root of one of my most terrifying books, Apparition. It's not terrifying because it's the greatest book of all time, but just the concept that there's this thing out there… like a demon, and it consumes the blood and fear of the children, and then it withdraws and consumes the madness of the parents… I wrote that in large measure as a way of working through what I was experiencing.” I've learned much from Michaelbrent. I've read many of his (excellent) books and he's been on my podcast multiple times talking about his depression and mental health issues, as well as difficulties in his author career. Writing darkness is not in Michaelbrent's Shadow and only he can say what lies there for him. But from his example, and from that of other authors, I too learned how to write my Shadow into my books. Twenty-three years after that English lesson, in November 2009, I did NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, and wrote five thousand words of what eventually became Stone of Fire, my first novel. In the initial chapter, I burned a nun alive on the ghats of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River. I had watched the bodies burn by night on pyres from a boat bobbing in the current a few years before, and the image was still crystal clear in my mind. The only way to deal with how it made me feel about death was to write about it — and since then, I've never stopped writing. Returning to the nightmare from my school days, I've never had to choose between the two halves of my family, but the threat of losing them remains a theme in my fiction. In my ARKANE thriller series, Morgan Sierra will do anything to save her sister and her niece. Their safety drives her to continue to fight against evil. Our deepest fears emerge in our writing, and that's the safest place for them. I wish I'd been taught how to turn my nightmares into words back at school, but at least now I've learned to write my Shadow onto the page. I wish the same for you. The Shadow in traditional publishing If becoming an author is your dream, then publishing a book is deeply entwined with that. But as Mark Pierce says in The Creative Wound, “We feel pain the most where it matters the most… Desire highlights whatever we consider to be truly significant.” There is a lot of desire around publishing for those of us who love books! It can give you: Validation that your writing is good enough Status and credibility Acceptance by an industry held in esteem The potential of financial reward and critical acclaim Support from a team of professionals who know how to make fantastic books A sense of belonging to an elite community Pride in achieving a long-held goal, resulting in a confidence boost and self-esteem Although not guaranteed, traditional publishing can give you all these things and more, but as with everything, there is a potential Shadow side. Denying it risks the potential of being disillusioned, disappointed, and even damaged. But remember, forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes. Preparation can help you avoid potential issues and help you feel less alone if you encounter them. The myth of success… and the reality of experience There is a pervasive myth of success in the traditional publishing industry, perpetuated by media reporting on brand name and breakout authors, those few outliers whose experience is almost impossible to replicate. Because of such examples, many new traditionally published authors think that their first book will hit the top of the bestseller charts or win an award, as well as make them a million dollars — or at least a big chunk of cash. They will be able to leave their job, write in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean, and swan around the world attending conferences, while writing more bestselling books. It will be a charmed life. But that is not the reality. Perhaps it never was. Even so, the life of a traditionally published author represents a mythic career with the truth hidden behind a veil of obscurity. In April 2023, The Bookseller in the UK reported that “more than half of authors (54%) responding to a survey on their experiences of publishing their debut book have said the process negatively affected their mental health. Though views were mixed, just 22%… described a positive experience overall… Among the majority who said they had a negative experience of debut publication, anxiety, stress, depression and ‘lowered' self-esteem were cited, with lack of support, guidance or clear and professional communication from their publisher among the factors that contributed.” Many authors who have negative experiences around publishing will push them into the Shadow with denial or self-blame, preferring to keep the dream alive. They won't talk about things in public as this may negatively affect their careers, but private discussions are often held in the corners of writing conferences or social media groups online. Some of the issues are as follows: Repeated rejection by agents and publishers may lead to the author thinking they are not good enough as a writer, which can lead to feeling unworthy as a person. If an author gets a deal, the amount of advance and the name and status of the publisher compared to others create a hierarchy that impacts self-esteem. A deal for a book may be much lower than an author might have been expecting, with low or no advance, and the resulting experience with the publisher beneath expectations. The launch process may be disappointing, and the book may appear without fanfare, with few sales and no bestseller chart position. In The Bookseller report, one author described her launch day as “a total wasteland… You have expectations about what publication day will be like, but in reality, nothing really happens.” The book may receive negative reviews by critics or readers or more publicly on social media, which can make an author feel attacked. The book might not sell as well as expected, and the author may feel like it's their fault. Commercial success can sometimes feel tied to self-worth and an author can't help but compare their sales to others, with resulting embarrassment or shame. The communication from the publisher may be less than expected. One author in The Bookseller report said, “I was shocked by the lack of clarity and shared information and the cynicism that underlies the superficial charm of this industry.” There is often more of a focus on debut authors in publishing houses, so those who have been writing and publishing in the midlist for years can feel ignored and undervalued. In The Bookseller report, 48 percent of authors reported “their publisher supported them for less than a year,” with one saying, “I got no support and felt like a commodity, like the team had moved on completely to the next book.” If an author is not successful enough, the next deal may be lower than the last, less effort is made with marketing, and they may be let go. In The Bookseller report, “six authors—debut and otherwise—cited being dropped by their publisher, some with no explanation.” Even if everything goes well and an author is considered successful by others, they may experience imposter syndrome, feeling like a fraud when speaking at conferences or doing book signings. And the list goes on … All these things can lead to feelings of shame, inadequacy, and embarrassment; loss of status in the eyes of peers; and a sense of failure if a publishing career is not successful enough. The author feels like it's their fault, like they weren't good enough — although, of course, the reality is that the conditions were not right at the time. A failure of a book is not a failure of the person, but it can certainly feel like it! When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Despite all the potential negatives of traditional publishing, if you know what could happen, you can mitigate them. You can prepare yourself for various scenarios and protect yourself from potential fall-out. It's clear from The Bookseller report that too many authors have unrealistic expectations of the industry. But publishers are businesses, not charities. It's not their job to make you feel good as an author. It's their job to sell books and pay you. The best thing they can do is to continue to be a viable business so they can keep putting books on the shelves and keep paying authors, staff, and company shareholders. When you license your creative work to a publisher, you're giving up control of your intellectual property in exchange for money and status. Bring your fears and issues out of the Shadow, acknowledge them, and deal with them early, so they do not get pushed down and re-emerge later in blame and bitterness. Educate yourself on the business of publishing. Be clear on what you want to achieve with any deal. Empower yourself as an author, take responsibility for your career, and you will have a much better experience. The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author Self-publishing, or being an independent (indie) author, can be a fantastic, pro-active choice for getting your book into the world. Holding your first book in your hand and saying “I made this” is pretty exciting, and even after more than forty books, I still get excited about seeing ideas in my head turn into a physical product in the world. Self-publishing can give an author: Creative control over what to write, editorial and cover design choices, when and how often to publish, and how to market Empowerment over your author career and the ability to make choices that impact success without asking for permission Ownership and control of intellectual property assets, resulting in increased opportunity around licensing and new markets Independence and the potential for recurring income for the long term Autonomy and flexibility around timelines, publishing options, and the ability to easily pivot into new genres and business models Validation based on positive reader reviews and money earned Personal growth and learning through the acquisition of new skills, resulting in a boost in confidence and self-esteem A sense of belonging to an active and vibrant community of indie authors around the world Being an indie author can give you all this and more, but once again, there is a Shadow side and preparation can help you navigate potential issues. The myth of success… and the reality of experience As with traditional publishing, the indie author world has perpetuated a myth of success in the example of the breakout indie author like E.L. James with Fifty Shades of Grey, Hugh Howey with Wool, or Andy Weir with The Martian. The emphasis on financial success is also fuelled online by authors who share screenshots showing six-figure months or seven-figure years, without sharing marketing costs and other outgoings, or the amount of time spent on the business. Yes, these can inspire some, but it can also make others feel inadequate and potentially lead to bad choices about how to publish and market based on comparison. The indie author world is full of just as much ego and a desire for status and money as traditional publishing. This is not a surprise! Most authors, regardless of publishing choices, are a mix of massive ego and chronic self-doubt. We are human, so the same issues will re-occur. A different publishing method doesn't cure all ills. Some of the issues are as follows: You learn everything you need to know about writing and editing, only to find that you need to learn a whole new set of skills in order to self-publish and market your book. This can take a lot of time and effort you did not expect, and things change all the time so you have to keep learning. Being in control of every aspect of the publishing process, from writing to cover design to marketing, can be overwhelming, leading to indecision, perfectionism, stress, and even burnout as you try to do all the things. You try to find people to help, but building your team is a challenge, and working with others has its own difficulties. People say negative things about self-publishing that may arouse feelings of embarrassment or shame. These might be little niggles, but they needle you, nonetheless. You wonder whether you made the right choice. You struggle with self-doubt and if you go to an event with traditional published authors, you compare yourself to them and feel like an imposter. Are you good enough to be an author if a traditional publisher hasn't chosen you? Is it just vanity to self-publish? Are your books unworthy? Even though you worked with a professional editor, you still get one-star reviews and you hate criticism from readers. You wonder whether you're wasting your time. You might be ripped off by an author services company who promise the world, only to leave you with a pile of printed books in your garage and no way to sell them. When you finally publish your book, it languishes at the bottom of the charts while other authors hit the top of the list over and over, raking in the cash while you are left out of pocket. You don't admit to over-spending on marketing as it makes you ashamed. You resist book marketing and make critical comments about writers who embrace it. You believe that quality rises to the top and if a book is good enough, people will buy it anyway. This can lead to disappointment and disillusionment when you launch your book and it doesn't sell many copies because nobody knows about it. You try to do what everyone advises, but you still can't make decent money as an author. You're jealous of other authors' success and put it down to them ‘selling out' or writing things you can't or ‘using AI' or ‘using a ghostwriter' or having a specific business model you consider impossible to replicate. And the list goes on… When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Being in control of your books and your author career is a double-edged sword. Traditionally published authors can criticise their publishers or agents or the marketing team or the bookstores or the media, but indie authors have to take responsibility for it all. Sure, we can blame ‘the algorithms' or social media platforms, or criticise other authors for having more experience or more money to invest in marketing, or attribute their success to writing in a more popular genre — but we also know there are always people who do well regardless of the challenges. Once more, we're back to acknowledging and integrating the Shadow side of our choices. We are flawed humans. There will always be good times and bad, and difficulties to offset the high points. This too shall pass, as the old saying goes. I know that being an indie author has plenty of Shadow. I've been doing this since 2008 and despite the hard times, I'm still here. I'm still writing. I'm still publishing. This life is not for everyone, but it's my choice. You must make yours. The Shadow in work You work hard. You make a living. Nothing wrong with that attitude, right? It's what we're taught from an early age and, like so much of life, it's not a problem until it goes to extremes. Not achieving what you want to? Work harder. Can't get ahead? Work harder. Not making a good enough living? Work harder. People who don't work hard are lazy. They don't deserve handouts or benefits. People who don't work hard aren't useful, so they are not valued members of our culture and community. But what about the old or the sick, the mentally ill, or those with disabilities? What about children? What about the unemployed? The under-employed? What about those who are — or will be — displaced by technology, those called “the useless class” by historian Yuval Noah Harari in his book Homo Deus? What if we become one of these in the future? Who am I if I cannot work? The Shadow side of my attitude to work became clear when I caught COVID in the summer of 2021. I was the sickest I'd ever been. I spent two weeks in bed unable to even think properly, and six weeks after that, I was barely able to work more than an hour a day before lying in the dark and waiting for my energy to return. I was limited in what I could do for another six months after that. At times, I wondered if I would ever get better. Jonathan kept urging me to be patient and rest. But I don't know how to rest. I know how to work and how to sleep. I can do ‘active rest,' which usually involves walking a long way or traveling somewhere interesting, but those require a stronger mind and body than I had during those months. It struck me that even if I recovered from the virus, I had glimpsed my future self. One day, I will be weak in body and mind. If I'm lucky, that will be many years away and hopefully for a short time before I die — but it will happen. I am an animal. I will die. My body and mind will pass on and I will be no more. Before then I will be weak. Before then, I will be useless. Before then, I will be a burden. I will not be able to work… But who am I if I cannot work? What is the point of me? I can't answer these questions right now, because although I recognise them as part of my Shadow, I've not progressed far enough to have dealt with them entirely. My months of COVID gave me some much-needed empathy for those who cannot work, even if they want to. We need to reframe what work is as a society, and value humans for different things, especially as technology changes what work even means. That starts with each of us. “Illness, affliction of body and soul, can be life-altering. It has the potential to reveal the most fundamental conflict of the human condition: the tension between our infinite, glorious dreams and desires and our limited, vulnerable, decaying physicality.” —Connie Zweig, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul The Shadow in money In the Greek myth, King Midas was a wealthy ruler who loved gold above all else. His palace was adorned with golden sculptures and furniture, and he took immense pleasure in his riches. Yet, despite his vast wealth, he yearned for more. After doing a favour for Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, Midas was granted a single wish. Intoxicated by greed, he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold — and it was so. At first, it was a lot of fun. Midas turned everything else in his palace to gold, even the trees and stones of his estate. After a morning of turning things to gold, he fancied a spot of lunch. But when he tried to eat, the food and drink turned to gold in his mouth. He became thirsty and hungry — and increasingly desperate. As he sat in despair on his golden throne, his beloved young daughter ran to comfort him. For a moment, he forgot his wish — and as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, she turned into a golden statue, frozen in precious metal. King Midas cried out to the gods to forgive him, to reverse the wish. He renounced his greed and gave away all his wealth, and his daughter was returned to life. The moral of the story: Wealth and greed are bad. In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is described as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” He's wealthy but does not share, considering Christmas spending to be frivolous and giving to charity to be worthless. He's saved by a confrontation with his lonely future and becomes a generous man and benefactor of the poor. Wealth is good if you share it with others. The gospel of Matthew, chapter 25: 14-30, tells the parable of the bags of gold, in which a rich man goes on a journey and entrusts his servants with varying amounts of gold. On his return, the servants who multiplied the gold through their efforts and investments are rewarded, while the one who merely returned the gold with no interest is punished: “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Making money is good, making more money is even better. If you can't make any money, you don't deserve to have any. Within the same gospel, in Matthew 19:24, Jesus encounters a wealthy man and tells him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, which the man is unable to do. Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Wealth is bad. Give it all away and you'll go to heaven. With all these contradictory messages, no wonder we're so conflicted about money! How do you think and feel about money? While money is mostly tied to our work, it's far more than just a transactional object for most people. It's loaded with complex symbolism and judgment handed down by family, religion, and culture. You are likely to find elements of Shadow by examining your attitudes around money. Consider which of the following statements resonate with you or write your own. Money stresses me out. I don't want to talk about it or think about it. Some people hoard money, so there is inequality. Rich people are bad and we should take away their wealth and give it to the poor. I can never make enough money to pay the bills, or to give my family what I want to provide. Money doesn't grow on trees. It's wasteful to spend money as you might need it later, so I'm frugal and don't spend money unless absolutely necessary. It is better and more ethical to be poor than to be rich. I want more money. I read books and watch TV shows about rich people because I want to live like that. Sometimes I spend too much on things for a glimpse of what that might be like. I buy lottery tickets and dream of winning all that money. I'm jealous of people who have money. I want more of it and I resent those who have it. I'm no good with money. I don't like to look at my bank statement or credit card statement. I live off my overdraft and I'm in debt. I will never earn enough to get out of debt and start saving, so I don't think too much about it. I don't know enough about money. Talking about it makes me feel stupid, so I just ignore it. People like me aren't educated about money. I need to make more money. If I can make lots of money, then people will look up to me. If I make lots of money, I will be secure, nothing can touch me, I will be safe. I never want to be poor. I would be ashamed to be poor. I will never go on benefits. My net worth is my self worth. Money is good. We have the best standard of living in history because of the increase in wealth over time. Even the richest kings of the past didn't have what many middle-class people have today in terms of access to food, water, technology, healthcare, education, and more. The richest people give the most money to the poor through taxation and charity, as well as through building companies that employ people and invent new things. The very richest give away much of their fortunes. They provide far more benefit to the world than the poor. I love money. Money loves me. Money comes easily and quickly to me. I attract money in multiple streams of income. It flows to me in so many ways. I spend money. I invest money. I give money. I'm happy and grateful for all that I receive. The Shadow around money for authors in particular Many writers and other creatives have issues around money and wealth. How often have you heard the following, and which do you agree with? You can't make money with your writing. You'll be a poor author in a garret, a starving artist. You can't write ‘good quality' books and make money. If you make money writing, you're a hack, you're selling out. You are less worthy than someone who writes only for the Muse. Your books are commercial, not artistic. If you spend money on marketing, then your books are clearly not good enough to sell on their own. My agent / publisher / accountant / partner deals with the money side. I like to focus on the creative side of things. My money story Note: This is not financial or investment advice. Please talk to a professional about your situation. I've had money issues over the years — haven't we all! But I have been through a (long) process to bring money out of my Shadow and into the light. There will always be more to discover, but hopefully my money story will help you, or at least give you an opportunity to reflect. Like most people, I didn't grow up with a lot of money. My parents started out as teachers, but later my mum — who I lived with, along with my brother — became a change management consultant, moving to the USA and earning a lot more. I'm grateful that she moved into business because her example changed the way I saw money and provided some valuable lessons. (1) You can change your circumstances by learning more and then applying that to leverage opportunity into a new job or career Mum taught English at a school in Bristol when we moved back from Malawi, Africa, in the mid '80s but I remember how stressful it was for her, and how little money she made. She wanted a better future for us all, so she took a year out to do a master's degree in management. In the same way, when I wanted to change careers and leave consulting to become an author, I spent time and money learning about the writing craft and the business of publishing. I still invest a considerable chunk on continuous learning, as this industry changes all the time. (2) You might have to downsize in order to leap forward The year my mum did her degree, we lived in the attic of another family's house; we ate a lot of one-pot casserole and our treat was having a Yorkie bar on the walk back from the museum. We wore hand-me-down clothes, and I remember one day at school when another girl said I was wearing her dress. I denied it, of course, but there in back of the dress was her name tag. I still remember her name and I can still feel that flush of shame and embarrassment. I was determined to never feel like that again. But what I didn't realize at the time was that I was also learning the power of downsizing. Mum got her degree and then a new job in management in Bristol. She bought a house, and we settled for a few years. I had lots of different jobs as a teenager. My favourite was working in the delicatessen because we got a free lunch made from delicious produce. After I finished A-levels, I went to the University of Oxford, and my mum and brother moved to the USA for further opportunities. I've downsized multiple times over the years, taking a step back in order to take a step forward. The biggest was in 2010 when I decided to leave consulting. Jonathan and I sold our three-bedroom house and investments in Brisbane, Australia, and rented a one-bedroom flat in London, so we could be debt-free and live on less while I built up a new career. It was a decade before we bought another house. (3) Comparison can be deadly: there will always be people with more money than you Oxford was an education in many ways and relevant to this chapter is how much I didn't know about things people with money took for granted. I learned about formal hall and wine pairings, and how to make a perfect gin and tonic. I ate smoked salmon for the first time. I learned how to fit in with people who had a lot more money than I did, and I definitely wanted to have money of my own to play with. (4) Income is not wealth You can earn lots but have nothing to show for it after years of working. I learned this in my first few years of IT consulting after university. I earned a great salary and then went contracting, earning even more money at a daily rate. I had a wonderful time. I traveled, ate and drank and generally made merry, but I always had to go back to the day job when the money ran out. I couldn't work out how I could ever stop this cycle. Then I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, a book I still recommend, especially if you're from a family that values academic over financial education. I learned how to escape the rat race by building and/or accumulating assets that pay even when you're not working. It was a revelation! The ‘poor dad' in the book is a university professor. He knows so much about so many things, but he ends up poor as he did not educate himself about money. The ‘rich dad' has little formal education, but he knows about money and wealth because he learned about it, as we can do at any stage in our lives. (5) Not all investments suit every person, so find the right one for you Once I discovered the world of investing, I read all the books and did courses and in-person events. I joined communities and I up-skilled big time. Of course, I made mistakes and learned lots along the way. I tried property investing and renovated a couple of houses for rental (with more practical partners and skilled contractors). But while I could see that property investing might work for some people, I did not care enough about the details to make it work for me, and it was certainly not passive income. I tried other things. My first husband was a boat skipper and scuba diving instructor, so we started a charter. With the variable costs of fuel, the vagaries of New Zealand weather — and our divorce — it didn't last long! From all these experiments, I learned I wanted to run a business, but it needed to be online and not based on a physical location, physical premises, or other people. That was 2006, around the time that blogging started taking off and it became possible to make a living online. I could see the potential and a year later, the iPhone and the Amazon Kindle launched, which became the basis of my business as an author. (6) Boring, automatic saving and investing works best Between 2007 and 2011, I contracted in Australia, where they have compulsory superannuation contributions, meaning you have to save and invest a percentage of your salary or self-employed income. I'd never done that before, because I didn't understand it. I'd ploughed all my excess income into property or the business instead. But in Australia I didn't notice the money going out because it was automatic. I chose a particular fund and it auto-invested every month. The pot grew pretty fast since I didn't touch it, and years later, it's still growing. I discovered the power of compound interest and time in the market, both of which are super boring. This type of investing is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a slow process of automatically putting money into boring investments and doing that month in, month out, year in, year out, automatically for decades while you get on with your life. I still do this. I earn money as an author entrepreneur and I put a percentage of that into boring investments automatically every month. I also have a small amount which is for fun and higher risk investments, but mostly I'm a conservative, risk-averse investor planning ahead for the future. This is not financial advice, so I'm not giving any specifics. I have a list of recommended money books at www.TheCreativePenn.com/moneybooks if you want to learn more. Learning from the Shadow When I look back, my Shadow side around money eventually drove me to learn more and resulted in a better outcome (so far!). I was ashamed of being poor when I had to wear hand-me-down clothes at school. That drove a fear of not having any money, which partially explains my workaholism. I was embarrassed at Oxford because I didn't know how to behave in certain settings, and I wanted to be like the rich people I saw there. I spent too much money in my early years as a consultant because I wanted to experience a “rich” life and didn't understand saving and investing would lead to better things in the future. I invested too much in the wrong things because I didn't know myself well enough and I was trying to get rich quick so I could leave my job and ‘be happy.' But eventually, I discovered that I could grow my net worth with boring, long-term investments while doing a job I loved as an author entrepreneur. My only regret is that I didn't discover this earlier and put a percentage of my income into investments as soon as I started work. It took several decades to get started, but at least I did (eventually) start. My money story isn't over yet, and I keep learning new things, but hopefully my experience will help you reflect on your own and avoid the issue if it's still in Shadow. These chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn The post Writing The Shadow: The Creative Wound, Publishing, And Money, With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.
Jeff and Rebecca look at some 2025 sales numbers, are astounded by the rise of Heated Rivalry, applaud a new subscription box, have some harsh words for Oreo, and more. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read and its brand new companion newsletter, and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Print book sales rose slightly in 2025 There's a new Heated Rivalry book coming later this year Bridgerton author Julia Quinn has launched a romance subscription box Book Riot's best fantasy books of the century so far The Royal Shakespeare Company is bringing Hamnet to U.S. stages Give yourself the gift of this George Saunders interview Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Werte Hörer*innenschaft, zu diesem fulminanten Start ins neu Jahr und neue Buch haben wir uns tatkräftige Unterstützung von den Ladies von Teatime bei den Bridgertons geholt. Vielen Dank, dass ihr euch die Zeit genommen habt um mit uns das erste Kapitel vom Buch 2 zu besprechen. Auch dieses mal geht es wieder direkt bei Julia Quinn mit Klatsch und Tratsch los, denn niemand geringeres als der Viscount Anthony Bridgerton möchte diese Saison heiraten und wer käme da wohl in Frage? Eins ist klar hübsch und klug muss sie sein achso verlieben ist auch nicht drin, denn der Gute plagt sich mit ziemlich fatalistischen Gedanken rum aber überzeugen Sie sich selbst werte Hörer*innenschaft. Wir berichten weiterhin für sie, Ihre Ladies Whistlemore Viel Spaß mit der Folge Wenn ihr auch bei Teatime bei den Bridgertons reinhören wollt, dann schaut euch folgende Links an: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68BQl6L4jHvruOZUqyTq4x Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teatime_bei_den_bridgertons/ Alle wichtigen Links über uns auf :https://linktr.ee/patmorespotcast Homepage:https://four-voices.de/patmores-potcast/ SozialeMedien: Instagram:@patmorespotcast privat: @monadifender und @dastoedchen Facebook: Patmore's Potcast Kommt auf unserenDiscord Server Supporten könnt ihr uns auf Steady, Ko-Fi oder in unseremMerchshopFür Fragen und Anregungen: Email: patmorespotcast@four-voices.de Let's Poe:Spotify Board Game Bravery:Spotify -Intro und Outro Musik wurden mit Udio AI beta erstellt https://www.udio.com/home
Just Like Heaven was published in 2011 as the first in the Smyth-Smith quartet and follows a family set in the Bridgerton world. Quinn's most successful series is the Bridgerton series, even before the adaptation, features a large, tight-knit family that run around Regency London acting anachronistically and telling jokes that we're told are hilarious and finding true love. A lot of romance time and effort has been spent on the Bridgerton series, book and television show, along with Quinn's place as an outsized representation of romance to the non-romance world and this is mostly outside what we're going to be talking about today. All the Rakes have read at least a handful of the Bridgerton series and none of us really enjoy the television show that much, so we wanted to read another one of Quinn's books as our standalone exploration of her writing style, to try and parse what works or what doesn't for us, along with what might be the longstanding appeal to readers for a Julia Quinn novel.Support us on our Patreon!Visit our website for transcripts and show notes: reformedrakes.comFollow us on social media:Twitter: @reformedrakesInstagram: @reformedrakesBluesky: @reformedrakesBeth's SubstackChels' SubstackEmma's SubstackThank you for listening!
In this episode, I'm sharing all the romance book movie and TV series adaptations that will be hitting your screens in 2026. From long-awaited series premieres to film adaptations of favorite novels, get excited for what is to hit the big and small screen in 2026. Whether you're ready to obsess over your favorite bookish couples coming to the screen or discover what to read before it premieres, this roundup has you covered. BOOKS MENTIONED:People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry: https://amzn.to/47HyhxcReminders of Him by Colleen Hoover: https://amzn.to/4r1XBFDRoyally Screwed by Emma Chase: https://amzn.to/3XiP97DThe Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: https://amzn.to/3M4DR4bYou Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle: https://amzn.to/4i0ycbzHeartstopper #6 by Alice Oseman: https://amzn.to/47YR85AThe Bodyguard by Katherine Center: https://amzn.to/48Dt20TAn Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn: https://amzn.to/3WVBZNFThe Deal by Elle Kennedy: https://amzn.to/4o12DQdEvery Summer After by Carly Fortune: https://amzn.to/4i8hN4YFinding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli: https://amzn.to/484i04sParadise Valley by Robyn Carr: https://amzn.to/43ursN8The Best of Us by Robyn Carr: https://amzn.to/48lAzCkHome in Carolina by Sheryl Woods: https://amzn.to/4847MRHMy Return to the Walter Boys by Ali Novak: https://amzn.to/4oFCh7oSave Us by Mona Kasten: https://amzn.to/47MlLfVRustler's Moon by Jodi Thomas: https://amzn.to/3M7PxmJLover Eternal by J.R. Ward: https://amzn.to/49gFgylWritten in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: https://amzn.to/49ZSwI6FOLLOW! Join My List: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/joinFB: https://www.facebook.com/shereadsromancebooks IG: https://www.instagram.com/shereadsromancebooksblog/If you liked this episode, please consider leaving a review. Thanks!This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Det är mycket kärlek och lust på Bokmässan i Göteborg i år, åtminstone i bokform! Hur lyder Bridgerton-författaren Julia Quinns framgångsrecept? Möt henne i P1 Kultur. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. Att kärlek och sex både säljer och attraherar läsare av alla slag är en självklarhet, men vad skiljer agnarna från vetet? Det är nog så svårt att skriva om kärleksrelationer, men att få skildringar om passion och sex att fungerar, kan framstå än knepigare.Hur tänker en succéförfattare som Julia Quinn med miljontals böcker sålda böcker över världen?P1 Kultur fångade upp Julia Quinn när hon besökte årets bokmässa i Göteborg.Programledare Lisa BergströmProducenter Thorbjörn Karlsson och Maria Götselius
Det blir mycket kärlek & lust på Bokmässan i Göteborg i år, åtminstone i bokform! Hur lyder Bridgerton-författaren Julia Quinns framgångsrecept? Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. Att kärlek och sex både säljer och attraherar läsare av alla slag är en självklarhet, men vad skiljer agnarna från vetet? Det är nog så svårt att skriva om kärleksrelationer, men att få skildringar om passion och sex att fungerar, kan framstå än knepigare. Hur tänker en succéförfattare som Julia Quinn med miljontals böcker sålda böcker över världen – hur hittade hon nycklarna till det hon vill berätta och vilka fallgropar kan hon varna för! Och varför tror han att den så kallade romance-genren har blivit så omåttligt populär? Hör Julia Quinn direkt i P1 Kultur, när hon gästar årets bokmässa.DE OUMBÄRLIGA SEXSKILDRINGARNAI våras gav författaren Henrik Bromander ut romanen "De närmaste", som berättar en familjs historia under flera decennier och nu i höst har författaren Maria Maunsbach kommit ut med "En magisk man" – en roman med fokus på kärlek, åtrå, mat och kampsporten MMA. Gemensamt för böckerna är att sexskildringarna har en avgörande betydelse för hur man ska förstå romangestalterna och deras livsvillkor. Varför är det viktigt för de båda författarna att skriva om sex? Och när blir det bra och har de någonsin tvekat inför det de själva skrivit?ATT LÄSA DRAMATIKDramatik är också ett tema på bokmässan, som gästas av flera av de mest framstående dramatikerna i världen just nu, till exempel Roland Schimmelpfenning från Tyskland och den palestinska dramatikern Dalia Taha. Svenska dramatiker på plats är bland andra Gertrud Larsson, Christina Ouzounidis och Athena Farrokhzad, som är aktuell med ”Tragedierna”. Men, måste man uppleva pjäser på scenen eller hur gör man om man bara vill läsa? Lina Kalmteg, litteraturredaktör på kulturredaktionen, ställer frågan till Athena Farrokhzad och teaterkritiker Jenny Teleman ger sina bästa tips för hur man kan ta sig an dramatiken som läsare!POETEN KARIN BOYE I NY BILDERBOKSom vanligt är det även många barn- och ungdomsförfattare på mässan och en av dem är författaren, dramatikern och konstnären Kristina Sigunsdotter. Hon är aktuell med bilderboken "Trädet under jorden" som hon gjort tillsammans med illustratören Jenny Lucander. Boken är en saga om Karin Boye, en poetisk berättelse om mod och kärlek, där fantasi och verklighet vävs samman. Litteraturredaktör Lina Kalmteg stämde träff med den Augustpris-belönade författaren vid Karin Boyes staty utanför Göteborgs stadsbibliotek.Programledare Lisa BergströmProducenter Thorbjörn Karlsson och Maria Götselius
Livros mencionados:Apneia, Tânia Ganho;Lobos, Tânia Ganho;Guerra dos Tronos, George R. R. Martin;Série Divergente, Veronica Roth;Contos da Cantuária, Chaucer;Série Bridgerton, Julia Quinn;Doidos por Livros, Emily Henry;Pessoas que Conhecemos nas Férias, Emily Henry.Sigam-nos no instagram: @leiturasembadanasEdição de som: Tale House
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/fantasy
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, in n A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism (Bloomsbury, 2025) Dr. Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels. A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In chapter 47, Torry (she/her) and Angela Bloom (she/her) recap From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (10:20). Then get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, Side Character Spotlight, and Sequel Scoop (1:29:24).Content Warning: Discussion about violence throughout the episode. Take care!Spoiler Warning: While we explore From Blood and Ash in detail, rest assured that there won't be any spoilers in the episode beyond this book.Angela's Previous RTBR AppearancesBridgerton Season 3, Part 2 ReviewRomancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 Review)Leave a voicemail question or comment for Torry to include in a future episode. Suggest a book here.Upcoming Episodes:The Deal by Elle KennedyDeep End by Ali HazelwoodSkin of the Night by C.K. BennettFollow Torry on Instagram, Letterboxd, and GoodReads. Check out Torry's pop culture podcast: Ready to Be Petty. Subscribing and leaving a rating helps us find new listeners! Thank you.Music by Simon Tebbenham.
Christian Historical Fiction Talk is listener supported. When you buy things through this site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Become a patron and enjoy special perks and bonus content.Have a favorite romance trope? Maybe meet-cute, meet-cringe, love at first sight, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles, forced proximity, off-limits crush, fake relationship, marriage of convenience, second-chance love, etc? In this episode, I let you know what some of our listeners said were there favorite romance tropes.Here are some historical romances you might like:Lady Maybe by Julie KlassenThis has an amnesia trope, one we didn't even discuss.In the midst of a fierce storm, a carriage carrying Sir John Mayfield, Lady Marianna Mayfield, and her lady's companion careens off a narrow cliff road, changing their fates forever. When the wreckage is found, Sir John is gravely injured, and a woman is discovered unconscious wearing a valuable ring. As the woman regains consciousness in a strange house, she grapples with fragmented memories of the accident, unsettling dreams of a child in peril, and a deep mystery tied to the ring on her finger. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces and haunted by a sense of foreboding, the survivor realizes she cannot trust anyone and must uncover the truth of what happened that stormy night, even as danger mounts and enemies conspire against her. In this revised and updated 10th anniversary edition of Julie Klassen's acclaimed novel, a woman's startling secrets lead her into unexpected danger and romance in Regency England.Lady Maybe is a clean Regency romance full of mystery, adventure, and a search for identity. This novel will delight fans of the amnesia trope, Julia Quinn, Jane Austen, and Mimi Matthews.Get your copy of Lady Maybe by Julie KlassenBeyond Ivy Walls by Rachel FordhamReminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, a recluse and a young woman discover that the scars of life are no match against an act of love.Iowa, 1903. All of Monticello believes Otis Taylor has been away fostering his musical genius. But the truth is that his father exiled him long ago, rejecting Otis's appearance and the scars that came with it. Now that he is the last living Taylor, Otis has covertly returned to settle his family's affairs and rid himself of his past for good. However, he soon discovers that he may not have been the only abandoned Taylor and begins a tireless search for his missing toddler niece.At twenty-three years old, Sadie West left her family farm and found employment at the Hoag feather duster factory. It isn't a romantic job, but she's hardly had a glimmer of romance since her beau went off to college, leaving her with no promise of a future together. Desperate to save money and help her family make ends meet, she trespasses and finds shelter in an abandoned building--and is thrown in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.Otis's wounds are deep, but as Sadie's friendship with him grows, she begins to fall for the man beneath the mask. Locating his long-lost niece, however, is more difficult than either could have imagined, and Sadie West may be the key to Otis Taylor finally finding his way home.Get your copy of Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham.The Lady's Mine by Francine RiversA delightful new western romance and New York Times bestseller fro
Show Notes: After graduation, Angelo Milazzo returned to his home state and attended medical school at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He developed an interest in cardiology and decided to pursue post-graduate training in pediatrics and pediatric cardiology at Duke University. Angelo completed his post-graduate training in 2002 and joined the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. A Growing Practice and Becoming Chief Medical OfficerIn 2002, he was offered the opportunity to start a pediatric cardiology practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. The practice grew from a one-man operation to a practice with about 30 physicians across various specialty areas. In 2017, Milazzo became the vice chair for practice for the Department of Pediatrics at Duke Health, which has grown to 250 clinical faculty and 50 research faculty. Angelo then became the Chief Medical Officer for the Duke Health Integrated Practice, overseeing all physicians who practice at Duke Health. This role allows him to take the best of his administrative leadership within one clinical department for children's care and spread it across the entire enterprise. The Economics of Health Care and the Business of MedicineAngelo's hands-on administrative experience and managerial experience have led him to become interested in the didactic aspect of his career. He believes that his administrative experience and managerial skills have allowed him to excel in various aspects of his career, including pediatric cardiology. Before the pandemic, Angelo enrolled in business school and completed his MBA in just under two years. He was interested in the economics of healthcare and the business of medicine, but also enjoyed the perspective of classmates from various industries and walks of life. Today, he is a practicing pediatric cardiologist, spending about 40% of his time in clinical practice and 60% of his time in administrative work. He is also interested in health equity research and is part of a project funded by the CDC. What it Takes to Be a Physician Leader Angelo explains that, to be a great physician leader, one must first be a great clinician, and this takes so much more than just medical knowledge. He believes that engaging with patients and families is a privilege and that this energy and insight can inform his managerial work. He has had the privilege of mentors in medicine and being taught by amazing clinicians, which has allowed him to feel comfortable with fraught conversations. He explains how his managerial experiences and administrative experiences make him a better clinician. He has had to negotiate with professionals from different backgrounds and training perspectives, enriching his perspective and broadening it. This constant bilateral communication within him allows him to enhance both sides of his career. The Executive MBA Program ExperienceAngelo talks about the value of his Executive MBA program, and how he appreciates the practical aspects of the program, such as lectures, video calls, and team meetings. However, he also highlights the value of teamwork and learning from professionals from different industries. He shares his capstone project, which involved working with a delivery firm in Eastern Europe, a firm far from his daily work. The team consisted of professionals from various industries, including military, micro brewing, airline, and healthcare professionals. The challenges faced in his work were unique but universally applicable, and he learned valuable lessons from the experience. He also talks about systems used during a public health emergency, the A3 structure and how it is used for improvement projects, and the journey of improvement. The Performance Improvement Journey Angelo talks about management principles adopted in health care and the performance improvement journey that began with the introduction of a standardized electronic health record in 2013 and the adoption of Epic, which is now used by two-thirds to three-quarters of major health systems in the country. This allowed for a common set of data mining tools to collect clinical information and understand success or failure around quality initiatives. The organization's new leaders, including those from other health systems and academic centers, were committed to this continuous improvement environment. By the time the CMO became vice chair in 2016, they were ready to bring these principles into their department. Now, almost a decade later, the organization has built a culture where everyone wants to be a quality improvement scientist. They have developed an academy to train healthcare professionals to become quality improvement scientists, which involves a rapid boot camp that teaches principles over a concentrated period of time. Many of these projects have been presented at regional, national, and international levels, covering various medical specialties, from complicated heart surgery to solid organ transplant to medical genetics to obstetrics and gynecology. Influential Harvard Courses and ProfessorsAngelo mentions three courses and professors that have resonated with him at Harvard: Arthur Kleiman's course on Illness Narratives, Professor Dante Della Terza's Divine Comedy class, and Gregory Nagy's Heroes for Zeros class. Angelo's course with Professor Kleiman was about the idea that hearing patients talk about their illness is a form of storytelling, which he uses in his work. He also mentions Professor Nagy's use of a clip from Blade Runner, a sci-fi noir film, in his class. He believes that this class spoke his language and that he was in the right place for him. Angelo also mentions missing the Michael Sandel Justice course, which he later took through the Harvard EdX program. Timestamps: 01:29: Angelo Milazzo's Journey After Graduation 05:29: Transition to Administrative Roles and Business School 09:48: Balancing Clinical Practice and Administrative Roles 14:30: Learning from Business School and Applying Lessons 26:11: Implementing Continuous Improvement in Healthcare 36:40: Influential Courses and Professors at Harvard Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amilazzomd/ Featured Non-profit: The featured non-profit of this episode of The 92 Report is recommended by Julie Cotler Pottinger who reports: “Hi. I'm Julie Cotler Pottinger, class of 1992 the featured nonprofit of this episode of The 92 report is every library. Every library helps America build support for libraries and also helps us fight book banning in our communities. I'm proud to be the National Ambassador this year for every library under my pen name, Julia Quinn, and I've been working real hard all year to help them raise money and awareness. You can learn more about their work at www.everylibrary.org and now here's Will Bachmann with this week's episode.” To learn more about their work, visit: https://www.everylibrary.org/
I was so thrilled to welcome photographer Chandra Wicke to Books are Chic! Chandra is a romance reader and lover and took her vision of a beautiful, romance readers dream of a book and brought it to life. Say hello to The Happily Ever After Society. This book is a collection and celebration of romance authors, their books and the effect romance books have in our society. Featuring authors such as Julia Quinn, Christina Lauren, Ali Hazelwood, Adriana Herrera, Julie Soto and MORE, it truly is a book lovers portal into one of the best-selling genres. BUT Chandra needs our help. This book will only be published if Chandra can meet her goal. This is fully being crowd sourced. Chandra's vision was without limitations and wants to continue this dream. This is such a special project from an incredible fellow reader and dreamer, let's support her and make this happen!
Join and Kristine and Heather from the Litchfield Park Library as they discuss the similarities and differences between Bridgerton season 2 and book 2 'The Viscount Who Loved Me' by Julia Quinn.
Hey pals! We're still on our holiday break, but to celebrate a new year, we're giving you a rerelease of the first romance book that brought a new era for us: THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME by Julia Quinn! And if you liked this episode, check out part 2 and our episode on season 2 of Bridgerton, based on this book! Part 2: Ep. 15 Season 2 Brazen banter: A brief history of corgis! Justice for middle children! The new Spider-Man movie! Violence as foreplay! Cat Scale: TBA Revolutionary Resources "Surface Pressure" (Encanto) Subscribe! Follow! Rate! Review! Tell your friends and family all about us! Connect with us on the interwebs! Instagram: @wereaditonenight Twitter: @wereaditpodcast Facebook: We Read It One Night TikTok: @wereaditonenight Email: wereaditonenight [at] gmail.com
In chapter 40, Torry (she/her) and Haley Strong (she/her) from RHAP: We Know The Bachelor discuss what Omegaverse books are (11:10) and then recap Bride by Ali Hazelwood (17:23). Then get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, and Sequel Scoop (1:19:43). Finally, they answer questions submitted by the listeners (1:33:00). Spoiler Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the book: Bride. Haley's Previous Appearances Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 Review Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 Review) The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 2 Review) The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 1 Review) Patreon 45: The 1989 World Tour Guest List Episode 138: Petty about the Barbie Trailer, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, and Bravo Binges Episode 88: Petty about Bachelor Nation News and and the Bennifer Engagement Leave a voicemail question or comment for Torry to include in a future episode. Suggest a book here. Upcoming Episodes: January 15: Fourth Wing Bonus Chapter 27 by Rebecca Yarros January 29: The QB Bad Boy and Me by Tay Marley Follow Torry on Instagram, Twitter, Letterboxd, and GoodReads. Check out Torry's pop culture podcast: Ready to Be Petty. Subscribing and leaving a rating helps us find new listeners! Thank you. Music by Simon Tebbenham.
Every year I love to see which romance books are being adapted into movies and TV series to see my favorite characters and storylines come to life. If you love book-to-movie adaptations then I've got the inside scoop on what's to come in 2025 with all the romance books to movie and TV series you can get excited to enjoy.BOOKS MENTIONED:People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry: https://amzn.to/3D4uz3RRule by Jay Crownover: https://amzn.to/3VsQ3xMBridget Jones Mad About the Boy: https://amzn.to/3DaXwuQThe Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: https://amzn.to/49mU2BACounting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks: https://amzn.to/3DdIEfaHer Knight at the Museum by Bryn Donovan: https://amzn.to/41n7fbAMy Oxford Year by Julia Whelan: https://amzn.to/41m2bnVA Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey: https://amzn.to/3zrgnxfAn Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn: https://amzn.to/3VooS6YWritten in My Own Hearts Blood by Diana Gabaldon: https://amzn.to/41qQmwVWe'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han: https://amzn.to/4gkHZXUVirgin River Series by Robyn Carr: https://amzn.to/3ZqtM4ESullivan's Crossing Series by Robyn Carr: https://amzn.to/3ZCRXhMSweet Magnolias Series by Sherryl Woods: https://amzn.to/4f3ZevlRansom Canyon Series by Jodi Thomas: https://amzn.to/3ZG1cxNThings We Never Got Over by Lucy Score: https://amzn.to/4gib6LiDark Lover by JR Ward: https://amzn.to/4iq3zMyBeauty from Pain by Georgia Cates: https://amzn.to/3B5v2ClLINKS: Passionflix Subscription: https://bit.ly/3rdevnURomance Books to Movies Hub: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/romance-movie-lists/Join My List: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/joinIf you liked this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.Thanks!This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Julia Quinn, the creative force behind the wildly popular Bridgerton series of books is featured tonight at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival. She joins Megan Lynch discussing her partnership with television creator and producer Shonda Rhimes, creating a work of historical fiction surrounding the life of Queen Charlotte and King George the Third.
The Finale Pod is back with a scandalous affair worth gossiping about! We are discussing Lauren's pick: the Season 3 finale of Bridgerton. Newlyweds Colin and Penelope's fresh marriage faces blackmail and high-society drama, as Penelope's bold reveal as Lady Whistledown shocks the ton and changes everything. Don't forget to leave a comment on our Instagram @thefinalepod and share your thoughts on Bridgerton! We start our recap discussion at the 16:50 mark if you want to fast forward past our Co-host Quickfire Catch-up, our Love It Lately recommendations, and the Icebreaker Intermission, where we chat about our favorite romance tropes. SPOILER ALERT: We spill tea about future seasons gleaned from articles and the author who wrote the books that this series is based on. So skip over that if you must! Spoilers happen between 1:24:45 and 1:28:15. The overall TFP rating for the Season 3 finale of Bridgerton is 4.5. Network: Netflix Genre: Regency romance Based on: Bridgerton by Julia Quinn Starring: Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton Executive Producer: Shonda Rhimes The next finale we will review is Alex's pick and she chose the Season 3 finale of Industry. Trading corsets for power suits—this one's all about high stakes and cutthroat ambition! Follow The Finale Pod on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefinalepod/ Submit a question or comment to us at: thefinalepod@gmail.com
Querido y gentil oyente, en este episodio nos acompaña Diego (del Club del Héroe) para analizar y conversar sobre Bridgerton, la serie de Shondaland que se basa en la saga de libros de Julia Quinn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jordan gets back to her roots this week with a fun, quirky, and not too serious regency romance - What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. While we're still not clear on what was done to get the duke, it's likely something naughty (especially since this is an open door romance!) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8430098-what-i-did-for-a-dukeIf you're looking for something similar, try anything by Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas or Sherry Thomas.
Find yourself transforming from a wallflower to the bride of a Bridgerton while having to leave your legacy behind with your host Jen and guest reader Shelby as they gossip about Julia Quinn's fourth installment to the Bridgerton series, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. Warning before listening: This episode does contain spoilers for this novel, other books in this series, as well as the Bridgerton series on Netflix. TW: Domestic Abuse Click here for The Bookstop's Instagram, to subscribe to the Patreon, and for previous podcasts from The Bookstop: https://linktr.ee/thebookstoppodcast?utm_source=qr_codeSupport the Show.
Masquerade! Sophie Beckett on parade! Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you! Paint brushes at the ready, dearest listeners. Just as we're busy basking in the glow of our (finally) happily married Polin, it's time to begin the next part of our journey. While we search high and low for an elusive Lady in Silver, we take a quick dip in a lake with Benedict, stop by a silent Scottish castle to check in on Eloise's sanity, and reminisce over Tudums of days gone by with a leprechaun and her pot of gold. Benedict Bridgerton, you may run and hide from settling down – but a face will still pursue you. But who can name the face? Certainly not us. But if anybody knows who she is, tell her we're looking for her. * Spoiler Warning This episode contains discussion of the plot details of An Offer From a Gentleman (Benedict's story), To Sir Phillip, With Love (Eloise's story) and It's In His Kiss (Hyacinth's story) by Julia Quinn. Show Notes Tudum: Benedict Is Unmasked as Bridgerton Season 4's Romantic Lead: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/bridgerton-season-4-cast-release-date-news YouTube: Season 4 announcement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGHJPpo2oeU Harper's Bazaar: Interview with Luke Thompson (inc. reference to lake scene): https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a61086616/bridgerton-luke-thompson-benedict-queer-interview/ Twitter: Fan theory about Season 4 episode title (via @sophiepoets): https://x.com/sophiepoets/status/1815839858876899359 L.L. Bean: Vacationland dog canoe rug: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/127969?page=indoor/outdoor-vacationland-dog-canoe * Follow Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatabarbpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whatabarbpod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhataBarbPod
Lisa discusses Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, the historical romance between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. Here, she discusses the key differences between the book and Season 3 of Bridgerton, which just came out in the summer of 2024. Books discussed: The Queen's Gambit by Evie Dunmore For more information, find Lisa on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and her website.*The book titles mentioned include affiliate links. You can support the podcast by purchasing a book with the links because the podcast receives compensation.
Lisa discusses Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, the historical romance about Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. Season 3 of Bridgerton, which highlights this romance, was just released. In today's episode, Lisa focuses on the book. Next week's episode, Lisa will discuss the book versus the TV show. The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain For more information, find Lisa on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and her website.*The book titles mentioned include affiliate links. You can support the podcast by purchasing a book with the links because the podcast receives compensation.
In chapter 25, Torry (she/her), Haley Strong (she/her) from the Bachelor RHAP-ups and Beyond Top Chef All Stars RHAP-up, and Angela Bloom (she/her) discuss Bridgerton season 3, part 2 (3:33). Then get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, and Sequel Scoop (1:03:29). Spoiler Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the first four Bridgerton books. Haley's Previous Appearances Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 Review) The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 2 Review) The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 1 Review) Patreon 45: The 1989 World Tour Guest List Episode 138: Petty about the Barbie Trailer, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, and Bravo Binges Episode 88: Petty about Bachelor Nation News and and the Bennifer Engagement Angela's Previous RTBR Appearances Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 Review) Leave a voicemail question or comment for Torry to include in a future episode. Suggest a book here. Upcoming Episodes: July 3: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Follow Torry on Instagram, Twitter, Letterboxd, and GoodReads. Check out Torry's pop culture podcast: Ready to Be Petty. Subscribing and leaving a rating helps us find new listeners! Thank you. Music by Simon Tebbenham.
This episode, we return to a new season among the Ton with the third season of Bridgerton, based on the novel Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. We examine the many new relationships this season of the show, and the unfortunate return of least favorite character from the books: problematic male love interest. We're also discussing glow ups, hot air balloons, sleeves and the Benedict arc we've all been waiting for!
In Episode 56 we talk with actor Ruth Gemmell, who portrays Lady Violet Bridgerton in the Netflix series BRIDGERTON and QUEEN CHARLOTTE: A BRIDGERTON STORY from Shonda Rhimes's Shondaland, inspired by the stories and characters in Julia Quinn's romance novels. In the podcast we talk with Gemmell about her nuanced portrayal of Lady Violet Bridgerton, and explore the theme of self-discovery and love in the series through Lady Violet's motivations and relationships. This conversation with Ruth Gemmell reveals Lady Violet Bridgerton as a multifaceted character who defies simple categorization. BRIDGERTON has completed its 3rd season. All 3 seasons including QUEEN CHARLOTTE are available on Netflix with a subscription. TRANSCRIPT: Visit the webpage to download a transcript for episode 56 - https://michonbostongroup.com/bostonsisters 1:17 - Episode Intro w/Ruth Gemmell/Lady Violet Bridgerton 1:56 - BRIDGERTON 3 synopsis 3:08 - Ruth Gimmell bio 4:28 - Friendship and romantic love 6:02 - Mature women's friendship: Lady Violet and Lady Agatha 8:42: - Working with Adjoa Andoh (Lady Agatha Danbury) 10:15 - Creating Lady Violet 15:22 - BRIDGERTON effect on historical drama 16:52 - Lady Violet's romantic future 19:44 - Loving 1940s clothes 20:52 - Time capsule: wedding dress, dog photo, motherly advice 23:13 - Where to watch BRIDGERTON series and QUEEN CHARLOTTE: A BRIDGERTON STORY 23:28 - Stay connected with Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters 24:57 - DisclaimerSTAY ENGAGED with HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform LISTEN to past past podcasts and bonus episodes SIGN UP for our mailing list SUPPORT this podcast on Spotify or SHOP THE PODCAST on our affiliate bookstore Thank you for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historicaldramasisters/support
On this week's bonus episode of You Are What You Read we are joined by Julia Quinn, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, including the blockbuster Bridgerton series. Now streaming on Netflix, the television adaptation of Bridgerton is a global phenomenon produced by Shonda Rhimes. In this 2021 conversation, Julia talks to us about the dazzling adaptation of her books and her exciting plans for the future of the Bridgertons. Thanks to our wonderful sponsors! This episode of You Are What You Read is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/WHATYOUREAD today to get 10% off your first month. Get it off your chest, with BetterHelp. We'd also like to thank Book of the Month. Head over to bookofthemonth.com and use Promo Code ADRI to get your first book for just $9.99. Thank you for listening, and thank you for reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the creators of MuggleCast is a brand new podcast: What the Hype?! For more information, see the episode titled 'What's the Hype about What the Hype?!' --- Bridgerton is a television show based on the bestselling book series by Julia Quinn. Its first season premiered on Netflix in December 2020, and is produced by Shonda Rhimes' production banner, Shondaland. In this episode of What the Hype?!, Pam, Micah, and Laura are joined by special guest Natasha Polis of the podcast Those Forking Fangirls to discuss this book-to-TV adaptation! We discuss who the show is for, why it's so damn good, the show's diversity, and much more! Don't forget to follow us in your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and tell a friend about the show! We're also releasing full video episodes on YouTube! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Insights and Highlights: Bridgerton Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2 – A Thank Gods It's Fantasy Podcast Review In this episode of 'Thank Gods It's Fantasy Podcast', hosts Kayla, Veronica, and Bryanna, with a special guest, dive into the premiere of Bridgerton's third season, focusing on episodes 1 and 2. They explore Francesca's entry into society, the costuming nuances for characters like Colin, and the developing romance between Colin and Penelope. The discussion compares the show's direction to Julia Quinn's original books and evaluates adaptation choices. The hosts express their expectations for future episodes, share moments of humor, and provide detailed critiques. Additionally, they admire Queen Charlotte's evolving wigs, noting the improved designs, and inform listeners about the next podcast episode.
Bridgerton is a television show based on the bestselling book series by Julia Quinn. Its first season premiered on Netflix in December 2020, and is produced by Shonda Rhimes' production banner, Shondaland. In this episode of What the Hype?!, Pam, Micah, and Laura are joined by special guest Natasha Polis of the podcast Those Forking Fangirls to discuss this book-to-TV adaptation! We discuss who the show is for, why it's so damn good, the show's diversity, and much more! Don't forget to follow us in your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and tell a friend about the show! We're also releasing full video episodes on YouTube!
Dear Gentle Listener, a notorious Rake, a determined eldest sister, and the battles they wage are on the agenda today as your devoted Podcast Hosts travel into the pages of THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME by JULIA QUINN. Attend this lovely meeting to hear all the latest gossip on the Viscount's newest relationship, Kate's Crimes and Pardons list, and whether Newton is to blame for the accident that ended in a shattered carriage, a broken bone, and a new perspective for this newlywed couple.Support the Show.Scotland is calling! Book your spot on our Scotland Fantasy Tour HERE! Want to explore the world of SJM with us? Become a PATRON and gain access to our entire Sarah J. Maas series collection! Looking for more bookish talk? Follow us on IG and TikTok!
It's been at least a week since Bridgerton season three part one premiered so it's spoiler time! We've invited Bee super fans Angeleke, The Lovely Bibliophile, and Sarah, Romantically Swept Away, to share how they feel about Polin-ating season so far!We discuss the kind Lord Debling and if he'll be back in part two. His like-able character made Colin's jealousy more profound.The costume department is slaying! Cressida and trapped bird ensemble was beautiful and interesting. Glow ups seem to be had especially with the Featheringtons.The show was definitely emotional at times like the books, even making us cry. Angeleke loved the first kiss and Sarah felt bad when Lord Kilmartin finally took to the screen. We loved the odes to Julia Quinn's books. We got the journal. We got the April 6th meet-cute story. We agreed that we love the film on its own and the books on its own, and that's a great way to embrace the entire show.Of course we mentioned bold theories like Wendy thinking Cressida will be with Benedict!The cake scene had us all hot and bothered! The Bridgerton siblings have been showing a trend of thirsting after their intended in slow motion!The first kiss was perfect! However, going back for more pecks was life changing!!Who's life will change next? Consensus leads to Eloise or Benedict before Francesca, but who knows.And, that ending, the carriage scene…wow! Is it straight to Colin's room bypassing his family who's already home because of a music sheet? Toni really wants to know if the book will be followed and Penelope face plants in part II…ouch!Then we played a game of Who'd You Rather Bridgerton TV version. Which TV character would you like to go on a midnight carriage ride with? (Timestamp: 53:08)Join us as we unleash our love for season three part one and let our minds wander about part two!Hosts – Toni Rose & Wendy WooEmail - bridgerton2000@gmail.comFollow - www.instagram.com/bridgerton2000Shop - www.zazzle.com/store/lit_wallflowers/productsSubscribe - www.youtube.com/channel/UCVbwzumQy5Gx1TKc-O4OCzQWebsite - linktr.ee/bridgerton2000www.juliaquinn.comwww.facebook.com/AuthorJuliaQuinnwww.instagram.com/juliaquinnauthorwww.ubookstore.com/books/collections/julia-quinnwww.shondaland.com
In chapter 20, Torry (she/her), Haley Strong (she/her) from the Bachelor RHAP-ups and Beyond Top Chef All Stars RHAP-up, and Angela Bloom (she/her) recap Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (7:34). Then get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, and Sequel Scoop (1:08:14). Next they discuss season 3, part 1 of the tv adaptation, Bridgerton (1:22:50). Finally, Torry, Haley, and Angela get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, and Sequel Scoop of the tv show (1:48:05). Spoiler Warning: While we explore Romancing Mr. Bridgerton in detail, rest assured that there won't be any spoilers in the episode beyond this book. Haley's Previous RTBR Appearances The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 2 Review) The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (and Bridgerton Season 1 Review) Patreon 45: The 1989 World Tour Guest List Episode 138: Petty about the Barbie Trailer, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, and Bravo Binges Episode 88: Petty about Bachelor Nation News and and the Bennifer Engagement Leave a voicemail question or comment for Torry to include in a future episode. Suggest a book here. Upcoming Episodes: May 27: The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert June 5: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros June 12: To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han Follow Torry on Instagram, Twitter, Letterboxd, and GoodReads. Check out Torry's pop culture podcast: Ready to Be Petty. Subscribing and leaving a rating helps us find new listeners! Thank you. Music by Simon Tebbenham.
Bridgerton Season III part I is here! This episode was recorded prior to part one premiere. We're recapping the major similarities and differences between the books and film. Plus, we present clever, fan-made Am I The A**hole Bridgerton edition for all of us to enjoy!The Duke and I – 3:33AITA for telling my wife I don't want kids, but in fact I just don't want them? – 8:28The Viscount Who Loved Me – 10:15AITA for tripping my mama's sister's fiancé and making him fall into the Serpentine? – 22:48An Offer From a Gentleman - 24:09AITA for thinking my brother's art skills are not good enough and so I bought his acceptance into art school without telling him? – 32:01Romancing Mister Bridgerton – 32:20AITA for befriending my former best friend's bully?– 49:29AITA for trying to find a husband for my daughters by any means necessary…? – 50:55To Sir Philip With Love – 51:21When He Was Wicked – 56:24Join us as we celebrate the Bridgerton books and film!DRAWING ROOM DISCUSSIONSCollaboration with our Bridgerton books + film + everything podcast @bridgerton2000Shonda Rhimes still has all eight books on the books“OFFICIAL, UNOFFICIAL BOOK REVIEW” – 3:33Julia QuinnBridgerton books 1-6www.juliaquinn.comwww.facebook.com/AuthorJuliaQuinnwww.instagram.com/juliaquinnauthorwww.ubookstore.com/books/collections/julia-quinnwww.shondaland.com“POT-TAIL PONDERING” – 60:51The Republic of Tea: Bridgerton Collection – Duke & Duchess (Honey Breakfast Tea), Anthony & Kate (Spiced Chai), and Featherington (Blood Orange Mimosa Tea)Season 3 Part 2 on June 13th! What's your watch party plans???NEXT– Bridgerton GH & Ever After by Julia QuinnHosts - Toni Rose & Wendy WooEmail - litwallflowerspodcast@gmail.comFollow on www.instagram.com/litwallflowerspodcastShop at https://www.zazzle.com/store/lit_wallflowers/productsSocial Media https://linktr.ee/litwallflowersLit Wallflowers is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!
Bridgerton Season III part I is here! This episode was recorded prior to part one premiere. We're recapping the major similarities and differences between the books and film. Plus, we present clever, fan-made Am I The A**hole Bridgerton edition for all of us to enjoy!The Duke and I – 3:33AITA for telling my wife I don't want kids, but in fact I just don't want them? – 8:28The Viscount Who Loved Me – 10:15AITA for tripping my mama's sister's fiancé and making him fall into the Serpentine? – 22:48An Offer From a Gentleman - 24:09AITA for thinking my brother's art skills are not good enough and so I bought his acceptance into art school without telling him? – 32:01Romancing Mister Bridgerton – 32:20AITA for befriending my former best friend's bully?– 49:29AITA for trying to find a husband for my daughters by any means necessary…? – 50:55To Sir Philip With Love – 51:21When He Was Wicked – 56:24Join us as we celebrate the Bridgerton books and film!DRAWING ROOM DISCUSSIONSCollaboration with our Bridgerton books + film + everything podcast @bridgerton2000Shonda Rhimes still has all eight books on the books“OFFICIAL, UNOFFICIAL BOOK REVIEW” – 3:33Julia QuinnBridgerton books 1-6www.juliaquinn.comwww.facebook.com/AuthorJuliaQuinnwww.instagram.com/juliaquinnauthorwww.ubookstore.com/books/collections/julia-quinnwww.shondaland.com“POT-TAIL PONDERING” – 60:51The Republic of Tea: Bridgerton Collection – Duke & Duchess (Honey Breakfast Tea), Anthony & Kate (Spiced Chai), and Featherington (Blood Orange Mimosa Tea)Season 3 Part 2 on June 13th! What's your watch party plans???NEXT– Bridgerton GH & Ever After by Julia QuinnHosts - Toni Rose & Wendy WooEmail - litwallflowerspodcast@gmail.comFollow on www.instagram.com/litwallflowerspodcastShop at https://www.zazzle.com/store/lit_wallflowers/productsSocial Media https://linktr.ee/litwallflowersLit Wallflowers is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!
In today's episode, I'm talking about 11 romance books that have had the biggest impact on the romance genre. These are the most influential romance books that have each played a significant role in the rise of the romance genre's popularity, success, and rise among new readers. Take a listen to see if you agree with my assessment of the most influential romance books in the genre!BOOKS MENTIONED:Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: https://amzn.to/4bxXZDvThe Notebook by Nicholas Sparks: https://amzn.to/3JRo7gDTwilight by Stephanie Meyer: https://amzn.to/4bc5qk2Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James: https://amzn.to/4baRHcYAfter by Anna Todd: https://amzn.to/44vLsy1It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover: https://amzn.to/4dwMGNpThe Duke and I by Julia Quinn: https://amzn.to/44Aycs7Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon: https://amzn.to/3wsF6msBeach Read by Emily Henry: https://amzn.to/3UOmDKuRed White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: https://amzn.to/3UwCfRqFourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: https://amzn.to/4buzFCaLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: Join the She Reads Romance Books Book Club: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/bookclubMost Anticipated New Romance Book Releases for June 2024: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/new-romance-book-releases-june-2024/Join My Facebook Group, the She Reads Romance Books Reader Lounge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/shereadsromancebooksreaderloungeFOLLOW ME! Blog: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/ Podcast: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shereadsromancebooks Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shereadsromancebooks Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shereadsromancebooksblog/LEAVE A REVIEW!If you liked this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. It helps me know what you like and want to hear. Thanks!This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're on our #POLIN rewatch and need to get our almost non-spoilery reactions out!Not only is it Polin-ating season, it's yearning season.For the book version lovers, we do get the major elements in the show.We did get our John! The John we needed, expected. Our predictions were half wrong, half right however so exciting!We got odes to author Julia Quinn's other books! What easter eggs did you notice?The mystery about the Mondrich's moving up the social ladder is explained.Lady Danbury's brother, Marcus, is in town and we can't wait for their back story.Bored Benedict looking for a purpose while looking for hiding places.Violet being the best, most observant mama!Join us as we continue to be blown away, destressed, and on cloud nine with every rewatch of Bridgerton Season 3!Hosts – Toni Rose & Wendy WooEmail - bridgerton2000@gmail.comFollow - www.instagram.com/bridgerton2000Shop - www.zazzle.com/store/lit_wallflowers/productsSubscribe - www.youtube.com/channel/UCVbwzumQy5Gx1TKc-O4OCzQWebsite - linktr.ee/bridgerton2000www.juliaquinn.comwww.facebook.com/AuthorJuliaQuinnwww.instagram.com/juliaquinnauthorwww.ubookstore.com/books/collections/julia-quinnwww.shondaland.com
Polin Season is upon us, and it is glorious.We collaborated with Big Gold Belt Media to review Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1, which premiered May 16th on Netflix. You can also find the video recording of this episode on Big Gold Belt Media's Youtube channel.In this episode we had a very spoiler-filled discussion of the first four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3. We adored every part of Colin and Penelope's story, as well as the other character's arcs that were woven in.Look for our breakdown of Part 2 coming June 13th!Find us on social media and say hi!Find Big Gold Belt Media here:Official Websitebiggoldbelt.comYoutubeyoutube.com/@BigGoldBeltXtwitter.com/BiggoldbeltSoundCloudsoundcloud.com/bgbgroupInstagraminstagram.com/biggoldbeltFacebookfacebook.com/BigGoldBeltTikToktiktok.com/@biggoldbeltTumblrbiggoldbelt.tumblr.com
We're excited to announce the launch of a new series, Read Before You Watch! With book-to-screen adaptations becoming increasingly common, we thought it would be fine to have a series devoted to reading and reviewing books before watching the adaptations. With Season 3 of Bridgerton premiering on Netflix on May 16th, we thought we would get things started with the book behind the couple of the season, Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. One of us had read it, one of us hadn't, and we had a great (very spoilery!) time reviewing the book and the parts we hope make it into the show (and vice versa). Also look for our breakdown of Bridgerton Season 3 Parts 1 & 2!Find us on social media
Dylan Dreyer is at the iconic Churchill Downs with Mike Tirico and Steve Kornacki to set the scene at the Kentucky Derby and break down the odds for this year's race. Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at Broadway's revival of “The Wiz.” Also, Julia Quinn, author of the bestselling “Bridgerton” series is here to share her favorite new reads in May. The 3rd hour sits down with the multi-talented Kate Hudson to discuss her debut album “Glorious.”
We're talking about gaming hells! Is it residual Derek Craven love? Probably. Why does Sarah love a casino so much? Why are we so into ladies being wagered by the idiot men in their lives? What makes these places that are so not sexy in real 2024 life so incredibly hot in a) James Bond movies, b) heist movies, and c) historical romances? We're getting to the bottom of it—or at least, we're going to talk about books we love. That's the Fated Mates promise. We're betting you're going to love this one! (see what we did there?)We also talk about Fated Mates Live! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd, along with a collection of special guests and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we're never sure quite how it's going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you'll leave full of joy from all the fun. We've even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Tickets and info are at fatedmates.net/live.If you just can't get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It's pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Our next read along is Heather Guerre's Preferential Treatment, one of Sarah's favorite romances of 2022. Get it at Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Show NotesGet Fated Mates Live tickets for March 23, 2024 in Brooklyn.We think that waking up married is different than casinos.Derek Craven is of course our favorite casino-owner, but Sarah wrote a pretty famous casino series, too.In modern times, casinos are owned by giant conglomerates and they are definitely making a ton of money, Especially this past weekend since the Superbowl was in Vegas.The Taylor Swift Effect is real.Have we mentioned that there are lots of movies about casinos out there in the world.“Fuck me gently with a chainsaw” is a reference to Heathers, not a dark romance.An explainer about fantasy sports and where they are legal.You can join Sarah and Julia Quinn next Tuesday, February 20, online via Zoom. They'll be talking about all things Bridgerton, about romance, about reading and writing, and taking questions! Register for the free event, sponsored Illinois Libraries Present, and join them!
We're so excited for today's deep dive on Natalie Caña's A Dish Best Served Hot — a sexy, second-chance romance that gave us so many feelings, including delight that Natalie is at the very beginning of her romance writing career! Here we talk about taking big swings in romance, about telling love stories against the backdrop of real life issues, and about how this book's ending might be the closest thing to Kleypas we've read in a long time. Get the book at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. We also talk about Fated Mates Live! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd! Join us along with a collection of special guests and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we're never sure quite how it's going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you'll leave full of joy from all the fun. We've even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Tickets and info are at fatedmates.net/live.If you just can't get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It's pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Show NotesOn March 16 2024, Jen will be at the Forest Park Library for an event called Book Buzz. Use this link to register. It's all about romance, and Natalie Cana, Nicole Falls, and local Forest Parker Maria Monroe.Selective mutism is a type of anxiety disorder.Humboldt Park is a Chicago neighborhood that has been ethnically Latine with the largest Puerto Rican population in the city, for a long time. The gentrification described in the book is a real problem facing the neighborhood. If you were inspired by this story, you can support La Case Norte, a real Humboldt Park organization that supports homeless teenagers.This whole Arrested Development thing about Army was very funny, just trust us.The Rock having a tea party with his daughter is very adorable.February romance articles are coming, including one written by Jen for Kirkus.You can sign up for the virtual conversation with Sarah and Julia Quinn, hosted by the Illinois Libraries (which includes Oak Park) on Feb 20th, 2024.