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August 4, 2025 42 mins

Welcome to our first episode. We open up the first season with letting you get to know us.

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(00:01):
Welcome to the Author Spotlight with Kenya Gorey-Bell and Moni Boyce.
Hi!
This is our intro episode to the first season.
We are so excited to be bringing you guys this podcast.
I really think that uh the Author Spotlight as a podcast is going to transcendRomancelandia.

(00:28):
And the reason I say that is because we're gonna have in-depth conversations with authorsthis first season about craft, author life, what they love about writing, and just
different aspects of their life and how they...

(00:48):
approach the writing business.
And you really get to see some amazing interviews from some of your favorite authors.
Yeah, I love it because we also get into maybe some of our favorite books or favoriteseries by the author.
The interviews are candid, you know, we didn't come off from a script or whatever wewanted it to feel like having a real conversation with another author.

(01:12):
So I love that aspect of it.
Obviously there were some unexpected things that come up in some of the interviews.
Obviously lots of laughs and that kind of thing.
So I really enjoyed getting the chance to like talk with a lot of the authors that we did.
Okay, so for people who don't know us, how would you define the experience of working withme this, okay, see this?

(01:42):
of working with Kenya.
Hmm.
Let me think about that.
well, I would I like again, it's fun.
You always bring a fun and energetic environment.
And also I love like your candor and you will go places that maybe some other people won'tfeel comfortable going.

(02:06):
So I love that part of it as well.
So, and I think what I, and the reason that I wanted to do this podcast with you isbecause I knew that you would keep me in line, but do it in a nice way.
I know how to be very diplomatic.
You are, are like very like the thing we just talked about that we won't talk about righthere.

(02:29):
You were like now Kenya.
I will say that comes from like 15 plus years of working in film.
You learn very quickly how to be diplomatic.
And so for everybody who uh is ah new to this podcast, and this is our introductoryepisode, Moni and I uh found each other writing at night.

(02:56):
We had a little group called the Knight Writers, Facebook group, a Facebook chat group.
And that's how we became friends.
we've been, oh my God, how long ago that has been, like five years?
want to say like 2018, 2019.
So yeah, it's been, it's been, that's what, like six, seven years now at this point.

(03:17):
and we have become best friends through writing and that's what I love about the writingcommunity.
Yeah.
No, I 100 % agree.
remember even when I first came into the writing community, especially romance, theromance world, um I always felt like it was very welcoming.

(03:40):
I know like over the years of being part of this community that there have been certainthings that have happened or whatever, but to me that has never, my belief in the
community aspect of what romance writers are has never wavered in that we can be
fearsome protective of each other and you know, we're, you know, there for each other.

(04:01):
I mean, I think about like going through things with COVID or even like my own experienceswith burnout, how you reached out to me and other authors I knew that I'd become friends
with that women that I hadn't even met face to face, but you know, we knew each otherthrough these groups or sprinting together and things like that, that, you know, reached
out to me to make sure that I was okay or how I was doing and things like that while Iwasn't writing.

(04:24):
And I mean, that's huge because not everybody has that.
And it's nice to find that, um you know, in a career or path that you've chosen that youcan surround yourself by people that want to see you succeed and do well.
Yeah, because I think a lot of times in the writing community, you see people visiblycheering you on.

(04:45):
And when you get like a bestseller or whatever, no one is happier for you than yourcolleagues.
And that's what I love so much about this business and being able to reach out to authorswho are very open.
about the process.

(05:06):
You know, there is gatekeeping, but you know, once you kind of build your tribe, you havesuch a great resource of people out there to help you.
Yeah, no, I 100 % agree.
And I think what's very, what people need to understand about that, especially if you'restarting out in this, it's about building the relationships, not just what another writer

(05:30):
can do for you, but it's like really build that relationship.
Like, you know, look to look to somebody like, hey, do you need like a beta reader, acritique partner?
do you need me to share something on social media?
Like it should be a reciprocal thing.
If you're constantly take, take, take, take, take from somebody, guess what?
Like that is not a relationship and they're not gonna be amenable to helping you or seeingthat as something that will move forward and be fruitful for both of you in the future if

(05:58):
it's that constant thing.
So it's, you know, one thing as a new author sometimes to want to hit up other authorsthat maybe you admire or inspire you.
and you're constantly asking them for information or things, but there's no kind of like,like I said, something on the reverse side of that.
Yeah, and I always believe in like paying it forward anyway.

(06:19):
People are more likely to help you if you've done something for them.
Even, you know, as far as, you know, sharing their posts, uh putting things in yournewsletter, like I always like to do the unasked thing for uh anybody actually.
So, and then if I see like when somebody, uh

(06:43):
who needs a little help, like I'm like, okay.
And they may not know it.
You reach out to them like, oh, I noticed this.
Because it happened to me.
I had a cover out that I was promoting, but it was blurry.
And um like Posey Parks reached out to me was like, hey, have you tried this?

(07:09):
And it was like a 3D app type.
of thing that was free and she walked me through how to use it.
And then it just made the cover pop.
And that was just something somebody reached out to me around the release and helpedtransformed how that was presented.

(07:31):
It looked way more professional, nicer and everything like that.
that's what I love about this community.
we talked about,
oh season focuses on the series that we love and we really were just self-indulgent andpicked our favorite authors.
Yeah, definitely in some of our favorite stories and like series and things like that.

(07:55):
Like, so it was great to kind of get even like just insight into, you know, each author'sworld or process of how they either came up with the series or characters or even just
their writing journey.
I always find that fascinating because while anybody will tell you there's certain thingsthat are kind of like must as you're going through this to wherever you want to be,
whether that's like successful indie author or

(08:19):
traditional or hybrid or whatever that is, still everyone's journey is different eventhough there might be certain milestones that people consider like a necessity to get to
those things.
Mm-hmm.
So, because I have always been a writer, like even when I was little and I was alwayswriting something, I always knew I wanted to do that.

(08:45):
And I always find it fascinating when that's not somebody else's story, you know?
and funny that you say that, I'll say this for myself.
I always wanted to do film.
I went to film school.
you know, worked in that industry for a long time, but I also wrote like, you know, when Iwas in like elementary, middle school, some of that was short stories, some of it was

(09:06):
poetry.
And so I just kind of saw that as a creative outlet.
wasn't actually till I got older and I think I was really working in film that for me, Irealized what I like or that I basically want to be as a storyteller.
Now, whatever medium for me that comes in, like I embrace because I love movies.
And so I also love the process of making movies.

(09:27):
But once I kind of transitioned over to like full-time writer, I found I really enjoyedthe writing process and creating because in filmmaking, it can be different.
You can be helping create a story, but be like the costume designer or the editor.
so with writing, you are the one that actually gets to kind of be in the driver's seat.

(09:49):
Mm-hmm.
really create the characters in the world in ways that I didn't always get to do when Iwas a filmmaker.
Right.
So like in film, would you say like the writer, director type of people are most closelyaligned with what uh authors do?

(10:10):
I would say probably more so the director than anybody else on the film set, like, becauseto some degree when it comes to the writing process in film, and I want to say film and
not TV because the writing or writer in both of those has very different, I guess youwould say like duties or what they can do.
So when we're talking strictly about film, the director is king and it's their vision ofthe story.

(10:36):
Mmm.
a script is given, what happens is usually like a writer will sell a script to a studio orwhoever.
But what happens is there's usually like so many other writers that come behind them anddo revisions and not everybody gets a credit on the movie.
So at that point, like the original vision has been diluted somewhat um by the time itgoes through all the hands to make it to the screen.

(11:00):
So really at the end of the day,
While yes, there was a writer who had to come up with the story and put all that together,it's the director's vision of that story that you're seeing on the screen.
So whereas if you go to TV, it's different because the king in TV is the writer slashshowrunner.
So it's different.
So I mean, obviously if you're looking for more of your voice to be heard, I always tellpeople you really want to go into TV as a writer.

(11:27):
then, I mean, obviously you could do both, but I mean, at the end of the day, you do runthe risk that the vision or story that you initially created is going to change before it
makes it to the big screen.
Okay, so as people go into this first season of the Author Spotlight with Kenya and Mommy,Kenya, Gordy Bell and Mommy Boyz, what is the standout?

(11:55):
What was, what's the, what interview or chat was like this, not to show favor to them, butanything, what, what?
What stood out to you?
who?
Or who was the git that you, cause I already know who mine was.
Cause we talked to a lot of like, do you want to do like.

(12:19):
I actually feel like everybody was kind like, my God, we were able to get them.
my God.
They said yes.
Um, that's because I always feel like everybody brings something different to the table.
Plus, because we spoke to authors across different sub genres of romance that even made itinteresting to get to dive into like, you know, bully romance or historical or whatever it

(12:40):
is that we touched on.
And so I always found something really interesting in every conversation.
And maybe that's the diplomat me and being like, I'm not gonna name a name.
I will say what surprised me was like, what surprised me was when Melanie Harlow said thatshe had been a dancer, for instance.

(13:01):
That was a surprise to me, but.
agree with you finding out kind of people's backstories or like previous like, because Ialways like to say in a former life, I was a filmmaker only because it's like you switch,
you know, yes, they're both storytelling, but it's different industries, different worlds.
And so it's always interesting to me because I believe one of the authors that we spokewith was former military.

(13:25):
you know, and so it's always, like you said, very interesting to learn kind of like thehistory or the backstory of how what somebody was doing or whether that was the thing that
led them to writing, you know.
so were you surprised when Mel Walker said he was a Swifty?
I actually already kind of, like, so I've known Mel for a while though.

(13:46):
So I did know that about him.
I loved it though that he's so open about things like that.
And I love talking to him.
So yeah, Mel was just such a joy to have on the show.
concert.
Like he'll have to pay, but I would love to go to a Taylor Swift concert.
Yeah.

(14:07):
but I like, it was so much fun doing this and I just like, uh you know, the, you know,we're getting ready to gear up for season two because we did this a while back, but that
was, the whole thing was just the delight and so much fun.
And I, there's so much that uh I think people are gonna get from this whole series.

(14:33):
And it's gonna be lovely.
And I just love that, yeah.
I think that, yes, you're going to come for kind of like the gossip and the chit chat.
But I love that in these interviews, we try to also, you know, glean the knowledge from alot of these people that have had longevity and have, you know, been successful, whether

(14:53):
that's financially or, you know, critically, and, you know, their series or whateverwriting praised and that kind of thing.
And so I love that we were able to take some
nuggets of wisdom from them for the audience, especially for maybe the aspiring writersthat might listen to this.
And so they can, you know, kind of take that into their own journey, not to like copy orimitate, but to like figure out how to make it work for them.

(15:19):
Yeah, I think one thing you learn about the writing process is that what rings true forevery writer is your voice.
And every writer who was uh author who came to speak to us, they all have a unique voice.
And my advice to any writer, regardless of how great your craft is, what your educationalbackground is,

(15:49):
your lived experience.
Your voice is what brings the reader back, period.
I can.
And I feel like throughout the course of this interview series, that was kind of stressedlike time and time again is for the, you know, author to find their unique voice, you

(16:09):
know, and that's why I said even earlier, don't try to copy or imitate because that's thatauthor's thing.
Like find your thing that makes your writing resonate with readers that makes it unique.
That's, you know, uniquely yours.
I think that's so important.
think people uh misunderstand, like some people think, oh, I need to write every day.

(16:32):
I need to do this about craft.
I need to do this about marketing or whatever.
And all of those things are important, right?
But what's great about this career is you can tailor it exactly to you because some peopleare morning writers.

(16:52):
am a night.
uh
person who writes, right?
Yeah, I, you know, I get up at six, go back to sleep for three hours.
She does have children.
I will just preface that that she's usually getting them ready.
So.
up only for the kids.
I will only get up for the kids.

(17:15):
But I used to get up for my husband and like just shoot him out the door and go back tosleep then too before we even had kids when he was in the military.
But I get up, I see my beautiful children off, I make sure they're all have everythingthat they need.
And then I come right back to my beautiful bed, my big beautiful bed.

(17:37):
And that's because I've been up most nights to like, you know, 3 a.m.
writing or reading a little bit before I go to bed at night.
And, you know, and that works like perfectly for me.
Some people have to get up.
They do the early morning thing and they get up at 5 a.m.

(17:59):
or whatever and they write for two hours.
I don't know how they do it, but you know, that.
I've never in my life been a morning person.
So I just, that just isn't in me to get up at like the crack of dawn when it's like darkout unless the only reason I do that is if I'm traveling, that is like, if I've got to
catch a flight, you know, all day I will get up whatever, but for the life of me, I cannotbring myself to get out of bed before certain hour.

(18:24):
There needs to be some light in the sky.
But you know, these days like after burnout, cause I was the type that would like I
For a while I worked at nine to five, so I would literally work the nine to five, comehome, do some personal things at night, write, and literally sometimes be up till five
o'clock in the morning, rinse and repeat.
Mind you, I said I had to nine to five, so I was not sleeping properly.

(18:47):
So once I hit the wall of burnout was coming through that, I realized something had tochange for myself, just to not experience that again.
So these days I try to treat writing like a nine to five.
Mm-hmm.
use those hours to like, not to say that I don't like write at night anymore, just not, Ijust don't write every night like that.

(19:08):
So usually during the day I'm like writing in between doing, you know, I usually have liketwo different periods throughout the day when I'm like working on writing.
And then after that, I'm usually working on other things as an indie author, like, youknow, answering email, Oh, I got to go update the site or, you know, post on social media
or whatever that is.
But yeah, these days it's like,

(19:30):
late morning, like throughout the afternoon, evening I'm writing, not as much of the latenight writing anymore.
Yeah.
And, you know, I got to get back and corrupt you more.
But I am.
Listen, I write now I'm writing on TikTok from like nine to eleven or not.
Last night it was like nine to twelve.

(19:51):
Some nights is one up to one or two o'clock.
You know, tonight will probably be a late night because I didn't write earlier todaybecause I was packing book boxes.
And so, yeah.
uh
Like I have a goal of 3,000 words a day now because I'm writing Desperado.
uh so the way I've lost count, the sixth book in the Blood, Legs, Sugar series.

(20:22):
And I'm having the best time.
I'm having the best time writing this book.
And uh I...
you should be having fun writing romance and so yeah I'm so happy to hear that because Ithink that's important like I mean yes for a lot uh of us this is like a job or like you
know we want this to be our sole means of income in terms of not having to divide our timeah you know and so I know some people say they like write to market or the trends or

(20:51):
whatever but to me it's so important to be enjoying what it is that you're writing.
Yeah, I think in the process of being a writer and I write dark romance now, I had tolearn that I was a dark romance writer.

(21:12):
And that's because I grew up reading like Rosemary Rogers, the darker historical romances.
And people are like, oh,
all up in arms about dark romance.
I was like, you have not read, Bertree Small, obviously, because you don't know how darkthese books can be, you know?

(21:38):
feel like a lot of, especially historicals back in the day were kind of like dark romance,but they just didn't have that term back then.
dark romance that was the, was historical romance of the eighties.
So I think I read Fires of Winter when I was 12 and it has a full non-con scene.

(22:01):
He absolutely essays her in that book and I ate it up.
So I think I had to learn that oh because times have changed and consent matters that Iwas in contemporary romance, let's be clear.

(22:26):
But oh I had to learn that that was not what I was supposed to be writing, that I was adark romance writer.
So that process was my first book.
which was adored, which was a historical romance, then the mogul series.
And then I just, I saw uh a black writer saying that they were scared to write uh darkromance because they know how the girlies like to tussle.

(22:59):
And I was like, you know what?
That's all you got to say to me because you know I'm fighting.
accepted.
in that birthbed guy and it's been phenomenal ever since it's interested in my career.
It has my career completely changed after I wrote that book.

(23:24):
maybe you and I have talked about this or not and we maybe we've even touched on who weresome of the like you because I think for a lot of us who write romance we started reading
it very early on I think I was like 12 13 when I started picking up romances and likereading a lot of them who were some of the people that you were reading when you first
started out because the other part for us is black romance authors is that you know youand I are both of a certain age and we will not discuss that but

(23:51):
that's what I tell the people
but you know, like back in the day, there weren't a lot of traditionally published blackauthors for us to choose from.
Like you did have Beverly Jenkins, which was lovely to see representation of ourselves onthese covers and in the writing.
uh But you know, it was limited.

(24:13):
There were maybe like two or three, but for the most part, we were reading white authors,which I mean, you know, we were fine with.
Yeah.
Um, you know, obviously, yes, we wanted to see more representation, but, know, we readwhat what we could find.
Right, so I will say my reading journey has like, it has so many parts.

(24:38):
The first people I read was historical romance, Joanna Lindsay, Julie Gar with all of thehistoricals.
That's why I started out writing historical romance.
And it wasn't until the mid 2000s when Amazon was like brought on Indie publishing that Idiscovered uh

(25:00):
ah you know, Black writers writing indie because that is what I think we had a ah what wasthe drafted digital person come and talk to our romance writers group and he was like our
number one selling books are African American and interracial and yeah people wereastounded and and then uh

(25:29):
And I was, you know, I didn't even start reading like black romance or interracial romanceuntil then.
And then, yeah.
20s going into 30 by the time like that was a thing or there was more of a pool to choosefrom.

(25:49):
Remember Alora's cave that was where you saw Alora's cave for y'all For y'all who don'tknow Alora's cave was a powerhouse Publishing company and it imploded of course because it
was like kind of like a pyramid.
I don't know what happened with it Anyway, but Alora's cave and then it was another one uhFor a long time they were the ones publishing

(26:19):
People, Naima started with the Loras Cave.
I don't know if Katie did, but uh many, many authors started with the Loras Cave and theywere great powerhouse authors.
And um then I think the ladies stopped paying the people or something.

(26:39):
happened.
y'all gotta look it up.
It's on the internet.
Go to the Wayback Machine, you'll find it.
say, and I'm not gonna dive too deeply into this, and I know you and I have had outsidediscussions on this thing or whatever, but what I would love to see is that we as Black
authors, those of us who write romance uh and are, you know, Black, that we support eachother no matter what type of romance it is that we're writing.

(27:04):
Because it really is disheartening and hurtful when you get...
Black authors that won't support what you write, because whether it's in a racial orwhatever that is, I'm like, in the year 2025, can we just support one another?
Because we already get enough flack from, you know, other outside, you know, we shouldn'tdisparage one another.

(27:30):
And you know what, and I've seen over the last, like here very recently, uh since uh thelast six months, a change, right?
And I've seen book talkers and influencers shutting that discussion down.
And I appreciate it so much because they're saying, you know,

(27:54):
is really anti-Black to tell people what they can and cannot write and what they can andcannot read and enjoy.
When we, when it was illegal for us to even read or write.
So that's really crazy.
So, and love is love.
And I want everybody to feel represented in my book.
Although, you know, my primary focus is Curvy Black Girls because I'm a Curvy Black Girl,but they are being loved by all the men.

(28:21):
Yeah, and we love that.
We love that.
all the lids.
I'm also gonna peak my ass.
get love.
I think that's important.
Representation is where we talk about representation is important.
I feel like a lot of mine, it's like they always have natural hair.
Because that's just a part of something that for me is important to embrace that.

(28:46):
em Only because in my own journey with that, I was in my 30s when I finally went natural.
Up until that point, I'd always had relax.
was like my mother started.
them in my hair when I was like five.
And so that was a journey for me to learn to embrace like the natural God-given hair thatgrows out of my head.
And so for me, I always wanted to embrace that in the characters that I write because thatis something on a personal level that's kind of important to me.

(29:12):
oh So yeah.
Yeah.
So me being natural was like, I had my first child and I think I went like a year withoutgetting my hair done.
And my sister was like, you got a perm on the last four inches.
And the rest is natural.
And so I just cut it and then it just happened like that because I was a new mom and I waslike not doing it.

(29:37):
And so.
ah
But I, you know, so my first hair one who actually, I just wrote lyric and she, her hairis natural, but she wears a wig because I wanted to give homage to the girls who will wear
the 42 inch bust down.
And I just wanted her in Beyonce with the blonde wig.

(30:00):
wanted her to be like, she was, she's Beyonce.
If you like Beyonce, she's Taylor.
If you like Taylor, okay.
Hahaha
star in the world, depending on whatever you like.
And she ends up being uh forced married to a prince who she had a one night stand with andended up forgetting to tell him he had a baby.

(30:23):
I think that for me was one of the best compliments I ever got.
A reader had reached out to me once and were like, my god, I'm so happy that you mentionedthat she was wearing her head scarf at night or something like that for my book.
And I was like, but that's real because it always drives me crazy in a movie when you seethe Black woman wake up and I'm like, her hair would be wrapped up.
She'd have a sad look.

(30:44):
I had a bun.
Y'all can't see me in Moni, but I never showed this.
oh She's in charge of the digital.
I somehow I washed my hair and I had what you call like the head scarf or slash bun itbetrayal.
And I woke up and my hair was like everywhere.
So now I got the reconstituted.
So it's back.

(31:05):
But I love when
And I need to write that in a book where the girl, I think I did it one time where herhead scarf come out and she's hands are messed up because like that is, that's one thing
you're going to get from like, if we're talking about diversity, right?
You're going to get many baths.

(31:28):
You write a whole book and they took no bath.
Then you're going to get many baths, especially for me.
And you're going to have a little love scene like.
Bethany, Sierra Tumon said, went to like, that's like your trademark thing now, thebathtub, the water situation.
And so, because I love a bath and a shower, okay?

(31:49):
In summertime, I get to take three.
And then you're gonna have like the whole hair maintenance and the moisturizing in thebooks completely.
It's like hygiene is such a thing.
oh
just because if we're talking about writing black characters, hair is a big thing as ablack woman.

(32:11):
Whether you, like you said, whether you wear a wig, whether you wear it natural, whetheryou wear it relaxed or whatever that is, hair itself is a big part of who we are.
Yeah.
So yeah, so for me that always has to kind of be a part because I'm like, I feel like hairis synonymous with like

(32:34):
who we are, like, you know, that's it.
Yeah.
And I think, we have read everything and I feel like black authors have a uniqueperspective because we've been so assimilated into this society.
We can write everybody.
And um you still got to do your research and have sensitivity readers.

(32:59):
And because right now I'm writing an Afro-Columbian and I got my...
Colombian friends on speed dial, they're like, what now?
You know, and so what I love about it is that we are able to, uh you know, really, youknow, immerse ourselves as writers in different experiences.

(33:23):
And I think as a successful writer is able to do that.
And I feel like you are, of course, regardless of your race,
uh can write anybody, but the precursor should always be that you have, you should havesome knowledge and, um you know, cultural experience with the people that you're actually

(33:49):
writing.
Like I've never been to Japan, but one of my good friends is Japanese.
You know what I'm saying?
I've never, like, and she helped me with bad guy and with, you know, toxic and.
another person who probably also like sick of me calling her out.
You know her, you know, and my other, you know, Afro Japanese uh readers, you know, causethey reached out to me and they was like, they wouldn't say this like that.

(34:18):
You know, they wouldn't say brother refer to their brother like that.
You need to fix that.
And then like Akira's name, like I knew what I wanted his name to be.
And, but I got it from anime and it's wrong, just so y'all know.

(34:39):
Because the Japanese people was like this is not how you put this is not how you spellthis name But at that point I'm like we have we have sold, you know 10,000 copies of this
book.
We are not changing his name I got it from anime blame the anime beef

(35:07):
But that's just like you keep learning and growing and you just got to like take thatknock when it comes if you make a mistake, you know.
I totally agree because I think as writers we never stop learning or growing in terms oflike, you know, just from the worlds we create, from the characters that we create,
because a lot of research, even if you're writing something contemporary, I feel likethere's always some level of research that you're getting into, even if it's because your

(35:32):
character has a career profession or something like that, you know, that you want to bemore knowledgeable.
em So yeah, that's one things I do love about the writing is the research.
I will fall down a research rabbit hole like so easily.
Yeah, and that is what's funny.
Like I've had conversations with people.

(35:52):
I've had conversations with you when I wrote uh California Love.
You were telling me about the film industry and giving me like a huge crash course onthat.
And that conversation was like two or three hours.
And I'm like, this is very, and it really helped me.

(36:13):
But I'm like, it was just sprinkled throughout the book.
It was window dressing.
You know what I'm saying?
it, you know, and most of time it is just that.
Like I think about all the research or backstory that you create for a character thatnever even makes it onto the page, but it's simply to help you craft the character.
And sometimes I do mourn that because it's like, all this lovely like stuff that is noteven part of the story that I created and you're not ever gonna see it.

(36:37):
was like, two things.
You told me about the whole editing process and how important the editor is.
And I was like, if I don't do anything else, she spent an hour telling me about this.
I'm missing it.
And then Dahlia Rose told me about the chef's Bible and how important she was.

(36:58):
Like, you got to mention that, that chef's Bible.
And she is important to.
all chefs have their own Bible, which is all of their recipes.
So I made sure I posted that.
And then I wrote about that in the book.
But it was not like a shelf-based book necessarily in the fact that, like, she talked tome about the plagiarism oh that goes on in the industry.

(37:30):
She was just so...
knowledgeable because she's a chef.
like you just can't having those kind of resources in this community because likeeverybody used to have another job before they were author.
Right.
Like most actors, you know, they all have have had other jobs before they did this.

(37:53):
And you and it's just like you have such a wealth of.
a treasure of people and knowledge at your fingertips if you get out and actually getinvolved and know the community, which is what I love so much about what we're doing here

(38:14):
with the Author Spotlight, seeing those different parts of writer life, yeah, and thiscommunity.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
And I will say too, like even if you're an introvert, neither Kenya or I are introverts,if you have not noticed, but we are kind of a minority within the writing community.

(38:35):
I feel like most are usually introverts.
So I will say there are people and tribes out there too that won't make you feel like youhave to talk or speak or whatever.
but that you can still meet and be around people.
Trust me, I have plenty of people within my community that they're like, it's kind ofrefreshing or, you kind of helped bring me out of my shell a little bit um too because em

(39:04):
yeah, it's always just interesting.
This community is made up of so many different people with different personality types ofhow they are and different things like that.
um
that it's always nice to be able to have conversations even about things like that, abouthow that affects you in terms of what your personality type is.
Because a lot of this too is like you got to obviously promote your books, know, so a lotof people don't always want to be on social media.

(39:32):
They don't want to do the interviews, but those are necessary parts of getting your book,you know, exposure for your book.
So.
Yeah, and I think like there are probably out of the thousands of writers that, you know,we know it's like 10 of us who are not, and we all know each other, right?

(39:55):
And we are like, oh, look at these weirdos.
But the introvert, I've, what, cause I am, I've done a strengths classes and I have,
winning, my woo is like number three or four or whatever, winning others over.
So I have a particular neck of finding that thing that's gonna make you spark, right?

(40:22):
So in all these years of doing the author spotlight on IG and before that on Facebook,I've interviewed a lot of introverted authors, but one thing that's gonna always get an
introvert to blossom
is talking about that thing that interests them.
And I think we had some introverts who we talked to.

(40:45):
And I think the thing that really um gets them interested in talking is like in thewriting field is writing and books that they love.
And just really showing people that um you value and you care about that thing that theylove so much.

(41:08):
And I think regardless of background or whatever, we all love reading, we all lovewriting.
And that is what's so important about, I think what the work we're doing on this podcastis highlighting that.
So.
Well, and I think that's a great segue to get right in this episode.

(41:31):
So we definitely hope that you guys will stick around for the rest of the season to listento the stories of some of these wonderful, brilliant authors that we were able to get to
come on as in, you know, be interviewed for this first season.
So we're so excited for you guys to get into the rest of the interviews and just hear whatit is that they have to say.

(41:55):
And happy reading.
yes.
and we will see you on the next episode.
so stay tuned.
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