April 9, 2025 • 32 mins
Andrea Jenelle, HRS's first-ever returning guest, comes on to sample SPINE OF STEEL, the first installment of the Suffragette Uprising series. Andrea talks about her inspiration for the series, her writing process, and historical research. Learn about her connection to women's rights, her favorite writing techniques, and what makes her historical romances unique.
00:00 Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast
00:33 Introducing Returning Guest Andrea Jenelle
02:20 Andrea Jenelle's New Series: Suffragette Uprising
04:27 Reading from SPINE OF STEEL
14:12 Discussion on the Comstock Act and Its Relevance
23:26 Love It or Leave It: Fun Rapid-Fire Questions
27:34 Upcoming Releases and Final Thoughts
Find out more about Andrea Jenelle at https://www.andreajenelleromance.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to the historicalromance sampler podcast.
I'm your host, Katherine Grant, andeach week I introduce you to another
amazing historical romance author.
My guest reads a little sampleof their work, and then we move
into a free ranging interview.
If you like these episodes, don'tforget to subscribe to the historical
(00:24):
romance sampler, wherever youlisten to podcasts and follow us
on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode.
All right I am back with aexciting episode because this is
my first ever returning guest.
We have Andrea Jenelle, and she'shere for a very exciting reason,
(00:45):
which we'll get to in a moment.
For now, I'd like to introduceyou in case you haven't listened
to our previous episode.
Andrea Jenelle has beenreading Romance for 40 years.
When the pandemic required her to investin yoga pants and cozy socks for her
work from home status, she took advantageof all the time she could reclaim.
(01:05):
In place of commuting, she crackedopen all the notebooks she'd been
hoarding since the late eightiesand released her first book,
no regrets, in 2022.
She has since published 15 booksin Three Romance Sub-genres, small
Town Contemporary, urban, romantic,and Victorian Era Historical Romance
(01:25):
centered on the working class.
Although she writes across sub-genres,she believes the common denominators
in her writing are her love ofbanter, unexpected meet cutes,
and fully fleshed out characters.
She believes in fatedmates, but not Insta Love.
And she considers herselfa romantic pragmatist.
(01:45):
She's a staunch feminist andloves chatting with readers
and supporting other authors.
In fact, I think you still have theaccount I Hype Romance on bookstagram.
I do still
have that account.
Yeah, it's,
it's hard to like keep, you know,all of the social media, like keep
up with everything because youknow, I'm preaching to the choir.
But when you're an author.
(02:07):
Wow.
Yes, it's a lot.
So I think, I think I do like coverlust Friday and step back Saturday
and every swap then I'll do a review.
But yeah, a lot quieter than I usedto be, but still a huge supporter.
Yeah.
And so the reason that we aretogether today is that you had
this idea for a new series.
(02:28):
Mm-hmm.
Called Suffragette Uprising.
And so you are the first book and also myfirst interview, but I'm hoping to have
each author publishing in the SuffragetteUprising series as a guest on the podcast.
So yours is the firstbook, A Spine of Steel.
What can we expect from thisstory and what is your vision
for the series overall?
(02:49):
So what you can expect from the story?
Well, this story is actually set inVictorian era America in small town.
And I actually took I actually took thissetting that is in my contemporaries and
just took it back 150 years, so, oh, cool.
So it's actually inWillow Creek, but it's.
(03:10):
So I really, really wanted to focusmy narrative and my plotting on the
Comstock Act because I think it's gonnabecome more and more prevalent and more
and more important to our discourseof, you know, reading romance the
distribution of romance, you know, whatit means to publishing what it means
to, you know, women's empowerment.
(03:33):
So my heroine comes intoconflict with the law.
You'll figure out why inthe excerpt that I read.
But but yeah, she comes into conflictwith that law and the whole premise of
the book is you know, talks about thelaw and why it's ridiculous, basically.
It also involves the, the hero,like having an epiphany of his own
(03:55):
kind of like, oh, I get it now.
Because he is actually he is actually thetown's prosecuting prosecuting attorney.
So, yeah, so he, once she isfound in violation, he is the
one that isn't, that's taskedwith bringing her to justice.
Ooh.
Gotta love an enemies to love her.
Yes.
(04:15):
But he's also, but he's also her
brother's best friend andthey've grown up together.
So there's also like that dynamic.
Yeah.
Amazing.
All right, well do you wanna getinto the reading and then we can talk
about the series and everything later?
Diogenes castellano was anarrogant, self-righteous ass.
Perry knew beyond the shadow of adoubt that he was the single most
infuriating man on the planet.
(04:38):
But sometimes Pericles Trenton staredat his mouth and forgot her name and
how to speak, and Pericles Trentonwas never speechless because crafting
words was her stock and trade.
For the last five years,she'd single handedly been
running the Willow Creek Crier.
She was the reporter, the writer, theeditor in chief and primary hawker.
(04:58):
She was also the secret translatorof a series of scandalous Italian
memoirs about the lives of 16th centuryVenetian courtesans and their escapades.
Her tongue tied behavior aroundthe man who tormented her
since childhoodas nonsensical.
He captivated her in somedevilish display of power.
She couldn't make heads or tails upwhen her brothers tall, bespectacled
best friend swiped a stray dropof apple jack from the rim of his
(05:21):
glasses with his tongue, or closed
his eyes as he wrapped his moutharound a spoonful of chocolate mousse.
Perry was rendered bothspeechless and witless.
She wanted to leap across the tableand grab his chin, soup be damned.
She wanted to clamber over the half-emptyplatter of roast to lick away the spot
of chocolate caught in his dimplebecause it was slowly driving her mad.
She wanted to toss the half full pitcherof peppered gravy in his direction and
(05:44):
then reach across the table, lift hisglasses from his face on the pretense of
cleaning them, which she would accomplishby sitting down beside him and lifting
her skirt so she could use her petticoat.
Doing that would bear her ankle, and shehoped the innocuousness of it would upend
him the same way she was upended by theway his throat bobbed when he laughed.
Every time he let loose a gusty whoop,she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't
(06:04):
lean forward and bite his Adam's apple.
Their fathers been thebest of friends at Harvard.
Their shared love of classicsand fine whiskey led to a
lifelong attachment attachment.
So pronounced Dio's father followedhis friend from Boston Creek.
They'd served together in the warbetween the states and returned to
raise their family side by side.
Diogenes, or Dio as her brothers calledhim, had been a fixture in her house
(06:25):
for as long as she could remember.
That had been all well and gooduntil the summer she turned 21.
The annual baseball game after the TomPicnic could become quite boisterous.
Her two brothers were dead ringerpitchers, and even, even though her mother
said it wasn't gentile, Perry always endedup behind the home plate as a catcher.
That summer at that game, Dio wentdown in a pile of dust when her
(06:46):
brother Archimedes threw a wild pitch.
Perry had crashed to her knees, andwhen he'd opened his eyes, she'd
noticed how velvety soft they werebehind his mangled spectacles,
like the ears of the pet rabbit
she carried around everywhereshe went when she was seven.
And then she noticed his lips, the firmupper one with the very pronounced bow
just hidden by his mustache and the plushright bottom one, like a juicy strawberry
(07:07):
that was framed by his dark beard.
For the last five years, she hadn'tbeen able to stop noticing his lips.
She was noticing them now theway they scraped against his
fork and melded around his spoon.
"What are you staring at,termagant?" He said around a
mouth full of boiled potatoes.
She wasn't about to confesswhy she was transfixed.
"Do you have to scrape the fork againstyour teeth? Every single time you
(07:27):
take a bite, it orders on uncouth."
He gave her an unrepentantgrin and scraped it again.
"But these are excellent boiledpotatoes." She didn't want to laugh or
smile, but she couldn't help herself.
"Thankfully, as annoying as you canbe, you're no Mr. Collins." He gave her
one of the rare smiles that just turnedup the corner of his beginning lips.
"I see your opinion of me hasimproved since you were 15.
(07:47):
You called me a lout then because Iwouldn't swim into the middle of the pond
until you're sinking canoe back to shore.
You claimed even Mr. Collins wouldhave expended the effort if only
to ingratiate himself." Perry wasnever going to betray how far he
moved up in the ranks of her esteem.
She set a spoon beside her emptybowl and narrowed her eyes at him.
"As I said, you're no Mr.Collins." She smirked.
(08:08):
"But you're no Darcy either.You're more like Wickham." He set a
spoon down and returned her glare.
"I beg your pardon." His voicerose at the end of the question.
Perry gleefully reveled in the facther insult had gotten under his skin.
Archie thumped Dio betweenthe shoulder blades.
"Are you frowning at my sisteragain?" Her brother found it
hilarious when they squabbled andalways refrained from taking sides.
(08:29):
Perry resented his shaky loyalties.
"Why do you care, Archie? Aren'tDio and I always frowning at each
other?" The expression on the faceof her archnemesis lightened, and
he shook his head as if to clear it.
Pericles Andromeda Trenton was trouble.
Trouble in the form of a shrewwith a tongue so sharp it
blistered whoever she turned it on.
But sometimes Dio wanted to haul herover the crowded table and into his
(08:51):
lap so he could kiss away her scowl.
When she was seated across fromhim, he forgot that the docket
of petty and not so petty crimes
he was prosecuting shouldbe his first priority.
This was one of those timesbecause she had called him Dio.
His nickname didn't sound thesame from those rosebud lips.
It sounded like praise or a plea.
He wanted it to be both and his...
I won't say that word.
(09:13):
Turned painfully hard at the thought ofwhat circumstances would elicit either.
He wanted her to say nicknameand call him her God.
He knew his desire was sacreligious,but every single night he about showing
her he'd prefer she used her tonguefor something other than filleting
him alive with its barbed edges.
He didn't purposefully frown at her.
His frown just emerged of its own volition
whenever she was near, like it had been
(09:34):
hiding in his pocket, waitingfor the perfect opportunity.
There wasn't much else Dio could do.
What reaction was he expected to have wheneverything about his best friend's little
sister both confounded and enthralled him?
Dio cleared his throat.
"It wasn't a frown."Perry nodded in agreement.
"He is right.
It wasn't a frown.
It was a scowl.
Almost a snarl." "It wasneither of those things."
He half heartedly protested.
(09:54):
He was lying through his teeth.
It had probably been both.
"Why were you not frowning,mr. Squarehead?" "Mr.
Squarehead?
I'm not amused, Pericles."She turneda laughing face to her brother.
"I have rumpled him, Archie." "Perry,leave Dio alone and sharpen your claws
somewhere else." She stuck her tongueout at her brother and gave Dio a nod.
"I'll give you a reprieve for now."
He dipped his head and triedto give her a sarcastic smile.
(10:17):
"How magnanimous of you."What a delicious scene.
We get so much.
We get so much tension.
Love it.
Thank you.
We're gonna take a quick breakfor our sponsors, and then we're
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All right, so we are back with AndreaJenelle, who just read a sample of
Spine of Steel, which is out thisweek as a new release and kicks off
(11:44):
the Suffragette Uprising series.
So before we get into this sample thatyou read, can you tell us, because
you're the leader of our series,can you tell us about your vision
and maybe the inspiration for it?
Yeah.
So one of the reasons I've beena lifelong feminist is because my
grandmother worked at the polls everyyear from 1931 until like five years
(12:10):
before she died in 2012, so like 75 years.
She worked at the polls, like every year.
She was like a firm believer in women'sright to vote because she saw that happen.
She was born in 1911, so she saw hermother get to vote for the first time.
So she was a strong believer in that.
And you know, having said all that justseeing like what happened in the last
(12:31):
election and, you know, seeing likea lot of the feedback that came outta
that, that like a lot of people justdidn't wanna vote for a woman, you know?
And it, to me it's the naturaloutcome, right of the journey that
we've been on as women, as suffragiststo, to have a woman in the highest
like, position in this country.
I, and I, I feel like sometimeswe forget our history.
(12:53):
I don't know that the, the new generationcoming up is as, is as aware of this
legacy of like, all these women whohave been fighting for these rights
for, you know, 400, 500 years, right?
I wanted to make that thecenterpiece of a series.
I thought it would be fun to do it asan interconnected series so that we're
(13:15):
all like talking about different timeperiods and like different issues that
women have faced throughout history,but all tied to this core belief
that, you know, an equal opportunity.
I love that.
Yeah.
I grew up hearing about mygreat-grandmother who served as a
foreman on a jury, like the first yearthat women could vote, because once
(13:38):
you vote, you become a jury member.
Yeah.
And you know, it's a wonderful story.
But also I also grew up beinglike, well, we want it, you
know, we have the right to vote.
It's accomplished.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think it's really importantto remember how did that happen?
It was not inevitable becausenothing in history is inevitable.
(14:01):
Right.
And you know, what are the resonanceswith today that we can learn from
or draw inspiration from, et cetera.
Exactly.
All right.
So you mentioned at thetop that this story is very
interested in the Comstock Act.
Yes.
Would you like to give us a littleinfomercial about what that is?
(14:24):
So, so the Comstock Act was wasbasically federal legislation that was
passed in the late 19th century thatthat allowed the banning of what it
deemed to be pornographic material.
And the Comstock act was focused onthe distribution of that material
through the US Mail service.
So it kind of fell out of favor,like of being enforced like mid,
(14:48):
like around the third 1930s.
I think that's when the last casewas prosecuted, but it was never
taken off the books or revoked.
So that law is still on the books.
It's funny that we're having thisconversation now because one of the
things that the Comstock Act talksabout is that every community can
determine on its own what it deemsto be pornographic or licentious.
(15:11):
So every community has that power todo that, which is, which is why like a
lot of this, which is why a lot of bookbans happen on the local level, right?
Because it's that communitythat's determining that.
It's also why there are some statesnow that are proposing this, like a
much broader ban on books than whathas ever been contemplated before.
(15:35):
I think Oklahoma is one of the statesright now that is going through that.
And romance falls into that category.
The thing is, is that the waythe original law was written
it had limitations, right?
So it talks about the US Mail service.
Well, as we know, like thatdoesn't contemplate digital books.
Are you gonna say that US Mailservice includes email addresses, like
(15:55):
downloading a book from a website?
So it's, I I don't know if, depending onwhat happens, if that'll like affect that.
There's also the fact that likeI know just in my state there
are three romance bookstores,that is all they sell is romance.
And I feel like that is this, there's beenthis rise since the pandemic of, of these
(16:18):
romance bookstores popping up everywhere.
And it's like, how is that gonna,and most of them are women owned.
So how's that gonna affect that sideof commerce too, because that's a small
business and Yeah, it's, there's awhole, there's all kinds of ramifications
and repercussions to this act andwhat, you know, what happens with
you know, the states and as you know,like some, once someone challenges
(16:41):
something is unconstitutional, whichI think is which I think is the goal.
It can move all the way up toSupreme Court and then the Supreme
Court determines the standard.
Right.
Which is applicable everywhere.
So yeah, it's right.
And I know there's also a Supreme Courtruling called the Miller Test that Yes.
Instructs communities on how to consider.
(17:02):
Mm-hmm.
Is something licentious or pornographic?
Yes.
And it needs to be considered as a whole.
Mm-hmm.
Does it have literary or artistic merit?
Right.
And most of the book bans areliterally trying to remove
that part of the consideration.
So as romance readers, we know what thewhole literary or artistic value is, and
(17:27):
that's why we have bookstores about it.
That's why we have podcasts about it.
That's why we have communities around it.
And so we do need to standup and say you know, Hey.
This is not okay.
This is how we consider what isappropriate for our community or not.
Right.
And I, I think, you know, I know, I knowwe've talked about the history, right
of, of romance period.
(17:48):
And like, you know, the, the,well, we, we'll, we'll just start
with Kathleen Woodiwiss, right?
Because when The Flame and Flower cameout in 1971, that was the first time
that there was like what was consideredexplicit acts on the page and remember
that was also when the Women's Rightsmovement was taking off too, right?
Like the equal Rights Amendment andlike all these things were happening.
(18:11):
So, so I, I, I'm sure that was an outcomeof that, but we've also gotta consider,
like, I even know my mother, like shedid not wanna teach us about sex ed.
Right?
Right.
So, so it was more like oh, I.
(18:31):
For women.
Women.
And it's also a way for women to exploretheir sexuality that they can in any
other way, especially if your sexuality ispart of a marginalized community, right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So,
Okay.
So getting off of our, youknow, doomsday talk for now.
. I loved the authorial voice inthis sample and also obviously
(18:54):
the Jane Austen illusions.
Yes.
Was it different for you towrite an American historical
versus a British historical?
Yes.
I actually wanted to show you like some ofthe research because I know you love that.
I love it.
So, so there's this one it'sErin's Daughters in America because
they're from a Scotch Irish.
(19:14):
And then I also have this one,the social history of, so, Ooh.
Yeah.
Background so well, but yeah.
So yeah, it's very different.
The attitudes, the socialattitudes are very different.
You would think they would be, 'causeit's like the same time period.
'cause I'm, 'cause this is set about 20years later than my Wainwright series.
(19:34):
Right.
Okay.
But but.
Social values and like, especiallyas far as women are concerned, and
women's right were actually moreregressive than they were in Britain.
So,
unfortunately, not surprising,
it's that Puritan heritage.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And are the Greek names, isthere significance to the
(19:57):
characters having Greek names?
Yes.
So so their father, theirfathers were were classics.
Study classics at Harvard together.
So, so they chose their kids' names from
Yeah.
Nerds.
Yeah.
And Dio's last name is Castellano,so that made me think Oh, Italian.
Did you?
Yeah, he is Italian American.
(20:17):
Yeah.
I love that.
Did you do a lot of research onthe Italian American experience?
I did.
I did.
Especially in Boston, so, so a lotof that comes out on the story.
Yeah, because, because there was a, therewas like a significant anti-American
population in Boston, which I didn't know.
I thought, you know, because welearn it's all like Irish Americans.
No.
Yeah.
So and then so you mentionedthat it is connected to Willow
(20:40):
Creek, your contemporary mm-hmm.
Series.
Is there connection in terms of like,are these relatives or ancestors?
They're ancestors, yes.
That's cool.
Yes.
Yeah.
So readers of the Contemporary series,come on over, join the historical world.
Yes.
That is my goal.
The Willow CreekContemporary series I have.
So, you know, they have like abook club in the series and they
(21:02):
read historical romance in the bookclub and like they talk about the
historical romance in the book club.
Like the whole, the first four books.
It was Julianne Long, right?
Her Pennyroyal Green Series.
Wow.
And the, the one the two that I justwrote and then the one coming up, it's
Sarah MacLean's heartbreaker series.
Nice.
Yeah.
I'm like, come on guys.
(21:24):
Pick up a historical romance.
And that's such a fun concept.
And then so I had this novella that Ireleased as like part of an anthology.
And you know, there aretwo things I really love is
libraries and historical romance.
So it's so it's two WillowCreek li rival librarians.
And they're like vyingfor the head spot and.
(21:46):
The Willow Creek Watsons is a verypopular book club in Willow Creek
and the male librarians like, Idon't know, like, he kind of like
is whatever the romance genre.
He's like, he's like, but I guessI need to know something about
it, so can you like teach me?
So, so she gives him a reading list andit's like it's eight canon books right
from the historical government genre.
So I've had several people reach outafter they've read that and be like, I'm
(22:08):
reading all the eight books on the list.
That made me so happy.
I love that.
When you're writing the like book club,do you have to consider, oh, how is
each character reacting to this story or
scene?
I do.
What I try to do is tieit to their experience.
So like the books that Ichoose, I do so on purpose.
(22:30):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
To like, and, and when they talkabout the historical romance, in
that book club, it, whatever pivotalthing they pull out of what they're
reading relates to their own life andlike kind of gives them the epiphany.
Oh,
that's amazing.
Especially the guys.
Especially the guys.
Has that given you a deeperrelationship with the books?
(22:54):
It has.
Yeah, because, because you're, you're,you know, when you read a book for
pleasure, you are not so much in theanalytical mode and like, how does
this to the whole human experience?
When, when you're using it in thisway, it's been so much fun to just like
take out those nuggets and be like,oh, you know this is how this relates
(23:15):
to the human experience, not just inromance, but like in relationships.
What happens when you fall in love?
What happens when you fightwith someone, you know?
Yeah.
I love that.
All right.
Well, I think it's time for us to play.
Love It or Leave It.
Awesome.
[Musical Interlude]
All right.
(23:35):
Do you love it or leave it?
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10% of the story.
I love it.
All right.
Love it or leave it?
Dual point of view narration.
I love it.
I, I do that and I just think, I justthink it makes the story richer, you know?
Love it or leave it?
Third person, past tense, narration.
(23:56):
Love it.
In historical, not in contemporary.
Interesting.
I will because and maybe I can,you know, because I write both,
so like, and sometimes it's reallyhard to switch back and forth.
Because my contemporary or firstperson dual, POV and my, my historical
are third person present dual, POV.
Right?
(24:17):
So it's just.
It's very sometimes it's veryhard to switch back and forth.
Yeah.
It can trip a writer up.
I've had that experience where you'relike, whoa, what tense am I writing in?
Yes.
All right, love it or leave it?
Third act breakup or dark moment.
I
think.
I'm, I don't know if I'm in theminority or the majority in this,
but I think you have to have thatmoment of angst and that moment of
(24:40):
epiphany and that moment of growth.
And I don't think you can havethat unless you have that dark
moment or that third act breakup.
I've always written like they're breakups,but they're not really breakups and
they're always internal struggles.
Like I, I would rather have the breakupbe due to like the growth that they
needed to do as characters rather thanlike some, you know, malevolent villain
(25:01):
or something like that.
Yes.
Right.
Yes.
That makes sense to me.
Love it or leave it alwaysend with an epilogue.
I would say leave it.
Just because I don't thinkit's always necessary.
And I, I tend to not like the epilogueswhere it's like where it's, it's like
a year later, whatever, and it's sothey can show, oh, now they're a big
(25:21):
happy family because I feel like youdon't necessarily need children to be,
have a happy marriage and a happy Yeah.
And I think it's kind of a false Yeah.
Love it or leave it?
Always share researchin your author's note.
I love it.
And I try to do it.
(25:42):
Sometimes the list getsso exhaustive though.
I'm just like, oh my gosh.
So I have a book coming outnext wait, yeah, next week.
And my author's note there's likefive sections and I like had to keep
myself to like two to three paragraphsabout each because I was like, I,
I did recently have a contemporaryromance reader who... O she started
(26:02):
out reading my contemporariesand then she loved my writing.
So she, like, she reads my historicalsnow and she did tell me like, she
sent me an email a couple of days ago.
I was like, she's like, she's like,so I just finished the arc. She's
like, and are, is the final copygonna have the authors notes in it?
She's like, because I love that part.
I was like, oh,
oh, that's so nice.
She, she's like, she's like, I, Ilove like reading about the research
(26:24):
that you do and why you to put that.
So I think readers really appreciate it.
Yeah.
All right.
And are there any other romancerules I didn't ask about that you
break or push the boundaries on?
No.
I'll
say your, the interview you had withBeverly Jenkins revealed this for
(26:46):
me, because she talked about howmuch she hates accidental pregnancy,
myself as well, and I don't thinkI will ever put that in a book.
I also cannot stand instalust thatleads to immediately to instalove.
Like, like instalust is verydifferent from Insta Love.
And I, I feel like you, you can'tbuild a love story just based on like
(27:10):
sexual congress, you know, like youneed to have that emotional aspect.
That is one thing that I, I, I don'tthink I'll ever be able to write
anything that is what is consideredpure smut, because I, I can't like,
like I have, build that story out right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They need something more thanjust the physical connection.
(27:30):
I, I believe that.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fair enough.
All right, well, I'm soglad to have had you on.
Again, like I said, I am hoping tohave all of the suffragette uprising
authors do the podcast with me.
So your book is the first (27:46):
Spine of Steel out April 8th, 2025.
And then there's mine In the WideOpen Light coming out May 6th, 2025.
And Andrea's gonna interviewme for the episode.
Stick around.
And then Misty Urban has Miss Gregoire'sBeginning coming out in June of 2025.
(28:11):
And then we are taking a little break.
And Andrea, can you remind me of the orderof who's, who's putting out what next?
Yes,
it's, it's Ramona Elmes'sbook is coming out
in September.
Yes, September, 2025.
Mm-hmm.
And then in 2026, wehave Elizabeth Everett.
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Smith, Harry Bowen, Uhhuh.
(28:32):
And Stephanie.
And Stephanie
Smith.
Yes.
Yes.
So, I know, I, I just wanna sayto the listeners like, this is
because we authors are all takingthis on as a passion project.
We are so, mm-hmm.
Excited about this prompt andalso fitting it into existing
publishing deadlines and schedules.
So stick with us as weget these stories out.
(28:53):
They're going to be awesome.
And we're excited to, totell them over the next year.
And Andrea, I believe you choseApril 8th for a specific reason.
Yeah, I wanted it to be so many daysafter the, the new inauguration.
So I thought we, I thought we'd have asense of like what, what the climate and
(29:16):
the country was gonna be towards women.
And I think we've gotten a sense of that.
So,
oh, I would say we have, yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's the perfecttime for it to come out.
Well, thank you so much for coming on.
Spin of Steel is Kindle Unlimited.
The whole series is gonnastart out Kindle Unlimited.
You also have 15 plus more romances,contemporary, paranormal, and
(29:40):
historical that listeners can read.
Where can they find you and your books?
So my book, so I do have a couple ofbooks in ku, but that is, the books
that are in KU are, they're novellasthat were in anthologies that, you know,
I released as a Novella or they are.
Of like the series books together,like books 1, 2, 1 through three, three
(30:03):
through four through six, et cetera.
So the first three WainwrightSisters books one through three
are actually, that volume is comingout on KU on the 20 actually this
Friday, the, so, the 21st of March.
But I am very committed to having allof my books available at the library.
So you can read any of mybooks in Hoopla or Libby.
(30:26):
So except for like those, the onesI'm like contractually done, I have
to keep in ku, but all the rest are inHoopla or Libby, which is most of them,
which means that yourlibrary can purchase them.
So if you don't see them in there, askyour librarians to purchase them for you.
Yes.
Awesome.
And again, I, you know, I got, you know,not to like get on my soapbox, but like
(30:48):
I, you know, this, you know, there's the.
Because I made this point to someone,you know, there's the KU ban right
now, or like a lot of people arenot getting into ku and the thing
is, well, KU makes this accessible.
Well, no it doesn't because you stillhave to pay for a subscription, whereas
you don't have to pay for anythingto get these folks from your library.
(31:08):
And I think people forget thatthere's this free resource out there.
If you're looking for, please.
Yes, and KU actually makesbooks less accessible.
Mm-hmm.
Unless you are paying into itbecause it will not allow authors
whose titles are in Kindle Unlimitedto be listed in the libraries.
Libraries cannot purchase.
(31:30):
Yep.
Books that are in Kindle Unlimited.
So that's a great point, point, the ex,
the exclusivity agreement, whereas KoboPlus does not have that exclusivity
agreement, which is also where you canfind my books and I think yours as well.
Right.
Catherine, yours are in.
That's right.
Yes.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Well, thank you so much for coming on.
You're welcome.
This has been so fun.
(31:50):
Thanks for being my first repeat guest.
Yes.
It's been so much fun and I'm soexcited to do this series with you.
That's it for this week!
Don't forget to subscribe to theHistorical Romance Sampler wherever
you listen, and follow us onInstagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Until next week, happy reading!
Welcome to the historicalromance sampler podcast.
I'm your host, Katherine Grant, andeach week I introduce you to another
amazing historical romance author.
My guest reads a little sampleof their work, and then we move
into a free ranging interview.
If you like these episodes, don'tforget to subscribe to the historical
(00:24):
romance sampler, wherever youlisten to podcasts and follow us
on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode.
All right I am back with aexciting episode because this is
my first ever returning guest.
We have Andrea Jenelle, and she'shere for a very exciting reason,
(00:45):
which we'll get to in a moment.
For now, I'd like to introduceyou in case you haven't listened
to our previous episode.
Andrea Jenelle has beenreading Romance for 40 years.
When the pandemic required her to investin yoga pants and cozy socks for her
work from home status, she took advantageof all the time she could reclaim.
(01:05):
In place of commuting, she crackedopen all the notebooks she'd been
hoarding since the late eightiesand released her first book,
no regrets, in 2022.
She has since published 15 booksin Three Romance Sub-genres, small
Town Contemporary, urban, romantic,and Victorian Era Historical Romance
(01:25):
centered on the working class.
Although she writes across sub-genres,she believes the common denominators
in her writing are her love ofbanter, unexpected meet cutes,
and fully fleshed out characters.
She believes in fatedmates, but not Insta Love.
And she considers herselfa romantic pragmatist.
(01:45):
She's a staunch feminist andloves chatting with readers
and supporting other authors.
In fact, I think you still have theaccount I Hype Romance on bookstagram.
I do still
have that account.
Yeah, it's,
it's hard to like keep, you know,all of the social media, like keep
up with everything because youknow, I'm preaching to the choir.
But when you're an author.
(02:07):
Wow.
Yes, it's a lot.
So I think, I think I do like coverlust Friday and step back Saturday
and every swap then I'll do a review.
But yeah, a lot quieter than I usedto be, but still a huge supporter.
Yeah.
And so the reason that we aretogether today is that you had
this idea for a new series.
(02:28):
Mm-hmm.
Called Suffragette Uprising.
And so you are the first book and also myfirst interview, but I'm hoping to have
each author publishing in the SuffragetteUprising series as a guest on the podcast.
So yours is the firstbook, A Spine of Steel.
What can we expect from thisstory and what is your vision
for the series overall?
(02:49):
So what you can expect from the story?
Well, this story is actually set inVictorian era America in small town.
And I actually took I actually took thissetting that is in my contemporaries and
just took it back 150 years, so, oh, cool.
So it's actually inWillow Creek, but it's.
(03:10):
So I really, really wanted to focusmy narrative and my plotting on the
Comstock Act because I think it's gonnabecome more and more prevalent and more
and more important to our discourseof, you know, reading romance the
distribution of romance, you know, whatit means to publishing what it means
to, you know, women's empowerment.
(03:33):
So my heroine comes intoconflict with the law.
You'll figure out why inthe excerpt that I read.
But but yeah, she comes into conflictwith that law and the whole premise of
the book is you know, talks about thelaw and why it's ridiculous, basically.
It also involves the, the hero,like having an epiphany of his own
(03:55):
kind of like, oh, I get it now.
Because he is actually he is actually thetown's prosecuting prosecuting attorney.
So, yeah, so he, once she isfound in violation, he is the
one that isn't, that's taskedwith bringing her to justice.
Ooh.
Gotta love an enemies to love her.
Yes.
(04:15):
But he's also, but he's also her
brother's best friend andthey've grown up together.
So there's also like that dynamic.
Yeah.
Amazing.
All right, well do you wanna getinto the reading and then we can talk
about the series and everything later?
Diogenes castellano was anarrogant, self-righteous ass.
Perry knew beyond the shadow of adoubt that he was the single most
infuriating man on the planet.
(04:38):
But sometimes Pericles Trenton staredat his mouth and forgot her name and
how to speak, and Pericles Trentonwas never speechless because crafting
words was her stock and trade.
For the last five years,she'd single handedly been
running the Willow Creek Crier.
She was the reporter, the writer, theeditor in chief and primary hawker.
(04:58):
She was also the secret translatorof a series of scandalous Italian
memoirs about the lives of 16th centuryVenetian courtesans and their escapades.
Her tongue tied behavior aroundthe man who tormented her
since childhoodas nonsensical.
He captivated her in somedevilish display of power.
She couldn't make heads or tails upwhen her brothers tall, bespectacled
best friend swiped a stray dropof apple jack from the rim of his
(05:21):
glasses with his tongue, or closed
his eyes as he wrapped his moutharound a spoonful of chocolate mousse.
Perry was rendered bothspeechless and witless.
She wanted to leap across the tableand grab his chin, soup be damned.
She wanted to clamber over the half-emptyplatter of roast to lick away the spot
of chocolate caught in his dimplebecause it was slowly driving her mad.
She wanted to toss the half full pitcherof peppered gravy in his direction and
(05:44):
then reach across the table, lift hisglasses from his face on the pretense of
cleaning them, which she would accomplishby sitting down beside him and lifting
her skirt so she could use her petticoat.
Doing that would bear her ankle, and shehoped the innocuousness of it would upend
him the same way she was upended by theway his throat bobbed when he laughed.
Every time he let loose a gusty whoop,she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't
(06:04):
lean forward and bite his Adam's apple.
Their fathers been thebest of friends at Harvard.
Their shared love of classicsand fine whiskey led to a
lifelong attachment attachment.
So pronounced Dio's father followedhis friend from Boston Creek.
They'd served together in the warbetween the states and returned to
raise their family side by side.
Diogenes, or Dio as her brothers calledhim, had been a fixture in her house
(06:25):
for as long as she could remember.
That had been all well and gooduntil the summer she turned 21.
The annual baseball game after the TomPicnic could become quite boisterous.
Her two brothers were dead ringerpitchers, and even, even though her mother
said it wasn't gentile, Perry always endedup behind the home plate as a catcher.
That summer at that game, Dio wentdown in a pile of dust when her
(06:46):
brother Archimedes threw a wild pitch.
Perry had crashed to her knees, andwhen he'd opened his eyes, she'd
noticed how velvety soft they werebehind his mangled spectacles,
like the ears of the pet rabbit
she carried around everywhereshe went when she was seven.
And then she noticed his lips, the firmupper one with the very pronounced bow
just hidden by his mustache and the plushright bottom one, like a juicy strawberry
(07:07):
that was framed by his dark beard.
For the last five years, she hadn'tbeen able to stop noticing his lips.
She was noticing them now theway they scraped against his
fork and melded around his spoon.
"What are you staring at,termagant?" He said around a
mouth full of boiled potatoes.
She wasn't about to confesswhy she was transfixed.
"Do you have to scrape the fork againstyour teeth? Every single time you
(07:27):
take a bite, it orders on uncouth."
He gave her an unrepentantgrin and scraped it again.
"But these are excellent boiledpotatoes." She didn't want to laugh or
smile, but she couldn't help herself.
"Thankfully, as annoying as you canbe, you're no Mr. Collins." He gave her
one of the rare smiles that just turnedup the corner of his beginning lips.
"I see your opinion of me hasimproved since you were 15.
(07:47):
You called me a lout then because Iwouldn't swim into the middle of the pond
until you're sinking canoe back to shore.
You claimed even Mr. Collins wouldhave expended the effort if only
to ingratiate himself." Perry wasnever going to betray how far he
moved up in the ranks of her esteem.
She set a spoon beside her emptybowl and narrowed her eyes at him.
"As I said, you're no Mr.Collins." She smirked.
(08:08):
"But you're no Darcy either.You're more like Wickham." He set a
spoon down and returned her glare.
"I beg your pardon." His voicerose at the end of the question.
Perry gleefully reveled in the facther insult had gotten under his skin.
Archie thumped Dio betweenthe shoulder blades.
"Are you frowning at my sisteragain?" Her brother found it
hilarious when they squabbled andalways refrained from taking sides.
(08:29):
Perry resented his shaky loyalties.
"Why do you care, Archie? Aren'tDio and I always frowning at each
other?" The expression on the faceof her archnemesis lightened, and
he shook his head as if to clear it.
Pericles Andromeda Trenton was trouble.
Trouble in the form of a shrewwith a tongue so sharp it
blistered whoever she turned it on.
But sometimes Dio wanted to haul herover the crowded table and into his
(08:51):
lap so he could kiss away her scowl.
When she was seated across fromhim, he forgot that the docket
of petty and not so petty crimes
he was prosecuting shouldbe his first priority.
This was one of those timesbecause she had called him Dio.
His nickname didn't sound thesame from those rosebud lips.
It sounded like praise or a plea.
He wanted it to be both and his...
I won't say that word.
(09:13):
Turned painfully hard at the thought ofwhat circumstances would elicit either.
He wanted her to say nicknameand call him her God.
He knew his desire was sacreligious,but every single night he about showing
her he'd prefer she used her tonguefor something other than filleting
him alive with its barbed edges.
He didn't purposefully frown at her.
His frown just emerged of its own volition
whenever she was near, like it had been
(09:34):
hiding in his pocket, waitingfor the perfect opportunity.
There wasn't much else Dio could do.
What reaction was he expected to have wheneverything about his best friend's little
sister both confounded and enthralled him?
Dio cleared his throat.
"It wasn't a frown."Perry nodded in agreement.
"He is right.
It wasn't a frown.
It was a scowl.
Almost a snarl." "It wasneither of those things."
He half heartedly protested.
(09:54):
He was lying through his teeth.
It had probably been both.
"Why were you not frowning,mr. Squarehead?" "Mr.
Squarehead?
I'm not amused, Pericles."She turneda laughing face to her brother.
"I have rumpled him, Archie." "Perry,leave Dio alone and sharpen your claws
somewhere else." She stuck her tongueout at her brother and gave Dio a nod.
"I'll give you a reprieve for now."
He dipped his head and triedto give her a sarcastic smile.
(10:17):
"How magnanimous of you."What a delicious scene.
We get so much.
We get so much tension.
Love it.
Thank you.
We're gonna take a quick breakfor our sponsors, and then we're
gonna come back and talk aboutthis sample and also the series.
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All right, so we are back with AndreaJenelle, who just read a sample of
Spine of Steel, which is out thisweek as a new release and kicks off
(11:44):
the Suffragette Uprising series.
So before we get into this sample thatyou read, can you tell us, because
you're the leader of our series,can you tell us about your vision
and maybe the inspiration for it?
Yeah.
So one of the reasons I've beena lifelong feminist is because my
grandmother worked at the polls everyyear from 1931 until like five years
(12:10):
before she died in 2012, so like 75 years.
She worked at the polls, like every year.
She was like a firm believer in women'sright to vote because she saw that happen.
She was born in 1911, so she saw hermother get to vote for the first time.
So she was a strong believer in that.
And you know, having said all that justseeing like what happened in the last
(12:31):
election and, you know, seeing likea lot of the feedback that came outta
that, that like a lot of people justdidn't wanna vote for a woman, you know?
And it, to me it's the naturaloutcome, right of the journey that
we've been on as women, as suffragiststo, to have a woman in the highest
like, position in this country.
I, and I, I feel like sometimeswe forget our history.
(12:53):
I don't know that the, the new generationcoming up is as, is as aware of this
legacy of like, all these women whohave been fighting for these rights
for, you know, 400, 500 years, right?
I wanted to make that thecenterpiece of a series.
I thought it would be fun to do it asan interconnected series so that we're
(13:15):
all like talking about different timeperiods and like different issues that
women have faced throughout history,but all tied to this core belief
that, you know, an equal opportunity.
I love that.
Yeah.
I grew up hearing about mygreat-grandmother who served as a
foreman on a jury, like the first yearthat women could vote, because once
(13:38):
you vote, you become a jury member.
Yeah.
And you know, it's a wonderful story.
But also I also grew up beinglike, well, we want it, you
know, we have the right to vote.
It's accomplished.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think it's really importantto remember how did that happen?
It was not inevitable becausenothing in history is inevitable.
(14:01):
Right.
And you know, what are the resonanceswith today that we can learn from
or draw inspiration from, et cetera.
Exactly.
All right.
So you mentioned at thetop that this story is very
interested in the Comstock Act.
Yes.
Would you like to give us a littleinfomercial about what that is?
(14:24):
So, so the Comstock Act was wasbasically federal legislation that was
passed in the late 19th century thatthat allowed the banning of what it
deemed to be pornographic material.
And the Comstock act was focused onthe distribution of that material
through the US Mail service.
So it kind of fell out of favor,like of being enforced like mid,
(14:48):
like around the third 1930s.
I think that's when the last casewas prosecuted, but it was never
taken off the books or revoked.
So that law is still on the books.
It's funny that we're having thisconversation now because one of the
things that the Comstock Act talksabout is that every community can
determine on its own what it deemsto be pornographic or licentious.
(15:11):
So every community has that power todo that, which is, which is why like a
lot of this, which is why a lot of bookbans happen on the local level, right?
Because it's that communitythat's determining that.
It's also why there are some statesnow that are proposing this, like a
much broader ban on books than whathas ever been contemplated before.
(15:35):
I think Oklahoma is one of the statesright now that is going through that.
And romance falls into that category.
The thing is, is that the waythe original law was written
it had limitations, right?
So it talks about the US Mail service.
Well, as we know, like thatdoesn't contemplate digital books.
Are you gonna say that US Mailservice includes email addresses, like
(15:55):
downloading a book from a website?
So it's, I I don't know if, depending onwhat happens, if that'll like affect that.
There's also the fact that likeI know just in my state there
are three romance bookstores,that is all they sell is romance.
And I feel like that is this, there's beenthis rise since the pandemic of, of these
(16:18):
romance bookstores popping up everywhere.
And it's like, how is that gonna,and most of them are women owned.
So how's that gonna affect that sideof commerce too, because that's a small
business and Yeah, it's, there's awhole, there's all kinds of ramifications
and repercussions to this act andwhat, you know, what happens with
you know, the states and as you know,like some, once someone challenges
(16:41):
something is unconstitutional, whichI think is which I think is the goal.
It can move all the way up toSupreme Court and then the Supreme
Court determines the standard.
Right.
Which is applicable everywhere.
So yeah, it's right.
And I know there's also a Supreme Courtruling called the Miller Test that Yes.
Instructs communities on how to consider.
(17:02):
Mm-hmm.
Is something licentious or pornographic?
Yes.
And it needs to be considered as a whole.
Mm-hmm.
Does it have literary or artistic merit?
Right.
And most of the book bans areliterally trying to remove
that part of the consideration.
So as romance readers, we know what thewhole literary or artistic value is, and
(17:27):
that's why we have bookstores about it.
That's why we have podcasts about it.
That's why we have communities around it.
And so we do need to standup and say you know, Hey.
This is not okay.
This is how we consider what isappropriate for our community or not.
Right.
And I, I think, you know, I know, I knowwe've talked about the history, right
of, of romance period.
(17:48):
And like, you know, the, the,well, we, we'll, we'll just start
with Kathleen Woodiwiss, right?
Because when The Flame and Flower cameout in 1971, that was the first time
that there was like what was consideredexplicit acts on the page and remember
that was also when the Women's Rightsmovement was taking off too, right?
Like the equal Rights Amendment andlike all these things were happening.
(18:11):
So, so I, I, I'm sure that was an outcomeof that, but we've also gotta consider,
like, I even know my mother, like shedid not wanna teach us about sex ed.
Right?
Right.
So, so it was more like oh, I.
(18:31):
For women.
Women.
And it's also a way for women to exploretheir sexuality that they can in any
other way, especially if your sexuality ispart of a marginalized community, right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So,
Okay.
So getting off of our, youknow, doomsday talk for now.
. I loved the authorial voice inthis sample and also obviously
(18:54):
the Jane Austen illusions.
Yes.
Was it different for you towrite an American historical
versus a British historical?
Yes.
I actually wanted to show you like some ofthe research because I know you love that.
I love it.
So, so there's this one it'sErin's Daughters in America because
they're from a Scotch Irish.
(19:14):
And then I also have this one,the social history of, so, Ooh.
Yeah.
Background so well, but yeah.
So yeah, it's very different.
The attitudes, the socialattitudes are very different.
You would think they would be, 'causeit's like the same time period.
'cause I'm, 'cause this is set about 20years later than my Wainwright series.
(19:34):
Right.
Okay.
But but.
Social values and like, especiallyas far as women are concerned, and
women's right were actually moreregressive than they were in Britain.
So,
unfortunately, not surprising,
it's that Puritan heritage.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And are the Greek names, isthere significance to the
(19:57):
characters having Greek names?
Yes.
So so their father, theirfathers were were classics.
Study classics at Harvard together.
So, so they chose their kids' names from
Yeah.
Nerds.
Yeah.
And Dio's last name is Castellano,so that made me think Oh, Italian.
Did you?
Yeah, he is Italian American.
(20:17):
Yeah.
I love that.
Did you do a lot of research onthe Italian American experience?
I did.
I did.
Especially in Boston, so, so a lotof that comes out on the story.
Yeah, because, because there was a, therewas like a significant anti-American
population in Boston, which I didn't know.
I thought, you know, because welearn it's all like Irish Americans.
No.
Yeah.
So and then so you mentionedthat it is connected to Willow
(20:40):
Creek, your contemporary mm-hmm.
Series.
Is there connection in terms of like,are these relatives or ancestors?
They're ancestors, yes.
That's cool.
Yes.
Yeah.
So readers of the Contemporary series,come on over, join the historical world.
Yes.
That is my goal.
The Willow CreekContemporary series I have.
So, you know, they have like abook club in the series and they
(21:02):
read historical romance in the bookclub and like they talk about the
historical romance in the book club.
Like the whole, the first four books.
It was Julianne Long, right?
Her Pennyroyal Green Series.
Wow.
And the, the one the two that I justwrote and then the one coming up, it's
Sarah MacLean's heartbreaker series.
Nice.
Yeah.
I'm like, come on guys.
(21:24):
Pick up a historical romance.
And that's such a fun concept.
And then so I had this novella that Ireleased as like part of an anthology.
And you know, there aretwo things I really love is
libraries and historical romance.
So it's so it's two WillowCreek li rival librarians.
And they're like vyingfor the head spot and.
(21:46):
The Willow Creek Watsons is a verypopular book club in Willow Creek
and the male librarians like, Idon't know, like, he kind of like
is whatever the romance genre.
He's like, he's like, but I guessI need to know something about
it, so can you like teach me?
So, so she gives him a reading list andit's like it's eight canon books right
from the historical government genre.
So I've had several people reach outafter they've read that and be like, I'm
(22:08):
reading all the eight books on the list.
That made me so happy.
I love that.
When you're writing the like book club,do you have to consider, oh, how is
each character reacting to this story or
scene?
I do.
What I try to do is tieit to their experience.
So like the books that Ichoose, I do so on purpose.
(22:30):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
To like, and, and when they talkabout the historical romance, in
that book club, it, whatever pivotalthing they pull out of what they're
reading relates to their own life andlike kind of gives them the epiphany.
Oh,
that's amazing.
Especially the guys.
Especially the guys.
Has that given you a deeperrelationship with the books?
(22:54):
It has.
Yeah, because, because you're, you're,you know, when you read a book for
pleasure, you are not so much in theanalytical mode and like, how does
this to the whole human experience?
When, when you're using it in thisway, it's been so much fun to just like
take out those nuggets and be like,oh, you know this is how this relates
(23:15):
to the human experience, not just inromance, but like in relationships.
What happens when you fall in love?
What happens when you fightwith someone, you know?
Yeah.
I love that.
All right.
Well, I think it's time for us to play.
Love It or Leave It.
Awesome.
[Musical Interlude]
All right.
(23:35):
Do you love it or leave it?
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10% of the story.
I love it.
All right.
Love it or leave it?
Dual point of view narration.
I love it.
I, I do that and I just think, I justthink it makes the story richer, you know?
Love it or leave it?
Third person, past tense, narration.
(23:56):
Love it.
In historical, not in contemporary.
Interesting.
I will because and maybe I can,you know, because I write both,
so like, and sometimes it's reallyhard to switch back and forth.
Because my contemporary or firstperson dual, POV and my, my historical
are third person present dual, POV.
Right?
(24:17):
So it's just.
It's very sometimes it's veryhard to switch back and forth.
Yeah.
It can trip a writer up.
I've had that experience where you'relike, whoa, what tense am I writing in?
Yes.
All right, love it or leave it?
Third act breakup or dark moment.
I
think.
I'm, I don't know if I'm in theminority or the majority in this,
but I think you have to have thatmoment of angst and that moment of
(24:40):
epiphany and that moment of growth.
And I don't think you can havethat unless you have that dark
moment or that third act breakup.
I've always written like they're breakups,but they're not really breakups and
they're always internal struggles.
Like I, I would rather have the breakupbe due to like the growth that they
needed to do as characters rather thanlike some, you know, malevolent villain
(25:01):
or something like that.
Yes.
Right.
Yes.
That makes sense to me.
Love it or leave it alwaysend with an epilogue.
I would say leave it.
Just because I don't thinkit's always necessary.
And I, I tend to not like the epilogueswhere it's like where it's, it's like
a year later, whatever, and it's sothey can show, oh, now they're a big
(25:21):
happy family because I feel like youdon't necessarily need children to be,
have a happy marriage and a happy Yeah.
And I think it's kind of a false Yeah.
Love it or leave it?
Always share researchin your author's note.
I love it.
And I try to do it.
(25:42):
Sometimes the list getsso exhaustive though.
I'm just like, oh my gosh.
So I have a book coming outnext wait, yeah, next week.
And my author's note there's likefive sections and I like had to keep
myself to like two to three paragraphsabout each because I was like, I,
I did recently have a contemporaryromance reader who... O she started
(26:02):
out reading my contemporariesand then she loved my writing.
So she, like, she reads my historicalsnow and she did tell me like, she
sent me an email a couple of days ago.
I was like, she's like, she's like,so I just finished the arc. She's
like, and are, is the final copygonna have the authors notes in it?
She's like, because I love that part.
I was like, oh,
oh, that's so nice.
She, she's like, she's like, I, Ilove like reading about the research
(26:24):
that you do and why you to put that.
So I think readers really appreciate it.
Yeah.
All right.
And are there any other romancerules I didn't ask about that you
break or push the boundaries on?
No.
I'll
say your, the interview you had withBeverly Jenkins revealed this for
(26:46):
me, because she talked about howmuch she hates accidental pregnancy,
myself as well, and I don't thinkI will ever put that in a book.
I also cannot stand instalust thatleads to immediately to instalove.
Like, like instalust is verydifferent from Insta Love.
And I, I feel like you, you can'tbuild a love story just based on like
(27:10):
sexual congress, you know, like youneed to have that emotional aspect.
That is one thing that I, I, I don'tthink I'll ever be able to write
anything that is what is consideredpure smut, because I, I can't like,
like I have, build that story out right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They need something more thanjust the physical connection.
(27:30):
I, I believe that.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fair enough.
All right, well, I'm soglad to have had you on.
Again, like I said, I am hoping tohave all of the suffragette uprising
authors do the podcast with me.
So your book is the first (27:46):
Spine of Steel out April 8th, 2025.
And then there's mine In the WideOpen Light coming out May 6th, 2025.
And Andrea's gonna interviewme for the episode.
Stick around.
And then Misty Urban has Miss Gregoire'sBeginning coming out in June of 2025.
(28:11):
And then we are taking a little break.
And Andrea, can you remind me of the orderof who's, who's putting out what next?
Yes,
it's, it's Ramona Elmes'sbook is coming out
in September.
Yes, September, 2025.
Mm-hmm.
And then in 2026, wehave Elizabeth Everett.
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Smith, Harry Bowen, Uhhuh.
(28:32):
And Stephanie.
And Stephanie
Smith.
Yes.
Yes.
So, I know, I, I just wanna sayto the listeners like, this is
because we authors are all takingthis on as a passion project.
We are so, mm-hmm.
Excited about this prompt andalso fitting it into existing
publishing deadlines and schedules.
So stick with us as weget these stories out.
(28:53):
They're going to be awesome.
And we're excited to, totell them over the next year.
And Andrea, I believe you choseApril 8th for a specific reason.
Yeah, I wanted it to be so many daysafter the, the new inauguration.
So I thought we, I thought we'd have asense of like what, what the climate and
(29:16):
the country was gonna be towards women.
And I think we've gotten a sense of that.
So,
oh, I would say we have, yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's the perfecttime for it to come out.
Well, thank you so much for coming on.
Spin of Steel is Kindle Unlimited.
The whole series is gonnastart out Kindle Unlimited.
You also have 15 plus more romances,contemporary, paranormal, and
(29:40):
historical that listeners can read.
Where can they find you and your books?
So my book, so I do have a couple ofbooks in ku, but that is, the books
that are in KU are, they're novellasthat were in anthologies that, you know,
I released as a Novella or they are.
Of like the series books together,like books 1, 2, 1 through three, three
(30:03):
through four through six, et cetera.
So the first three WainwrightSisters books one through three
are actually, that volume is comingout on KU on the 20 actually this
Friday, the, so, the 21st of March.
But I am very committed to having allof my books available at the library.
So you can read any of mybooks in Hoopla or Libby.
(30:26):
So except for like those, the onesI'm like contractually done, I have
to keep in ku, but all the rest are inHoopla or Libby, which is most of them,
which means that yourlibrary can purchase them.
So if you don't see them in there, askyour librarians to purchase them for you.
Yes.
Awesome.
And again, I, you know, I got, you know,not to like get on my soapbox, but like
(30:48):
I, you know, this, you know, there's the.
Because I made this point to someone,you know, there's the KU ban right
now, or like a lot of people arenot getting into ku and the thing
is, well, KU makes this accessible.
Well, no it doesn't because you stillhave to pay for a subscription, whereas
you don't have to pay for anythingto get these folks from your library.
(31:08):
And I think people forget thatthere's this free resource out there.
If you're looking for, please.
Yes, and KU actually makesbooks less accessible.
Mm-hmm.
Unless you are paying into itbecause it will not allow authors
whose titles are in Kindle Unlimitedto be listed in the libraries.
Libraries cannot purchase.
(31:30):
Yep.
Books that are in Kindle Unlimited.
So that's a great point, point, the ex,
the exclusivity agreement, whereas KoboPlus does not have that exclusivity
agreement, which is also where you canfind my books and I think yours as well.
Right.
Catherine, yours are in.
That's right.
Yes.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Well, thank you so much for coming on.
You're welcome.
This has been so fun.
(31:50):
Thanks for being my first repeat guest.
Yes.
It's been so much fun and I'm soexcited to do this series with you.
That's it for this week!
Don't forget to subscribe to theHistorical Romance Sampler wherever
you listen, and follow us onInstagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Until next week, happy reading!
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