Interview w/Meg Acuna

Join Dev and Jordan as they talk with Meg Acuna about her new self published book, The Crown Prophecy. Learn about the journey she took writing her own novel, the publishing choices she had to make, and what you can look forward to throughout her new romantasy series. We're sure you'll enjoy her as much as we do!

The Crown Prophecy is the perfect read if you want cozy fantasy, but you thought Legends and Lattes was too boring and needed romance and a more interesting plot. Expected publication October 28, 2024

Send us a text

Support the show

https://www.instagram.com/romancerecspod/
https://www.threads.net/@romancerecspod

Episode Transcript

Devonnie (00:03):
Welcome to Romance Recs, where book besties explore
the world of romance novels andencourage you to expand your
TBR.
Join us as we dive into thehottest releases and hidden gems
of the genre.
You can find us on Instagram andTik TOK at romance Recs pod.
Hi guys.
This is your favorite.

(00:23):
It's Dev.
I know.
Hold your applause, babes.

Jordan (00:29):
Wow.

Devonnie (00:29):
here too.

Jordan (00:30):
Shots.
And our guest, but shots fired.
Jesus.
Don't mind us.
We're all

Meg (00:36):
okay, you're both my favorite.

Devonnie (00:37):
All right.
It's the Dev Show.
Welcome, everybody.
Thanks for being here.
JK.
All right.
So right now this is veryexciting because the book that I
am about at the midway point ofactually belongs to our esteemed
guest of the evening.
And we'll go into that later,but I am currently reading the

(00:58):
crown prophecy by Meg Acuna.
And I just finished right beforestarting this daydream by Hannah
Grace.
That's where I'm at.

Jordan (01:07):
And I'm Jordan, your real favorite.
I am currently reading, To Carvea Fae Heart by Tessonia Odette,
and I am just starting anadvanced listener copy of The
Dissection and Reassembly ofCoen Horde by Alessa Hagberg.

Devonnie (01:28):
Interesting.

Jordan (01:30):
It's sci fi, so we'll see.

Devonnie (01:31):
Oh,

Meg (01:32):
Fi romance?
Hi!

Jordan (01:34):
Or so it says.
We'll see.
You never know.
And we have a guest! You can goahead and introduce yourself.
Hi.

Meg (01:42):
Hi, I am the aforementioned Megacunya.
I will not attempt to returnshots because y'all probably
don't know who I am, so I'm notanybody's favorite yet.
I'm so happy to be here.
I've been a listener for a verylong time.
And my current read is Measureof a Man by Anadeis 22 on AL3.
It's a germani fic.

Jordan (02:00):
Yes! We'd love to hear that.
We'd love to hear AO3, Rex.
And, yeah.

Devonnie (02:06):
First of all, we're going to take it back to where I
mispronounced your last name,Meg, it's a Kunya, not

Meg (02:12):
Nobody ever gets it.
It's fine.
I like to say Petunia, but I didnot give that spiel to you
before we started recording, sonow you're fault.

Devonnie (02:20):
I actually love that.
That's really cute, but thankyou for saying it the correct
way.
So I now know how your last nameis said, because I like to

Meg (02:26):
Oh, no worries.

Devonnie (02:27):
the right way.
So thank you.
Also Yeah, on the book you'rereading.
Very interested.
I feel like I've seen thataround.

Meg (02:37):
I am on like a Dramini binge right now, so I read a
dozen of them this year.
I'm only like 20 percent intothis one, but so far it's really
good.
It's definitely very slow burn.
It's a long one and I just lovethem because you've got seven
books of history.
before you even start on pageone of whatever the fanfic is.
So it's just, there's so muchdepth, you know, to the

Jordan (02:56):
And because it's fanfic, you truly don't know where it's
going.
I feel like that's the fun part,is because you don't know this
author.

Devonnie (03:03):
Yes that's,

Jordan (03:04):
anything.

Devonnie (03:06):
I know.
Christina would eat this up.
She loves AO3, so.

Meg (03:09):
Shout out to Christina.

Jordan (03:10):
Yeah,

Devonnie (03:11):
shout out.
Shout out to Christina.
I don't have a quote for youguys.
I apologize.
However, I do have a rave.
I am going to rave about thefact that I am the luckiest
princess in the world.
And

Jordan (03:27):
you are hyped up on yourself tonight.
This is just wonderful.
No, I'm here for it.
I'm just

Devonnie (03:35):
I, I'm just so lucky.
Okay, guys, if you follow me onsocials, you know that the last,
I would say like the last twoweeks or so, I've received arcs
of some of my most anticipatedreads, like things that I will,
I might sell my left leg for youknow, but I've gotten them for
free.
So like we don't need to sellbody parts.
Cool.
I have an arc of out of thewoods by Hannah Bonham Young.

(03:58):
Y'all know that's my girl.

Jordan (03:59):
I forgot you got that! Fuck,

Devonnie (04:02):
that I see.
And you know, that is yeah, I'mtalking about it.
I'm getting hot.
So I'm really excited aboutthat.
And then I also have spiral byBal Cabra, which is the second
book in her series.
The first was collide.
I am so to read that.
Like y'all have no idea.
I'm currently waiting onsomebody to approve my lost and

(04:22):
lassoed request, but

Jordan (04:24):
Just give it to the pod.
We'll take it.

Devonnie (04:26):
that would make my day.
So yeah, that is my rave.
I'm just really thankful andlucky that authors make it so,
authors and the publishinghouses that they're with make it
so easy for us to access theirbooks before they come out.
So shout out to NetGalley, shoutout to the publishing houses and
shout out to the authors.
And just thank you for doingwhat you do because you make
people like me.
So happy to read your work.

(04:49):
That's my rave.

Jordan (04:50):
That's a good rave.
It's a good problem to have.
Too many good arcs that you'relooking forward to.
I was gonna do a rant, but I'mgonna save my rant.
I actually found a quote fromone of my favorite reads of the
year, and I was just like, Ijust have to read it because it
makes me so happy.
And also, this is an author goalof someone else I would love to
have on the pod, so.
This is from Leather and Lark byBrynne Weaver.

(05:13):
A snow globe, I say slowly,waiting for her to look up,
which she doesn't do.
You made a severed finger into afeckin snow globe.
It was almost Christmas, shesays with a shrug.
It felt festive.
It's a finger.
It's a finger in a snow globewith glitter.

Meg (05:34):
I have to know a real finger.

Jordan (05:36):
Yes,

Devonnie (05:36):
Yes.

Meg (05:37):
my

Jordan (05:38):
she has, he found it in a hidden spot in her home and
just, yeah, it was felt festive.
She just put the finger in asnow globe and

Devonnie (05:47):
There was

Meg (05:48):
that into evidence.

Devonnie (05:49):
Yeah.

Jordan (05:50):
I just love it because it, just, he slowly Mentioning
this and she just refuses tolook at him.
That's my favorite part though.

Devonnie (05:59):
Huh.

Jordan (06:00):
That's my Bryn Weaver quote from Leather and Lark.
Meg.
I don't know Did you bring aquote or do you have a rant or
anything?
Yes

Devonnie (06:08):
Yay.
Yes.

Meg (06:10):
is short and sweet.
It's from A Study in Drowning byAva Reid.
And I just think that this is amessage that's in a lot of
books, but it isn't saidoutright.
But I love this.
It's You don't have to take up asword.
Survival is bravery too.
I gave it

Devonnie (06:25):
Okay.
So I've been dying to read astudy in drowning.
So how did you like that book?

Meg (06:32):
a four out of five.
The writing is beautiful.
The author is so incrediblytalented.
I felt like I wasn't investedenough in the characters,
especially because it's astandalone, which I'm sure we'll
talk about later.
I struggle with standalones, butthe writing, I mean, she's so,
so talented and the prose wasjust beautiful.

Devonnie (06:49):
Yeah.
Okay.

Jordan (06:50):
was a beautiful quote though

Devonnie (06:52):
Yeah.
So yes, guys, as you can tell byour long winded intro, but also
the things we were talkingabout, we have Meg here to talk
about all things, the crownprophecy, what she's reading,
what she's doing, what it's likebeing an author, a content
creator, a mom, all the things.
So we're really excited thatyou're on the podcast today,
Meg, thank you so much for beinghere and yeah, of course.

(07:16):
Of course.

Jordan (07:17):
we met Meg this summer at our book meetup, which is how
we discovered her and her book

Devonnie (07:25):
Book.
Yeah.

Jordan (07:26):
We've been anxiously awaiting this.
And so

Meg (07:28):
Most fun event.
I remember at the meetup I wastalking to somebody else who was
also writing and I was like, oh,yeah Like I'm working on you
know Getting my book out intothe world and I like pulled it
out and I can't remember who wasone of you guys like took It out
of my hands and ran and was likeeverybody look

Devonnie (07:46):
That sounds

Meg (07:46):
that was like

Jordan (07:47):
That was

Meg (07:48):
Thank you for being my hype woman because I was like, I
don't I wouldn't do that formyself, but it was so funny.

Jordan (07:54):
Oh, we will hype you up.

Devonnie (07:56):
Oh, yeah.
Look no further.
The cheer section is right here,babe.
Like we will hype you up.
And that is definitely a devmove to yank something out of
someone's hand and take off toshow it to someone else.

Meg (08:06):
It was awesome.

Jordan (08:08):
It was, that was the first event we've done and it
was so fun.
Like I have to say, thank youfor appreciating it, but we had
so much fun too.
and I think the other author wasEliza Leone, I've been slowly
going through her book.
Her book is amazing.
It's cozy, and so I to read itbefore bed when I'm not super
immersed in books I have tofinish, so I've been going

(08:30):
through hers too, we werefortunate with our awesome the
awesome people that came out, Iknow, it was,

Devonnie (08:36):
Meeting all of those cool people.
It was really nice.
We'll be having another event.

Jordan (08:40):
yeah, it's in the

Devonnie (08:41):
heard it here first.

Meg (08:42):
be there.

Jordan (08:43):
This one should be, I'm really excited for the next one.
I'm, I like, I have to admit I'mpretty

Devonnie (08:47):
We're pumped about the theme for the next one.
So yeah before we get distractedand carried away We are going to
open up the floor to you meg andbasically yeah, tell us about
yourself and your upcomingrelease and any other
announcements that you kind ofwant to make or talk about but
yeah This is like your stageright now to just talk about
yourself, which I know is reallyhard We will help, but just say

(09:09):
all the things.

Meg (09:10):
no pressure.
No pressure.
You would think I would be usedto this because I am a YouTuber.
That's like my full time job,but every time I'm still nervous
every time after seven years.
My name is Meg.
I am a YouTuber and a mom oftwo.
I am a lover of all thingscottagecore, so you can usually
find me gardening, baking, atthe thrift store, basically
doing anything that your grandmawould do.
I am about to release my debutnovel and I'm so excited and I'm

(09:34):
freaking out and I'm just sostoked to share with the world.

Jordan (09:39):
Well, tell us, you know, it's so cute and I've, Watch
some of your stuff, but it's Ijust love it.
It's so cute.
And having met you, it matchesup with exactly what I see.
And you're just so, so kind.
And I was so excited to readthis book.
Can you tell us a little bitabout The Crown Prophecy, your
new novel?
Maybe, like, where did this ideacome from?

(10:01):
Like where it's at now, likejust kind of

Meg (10:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
So this actually started as aNaNoWriMo project, funnily
enough and it was one of thosethings, well before NaNoWriMo
got into all the hot water withthe AI stuff, this was not this
year disclaimer.
But yeah, I just, I've beenwriting and binding my own
fantasy novels since I was likeeight or nine years old.
I would take cardboard andpainter's tape and enter them at

(10:26):
the young author's fair.
And I just, I've been writingforever.
I wrote my first full lengthnovel when I was like 15.
I'm sure it's garbage.
But this story in particularjust kind of lodged itself in my
brain and was like I am notleaving until you write the
whole thing.
So that is kind of how it gotstarted.

Devonnie (10:44):
I love that.
I love that.
And I love that you've been inthis world of writing and
wanting to write for so longbecause that just shows like how
your book comes out at the endof this month.
Right.

Meg (10:56):
It does, yes.
October 28th.

Devonnie (10:58):
is Right.
This has been in the works foryears.
You've been building up to thismoment for years.
So I love that.
I love that for you.

Meg (11:06):
The imposter syndrome is like nuts for, I think, all
authors.
I don't know, maybe Sarah J Maasdoesn't get it, but I feel like
I literally have a degree inEnglish Literature and I'm still
sitting here oh my gosh, who amI to do this?
And it's I have a piece of paperthat says I can.

Jordan (11:20):
I am not surprised after reading Your story.
I am not surprised.
I love the way you write like Ilove I was telling this to Dev,
I was like, there's somethingabout, I could really tell you
have an ama like, this soundsweird, but an amazing
vocabulary.
Like to me, I'm like some booksI read, I'm like, this author is
using a thesaurus a lot.

(11:41):
Like they've never used thisword in their life.
But I read your book and I'mjust like, this girl is
educated.
She knows what she's writingabout.
She is well informed.
She knows, like it, it comesthrough in the writing.
It feels genuine too.
So I just,

Meg (11:56):
Thank you.
I think one of the great thingsabout it being a nano project is
that I had no intention ofpublishing it when I started it.
And so I really just got towrite what I wanted to write and
not what I thought wasmarketable.
And then I, you know, throughthe process of sharing it with,
I think I, over time I've had adozen beta readers and a
developmental editor and a copyin line editor.

(12:18):
And eventually it got to thepoint where I was like, I think
I actually want to share this.
But it was something that Iwrote for me and it just kind of
feels.
Like me in a book, which I thinkwas really cool and fun

Jordan (12:31):
Yeah, that

Devonnie (12:31):
Yes.
I will agree that comes throughfor sure.
After, like Jordan said, justmeeting you and then reading
your words, reading the storyand you know, I'm only halfway
through, but I feel like youshow up in your work and Not a
lot of people can pull that offwithout it being like super
cringy or just I don't want toread this.
Is this your life story?
Which, you know, this may not beyour life story, but I just feel
like there are

Meg (12:52):
Thankfully not

Devonnie (12:55):
Well, I don't know

Meg (12:56):
Sorry, no spoilers.

Jordan (12:58):
Yeah.

Devonnie (12:58):
Everybody.

Jordan (12:59):
Dev's not there yet.
I'm like, no.

Devonnie (13:01):
no.

Meg (13:02):
summary for the people who are listening?

Devonnie (13:04):
What?
Oh, is there one?

Meg (13:07):
I have just a couple of sentences basically the story is
about Quinn who is this like hotheaded but non magical palace
baker who gets caught up in theaffairs of the crown prince.
And the prince is likebegrudgingly holding this
competition to choose a magicwielding bride, and it kind of
looks like that's all it is atsurface level, and then Quinn

(13:27):
slowly finds out that thecontest is masking a darker
truth.
And she finds herself helpinghim to decipher this cryptic
prophecy that might be theironly chance of saving the
kingdom.
They're thrown together a lot,obviously.
It's high stakes but cozy vibesand it's got all my favorite
tropes like found family and whodid this to you and mutual
pining and forbidden romance andfated mates and if you like a

(13:49):
dark haired love interest whosepreferred manner of flirting is
banter, this is the book foryou.

Jordan (13:53):
Yeah.

Devonnie (13:54):
we do.
We do love all those thingsactually.
We do love.
It could never be a blonde.
It could never be a blonde

Meg (13:59):
No.
Oh, Draco's the only oneallowed.
Maybe Peta.

Jordan (14:03):
Well, I could do PETA, I could do PETA but that's

Meg (14:06):
Oh, Aaron

Jordan (14:07):
up against Gale, so,

Devonnie (14:09):
I haven't read Aaron Warner.
I know the

Meg (14:11):
Oh my god, you have to read Jeremy.
It's so good.

Devonnie (14:15):
I

Jordan (14:15):
Okay, I gotta give it another chance then.
I think I just wasn't in themood when I tried

Devonnie (14:19):
You wasn't in the mood?
Yeah.
The

Jordan (14:21):
Well, I didn't Huh, I don't know.
It was It's a heavy one.
It's a

Devonnie (14:25):
Is

Meg (14:25):
far did you get into it?

Jordan (14:27):
I don't rem I was listening to it on Libby and I
was like, this is too heavy forme right now.

Devonnie (14:32):
Really?
I thought it

Meg (14:34):
I mean, it starts with her in an asylum,

Jordan (14:36):
Yeah.
Like in, in a, like I, Anyways,we're getting away from Crown
Prophecy.
Let's bring it all

Devonnie (14:44):
interesting.
Yeah.
Okay, but thank you.

Meg (14:45):
about shatter me forever, but I won't, I will zip it.

Jordan (14:48):
Okay, I think I remember, I think I remember
from our meeting too I think youwere talking with Christina.
Was it you about the selection?

Meg (14:56):
I did bring the selection to

Jordan (14:58):
Okay, because I was reading this, I was like, This
is giving selection vibes like

Devonnie (15:04):
Oh, I

Jordan (15:06):
not enough to where i'd be like, oh, she wrote this like
the selection.
I wouldn't like it's not likethat it's just I mean there's a
competition for what it's notreally a competition like that I
don't know if it's because Iheard you talking about it.
So I put that together but I waslike, okay.
Okay.

Meg (15:20):
though.
I did love that

Jordan (15:21):
like it.

Meg (15:23):
I loved it.
And I was like, what if the, itwas the selection but spicy and
what if the person.
The main character is not one ofthe contestants.

Devonnie (15:32):
Yeah, I love that.
I can't wait to get to the endof the book to see how Quinn
fits into this because obviouslygoing in, I know she's the main
character.
I know she's the main loveinterest, but I'm like, baby,
where's your magic?
You can't enter this contest.
What are you doing?
You better get to the kitchen.
Speaking of, sorry, before wedive too much I know

Jordan (15:51):
Girl, get

Meg (15:52):
way, just in a She's a Baker way.

Devonnie (15:54):
Yeah, right.
Sorry guys.
Quinn is a baker.
Okay.
I am not like downing where shebelongs.
There is no space.
A woman belongs.
Okay.
We belong everywhere.

Jordan (16:05):
I'm going to, that, I'm gonna just clip just you saying
get back to the kitchen and I'mjust gonna

Devonnie (16:13):
Just blast that.
I love that.

Jordan (16:15):
That's my blackmail to you if you ever need it, like
it's,

Devonnie (16:18):
Yeah, Dev said get back to the kitchen.

Jordan (16:21):
Girl,

Devonnie (16:21):
But the reason I even bring up the kitchen is because
so i'm a chef and Every time Iread like fantasy books, romance
books, I'm constantly looking atthe food that they're making
because my dream would be torecreate some of my favorite
dishes from books that I've readand movies and stuff like that.
And put them in a book Ooh, Iread this book.
They made this meal.

(16:41):
Like I'm obsessed with that.
So what I really love aboutQuinn being a baker and like
being in the kitchens, is thatyou're very descriptive of the
baking process.
Your description of laminating,like the lamination process for
croissants, chef's fucking kiss.
Let me tell you something.

Jordan (17:01):
without being boring.
Without being boring.

Devonnie (17:04):
yes, it didn't feel like Yeah, right.
So as a chef, I understand why Ilike it, but then think of it as
just a reader.
I'm like this.
Yeah, I'd be writing this down.
Like I'd be like, so interestedin what she's doing next.
It didn't feel like frivolouscontent or like something you
just stuck in there because weknow Quinn's a baker.
It was very intentional.
And I absolutely loved how likeCorrect.

(17:27):
You were one in that process,right?
Because not a lot of peoplethink that you just put some
dough and some sugar togetherand you have a croissant.
No, croissants are like hard.
Croissants are fricking hard.
Okay.
She's over there whippingmeringues.
Like these are hard tasks to do.
But yeah, I just, I really lovethat.
So as a foodie, as a chef, Ireally appreciate the way you
describe the food in the seriesor in the book, especially

Jordan (17:49):
the kitchen dynamic.

Devonnie (17:51):
Yes.

Jordan (17:51):
dynamic of earning your respect and feel like people
feeling like they jumped theline and

Devonnie (17:57):
Yes.
I love that.
Love that.

Meg (18:00):
you.
You should see my Chrome tabs.
I have a whole recipe or I havea whole folder of so many
recipes that I would likeliterally go through all the
steps because I really likeadding texture to a story.
So I want the smells and thetastes like I want you to feel
like you're there.
But I also really wanted to getit right.
So I wrote everything and then Iactually hired a chef to go
through it and make sureeverything was correct.

(18:21):
And luckily I actually only madeone mistake.
So I was pretty proud of that.
I do a lot of baking, but I madesure that it was really
authentic to what it was.

Jordan (18:28):
Yeah, you did

Devonnie (18:29):
at you.
You, and it shows.
It really does show.
You did a great job there.
So now that we've talked aboutwhat the Crown Prophecy is
about, who our characters are,what's at stake here, the food.
What's the process of publishingbeen like for you?
So like we know it's notofficially out yet, but you've

(18:50):
had to get to quite a few stepsto get to it coming out at the
end of this month.
So yeah.
Walk us through what it's beenlike for you, especially being
an indie author.
Like how has that process been?

Meg (19:01):
Gosh, it has been crazy.
And there's so many things thatI wish I could go back and tell
myself a year ago.
I actually started thetraditional querying process and
went through that whole thing.
And I actually was lucky enoughto get a lot of interest from
agents and from smallerpublishing houses, I think
partially because I do have asocial media following since
that's my job.

(19:21):
But ultimately the wall that Iran into is nobody.
is really willing to take on thefinancial risk of a duology for
a debut novel, and I just feltlike I couldn't do Coen and
Evander's story justice in onebook.
I don't really read standalones.
I, especially for fantasy, I'mlike, it kind of has to be a
series.
So ultimately, I actually pulledall of my submissions from the

(19:43):
people who were considering thefull manuscript who had
requested it, and decided to gothe self publishing route,
which.
is scary and a lot of work, butultimately I think it was the
right decision for the story andI'm really excited to get to
write another one because I cando that.
I'm giving myself permission.

Jordan (20:00):
Wow.
You're way to go.
You're so brave.
Look

Devonnie (20:04):
Yeah.

Jordan (20:04):
I mean,

Meg (20:05):
it scared.
I'm doing it scared.

Jordan (20:07):
amazing though.
I love that

Devonnie (20:10):
my motto.
I do love that.
Especially because so manypeople think that once you start
querying, like that's the endall be all, like you have to
wait for someone to accept you,whether you get rejections or
people's interests, like thatdoesn't have to be the end.
You can literally say, you knowwhat, this is not right for this
story because that's the truth.
You may write another book thatyou're like, okay, yeah.

(20:32):
Fine, I'll give it to atraditional publisher, but like
knowing that you're sticking tothe story that you have in your
head and Quinn and Evander'sstory just makes it so much more
wholesome that you're doing thisfor this book, for the
characters and for how you wantthat to reach your readers.
So that's really impressive.
You see what I'm saying aboutthe mixing words?

(20:53):
That's really impressive.
I'm so proud of you.

Meg (20:58):
Oh, I am blushing.
Yeah, I didn't want to nerf halfthe story.
I was like, this is not I don'twant to water it down.
I don't want to nerf half thestory just to get this out in
the world.
So, I just decided to do it.
And I'm really excited about howit's turned out.
I've had, of course, hired lotsof help along the way.
Editors and cover designers andall that.

(21:18):
But it's been definitely agrowing process of learning.
I mean, even just the fileformatting, I had no idea.
How much I would get hung up infile formatting like it's nuts,
but we did it.
We're there.
It's available for pre order Sowe got there eventually

Jordan (21:32):
Oh,

Devonnie (21:32):
Yes, y'all heard that right out right now.
Pause the episode pause itquickly.
Hurry up.
We'll wait Okay, go pre orderhurry up and come back.

Meg (21:42):
Amazon target Barnes Noble signed copies at my website.

Devonnie (21:47):
Yeah.
I need a physical.
I need a barnes and noble I lovethat.
I just that just caught up tome.

Jordan (21:53):
I have to say, I did see there's a giveaway on Goodreads.

Devonnie (21:57):
I've already

Meg (21:58):
ooh, you

Devonnie (21:59):
i've already submitted

Jordan (22:00):
go follow,

Meg (22:02):
send it to you guys.
Let me send you the

Jordan (22:03):
No, I want to pay for, I want to

Devonnie (22:05):
We're gonna buy it yeah, we're gonna

Jordan (22:08):
to buy it.
And then at the next event, Iwant you to sign it.

Devonnie (22:12):
Yes,

Meg (22:12):
my goodness

Jordan (22:13):
So I want to buy it because I want, I mean, of
course, if you want to send ifyou do special editions in the
future, I'll let you send methat.
But for now, I want to give youwhat you are owed.

Devonnie (22:24):
What you deserve.

Jordan (22:25):
me, yes, what you deserve.
You put so much into this.
I really appreciate you wantingto send it.

Devonnie (22:31):
Yes.

Jordan (22:32):
I will accept the payment in form of a signature
later

Meg (22:35):
know what I'll bring you to at the next event is I'm
developing Quinn's cardamombutton candles.
So I will bring you guys thecandles.
Actually my YouTube manager usedto do candle making and she and
I are working on it together.
And I was like, I'm going to putthem for sale or anything, but
I'm just sending them with thearcs.
So I'll bring you guys.

Devonnie (22:52):
Are

Jordan (22:52):
I will also accept

Devonnie (22:53):
for the ARCs?

Meg (22:54):
I am very small only to a handful of influencers, but I
wanted to

Jordan (22:59):
Oh, okay.
That's

Meg (23:01):
it's, I wanted to do it big.
I'll bring you all the stuff.
It's really, it's cute.
It's like I've got like a crownand character art and a candle
and a bug.

Jordan (23:12):
Okay.

Devonnie (23:13):
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Meg, which way shift to yourright a little bit.
Just move to your right for me.
I noticed the That's the book!

Meg (23:22):
it's sitting

Devonnie (23:23):
I know, I just, I literally just looked beyond you
and I was like, wait a minute Ispy with my little eye.
Oh, that is so cute.
I love that you have it rightthere.
Yeah, I'm so proud of you.
Honestly, I'm just so happy.
See, this is honestly, okay,rant, rant coming in.
Sound, sound the bells in thesirens.
Jordan.

Jordan (23:40):
Sound the

Devonnie (23:40):
you.
Yeah, I love supporting indieauthors, whether you start indie
and like launch into like tradpublishing or you remain in the
whole time.
I love supporting indie authorsbecause this is it.
This is the vibe.
Okay.
The excitement, the community,like those are my Favorite but
yes, I'm like I'm reallyexcited.
I'm really excited and I'm sograteful that you're here to

(24:03):
share and talk about thisjourney with us.
Like I, I just love it.
I love getting the behind thescenes.
I just love learning about theprocessing and knowing like what
it takes to get the book thatI'm reading in front of me.
And I am obsessed with arcs.
Give me an advanced reader,anything.
Give me something beforeeverybody else.
And yeah, I love

Meg (24:24):
got you,

Devonnie (24:25):
so excited.
Yeah.
Well, you gave it to me already.
Like I have

Meg (24:29):
but I gave you the e book.
Let me give you the fun little

Devonnie (24:33):
I'm buying this

Jordan (24:33):
to give in.
Maybe we, I, yeah.

Devonnie (24:35):
I know she keeps saying she's gonna send it to
us, right?

Meg (24:37):
Everyone needs another crown, I think.

Devonnie (24:41):
Oh

Jordan (24:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah,

Devonnie (24:43):
I love that.
That's like a life message.
Wow

Meg (24:47):
Ooh, yeah, deeper than I meant.

Devonnie (24:48):
yeah Okay, so yes moving along

Jordan (24:56):
I do have a question.
So, you said you've been workingon this book for a long time,
right?
This was your own project.
So, do you see the whole storybefore you write it?
Do you kind of make it up as youwrite it?
What is your process like?
of plotting wise, like how doesthat story form for you?

Devonnie (25:17):
good

Meg (25:17):
Oh, okay.
I gotta do this without givingaway any spoilers because I am a
climax first kind of girly.

Jordan (25:25):
me too.

Devonnie (25:26):
are we all

Meg (25:27):
Oh my god! Shout out to Peyton! Oh

Jordan (25:33):
sorry.
Without giving it away, you seethe whole, like, how do you see
the story?

Meg (25:37):
So, the like, main conflict came to me first.
And that was the scene that Ijust couldn't get out of my
head.
And I kind of plotted around it.
I like to use this writing appcalled Motif.
It's new ish.
I think it only came out like ayear or two ago.
But it's really incrediblebecause it's you So you can go
in and you can choose, okay, doI want to do save the cat?

(25:59):
Do I want to do hear a journey?
Do I want to do 3x structure, 5xstructure, whatever, and then it
will give you the blocks to likeoutline in that structure, which
I think is really incredible.
And you can like literally justgo through and fill it in.
And then I writechronologically.
I have to write start to end.
I can't jump around scenes theway that some people can.
I just can't hold that in myhead.

(26:19):
But yeah, I this one inparticular, I did the five act
structure.
And I already have the next oneplotted out, which is exciting.
I got my little stack of notecards, and I'm excited to dive
into it.
I'll probably do another writingchallenge at some point at the
end of this year to just kind ofjumpstart me.

Jordan (26:34):
Okay.
Okay, good.
Because I have questions.

Meg (26:38):
I want to know all your

Jordan (26:39):
I need to know if they get answered in the next book.
And if not, I need you to add itbecause I need to know.
So.

Meg (26:47):
I'm excited!

Devonnie (26:49):
I am.
I'm actually writing down theapp you just mentioned because I
know about motif, but I've neverused it.
And I think I might write thesame way as you.
And that would be really helpfulbecause I use Scrivener and
plotter, but

Meg (27:02):
okay.
Scrivener's also great.
I just really Motif.

Jordan (27:05):
So if anyone doesn't know,

Devonnie (27:07):
Thank you.

Jordan (27:08):
Dev, if anyone doesn't know already, if you haven't
caught it, Dev already has abook of poetry that's out in the
world.
So one, go get that.
Just to help support her.
Ah,

Devonnie (27:20):
Hey, shut up

Meg (27:21):
I literally, it's upstairs in my room right now, I
literally bought it right afterthe meetup.

Jordan (27:26):
I see.
We love her.
Yeah.
And, but for, to add onto that,Dev is working.
She, yeah, I'll give her amoment.
Dev is also,

Meg (27:35):
we have beef now.

Devonnie (27:41):
Like that is so sweet.
Thank you.

Meg (27:42):
Oh no, now I'm making you cry.
Okay, wait, now we don't havebeef.
I'm sorry, I take it

Devonnie (27:45):
to keep

Jordan (27:48):
but

Devonnie (27:49):
talking.

Jordan (27:50):
Dev is, I'm going to hype you up some more.
Dev is also working on her ownromance novel right now.

Meg (27:58):
Know

Jordan (27:58):
deep in the trenches of it.
She's started other ones in thepast, and then this one came to
her as a series, and she hasbeen in it, it's really fun to
hear about her characters too,so, that's why I like asking
you, Meg, about, like, how youview this, cause as someone
that's never written outside ofschool, or having students write

(28:19):
it, as a teacher it's sointeresting to me to hear how
different authors See theircharacters or their world like
what comes and so with thatadding on to that makes you saw
the conflict was it more likethe characters were more clear
or the world was more clearbecause this is a fantasy world
So like how did you flesh outthe world?

(28:40):
Was it just like obvious to youor were you like did you kind of
have to figure some parts out?

Meg (28:45):
I definitely had to figure some parts out and some things
about the big thing in this bookfor me is secrets, and who knows
what and when do they know it.
And so the biggest struggle forme as I went through writing
this was figuring out Whencertain things get revealed to
the audience and when they getrevealed to the characters and
many rewrites of okay, well, heknows this here, but he doesn't
know it here.

(29:05):
And then changing it around andmaking it later to build the
fence.
One thing that I really likeddoing was in motif.
You can do these character pagesand also settings and objects.
And they have these liketemplates where you put in like
the character's name and thenyou can do they have like
different, like almost think ofthem like cards and it'll be
like, okay, physical appearanceand it'll be like childhood
wound or whatever.

(29:26):
And so I did that for all mycharacters, all of my settings,
all of my like importantspoilers, but.
You probably can guess whatthose are.
And it slowly came together, butI will say that the last draft
is very different than the firstdraft.

Jordan (29:45):
You thought about croissants, didn't you?
You thought about croissants,didn't you?

Meg (29:48):
rolling pin! Oh no.
The rolling pin that shethreatens to hit him with, cause
she

Jordan (30:07):
No, no comment.
No comment.

Meg (30:10):
my gosh.

Jordan (30:12):
Book two, use a rolling pin.
She's writing

Devonnie (30:14):
Right, right, right.
Just, yeah, I love that.
And so there is something aboutI do want to know, similar to
your plotting process thecharacters, do any of them are
any of these characters based onreal people or you it's really
easy as authors for us to putourselves into the work, but Are

(30:34):
these characters actually basedon anyone, you know, or like
parts of you or are they justlike fully made up?
Like you were like, oh, yeah,that sounds nice.

Meg (30:43):
They're fully made up.
I mean there's definitely, Ithink you can't help but put
parts of yourself into the maincharacter and especially I think
that Quinn is neurodivergentbecause I'm neurodivergent and
it just happened and so I seethings in the writing where she
Does things like forgetting toturn the oven off or she's
impulsive and blurts somethingout and over shares.

(31:04):
Yeah.
And I'm like, I, you also haveADHD because that's how my brain
works and I wrote it like it'sin first person.
So it's like I wrote your brain.
So I think in that sense, likethere's definitely parts of
yourself that will always makeit into your main character, but
it's largely fictional.

Devonnie (31:20):
yeah, okay

Meg (31:22):
I will say my one accidental oopsie was I had like
almost finished writing the bookand then my son, who's four, got
really into Phineas and Ferb andI was watching Phineas and Ferb
with him and Doofenshmirtz'sdaughter, Vanessa, looks exactly
like Vanessa in my book and Iwas like, oh no.
And I kept it because I waslike, well, oops.

Devonnie (31:43):
That's actually so hilarious because vanessa so far
is like one of my favoritecharacters I just i've had cut
dry like just dry and like justlike it is what it is Yeah, like

Meg (31:53):
I love her.
I have a soft spot for her.

Jordan (31:56):
love her.

Devonnie (31:57):
Yeah,

Meg (31:58):
collect.

Devonnie (32:00):
give that in a way, but I hope she's there forever
Hope you're not

Meg (32:04):
I say

Devonnie (32:04):
off

Meg (32:05):
I say nothing.

Devonnie (32:07):
Okay.
Well, surprise.
What time is it, Jordan?
I love

Jordan (32:18):
So we are, in case you have not listened to a previous
interview.
we play this or that with ourguests, so we're gonna rapid
fire questions.
And all of these are in relationto the romance genre.
So your personal preference isnot necessarily what you write,
but just what you

Devonnie (32:37):
As a reader.

Meg (32:38):
Oh, okay.
I'm so indecisive, but I willtry my best

Jordan (32:41):
okay, just the first thing that comes to your mind.
And you can love both of them.
It doesn't mean you dislike theother one,

Devonnie (32:46):
Yes.

Jordan (32:47):
everybody.
She's not hating on anything.

Meg (32:50):
The internet gets confused about that sometimes.

Devonnie (32:52):
Yes,

Jordan (32:53):
I'll start and then I'll have Dev do the last bit.
Okay.
In your romance, contemporary orfantasy?

Meg (33:00):
Fantasy.

Jordan (33:02):
One bed or who did this to you?

Meg (33:05):
Who did this to you?

Jordan (33:06):
Yeah.
Audio or physical?

Meg (33:09):
Physical.

Jordan (33:11):
Small town or sports romance?

Meg (33:14):
Ooh, sports.

Jordan (33:17):
Okay.
Surprising.
I like it.

Meg (33:19):
Romance.

Jordan (33:20):
I know.
They're so

Devonnie (33:21):
Yeah, can't we all?

Jordan (33:24):
or series?

Meg (33:26):
Series.

Jordan (33:27):
Yeah.
Dev, take it away.

Devonnie (33:28):
yep paperback or hardcover.

Meg (33:33):
cover but with the dust jacket off.

Jordan (33:35):
Yes.

Devonnie (33:36):
Oh, I like

Jordan (33:37):
correct answer.

Devonnie (33:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, of course second chance orfriends to lovers

Meg (33:42):
Friends to lovers.

Devonnie (33:45):
Okay, we're reading.
We're relaxed our beveragechoice.
Is it hot or iced?
Yeah, correct answer.
Okay.
Discrete cover or cartoon cover?

Meg (34:00):
Discreet.

Devonnie (34:02):
Yeah, I feel that.
I feel that.
Sometimes I don't want to be tooupfront, you know?
I want to have a little mystery.
I like that.
Okay.

Jordan (34:09):
They look, it's a

Devonnie (34:10):
Yeah.
Yeah,

Meg (34:10):
I haven't seen a fantasy cartoon cover do it super well,
and I mostly read fantasy, sothat skews my

Devonnie (34:15):
Oh that is true.
And that's fair.
Yeah.
Okay.
Last one.
I'm not giving you any time tothink about this.
Quick! Name your top three bookboyfriends!

Meg (34:22):
Oh god.
Draco.
Oh.
Aaron and Rhysand.

Jordan (34:27):
Yeah!

Meg (34:28):
Oh god, I said Rhysand! Rhysand! I know

Jordan (34:31):
Can we please have the Sarah J.
Maas, can we have the Maas firstplease come for her now?
Just

Devonnie (34:37):
Yeah, for rice and

Meg (34:39):
Okay, but you know what, I do say Manon, and I also get
absolutely mocked for that, eventhough it is in the
pronunciation guide.

Devonnie (34:46):
no, it is Manon.
It is Manon.
Yeah.
Manon and up.

Jordan (34:52):
Manamana.

Meg (34:53):
Do!

Devonnie (34:54):
It's the worst name ever, but it Manon is correct.
So all of you calling her Manon,unfortunately, my loves you're
wrong.
Okay.

Jordan (35:01):
But also if it's in your brain, who cares?

Devonnie (35:05):
I care.

Jordan (35:07):
Well, I mean, yeah, I do when I hear it.
Irks me.
It's like gif or jif.
It's not a jif.
This is not peanut butter.

Devonnie (35:14):
I hate when people say Jif.
No, I don't say Jif.
Cause Jif immediately takes meto Jiffy.
Or, what's the cord bread?

Jordan (35:22):
No, Jiffy.

Devonnie (35:23):
right out of the conversation.

Jordan (35:24):
that's the peanut butter.

Meg (35:25):
Graphics, interchange, format.
Graphics is, it's not draftics.

Devonnie (35:31):
Yeah.
No.

Meg (35:32):
Okay, but now I'm being hypocritical.
No, but that's what it would beif it was GIF.
It would have, the acronym wouldhave to start with a J, which

Jordan (35:41):
Ignorant sluts.
Ignorant

Devonnie (35:43):
We're going to listen to you because you've got the
degree.
You've got the degree.
So, whatever you say, babe.
Yeah, I'm down.
Okay.

Meg (35:50):
I say ReSan.
No, I'm just kidding.

Devonnie (35:52):
Yeah

Meg (35:52):
I did not say that.

Jordan (35:55):
Oh, that

Devonnie (35:56):
I love that's like this or that is always like one
of my favorite parts of theinterview because like we can
really see when people likefreak out because they don't
know.
Oh god What's my answer?

Meg (36:04):
Yeah, that was stressful.

Devonnie (36:06):
us.
And yeah, it

Jordan (36:07):
You had it.
That was pretty good That wasthe fastest we've heard so far.
We had one

Devonnie (36:10):
I think

Jordan (36:11):
to answer.
So I mean that was really good

Devonnie (36:13):
Yeah.
So you did great.
So far you're, you killed thisor that.

Jordan (36:19):
So But then I'm curious, so you said is that what you
mostly read then also?
Is it mostly just fantasy, likefantasy,

Meg (36:26):
I'd

Jordan (36:27):
like what do you mostly read?

Meg (36:29):
read 90 percent romanticy.
And I have since I was a kid.
I mean, when I was a kid it wasfantasy.
I used to read a lot of Dragonstuff, so.
Iron Flame and Fourth Wing arelike, right up my alley.
But yeah, I mostly read fantasy.
I've dabbled in contemporaryromance.
I've read some Emily Henry, butI don't know.
I just, there's something Whereit's if I wanted to read about

(36:49):
having to charge my cell phone,I would just go live my life,
you know?
The mundane things.
I'm like, I want to read aboutpeople whose problems are like,
a cryptic prophecy, or how tomount a dragon without falling
off.

Devonnie (37:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.

Jordan (37:03):
I love it where there's no wrong

Devonnie (37:05):
love that.

Jordan (37:06):
Where there's no wrong answers.
You can

Meg (37:07):
Yeah.

Devonnie (37:08):
I

Jordan (37:08):
I love that description.
Once again, you pass.
Good job.
You're winning right now.

Devonnie (37:14):
You're killing it, Meg.
You're killing it.

Jordan (37:16):
Who are some of your favorite fantasy authors then?
What are your like, right now,kind of your following must
read?

Meg (37:24):
Okay, so I have to drop an indie author first.
Katie Wismer, who wrote theMarionette series.
Absolutely fantastic, if youhaven't read it.
It's on Kindle Unlimited.
It is so good.
It's a vampire one, which isn'ttypically my cup of tea, but her
Stuff is so good.
And also maybe Katie Wismer?
Wismer?
I hope I'm saying it right.

(37:47):
But her books are so good.
I love Carrie Menescalco.
I love Rebecca Yaros, obviously.
Sarah J Maas.
Anything that's like a goodDermine y fanfic.
We all know that Sen Lin Yu islike, queen.
So those would be the first onesthat come to mind.

Devonnie (38:01):
yeah, I love that.
That's a good range too.
And I love that you include theAO3 fanfic stuff because people
don't forget to read yourfanfics.
I am guilty.
I, Christina has sent me so manyfanfics that she thinks I would
love.
And when I tell you, I'vecracked them open and haven't
gotten like too into them.
And not because I'm not intothem, but I just forget that
they exist.

(38:22):
So yeah, I love that you'reshouting that out because we all
definitely need to support ourfanfics.
Authors, because they are doingbig things.

Jordan (38:30):
Hey, Sarah J Maas started as fanfic, so,

Devonnie (38:33):
Correct.

Jordan (38:34):
on Wattpad, or she started her

Devonnie (38:36):
She was just

Meg (38:36):
Yeah, when she was like, 16, I think.

Jordan (38:38):
yeah, go find, I mean, you never know whose work you'll
later see,

Devonnie (38:44):
See,

Jordan (38:45):
and center in Barnes Noble just go find it.
Be the person to find it.

Meg (38:50):
sure read fanfic that is way better than some of the most
highly anticipated tribepublished novels that have come
out this year.
For

Jordan (38:58):
Oh, absolutely.
I've read some of the stuff, I'mlike,

Meg (39:01):
Because there's no limits.
There's no bounds.
They're not writing to market orto sell and I think that a lot
of times that comes through moreauthentic and like cuts to the
core of it rather than okay,what is what can I put in my
query letter?
That's going to make it seeminteresting.

Devonnie (39:15):
Yeah.
They're writing just for thestory and just to get that story
out to people.
That, that reads different.
Okay, with everything you'veread this year, What has been
your favorite read?

Meg (39:27):
Oh

Jordan (39:27):
or top, whatever you have to

Devonnie (39:30):
Yeah, if you have a top three, I won't deny

Meg (39:33):
Oh gosh.
Okay.
Okay.
Should I do a, an indie, a tradpub and a fanfic?

Jordan (39:38):
Sure.

Meg (39:39):
Give us a good

Devonnie (39:40):
Yes.

Jordan (39:41):
girl did her homework.
I just,

Devonnie (39:42):
Yeah.

Meg (39:43):
For indie, I have to go with the last book in the
marionette series, which Ibelieve is Ruthless Ends.
That one is incredible.
I think it actually came out atthe end of last year, but.
For Trad Published, I reallylike The Honey Witch by Sidney
Shields.

Devonnie (40:02):
Oh, okay.

Meg (40:03):
And then fan sake, I'm gonna say an oldie buddy.
Good, but a goodie.
It was new to me.
Rosemary for remembrance?

Devonnie (40:09):
Okay.

Jordan (40:10):
Yeah, she's of course it was

Devonnie (40:12):
Right.

Meg (40:12):
it was.
I told you I'm in a phase.
I have a DH, adhd.
I'm in my hyper fixation era.

Jordan (40:17):
no, I sometimes wonder if I'm undiagnosed because

Devonnie (40:19):
Yeah, so I feel like

Jordan (40:22):
weird I'm, not a neurodivergent, but I do all
those things too weird

Meg (40:26):
Yeah.
TikTok.
TikTok figured it out before Idid.
I will say that.

Jordan (40:30):
Yeah, I

Meg (40:31):
My algorithm

Jordan (40:31):
that to my husband and he's yeah, honey.
Yeah you yeah,

Devonnie (40:34):
Yeah, you might be I know my son has autism and his
dad is always looking at me likeyou too

Meg (40:43):
Touch of the Chisholm.

Devonnie (40:45):
If this thing is genetic if it's coming from
people if one of us gave it tohim you, babe.
So yeah, I'm down.
I love it.
Hey, we just think a littledifferently, you know?
But yeah, I love that.
Thank you for sharing.
I love that you also did yourhomework enough to Share three
different things.
Like you're just, Oh, I couldkiss you.

(41:07):
That's perfect.
Love that.
So yeah, that, and that's good.
Cause you've just also givenlike our listeners three recs.
So appreciate that.
Thank you.

Jordan (41:14):
Moving forward, you said you have the second one.
This is going to be a duologybecause that was one of my
questions.
Like going into this, I didn'tactually know, I almost, okay, I
was at the, I think it was 48percent and I remember thinking,
You Is this gonna wrap up inthis book?
I was like, I should reach outto Mike.
No, I want to be surprised.
Is this gonna be cliffhanger ornot?
I don't know.

(41:35):
I'm gonna wait and see.
I decided just to be shooketh,and I was.
So, this is gonna be a duology.
You said you have it all mappedout.
You're ready to go.
You're ready to write.
Do you already see yourselfcontinuing with the doing
something new?
Do you see do you have ideas orare you just going to focus on
the next book and then you wantto come up with fresh ideas?

(41:57):
Like, where is, where are yougoing with the writing career?

Meg (42:02):
I love that question.
I definitely have a millionideas.
I have three or fourspecifically that I feel are
fleshed out enough that I couldsit down and start.
To write them nothing that'splotted out the way that the
second one in duology is.
One concept that I would love toplay around with one day, and
who knows if I'll write it ornot, but I would love to do
fourth wing but for the coquettegirlies and it's all Pegasus.

(42:24):
I think that would

Devonnie (42:25):
actually so cute.
That is actually so cute andcozy.

Meg (42:29):
I think that would be really fun, but I would like to
stay in the realm of cozy butstill high stakes.

Devonnie (42:34):
Okay.
All right.
So like cozy, that's like yourniche.
That's where you like to writein.

Meg (42:40):
I'm a cottagecore girly, so you write what you know.
And I just, I have too manygrandma hobbies for them to not
make it into my books.
Oh

Jordan (42:46):
Like we said earlier, It comes through that you know what
you're talking about like withthe things that are relatable in
a fantasy world Do you know whatI mean?
Like that's the thing about thisBecause you feel at home in a
world that isn't your own.
Because of the way you write thethings that people are familiar
with, even if they don't knowthe whole process, they're like,
Oh, yeah, I understand this all.

(43:07):
So, yeah, I mean,

Meg (43:10):
Please go put that on Goodreads.

Jordan (43:12):
That was a good one, right?
That was a good way to

Meg (43:14):
That was a beautiful, yeah, wordsmith over here.

Jordan (43:18):
It happens every once in a while.
I

Devonnie (43:20):
no, but Jordan's right.
You are so descriptive.
Like you feel like you're thereat my, one of my favorite
scenes.
Well, you know, I'm not too farinto it.
Like I'm only at the halfwaypoint.
So aside from all the kitchenscenes, cause I love those, but
When Quinn is going through themarket and she's describing like
the vendors and like thedifferent stalls and the
wielders and what they're doing,that's one of my favorite

(43:42):
things.
Because as I was reading that Icould literally picture it.
And I know that some readershave a hard time imagining what
they're seeing, but I feel likeyou, Do such a great job with
your writing and just painting,literally painting the scenery
in a way that you can, you feellike you're there.
So that walk without gettingbored, you know, like you're, it

(44:06):
felt like I was just like, Ooh,and Oh, what's over there?
And Oh look, what's down there.
I don't know.
It just, it was very like Itfelt good to read.
I felt like I was there and Ilove when that happens in books.
So yeah, you're just, I mean, Idon't know.
There's just something aboutyour writing style that I really
enjoy.
I, like I said, I love yourwriter voice.
I love the way you bring thewords into my imagination

(44:27):
because I have no problempicturing things.
And so when I read something andit makes sense and it flows and
I'm not just wait, what justhappened?
I really appreciate that.
So you're like, you're killingit.
Truly.

Meg (44:38):
Gosh, thank you so much.

Jordan (44:40):
I do want to, let's keep talking about the book because I
can't believe I haven't saidthis before, because this was
like the biggest thing for mewhen I read it.

Devonnie (44:48):
Mhm, mhm.

Jordan (44:50):
The relationship with her mother and I'll stick to
like what we know in thebeginning.
Like to me, that was just aswell written as like your
description of the scenery andthe kitchen stuff.
I.
I don't have that relationshipwith my mother, but I've seen it
in people I know.
I am very familiar with it andthe kind of emotional
manipulation and abuse, It wasso well written.

(45:14):
I think like to me that was,this is gonna sound weird, but
that was my favoriterelationship in the book.
Not in that like I enjoyed it.
Like I didn't love therelationship itself, but the way
it was presented was so apt.
And The way you wrote it wasperfect.

(45:35):
The complex emotions that shefeels towards her mother, I
think, were so well stated, andas the reader, you're
frustrated, you want to say theobvious and just get out of
there, but, because, That's whatthe emotional manipulation is,
right?
That's part of the web.
And The feeling of still needingto feel like you owe her

(45:57):
something or that you owe hereven your existence in her life.
Like it, it was so perfectlydone, I think.
Yeah, it was my favoriterelationship in that it felt the
most significant because I meanthat was her mom, so I like how
it wasn't swept behind as a lotof other series do and it's oh,
I had this trauma from myparent.

(46:18):
It's no, this is a real, likethe biggest part of her life.
And it kept being a part of abig part of her life in the
story without it being the mainfocus.
So I just think the balance youput on that was perfect.
Yeah.

Meg (46:32):
Thank you.
I think that's the fun thingabout fantasy is you get to
explore real deep problems in afantastical setting.
And one of the things that Ireally wanted to do in this book
is A, to show a main characterwho's a little bit older, like
my MC is not a teenager.
And to show someone who'sstruggling with breaking

(46:53):
generational trauma because Ithink so many people out there
have that mother wound.
And, you know, it's people jokeabout it in fantasy books, like
one parent's always dead.
Or you know, you've got likeevil stepmother vibes, but it's
often so much more nuanced thanthat.
And I wanted to explore that ina fantasy setting.
And show how, you know, The waythat people love us doesn't

(47:14):
equate to our worth, but it canhelp us to become the most
powerful and idealized versionof ourselves.

Devonnie (47:20):
I like Jordan said I agree because I even messaged
Jordan.
I was like, I can't stand themom.
I was like I can't stand her.

Jordan (47:27):
I had to be like, Dev, that's the point.
You're not supposed to like her.
No one's rooting for the mom.
No one's

Meg (47:34):
Listen, man, some of the time I was writing her, I was so
mad at my fingers for what I waswriting, but I was like,

Jordan (47:41):
But it was a perfect representation of an emotionally
manipulative person.
It was, I

Meg (47:50):
She gaslights the heck out of her.

Jordan (47:52):
Absolutely every decision throughout the day is
Bracing herself for theconsequence of that and weighing
if I do this I'll face this isthis action worth what I'll face
later like constantly that is itwas the perfect representation
of that manipulation and Yeah,Dev has to finish like all of

(48:13):
you have to go finish this bookso we can talk more in depth
about

Meg (48:17):
I know, spoiler, there's so many spoilers,

Jordan (48:19):
I know

Devonnie (48:21):
Don't spoil it for me.
I'll be done tonight.
Hopefully if not tomorrowmorning.
But yeah, I know I'm going tofinish.
Okay.
I can't, I'm excited.

Jordan (48:31):
But quick talk about the smut

Devonnie (48:33):
Yeah.
I will say I have not reachedany smut, so don't give away too
much.

Jordan (48:40):
never mind

Meg (48:41):
halfway through.
We love a slow burn.

Devonnie (48:45):
Yeah.
They, where I have been, theyhave kissed.
So that's like a thing that hashappened, but they've done
nothing else.
So don't give it away for

Jordan (48:54):
The kiss and runaway.
The kiss and

Devonnie (48:56):
Yeah, you know, I text Jordan.
I said, did she turn the ovenoff?

Jordan (49:01):
goes, no, she's is the whole kitchen on fire right now?
She's is there a giant fire?

Meg (49:08):
End of novel, The Castle Burndown, the end.

Devonnie (49:13):
I was like this girl burnt her tart and then took off
after a kiss.
You don't get your ass back inthis kitchen and turn this oven
off with this burnt tarts.

Meg (49:22):
Look, he's a grown man.
He can see what's in front ofhim.
He can fix the

Devonnie (49:25):
Right.
Yeah.
And he did end up washing thedishes.
That's not

Jordan (49:29):
yeah, that was so cute.
That was so cute.

Devonnie (49:32):
was so, I was like, oh, what a man.
I love that.
Yeah.

Meg (49:38):
That was a fun one to write.

Devonnie (49:39):
That was very tender.
Very nice.
I like

Meg (49:41):
So you said talk about the smut.
What do you want to know?

Jordan (49:44):
Oh no, I was just trying to change the subject away from
the seriousness.
I was

Meg (49:47):
Oh yeah.

Jordan (49:48):
I don't need to know anything other than more.

Devonnie (49:53):
Jordan's

Meg (49:53):
it's open door.

Jordan (49:55):
No,

Meg (49:55):
It's open door.
It's

Jordan (49:56):
know what it is.
No, I

Meg (49:57):
vanilla, but it's open door.

Devonnie (50:01):
Okay.
Okay.
I love open door.
Ha.

Jordan (50:06):
it open.
Just keep it

Meg (50:08):
That's

Devonnie (50:09):
good.
And that's good for

Meg (50:10):
things about publishing.
It's oh god, anyone I know whoreads this is gonna know that I
wrote it.

Devonnie (50:16):
Yeah.
That's

Meg (50:18):
That's a complicated feeling.
My mother in law actually helpedme with some of my coffee
editing.

Jordan (50:22):
Oh, I saw that in your the afterwards notes.
I saw that and I was

Meg (50:25):
She was my final grammar check, but I literally turned
all the text to white in thefive or six more smutty scenes
that there are.
And I was like, don't read this.
Your son is my husband.
Do not.
Please.
I'm gonna walk into traffic ifyou read this.
So if there's an extra comma inthe smut, that's why.
Horrifying.

Jordan (50:43):
that's hilarious because I can, I'm not a writer, but
like I said in past episodes Ifound out my dad listens to all
of these.

Devonnie (50:52):
He does.
I'm sure he's listening to thisone.

Jordan (50:55):
And also though, I can see where people listen, so
shout out to my mother in law.
I'm pretty sure you're secretlylistening to these.
Hey, Lorelai, what's up?

Meg (51:08):
She's

Devonnie (51:08):
Oh my gosh.
I know Jordan.
You have to tell me whereeveryone's listening.
Cause I wonder if my family'slistening.
I have an aunt who she supportseverything I do.

Jordan (51:16):
Where's she at?
Where's she

Devonnie (51:18):
She's in Jamaica.
So if you have

Jordan (51:20):
I don't think we do much.
I don't think we do.

Devonnie (51:23):
I'm happy because that's really where the fear.
If any, if we ever get a pop

Jordan (51:27):
We have New York, but not

Devonnie (51:29):
I will.
New York is also terrifying.
Cause

Jordan (51:31):
you also never know.
Yeah, that's

Devonnie (51:33):
that's suspicious.

Jordan (51:34):
An old

Devonnie (51:35):
but yeah, right.
Well, so that's just wants tohear my voice.
Well, suck it.
You're lost.
Get out of here.
Scram.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
No, this is so fun.
Okay.
So Crown Prophecy is coming outOctober 28th.
Know that it will be a duology.

(51:57):
So maybe a cliffhanger like youguys know, like I've said a
million times so far.
I have not finished it.
So if it is a cliffhanger, makesure you stay tuned.
Follow Meg

Jordan (52:05):
it, I'd call it a soft cliffhanger.
You want to know what happensnext, but it's not like we're
actively dangling from a ledge.

Devonnie (52:13):
okay.
Okay.
That

Jordan (52:14):
that's, Meg, how do you feel about that?
That's how I feel like it is.
It's it's a cliffhanger.
You want to know more, but alsoyou're not literally with an axe

Meg (52:22):
There's a lot of stuff that's unresolved.

Jordan (52:26):
Ha

Meg (52:27):
But yeah, I mean, I did the the cliche writer thing of the
last four words.

Jordan (52:32):
ha, yeah,

Meg (52:32):
last four words, or like they, I remember them talking
about this when the GilmoreGirls revival came out.
And it was like, Mom, what?
You know, and then insert theline, I don't want to spoil it.
I mean, presumably people haveseen it by now.
But yeah there's a lot ofunresolved stuff, a lot of open
plot lines, but I, it's, itdoesn't stop at the climax, if
that makes sense.

Devonnie (52:49):
Okay.

Jordan (52:50):
don't stop there,

Devonnie (52:51):
Yeah.
Jordan.

Meg (52:55):
That one's just kind of a soft, ugh.

Devonnie (52:58):
And now we walk by it.
We're just gonna walk by it likeit's just laying on the street,
okay?

Jordan (53:03):
Talking about it, not me.
That's fine.

Devonnie (53:08):
Guys, I had a Pinot Noir.
This is my first wine in likemonths, so please bear with me.

Jordan (53:13):
Before we close out, Meg, If there was, like, One or
two things you want people toknow about your book short,
sweet, What would you want themto know?
And then after that, also makesure to drop your socials.

Devonnie (53:27):
Socials?
Yes.

Meg (53:29):
Ooh, okay.
I would say that this is theperfect cozy read if you get
bored by cozy reads.
And you want something a littlemore, but you want something
atmospheric.
If you want a protagonist who isnot a teenager, who is dealing
with generational trauma who isa little bit of a hothead and
maybe doesn't know when to shuther mouth and a dark haired love

(53:50):
interest who is snarky andflirty and honestly a little bit
selfish.
This is the book for you.
Gosh, I'm trying to think.
I think I said, I think I saidall the tropes.
We do have a, we do have a fewside couples it's Oh, what's the
word that I'm trying to think ofright now?
The opposite of heteronormative.
Queernormative.

(54:11):
It's a queernormative world.
So there is some representationin there.
Oh, Dev just put it together.
Oh

Devonnie (54:16):
Yeah.

Meg (54:17):
watched it happen on her face.
Yeah.

Devonnie (54:24):
Okay.
Sorry.
I'm excited.
Okay.

Jordan (54:26):
she feels validated.

Devonnie (54:27):
Yeah,

Meg (54:28):
Yeah you figured it out.
Yeah, and I just, I hope thatthis story finds the right
people, the people who need it,and the people who it will speak
to.
There is another one coming, soyou can follow me on YouTube.
com slash Megan Acuna orInstagram.
com slash Meg dot Acuna.
And thecrownprophecy.
com if you want more news andupdates.

Jordan (54:49):
Thank you so much, Meg.
And bye! Thanks for listening tous ramble about The Crown
Prophecy by Meg Acuna.
Whoo! If you're looking for moreRomance Recs, be sure to follow
us on Instagram and TikTok andover in Discord at Romance Recs

(55:09):
Pod.
You can find our favorite bookRecs from our episodes as well
as behind the scenes content.
And now, Interviews.
Again, that's at romancerecspod,so make sure to give us a
follow, and we'll be back nextweek.
With another episode.
Thanks.
And thank you Meg.
Again.

(55:30):
A thousand times over.
Heh

Meg (55:34):
Bye!