When Authors Leave

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
EJ (00:01):
We are back.
Welcome back to Tales from theOrc Den.
I am Baby, we're back! I am oneof your three hosts.
This is EJ, and with me is

Amy (00:12):
Stacy.
Yeah, hi.
You want some more musicalrenditions?
Cause they're coming! And

EJ (00:19):
Amy.

Amy (00:21):
I, I will, I might actually have to add some backup to
Stacey or try and figure out myown.

EJ (00:28):
Going to figure out a really solid tech stack for when we're
recording these so we can bestreaming at the same time.

Amy (00:37):
Yeah, because everybody needs to see me not wearing a
bra and with no pants on.
Remember, she's not going to usevideo.
Oh, I thought you meant astreaming video.
I mean I don't care if I'mChristianist.
So it's no problem.
She said streaming, notstreaking.
You can stream and streak at thesame time.
The two are not mutuallyexclusive.
I am definitely

EJ (00:57):
putting an avatar over your name, Stacey.
Dear Lord.

Amy (01:02):
The joke's on you guys, because it's just gonna be my
ass.
We'll just put a peach forStacey.
Yeah, it'll just be a big oldbouncing peach.
Bouncing peach.
Actually, it should be apumpkin.
My ass is pretty wide.

EJ (01:19):
So we're going to continue on with bookish stuff.
We, we, we do have some specificbook related discussions on cue,
but right now we've just got somany bookish related topics that
we've been wanting to talkabout.
And today's kind of aninteresting one.
I have yet to come up with aclever name for it.

(01:39):
To be perfectly honest to our

Amy (01:40):
listeners.
We can just call it insertclever name

EJ (01:42):
here.
Insert clever name here.
We're going to be talking aboutauthors who have left the
monster romance space or whomaybe have like done major
pivots because not everythinglasts forever, even on the

Amy (01:59):
internet.
Well, and there's a lot of timestoo that like authors will
follow trends, which I knowthere was like a big thing and
like the.
Maybe the late 90s rolling overinto the 2000s.
Do you remember this, Amy, whereit was like everybody who had
been like a historical romancewriter suddenly started writing
romantic suspense?
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
Like, Julie Garland starteddoing it.

(02:22):
There were like 400 otherpeople.
Nora Roberts did some, I think.
It was the same with CatherineCoulter did it too.
Okay, it was also the same inthe, like, I want to say early
2000s, where you had so many Somany paranormal romances popping
up, cropping up all over theplace, and I don't, I don't

(02:45):
know.
They were all vampire.
It was very rarely, in myexperience, it was very rarely.
And that was kind of, for me,that was also like late 90s,
because there was stuff that wascoming out of, I think it was
what's that, there's thatpublishing house, which I don't
think they exist anymore,mercifully, but they were
infamous.
They're the ones who tried torip off Dara Joy they did a lot
of that sort of like out there,a lot of time travel Dar Joy's

(03:08):
stuff with aliens, and thenthere were a couple of vampire
stories.
One was like a straight upvampire story, and then one was
a weird sort of vampire alienstory.
And then there was another one.
Who was that writer?
Amy, you might remember.
It's like, I can taste theflavor of her book in my head,

(03:28):
but I can't quite remember hername.
I want to say both names startedwith an M.
She did a lot of historicromance.
Usually Cowboys, Old West kindof stuff.
It was like, shit.
Megan Margin.
That wasn't her name, obviously,because that's a terrible name.

(03:49):
But apologies to anybody outthere named Megan Margin.
But it was something like that.
And because I remember she did alot of stuff set actually in
Washington during the PioneerDay.
She did stuff like in Montanaand stuff like that too.
But she kind of zig zagged andthen did a couple of vampire
books.
Set in Vegas, if I rememberright, and, but I don't, but

(04:09):
then I think she went back todoing like Western, like it was
just like a couple of likeaberrations basically in her
book catalog.
I really think the reason whywe're seeing such an explosion
now in monster fucking isbecause self publishing is no
longer taboo the way that it wasuntil Amazon unveiled the, the

(04:29):
self publishing feature.
Oh yeah.
So Amazon got something right,even if it was probably by
accident.
Right,

EJ (04:35):
right.
You know, I, I'm not afraid togive them credit, while also
criticizing the crap out ofthem.
Yeah.

Amy (04:42):
Oh yes, of course.
Yeah.
A broken clock is right twice aday.
So, cheers to that.
I mean, it's like, it's like youhave traditional publishers that
are suddenly like, Oh, oh, thisis a thing.
We need to start picking up thisthing.
Yeah, because we're ongatekeeping for so long.
Yeah, seriously.
But then you have others thatare pivoting in their, Should I,

(05:03):
should I say her name?
Yes, yes, I should.
Allie Hazelwood, Bride, justreleased and it's, it's We're
going to say it's Monster,Monster Romance Light, because
it's vampires and werewolves,which of course I think are
technically some of the mostbasic of monsters.
No offense.
Look, I, anything that has adick that cannot, I'm, I'm here

(05:25):
for, so bring on the werewolves.
Love Hypothesis was

EJ (05:29):
her debut.
There we go.
Oh!

Amy (05:31):
My friend Cindy's actually friends with her.
Really?
Yeah.
Huh.
Because before the RWA implodedand proved that it was, you
know, it wasn't actually apositive group, it was actually
a group of cockroaches in atrench coat, they were both in
the same RWA chapter.

(05:51):
Go figure.
Small world, man.

EJ (05:56):
So I want to pose to both of you.
I, we had mentioned in ourlittle Discord chat Stacey, you
had, you had dropped some names,and I kind of want to hear
stories.
Yeah,

Amy (06:09):
I think Stacey has a lot more stories than I do.
Because she reads a lot.
I mean, that's, that's, I doread, like, it's not even like,
it's like, it's not evenflexing, like, it's to the point
where even I'm like, this mightbe a problem.
No, it's not.
So the three off the top of myhead, yeah, but, you know, I
can't do things like math, sothat's where we run into a

(06:32):
roadblock.
So the three names that came tomy mind when I talked about
people who had left, like leftleft as far as I can tell, are
Erin Regan, and I know she leftleft because she announced she
was leaving, basically, and shewrote this fucking amazing.

(06:55):
overarching series.
The first book is, is Python andit's P Y T H E N and it's Earth
is invaded and they're saved bythese species and the, the
Python is the mate bond.
Basically it forms betweenhumans.
Well, it forms with this onespecies and then everybody's
surprised when they can form itwith humans.
And there are these like sort ofbat looking, like bat gargoyle
looking species.

(07:15):
I remember you talking aboutthis one.
Really, really great series.
Very huge overarching because Ithink the original series ran
Seven books, maybe eight, andit's all like, it's, you know,
it's different couples, but withan overarching storyline, and
it's a whole thing where itstarts out with Earth is invaded
by these aliens that basicallyeat everything, and then Earth

(07:38):
basically gets destroyed becausethe way that they deal with the,
because there's this whole thingwhere there are these
motherships, basically, and tokill the queen of this hive,
they crash the mothership, whichis the size of a state, into the
earth, and basically everythingis like, you know.
Everything must go, like,climate change is escalating

(07:59):
exponentially, there are stormsystems that are sweeping
through that are literally, thatliterally cover multiple states,
and, like, weather's gone crazy,and, and so it's this kind of
thing where the, the, the, the,the, I think it's the three
alien species that have sort offormed like a A council together
after the original council wasfound to be corrupt.

(08:20):
Like, it's a whole thing.
It's a really great series.
But they're basically like,alright, well, we're gonna
evacuate the humans and movethem to a new planet, whether
they like it or not.
And so then that becomes a wholething, and it's just, this was
such a fuckin good series, andshe had Spinoffs of the series,
so it's still in the same world,but like, one of them was the
Kilbus Lord, who was the, one ofthe, the three species that,

(08:43):
like, made the call, and he'sthis, like, eternal being,
basically, and he has two bookscalled Well, he and Theo, the
female main character, have twobooks called, it's like writing
in spaceships with aliens andplaying cards with aliens, but I
don't remember which one's thefirst one and which one's the
second one.

(09:03):
And, like, that's a whole thingthat's just this, like, amazing,
gut wrenching duology, and thenshe started a third series.
With an alien species who youwere introduced to in Theo and
Kel's book.
And her problem started, so shereleased the first book.
And then the second book therewas supposed to be a second

(09:25):
book.
And she, like, tried, like, Idon't know, like a million times
to get it published.
And Amazon kept fucking her oversomehow.
Like, it was supposed to publishand it just wouldn't, and she
couldn't get anybody to help herwith tech support.
And then it happened with, like,two other books, and then, like,
one of her books was, like,arbitrarily banned or something

(09:46):
like that.
And it was all Amazon fuck up.
It was all Amazon fuckery.
And she, it was finally, likeShe said that she, like, she
didn't enjoy writing anymore,like, dealing with Amazon had,
like, ruined any love, and I'msure people constantly going,
Well, when's the next book gonnacome out?
When's the next book gonna comeout?
And she was just to the pointwhere she's like, I don't want

(10:07):
to fucking deal with thisanymore.
And I can't say that I blameher, but at the same time, it's
like, but fuck.
Oh, I wish she'd come backbecause her books are so damn
good.
Like, I really, really, reallyrecommend them.
And I just, she wrote one of thebooks for the splintered
galaxies.
Universe, hang on, let me, I'mnot saying that right, it's the,

(10:31):
come on Demi, open.
Oh, that I'm bitching aboutAmazon while opening the Kindle
app.
I mean,

EJ (10:37):
such is our lives, you know.

Amy (10:39):
Yeah, it's Shattered Galaxies, and that was a multi
author series, and shecontributed a book in the first
season, because right now someof the writers are releasing
season two, that's the NancyCummings books that I keep
hyping up.
Which is also excellent, andit's called Shadowmark.
Anyway her book in it was reallygood, it's called Jagged Honor,

(10:59):
and it has Thundercats, so youknow, Stacy's a fan.
But, really, really good, andit's just one of those things
where, like, I read some of herbooks that I have and I'm just
fuckin heartbroken knowing thatI'm never gonna get any more
from the source, you know what Imean?
And especially because the storywasn't done, that's the part
that haunts me, is with Two ofthese three writers, the story's

(11:22):
not done, and it just kills mebecause I was, I was, I just
like, there would be, therewould never be any such thing as
enough in the, in the worldbuilding that two of these
authors have done.
And so, Erin Regan, like, Itotally respect her, like, being
just like, deuces on out.
But, God bless it, do I evermiss her.
In fact, I've actually beenkicking around the thought that

(11:42):
I need to dig out the theHomeworld series, which is the,
or I think it's the Battle forHomeworld, is what they call it.
Which is the one that startswith Python.
And just do like a big assreread, because it's so fucking
good.
Like, you got like You know,sort of noble heroes who are
trying to do the right thing,even if it fucks over the people
that they're trying to help.
You know what I mean?
Like, kind of a, I must be cruelto be kind kind of vibe.

(12:05):
And, but it's, and she doesn'tshy away from, like, the damage
that gets done.
Which is something that I reallyappreciate, because the first
book starts with The firstcharacter, the one who, the main
female character in Python is,she's an artist, she's got

(12:25):
trauma because her dad diedunexpectedly, and then her mom,
her mom's way of sort ofreacting to it, it was like to
sort of put her dad away andnever talk about him, and then
she ended up becoming a sculptorlike her dad.
In fact the wheel that she useshad been her dad's, and she also
becomes a sculptor, her, sheends up using the same Agent

(12:46):
that her dad had and so it'skind of this thing where it's
it's sort of she's remindedeverywhere of her dad and yet
her dad's not there.
So it's just, it's a reallygood, like, really great
characterization.
You like the characters.
You're really invested in theirstories, and it, so it just kind
of gets me that, you know,unless she changes her mind,
that's all the story I'm goingto get, basically.

EJ (13:07):
So who else we got on the docket?
Because believe me, I gotdiscussion questions on all of
this.
I would go feet further

Amy (13:13):
into Amazon and the possibilities of hybrid
publishing, but I want to savethat for the discussion.
I want the next story.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, did you have somebody youwant, Amy?
No.
Okay.
No.
But mine is, mine is really amoot point because she never
really left.
She just left the series I wasinterested in reading.

(13:34):
Oh! Well, no, no, no, no.
She finally came back.
Granted, it seemed on theshorter side so perhaps she just
really wanted to wrap it upbecause Right.
There were three differentPeople stopped asking her.
There were three different Hey,I have never bothered this poor
woman.
I have only ever No, no, not youspecifically.
Oh, no, I know.
But like other fans, maybe.
Right.
But I am glad that she's Well,the funny thing is, she was

(13:56):
writing under a different penname for this particular
trilogy.
Mm hmm.
And Is this the one we weretalking about before where I
said I just started followingthat name and didn't realize it
was the author you were talkingabout?
Possibly.
Celia Kyle Who writes thisseries Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Celia Kyle.
Yes, because I got excited whenI saw Aaron Tate because I was
hoping it was Aaron Regan.

(14:18):
The person I was just talkingabout.
But anyways, I've read the firsttwo books in this one series
called The Warlords of Eterra,and they're, they're reptilian
aliens, and granted, you look atthe, the original cover for Red
Sands and you're like, thatlooks like a human.
It looks like a what?
It looks like a human with just,you know, red skin.

(14:41):
Was it when they were doingjust, it was like all torsos?
Something like that.
The multicolored torso era?
It has changed.
The covers have changed toreflect what they actually look
like more, which I'm like, Iappreciate this a lot more.
But it starts off with Red Sandsand you, you have this, you have

(15:01):
this spaceship that crashes on aterra and it's full of women, by
the way.
No men.
I don't know why.
That's fine.
Remember why's been a whilesince I read?
I'm not Human Men.
It's fine.
I think I read it back in 2021.
Okay.
So yeah, it's been a, it's beena minute.
Little bit of a, yeah, it's beena minute.
Quite a minute.

(15:22):
But anyways it's been a fatminute, so, and.
Of course, all of the, the, thealiens that are part of this
world are divided up into threedifferent tribes, clans,
whatever you call them and it'sreflective of the planet based
on the sands that they inhabit.
You've got the red sands, thecolored sands, the scarred
sands, and the living sands.

(15:42):
So the first one starts off withred sands, and of course, All of
the clans are like, oh look,females, yay, because apparently
they're very low on females inthis planet.
Mars needs women.
As all good sci fi romancesstart.
Atera needs women, apparently.
Right.
I sense, I sense no lie.

(16:05):
And so like the first, the firstguy claimed he's like the leader
of the Red Sands, and so he, heclaims one of the females, but
the weird thing about this raceis that he's Their mates have to
be the ones to cut open wheretheir, where their, yes, where
their peens are.

(16:25):
Okay.
Okay.
Like, like, they are, they are,the males are totally virgin.
Right.
Well, you know, so they've got,

EJ (16:34):
like, their own version of, like, a hymen, only

Amy (16:37):
it's real.
Yeah.
Yes! Yes! Yeah, Dara Joyactually had, did something
similar in one of, in her, shehad a, she had a one off book
where They never came out andsaid it, but there was
implications of like reverseengineering and the way a male
seal quote unquote was brokenoff of his cockhead was It was
the vaginal secretions had toerode it, basically.

(16:57):
I mean,

EJ (16:59):
about any, any vagina owner with a pair of dark underwear
could probably see that

Amy (17:06):
happening.
Oh, absolutely.
It eats away at

EJ (17:08):
something,

Amy (17:08):
damn it.
As bleached out as the guts ofevery pair of my underpants are.
I know, right?
But anyways.
So with this, with this whole, Iguess it's the sheath really, so
the females of their raceusually claw open it, and I'm
just like, Gotcha.
Okay.
You have to have some serious,serious dexterity within claws.

(17:32):
But anyways, so the idea is whenthe, when the women, the human
women are ready to actually dothe deed with their mates, they
choose a knight.
Which is, you know, a little bitof a mood killer for some women.
Well, it worked, it works, but Imean, sure, it gets the job
done, but I can also respect itbeing a I didn't expect this as

(17:56):
pillow talk.
But Come on, baby, play mysheep.
There's some strife going onalso within each of the clans
well, supposedly each of theclans.
In Red Sands, I forget what hisname is, but he he has to deal
with competition, obviously, forhis leadership position, as well

(18:17):
as his woman that he's claimed.
By the way, she has red hair.
That's one of the reasons why hepicked her.
Ah.
And then, then we move on to thesecond book, which is Hard
Sands.
And this is like the mountainousregion of their, of their world,
I'm guessing.
And same thing, of course, youknow He claimed a woman and

(18:40):
again, he's actually new to theleadership position because I
think his father had recentlypassed.
And so he has a whole differentother form of strife to deal
with within his clan.
And then we, at the end of booktwo, we kind of get a hint as to
what's happening in the livingsands area, which is technically
where all the, where all thelife is, the oases, the healing

(19:03):
sands are located there.
And.
And that was it.
And I'm just like, where's bookthree?
Oh yeah.
And so finally it's beenannounced.
And in May it's supposed to comeout.
And I'm just like, okay, thankyou.
We can finally, we can finallycollect the trilogy and be done.

(19:24):
It's one of those things whereit's like, it's like you're so
grateful, but at the same time,like did either of you guys ever
watch Futurama?
Yes.
Do you remember the one whereBender adopted all of the
orphans because he thought hewas going to run a scam and make
money on it?
Yep.
Yeah.
And Bender goes, what do we say?
Thank you! No.
Time! There's just a littlestereotypical orphan in my head.

(19:51):
About time! But, I mean, she wasstill writing under her original
pen name though, so it's like Ofcourse, of course.
And, and, honestly, like a lotof what I'm saying isn't just
because Oh yeah, of course.
Like Of course.
Of course.
We're lucky to get to read it.
I understand why some authors dothat.
They'll, they'll leave us,they'll either leave a series to

(20:12):
sit for a while because Mm-Hmm.
they're not able to continue.
We, we, we have spoken aboutthis before with Tiffany
Roberts.
Mm-Hmm.
and yeah, they had to take thebreak on the we, the weaver,
exactly the, the brain, becausewe.
We're all, we're all eager forit, but of course we understand,
if they're not feeling it, theycannot deliver a story that they

(20:33):
want to deliver a shite story.
Exactly.
I feel really bad for them, too,because over on their Discord,
every time somebody new pops up,they always go, I heard there
was going to be another serieswith the Bricks.
Did that happen?
And everybody's just like,please, shh, please.
Remember, remember.
Then Tiffany or Robert comes inand they're very polite, but you

(20:54):
can tell they're very tired ofanswering the question.
Alright, but that's my storyabout her basically returning to
the series.
I'm glad she came back though.
Oh yeah, I'm glad.
I am glad because I would liketo know about that one because I
was actually very interested inTrace's book.
See, I remember his name.
Do I remember the other twonames?

(21:14):
No.
That's alright.
Because he's the one I haven'tmet.
I can tell you about characters.
I can sometimes even tell youcharacters names.
Name of the book?
Forget it.
I remember the name of the bookmore than I did the characters.
I still can't.
I still half the time, eventhough I have read this book,
easily 20 times now, His DarkestCraving by Timothy Roberts.

(21:39):
I can never quite remember ifit's His Darkest Craving or His
Darkest Kiss.
And I vacillate between the two,and I drive myself crazy.
I'll bet you book three is goingto be his darkest kiss.
It is, and then I'm just goingto be fucked.

(22:00):
Oh goodness.
But yes, I am happy.
I am very happy about that.
It's always a wonderful feelingwhen they return to a series and
you're like, ah! Especially whenyou're like, you've gotten to
that point where you're like,oh, shit, I think I gave up hope
on that.
I think

EJ (22:16):
Stacey, I

Amy (22:17):
think we're ready for your other author.
And I know who it is because Iwant to know because You know
who I'm talking about.
EJ knows who I'm talking about.
I do, yes.
You need to talk about her.
I'm gonna save that one forthird.
Actually, I'm gonna save thatone for third because the second
one, there's not really bigdrama about it.
I just wish she'd come back.
Okay.
And that's Mary Eau Claire.
Who?
And it's AAU Claire, not EauClaire.

(22:37):
It's A-U-U-C-L-A-I-R-E, Ibelieve.
And she was, she, I mean, waslike 400 years ago, she wrote
smut with aliens.
She has.
Several books out like a fairlylike I wouldn't I mean she's got
more fucking books out than I'vegot She's probably got somewhere
around ten.

(22:58):
I think and she started withlike fantasy Paranormal fantasy
kind of stuff.
She had this really cool serieswith two Dragonrider books that
were really good.
It was Touch of Ice was thefirst one, and I think Touch of

(23:19):
Fire was the second one.
And it was the idea that beforethese books had started these
dragon riding aliens came andbasically decided to colonize
Earth, whether Earth liked it ornot, colonized it, and then it
turned out that the males of thespecies, it's like you have to,

(23:39):
it's like a geneticcompatibility kind of thing.
And because they're, they'rekind of a two what's the word
I'm looking for, like a twospecies species, basically,
because you've got the ones whocan bond with the dragons who
were the aristocracy, basically,and then you have like the more
like common class common place,which is everybody else,

(24:01):
essentially.
And they had problems on theirhome planet with.
There were extremists who,essentially, it's like, like in
Harry Potter with like the the,the, the fucking wizards
screaming about mudbloods,essentially.
It's the same thing where therewere, there were like extreme

(24:22):
factions who didn't want thedragon riders breeding with the
non dragon riders and wouldattack mixed families,
basically.
But the problem is, is TheDragon Riders have to breed with
whomever they're geneticallycompatible with, and you have to
be tested to find genmate,basically.

(24:42):
And it, then they turn out afterthey've colonized Earth that, oh
shit, human women can crossbreedwith us, which ups our, you
know, boosts our numbers.
But by this point in time,humans have essentially been
reduced to sort of like medievalpeasants and don't want anything
to do with the Dragon Riders forobvious fucking reasons.
And they can't be forced into acontract, because what it is is

(25:03):
it's a breeding contract.
And the other problem, too, isthat it's dangerous for human
women, that there's a high riskyou can slip into a coma, and
then you could die, or you andthe baby could die, basically.
And really cool world building,did two books in the series, and
then I think she jumped toAliens, which I really do wish

(25:25):
she would go back and finish TheDragon.
Then she wrote a couple ofdifferent Alien series, but the
one that I feel that she's mostknown for is the, I think it's
The Venomous.
Yeah, Venom, it's the Venomousquadrilogy, because it's
Venomous Cravings, Venomous,like, it's four books with
Venomous something, basically,because it follows four alien

(25:46):
brothers.
And yeah, it's VenomousCravings, Venomous Hunger,
Venomous Heart, and VenomousLust.
And it's really cool withanother one where it's this
really cool world building wherethis time the human population
is hugely decimated because oncealiens figured out humans,
everybody wanted a human pet andessentially everybody was stolen

(26:09):
off of the earth except for likea handful of people.
Well, then this other speciescame in and got themselves
appointed by sort of theGalactic Senate, essentially, as
like the overseers of humanity.
Like, we'll set up a preserve,careful breeding, you know,
we'll, we'll preserve thepopulation.
And really what it turned intois the, the person who owns the
largest quote unquote breedingstock of humans was essentially

(26:31):
creating tailor made sex slavesand selling them to other
people.
It was really good.
And then she just kind of felloff the face of the planet.
And I figured, okay, maybe she'sjust a slow writer.
But then another writer, itmight, in fact, it might even
have been Ruby.
said that she had chosen to stepback from writing because she
had several small children andwanted to focus on her family.

(26:53):
So totally commendable, no dramathere, but at the same time it's
like, God bless it, I reallylike her writing, but I want her
to come back and write me somemore stories, dammit!

EJ (27:02):
Yeah.
No, it's understandable.

Amy (27:06):
Right, and it's also totally understandable that, you
know, she wants to be with herchildren while they're small.
But it's one of those thingswhere I do hope that, you know,
when her kids are older and sheis ready, that she does come
back to writing.
And it won't be something whereshe's like, eh, it's been a
while, and I don't know if Ifeel like coming back to it.
There is hope because she didrecently recover and re release

(27:31):
the Venomous series.
So obviously there's someinterest still in keeping the
books out there, because I wasreally surprised, because I own
the whole series, but when Iwent to look at it on Amazon, it
was telling me that I could buyit.
You know, I didn't get the greenread now button, and so for
whatever reason, she's rereleased it.
So I don't know if there havebeen new edits, duh.

(27:54):
Maybe something you have to doif you're going to release a new
cover after so long.
I don't, I don't know, but I'mhoping that's a good sign.
And that means that, you know,maybe someday there'll be more
stuff on the way.

EJ (28:04):
Mm hmm.
Yeah, no, for sure.
I always find it interesting.
There's so many reasons to pivotand, and I can definitely say
like the kid thing.
I, I can personally empathizewith it as someone.
Oh, hugely.
Yeah.
Has a two year old and I've gotanother one due this year in
June.
So hey everyone, I'm pregnant.

(28:26):
So like I get it.
And I also can say like every,every.
Parents got a differentsituation to sure.

Amy (28:36):
Yeah.

EJ (28:37):
Like, I don't see myself slowing down anytime soon, but
also part of it is my own homelife because I have it's a I
have several things incombination.
Like, I've got a really, I'vegot a true co parent of a
father, daddy.
And so I think that helps.
Also, frankly, I have money tolike pay for nannies.

(29:00):
Right.
So that also frankly fuckinghelps, and I'm going

Amy (29:04):
transparent about that.
Yeah.

EJ (29:08):
Going be just I, I believe in that level of economic
transparency

Amy (29:12):
in this.
Well, yeah, That's yourecognizing your privilege
rather than pleading ignoranceso that you don't have to.
Face the fact that most peopledon't have opportunities like
that.
That's commendable of you,frankly.

EJ (29:25):
Oh, thank you.
You're welcome.
Even, even with, like, theawesome partner, that's not to
say any, like, Another authorcould also have just an equal,
maybe even better partner thanwhat I've got, but if they don't
have our economic stability,then well, right.

Amy (29:40):
Or if they don't have the kind of personality that they're
like, I don't, you know, I feellike I could, you know, like
Stevie Nicks has, has that quotewhere she said that she could
have been an amazing mom, or shecould have been an amazing
performer.
And she chose to be a performer,which is why she never had kids.
And, and so it could besomething like that, where this
person, you know in theirsituation feels like I can be an
amazing writer or I can be anamazing mom.

(30:02):
And, you know, if I have toweigh the two, being the mom is
obviously the one that's goingto win.

EJ (30:06):
Especially those who recognize like.
These are decisions that theyhave to make and they own that.
Like, damn, good on them.
I applaud that.

Amy (30:16):
100 percent and the simple truth of the matter is, if she
chooses to come back, you know,I'll be right here waiting
patiently, twiddling my thumbs.
You know, waiting for the nextbook to come out, so.
Yeah, no, for sure.
So the third one, which Amyknows, and so does CJ, everybody

(30:37):
knows, is Amanda Milow.
Now I'm not, I'm not throwingshade.
I'm not putting her on blast,but she just kind of
disappeared.
And I know people have said,like, have like tried to check
in with her.
And been like, hey, like, what'sgoing on?
And all she'll say is that she'sfine, but no one has, has heard
anything about, I think the lastthing that she put out was

(30:59):
either the werewolf's nanny orwas the alien's

EJ (31:02):
little sister.
I'm gonna look that up.
And I just feel so investedbecause I've really liked her
work

Amy (31:10):
in the past.
Oh god, yeah.
Her, well that's another onethat I've been talking about
where her world building isfucking amazing.
And the last book that I'm awareof that she wrote in her sort of
her big, like alien abductionseries was the Quarry Master.
And there were a lot of, I,what'd you say?
That was the last one?

(31:30):
I mean, other than the alien'slittle sister, but No, no, no.
Oh, no.
I'm, I'm just, of that series.
I'm just like, that's one of thereasons I haven't started that
series because I'm like, I don'tknow if I, if I should.
Stolen?
Well, it doesn't end in a badway.
It's just like, don't, you know,like, you might have questions
that aren't going to getanswered, basically.

(31:51):
So there's, and the thing too isshe, a lot of her, her, her
series all kind of intertwine.
I don't read her pet seriesbecause that's really dark, and
I don't think it has a happyending, so I just avoid that,
but I haven't read all of thestuff in the Stolen by an Alien
series because she does like todo a lot of, like, throuples,
you know, reverse harem, like,Beth's stable has, like, she has

(32:16):
five husbands, something likethat.
And then she'll do like, shortstories in it.
So like, there's the alien nannyfor Christmas is a super cute
one, but he's one of the, the,the Rahkee, which are these sort
of dragon, dragon humanoids.
And so, so her two main speciesin this are Rahkee and Hobbes,

(32:39):
and the Hobbes are like, hotvampires, basically, they've got
wings, but they're kind of like,Butterflies in the, the pouches,
the wings on the inside, on theoutside, they're like leathery
looking gargoyling, but on theinside, they all have different
colors, and they can hit youwith it, and it's an

(32:59):
aphrodisiac, and so it'ssomething that, like, there's
one couple in Craved by anAlien, where it's a hob, and he
ends up with a human, where helikes to, he'll clap her in his
wings, Get her all hot andbothered.
And then there were some sort ofsecondary slash tertiary ones
like Blindfall is Anotherspecies, but she was part of the

(33:25):
original group that was abductedin the first Stolen by an Alien
book.
And that one is actually reallysweet and really cool.
One of the things I really likeabout Amanda Milas writing is
that she can take a characterAnd right from their
perspective, no matter what itis.
So like in the quarry master, Ilove the main female character.
She, she's, she has an arm and ahalf and she wasn't born that

(33:48):
way.
It's just, you know, she's justborn missing part of her.
I think she said left hand, ifI'm remembering correctly.
And it, you know, it talks abouthow she, she does a really good
job of showing how Isla can getaround and be independent, even
though she's, you know, missing.
I am like, she can put her hairup in a ponytail, you know, she
can do this, she can do that.

(34:09):
In Blindfall, the main femalecharacter is blind, and she's
actually abducted with herservice dog Coda, which is it's
really, it's really good though,and Breslin the hero is like the
cinnamon rollist of the giantcinnamon rolls, and it's
actually really sweet becausewhat happens is she's bought at

(34:32):
auction for Breslin by one ofhis friends who ends up being
one of the husbands in Beth'sstable, and It's super cute,
because Breslin is very muchagainst, you don't own sentient
beings and you don't sellsentient beings, but he's afraid
that something's gonna happen toher, and so He takes her with
him back to his home planet, andthe plan is that she's going to

(34:55):
stay with him while the one whobought her is going to figure
out how to get to Earth so thatthey can take her home,
basically.
And in the course of it, theyfall in love, and it's really
sweet because like, Breslin is afarmer, and it's, it's very much
like, it's not a Like, superhigh tech alien farm.
Like, it's like he lives in aone room farmhouse, you know,

(35:18):
that he inherited from hisfamily and, like, he has to go
out and he has to tend to hisfences because he raises
narwari, which are sort of likedeer unicorn except they're,
they're fucking predators.
And so, they'll sneak into theneighbor's pen and eat all of
his meat stock, basically, butshe's done a whole thing where
she describes, like, like, she'scome up with, like, words for

(35:41):
it, like, Breslin's called aGarthmaw because he breaks
narwari so that they can beturned into service animals,
basically, and I imagine himwith a Welsh accent because
Garthmaw, to me, sounds like aWelsh word, but, you know, to
each their own and, like, youknow, like, there's, like, just
terms that she, that she's comeup with, like, moon raked means,

(36:01):
like, adorable, you know.
Like, like, at one point intime, Breslin to himself is
talking about how just moonraked cute Sana is.
And like, just, just all ofthese, like, like, this great
terminology.
He's just, like, the sweetestguy you've ever met.
And then he goes into his rut.
And he's like so I'm gonna besleeping in the barn for the

(36:23):
next couple of nights.

Stacy (36:25):
And she's like, what?
Why?
Because they're sleeping in thesame bed.
Because he's only got one damnbed.
And she's like, what?
Why?
And he's explaining that my rutis on me and I can't be around
you, and I definitely can't bearound you if there are other
men present, because I'll killthem.
And this is so, like, antiBreslin that it's amazing.

(36:47):
But it's also super hot because,you know, you've got, like, the
restraints and all of that.
And there's a scene where hegoes out to the The barn to
sleep and by this point in time,this is fairly far into the
book.
So they, they've definitelybonded to one another and she
wakes up in the middle of thenight because he comes into the
house and grabs her by the ankleand he pulls her across the bed
and you're thinking, all right,we're going to do it.

(37:08):
It's happening.
And what he does is he justpicks her up and just like
inhales.
Like her scent off of her hairand like groans in her ear and
then puts her back to bed andleaves the room and you're just
like, okay, like that was thehottest goddamn thing I ever
fucking read.
So that's the thing that I loveabout Amanda Milo is that she
can do stuff that's like hot,hot, hot, hot, hot, but it's

(37:30):
also like really fucking funnytoo.
And, and she does a great job ofwriting the world through
Santa's perspective, Santa'sperspective.
Because she's blind, and like,she talks about how she likes
that the, the, the farmhouse isone room because she can find
everything, like, she knowswhere stuff is, she knows how
many steps it is, and she, like,they talk, she, there's a, a bit

(37:54):
where they go out to to eat at arestaurant in town, and it's
very much like you get like asort of a Wild West, Little
House on the Prairie kind ofvibe from it.
And, but she talks about, like,how she, you know, like, she
picks up her cup to take a drinkof water and she leaves her hand
where the cup had been, so sheknows where to put her cup back
down.
And when she goes to findsomething, she puts her hands on

(38:17):
the table and she slides ituntil she finds what she's
looking for, because she doesn'twant to knock something over.
And so it's just this, like,really cool, really incredible
perspective.
And, like, you can tell, like,whatever research she does is
fucking amazing.
And then when she wants to go,like, cuckoo fucking bananas,
that woman will go cuckoofucking bananas.

(38:37):
Because she wrote part of theVenus Needs Men series that
Tiffany Roberts and I thinkPoppy Ri Poppy Reese and Naomi
Lucas.
Yes, thank you, Naomi Lucas alsowrote in.
The whole series, really good,and it's really cool because you
get very different dragons andvery different perspectives
based on who the writer is.
And so like, you know, TiffanyRoberts's two are like very

(38:59):
thought out and very wellplanned and very heart wrenching
in some places.
Naomi Lucas's are very intense.
Poppy Reese's is really coolbecause it's the only one where
it's a winter dragon who doesn'tblow fire, he blows frost, which
was super cool.
And they're, all of these tribesare like, this is like either
pre technology or what I thinkis actually very far post
technology.

(39:20):
And so it's these tribes ofwhere the birth rate of males is
just extraordinarily low.
And so most of the women areexpendable, essentially, like,
you know, they're the hunters intheir tribes because, you know,
if your tribe's only got sixmen, you gotta produce, you
know, gotta protect the breedingstock.
Well, Amanda took the, the job,you like how I referred to her

(39:42):
like we're BFFs?
So me and Mandy.
So Amanda Milo took the idea andshe fucking decided to go
absolutely bananas with it.
So she, her first book is, Ibelieve, To Catch a Dragon.
And, and the premise is, isthere's a red comet that comes
to earth every 10 years, I thinkit is.

(40:03):
And it sends everything on theplanet into like a mating
frenzy.
And dragons know to stay awayfrom humans at this stage,
because if a human touches thedragon while the red comet is
overhead, they will become ahumanoid essentially.
And they'll be bonded to thehuman.
And you know, and if you're adragon that can live for

(40:23):
millennia, now suddenly yourlifespan has been tied to that
of your human mate.
And You know, I mean, like, you,you lose a lot, basically, and
so each story is, you know,like, how this happened, and,
like, each of them came up withtheir own tribe, so, like, Naomi
Lucas tribes are like seagoingpeople like beachside tribes
Tiffany Roberts tribes are, Ican't remember, I want to say

(40:47):
they're like cliff swallowers,or, I can't remember anymore.
No, because Naomi Lucas had moreof a jungle vibe than I
remember.
I can't remember now.
It's been a while since I'veread these.
But, Amanda Milo's charactersare grasslands.
Like, so they're like prairiedwellers.
And, it is one of the first,both books, honestly, are some

(41:10):
of the funniest goddamn things Ihave ever read.
And also the dirtiest.
she just, she's just this great,great writer, and I really wish
that she would come back, like,I hope everything's going okay
in her life, obviously.
But I just really, really wishthat she would come back and
write some more, and sherecently recovered a bunch of
her books too, I noticed.

(41:32):
And so I'm kind of hoping, maybethat's a sign, like,
contaminated, and what's theother one?
I don't know.
Contagion?
Contaminated and contagion.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's it.
That's it.
Yeah.
Like, those ones are very, very,like, beloved.
Especially contagion.
Those two that I have read.
And

Amy (41:48):
I enjoy them.
Yeah.
The

Stacy (41:51):
premise is, like, there are these, like, these, like,
you know, like, death machinealiens who don't realize it.
And in the second book, he'sterrified of germs and
everything that's on earth.
So he's a literal killingmachine and has no fucking idea.
But he's terrified ofmosquitoes.
So it's really fun.
We still love him.

Amy (42:08):
We still love him so much.
Oh, yeah.

Stacy (42:10):
Oh, yeah, I'm kind of hoping that because there's new
covers coming out maybe we'regonna get lucky and there's
gonna be a new like she's gonnacome back from wherever she
wandered off to but Crossing myfingers.
It's just like, there you go.
That's the end of mydissertation.
Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.

EJ (42:28):
I love it.
And so, so now we, we, let's getinto, let's get into some
serious discussion time.
So, like, how, the first onemakes it sound like we're about
to, you know, be part of a grouptherapy session.

Stacy (42:46):
I could probably benefit from some, to be perfectly
frank.
How

EJ (42:52):
does it feel when, how does it make you feel when authors
leave or pivot?

Stacy (43:00):
Pivoting, I wouldn't be necessarily a deal breaker for
me.
Like, If I like the author'svoice, I would at least attempt
to follow them into whateverthey pivoted into, unless they
did something weird like, nowI'm only writing clean romance.
Then I'm gonna be like, well,Godspeed.
It's been a good run.
See you on the other side, Dr.

(43:21):
Bankman.
I'm with you, Stacey.
Yeah, like, I'm not, I'm notinterested in clean romance, and
there's a weird, because thereare some authors I know who,
who've done stuff like that,where like, they've got religion
or something like that, andsuddenly they're not, You know,
writing SMUD anymore.
And You know, if that's thechoice that you want to make,
obviously that's your choice tomake, but it smacks of more,

(43:44):
like, like, moralizing and I'mnot interested in being
moralized,

EJ (43:48):
no, no, no judgment in fact quite, quite the opposite.

Stacy (43:52):
Yeah, like, I'm not judging either, but it's just a
case of I'm not interested inreading that.
So I probably wouldn't readthat.
Having podcast, and again, it'smore

EJ (43:59):
the podcast is explicit for heaven's sake.

Stacy (44:02):
Yeah.
But again, it's just that whole,it, it also smacks of, you know,
I was a sinner, but now I'mcleansed.
And it's just like, Hmm.
Agree, disagree.
Yeah.
Yeah.

EJ (44:14):
So

Amy (44:15):
for me, I, I get, I would, I would with regards to
pivoting, yeah.
I'm with, I'm with Stacy there.
It's like if they want to gosomewhere that I might be
interested in reading, then Iwould go there.
I had mentioned before with,with just EJ, basically, I am
not always going to read anauthor's entire backlog.
I applaud people who do that,but,

Stacy (44:37):
I mean It depends, like, for me, if it's, if it's, cause
like, some of them, it's like,like, fuck it, I'll read
anything Ruby Dixon puts out.
I'll read anything TiffanyRoberts puts out.
I'll read anything NancyCummings puts out.
But not every author is going tohave that same level of devotion
for me, basically.

Amy (44:55):
There are certain stories that I definitely am interested
in reading or there might be anauthor and I'm like your stuff
sounds cool But it's like I'vetried one book And then I may
try something else like oh thisactually does resonate with me
or I may just give up on anauthor Entirely because I'm just
like your writing style isn'tfor me.

Stacy (45:15):
And that's yeah, that is totally

Amy (45:17):
okay because I think it also helps because also if, if
they say leave, because I'm soused to kind of moving on so
much, even whether it's, whetherit's work involved or because
I'm, I'm in the bookish world, Ican't help it.
I keep, I keep tabs on thingsthat I'm not even interested in
reading myself because that'sjust how.

(45:39):
The library,

Stacy (45:40):
but I mean, yeah, I mean, you're a librarian, like, I have
to know when the next persongets released, which would be 5
minutes ago and then another 5.

Amy (45:52):
Yeah, I'm just irked about what the latest one is, but
we're not going to go there.
But anyways,

Stacy (45:56):
Okay, but off the mic, we are going to go there, because
now I'm curious.

Amy (46:02):
When it comes to leaving, authors leaving, I don't know,
I'm just used to, kind of,authors kind of appearing and
then disappearing

Stacy (46:11):
just really right because of the nature of what you do.
So I mean,

Amy (46:15):
well, if it's an author that I'm really, I have enjoyed
their stuff in the past, like,oh, I hope they're doing all
right.
Like, I know Maggie Stiefvaterhasn't really produced anything
after the Grey Waren series,which is the follow up to the
Raven cycle.
But apparently she's got some,she's got an adult book in the
works, but

Stacy (46:36):
I haven't read all of her books.
She's a

Amy (46:37):
young adult.
No, I've actually only read,I've read two and a half of her
books, no, three and a half,three and a half of her books.
I've read Shimmer, I've readScorpio Races, I've read The
Raven Boys, I've read DreamingThieves.
Okay, so four books.
Four books.

Stacy (46:52):
I like how this number's getting higher as the
conversation progresses.
I've only killed two people.
Okay, I killed that taxi driver.
Three people.
Alright, you know what, I cutthat one guy in half, but he was
still alive when I left, so I'mgonna say three and a half.
I've killed three and a halfpeople.
Let's just say I've

Amy (47:07):
never finished a

Stacy (47:08):
series from her.
I mean, yeah, but she's youngadult, I'm assuming.
Yes, she is.
Yeah, so, and I can see, like,granted, like, I make it a point
of avoiding young adult for themost part because the market got
so damn saturated after HarryPotter and Twilight came out.
But a lot of the Young Adultseries really do seem to get

(47:29):
kind of samey.

Amy (47:31):
They do, and the problem is, is that a lot, a lot of the
publishers do focus on the moneymaking.
Right.
And they focus on the

Stacy (47:39):
money making authors.
They want, and they'redeliberately picking the clones,
basically, instead of theoriginal ones.

Amy (47:45):
How many times has Well, her books are no longer
considered YA.
How many times have SarahJanet's books been recovered and
recovered and just like, huh.
Yeah, Bloomsbury.
You're gonna milk that cash

Stacy (48:00):
cows.
Oh, yeah.
Of course.
Milk the cash cow before theysend them off to slaughter.

EJ (48:05):
I'm over here thinking, you know, I, I feel, I feel very
similar to, to both of you.
Like, it's a, It's not like Idon't care when authors pivot or
leave.
I'm more like, okay.
I, mostly I'm concerned, like,are you doing it for your, you
know, for your own good?

(48:26):
If that's the number one thing,then I'm like, go,

Stacy (48:30):
go forth.
Well, that's like with ErinRegan, like, I really, I really
felt like, I feel like she leftbecause it was a mental health
thing.
Which, it breaks my heart, butat the same time, she's got to
do what's the best thing forher, and I can 100 percent
respect that.
Yes.

EJ (48:44):
And, and that kind of does go into my next question.
Like, what are the challengesthat these authors face that may
push them to make these hugedecisions?
And gosh, there's like myriad.
Where do we begin?
So many.
You know, you've got your, yourpersonal life pressures that

(49:05):
some of them can be negative orpositive, quite frankly.
Sure.

Stacy (49:08):
You know?
Well, that's like what I wastalking about with Mary Mary
O'Claire.
Like, Yeah.
She wanted to, she stepped awayto, to raise her kids and, like,
that's not a negative thing.
That's a positive thing, but,you know, it just sucks that
you're a fan of her stuff.
Right.
It doesn't, you know, I'm sureher kids would all be like, yes,
thank you.

EJ (49:25):
And there's also a lot of technical challenges.
On one hand, Amazon, I do creditAmazon with a lot of opening up
the indie author world.
And at the same time, they do adamn good job subjugating it.
Yes,

Stacy (49:40):
they wanted to open up the indie author world, but they
want to make sure that they'rethe only ones that the indie
authors can use and thereforecreate a monopoly.
They're just as bad as thepublishers.
They're just, they just use adifferent.
model to put the screws to thewriters.

EJ (49:53):
Absolutely.
I, I say bravo to any author whois brave enough to go wide.
When they release their books, Iknow, Kindle Direct Publishing,
that's where a lot of it is.
I am a KU member.
Okay, so I'm not over here.

Stacy (50:11):
Honestly, on my minuscule salary, that's one of the few
perks that I can afford.

EJ (50:15):
Exactly.
So I'm not over here being like,that is so common, or whatever,
like, it's a huge part of theworld.
But I, I do appreciate theauthors like who go out and
frankly, it is a bigger hustleto go wide.
Yeah, I, I do.

(50:36):
I feel some optimism at thismoment for things like hybrid
publishing houses.
I am very curious how thoseevolve.
I'd love to do a blog post oneday, just writing about some of
the ones that I'm followingright now on like Instagram.
Just to Like, I, I'd love totalk to them directly and ask,

(50:58):
like, what's your deal?
What are, what are you planningon doing?
And part of me is kind ofcurious how much of this may be
connected, how many folks in thehybrid publishing world maybe
have.
Connections back to tradpublishing because I like

Stacy (51:16):
how many of them maybe broke away or something like
that.
Yeah, right.
personal

EJ (51:20):
Hypothesis watching trad publishing.
There's so much merging goingon.
There's so much layoffs not justin tribe publishing, but all
trad media Yeah

Stacy (51:30):
I feel for the people who are getting laid off, but I
don't feel for the entitiesthemselves.
Right.
Because they basically refusedto adapt.
And if you don't adapt, you're,you die.
Like, that's the long and shortof it.
Like, instead of trying to stampon.
First of all, on the whole selfpublishing thing, just being
vanity presh and all that kindof bullshit, that gatekeeping

(51:50):
right there, like, that haschanged within 20 years.
20 years ago, if you published abook on your own, that was the
kiss of death.
Nobody would ever touch you.
Oh, yeah.
Or if you sat face to face.
If you what?
I'm sorry?
If you saw Create Space as thepublisher.
Yes, yeah.
And, and now, and because ofthat, that led to, you know, the

(52:13):
predatory actions that we'veseen all of these dipshits
engage in, like what I wastalking about with Dara Joy, and
then, now all of a suddenthey're whining and shrieking
that nobody's buying booksanymore, and it's like, no,
people are buying books, they'rejust not buying books from you,
dipshit, because you didn't wanta level of playing field.
You know, the whole thing whereit's like, you know, there's a

(52:35):
reason why everybody decided scifi was only for men and women
had to write under, probablystill have to write under
pseudonyms in a lot of cases.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that because I know there wasa, I cannot remember her name
off the top of my head, but shewas a black sci fi writer, black
female sci fi writer.
She won a lot of awards in likethe 70s and 80s.

(52:56):
And she wrote under herinitials, and everybody assumed
she was a white man, and it waseasier for her than trying to
get published under who sheactually was.
Right.
And that's all, that's allgatekeeping.
Like, there's no reason whypeople who aren't lily white
can't access sci fi.
And we

EJ (53:11):
know for a fact that this is still a consideration with the,
the recent leaks of the Hugoawards, like people were
straight up talking like inemails to each other.
Hey, here's a short list offolks.
What were they looking at?
It was stuff that was, they,they didn't even allow the

(53:32):
Chinese government to weigh

Stacy (53:34):
in.
Nope, they self censoredthemselves.
They self

EJ (53:36):
censored, oh no, these people are too much.
Those quizzling

Stacy (53:41):
pussies.
Yeah.
Actually, you know what, they'renot a pussy.
You wish you were as strong as apussy.
They're a bunch of fuckingquizzling limp dicks, is what
they are.

Amy (53:48):
But I was trying to say, when it comes to indie
publishing though, I mean, we'restill seeing similar patterns
that we do in trad publishing.
Oh yeah, 100%.
The authors that we see are, ofcourse, white, which, but it's
like, It's something that, it,it's just an unfairness.

(54:09):
It is an unfairness

Stacy (54:10):
for traditional publishing.
It is.
But we are seeing more, like Iknow there are several writers
that I read who are women ofcolor.
In the romance world.
Regina Abel is a person ofcolor.
Oh, is she?
Oh, she is! Yeah, and I know, ofcourse, the minute I try to
think of names, now I've drawn acomplete guide.
Of course, Regina Abel.
Kimberly Lemming.
I'm trying to think of who elseI know I have.

(54:35):
There are several women I followwho are women of color.
And of course, now that I needto name

EJ (54:38):
names, I can't well, the obsidian feathers author.
I keep on pushing on you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Sarah, she is she is.
I she's, she's particularlyunique because one of the
reasons I love her so, her workso much is that she delves into
indigenous folklore, like, preHispanic folklore, and

Stacy (54:59):
that's, that shit's dark and so cool.
Oh, hell yes.
Yeah.
Hell yes.
If you want to ever read aboutsome mean fucking gods, read
about, like, Incan and Aztecgods that's actually one of my
favorites.
Well, howdy.
That's how you say it.
Inked Alpha, the artist, youknow, her stuff is a lot of
indigenous based stuff becauseshe's indigenous herself.

(55:20):
So like Agmos and stuff likethat in her stories, like a lot
of that is drawing fromindigenous Mexican and South
American culture, which I thinkis super cool.
And also

EJ (55:32):
Agmos is hot as fuck.
The folklore nerd in me wouldlove to see more non Western
writers, like, really gettingcomfy in their non Western
culture.
Mostly, in part, because I amselfish and I want those

Stacy (55:52):
stories.
Yes.
No, I totally get it.
Like, I want the fucking story.

EJ (55:57):
So, but anyway, I want to wrap up our little discussion
with something that.
Maybe a little bit encouraging.
If there was something you'd sayas readers to authors, like
we've mentioned, or or haven'twho are maybe having kind of a
hard time who may be thinkingabout pivoting or leaving what

(56:18):
would you tell them?

Amy (56:19):
I would say, really, take your time and really think about
what is best for you.
If you, if you feel like youhave run your course in this
area of literature, then maybe apivot is just what you need.

(56:42):
If you really want to continueon, then I say, take a break.
It is okay to take a breakbecause Goodness knows we all
need a break in this crazyinsane world that we live in,
but just, you know, really thinklong and hard about what is best

(57:02):
for you, because ultimately thatis what you need to focus on.
Don't focus on the crowd that'sgonna be like,

Stacy (57:09):
Oh my god, why aren't you getting us more books?
Give me the next book! Oh mygod, where's the next book?
You need to

Amy (57:19):
basically close your ears to that nonsense, even if I'm
one of the ones that's sayingit, even though I have tried.
I know, guilty.
I like to think I have, I havegrown to where it's like, The
worst thing you could everpossibly say is, where's the
next chapter?
Where's the next book?
Please, please, for the love ofgod, just appreciate what

Stacy (57:40):
they have now.
That's true.
Unless, in which case, get thatshit out because, you know.
I need help finishing.

Amy (57:49):
Sometimes it's like, you just want to write for yourself.

Stacy (57:52):
And that is totally Yes.
What I would say I'm sorry, areyou done, Amy?
I am done.
Thank you, Stacey.
Absolutely.
First of all, I would say, I amgoing to become Lloyd Dobler
from Say Anything.
And I am just going to standoutside your house with a
boombox while Peter Gabrielplays.
But also, and if you don't getthat reference, well, you have a

(58:13):
really good movie waiting foryou.
And young John Cusack isdelicious.
Old John Cusack's delicious,quite frankly.
Anyway, before I fall down aCusack K hole, I would also say,
like what Amy is saying, is it'sokay to write for yourself.
You don't have to write toplease your audience.
It's also okay to just writebecause you like to write.

(58:35):
Maybe you wanna be like, youknow, like, like maybe the
hustle aspect of it is what'swearing you down, but the love
of the story is still there, andif that's the case, it's totally
okay to just say, fuck it, I'mgonna step back, and I'm gonna
write some shit for myself.
And that's actually somethingthat, because, you know, I do
hope to someday publish myself,and that's actually something

(58:55):
that I've had to tell myselfwhile I'm writing, is that I am
writing this story because thisis the story that I would like
to read.
And it will appeal to people whohave a similar interest.
I'm not writing this to try andcatch the widest net possible of
readership.
And I understand, I'm not,definitely not criticizing any
author who's, you know, tryingto make a living at it,
obviously.
But I think it is okay that ifyou feel like The demand, the

(59:19):
outside demands on your storiesand your time have become so
oppressing that it is okay tosay, fuck it.
I'm writing for me.
I'm not writing for anybodyelse.
And also I'm Lloyd Dobler andI'm going to stand outside your
house

EJ (59:38):
while Peter Gabriel plays on the

Stacy (59:40):
radio.

Amy (59:40):
It's like, if I'm happy with your books, I'm going to
talk them up to other people.
I mean, you know, I've just,I've just cast my net

Stacy (59:49):
towards

Amy (59:51):
one of my work friends with, with the Orcskorn series.
Although, cause she, like Isaid, she enjoyed the Leviathan
Fitness series, EJ.
Love it, love it.
Thoroughly enjoyed that one.
And I've given her, she actuallymentioned Cleo Evans, I'm like,
yes, if you want somethingdarker, read this.
By Cleo Evans, but it's like,yes, I mean, I'm definitely
going to talk up your books.

Stacy (01:00:13):
I mean, I like to think that I'm worse than Mormons
going door to door, where I'mjust like, let me tell you about
this book by Alexis B.
Osborne called Mate for theAlien Born Star.
Or have I told you about ourLord and Savior, Nancy Cummings?
Or, you should start with RubyDixon, because she's a great
gateway drag.
She is.

(01:00:33):
Or, are you really into semen?
Let me tell you about FinleyFinn.

EJ (01:00:39):
Let us discuss the magical trope of magical cum.

Stacy (01:00:44):
Hey man, semen worship is a thing, so I ain't yuckin
anybody's yum.

EJ (01:00:48):
Yeah.
for me, I, I would emphasize toany author who, Is just looking
down the pit of despair andknowing they're about to go in,
or if they're in the pit ofdespair itself, I ignore the
rest of us, which is reallyrich.

(01:01:09):
Like, you know, we're spendingall we're spending hours, you
know, recording, talking aboutthis stuff, but ultimately,
like, the, the thoughts andjudgment of.
The three of us, or even yourhordes of fans, is nothing
compared to what you need to dofor you.
You are the most importantperson in your book community at

(01:01:31):
the end of the day.
Exactly! If I could only pleadwith authors who are moving or
pivoting with 1 thing, it wouldbe don't trash everything.
Let Amazon

Stacy (01:01:44):
for the love of God.
Keep it

EJ (01:01:46):
up on Amazon.
Get yourself a little bit ofpassive income, you know, just
just leave it up there.
And if you come back, you comeback if you don't.
That's cool,

Stacy (01:01:55):
right?
If you don't, then take thatextra 5 a month and go buy
yourself a damn latte.
That,

EJ (01:02:00):
that is five bucks more than literally zero dollars, so.

Stacy (01:02:05):
Exactly.

Amy (01:02:06):
Also, I will say this is one thing that is actually for
the readers.
It ain't a hack to return yourfriggin Kindle books.
No,

EJ (01:02:14):
it is not.
Screw you.
Anyone who does that.
This ain't Kindle Unlimited.
That's a

Stacy (01:02:19):
dick fuckin move.
That's a dick fuckin KindleUnlimited.
What the hell is wrong with you?
I, now,

EJ (01:02:26):
I, we may have strong feelings about

Stacy (01:02:29):
this.
I've returned two books.
One was a trilogy by an authorthat I had given up on.
I've tried a couple of differenttimes.
They're just not for me.
I'm not going to name namesbecause I'm not interested in
shaming.
I returned it because I did notrealize it was turning into a
reverse Heron thing and therewas nothing in the description
that told me it would.
I don't like reverse harem.

(01:02:50):
And so once I realized it washeading that way, I noped out
and returned it.
And the other one was a horrorstory by an author who made just
the most casual, like it'stotally okay, like racist and
homophobic joke jokes inquotation that I was just like,
I can't give this motherfuckermy money.

(01:03:11):
Like, fuck you.
I'm out.
And those are the only two booksthat I've ever returned to
Amazon.
I don't

Amy (01:03:18):
think I've ever returned a Kindle book to

EJ (01:03:20):
Amazon.
Yeah, not that I can think of.
However, I would not discountthe possibility.
In the future Yeah.
Stuff happens.
Yeah.

Stacy (01:03:30):
Like I feel justified in my returns.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
But don't you know what I

EJ (01:03:34):
mean?
Like, but you're

Stacy (01:03:35):
not doing it as some dumb budgeting hack.
Exactly.
I'm not, is not some kind of a,a budgeting hack.
It's No, it's not a budgetinghack stealing money from
authors.
And if you do it, you're anasshole.
Yeah.
Yes you

EJ (01:03:46):
are.
You're not sticking it

Stacy (01:03:48):
to Amazon.
There's a thing called alibrary, Amazon Library Dip
Shit.
If

Amy (01:03:52):
your library doesn't have what you're looking for, one,
you can ask if they can provideit, and two, if they cannot,
then contact the author.

Stacy (01:04:02):
Right.
Especially because most indieauthors are desperate for ARC
readers.
Exactly.
Oh my gosh, yes.

EJ (01:04:10):
Yes.
In the year of our Lord NancyCummins, 2024.
Sorry, Stacy, now you've got me,like, on

Stacy (01:04:19):
a whole thing.

EJ (01:04:20):
Like, yeah, become an ARC reader

Stacy (01:04:22):
if you are looking for some pre reads.
Yeah, and like I said, like, andI have, I have ARC read for some
fairly, like, this isn't a brag,but just a, I was surprised that
I was able to get on their ARCteam.
Like, I've read for some prettyestablished authors.
Mm hmm.
Oh, yeah.
Also,

Amy (01:04:41):
Edelweiss Plus.
You can get an account with themfor free.
You don't have to be alibrarian.
You don't have to be in the bookindustry.
You can get it for free.
And there are scads of ARCs thatare just available to download.
They are ready for you to read.
Oh, yeah.

EJ (01:04:56):
Netgalley is Sirens is pretty good.
Netgalley.
Netgalley is the other one.
Yeah, Netgalley is another one.
I could create a whole mini listto put in the show notes.
Yeah.
Of where to get started with,with arc reading.

Amy (01:05:09):
And sometimes all it takes is, Not you.
Even just writing to the,figuring out, figuring out who,
who takes care of arcs withcertain publishers and writing
to them and say, hey.
Could I get on the ARC team?
And sometimes they will respond,and sometimes they won't, but
you'll still have access to thebooks.

(01:05:30):
So,

Stacy (01:05:31):
a Discord server that you can get on is the Mox and Cox
Discord server, and they've gota whole thing in there where, I
think it's under author promo,where it's like people looking
for ARC readers.
There

EJ (01:05:45):
you go.
Nice.
I'll put that in the show notesas well.
I'll bug you, Stacy, for theURL.
Go for it.
So, wrapping up take care ofyourselves, dear authors, and
look after yourselves, dearreaders.

Stacy (01:06:00):
Yes.

EJ (01:06:02):
And we'll talk to

Stacy (01:06:03):
y'all later.
And as I said, as a joke, that Iwasn't joking about, in our
Discord channel, life's tooshort to read

EJ (01:06:11):
Shite words.
Amen.
Indeed.

Amy (01:06:15):
Remember, you

EJ (01:06:16):
can let go of FOMO.
Yep.
Embrace DNF.
That's right.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

Crime Junkie

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}When Authors Leave

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

Crime Junkie

All Episodes

When Authors Leave

24/7 News: The Latest