2025 Mid-Year Goals Check In

Summary

Bad On Paper Podcast: 2025 Mid-Year Goals Check-In Summary

Released on June 11, 2025

In this engaging mid-year check-in episode of Bad On Paper, hosts Becca Freeman and Olivia Muenter delve into their 2025 goals, assessing progress, sharing insights, and reflecting on personal and professional journeys. The conversation is rich with candid updates, inspiring anecdotes, and thoughtful reflections, making it a valuable listen for anyone tracking their own aspirations.

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1. Personal Goals Update

Olivia's Personal Achievements

Olivia begins by sharing the positive events that have uplifted her amidst recent anxieties. A significant highlight was attending the Jenna's Book Club Festival in Nashville with her mother, which provided both distraction and joy.

• Festival Experience: Olivia describes the festival as "absolutely worth every single penny" despite its cost, highlighting the excellent panels, delicious food, and meaningful discussions. A standout moment was meeting comedian Tiffany Haddish, whose heartfelt stories about her upbringing in foster care and love for public libraries moved Olivia deeply. (Timestamp: 02:39)

• Meeting Authors: Olivia recounts meeting multiple beloved authors, including Coco Mellor and Ellison Espach, whose presence inspired her creatively and emotionally. She expresses a desire to someday be on a stage alongside these literary figures, capturing her aspirations and dreams. (Timestamp: 07:22)

• Health Milestone: A major personal relief for Olivia was learning that she does not have skin cancer, a news that brought immense joy and relief. (Timestamp: 00:46)

• New Book Cover: Olivia excitedly announces a new paperback cover for her book, "Such a Bad Influence," set to release in December. She praises the design, particularly the "camera in the middle of the eyeball," reflecting her enthusiasm for the project. (Timestamp: 08:21)

Becca's Personal Achievements

Becca shares her own strides toward personal goals, notably an unexpectedly fun night out with friends and the initiation of the Hillstone Club, a quarterly outing aimed at exploring different menu items at the Hillstone restaurant.

• Hillstone Club Launch: The club plans to visit Hillstone once a quarter to try every menu item, starting with their famous spinach and artichoke dip, which Becca dubs “non-negotiable.” This initiative reflects her commitment to creating enjoyable, recurring social experiences. (Timestamp: 09:26)

• Book Writing Progress: Becca discusses her progress on her current book draft, expressing mixed emotions known as "draft blues." Despite recognizing the book's improvement and addressing editorial feedback, she grapples with the anticipation of nearing completion without feeling perfect. (Timestamp: 15:03)

• Sleep Schedule: After a late night out, Becca reflects on her sleep patterns, noting variability based on her activity levels the night before, showcasing her balance between social life and rest. (Timestamp: 11:28)

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2. Professional Goals Update

Olivia's Professional Progress

Olivia provides a comprehensive overview of her professional goals, highlighting significant accomplishments and ongoing projects.

• Book Promotion and Planning: Olivia has completed writing and planning the promotion for her second book, "Little One." She emphasizes her growth in understanding the publishing process, particularly in seeking blurbs and strategizing promotions. (Timestamp: 49:02)

• Teaching and Workshops: She successfully conducted a creative writing workshop with a high school and is planning to engage with the University of Florida’s journalism school. Additionally, Olivia is organizing a Reading, Writing, Coz Retreat scheduled for the first weekend of November, aiming to connect with fellow book enthusiasts in an intimate setting. (Timestamp: 57:05)

• Substack and Newsletter Growth: Olivia has maintained a consistent publishing schedule on her Substack, striving to double her paid subscribers. Her strategic approach includes end-of-month wrap-ups and diverse content, such as tutorials on organizing notes. (Timestamp: 61:32)

• Website Redesign: She has initiated contact for a website and Substack redesign, aiming to refresh her online presence by fall. This effort is part of her broader strategy to enhance professional visibility and engagement. (Timestamp: 58:30)

Becca's Professional Progress

Becca updates on her goals related to her newsletter and podcast, showcasing significant achievements and ongoing efforts.

• Newsletter Paywall Strategy: Becca has implemented a structured approach to her paid newsletter, featuring monthly wrap-ups and interactive content like her "dump notes." This strategy has been well-received, indicating successful engagement with her audience. (Timestamp: 59:50)

• Subscriber Growth: She has surpassed her halfway mark in doubling her Substack subscribers, attributing success to authentic content and strategic diversification of income sources. Becca emphasizes the importance of reducing financial stress to foster creativity and productivity. (Timestamp: 62:16)

• Podcast Enhancement: Becca is committed to keeping the podcast "fun" by maintaining high energy and introducing fresh content ideas, such as the potential inclusion of high-profile guests like Dua Lipa. This reflects her dedication to enriching the podcast’s appeal and listener engagement. (Timestamp: 53:30)

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3. Challenges and Reflections

Both hosts openly discuss the challenges they face, providing a balanced perspective on their journeys toward meeting their goals.

• Draft Blues and Emotional Turmoil: Becca's experience with "draft blues" underscores the emotional complexities of writing, highlighting the tension between recognizing improvement and fearing imperfection. Olivia relates by sharing her own experiences of late-stage manuscript revisions, emphasizing the importance of self-acceptance and celebration of progress. (Becca: 15:03 | Olivia: 15:52)

• Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Goals: Both Olivia and Becca navigate the balance between immediate tasks and long-term aspirations, such as Olivia’s planning for book three alongside organizing retreats, and Becca’s effort to maintain her newsletter amidst intensive writing projects. (Olivia: 53:06 | Becca: 33:46)

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4. Personal Interests and Obsessions

Beyond goal tracking, the hosts share personal interests that contribute to their creativity and well-being.

• Olivia's Obsessions: Olivia reveals her passion for long walks, enhanced by her Bose QuietComfort headphones, which are indispensable for her concentration and mental health. She also explores new headphone models that allow ambient sound awareness, balancing immersive listening with safety. (Timestamp: 70:25)

• Becca's Obsessions: Becca discusses her evolving music playlist dedicated to her second book, featuring emotionally resonant songs like "Stick Season" by Deeps. Additionally, she shares her enthusiasm for new reading material, including titles like "Hazel Says No" by Jessica Berger Gross and "The Night and the Moth" by Rachel Gillig, reflecting her diverse literary interests. (Timestamp: 74:08 | 76:02)

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5. Notable Quotes

Throughout the episode, Becca and Olivia share insightful and relatable quotes that encapsulate their experiences and outlooks:

• Olivia on the Festival: "It was almost hesitant to hype it up too much because I feel like next year it will sell out pretty much instantly if they do it again." (Timestamp: 01:30)

• Becca on Overcoming Draft Blues: "I have to accept that you did the best job you could with what you had and your current skills." (Olivia speaking about Becca: 15:52)

• Olivia on Personal Growth: "I have developed a deep and passionate love for my corner of books now, which I put various photos and art, and I just love it." (Timestamp: 28:20)

• Becca on Financial Wellness: "I really wanted to diversify my income away from book stuff where ultimately, like, my... It doesn't create financial pressure." (Timestamp: 63:13)

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6. Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, both hosts express gratitude for their progress and the supportive community around their endeavors. Olivia and Becca highlight the importance of celebrating small victories and remaining adaptable in the face of challenges. Their candid conversation serves as both inspiration and a roadmap for listeners striving to achieve their own mid-year goals.

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Join the Conversation:

For listeners looking to engage further, both hosts encourage participation through their Facebook group and Geneva group under the Bad On Paper Podcast. Becca invites subscriptions to her Substack newsletter at BeccaFreeman.substack.com, aiming to continue growing her subscriber base with valuable content.

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Upcoming Highlights:

• Reading Preview Episode: Planned for the latter half of the year, promising new book selections and insightful discussions.
• Potential Guest Appearances: Olivia hints at exciting future guests, including high-profile personalities like Dua Lipa.

Stay tuned to Bad On Paper for more updates, inspiration, and lively banter as Becca Freeman and Olivia Muenter continue their literary and personal journeys.

Transcript

[Olivia Mentor]

Hi everyone and welcome to Baton Paper Podcast. I'm Olivia, mentor.

[Becca Freeman]

And I'm Becca Freeman.

[Olivia Mentor]

And today we have our mid year goals check in episode where where we talk about all the things that we wanted to do this year and whether or not we are actually doing them. So this snuck up on me, but it's here. We're doing it.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. Okay. I wanna, I wanna dig deeper. I wanna temp check on how you're feeling. But first, more importantly, tell me your high highs.

[Olivia Mentor]

I have many highs this week and I needed a week with many highs. Cause I've had a very anxious couple weeks. So I'm feeling good, I'm feeling high. First and foremost. Most importantly, I do not have skin cancer. So that's always great. I'm so relieved for you. It took about a week to get the results, but they called me and I was like, oh my gosh. The receptionist, I think, was like, wow, this person is so excited. Because I was just thrilled. And then before that, it was actually nice because I had this distraction of going to the Jenna's Book Club Festival in Nashville with my mom and tell.

[Becca Freeman]

Me everything we need to know. No detail is too small.

[Olivia Mentor]

I could do like an entire episode. I have so many thoughts. It was wonderful. Like, I'm almost hesitant to hype it up too much because I feel like next year it will sell out pretty much instantly if they do it again, which it seems like they will. It was just absolutely worth every single penny. It was quite pricey, but like, the people were great, the environment was amazing, the food was delicious, the panels were excellent, the discussions were incredible. I met so many friends. Tiffany Haddish was there, who I'm not really that familiar with other than just like, you know, seeing her in movies and stuff and talk about one of the funniest people I have ever seen in conversation with anyone. Like, I was crying, laughing and then crying just out of emotions because she was talking about growing up in foster care and her love of public libraries and everything she's doing now to give back to the community she grew up in. And everything she went through, just horrible, painful stuff. Raising her siblings, not knowing how to read until she was like 15 or 16.

[Becca Freeman]

Wow.

[Olivia Mentor]

It was just so inspiring. I met so many authors who I just absolutely love. It was so funny because we recorded the podcast a few days before I left, I think, and I had just finished my second Coco Mellor's book, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and I was like, I'm obsessed with this author. And then I was at the airport and they emailed that she was going to be there at this festival. And I was like, oh, my gosh, she's going to be there. I get to meet her. She can sign my book. This is so, so incredible. I bought another copy of Blue Sisters just to have her sign it, but so I ended up meeting her and she was so warm and so interesting. Ellison Espach, who wrote the Wedding People, was there and was talking about her own experiences with rejection. And I was just so inspired. Like, I was, like, emotional the entire day. It was. It's just. It was so great.

[Becca Freeman]

Wait, so explain to me, like, the lay of the land for the day.

[Olivia Mentor]

So.

[Becca Freeman]

So is it you just go to different panels based on what's interesting to you? Was it just a big meet and greet? Like, what was the. What was the format?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, so it was. It was very structured, but also casual. So it was 8am you arrive, you have breakfast. Delicious breakfast spread. Parnassus Books had set up, like a book selling area where you could get books from the authors who were there that day. There was like a charm bracelet making station that was included. There was like a gifting booth. There was make your own bouquets and you just kind of mingled. And then there was an intro by Jenna to kick the whole thing off. There's lots of Q and as with Jenna, also, talk about a funny person. Like, I had no idea she was so funny, but I was just like.

[Becca Freeman]

You haven't watched enough of the Today show.

[Olivia Mentor]

I. I know, clearly I have not. But, like, I was laughing my ass off. And then there was a Q and A with Ann Patchett, which was wonderful. And then we all split off into little groups where we did sort of mini book clubs with like maybe 50 people in each one with different authors of Jenna's book club picks. So Amity Gage was there with Hartwood. Christina Enriquez was there for the great Divide. There was also Emma Straub was there. So we did those. There was many other sort of breakout sessions throughout the day and then wider sort of things for everyone. Like the Jenna and Tiffany haddish in conversation part. There was so much. There was live music. In the end, there was an open bar. In a really weird way, it made me super grateful for being able to do this podcast and, like, shine my own little spotlight on books that mean so much to me. Because it's just so evident what, what it does to a career when someone is like, I see this piece of art you have created and I get it, I'm going to champion it. And I mean, we both know, like, how much of a difference that can make and how affirming that can be and how special it is. And anyway, it was just so great. My mom had such a good time.

[Becca Freeman]

Your mom got a picture of photos.

[Olivia Mentor]

She got a photo of Jenna? Yes. I had. I had my skin biopsy bandage on the whole time. So I was like, oh, I'm good. But I went up to Jenna. I was like, my Mother's Day gift to you, mom, is that I'm gonna go up to her in this crowd and be like, will you take a photo with my mom? She loves you. It was really special. I don't know. I had the best time. I had the best time.

[Becca Freeman]

Well, I'll tell you that I have big fomo. Hearing you talk about it. You were texting me throughout it. Emma Straub sent out a recap newsletter if you want her version of the experience to add more color. I saw Tim Ehrenberg, who's been on the podcast Tim Talks Books, posted a big Instagram carousel with his photos, and, oh, it just looked so great. I had big book fomo.

[Olivia Mentor]

It was very cool. It was literally like my Coachella. I posted this on Instagram, but I. The whole day, and it was so intimate. That was the thing that was really special about it, was that it felt small enough that you could have more than a two second conversation with an author if you wanted to, or talk to Jenna or that is. I don't know. It was just. It was very cool. And I hope they keep it about that size in the future. But, yeah, I'll definitely be back. And, you know, I wrote in my little. I got a journal in Nashville because, of course. And I wrote in it the morning after. I was like, I hope one day, like I have, I. I can be on a stage like that, you know?

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, your full circle moment of, like, being one of the participants instead of an audience member for a panelist.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah. It feels so. Like, it feels so stupid to say it out loud because it feels like you're jinxing it or. You know, I'd take any book club pick any day, but I really do align with Jenna's taste and so many of the authors featured. And I was just like, ah, to be acknowledged in this way would just be so validating and special. So I was like, one day maybe, like, that's the big dream. I'm writing it down and saying it here, I guess. Anyway, it was just great. It was just great. And just disclaimer. My mom and I went we paid for it. Not sponsored whatsoever.

[Becca Freeman]

You're just a fan. You're just a happy customer.

[Olivia Mentor]

I am a very happy customer. I was, like, on the verge of tears the whole day. I don't even know why, but it was great. And it was great to spend the weekend with my mom as well. Oh, and final high. I'm sorry, there's so many.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, don't never be sorry for having too many highs.

[Olivia Mentor]

I finally got to reveal that there is a new paperback cover for such a bad influence. And I listened back to our goals episode actually, in preparation for this. And I was talking about how the paperback comes out in May, and so I realized that I hadn't gone to update anyone on anything. But maybe I'll talk about this more in the goals section. But yeah, there's a brand new cover. I love it. I'm so excited about it. And it comes out in December.

[Becca Freeman]

It's so pretty. I love the camera in the middle of the eyeball. It's just so smart.

[Olivia Mentor]

Thank you. Yeah, they did an excellent job. An excellent, excellent job. So I'm thrilled. Okay, enough of me yapping.

[Becca Freeman]

You're, like, out of breath from your highs.

[Olivia Mentor]

I'm also. It is 95 degrees in my cottage and I am so just sweating everywhere over my keyboard right now. But in a way, it feels good. It's kind of like I'm recording this in like a sauna. So. So I'm just. I'm purifying myself. Okay, tell me your high.

[Becca Freeman]

So my high was that on Friday, I had an unexpectedly big night out. Like getting home at three in the morning. Big night out. Didn't see it coming for me. So it started. Two friends and I decided that we are starting Hillstone Club. You know the restaurant Hillstone, right?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes.

[Becca Freeman]

So Hillstone, it's named different things, different places. It's very sneaky like that. Because if you have, I think it's over 10 restaurants, you have to post the calories on the menu. So they just. It's the same restaurant and they just have named it different things in different places, which is great. I don't want to know how many calories are in the spinach and artichoke dip. Don't want to know.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's really fun. That's such a. That's a very funny detail.

[Becca Freeman]

Very funny detail.

[Olivia Mentor]

I didn't know that.

[Becca Freeman]

So you might know Hillstone by a different name depending on where you live in the country. So, anyway, we decided that we're going to have Hillstone Club and try to go Once a quarter and try to try every menu item.

[Olivia Mentor]

Big goal.

[Becca Freeman]

Like long term goal. This is a 5.

[Olivia Mentor]

How many menu items are we talking?

[Becca Freeman]

I mean, it's not a Cheesecake Factory menu. It's a. It's a one pager, but it's. It's significant.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay. Yeah. It's gonna take a few trips.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. No repeats. Except for the spinach and artichoke dip, which is. I think what they're best known for is non negotiable every time. So we had our Hillstone Club meeting last Friday and then we went out after. We went to Portrait Bar, which was really cute. We just had a night. Other people met up with us. Like, it was just like an unexpected. I felt young and wild and fancy free.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's a great night. I love when it just keeps going and then you meet more friends and it all feels very easy. And it was also great. The weather was probably perfect.

[Becca Freeman]

Well, it. It was until the end of the night when it was pouring.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, well, still, you had a good run there.

[Becca Freeman]

And then it was kind of nice that it was a Friday. So, you know, I got home at 3am and I slept in and then.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, wow.

[Becca Freeman]

You know, was a little couch bound that day.

[Olivia Mentor]

When you go to sleep that late, are you someone who sleeps super late the next day or do you kind of always wake up around the same time?

[Becca Freeman]

No, it depends. So this time I didn't. This time I only slept until 8:30 and then I kind of fought with trying to sleep longer, but I couldn't. But sometimes. Yeah, sometimes I can still sleep very late if I go to bed very late.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's a. I haven't lost the. I haven't in a way lost the skill. It reminds me of college.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Being young.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, that sounds very fun.

[Becca Freeman]

Also, the highlight, not that you asked, but I. I need to tell you the highlight of the new items that we tried were the ribs, which is not what I would have guessed.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I would never order ribs anywhere. Really. That's not a food that speaks to.

[Becca Freeman]

Me, but they're apparently known for that.

[Olivia Mentor]

Interesting.

[Becca Freeman]

And when we got there, when we were waiting for our table, we were standing at the bar next to people who were eating them and they smelled so good.

[Olivia Mentor]

Hmm.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I don't consider myself a ribs connoisseur either.

[Olivia Mentor]

You're gonna discover a whole new Hillstone World.

[Becca Freeman]

Can't wait.

[Olivia Mentor]

Do you still order the dips?

[Becca Freeman]

Yes, every time. The spinach and artichoke dip is non negotiable.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. That's. I Just wanted to make sure that was, that was clear.

[Becca Freeman]

The spinach and artichoked dip. And then I love their hot fudge sundae. It has these sugar dusted like roasted pecans on it. Are so good.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yum.

[Becca Freeman]

And their hot fudge is so good. So those are non negotiables for me.

[Olivia Mentor]

Is this just like whenever you can make the club happen, it's happening or is this on a schedule?

[Becca Freeman]

Now we're trying for once a quarter. It's hard to get a reservation. So last time we went at like 4pm on a weekday.

[Olivia Mentor]

This time I had a 4pm meal.

[Becca Freeman]

This time we went late, we went nine.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

But I don't think it's hard to get in for like a 7:00 clock.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, that's understandable.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, good. Do you have a low?

[Becca Freeman]

I do. I'm actually wondering if you are familiar with this feeling that I have right now. I'm getting very close to the end of this draft of my book. I'm going to finish the first pass of it tomorrow. I have maybe about 5,000 words left, but they're pretty clean. I just need to write a very small scene and then plug in a few TKs. But I think broadly it's pretty solid and I feel like I have like the end of draft blues almost or like am having a mini spiral where I was thinking about this when I was on a walk yesterday. I can identify logically that the book is better than it's ever been and it's making big strides. I know that I've addressed the edits that my editor asked for. I know that it's getting better. But I'm also kind of mourning that there's an idea when you start a new draft where you're like, yes, I will feel like it's perfect at the end. And I don't. And honestly that might not be indicative of anything because I remember with the Christmas Orphans Club, it really wasn't until I did my pass pages, which happens after your copy edits the first time you see the book typeset like a book. And it wasn't until that point when I'd had like a four month break from it that I truly felt like I had any objectivity and could appreciate it. And I wasn't just only tuned into the parts that were still messy because you've read it so many times, you've seen every surprise in it, you know, every joke in it, you know, like you start to just have tunnel vision for the bad stuff. But yeah, I'm in my end of.

[Olivia Mentor]

Draft blues mode, I've definitely experienced this. I think it's exactly what you said. It's this feeling that you imagined being at this point and it feels slightly different than you thought it would.

[Becca Freeman]

Yes.

[Olivia Mentor]

Even though you feel accomplished and you know how much progress you've made, it's like it's never quite enough or, you know, it could have been better or you're second guessing something you did. Yeah, I've definitely, definitely been here many times and I just finished up basically the last substantial changes of Little One. And there is a real terror in being like. You just have to accept that you did the best job you could. You know, you did the best job you could with what you had and your current skills. But it's hard. It's really hard. But you've worked really hard and you're so close. I mean, 5,000 words is like right there, right there.

[Becca Freeman]

And I do have that running downhill feeling. Like I did 6,000 words this morning. Like, I'm good to finish it and I'll spend some time.

[Olivia Mentor]

6,000 words this morning going through them, not.

[Becca Freeman]

Not writing them. And I'm not even retyping anymore because I've decided that I think that that's a waste of time at this point for me because it gives me a false sense of accomplishment. So, yeah, I like reviewed 6,000 words and I edited and made changes, but I didn't touch all of them. There will be more rounds of edits, so I will definitely get more chances. But I. Yeah, I just have like a little bit of a. A blue feeling.

[Olivia Mentor]

Hmm. It's bittersweet, right?

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. I aspire though, to hand something in at some point and either through skill or sheer delusion, be like, this is it.

[Olivia Mentor]

You know, I've never really felt that way. I've never felt that way. But this past draft where I read every sentence out loud and I had this real sense of like, confidence at the end of it that I could say, like, with my whole chest, like, wholeheartedly, I read every single sentence, every single word. I went over many, many times out loud. And there's no question that I thought about each word and where it was placed and how many times it was in the draft. It doesn't mean that I didn't make mistakes, because I did. But that process, I had never done before, and it gave me a greater feeling of peace than I had have ever known revising. So I would suggest for anyone out there, or you, I'm sure you'll find your own methods that bring you there, but it helped me.

[Becca Freeman]

I'm usually a big reader out louder, so I don't know that I've ever done it start to finish in, like, one go, but yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. It's hard in one go.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Many hours I look forward to celebrating when it's done. Next draft. Well, yours. I mean, there's still time.

[Becca Freeman]

There's still drafts to go. To be clear.

[Olivia Mentor]

You got to celebrate all of them. I think that's becoming clear to me.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

As I struggle through draft one for the 19,000th month in a row.

[Becca Freeman]

What about you? Do you have a low?

[Olivia Mentor]

I don't have a low. I don't think. I do think I am going to have to take off my shirt in a minute.

[Becca Freeman]

I hope she's naked underneath.

[Olivia Mentor]

I'm wearing a. I'm wearing a sports bra, but it's getting. It's getting steamy in here.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. You're wearing, it appears, long sleeves.

[Olivia Mentor]

It's like a really light, like, sports sweatshirt. Anyway, I just wanted to. I wanted to alert you before I start disrobing, but, yeah, no lows. I'm really. I'm feeling very confident. Like, I. I think I moved through my little anxiety moment better than I ever have in my adult life, and that was a real win for me. So good for you. Well, thank you.

[Becca Freeman]

Let's take an ad break and get into these.

[Olivia Mentor]

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[Becca Freeman]

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[Olivia Mentor]

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[Becca Freeman]

Okay, Olivia. So I remember when we recorded this episode at the beginning of the year, I felt like an abject terror of reviewing our 2024 goals and just feeling like I hadn't done the things that I wanted to do. And I feel much more positive this time. I was, like, excited last night as I was putting together the outline for this episode. So I'm curious, how are you feeling goal wise, mood wise, life wise?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. This year has just been much more settled for me, which I mentioned in the goals episode. But I've just felt like I've been able to really sink into my career and my life in a. In a good, calm way. And I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling good about it too, because, yes, I heard the abject terror in your voice when I. When I re listened to the episode. I remembered it and can definitely tell a difference.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, let's start with you. Let's start personal goals. Take me through what you said your goals are for 2025 and give us the update on how they're going. Your first one was writing a letter to yourself, which is like one of your New Year's traditions.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, I did this. I did this. A little bit late, but I did do this. I can't remember where the heck I saved the thing, but it's somewhere. It exists somewhere. And if not, I at least made the effort. So, yeah, I did this. Check.

[Becca Freeman]

Amazing. Look at you go. All right, how is.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's the key. Just give yourself an easy one. This is what we keep.

[Becca Freeman]

You need to give yourself some easy ones. Okay. What about exercise routine and wanting to exercise four to five days a week?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. So I have done this. I got a spin bike. So I started the year doing that a lot and now I'm really into very long walks, or at least long for me, although there is some elevation. So we'll call it like a walk hike. There's a little bit of effort in there beyond just a simple walk. And yeah, I've been doing this four days a week pretty consistently. I started the year doing two days a week and then I moved up to three. And I have pretty much Worked out four days a week for. I don't know, I would say at least two or three months now. But, yeah, I feel great. Like, I feel. Yeah, I feel good. Just. Just good.

[Becca Freeman]

That's great that it feels like. In your voice. It feels like a habit. It doesn't even feel like something that you're thinking about or trying.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, it. It really does. And, like, these walks especially have just been so, so important to me, and I try to go a little bit further every time I. I go on them, and. And, yeah, I just. I love. I love that part of my routine. Although it might be getting too hot for them, so I might have to switch to the bike again once I get air conditioning in here. But, yeah, check.

[Becca Freeman]

So should I take it that that's also a check on your next goal, which is daily walks with Winnie, or does Winnie not get to come?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, well, she gets very overheated very easily, but I take her on as many as I can. And if we don't do that, we go on, like, a shorter walk. But, yeah, I've really. I've really done this as well, so that feels good.

[Becca Freeman]

Look at you go.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, I'm about to. I'm about to completely take off a goal that I don't even know why I put it on here, so. All right, so we're gonna bal. We're gonna balance it.

[Becca Freeman]

Hit us.

[Olivia Mentor]

Tell us. So, my next one was. I had this goal of when I. When I would go thrifting, which I go very quite often, although I haven't really had time to go in the last couple months, I would see things that wouldn't be my size, and I'd be like, I need this to find its perfect person. Like, I want to, I don't know, share this with the world. And so I would get things, and then I'd give them away, or they just sit in my closet. But I was like, I want to try to, like, resell them. Not really for much more reason than just for fun and maybe, like, make a tiny bit of money. I did this once, and I. I think I probably broke even. Like, I sold quite a few things. It was really fun. I enjoyed it a lot. But ultimately, I think what it does is I just end up buying more than I need, which is the point, but to a degree where it feels overwhelming for me, and I just acquire stuff that sits around for a while, and I really don't need to be doing that. So I think lesson learned with this. I think I'll still do it if I Have someone in mind who would love it, like a friend of mine. But yeah, I don't need to be just accumulating more stuff. So I think this is going off the list.

[Becca Freeman]

That's fine. It's your goals. You can kick them out off the island at will.

[Olivia Mentor]

It was fun as like a winter hobby. You know, I'd go to Goodwill, I'd find something cool. I'd help it find its home.

[Becca Freeman]

I can tell you right now, the male part of this would be my roadblock.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, you know, one good thing about it is that it really forced me to sell my clothes like on Poshmark because I just do it all at once and I just feel better when I'm getting rid of clothes instead of constantly accumulating more. So, yeah, I'll still do Poshmark with my own clothes and maybe a few things here and there, but like in terms of making like a full on hobby of it, no, not a thing.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, that's fair. Next. You had Japan trip for this year or to plan for next year? Where are we vis a vis Japan?

[Olivia Mentor]

Definitely not happening this year, but I do think next year is still the plan. I'm not sure whether it will be just Jake and I or my extended family. And by that I just mean my parents and my brother, but it is going to happen. I've spoken it out loud. I've begun just like kind of. I followed like a Japan travel Facebook group, which is kind of a Facebook group. I do, I really do. I do.

[Becca Freeman]

No shame in that game.

[Olivia Mentor]

I. It's really helpful sometimes and I've been seeing information there. So yeah, I think this is still happening. Not this year, but next year for sure.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, so your next one. Not to be dismissive of your previous goals, but I think this is the one we probably all care about the most. Give up Jarlic. Still have never heard anyone but you use that. Like in my head you've coined the term. I think it's hilarious.

[Olivia Mentor]

I can't take credit.

[Becca Freeman]

How is your Jarlic addiction coming?

[Olivia Mentor]

Going, I've broken it. I've broken the garlic addiction.

[Becca Freeman]

Do you have garlic in your fridge?

[Olivia Mentor]

I do, but this is why when I began this year, I had like an industrial Costco size of garlic and I'm not gonna waste that. So I still do use it if I need to do like a quick marinade or something. It's just way easier. So I still use it. But if I'm like taking the time to sit down with a recipe, cook a meal, I use real garlic. I chop it myself. My hands are stinky, but I am free.

[Becca Freeman]

And do you think it's made the difference to cooking that you hoped and anticipated it would?

[Olivia Mentor]

I think it does probably taste better. It has like a, you know, a better depth of flavor. But I think honestly it's more of like an ego thing for me.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, you can't be the person who uses garlic.

[Olivia Mentor]

Like, there's nothing less Nancy Meyers, like, romantic than being like, you know, the candles are lit, a glass of wine is poured, all the ingredients are laid out thoughtfully and then the industrial Costco plastic jar of pre chopped garlic comes out. Like, that's just not. It's not it. So I haven't thrown it away.

[Becca Freeman]

I feel like this is like a romance heroine trope of or not trope, but like the kind of quirk that a romance heroine would have where it's like her addiction to Jarlic. She can't. She needs to cook a fancy meal. Like, I don't think Nancy Myers is writing this, but like I can see this.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, Garlic and crippling anxiety. It's just those two things, just those are what make me quirky. But yeah, I've done this. I have. I've gotten better at cutting it. Oh, and I got a garlic press which has been great.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

What about your library bookshelves? Another one I care a ton about.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. You know, these are interesting because they are happening. So we got a quote from the contractor who's going to build them. I think like three months, two months ago. But at the time he was like, great, I'm starting a full house renovation, but I'll get back to you after. So we should hear from him in the next few weeks about getting them scheduled. I think they'll be done by the end of the year, but with home stuff, you just never know.

[Becca Freeman]

Do you have designs? Like, do you have plans or he's signing on and then that will start.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. So he came over and I was like, here is what I want. It's gonna be this high. We're gonna have storage on the bottom. He's like, how far do you want the top to come out? Do you wanna like countertop height? He like used the books to like measure the, you know, how high or deep? High and deep. I guess we want the shelves. I was like, there's gonna be a ladder. So yeah, they're happening. I just don't know when. And I'm learning to be patient. And the thing is, I have developed a deep and passionate love for my corner of books now, which I put various photos and art, and I just love it.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, but you're going to develop a deep love for your bookshelves.

[Olivia Mentor]

It's true. I know. I will. So, yeah, they're happening and it's scheduled, but we'll see. Stay tuned.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. What about saving aggressively and planning for a kitchen reno next year?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes and no. Transparently, this is the first year since we moved that I felt on top of my finances and savings in any meaningful way. So. Yes. But I'm really trying not to get into the situation where I just blow all of my savings on a kitchen, which is definitely something I would do. So I will say I am saving. I don't know if I'm saving, like, enough to have a savings and to have a kitchen savings. So it's getting there. I mean, this is why I'm really trying to get a very good first draft of my next book together, partially. But, yeah, I think I'm in. I'm in as good of a spot as I could be. Okay, we'll say that the plan is still next year, also.

[Becca Freeman]

Only June.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The plan is still to do it next year. So, you know, we'll say check, whatever. Just throw it in there. Why not?

[Becca Freeman]

Your last personal goal was thoughtfully furnish rooms and to take a break on major projects.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, we have done this. I feel like the two main rooms that we spend time in downstairs are as good as they have ever been in terms of just having furniture that makes sense and, like, that feels good and having people over. We have our wacky striped couches, which I love and are very nice for lounging. I love Jake and I having our own couch. It's very fun. And, yeah, I feel good about this. We've taken, like, such a huge break, and, gosh, it's been freeing. I'm sure Jake is very happy, too. Although he did get a riding lawnmower recently, which he is thrilled by. I told him it was kind of an argument between us, actually. Cause I was like, we don't need it. And he was like, how would you know that? You don't mow the lawn.

[Becca Freeman]

You guys have a big yard.

[Olivia Mentor]

We do, but, like, a lot of it is gardens, which you can't use a riding lawnmower for. And a lot of it is slopes, which makes me nervous for, you know. But I have to tell you, I looked out the window of my cottage and I saw him on that lawnmower. I've never seen him look happier.

[Becca Freeman]

Yee haw, Jake.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yee haw I told him. I was like, you looked really happy. So, you know, you do so much. Enjoy, enjoy.

[Becca Freeman]

Jake, you took off the thrifting one. Are there any new ones that you have to add? You don't have to.

[Olivia Mentor]

I have been thinking about these long walks I've been taking about how to like make them more challenging. I kind of want to get like ankle weights or something.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, okay.

[Olivia Mentor]

You know, like, because I keep going a little bit further each time I go. And so I think, yeah, that might be a good way to, to switch things up.

[Becca Freeman]

Well, I just put it in the document so that when we check back on these at the end of the year, I put get ankle weights, question mark, question mark.

[Olivia Mentor]

It's a big, it's a big goal. But yeah, we'll see. I don't know. Okay, let's talk about your personal goals.

[Becca Freeman]

Yes.

[Olivia Mentor]

Starting first and foremost with chicken.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

You have a goal to learn to roast a whole chicken. Where are we?

[Becca Freeman]

We haven't done a thing. We haven't done a damn thing. So you know how at the top of the episode I was like, I feel great, I'm doing great. Haven't done some of these. Okay. So I think that. And the Geneva group has posted so many chicken recipes, it's not for lack of having them. I think that I have built it up in my head that the inside part is gonna be gross even if I get the butcher wherever I get it to, I don't know, giblets de intestine it, you know, whatever the right word is. So I've built it up in my head and I haven't done it. I think that this is a fall thing, it's a cold weather thing. I am certainly not roasting a whole chicken in my apartment that lacks central air in the summer. So I'll get back to you. It is still my intention. I just gotta rip the band aid.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I mean, push it to fall. Chicken will always be there.

[Becca Freeman]

The chicken will always be there.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay, your next one is to continue your five year journal and long form journal one time a week. How has this been going?

[Becca Freeman]

Medium. So interestingly, I feel the most detached from my five year journal as I have since I've gotten it. And I think it might just be because I'm very in this draft right now. So I'm very single minded. But I actually just when I sat down at my desk, I'd been working out in my dining room, I pulled my five year journal and I was like, after we finish recording, I need to go do a week of updates on it. So I'm pretty out of the habit, but I'm not giving it up by any means. And I think hopefully after I finish this draft and I get a little bit more balance, I'll feel excited about it. I love reading the past years so I'm like, you gotta keep doing this year so that you have future years to look back on. The long form journal, I was doing really well with up until about a month and a half ago, which is when I buckled down on this draft. And I think I just have been sitting down and doing work, which is what I would rather than sitting down and giving myself five things to do before I do work. So it's going medium.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay. Pretty good though. I hear you on the five year journal. I think once you have a few years there's like so much more to read and once you are behind, oh man, that feeling of like I have to catch up on a whole week, it sucks. But you know that if you don't do that week then it's going to be two weeks and then I know it's tough. I get.

[Becca Freeman]

I'm going to catch up after this and I'm certainly not giving up on this because I love reading the past years and I can't wait to have five and then 10 and then, you know, like I want to have like a lifetime of five year journals by the end of my life. It's just going to be like my whole day is taken up by reading what I was doing that day. For the past 40 years.

[Olivia Mentor]

I haven't thought about it that way, but it's true. Okay, tell me about your dragons. I re listened to your goals episode and I was reacquainted with your dragon game. So your goal here was to get your screen time under four hours. How's it going?

[Becca Freeman]

It's not. It's not. But the dragons are dead. The dragons are gone.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay. Interesting. What, what was the final?

[Becca Freeman]

I just decided that I was spending too much time on it and it was not productive in any way. So now I'm spending a lot of time on. I always have a little game. I'm now playing this game called Mini Motorways where you build highway systems.

[Olivia Mentor]

Where are you finding these?

[Becca Freeman]

You know, none of your business. Olivia, I'm hearing a lot of judgment in your tone.

[Olivia Mentor]

I just don't.

[Becca Freeman]

So now I have this game called Mini Motorways. I've been playing it way too much. There's a weekly challenge and a daily challenge. So now I only Let myself do the challenges, which feels a little bit more in controlled. But I feel really good about my social media usage and my mindless phone usage. Like, I can't really think of the last time I got sucked into a hole watching videos, which is really what I want to control for, or like mindlessly watching hours of people's stories or just getting in a scroll hole. So I feel good about this.

[Olivia Mentor]

Overall unclear what the game is still. Can we get a little bit of background? Are you building highways?

[Becca Freeman]

Build a highway system.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay.

[Becca Freeman]

Buildings. You have to connect them to people's houses and you have to, like, control traffic.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, that's a lot of responsibility.

[Becca Freeman]

It is. It's urban planning.

[Olivia Mentor]

It is. Well, that sounds.

[Becca Freeman]

You can laugh at me. It's fine. It's fine.

[Olivia Mentor]

I was trying to picture it. I was trying to picture the highways in my head. That sounds very balanced. You are making changes around the things that are actually important to you, which seem to be the scroll hole. Great term, by the way. Never heard that.

[Becca Freeman]

I feel like you're being too kind to me. We can just laugh at me and move on. Okay.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay. Never mind. The next one just says, work on my mindset.

[Becca Freeman]

Yes. Oh, my gosh. I feel like this is actually the most positive. This is like a big yes. And I feel like this has made everything feel more positive and also kind of ties into a bunch of my professional goals. I just felt like at the beginning of the year, I had this scarcity mindset of negativity. And there's two things in my professional goals that I think have really impacted this. But I do feel like my mindset is overall so much better. And I do feel like I've also tried to be more mindful of going on walks, of touching grass, of just doing things that I know will make my mind set better when I start to feel spirally or negative.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. That's a huge win.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. So I don't really have, like, tips for this. We can talk about the things and the professional goals that have, like, really impacted this. I. I do think that in some ways it's external factors that have helped this. But yeah, I feel much better than I did at the beginning of the year.

[Olivia Mentor]

Great. What about couch pillow makeover?

[Becca Freeman]

Huge check. Plus I did this maybe in February. I got all new pillows for my couch that kind of just like switched up the way my living room looks. Some of the pillows were also kind of had seen better days. Like the inserts themselves. I love it. I love my couch pillows.

[Olivia Mentor]

Do you have a favorite New couch pillow.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, so I have two favorites. I have one favorite to look at, but I don't lay on it. Oh, I don't know. It's like navy blue and then it has these. It's not peacocks, but it almost looks like these kind of like I can share a picture of them. And then I. I think you did.

[Olivia Mentor]

Something on your substack, right?

[Becca Freeman]

I did.

[Olivia Mentor]

You shared photos.

[Becca Freeman]

I did.

[Olivia Mentor]

Cute.

[Becca Freeman]

But we can share it to the baton paper Instagram as a supplement to this. And then I have a, like a sky blue velvet one that I really, really like that I do lay on.

[Olivia Mentor]

I love a velvet pillow. Very soothing.

[Becca Freeman]

Me too. And I love the color of it.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay, how about skincare? You had on here that you wanted a better, different skincare routine. Tell us about that.

[Becca Freeman]

I just wanted to be more religious about having a skincare routine before I started to consider any kind of like med spa type lasers or anything like that that's expensive and more potent. So I just wanted to, like, get more regular about skincare because I've always been kind of a wishy washy skincare person, not a routine gal. And I've done this. I've done really, really well. So I feel like I. I'm definitely moisturizing incredibly regularly. Been using eye cream more regularly. I am using a serum right now that I don't know if it's actually meant for me. It's not doing anything bad, but I don't know that it's like actually helping that much. But I'm. I'm exploring the skincare realm. I feel like I'm doing a good job here. Have I aged backwards? No, I feel moister.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's. I mean, close. As close to aging backwards as you can get. Really?

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's not an option.

[Becca Freeman]

No. Yeah. Well, I will tell you, I don't think there's anything wrong with me repeating this. We'll see if I get in trouble for this. The other day, Courtney, who also helps with ads for my substack and in addition to the podcast, was emailing me about this brand that she had been talking to who makes this like, at home laser device. And they wanted to send me one in hopes of then talking about some kind of partnership. And Olivia. So the entry level one is $2,000 and then the main one is $5,000. And I was like, that's ridiculous. Cannot do a sponsorship for this. I'm going to get canceled. But at the same time I'm like, if you can get me one to try. I am Very interested in trying it. And I feel like everyone will be interested to hear how it's going, but I'm like, yeah, I don't think that I can be, like, sponsored by $5,000 Skincare Wand. But I'm like, ooh, is that the.

[Olivia Mentor]

Game changer here is my hot take with stuff like that. Any person I know who is actively using, like, one of those, like, expensive masks and, like, whatever is also getting Botox and filler and all the other things. So I'm like, this is all ridiculous. Like, this is all ridiculous. And if I'm going to pay $3,000 for. For a mask that, like, lasers my face or whatever, I should not have to then also pay thousands of dollars for everything else. Like, I just think it's. I think we're all being bamboozled is what I think. But if you do get it, I'm curious to hear if it works or if it makes you feel great.

[Becca Freeman]

Right? Like, what if I fall in love with it and then I'm like, the girl who cried wolf over the $5,000 thing? No, I can't. I can't be. It will just have to be something we, like, laugh at.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, you're gonna have to update us now.

[Becca Freeman]

I'll tell you. I'll tell you.

[Olivia Mentor]

I see you have a new one. Kind of related to this, though. A new kind of spinoff goal.

[Becca Freeman]

I do. I wanna figure out a new or improved fancy slash, like, going out makeup routine. I feel like I stopped wearing a bold lip in the pandemic, and now I feel like eyeliner is kind of out right now. I feel like I need to just, like, re. Envision what my going out makeup look is. Not that I go out out that often where I'm like, I need to put on a big glam look, but I would like to. I would like to figure this out. We'll see if this is just something that I feel this way right now because I had a big night out on Friday, and then it's going to go the way of a few years ago when I had a goal to learn how to put on false eyelashes that I tried twice and was terrible at. So we'll see.

[Olivia Mentor]

I do recall that. I do recall that I have a.

[Becca Freeman]

Lot of zest and intentions strange right now. Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

So I feel like it's a lot of, like, no makeup makeup or, like, clean girl makeup, whatever that means. But yeah, like, sometimes I feel like mascara is not cool anymore.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I've definitely been wearing less. I'm not not wearing Mascara, but I'm wearing like less intense mascara.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah. I did wear a red lip for the first time in many moons, probably since the ERAS tour concert when my outfit was red themed and it felt great. I have to say there's something about a red lip but not much other makeup that feel really chic to me. I. I enjoy it a lot.

[Becca Freeman]

I'm gonna experiment more here or my intent is to.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, I'm looking forward to the update you have. Next on this list. Have a relaxing, potentially solo question mark beach trip. But you didn't know the feasibility with all the 40th birthdays happening in your friend group recently.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I don't think that this is gonna happen. And I think I knew it wasn't gonna happen. I mean, I went to the breakers, which was a beach trip. It was not relaxing. It was more fun, gossipy, together with somebody all the time. There's a chance that maybe if I'm doing so well on some of my other goals with book progress and money, maybe I'll throw something in in November, December as a getaway. But I don't really see this one happening.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay. Well, you did go to the beach.

[Becca Freeman]

I did see the beach. I swam.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, good. Finally.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Tell me about your duolingo goal. What is the update? Because there was a lot of duolingo French language learning feedback in the all the places for the bat on paper listeners.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. So I'm adding a new goal that I want to continue my French duolingo streak this year when I'm home. I don't have to do it if I'm traveling because that's too stressful sometimes. I think the consensus was that it really helps with the vocab and practice, but it's probably not going to get you to fluency. So my other goal is that I want to add something in probably starting in the fall. And tbd, what that is like. It could be a class, which feels a little bit high effort, or it could be like finding a weekly. I'm sure there's like language learning podcasts. So finding a weekly podcast or maybe like watching a show in French with French subtitles.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's a good idea. Yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

So I want to add on to my current, but I'm not positive what that looks like. So at a minimum, keep it. Keep my streak alive.

[Olivia Mentor]

In our end of year goals episode, Becca will be speaking entirely in French.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine?

[Olivia Mentor]

Stay tuned. That would be fun. What if we had a bonus episode that was just you speaking French? All the same content, but French.

[Becca Freeman]

I don't think I can express a lot of the things I say on here in French. Like, I could ask you for directions or, you know, tell you I want a sandwich, but I don't think I could talk about Glen Powell in French.

[Olivia Mentor]

What is. How do you say in French, like commiss va? Is that right?

[Becca Freeman]

No, that's kind of. How is it going?

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, I was going to do, like, how do you say jarlic in French? Or what's the word for garlic? I mean, jarlic.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, my gosh.

[Olivia Mentor]

I was. It doesn't translate.

[Becca Freeman]

I was just learning this yesterday. And that's the thing is, like, I can do it when I'm in the app, but I'm learning how to play the game. I'm not, like, it's not penetrating deep enough.

[Olivia Mentor]

I think we're going to get to the end of the year and you're going to be. You're going to be at a better place than you than you think.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. I will aspire to be able to say, how do you say jarlic?

[Olivia Mentor]

I can't wait.

[Becca Freeman]

Let's take another quick ad break before we get to our professional goals.

[Olivia Mentor]

This episode is sponsored by Wayfair. As I read this ad, I am currently staring out into our outdoor space, our garden, our patio, and it really does feel so special to have an outdoor area that really feels like ours. I so enjoy taking walks through our garden and having lunch at our patio table. Having an outdoor space you love is just such a game changer. And Wayfarer can help you create the space of your dreams this summer. I love that our outdoor area feels put together without feeling too stuffy. And I can't explain just how many items on Wayfair achieve exactly this outdoor space look so perfectly.

[Becca Freeman]

So Wayfair has outdoor seating for gatherings, gazebos, pergolas, even hot tubs. I wish I had room for a hot tub. You'll have to make that dream come true, Olivia.

[Olivia Mentor]

I do love a hot tub as.

[Becca Freeman]

Well as outdoor dining essentials and general decor. You know, the fun stuff, patio cushions, planters, umbrellas, rugs.

[Olivia Mentor]

And Wayfair really does have something for every single space and every single budget. When we had a very, very small patio space in Philadelphia, Wayfair was the first place I looked for finding the exact items to make the space work. So don't wait. Make your outdoor space your dream oasis today with Wayfair and enjoy it all summer long. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop a huge outdoor Selection that's W A Y F A I r dot com. Wayfair. Every style, every home.

[Becca Freeman]

All right, Olivia, you're back in the hot seat, and we're talking professional goals, which I am now noticing that you have a very long list of.

[Olivia Mentor]

I guess I do.

[Becca Freeman]

You're professionally aggressive in 2025.

[Olivia Mentor]

Professionally aggressive, yeah. I guess I will get into them.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. I feel like the first one, you have a check already because. Finish. Well, half a check, I guess. So Finish and plan promo for book two, including planning and pitching essays.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. I am full speed ahead thinking about all the things for Little One and promotion.

[Becca Freeman]

Little One, which let us finish was the first part of this.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, yes, yes. So. So that's done. So I've been.

[Becca Freeman]

Huge accomplishments.

[Olivia Mentor]

I've been thinking. Thank you. I've really been thinking about all year about blurbs and promotion and essays, and I have a huge Google spreadsheet and I don't know, I just have a greater sense of confidence in all things compared to my last book. So I feel really. And I just know. I know so much more. So, yeah, I feel really determined just to make it the best possible publication I can. You know, there's only so many things that you can control in publishing, but I'm doing my best to. To really just put everything I have into it. So, yeah, I'm. I'm doing it. I'm trying.

[Becca Freeman]

I'm excited to get a do over. Not a do over, but just, you know, to go through another pub cycle knowing more.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I was so terrified of everything, personally speaking, so. And I still am, but it's a different kind of terror, I guess.

[Becca Freeman]

Flavors of terror.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah. I was so scared to even ask people for blurbs. Like, I was terrified to the point where I think I shot myself in the foot because I put it off for so long. But anyway, it's a whole other conversation for another episode, but we're doing it.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. What about promoting the paperback of Sabi?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I mean, I think sharing the new cover was. Was part of that. And hopefully I'll. I'll have some stuff planned for December. It's kind of a, you know, a strange time of year, of course, but yeah, it's exciting that it'll be coming out closer to when Little One comes out in the first half of 2026, and hopefully they'll kind of feed off of each other and. Yeah, great. This is going well.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. Explore teaching opportunities.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. So I had two things sort of roughly planned. One was the creative writing workshop. That I did with the high school in the spring. So I did that. It was wonderful. And then the other one was going back to the University of Florida, which is where I went to college, to talk to the journalism school, which is where I went about my career and do some events. So I was kind of planning on pegging that timing of the University of Florida thing to the paperback, which it got pushed. And so I might try to reach back out in the spring. It's really been my fault because I just haven't reached back out, but I've been really just trying to focus on writing when I have downtime now so I can get a good full draft of Books three going, which was my next goal. And that is to, I said sell Book three, which now I'm like, there's a lot of like strategy, I guess, that goes into selling your next book as an option, which is. So I did a one book deal. But when you do that, usually the deal is that you send your next work or a proposal for your next work to your editor first. And I love my editor and so I would love to work with her again. But anyway, there, there's strategy behind like the timing. Do you wait to see how the, the first book is going to do or. All of that is to say my biggest goal, the one that actually matters more than all of that stuff, is to just get a solid draft of Book three and I think I'm on my way. It's funny because when I recorded the goals episode earlier in the year, I hadn't actually started this, this now book three. I had 25,000 words of another book that I had started that I've now set aside. And I guess maybe in February I started this, this other project. And as of Today, I have 29,000 words. And I've had a meeting with my agent about it and she's so excited about it, which made me excited about it and I'm loving it. It's something new and different, but also really special to me and really personal in different ways than my first two books. So, yeah, I would love to have one and a half drafts by the end of the year.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. You're controlling your controllables. Will you sell it? Tbd, if that even makes sense. But you're finishing. You said one to two full drafts and one and a half is dead. Dead in the middle.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I think that's realistic based on the pace I'm going right now and, you know, giving it to my agent at some point for feedback and going back to it and all that stuff. So. So, yeah, yeah, we're chugging along.

[Becca Freeman]

What about be better at screening books for the podcast?

[Olivia Mentor]

I think I have done this. You can tell me this, but I think I have approached book club very differently this year. I've tried to be much better about screening books. I have only chosen books that I fully and passionately love, and I feel really good about that, and I feel proud to be able to celebrate books that I love so, so dearly, you know, and not just choose something and then. And then see how it goes.

[Becca Freeman]

Be like, we'll read it together and then be like, ooh, no.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, this is gonna be a tough one. Yeah. So I think it's been great. I mean, it's not always that we will both feel the same way about the book, but I think the conversations have been really wonderful, and I felt more organized and I feel proud. Yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

I think our book club in general has taken a step up this year in terms of us doing a good job of screening in advance and then also, just like, the conversations that we're having around books, which I'm really proud of.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. Yes, me too. And this is kind of what I was thinking, like, at the Jenna's Book Club thing. Like, I just love promoting books that I love, and I know you feel the same, so it's. It's a privilege.

[Becca Freeman]

Here's a gimme new professional headshots. Ding, ding.

[Olivia Mentor]

I did this. I did do this. Check done. Excellent.

[Becca Freeman]

You can see them on Instagram. Her Instagram headshot or profile picture.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah. I have to choose which one to use for little one. I chose one for the Such About Influence paperback, But maybe I'll, like, choose a different one.

[Becca Freeman]

You could be a slightly different Olivia every place. It would actually be really funny if you were wearing, like, a wig and every one of them.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah. Really just keep people guessing.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. What a gambit.

[Olivia Mentor]

But I. But I did really like how they turned out, and I think they. I think they captured what I was trying to do well. So, yeah, I'm. Check, check.

[Becca Freeman]

How is it going? Keeping up with your substack editorial calendar?

[Olivia Mentor]

This was going well until. I mean, it still is going well. It's just. I was a little more strict with it probably up until this last month, but. But yeah, for the most part, it's going well. I've. With the exception of maybe one to two weeks this year, I've published something every single week. And so I'm. I'm proud of that consistency. And I've written some essays I'm really, really proud of. And yeah, we're doing it.

[Becca Freeman]

And specifically your next one was plan desk tours three to six months in advance. Is that part of this? The face says maybe not.

[Olivia Mentor]

I think we're maybe like a month, a month ahead at this point.

[Becca Freeman]

But you feel good?

[Olivia Mentor]

I feel good. I feel good. I haven't like gotten to a week where I have nothing. So that is really the goal more than anything, I think.

[Becca Freeman]

What about planning, hosting, and expanding on the upstate book fair? I can't remember if we've talked about this on the podcast or just offline.

[Olivia Mentor]

I think we might have briefly touched on it. So this is not happening because the place where we hosted it wanted to do it in May and I just didn't have the bandwidth to plan something that quickly since the last one was in October. It just seemed like such a quick turnaround. And I have talked about doing it some other ways with other local bookstore connections I have, but right now I feel like I can't do this and upstate reading, writing, cozy retreat thing. So I'm, I'm focusing on the retreat, which was my next goal.

[Becca Freeman]

And both of these are a huge undertaking.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, it's a lot more like I, I've been planning the retreat since the beginning of the year and in touch with like the place where I'd be hosting it and stuff. And it is, it is a lot. And it's also like a financial undertaking because I have to pay a deposit and like, I'm really, I'm quite scared. But like, I really believe in this. I believe in connecting with people who love books like, like I do in writing. So, yeah, they're sending me the invoice this week and it should, the goal is to have it live this month, but it should be next month where I have a page with all the info.

[Becca Freeman]

What is timing looking like?

[Olivia Mentor]

First weekend of November. So a very casual save the date if you're out there, but it'll be like a three day, two night thing. We're going to kind of start small. Super, super nice. I hope all of it, like curated by me. So, yeah, I'm gonna take a chance on this because it's important to me. But I hope I've heard some excitement out there from people. So I hope, I hope people want to come hang out.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh, I'm sure. I feel like your trips that you've done in the past have been hugely successful.

[Olivia Mentor]

Thank you. Yeah, I'm. It's new, so. So we'll see. I'm taking. I'm taking a little bit of a chance, like I said.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, Last professional goal of this monster list. So you're doing a lot, even if some of these feel rockier. If you can afford it. A website redesign refresh. A substack redesign refresh.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes. So I have reached out to someone for this. We are going to touch base again in, I believe in the next couple months. They were too busy to take it on, but they were interested. So I have the pricing, I've committed to it. And yeah, I don't know if this will happen this year, but I would absolutely love for it to happen by the fall, hopefully. So, yeah, I'm making strides. I've reached out.

[Becca Freeman]

Look at you go. No, I'm serious.

[Olivia Mentor]

I'm not really sure if these are like easy ones and I just put too many of them.

[Becca Freeman]

But no, I feel like I do.

[Olivia Mentor]

Feel good about the work.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I feel like overall, personal and professional, like you are really doing what you've set out to.

[Olivia Mentor]

Thank you. It's been a good year. It's been. I was talking to my therapist about this. Like, it's been a very good year so far, which feels nice.

[Becca Freeman]

Good.

[Olivia Mentor]

But I know you have also killed it in the professional goals area. So that sounds. Professional goals area sounds horrible. I don't know what are words? Tell me all the things you've accomplished so far with work and what you're hoping to for the rest of the year.

[Becca Freeman]

I feel medium about having achieved these, but I. I don't feel bad in any way.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, we'll start with the first one which was to figure out a newsletter paywall strategy. Have you done this? How are we feeling?

[Becca Freeman]

Yes and no. So I was feeling like I had to reinvent the wheel every time I needed to send a paywall newsletter. And I, I deeply want there to be value for people who are paying to subscribe. Like, I just feel very strongly about that. Even though so many people are so generous and are like, I just want to support you as a writer. I want to support the podcast and like the work you give us for free, which is so incredible and generous. But I feel like I need to create value. And so I have been doing an end of month wrap up style post and honestly, like, I feel like that's the one that is the least value, but people seem to like it. So I'm like, maybe I'm just being overly critical of myself, but I've introduced that, so that's really nice to have the structure of that. And then I've kind of Been doing one wildcard, and having one wildcard feels way more manageable. And I've really surprised myself the past couple of months with doing some ideas. Like, I did a newsletter about the way I organized my notes app, which was a really popular podcast episode we did. But I have this, like, I call it my dump note and my monthly dump, which sounds like it's about pooping, but it's not. I kind of laid out because it's more visual than I could explain on the podcast. I laid out how I use it and people loved it. And I was like, oh, wow. Like, this is something that I would have been like, this is not good content and people loved it. So, yeah, I'm also kind of just like opening my brain to other. I don't know. I feel fine about this. It's going well.

[Olivia Mentor]

You know, the more I'm on substack, the more I actually think there is not a one size fits all for all time paywall strategy that works because I see people do it a million different ways to a lot of different degrees of success. And of course, also, like, how you measure your success on stub can be vastly different depending on what you're trying to do. But I also think that, like, if you do one strategy for the whole year, it will work for a time and then it won't. So, anyway, this from the outside seems to be going very well for you. It seems like you're crushing it. Which brings us to our next thing, which is your goal was to double your substack paid subscribers. So how is that going?

[Becca Freeman]

I haven't doubled it yet, but I've surpassed where I need to be at the halfway point. So I'm ahead at the halfway point, which is thrilling. I feel very excited about the newsletter. I feel excited to work on it. It feels. Yeah, it does feel like it's going really well.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. Yeah. That's incredible. And yeah, I'm. I'm really happy for you because it just seems like it's finding the people that want to read it and, like, want more from you in terms of content and. And yeah, that's. It's just amazing. So I'm so glad that, like, this is going exactly how you want it to go. Even better.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. Hopefully it continues to.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay, so what about. What about your income? Yeah, tell us about your financial status. No, you said that you really wanted to figure out your income situation in terms of division of affiliate money and sponsored content and newsletter and consulting and. And all of that. So.

[Becca Freeman]

So where do you stand with this, again, really good. And I think this is one of the things that has really contributed to having a more positive outlook is like, I think when your money situation is bad, like, it just creates so much stress in other areas. And not that it was bad, but I just feel like I had put too much pressure on writing books, and I thought I would be able to finish writing this book specifically much more quickly than I have been able to. And then it created so much future stress of, well, like, will I be able to sell my third book? And will I be able to sell it for the same amount of money? So it was just creating so much stress. And so I really wanted to diversify my income away from book stuff where ultimately, like, my. Not this year, but, like, it would be my goal. I mean, don't tell my publisher this, because I feel like this disincentivizes them to pay me, but I would really like to be in a place where it's like, I almost have an income outside of book stuff, and the book stuff is just extra on top of it so that it doesn't create financial pressure. Cause I think I really got into a bad place last year where I was putting so much pressure on myself and on the book, and it was just, like, not good for either of us, me or the book. So, yeah, I feel really good about that. I mean, growing the newsletter has really helped. I'm ahead of that goal. The podcast income is stable. I don't think it's growing. It might be slightly shrinking. I've really tried to lean into affiliate links in a way that I hope feels not spammy. Aside from this laser skincare device that, yes, I do want for free. But to be clear, I'm not pushing anyone else to buy, but snapping a picture of things I actually have bought and am wearing. And I love, like, sharing when things I've talked about and love are on sale. Like, I'm trying to do this in a not gross way and trying to figure out how to work this into my content without it being, like, the only thing in my content. And so, yeah, I feel really good. Like, I'm on track to my goals that I set for this year of, like, growing other channels. And it's working.

[Olivia Mentor]

I'm so glad to hear that. It really just seemed like you figured out just the perfect balance for you and you can't really write anything when you're worried about really foundational things. I find it really hard to be creative when it's like this looming, you know, terrifying, like, what the heck is gonna happen next kind of thing. And it's like, it has to be.

[Becca Freeman]

Perfect because then the downstream domino effect of like, well, if it isn't perfect, then what happens next? So yeah, it's, it's taken a lot of the stress off.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. So what about book two? You said that your goal and you were very like gentle about this. I just listened to this.

[Becca Freeman]

Poor me, poor past Becca.

[Olivia Mentor]

It reminded me a little bit listening to you. You said you wanted to have certainty around book two and you were kind of like, I'm not going to say like I hope it's done or I hope, you know, whatever, because I don't want to set myself up for failure. But I think, I don't know, there's something really nice about that to be like, to be gentle with your future self and to be like, here is something that I feel like is tangible. I'm not going to set myself up to be disappointed. It felt very nice to be nice to your future self in that way. Even though you were in kind of a tough spot mentally, I guess, if that makes sense.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I mean it's nice of you to say that but like that was a hundred percent born out of like big fear. So I still hadn't gotten feedback on the big revision. I did like I thought somebody could be like, shut it down, that that was a possibility and or you know, I didn't want to say that I was gonna finish it by the end of the year and then not finish it by the end of the year and be like, oh my gosh, again. How, how have I failed at this again? So again, like I. I don't wanna over promise but I feel really good. I'm hopefully handing in, hopefully I am handing in this revision by the 15th and I just feel really in it. So I do feel like I should, barring any unforeseen stuff, like I should finish it by the end of the year and I feel much better about it. I was almost not distancing myself from it, but I was trying to. I don't know, I feel like I've fallen back in love with it in some way this year.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. Yeah, that's nice. Imagine if your past self could hear your future self say that. It'd be so happy.

[Becca Freeman]

God. You wanna know what I was thinking about? ChatGPT could fucking never. I feel like there's so many conversations about ChatGPT and replacing writers. There was this book insert that ran in a lot of newspapers with like not real books that AI had made up. There's like this witch hunt for. Did some author use AI to write their book on threads right now? But I'm like, wow, you know what? AI could never do care this much.

[Olivia Mentor]

It's true. Never, never, never. It does require so much deep, deep caring. Even when you're like, I don't want to care about this anymore at all. You still have to.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

Well, what about writing or finishing a draft of something new, which was your next goal?

[Becca Freeman]

I hope so. I mean, we're not there yet to start that. I have 25,000 words of a draft that I would like to finish, but I gotta finish this first. We'll see what the feedback turnarounds are on this. That I might kind of dip into this depending on how long feedback takes, but I'd still like to do this.

[Olivia Mentor]

And what about. I hope this one is going well, but tell me, what about keeping the pod fun?

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I was saying this when we were talking about the state of the podcast on. I don't remember if that was last week, but yeah, I feel like the pod is really fun. I feel wild and zesty. Did I just send a bunch of emails to Dua Lipa's people trying to get her to come on because she just launched a book podcast? Yes, absolutely, I did. Do I have a lot of really weird irons in the fire that I'm trying to make happen in? Probably won't. Like. Absolutely. I'm very zesty about the podcast. I'm zesty about our content and, like, having fun with you and delivering on the Just Us episodes. And then, like, I don't know, I want to surprise people.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, surprise people. Well, Dua Lipa is not a surprise now, so.

[Becca Freeman]

No, not a surprise now.

[Olivia Mentor]

Act surprised.

[Becca Freeman]

If Dua Lipa's here. Act surprised.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, well, I'm glad that's so good. I mean, it sounds across the board. Chicken aside.

[Becca Freeman]

Chicken aside.

[Olivia Mentor]

You're doing great.

[Becca Freeman]

I was reflecting on that last night about just how I felt coming into this episode at the beginning of the year versus how I feel now. And it feels very different.

[Olivia Mentor]

A lot can change in six months.

[Becca Freeman]

It's true.

[Olivia Mentor]

It's hard to remember in the moment.

[Becca Freeman]

True. It's true. All right, shall we transition out of these goals and into some ED matters?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes.

[Becca Freeman]

Tell me what you're obsessed with.

[Olivia Mentor]

Like I said, I've been obsessed with going on these long walks. I've actually really liked not listening to anything. It's been very good for my writing. It's been very good for my Mental health. But the only thing about going on long walks is that it takes a lot of time. It's not like a 25 minute spin workout, you know, so it's been like 90 minutes of my day. And so I, you know, try to use it sometimes to like review the podcast or like other things I have to listen to for work. And I have my. My dear, dear lifelong obsession, the Bose QuietComfort noise canceling headphones, which if were to ever stop working, rest assured I would order a new pair immediately. Like, I could not survive my life without these. I could, but I just love them.

[Becca Freeman]

You don't want.

[Olivia Mentor]

So.

[Becca Freeman]

Because of your influence, I have since gotten a pair of these and I really like them too. I don't think I use them as often as you do, but especially if I'm traveling or I'm anywhere in public and trying to do any deep concentration. Like, they are a game changer.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, the travel aspect is just clutch, but I, I don't like having noise canceling headphones on when I am walking because I can't hear traffic. I can't hear, you know, a rapist in the woods. I've, I've, I've read the Quiet Tenant, so. So I got these new headphones. They're Bose ultra open headphones and they kind of cuff around your ear and they're. They're such that like, you can hear the full quality of the music, but you can also hear the world around you. By God, I love these things. They are so cool. They stay in place perfectly. Like, not like AirPods where they kind of fall out. They are completely in place. You can run around, you can jog, you can flip upside down. They're not moving. Flip upside down. Well, I haven't really tried that yet because I'm not physically capable of moving my body in that way. But if I were, I think they would stay in place. And like, they're. I'm just so excited about them because they've unlocked this whole other walking life. Also, my ears tend to get sweaty in the quiet comfort headphones if I'm like working out, of course. And then they feel trapped. They feel trapped in like a sweat tent. So these.

[Becca Freeman]

Trapped in a sweat tent. You are a writer.

[Olivia Mentor]

That's why they pay me the medium bucks anyway, so I love these headphones. I cannot recommend them enough. Also, if you have kids or something and you're walking and you need to listen, but also you're overstimulated, you need to listen to a podcast called Bad on Paper. I'M just kidding. Okay, I see what you did there. I love these headphones. Yeah, I'm in a weird. I'm feeling zesty too. I love these headphones. I love them.

[Becca Freeman]

Do you love them?

[Olivia Mentor]

What are you, obs? I. I do. I love them.

[Becca Freeman]

I wasn't sure. I just needed to ask one more time.

[Olivia Mentor]

Sorry, I only said it 17 times and I had to get the 18th in there to round out the. The obsession. What are you obsessed with?

[Becca Freeman]

Okay, so last week maybe I have this very big playlist for my second book, both of songs that remind me of the book lyrically or that have inspired me in some way. So I had this really big playlist and I was like, I've changed the plot of this book so much. Like, so much about this book has changed. I need to cull down this playlist. So I went back through it, I culled it down, and there's this song on it that I'd totally forgotten about. And it's not very seasonally appropriate, I don't feel. But it's the Stick Season, her version. Song by Deeps. Okay, so it's basically like, you know the Noah Khan song Stick Season? Have you heard this before? Not Stick Season. I know you've heard that.

[Olivia Mentor]

I think I have, but not in a long while.

[Becca Freeman]

So it's a man singing. It's another man singing, but he's basically singing from the other person's point of view in this relationship. Okay, so Noah Khan's singing about, like his side and so this person singing about her side. It is so gut punching sad in like, I'm not a person who cries over a song way. But this is probably what might get me the closest, I think I have heard this. So good. I've been listening to it on walks, on repeat. Just like deep, sad vibes. But that feel good, you know?

[Olivia Mentor]

Yeah, I'm familiar. I know those vibes. Yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

Listen to it on your walk with your headphones that you're obsessed with.

[Olivia Mentor]

I will.

[Becca Freeman]

What about reading? What have you read this week?

[Olivia Mentor]

I read Slanting Toward the Sea by Lydia Hilja and she is a Croatian author. This is kind of a love triangle between this woman and her, like, first great love, who she was married to and eventually got divorced from for really heartbreaking reasons and remained friends with afterwards. And then this new man she meets. And this is set all in Croatia. It is really, really beautiful prose. Like there is this one scene at the end where this woman and one of the men, I won't say who are like in the ocean and it's so beautiful. It's just some of the most gorgeous language I have ever read. And it's just, it's a really sort of quiet, beautiful love story. And this was recommended by Tao Tai on our book preview in January. I think this book comes out July 8, so not too far from now. And if you're going to Croatia, it would be like the perfect atmospheric read. But even if you're not, it's just a great summer read.

[Becca Freeman]

I've been looking forward to this. This book has just the most gorgeous cover. And I don't know if this is true, but something about that description is giving me broken country vibes, which I really enjoyed.

[Olivia Mentor]

Yes, there is something about it that is a bit like that. Yeah.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay.

[Olivia Mentor]

Like deep, like young life changing love.

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Olivia Mentor]

I could see that through line for sure.

[Becca Freeman]

Okay. Which I enjoyed so much. So I am excited to check this out.

[Olivia Mentor]

What about you? What have you read? Whew.

[Becca Freeman]

What haven't I read? Olivia? I have been reading up a storm. So first I finished Hazel says no by Jessica Berger Gross, which comes out June 17th. And this is about a family of four who moves from Brooklyn to rural Maine. And the book is told from all four family members points of view. So mother, father, senior in high school, daughter, middle school age son and kind of goes through their immediately going off the rails first year in Maine. So one of the big drivers of the book is the high school daughter gets propositioned by the high school principal on the first day of school and there's a huge town controversy about that. And then the father is a liberal arts professor and he gets like mini canceled at the university. So a book about being propositioned, like I'm trying to say that it was fun, but that's not quite the right word. But I really enjoyed that it was told from all four family members points of view and how they often disagreed with each other, had different views on the same thing. And it was, it was very, very interesting. I think it's a good middle age book too. The wife who gets a, I would say her and the daughter get the most page time is 47. And she's going through kind of like a career ennui. That reminded me a lot of that New York Times article recently about Gen X's disappearing career prospects. And so if you like Catherine Newman's books for that portrayal of middle age, I think you would really like this. Also kind of mothering older kids, you know, who are in high school and middle school. So yeah, I really Enjoyed this. Then I read the Night and the Moth by Rachel Gillig. This is a book that Alyssa Morris recommended on our last reading preview episode. And I'd never heard of this author before, but apparently she is meg viral on TikTok for her first Romantasy duology, which is already out. And this is the start of a new series. And it's romantasy, but it's about a female prophetess. So no dragons, no fairies. It's about this female prophetess who has these visions to predict the future and teams up with this knight who. Who's very disbelieving of frankly, everything, but especially her prophecies. And they have to go challenge the gods because all of her fellow prophetesses are disappearing. I loved this. It's like, it's not spooky. Cause it's not scary in any way. You know, I wouldn't read it if it was, but it was very, like, dark, lush imagery. It felt very different than any Romantasy book I've read. I thought the chemistry between the romantic leads was great. It just felt so unique in this genre. I loved this. I will definitely be continuing on with this series.

[Olivia Mentor]

Do you know how long it's going to go on? Is it a trilogy or.

[Becca Freeman]

I'm not sure. I didn't look it up. But this hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list last week.

[Olivia Mentor]

Oh, that's where I saw it.

[Becca Freeman]

So I will be very like, why.

[Olivia Mentor]

Does this sound familiar?

[Becca Freeman]

Yeah, I'll be very curious to see if this really, like, picks up the same heat as a fourth wing. Because it's definitely for a slightly different reader, it's less spicy. I don't know if you're going to like it if you're religious. Like, there are certain things. But. Wow. I thought it was so great and different.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. What about this last one? Because I think many people will want to know your thoughts.

[Becca Freeman]

My gosh. So then I read Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood, and I went in with low expectations, but I'm not, not gonna read an Ali Hazelwood, you know? Cause I didn't love the first book in this series. Like, I think the first book in the series is probably my least favorite of her books that I've read. So this is the second book that follows up not in Love. And I don't know, I was just like, didn't super care to revisit these characters or this universe. But this one is set at a wedding in Sicily and it's between the main character in that Eli's Younger sister Maya and his business partner Connor. So it's an age gap romance. She's 23 and he's 38. And oh my God, it was so good. First of all, she's a scientist and he works for a science company. But like they're never at work, which is amazing. I was like, great, Ali Hazelwood, get out of the lab. It was so good. It was so, so, so good. Like even just thinking about the romance between these characters. Oh my God.

[Olivia Mentor]

This is the one that's like controversial, right? Or not getting a lot of press or something like that.

[Becca Freeman]

Who knows? There's like all sorts of manufactured controversy around this. So originally there was like controversy when she released it because it was an age gap romance and it was like your frontal cortex isn't developed enough to be like making these decisions. She shouldn't be in a relationship with a 38 year old man. But it really seemed like I was seeing more backlash to that controversy. I never saw the actual source social media posts. Like I saw some people in Reddit threads, but like, I don't know. And then there's a secondary controversy where people are like, the publisher didn't put any marketing behind this book. And it's like, I don't know if that's true or not, but she has like three books coming out. My guess on that controversy is. My guess is that they crashed this into the publishing schedule. That it was either she delivered it late, I heard her, or maybe in the acknowledgement she said it was originally supposed to be a novella and it now is a full length book. So like, I think they just crashed it into the schedule. And maybe there wasn't as much planning, but they're like, we know an Ali Hazelwood will do well. Like, I don't think it was like malicious in any way where they're like, we don't support this book. It's a treat. Also, if you're gonna read it and you haven't read the first one, maybe just don't. Maybe just read this one. You don't really need the backstory on the other two characters. I mean, if you're like a completist, sure, fine. It's not bad. But it's not my favorite, the first book.

[Olivia Mentor]

Okay, well, I'm glad you liked it.

[Becca Freeman]

Oh my God, it was so good. It was like a kick my feet and giggle book.

[Olivia Mentor]

Good. Well, if none of those interest you, you can join us for our June book club in reading all the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harmon, which is about a former pop star single mom living in London raising a sort of quirky 12 year old. And what happens when she suspects that her son is potentially involved in the disappearance of one of his classmates? She is a hot mess and hilarity ensues. And it's just a very, very funny mystery. So I'm looking forward to talking about that.

[Becca Freeman]

I mean this was pitched to me as a funny, non scary mystery, so I am there. Can't wait to read this.

[Olivia Mentor]

And if you want to talk to us about any of this, you can join us in the Facebook group which is under batonpaper Podcast or in our Geneva group which is also under batonpaper Podcast. We're on Instagram addonpaper Podcast I am on Instagram and substack under Olivia Mentor.

[Becca Freeman]

I am on Instagram ecamfreeman and my newsletter if you would like to subscribe and help me with my goal to double my subscribers this year is at Becca Freeman substack. Com and we will see you next week for our reading preview episode for the second half of the year and I'm so excited about it.

[Olivia Mentor]

Bye Bye.