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- [00:01]
A
What's up everyone? This is Cece. If you're a writer, then chances are you've wondered if your story is good enough. Maybe you're wondering that right now. I get it. Here's what I can tell you. As long as your story is making the reader curious, you're good. Now, I'm not saying you won't have to make edits. When working with an agent or publisher, edits are a part of the game. But I am saying that you will get ahead in your career if you know how to make the reader curious. The best way to do that? Infuse your story with plenty of tension, conflict and stakes. Which is why I'm so excited to invite you to join my four day course, Writing Tension Creating Tension, Conflict and Stakes in youn Story. It starts on October 13th. My favorite part about this class is that there are formulas. Yes, formulas for tension, for conflict, for stakes, and for the first time ever, we're having two optional interactive components including a query letter, studio and live critiques of select first pages. I'm super excited about this new format because I've seen it yield results in writers works and it works for writers of any genre as long as you're serious about improving your work. So if you're ready to take your writing to the next level, join me for this four day course. Don't worry if you can't attend live, the sessions will be recorded. For more information, check out my bio on Instagram or the podcast's website. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.
- [01:33]
B
Have you been sitting on the fence about signing up for the Beta Reader matchup? Or have you signed up before but haven't as yet found your writing Soulmates the next matchup is the last one of the year, so don't snooze on it. Get matched up with those writing in a similar genre and or time zone so they can critique your work as you critique theirs. Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for this 3,000 word evaluation. This particular matchup will be open to registrations from now until the 2nd of November, with the matchup emails going out on the 3rd of November. For more information and to register, go to Biancamarae.com and look for the Beta Reader Matchup tab. Please spread the word even if you aren't signing up this time. The more writers we have registered, the better the matches will be, which means you'll be paying it forward to your fellow authors. Hi there and welcome to our show. The shit no one tells you about Writing. I'm best selling author Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Cece Lehrer of Wendy Sherman Associates and Carly Waters of P.S. literary. Hi everyone. Today's guest is a USA Today best selling author who has won five Agatha Awards, five Anthony Awards, the the Daphne, the McCavity and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. As an on air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH TV, she's won 37 Emmy Awards and many more journalism honors. A past president of National Sisters in Crime, a founder of Mystery Writers of America University and a board member of International Thriller Writers, she lives in Boston. It's my pleasure to welcome back Hank Philippe Ryan. Hank, welcome back.
- [03:24]
C
Thank you. I am such a fan. Bianca, this is wonderful.
- [03:27]
B
It is amazing to get to speak to you because I am a mutual fan. I just want to say in terms of excellent literary citizenship, I am always talking about this on the podcast about giving back to our community. And honestly, there's nobody who does it more than Hank. And Hank, you are so busy and yet you still find time to give back constantly to the literary community.
- [03:51]
C
We're all in this together, right? And you do exactly the same thing. Not only do I absolutely love my colleagues in the literary community, but I'm fascinated by them. I'm absolutely curious about what they do and how they do it and what better way to help spread the word about a good book. I mean, if someone says, do you want to read a good book and then interview an author about it? I'm like, yes, I do. That's what I would love to do in any lifetime. So I'm very grateful for the opportunity.
- [04:19]
B
Yeah. But I really do just want to point out that it's a lot of work that is not paid. Hank is constantly paying it forward and we really, really appreciate her. So for those of you watching on our YouTube channel, I'm holding up all this Could Be Yours, which is Hank's latest book that we're going to be discussing today. I'm quickly reading the flap copies so that you've got some context and then I've got a huge list of questions. So we are diving straight in. Debut sensation Tessa Calloway is on a whirlwind book tour for her instant bestseller, all this Could Be Yours in a Different City. Every night, Tessa receives standing ovations from fans while her husband and two children cheer her on from their brand new dream house. But there's a chilling problem with Tessa's triumphant book tour. She soon realizes she's been stalked by someone who's obsessed not only with sabotaging her career, but also with destroying her perfect family. Tessa feels the fallout from an impossible decision she once made. What felt like a genuine deal with the devil appears to be coming due. If Tessa can't untangle who's threatening to expose her darkest secrets, she'll lose her career, her family, and possibly her life. Dun, dun, dun. Talk about high stakes. Heck, right? So quickly, I'd love to know the inspiration for this, as an author, was this something that came to you on book tour? Tell us about it.
- [05:40]
C
Well, you know, someone said to me that a good idea is like putting a mento into a Coke. Have you ever done that? You put the mento into a Coke and a kaboom, it explodes. So the mento is pretty good and the coke is pretty good, but together it's a completely different proposition. And that's exactly what happened with all this could be yours. It started with a mistake. A bookstore owner. I was going to do a book event for one of my other books, the House Guest. And the bookstore owner made a graphic that said, see Hank Philippe Ryan and the Hotel Guest. And I thought, come on, the book is right there. It's the House Guest. And then I thought, well, but the Hotel Guest, that's not a bad idea. You know, that's not a bad title. And I sort of tucked that away, but I couldn't do it because I had my book, the House Guest. So then fast forward. I was in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, the famous haven for mystery readers and authors. And I signed a book to someone that said something like, so wonderful to see you in Scottsdale. And the date and my name. And then I thought, well, there's an alibi for someone, you know, Right? It proves that I was there, and they were there, and we were in Scottsdale together at that certain time at my signing on that day. Then I started thinking about all the other things that we all sign in books. Thank you for a wonderful evening. What could that really mean? Or it was so lovely to see you, or thank you so much for everything you've done. I'm so grateful. And I. You could weaponize that in any way you wanted. And I started thinking about. Because only authors think this way, only crime fiction authors think this way. How could I take everything on book tour, like signing a book, a lovely, wonderful thing that we all desire beyond anything and weaponize that into being a terrifying thriller? So I thought about schedules. Every single place we are as authors is on our website. We want you to come. We Want to be public. We want you to know where we are at 7pm on Tuesday. On the other hand, that means everybody knows where we are at 7pm on Tuesday and everybody also knows where we aren't. And that started becoming really chilling to me. So I took the hotel guest, the Mento, and I took this vulnerability of authors, the Koch, and put them together to create this sort of cross country cat and mouse chase, this sort of book tour from hell that turned into an author running for her life.
- [08:14]
B
Yeah, you got the kaboom, Hank. You put the mentor in and it kaboomed. It was amazing. There was so much of my own experience for my first book tour because nowadays they don't really do book tours as well as they used to many years ago. But you know, the being in hotels and not knowing what city you actually in and not knowing what city you're going to tomorrow and these stream of strangers faces, the whole thing, it was incredible. So anybody, never mind the story in terms of, you know, what we're going to unpack. Anyone who wants to know what book tour is like, read this book. It gives you so much because. And that's obviously based on Hank's experience.
- [08:52]
C
So funny, because I tell my author friends, don't read this book until you get home because it's too creepy to read on the road because it's so personal and so meta that it's sort of disturbing to think about how every single thing we do on the road can absolutely be dangerous.
- [09:12]
B
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it freaked me out. I'm not gonna lie. It made me go. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to go on tour across the US for this particular book that I brought out. So, yeah, so let's talk about the book within a Book. So your book is called all this Could Be yours. There is a book within a book. The main character writes a book called all this Could Be Yours. Can we speak a bit about your process there? Did you have to first figure out what book she wrote and what that was about so that she could talk about it on the road, or was that something that evolved as you were writing?
- [09:43]
C
That's a really interesting question because that was such a pivotal moment of the book. Because when I started writing my book, all this could be Yours. I started thinking about how Tessa's book All this Could Be Yours would be and what kind of a book she would write. And I have to tell you, and I'm not sure if it's laziness, procrastination or Just sort of how writers work. But I just thought, you know, I'm just going to write this and see how this book evolves to be. I knew I didn't want to write Tess's whole book in the book, or even much of Tessa's book in the book, because I wanted the readers to figure out for themselves what her book must be about by a supreme amount of clues. Clearly, it's about female empowerment. Clearly, it's about a confident woman. Clearly, it's about a woman who gets her life back. Clearly, it's about a woman who's had something terrible happen to her and inspirationally succeeds. And that's parallel to Tessa, my main character's life. So it's clearly a woman's book. Tessa goes to bookstores and libraries, and she's just applauded and cheered by the people who attend her events, and she's clearly inspired them. And they want to be just like Annabelle in the book, and as a result, they want to be just like Tessa in real life. And so it sort of conflates my main character Tessa Calloway's life with her main character, Annabelle Brown's life. So the book in a book is sort of a vehicle for the story and sort of a way to make the whole thing super meta. Because I'll be on book tour talking about a book called all this Could Be Yours, which is about an author on book tour talking about a book called all this Could Be Yours.
- [11:23]
B
Yeah, I absolutely love that. But I also love that you didn't first sit down and go, okay, this is exactly what this book is about. Because, you know, as she speaks and certain people ask her questions about the book, it highlights why that book resonated with certain people, and we get an understanding of why she wrote this particular book. There's a lot of curiosity seeds, and you have to keep turning the pages to figure it out. But I like that. That evol thing that you do so well, and we discussed that with your last book as well, is the Ticking Clock. You always have this ticking clock, which is so propulsive. I mean, this story happens over how many days?
- [12:00]
C
I think it happens on. That's a tough question, Bianca. I think it happens over about a week.
- [12:05]
B
Yeah, it's around about a week. And then obviously, we have flashbacks to the past, but in terms of the actual linear timeline, it's about a week. And the stakes keep getting up and things keep happening, so the tension keeps ramping. And we spoke about this in the previous interview about the narrative thrust and how that needs to be moving forward relentlessly in a story like this, a psychological thriller. So can you speak to us a bit about how you approach that when writing?
- [12:34]
C
It's fascinating. And I was really lucky about the structure of this book because on Book Tour. Book Tour has a structure of its own, a relentless ticking clock structure of its own. Tessa is in a different city every day, in a different airport, every day, in a different hotel, every day, in a different bookstore or library every day. In fact, except for the flashbacks, the present time of the book takes place only in airports, airplanes, hotels, bookstores, and libraries. And Tessa in her job in her real life must be at a certain place at a certain time. And if she misses her schedule, if she misses a plane or if a plane is late or if she's held up somewhere, her entire schedule falls apart. So every moment of every day, she's on this stressful tightrope of making her schedule work. And so from a writing point of view, that makes it really fun to write because she has to get. She has to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the airport to make the plane. The plane has to be on time, the plane has to arrive on time, she has to get her suitcase, she has to get to the hotel, she has to get to the bookstore, she has to get to the library. I'm stressing myself out by saying this to you, but it has sort of. And you know the feeling so totally, but it has the built in pressure, not to mention that she's the sole breadwinner for her family. So if she doesn't sell books, if she doesn't succeed, her family situation. Situation completely falls apart because her husband, although he's lovely and wonderful and her children are darling, her husband can't really hold a job. And so this is all on Tess's shoulders. Meanwhile, the publisher and her publicist and her editor in New York are calling her, saying, how's it going? How's it going? Are you selling books? Is everything working right? You know, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, or else your career is over. So on the one hand, Tessa is this glamorous, successful, best selling, what we always hope we'd always be aspirational author. She's best.
- [14:22]
B
The.
- [14:22]
C
The best that it could ever be. On the other hand, as she realizes in the book, she's a traveling salesman who's going on someone else's schedule and she cannot fail. She cannot make a mistake, she cannot be one minute late, and the stress level of that or everything will fall Apart, her family, her career, her life will fall apart. So that has a built in, ticking clock. Yeah.
- [14:44]
B
And all really high stakes because it's her family, it's her career, it's letting other people down. So, you know, whenever we say in stories that we need really high stakes, this is a perfect example of that. Something that you said now also made me think, because it's quite interesting to see the balance of agency and infantilization that kind of happens on author book tours because you have to wake up and you have to meet the people, but in fact, you're working on a schedule that has been put together by your publicist and the bookstores, and when you come in, you kind of get shepherded down to sign books and. And you've got to keep repeating the same sort of spiel over and over unless you come up with something different for that particular city. So there is the agency, but there's also. You're just going along the schedule, and you can't deviate from that schedule or else it's going to cause huge issues.
- [15:38]
C
I mean, personally and vis a vis Tessa, my. My fictional character personally, it's incredibly stressful to be on Booked. I embrace it. I love it. It is as wonderful as anything could possibly be. And I think about it like being an actor in a Broadway show almost. You know, you come on stage every night and you do the performance, and you know that you have to be absolutely 100% at every performance because there are people in the audience who have never seen you before. So even though it's something that you've done essentially over and over, that's essentially the same. Although, yes, it is absolutely different in every city. My responsibility and Tessa's responsibility, just like a Broadway actor's responsibility, is to absolutely give it your all every time. And that's how I think about it, and that's how Tessa thinks about it, too. And even additionally, with readers who you and I adore and rely on, those people are the people who have read our books and connect with our books. So Tessa and you and I feel a real. A genuine affection and a genuine responsibility to those people to give it all we've got. On the other hand, you know, you and I both know authors who go on book tour with bodyguards, who have bodyguards who come with them to their events, because sometimes fans, and that's why it comes from the word fanatic sometimes, does it? Sometimes fans decide that because they love your book, they love you, and because they love you, you must love them, and they must be your friend, and you owe them something. And if you owe them something and you disappoint them, then they're going to turn on you. And so this is another balance that Tessa has to deal with. She and all of us have to deal with. She genuinely loves her readers. And I try to make that very, very clear in the book, that Tessa is in love with this whole thing. She just didn't realize the stresses that it would bring, and she didn't realize how terrifying it would be. The moment that the moderator says, does anybody have any questions? Then there's that little silence where she wonders, oh, my goodness, is this going to be the time that someone asks me the question I don't want to hear? And you know that feeling that when they say, here's the Q and A. And you think, oh, please, please, please let this be not terrifying. And for Tessa, it turns out to be terrifying. And it gets more terrifying as the cities go by.
- [18:14]
B
Yeah. I mean, you do such a great exploration of the parasocial relationships between authors and their readers, etcetera, and the expectations that people have of authors. And because authors now interact with them on social media, people think that they have a friendship. And like you say, there are those expectations there.
- [18:33]
C
It is interesting, because we genuinely there. I mean, there are friendships certainly develop online. And, you know, on social media, there are people that we authentically love that we don't really know, that we just meet on social media. It's just this dangerous line that sometimes gets crossed and we never know when that's going to happen. And for Tessa, it's happened. Yeah.
- [18:56]
B
And also during the Q&As, people can ask the most inappropriate questions that have got nothing to do with your book, and you should respond to them honestly. And the scary part that Hank really leverages here is that one event doesn't happen in a vacuum because people post about it on social media. And they. People will go, tessa was really cagey about this question in Portland or Seattle. And then the next people who go to see her pick up on that and run with it as well. So something you do really well is you torture your character by constantly upping the tension and stakes. Can we speak a bit about that?
- [19:34]
C
People always talk about, put your character up the tree, get your character up a tree and then throw rocks at them. And Donald Moss talks about asking, what would be the worst thing that could happen to your character at this moment? Then how could you make that worse? Then how can you make that worse? Then how can you make that worse? And I absolutely Rely on that. I mean, I've been a television reporter for 40 years, and if I went up to somebody's house and said, hello, Mrs. Smith, I'm Hank Philippe Ryan from Channel 7, did you murder that guy? And they say, yes, I did, then that wouldn't be much of a story. Right. So the reason we write a story is that something happens, something high stakes, something important, something absolutely life changing happens. And those kinds of problems don't get solved instantly. So my goal is to have you love my main character, Tessa, root for Tessa, and be absolutely terrified with her as everything she always wanted seems to be going down the drain. And it makes sense if you have a stalker, if you have someone who's out to ruin your life and ruin your career, that they would be doing this step by step by step. Because part of the quote, quote, fun for a bad guy is to let the victim know that they are on to them and watch them twist slowly, slowly in the wind and see if they can escape. And if there's a DNA to my books, it is that. It is that there's a strong woman who gets the rug pulled out from under her and she has to figure out how to get her life back. So for Tessa and for Annabel in the, in the book. In a book, that's exactly what the progression is.
- [21:12]
B
Yeah. And in terms of getting the reader on board with her, I mean, you begin with a scene that is her walking into an elevator. Tell our readers the scene you began with and I'll talk about how that immediately gets us on her side.
- [21:26]
C
Thank you. I mean, that prologue, which I don't call a prologue, it's just an opening, was the last thing I wrote, interestingly. And I thought, I need to let people know where Tessa is coming from with this. So Tessa is a corporate trainer, which she calls a soul crushing job, even though sometimes it's rewarding. And one day at her corporate office, it's just the last straw. She's in a meeting and she tells everyone what she thinks is a great idea. The men on the board absolutely ignore her. And 10 minutes later, a guy comes up with the same idea and he's lauded and applauded as a genius and she just can't take it anymore. And then she's assigned to help him with his brilliant project and she just says, no, I'm just not doing this anymore. I have one life, I have one life to live. I have one chance, I have one possibility of following my dreams. And I'm not going to sit here in this office and be invisible. She says, I could rob a bank and get away with it because I am so invisible. So Tessa is tired of being invisible and walks off the job live on Instagram, and people are with her saying, go for it. Go for it. We're so ready. We're so ready. And she's empowered. And look what happens to her, though, when she becomes too visible. So that's part of the story as well. But I do agree with you. I mean, I think it's so relatable to think how many of us have thought, you know, I'm invisible. Why does nobody listen to me? You know, am I. I'm here, you all. So this is Tessa's desire to take her life back. And we see that in real time at the beginning of the story.
- [23:06]
B
Yeah. And most women can relate to that. So you give us something relatable, and we immediately relate to her. We are immediately cheering her on, which makes the rest so much easier. I'm glad that you came back and added that at the end, because I really think we needed to see that show. You know, we needed to see her make that decision and see her vulnerability as she steps off that cliff, pretty much.
- [23:28]
C
And we also know from that little opening that she's a loving mom with adorable children, and she loves her husband and that she just wants to take her life back a little bit. I think that feeling is really empowering and relatable, as you say, for all of us.
- [23:44]
B
Yeah. Yeah, very much so. So the challenge with writing this kind of book, Hank, is that it can feel so much like Groundhog Day. Right. Because an author waking up, needing to catch an Uber or be met by their driver, going to the airport, waiting for their flight, being on the flight, getting to their hotel, going to the book event over and over and over again can feel very much like Groundhog Day. So can we talk a bit about how you were able to differentiate each day by the increasing threats by the different people who arrive, the inappropriate questions that get asked, and the different kind of booksellers, etc, that she interacts with along the way?
- [24:23]
C
Okay, so that is such a great question, because happily, I never thought about that as a pitfall, that it would seem a little bit like Groundhog Day. Because the sort of structure in my mind was this escalating structure that it's sort of like Tessa is the target and that she's a target on the move. So she always thinks, well, if I go to the next place, I'll be safe and everything will be fine. And then she begins to realize that the threat is following her, which means that the threat is real. It's not her paranoia, it's not her imagination. It's not her exhaustion and starvation from being on book tour. But something is. Something is really happening that she cannot ignore. And what we learn eventually, soon, is that Tessa fears that it's her fault, that what's happening to her that's so threatening and so sinister was her own fault. As a result of a sort of Faustian bargain, what really felt like a deal with the devil that she made some years ago. And she wonders if the devil is coming back to claim his due. So it's even more difficult for her to deal with, because if she says something to people about this, then they'll say, why do you think this is happening to you? And she'll have to reveal the secret that will ruin her life. So she's pressured from all angles of it. So there's a different hotel. It's a different. I mean, yes, it's true that on book tour it all runs together and it all seems the same. And you really have to wake up in the morning and look at your schedule to find out where you are. And I use that, Bianca, to show the disequilibrium of a person who's out on the road, who has. I mean, the idea that you don't even know where you are, that you don't even know what day it is, is really discomfiting. And I use that to make the story be even scarier, I hope.
- [26:20]
B
Yeah, very much so, because it shows how untethered she is, how disconnected from reality. She's away from her family, she's away from her husband. Even her conversations with her editor and her publicist, et cetera, you know, happens over the phone. And there's kind of a conversation early on where she gets told what's in her publishing contract and what would come back to bite her in the back. Can you tell us a bit about that?
- [26:45]
C
Her agent, who's tough, says to her, are you okay? Is everything okay? And Tessa says, yes, yes, yes, everything is okay. I just don't want to talk about my personal life. And she's sort of getting ready to go on book tour, and her agent says, you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to talk about in public. You know, you stay private as much as you want to stay private. And the agent pauses then and says, unless there's really something bad. And if there's really something bad, you better tell me that. Right now, because you have a clause in your contract that's a sort of of moral turpitude contract. And if you do anything that puts you or your book or the agency or the publisher in a bad light, you're doomed. You're toast, you're done. Your career will not only be over, but you'll have to give back your advance. So you better tell me now if there's anything in your past. And she says, no, there's really nothing. And that's a lie. That's a lie. And the question is, will that come back to haunt her? And the other thing that you brought up that I think is so interesting is that, yes, she's dealing with her husband and her two adorable children back in their new home, which her husband bought with the advance again. Now the mortgage is too big, and she only deals with them on FaceTime and on Zoom. So she realizes that she's only seeing the video, the pictures that her husband is allowing her to see on FaceTime and on Zoom, what's outside of the camera range. She begins to wonder that her husband is controlling what she sees of her own family. And she wonders, why is he doing that? That and what's going on back home? And she cannot go home to find out, right?
- [28:22]
B
Because she's so aware of letting everybody down. So even if she wants to go home, she can't because there's instances where something happens and a bookstore thinks she's canceled her event and this is a really big deal, like, bookstores can lose a ton of money if they have to refund people for tickets, et cetera. So she's got a lot of pressure on her.
- [28:43]
C
I mean, it's interesting because this started out to be a fast paced, propulsive thriller, and I hope it still became that. But it turned out to be, interestingly, sort of a love letter to bookstores and librarians and to readers and to writers. Because when I had to focus so clearly on what matters to a bookstore, what matters to a library and what they really do, and how. How difficult it is to run a bookstore, how one bad event can ruin your bottom line for a week. And so Tessa also realizes, and we all realize, that the success of our events leads to the success or failure of the bookstore's bottom line. And that I just wanted to make sure in the book that bookstore owners know how much we as authors are aware of that and how readers should be aware of that. So that when people say, oh, I don't need to go to the event at the bookstore, we say, yeah, you know, you do, you do. If you want those bookstores to stay in business, you need to go to these bookstore events and buy books. So that was my subtle message. That was my subtle message throughout the book.
- [29:54]
B
It was amazing. And I, it's like I recognize so many of these bookstore owners. I know you fictionalized all of them, but I was like, oh, I wonder if this is so and so here. It's just such a wonderful insight into publishing, into the world of publishing, who all the author has to be accountable to, who they have to work with and who champions the author and therefore helps make them successful. So really, just for anyone who just wants to understand publishing, you know, read this for that, but I mean read it as well, because it is such a page turner, such an excellent thriller. Something that I also wanted to discuss, Hank, is that in the modern day, I find as an author it's really difficult to write misunderstandings or disconnects because, you know, however many years ago that was easier. Nowadays we've all got cell phones and we've got various ways to speak to each other and their social media, etc. But a lot of this book relied on those disconnects, people not being able to talk things through in the moment, which then led to something else. And I loved how you just kept coming up with more and more interesting ways for these disconnects. I mean, some instance, it's the children's bedtime or the couple is about to really get into it and then the children walk in. So Tessa doesn't want to argue with her husband while the children are there. So can we speak a bit about that in terms of losing reception in an elevator or losing reception because there isn't wi fi, et cetera, et.
- [31:22]
C
You know, the way I try to write a novel is by asking what would really happen, what might really happen in this situation, what would really someone do or someone think? And that's why here's a little secret of the book. That's why Tessa lives in Massachusetts, but I sent her to the west coast on book tour. That makes her three hours time difference with New York and with her husband. So that instantly sets up this difficulty in communications because when you're on a different time zone from someone else, you know, the rhythm of your life is different. You're always interrupting something or somebody's always awake when somebody else is asleep and the timing is all off. So obviously in writing a thriller, communications can't be easy. But I've told myself that I can have one dead cell phone battery in my entire life, in my brain. So I have used that up. No dead cell phone batteries. But the things that can really happen, you can't use as you can't. The difference in using a cell phone on an airplane, the idea that office hours are over, the idea that, as I said, that there are different time zones. The idea that when you're on tour or when you're in real life, when you're on tour, you're starving, you're exhausted, you're under pressure. You know, I can't talk to my husband at five minutes until the time that I'm supposed to leave for my event, because I have to be at the event. So every single moment of every single day, there is a stricture on how much time an author has, how much time Tessa has. So she's always saying, we need to talk about this, but we need to talk about it later because I have to be at the bookstore, I have to be at the library, I have to be at the airport. And that kind of of pressure is real, isn't it? It's not contrived difficulties. It's what would really happen in real life. You get on the airplane and they close the door and you cannot use your phone, that kind of thing. So I enjoy that. I love that, you know, the obstacles. One of the things that I think makes a book work is how a main character or any character responds to an obstacle that's put in their way. When there's an obstacle, the character has to make a decision about what to do about that obstacle. And we can learn psychologically, we can reveal a lot about a character by that decision making process. Right? Do they do the wonderful, lovely, selfless thing, or do they do the venal, illegal, horrible, selfish thing? And then after a decision comes action. So every time there's an obstacle, necessarily, there has to be action as a result, and then the book moves forward.
- [34:05]
B
It was incredible because it was all plausible. And I was all like, oh, my God, I've been there. That's happened to me. That's happened to me. So it was just. Yeah, it was. It was really amazing. And I was laughing because she's constantly eating salted things. She's having pretzels and stuff. And I remember on one book tour, my blood pressure went through the roof and I couldn't understand why. And it was all the salted almonds, salted pretzels, all of that, that. Hank, we're at the end of our time, which I don't know how that's happened. It's flown by. But for our listeners as well, we're often saying there needs to be tension between what the character is saying and what they're actually thinking and what they're feeling. And what we have here is a huge people pleaser, someone who wants everyone to feel appreciated, who wants everybody to feel comfortable. But she's not comfortable. So she's saying all the right things, but what she's feeling and thinking completely contradicts all of that. So this is a masterclass in that to to be writing what a character says but what they're actually thinking and feeling. It's something I still wanted to chat to you about, Hank, but we've run out of time. So everybody get the book so that you can learn the masterclass of how to do that. Thank you so much for joining us, Hank.
- [35:13]
C
Oh, my pleasure. It's always so much fun to talk with you. Thank you.
- [35:17]
D
Hi everyone. Thank you so much for joining in with us for this, this bonus episode. I am Emily Sommer from East City bookshop in Washington, D.C. and I'm coming to you solo today without Bianca. So we'll see if I can manage to record this on my own. Thank you as always for listening and thank you to those friends who sent in their comp requests. After our brief summer hiatus, we will dive in with your requests and hopefully I can suggest some great titles for you.
- [35:49]
C
I'm looking for help with more recent comps from my psychological thriller. That's Megan Miranda's all the Missing Girls meets Ruth Ware as a lying game and in a dark, dark woods. This coming of age story is for adult audiences, but features flashbacks from the teenage years. After Best friend vanishes without a trace, Jolene abandons every other relationship she has, including the love of her life, and leaves her hometown in a desperate attempt to save herself. Seven years later, the death of their mother forces her back. Now she's given herself 14 days to get in and out so she can bury her mother, sell her child at.
- [36:16]
D
Home and move on.
- [36:17]
C
But her return spurs an overzealous detective to re examine the cold case. Drawing herself and her friends under the microscope. With threatening notes arriving on her doorstep, she continues to mislead the investigation in a desperate attempt to keep her secrets hidden. With the clock ticking, her perfect composure starts deteriorating as she tries to keep her high school sweetheart and her new fiance apart. But after new evidence comes to light, her messy relationships come crashing together. With her own future on the line, she must decide between the life she's built in the city or face all the mistakes she made in her youth without ending up in jail or work.
- [36:47]
D
So for this first one, I really like the Megan Miranda and Ruth Ware comps. I particularly like the Megan Miranda mention. That feels very right to me, given her prolificness, how many books she has. I feel like she has a lot that draw on flashbacks from previous events, people who have returned home. That feels right. I think too these comps don't always have to be very specific titles, but for readers of and for readers of Megan Miranda, I will also add Stacy Willingham. I think Stacy Willingham's books feel a lot like Megan Miranda in a really great way and that they're mysteries with lay women protagonists. They're not detectives. And like Megan Miranda, they have that same sort of sense of great place and great character. If I remember correctly, Stacy's first couple of novels have some flashbacks or at least they have a present day situation that calls back and harkens to something that has happened in the past and our characters are coming to terms with it. So I think that those are very good for sort of the overarching feel of the book. For a more direct comp title, one of my favorites in recent years that I think I have mentioned in previous segments, Knife river by Justine Champion or Champine. It's C H A M P I N E and in that book a woman has left home after her mother's disappearance. She is doing everything she can to escape. She has left her sister behind, she's left her small town behind, and she's essentially on the run trying to outrun her past. When her mother's body is discovered, she has to return home and deal with all of the things that she's been running away from for years and years. It is outstanding, one of my favorite mysteries of the last couple of years from Dial. I highly recommend it and I think it would fit in this case. And it is a great read even if it is not exactly the right comp title. So everybody should put that one on their list. Benny and the Regrets is a dual timeline, dual point of view, second chance romance dance with the tone and structure of Same Time Next Summer and the themes of Daisy Jones and the six. While the first comp works, the second is too big and instead of 70s, mine is set in the 90s. It's the summer wilder turns 20 and she's never been in love. On the first day as a Michigan.
- [39:16]
C
Camp counselor, her new best friends decide to help her live up to her.
- [39:19]
D
Name by sneaking out, skinny dipping and.
- [39:22]
C
Maybe even losing her virginity. Before her birthday day, head lifeguard Russell.
- [39:27]
D
Ticks all the boxes.
- [39:28]
C
But when wannabe rock star Benny shows.
- [39:30]
D
Up at the bonfire with his guitar, he and Wilder sing a duet that sparks undeniable chemistry. Flash forward 30 years. After several sold out tours, Benny has a heart attack that forces him to reevaluate his life. When camp friends scheme a reunion in San Francisco, can Benny and Wilder forgive each other for the biggest mistake of their lives? Thank you so much for your suggestions. So for this one, I agree with you that Daisy Jones is probably too big, but I love a normal person's celebrity romance, so I'm thinking about things that might have that angle to it. Same Time Next Summer I think is a perfect suggestion. So I think you're definitely on the right track there. And the first thing I thought of to go along with Same Time Next Summer is the Last Second Chance by Lucy Score. I think that particular title is probably too old, but Lucy Score has so many books that it's entirely possible that there is a more recent Lucy Score that hits some of those same notes and is a better A more recent Second Chance romance that Might also work. I also immediately thought about Alyssa Sussman. She also writes wonderful second chance romances and she does a great job with a celebrity angle. So the first book of hers I thought of was her. I think it was her second book, Once More with Feeling. So that's a second chance romance that has a celebrity angle. But her newest one, which just came out earlier this year, totally and completely fine, might also work really nicely. So that's a woman who lives in somewhere rural, maybe Montana, and becomes involved with a Hollywood actor. Neither of them are summer camp, but they might have that sort of different worlds aspect and for sure the second chance romance angle. So I would look at both Lucy Score and Alyssa Sussman, see which of their books might fit the best and for sure go with the Same Time Next Summer mention as well.
- [41:34]
C
Hi Bianca and Emily. Missed you and hope your summer was fast. Lab I'm looking for comps from my dual POV Historical literary fiction set in the Mennonite colonies of Russia during the Revolution. The Tarek farming is difficult and local peasants distrust the German speaking colonists. When her husband is killed, Agnetha must survive brutal revolt, looting, savage attacks by the Red and White armies, and finally famine, all while living with her abusive brother. Her niece Marie is 16 when she escapes Russia in 1924. Four with her surviving family and a terrible secret. Her story unfolds backwards in time to a day that she and Agnetha are each forced into a terrible choice to secure the other's future. The setting, and specifically Mennonite culture fits Sandra Birdsall's the Ruslander that's far too old, as is John Boyne's the House of Special Purpose, also set in the Revolution with a timeline that moves forward and backward to a climactic event. I get it's a neat niche topic, but I'm hoping for help.
- [42:31]
D
Hi, thank you for listening. Thank you for calling in. My first thought is City of Thieves by David Benioff. That has the Russian action, looting, all kinds of suspense aspects to it, but like the Shannon Birdsall and the old John Boyne, I think that City of Thieves is too old and it's also, I think, way too big. Big. David Benioff is perhaps more better known now for being the producer of Game of Thrones, so he's quite a big name. So City of Thieves maybe isn't going to work, but that was the first thing I thought of. For literary fiction that is set in Russia, I immediately thought of Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips, but that one is contemporary. So really neither of those that I've just mentioned are that helpful. But as you know, if you listen in on this segment monthly, half of it is just my stream of consciousness about good books. So thank you for humoring me there. Another one that is a possibility because it is Russian historical fiction is I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lohan. I have not read that one, but look at it and see if it would work. It's of course about someone trying to prove that they were Anastasia, the famous story, but half of it is set during the time of the Bolsheviks. That one might work. What I feel more confident about is giving you a suggestion for the Mennonite angle, and that is the book Women Talking by Miriam Toews. So it is not set in Russia, but it is set in a Mennonite or Mennonite inspired community. It was made into the wonderful movie adaptation directed by Sarah polly, starring Frances McDormand. But the book by Miriam Toews is outstanding. And for that angle I would for sure look at Women Talking. And if you haven't read Miriam Toews, you're in for a treat. Women Talking is probably her biggest and most famous book. It is not necessarily my favorite. Not that I didn't love it. I absolutely loved it. I love everything she touches. She's got a memoir that just came out anyway, for sure. Take a look at Women Talking by.
- [44:36]
C
Miriam Taylor Saves hi Emily, I'm querying a book club novel with the log line. Her marriage in trouble after her husband learns she's lost her faith, A former evangelical fights to keep her family together, but when she learns about abuse in her Texas megachurch, she must risk blowing up her family to expose a responsible pastor, her father in law. I started out using what happened to the McCraes for marriage and secrets and the Exvangelicals for theme because there's so much more on this topic in nonfiction. I switched that to God Spare the Girls after hearing about it from you. I've also used Sandwich for Coming of Middle Age and Rye Tone. I thought of Little Fires Everywhere since it combines family drama with social commentary, but I thought it might be too big and too old. I'm wondering whether it could work to use Jen Hatmaker's memoir Awake once it's out, since it covers middle age, marital problems and unraveling faith, or any other ideas you have. Thank you.
- [45:33]
D
So I feel like if we have not discussed this book before, I think we have because you said God spares the girls. I was going to say it sounds familiar. And to the books that you have suggested, which I think sound wonderful, I say absolutely yes. Add Jen Hat Makers Awake. Yes, for sure. It's great. I anticipate really good sales once it is released, and it is about both the end of her marriage and her reckoning with her faith and her change in faith. I think she's going to be doing a lot of publicity around the book, so I urge everybody to read the interviews with her and tune into all of that and then buy the memoir when it's out because it's really excellent. But I think, yes, I think include that. It's a really good one. I loved it. I knew a little bit about her story just from following her online, sort of casually in and out over the years, but I could not put the book down, so I urge everybody to read it. Another one I'll throw out here is a book that I love that I've probably recommended in the past, and it's Mercury by Amy Jo Burns. That book is not about a loss of faith or reckoning with whether or not to leave the church, but I feel like she has a lot of the same sort of tonal points and the same readers as Tracy Brennan. I often mention Mary Beth Keane in the same breath as those authors, and I think that maybe that type of general family drama can work even if the actual plot isn't the same, especially since you're already touching on the church and faith angle with both Awake and the exvangelicals. So I would look at Amy Jo Burns as Mercury. It's just a really lovely family drama story and I think it might make.
- [47:16]
C
Sense Hi, I'm looking for a comp for my upmarket novel. With a touch of magical realism, Whalespeak follows long distance swimmer Sloane Murphy into the underwater world of humpback whales. When a pod of whales wash ashore, Sloane realizes one is communicating with her non verbally, and from that concludes that the beaching is not an accident. She wants to find out why 41 whales would purposefully die. There's a budding romance with Iden, who researches cetacean languages. But but Sloane's communication with one whale and what she discovers becomes her life's work, and she finds Iden's purely scientific approach troublesome. But when he suddenly goes missing, Sloane uncovers a plot he may be involved in that could not only devastate the oceans and their intelligent mammals, but threaten the entire planet. I've used Charlotte McConaughey's migration for the writing style and the touch of eco fiction. Also used Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures, which may be too big and too light. Appreciate your help.
- [48:16]
D
Okay, I'm so glad you mentioned migrations by Charlotte McConaughey, because that was absolutely the first thing that popped into mind. I would agree with you that if Migrations feels right, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt probably isn't right. The tone of the two books, it's just so different now. There's definite overlap in readership because I am one of those readers that overlaps with both. I loved each of them, but for very different reasons and in very different moods. So I think one or the other would be right, but not both. And it sounds like you're correct that Charlotte McConaughey is the better fit here. So the next one I have to suggest might be too on the nose because it is Whale Fall by Daniel Krause. And again, it might be two on the nose just because it's a whale, because this is more of a speculative thriller. But I think it's worth considering because it's quite literary, it's very well written. It obviously has a touch of speculative fiction and sort of a magical realism in it because it is about a diver who is swallowed by a whale and has to get out. And to my understanding, it is as much about fathers and sons and relationships as it is about the actual escape. It has been on my list. I have not read it yet, but now in talking about it today. I'm like, I really. I really have to get to that one because it's supposed to be so wonderful. So consider that. Read that and see if Migrations meets Whale Fall might work for your query letter. Hi there.
- [49:55]
C
I am seeking a few comp titles for my adult fantasy novel. It's about two sisters separated as kids by a magical mirror who reunite years later to uncover a mystery about their family's past and to save both their worlds from a magical threat lurking at sea.
- [50:13]
B
It's kind of like a mix between.
- [50:15]
C
The Parent Trap and the movie Frozen, but I know those are very outdated and young, so I'm hoping to find some comps about sisterhood or magical portals and perhaps something that's a little cozy too. That would work for this novel.
- [50:33]
B
Thank you so much.
- [50:34]
C
I appreciate it.
- [50:37]
D
All right, anybody mentions the Parent Trap, I'm there. That's one of my favorite childhood touchstones, so I love a reference to the Parent Trap. When I'm trying to think of a cozy fantasy novel about sisters, I think first of the Witches of Bone Hill by Eva Morgan. So I definitely think you should check that one out. We did an event with her. It was very well received, so I think that works for the cozy vibes. It works because it is an adult fantasy and again, it has the sister angle that you have mentioned here. I would also look at the books by Sanju Mandana, specifically her book the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. This one is not about sisters. It is instead about found family. But it is very sweet, very cozy. I don't think it's a portal fantasy, but I think it would have the same readers and the same vibes. So I would look at Eva Morgan and Sanju Mandana. So good luck.
- [51:38]
C
I'm seeking comparables for my women's fiction.
- [51:42]
B
A late 1800s family drama.
- [51:45]
C
Struggling saddle maker Miranda meets the Baron of Shandor, Roan. Neither aware she is his daughter, he.
- [51:53]
B
Hires her to build a saddle. But her eagerness to serve him soon fades as she discovers his mistreatment of the poor. Defying his command, Miranda comes to the aid of a workhouse boy and later.
- [52:05]
C
Forms an alliance with her newfound grandmother.
- [52:09]
B
Together, the women rise against Roan, seeking.
- [52:12]
C
To free the people of Shandor from his oppressive rule. But will Myranda and her father's fragile.
- [52:17]
B
Bond survive the fight?
- [52:19]
C
The multiple POV story is set on a fictional island, has resilient female characters and a best friend romance subplot.
- [52:29]
B
It's a tale where a father and.
- [52:30]
C
A daughter who, through great conflict and.
- [52:33]
B
Soul searching find their way back to each other.
- [52:35]
C
Thank you for your advice.
- [52:39]
D
Okay, so a fictional island is throwing me a little bit, but I think maybe that actually doesn't matter in terms of just the content and the story. So with that in mind, my favorite women's fiction, slash historical fiction in recent years with a very strong female protagonist and so much more. And that's the Frozen river by Ariel Lahan. Weirdly, I just mentioned her because she also wrote I Am Anastasia. But I loved the Frozen River. I recommend it to people all the time. Anybody who comes in and wants historical fiction or a book club fiction, I'm giving them the Frozen River. Especially now that we're about to turn into fall. Oh, it's going to be like my go to winter cold weather hand sell. It is not specifically about a father daughter dynamic, but it does deal with a myriad of other family dynamics. It's very much a family story. You see her marriage, you see her dynamic with her children. It's a book that really has a lot of everything, including a very strong through line of fighting against oppression and it's just excellent on every level. So that feels like the strong woman sort of fighting against the system, family dynamics. That feels like it could work for something that might capture that island setting. Another piece of historical fiction. And this is kind of a wild hair here, but maybe look at Clear by Karis Davies. So this is literary fiction. It's quite literary. A much different plot, but it captures the isolation of island living. This is like coastal living, but it captures sort of an isolated, long ago, way back when feeling like nothing else I've read lately. It too is truly excellent. So I would look at both of those books and if they're not right entirely for your comp titles, you will have read two really good books. So that's always a win.
- [54:36]
B
Hello Bianca and Emily. My name is Gabriela Savareze and I'm seeking comps for my coming of age memoir. Narrated through a dual timeline and set in Sardinia and Florence, when I return home from the US to bury my mother and discover that my father has only a month left to live, I am forced to confront the painful and complicated love I feel towards my family and the land of my birth. This work tends to be lyrical and evokes the bittersweet attachment to a homeland that both nurtures and wounds. Jasmine Words Men with Rift would be a perfect match, but is too old. It deals with complex family dynamics, as in Liz Shayer, Never simple, but my story deals with an emotionally unavailable mother and older sister hatred towards her father who was never present. The story is also similar to narratives that explore the immigrant experience, such as Hyesung Song. Docile, it explores topics of mental illness, suicide, eating disorders, and immigration.
- [55:32]
C
Thank you for all your help. You are amazing.
- [55:36]
D
So with Men We Reaped and Never Simple. You have mentioned two of my favorite memoirs of all time, one of my favorite genres, and I love both of those. They are just two outstanding examples of the genre. Another excellent memoir about complicated familial love and attachment and the bittersweet attachments we have to home and our family. Crying at H Mart by Michelle Zauner so that one might be too big. It was not as big as, say, Educated by Tara Westover, but I think it was probably pretty close, but deservedly so because it's wonderful about being the Korean American daughter of a very complicated Korean mother. There are trips to her mother's home in Korea featured in the book and it's very moving, but it really captures that complicated bittersweet push and pull of the attachment of home and our parents. Another excellent immigration memoir is Beautiful country by Chan Julie Wang. I loved this. She immigrates with her family to America from China and she talks about her childhood, her growing up, and specifically her complicated feelings toward her dad. Specifically. But those might capture the bittersweet complicated feelings of being a child of immigration. I would look at those, but I think you're on a great track by already mentioning Men We Reaped and Never Simple. You're in good company with those because the books don't get better than that. So good luck.
- [57:16]
C
Hi, I'm looking for comp titles for my women's fiction novel told in an interview style like Daisy Jones and the Sexual Six, but not that. The tone is realistic and a bit nostalgic as the characters reflect on their lives and tell the winding story of the two main characters. Romance I don't think it's a romance, though, because it's more about all the important people in our lives beyond our significant others, because relationships don't happen in a vacuum. Kate is a workaholic who learns that there's more to life than professional success, while Ollie is a movie star who struggles with the impact of his fame on his relationships. There is lots of strong female friendships and family and the struggle of realizing that childhood dreams look different as an adult. It ends in the present day, so it does detail Covid, and there's also a message about sustainability in there too. The interview style storytelling is what really throws me off When I try to find comps, anything you could suggest would really help. Thanks.
- [58:05]
D
So I like this sort of oral history style. I do think that is very interesting. And you're right, Daisy Jones is for sure the most prominent example of that style right now. I think obviously Daisy Jones, you're right, it's too big. But I think maybe you could say something like written as an oral history a la Max Brooks or Taylor Jenkins reads Daisy Jones. So Max Brooks's books aren't right topically or content wise. They're not necessarily even the same reader, but they are told in an unusual format, which is why I'm mentioning them. So both his books, World War Z Devolution, are written as oral histories and sort of found artifacts. They're not just a straightforward narrative. So I think if you mention Max Brooks and you mentioned Daisy Jones together in that way, that to me communicates the structure of the novel and isn't mentioning Daisy Jones in a way that doesn't make sense as too big novel to mention. Another book with a a fun, unconventional structure is Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulki. I'm not sure I'm saying his last name correctly. I've never heard it pronounced, but it's K A S U L K E. And again, the content isn't really the same. Several People Are Typing is a workplace novel, but it is written entirely in Slack messages. If anybody use this is the app Slack. We do use that at East City Bookshop and I think because of that it could work in explaining the book's setup. When it comes to the part of the book that's about the romance and also about friendships, I might need to know more about the characters and what they're actually going through and how the relationships have formed to give a really smart comp about those. But if you have not already read Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley, it is so good. It is a marvelous novel and it is the best nostalgic novel about friendship and romantic love that I've read maybe ever. So for sure, check that one out. Just because you said nostalgic, you said friends, you said romance. I'm mentioning deep cuts no matter what. So I loved. I loved that novel. It's also allegedly being adapted into. I'm not sure if it's a movie or a TV series, but the leads will be be played by. Again, this is what was announced Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler. So apologies if I have now spoiled everybody's reading for that book because you'll have those people in your head, but I read it first before seeing that casting, and then when I saw the casting I thought that is absolutely brilliant. So I can't wait for that adaptation.
- [60:53]
C
Hi, I'm looking for comms for an adult contemporary fantasy that takes place on the faculty of Magic of a major university. The protagonist is a disabled PhD candidate who desperately wants to become a professor, but academic jobs for wizards are rare and the competition is ferocious. He has one semester left to defend his thesis, which is not ready, and in the meantime he makes ends meet by teaching teleportation to unruly undergrads. The tone of the book is pretty light with some rom com elements, some adventure, and plenty of food thrown in. Right now I have Julie Schumacher's Jason Fitgar series as a come for the campus shenanigans, John Scalzi's starter villain for the Rapid Fire banter, and Mary Robinette Kowal's the Spare man for its effective portrayal of a disabled main character. They captured the spirit of the book well, but none of them are fantasies. I'm also aware of Courtney Floyd's upcoming Higher Magic, but it may not reach the number of reviews necessary to be a viable comm for several months. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
- [61:48]
D
I love the mix of authors you have mentioned here. John Scalzi, Jenny Offill, Courtney Floyd that's forthcoming. I think that's exactly right. I would have mentioned it had you not. So you're absolutely got your finger on the pulse there. The one other that I will add to your list is Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Marrer M A E H R E R so her books are not about academia but they're about a workplace. Very comedic, definitely fantasy and light in tone. Just so humorous. I think it sounds like it would hit the same spots as your adult fantasy with a mix of romance, comedy, adventure. I don't know how much romance it has, but in terms of just the lightness, the funny parts, the humor, and not being a university but being a workplace, I think that could still fit. So I love what you've mentioned already and I would take a look at a Assistant to the villain.
- [62:50]
C
Hi, my name is Olivia Maines. I'm looking for comparison titles for my book Marionette.
- [62:54]
D
The genre is adult science fiction dystopian.
- [62:57]
C
It's a Pinocchio retelling that's a standalone with crossover potential. Sub genre is horror or thriller. It's a commercial project. Tone is suspenseful, thrilling and critical. The voice is propulsive and emotional.
- [63:09]
D
It's not flowery word counts 88k themes.
- [63:11]
C
Are revenge, love and acceptance. Real world issues involve bodily autonomy. Pacing is very fast paced. Setting is a self isolated Columbia. The FMC is an Asian immigrant with a legal background. The pitch in this dystopian Pinocchio retelling an immigrant woman facing capital punishment fights to clear her name and stop a string of murders where each victim bears her face and in the process discovers eventual puppet master who intends to make.
- [63:33]
D
Her his final masterpiece.
- [63:34]
C
Fun elements or unique elements include bio coating snake oil which is a magical substance that heals and its equal parts deadly when misused. The FMC is limited and when she she can move or speak, her nose seriously grows and there is romance, but.
- [63:45]
D
It'S not spicy Hi Olivia, thank you so much for sending this in. So given that description, I'm immediately thinking about all kinds of dark retellings of fairy tales and children's stories. My first go to when someone is looking for something like that is Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. So that might be too old by now, but I would look at her newer work, see if anything else might fit. She is quite big, but I think she's not so big as to be completely unrealistic. We are hosting her soon for her forthcoming book the Summer War that comes out later this month and we're so excited about it. People love Naomi Novik and she does the fairy tale retelling and that sort of dark fantasy very, very well. I also thought about T Kingfisher. Their book Thornhedge is, I believe, a Sleeping Beauty retelling and their other books also might have similar vibes. So I would look at T Kingfisher and then I would also look at Heather Walters who writes these sort of fantasy fairy tale retellings. I think Heather Walter in particular. Maybe some of those are a little more flowery or they might be spicier than what you're looking for. But I would start there and see if any of that fits. I also always mention Blake Crouch when anything seems like it might have a dystopian suspenseful sci fi aspect to it. So you mentioned bio coding. I think Blake Crouch it is super fast paced. It's got that dystopian angle. I love Blake Crouch, so I highly recommend checking him out too, if you haven't already.
- [65:23]
C
I'm looking for comps for my adult contemporary romance, which has a speculative fiction slash magical realism element. Your soulmate's waiting for you and all you need to do is open a letter to find them. But where do the letters come from? Our protagonist Nathan has been waiting for his letter for what feels like forever. In the Soulmate department on the 11th floor of the Afterlife, Bridie is on probation after letting her own heartbreak interfere with her work. She has one more chance to make things right or face demotion to the horrifying minus flaws. The best comp I have so far is for the Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood. Similar in tone and setting, both time and place, intended audience and the our world, but change one thing element. The speculative magical realism elements are similar to those found in Sign Here by Claudia Lux and the Measure by Nikki Ehrlich. And the afterlife headquarters feels like the underworld in Netflix's Chaos. It's not witchy or paranormal, nor is it fantasy. And any comps from British authors would be especially welcome. Thank you so much.
- [66:20]
D
Okay, our last one for this time. Yes, to Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood. That sounds exactly right. And I would add to that Ashley Poston's books. So all of hers are really good contemporary romance. They've all sold well for us, if we are any indication. And she keeps publishing at quite a fast clip. So I have to think that we are not alone and that she is selling very well across the board. But I mention her in the same breath as Love of My Afterlife because it's that great contemporary romance with some speculative angles and some magical realism, but it's not witchy. It's not like super paranormal. They don't fit in the fantasy section. You know, these are contemporary romance. They just happen to have some little magical angle to them. So I think that fits very much along the same lines with what you're describing and with Kirsty Greenwood. And I don't have a British author that I could think of that hits that same blend of contemporary romance with just a touch of magical realism. But I will suggest maybe the books of Sophie Cousins. So again, it's not magical realism. She doesn't really do speculative fiction, but there's a missed connections vibe to her. Some of her books that almost feels otherworldly, like clearly she's writing about soulmates. She is writing about people who are destined to be together. They are fated to be together. The question is merely will they figure it out? Or the question, I guess, is when will they figure it out? Because we know of course that they will. So maybe the Sophie Cousins books could capture the British aspect of your work in conjunction with an Ashley Poston or a Love of My Afterlife mention. I love Sophie Cousins and that reminds me that she's Got another one coming out this fall, so I look forward to picking that up. Thank you to everybody for sending in these comp requests. Thank you to Bianca for letting me record this on my own as an experiment today. And please send in more comp requests next month and send them in as early in the month as possible so that you could be featured next time. And again, thank you for listening. Always a pleasure to be here. I will see you next time. Bye Bye.
- [68:32]
B
And that's it for today's episode. I hope you'll join us for next week's show. In the meantime, keep at it. Remember, it just takes one.
- [68:40]
D
Yes.
- [68:46]
A
What's up everyone? This is Cece. If you're a writer, then chances are you've wondered if your story is good enough. Maybe you're wondering that right now. I get it. Here's what I can tell you. As long as your story is making the reader curious, you're good. Now, I'm not saying you won't have to make edits when working with an agent or publisher, edits are a part of the game. But I am saying that you will get ahead in your career if you know how to make the reader curious. The best way to do that? Infuse your story with plenty of tension, conflict and stakes. Which is why I'm so excited to invite you to join my four day course, writing Tension Creating Tension, Conflict and stakes in your story. It starts on October 13th. My favorite part about this class is that there are formulas. Yes, formulas for tension, for conflict, for state, and for the first time ever, we're having two optional interactive components, including a query letter studio and live critiques of select first pages. I'm super excited about this new format because I've seen it yield results in writers works, and it works for writers of any genre as long as you're serious about improving your work. So if you're ready to take your writing to the next level, join me for this four day course. Don't worry if you can't attend live, the sessions will be recorded. For more information, check out my bio on Instagram or the podcast's website. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.
- [70:18]
B
Have you been sitting on the fence about signing up for the Beta reader matchup? Or have you signed up before but haven't as yet found your writing soulmates? The next Match matchup is the last one of the year, so don't snooze on it. Get matched up with those writing in a similar genre and or time zone so they can critique your work. As you critique theirs. Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for the 3,000 word evaluation. This particular matchup will be open to registrations from now until the 2nd of November, with the matchup emails going out on the 3rd of November. Member for more information and to register, go to Biancamarae.com and look for the Beta Reader Matchup tab. Please spread the word even if you aren't signing up this time. The more writers we have registered, the better the matches will be, which means you'll be paying it forward to your fellow authors.