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- [00:00]
1-800-Flowers
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- [00:30]
Katie Seiss
This is not a drill. You can get the new iPhone 16e with Apple Intelligence for just $49.99 when you switch to Boost Mobile.
- [00:37]
Zibby Owens
Wait, that's the actual fire alarm. We need to go visit your nearest Boost Mobile store for full offer details. Apple Intelligence requires iOS 18.1 or later.
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Katie Seiss
Restrictions apply.
- [00:45]
Strawberry Me
It's time to come clean with yourself. Let's be completely honest. Are you happy with your job? Like, really happy? The unfortunate fact is that a huge number of people can't say yes to that. Far too many of us are stuck in a job we've outgrown, or one we never wanted in the first place. But still, we stick it out and we give reasons like, what if the next move is even worse? I've already put years into this place. I can't afford to take a wrong step, and maybe the most common one. Isn't everyone kind of miserable at work? But there's a difference between reasons for staying and excuses for not leaving. It's time to get unstuck. It's time for Strawberry Me. They match you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you actually want to be. Your coach helps you get clear on your goals, create a plan, build your confidence, keeps you accountable along the way. So don't leave your career to chance. Take action and own your future. With a professional coach in your corner, go to Strawberry Me Career to claim a special offer. That's Strawberry Me Career.
- [01:50]
Jesu Jo
Hi, this is Zibby Owens and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest best selling buzz or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to stay in the know. Get insider insights and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information, go to zibbemedia.com and follow me on Instagram ibeowens. Katie Seiss is the author of youf Must Be New Here, a Novel. Katie is a best selling author of eight novels. Her books have been included on best of lists by Good Morning America, the New York Post, Popsugar, Parade magazine, and PureWow. Her sixth novel, the Break, was a Zippy's Book Club pick and her seventh novel, the Vacation Rental was a 12 News Book Club pick. Her newest novel, youl Must Be New here, comes out July 8th. Katie is a former TV host and jewelry designer and lives outside of New York City with her husband, four children and a golden retriever who has finally calmed down. Welcome back, Katie. So happy to have you on Totally booked with Zibby again to talk about you Must Be New Here, your latest novel. Congratulations.
- [03:15]
Katie Seiss
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
- [03:17]
Jesu Jo
It was such a nice surprise after finishing the book to see your lovely note in the acknowledgments to me. That was so sweet. Oh my gosh. I'm like, oh my God, Kyle, look. Anyway, it was very exciting.
- [03:28]
Katie Seiss
Oh good. Well, you deserve that and a ton more.
- [03:31]
Jesu Jo
So please.
- [03:32]
Katie Seiss
I'm glad you thought because I do always wonder if people, I'm like, do people read the acknowledgments? I always do. Sometimes I read them first.
- [03:37]
Jesu Jo
Yeah, I read them. I love to read them.
- [03:39]
Katie Seiss
I love.
- [03:40]
Jesu Jo
It's like a treat. Although the other day I did start reading an acknowledgement section and they were like, if you're reading this before reading the book. And I was like, oh me? Right, right. Okay, so what is your book about?
- [03:54]
Katie Seiss
Okay, so this book was a lot of fun to write and it's really, I think mostly about female friendship. Someone once, a reader, an earlier reader, told me that in a way it's almost like it has almost qualities of a romance where. But, but really like with friendship and you know, as with all my books, it's characters kind of that are in unthinkable circumstances and friendships are put to the tests. And there's a lot of, you know, there's like mother child relationships, there' sisters somewhere in my books. And this is a story about this woman who's living in a town much like mine and she was a former artist and she has a daughter named Daisy who is medically fragile and you know, she's. And she's gone through a divorce. So you open the book on meeting this character who I think is quite lovely. Hopefully Readers will too. I really loved writing her. And she's a very good. She's a good mother. And, you know, life is kind of going along one way and then a neighbor comes and moves into the house next door to her and. And they kind of live high, you know, always. There's always woods and cliffs involved because I feel like my imagination is like, I love. We live in the woods and I. I enjoy them from afar. So the neighbor moves in and it kind of awakens something in my character, Sloane, and she just feels this amazing connection. And it all happens very quickly. It really takes place over the course of one week. And right when this neighbor moves in and they're having all these late nights and they're connecting, we've all like felt that spark, like a really magnetic female friendship where you're just completely like. It's almost like a switch has slipped and you feel like you've known the person forever and you're having all these great conversations. And then a few days into all of this, Sloane's babysitter, Margaret, disappears and then is found. Is found killed. And so the book kind of spirals from there. There's another character named Clara, who it's told from the perspective of Margaret, the babysitter, who has disappeared. So Sloan, the young mom with the daughter Daisy, and then also Clara, who's like this very forward facing, really involved. And so many of us can, I think, relate. And it's a luxury to be able to relate, right? You're able to be involved at school and you're doing all the things and you're like showing up and saying yes to everything. And you're on all the boards and all the things. And outwardly she has this very beautiful, perfect life, but behind the scenes, things are going on within her marriage and her home life. So everything sort of their lives are very intertwined and everything spirals and secrets are revealed and all the things.
- [06:19]
Jesu Jo
Wow.
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Katie Seiss
Long winded answer to what is your book?
- [06:22]
Jesu Jo
No, that's great. I read the whole book and totally enjoyed it. And I was giving a running commentary because I read a lot of it and stuck in traffic and on this weekend, long trip. And I kept being like, I think it's this guy. I think it's this person who did it. No, I think it's this person. They're like, where's, where's the twist? Anyway?
- [06:40]
Katie Seiss
Well, that's what I have going on the whole time I'm writing. So I am not an outliner, which you and I have talked about. I do not Outline. So I love to just pretend like it's Netflix and I'm just opening my computer to see what they're going to do and where it's going to go. So I never know who my killer is. I never know who my bad guy is. And they kind of reveal them. They reveal themselves to me sometimes. Like, I've definitely had it happen where it was not someone that I thought it was going to be, and they sort of come out of the woodwork. And then there's obviously the moments in revision that you have to go back and make that feel really believable. But I also think sometimes it's always also there. Like, I'm like, oh, right, it is. Of course it's you. Like, you were doing this in chapter three. That was a little bit off and I didn't pick up on. So I love seeing what they're gonna do. I like throwing them in a room when they totally surprise you. It feels like improv. Like, my background is in theater and improv. And you always had to say yes to everything and see where everybody's going with everything. The only rule is to just allow it to happen. So it's fun that way.
- [07:31]
Jesu Jo
You wrote in a really poignant way about divorce, too. And you had this one section. She, Sloane and Dave have a pretty close divorce relationship where they're coming and going all the time for their daughter Daisy. But you have a moment where Dave knocks on the door of his and Sloane's house, which used to be both of their homes, and now it's mostly Sloane's house, and she has this reaction to having her ex husband knock on his own front door for the first time. Tell me about that. I feel like that's something somebody who's divorced must have told you or. Yeah, tell me about that.
- [08:06]
Katie Seiss
Yeah. No, so no one has mentioned that. I think that the reason I like this job is that the thing that I always, when I was younger had going on, which was good and bad, was a sort of an oversensitivity just to the world and people's. What somebody else was going through. And so usually. And while I would never assume that I would understand what it would feel like to be divorced, because I can't. And. But I, like, would imagine these little things that, like, somebody like, that must happen that moment where, like, suddenly it's not both of your place and that just has to feel. Even though they had raised their child in this house and they loved that house. So, yeah, that one sort of came in the moment. And, you know, the one thing I did in this book, it's funny because the. The divorced family I. I work. I also hope I did justice with, in this particular book, the family. Daisy having a medically fragile child that will keep me up at night. So, like, I won't worry about bad reviews. I don't worry if somebody doesn't like it. Like, that's totally okay. I feel like. And I'm. This is. I can say this after being 15 years into it, the first novel I wrote, I was extremely upset when I read bad reviews. And then I kind of realized, like, that's just part of it. It's okay. And it's better to. Even if sometimes they don't like it. But the one thing that does keep me up at night is making sure that I represented something I remember talking about with. When we discussed the break on your podcast. And I was saying that I wanted to really get the postpartum mental illness really correctly. Like, you know, I can use my own experience as much as I can, but then I need to make sure that I'm doing it right. So the. So for this book, I would say that I'm glad that you. Glad that you liked that part. And I would say the thing that I was like, gosh, I've got to get this right, was Daisy was the character who has primary pulmonary hypertension. And so I picked that because my little cousin and my aunt both died of it. And so I felt like I could at least speak to it in a sensitive enough way or. And come in with a little bit of understanding. And two of my best friends here have medically fragile children. And so I felt like I wanted that to be on the page. Like, I wanted that represent. I wanted that representation to be there, but I had to be very careful about how I wanted to do it in the right way. And that stuff keeps me. I mean, that keeps me up at night. Like, I feel like you just want to get. You want to get that stuff right. But I'm also glad that that. That felt authentic. Daisy and Dave's where they were at. And because usually I feel like I'm writing characters right in the thick of a marriage. Like, something is going wrong, some secret's been uncovered or whatever it is. But with them, it was. There was almost like this slowness. Like, there's not a lot of. Like, there's not much passion lost there. Like, and you don't know why they got. They had their divorce. And I knew I wanted there to be some massive reason that just kind of like, she says sucked all the air out of the room, and. And then you find out what that is. But, yeah, it was a different thing to write than usual.
- [10:43]
Jesu Jo
Well, you wrote about the illness really beautifully, and you wrote about your loss in the acknowledgments, which I did read for our earlier thing. But I'm so sorry that you went through that. And you had this one moment where Sloane is worrying about the murder and all this other stuff, and she's like, but, look, we have a kid who might not outlive us. And it puts everything into context.
- [11:06]
Katie Seiss
Yeah.
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Jesu Jo
You know, he's like, we're gonna. Every day is a gift or something like that. Like, we're gonna make every day as great as it can be, and we're not even gonna go there. So how. Tell me about what happened with your family and how you personally interacted, but how it affected everybody.
- [11:19]
Katie Seiss
I mean, I remember being. So. I was. My aunt was diagnosed when. So she gave birth to my cousin Jessica when she was 28, and that's when they realized that she had primary pulmonary hypertension. And it can come on. It's. You know, it can come on as a child. For a child. It can also come on as an. She didn't realize it until she gave birth, and she just didn't feel right. Didn't feel right. And then she. This is nuts. So that was on. She gave birth to her on December 13th. And actually. And again, some of this is, you know, the way a family story goes and develops and takes on its own life. But my understanding is that she came either extremely close to death or had, like, something incredibly medically sort of extremely serious right up to the edge happened during Jessica's birth, and then she actually died 10 years to the day after. So my COUSIN Jessica was 10. So, like, my family, you know, we come from a family of, like, there's a lot of faith. There's a lot. It's a big family. Like, huge Irish Catholic family. So a lot. There's also a lot of loss. My mom is one of 12 kids. My dad's one of nine. And so there's a lot of. Like, a lot of love, a lot of everything. Right. And a lot of loss. So my godmother, my aunt Katie, who I'm named after, and her. And then Jessica was in her 20s when she died. So it was like. It was really. It was really kind of shakes the ground from under you. And I remember my mom and my sister and I are extremely close. And now, as an adult with children, I think about it from my mom's perspective when my, when her sister, when her little sister passed, like at age 38, you know, and so it just felt like I felt like something to not shy away from. That's what I'll say. Like, even though it made me nervous to write about because I was like, I hope I can do this, but then. And do it respectfully, it felt like something I didn't necessarily didn't want to shy away from. And I love their mother. I love Sloane and Daisy's relationship on the page like that. She just delights in her and, you know, that's. That's her only child and she just. She just adores her.
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Jesu Jo
Yeah. Oh, well, it was. Thank you for sharing all that and the relationship. Obviously every parent, not every, many parents feel that sense of protection, but I feel like you just upped the ante sort of on that instinct by, by adding this extra layer and it's. You know, I just felt so bad when, you know, the fear of, like, the falling and, you know, oh, she's going to fall. Like, we all have that. Like, oh my gosh, what if. You know.
- [13:36]
Katie Seiss
Right. Yeah. And sometimes I find with fiction, it's almost like taking a feeling that you've had and trying to, like, really magnify it. Like if you felt shades of depression or you felt shades of fear over something, you know, sometimes it's like you can put yourself. It's so much easier to put yourself in someone's shoes, which, which is why, you know, every. Not to wax poetic about going through hard times, but it does make you so much more empathetic.
- [13:56]
Jesu Jo
It's true, right?
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Katie Seiss
Like, you're just like, okay, I can imagine what that would. Could feel like in your situation or times 40 or whatever it is, you know, and it makes you far less judgmental and more just willing to kind of, I don't know, go there and make everything doesn't have to be so perfect.
- [14:14]
Jesu Jo
Did you know Tide has been upgraded.
- [14:15]
1-800-Flowers
To provide an even better clean in cold water?
- [14:19]
Jesu Jo
Tide is specifically designed to fight any.
- [14:21]
1-800-Flowers
Stain you throw at it, even in cold butter. Yep. Chocolate ice cream.
- [14:26]
Katie Seiss
Sure thing.
- [14:28]
Jesu Jo
Barbecue sauce.
- [14:29]
1-800-Flowers
Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water.
- [14:33]
Jesu Jo
Additionally, Tide pods let you confidently fight.
- [14:36]
1-800-Flowers
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- [14:38]
Jesu Jo
Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide.
- [14:42]
1-800-Flowers
Asking questions doesn't make one a difficult patient.
- [14:45]
Katie Seiss
It makes you an advocate for you.
- [14:48]
Zibby Owens
Life can be hard enough. So what do you do when you receive a medical diagnosis that Changes everything. How do you navigate feeling like you have to fight to be heard when it comes to your health? These are big, scary questions, and there's no one size fits all answer. That's why BetterHelp teamed up with host and licensed therapist Jesu Jo to create Mind if We Talk, a new podcast that looks at life's difficult moments through the lens of therapy. On the latest episode, Jesu sits down with comedian Ryan Sickler to talk about the diagnosis that turned his life upside down and the tools that helped him move forward. If you or someone you love has ever felt the weight of medical stress, this episode is for you. Listen and subscribe to Mind if We Talk. Wherever you get your podcasts and remember, your happiness matters.
- [15:30]
Strawberry Me
It's time to come clean with yourself. Let's be completely honest. Are you happy with your job? Like, really happy? The unfortunate fact is that a huge number of people can't say yes to that. Far too many of us are stuck in a job we've outgrown or one we never wanted in the first place. But still we stick it out and we give reasons like, what if the next move is even worse? I've already put years into this place. I can't afford to take a wrong step. And maybe the most common one. Isn't everyone kind of miserable at work? But there's a difference between reasons for staying and excuses for not leaving. It's time to get unstuck. It's time for Strawberry Me. They match you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you actually want to be. Your coach helps you get clear on your goals, create a plan, build your confidence, and keeps you accountable along the way. So don't leave your career to chance. Take action and own your future with a professional coach in your corner. Go to Strawberry Me Career to claim a special offer. That's Strawberry Me Career.
- [16:34]
Jesu Jo
Well, I also loved your teen characters, Margaret the babysitter and her boyfriend. And, you know, as a mother of twin teenagers, I feel like I was relating to both of them, like her trying to get into college and what happens there and then how he feels about it and their own interaction. And, you know, there's one moment where he gets quite upset. And I was so happy you put that in because just because you're a big, strapping teenage boy doesn't mean you don't still have feelings.
- [17:03]
Katie Seiss
Right?
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Jesu Jo
So I like that you put that layer of realness honestly into the narrative as well.
- [17:10]
Katie Seiss
Yeah, I love writing teenagers, and I also feel like, of course Somebody's standing outside. You can let me know if it's too loud and I'll move. But I love writing teenagers because I think that a part of me still feels like I just wrote a new scene for something where it's a lifeguard. And I'm like, I actually found pages that I wrote when I was 19 and not, like, to knock myself and be like. Because maybe I should have improved more. But I read those pages that I wrote in 19. I was like, this could be in a chapter in a book. I mean, I was always so interested in families, and I was always interested in marriage. I used to love babysitting because I love other people's houses and other people's lives and, like, thinking about what goes on. And I just. I love family dynamics. I just find them to be so interesting. But, yeah, but I love writing teenagers because I think a part of me still feels that, like, I love that exciting age when the world is open and anything can happen and you have all these, like, big dreams and you, you know, kind of scrapping it all together and making it work. But so I loved writing Margaret. I feel like she was a real fun. I mean, I actually hate, obviously, that what happens to her in the book. And I have to sometimes put that out of my head while I'm writing or else it's too dark, you know? And I've had other books where I won't mention what they are in case anybody doesn't want the twist rune. But I've had other books where, like, I set out thinking that character will just unfortunately have to die, and then I can't do it in the end, and the character, something happens, and, like, oh, my gosh, they're still alive. So this time I had to put my head down and just be like, okay, this is where this book needs to go for everything else to sort of, you know, come to light. I love that construct of. And I'm with the current project I'm working on now. I'm doing the same. I love the idea of, like, a mystery in present day. Just ripping the band aid off an old mystery. And you're like, that's what happened. And it takes the new thing. So it's almost like a dual mystery, but they're so intertwined. It just feels like a. It feels like a fun way to discover what's. What's really going on.
- [18:58]
Jesu Jo
So how. How do you approach each project? Like, if on the other side of the zoom, do you have sticky notes? And I know you don't outline but do you have anything, anything there or do you just.
- [19:11]
Katie Seiss
I have to know the twist. That's actually the only thing I have to know. And that I'm okay. Like, if I know that there's gonna be just like a bananas twist. I feel like in this genre you can't just write something that's really formulaic. I just think that people want. I feel like part of this job is that hopefully that you're reading and you can't put it down. That's like, my biggest goal is that you're being entertained. Like, I love the word entertainment. I take it really seriously. I feel like in any hard time I've ever been through, like, to be able to turn to a book and a movie is just the biggest gift. So, like, to me, my first main job, even more than writing a nice sentence, is that you're pulled in and you're entertained so that, like, when you're in traffic, you're like, okay. But I'm also, like, enjoying what's happening with these characters. This is really entertaining. And so I would say as long as I know that I have a really good jaw dropping twist that, I mean, jaw dropping sounds, like, very cliche, but something where people are really going to be like, okay, I did not. I didn't see that coming. And I haven't seen it before. That part's hard because you don't want to, you know, you want to do a twist that hopefully feels really original. My favorite book, Broke Twists is the Vacation Rental. Like, I just loved the twists in that one when I. That was the one before this one. But I do like some of the little. The little things that are thrown in here as well. This one feels, yeah, they feel like a little more subtle and a little like darker. But I. I do. As long as I have the twist, I can write. I can write. Just kind of keep going. And usually, you know, now I would say this far in, there's not as much revision. I mean, maybe there should be, but I feel like there's not as much going in, tearing things apart. And like, now I've got to scrap five chapters. It just feels more like, okay, we got to just trust that I know how to get you from point A to point B. And sometimes people will ask, well, what about, like, what about all these dual stories? How do you keep the timeline straight and the storylines and the Margaret 10 years ago with the, you know, or five years ago with the character only three years ago, actually, I think we changed that. But with the present day and I Feel like at the end of the day, you're always telling a linear story, even if it. Even if you're going back in five years. Like, I'm still. I still have to tell you what's going on with Cole and Margaret and where they are to sort of. To figure it all out. But other books, you know, it'll jump around a little more, and I just still feel like it's. You're telling the same. You gotta, like, reveal the information at the right time, no matter what timeline you're in.
- [21:18]
Jesu Jo
So what number book is this of yours?
- [21:20]
Katie Seiss
Okay, so this is. So I did. I first wrote a book called Creative Girl, which was about having a creative career. And then. Which I had, like, no business writing because I was 28, but I thought I did. And I think at the moment that was. I don't know, but I love that book. But I was like, a lot of. Like, my own sort of, you know, just when you set out and you don't know what you're doing, and it's really. You know, it's like the path is so circular, and you just are trying to. To navigate that. And so I. That was a fun way to start, and it really opened a lot. I used to be a TV host, and I was making jewelry, which was really fun. And it sort of felt like that was a way to get back into writing, was to. To work on that project. And then I found my agent that way, and I love my agent so much. And then I wrote three young adult books. I wrote a novel that didn't sell. I wrote a paranormal romance, which I still reread, like, every two years. And I'm like, oh, I love this character.
- [22:10]
Jesu Jo
Like, just try it again.
- [22:11]
Katie Seiss
Try it again. I know.
- [22:12]
Jesu Jo
I'm literally like, now's the time.
- [22:14]
Katie Seiss
Well, maybe you need to start publishing. Are you publishing anyone?
- [22:16]
Jesu Jo
No, no, no, I'm not. But I mean, like, the market is ready for it.
- [22:21]
Katie Seiss
The market's ready for it. We'll save. So that was in 2000, around 2010. And I remember when it didn't sell, I was, like, just so devastated. I'm like, oh, no. Like, writing fiction is so much harder. What am I gonna do? And. But then I just kind of figured it out. I did some ghost writing, which was helpful to practice, you know. And then I did three young adult novels for HarperCollins. And then I did. This is the fifth one. So this would be the ninth book, eighth novel. This is my fifth adult suspense. So for Amazon. And so, yeah, nine novels, which is just Crazy. I mean, that's just bananas. Although, then I. Sometimes I go to, like, when there'll be an author event and someone will be like, well, I've written 40. And I'm like, okay. Well, that's really amazing.
- [23:05]
Jesu Jo
That's rare, though. I could count how many people.
- [23:08]
Katie Seiss
Right, right, right.
- [23:10]
Jesu Jo
I know. Who have done. Like, someone came the other day and was like, 60 books or something. Melissa Daily Cruise. But a lot of those are not adult, you know, you can read a lot more books for kids, so. Right. It's like, kind of cheating. I'm kidding. But we'll tell Melissa that she's a.
- [23:26]
Katie Seiss
We're impressed, but also great to fangirl over her so much when I was writing. Ya. I'm sure I still. If I met her today, I would also do that. But I. There's just. There's just really good storytellers all over the place, like. And I feel like she's one of them. It's like, you know, she'll grab you in no matter what she's writing about. And you read the whole book and you're, you know. I mean, I love the art of story. My dad used to. When I senior year, I was allowed to get out early, and so I'd come home before, like, lacrosse practice or something, and I would watch soap operas, and my dad would come home. You know, there'd be like a steamy makeout scene on the tv. He would be like, I can't believe you're watching this. And I'd be like, dad, it's the art of the story. Like, I'm learning the art of story. And so I always remind him that now I'm like, I told you, those soap operas, I mean, did they just, you know, paid off? Beginning, middle, and an end. Although theirs is, like, beginning middle, middle, middle, middle. That's what I've learned is the difference. Like, someone explained that to me once, the difference between a book and a movie versus a TV show, that you're, like, living in the middle. I thought that was so interesting.
- [24:24]
Jesu Jo
Oh, I like that.
- [24:26]
Katie Seiss
Yeah.
- [24:26]
Jesu Jo
Huh. Interesting. Okay, so what's the plot of your next book?
- [24:31]
Katie Seiss
Okay, so the next book, I want to try. I just started it, and I want to try. So it opens with this sort of, like, grandiose scene at the pool. And there's like, a near accident. Everything's okay. And then I want it to be this. Of this family. And I want. Unfortunately, we have a Margaret situation. So, like, someone. So unfortunately, someone has to die as of now before I revive her. And bring her back. And my thinking is that like, as usual, it'll be like the story of like a family and sort of how they recover and then a present day mystery. And I want to show the family sort of 10 years ago when it happens and then in 10 years, and then in 10. The 10 years, like in the present day storyline, I want there to be like a daughter in law, I think, with a baby and like go into that dynamic of like daughters in law, like mothers in law, like, like all those things. And she's living in her mother in law's house where her husband's sister disappeared. So I think I just want to kind of.
- [25:17]
Jesu Jo
What do you think you're recovering from the most right now?
- [25:20]
Katie Seiss
Recovering from if anything? If anything. You mean me? Oh, me as like a human?
- [25:25]
Jesu Jo
Do you mean like you as a human?
- [25:26]
Katie Seiss
My past, like traumas. You mean like, or just like today?
- [25:29]
Jesu Jo
You know, like if you said like right now I'm like recovering from. It could be something funny, it could be something sad, it could be, I don't know, like, what am I recovering from?
- [25:38]
Katie Seiss
That's such a great question. Like a million things I would say. I'm always kind of on like the raz. Sharp edge of like honestly like worrying that something, you know, and that to me is so magnified since having kids. It's like not even, I think as I've gone along, I just talked to a mom, a friend of mine who has two little ones who are probably like four in one. And I think it's like as you keep going, you kind of learn how to. You kind of learn how to do it a little more. But yeah, I would say I'm like trying to be like relaxed and present and not 80 steps in the future. Although I think if I was going to write a personal essay, which you're good at and I'm not, I would. Sometimes I feel like the moment is like actually more full when you're thinking about like. Like sometimes I'll look at my kids and think about if someone had showed me a video of them 10 years ago and then showed me like this current day. And I just feel filled with just like such awe that that's life and that that can be like so beautiful. And part of that is also like looking into the future and like wondering what will be and like to even daring to hope that there is like a. Everybody is together and happy and healthy. So while I'm all for living in the present, for me there's like something to be said about the past, the present, and the future and how it kind of like the moment feels the fullest sometimes in a way when I'm in all three. Although I'm sure every single therapist in the world would disagree with what I'm saying.
- [26:59]
Jesu Jo
Not at all. Katie. Thank you. Thank you for your entertaining read, for keeping my mind sharp as I tried to figure out what was happening next. I'm now going to treat sort of new friends with a grain of caution that maybe I wouldn't before. Not to give anything away, but just you never know. You never know about people. And also, yay for babysitters. So there's that.
- [27:23]
Katie Seiss
My husband does say, though. He's like, we're not. You have to stop. He's like, we're never gonna get a babysitter again.
- [27:31]
Jesu Jo
Thank you so much.
- [27:32]
Katie Seiss
Thank you for having me.
- [27:33]
Jesu Jo
Of course. Bye Kitty.
- [27:35]
Katie Seiss
Bye.
- [27:36]
Jesu Jo
Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, follow me on Instagram ibyowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh and buy the books.
- [27:58]
Zibby Owens
Hi, this is Penn and Kim Holderness from the Laugh Lines podcast.
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Katie Seiss
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