Bookcast Episode 40- I'm Writing!

Speaker A [00:00:00]:

You. Hello and welcome to episode 40 of the bookcast. This is actually take two of episode 40 because here's a pro tip when you record an episode, first do a test. If you have any doubt, do a test. See how it sounds. Number two, it's important to have the microphone actually facing you in the right direction and set up correctly when you're recording a podcast because the whole point is for people to be able to hear you and for it to not sound like you are speaking into a tin can from 6ft away. So take two. Welcome to episode 40 of the bookcast, my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on what I'm reading and writing.

Speaker A [00:00:47]:

The bookcast is hosted by me, DL. White, an Atlanta based author of romantic fiction featuring black men and women. I am also a big fan of books and the writing ass writers who write them. So this podcast is usually book heavy with the smattering of writing updates from me. If you like this kind of thing and want to support it, I welcome you to do so. I won't turn it down. I don't have a patreon, but you can buy me a coffee, head to my support site at Coffee Kofi.com Booksbydlwhite and make a one time or recurring gift to support me as an author or support this podcast. Mama has audiobooks.

Speaker A [00:01:25]:

She needs to record every little bit helps if you are new here or a seasoned listener, a bibliophile, or just looking for a good read. I hope you'll enjoy today's show. I am so happy to have your ears for this time and I'm excited to share my love of reading and writing books with you today. I have a schmorgish board. Schmorgish board. I don't know why I sound like Sean Connery when I say that, but it's fun. I have a few topics to chat about. I want to talk about what I read this week.

Speaker A [00:01:56]:

What is on the list for this upcoming week? Both lists are very short. Very short. And progress on my work in progress. Elysium a black diamond novella. That's right. We have a name, people. We have a name. We don't have a cover yet.

Speaker A [00:02:08]:

I think I'm going to buy a cover for this book because I want it to stand out if it's going to be in the Black Diamond series. I had a cover designer for Beach Thing. I actually created the original cover and then I had a designer punch it up in a way that I can't with canva. And she also did the COVID for The Pearl and so I definitely want them to match. So I'm probably going to do something professional, little something professional for this one. I want this book to lead to the Pearl, so my goal is really just to get it done. So we'll talk about that a little bit later. Today is Saturday, April 29.

Speaker A [00:02:51]:

It is a sunny spring day in Atlanta. It's about 60 degrees. Fantastic. I have coffee and this mic. I'm ready to dig in again since I have my coffee here. That's good since I have my coffee here and I am sitting in front of my NSYNC Bobbleheads and my NSYNC what do they call them? Funko pops and all of my NSYNC memorabilia. I have like a little dedicated quarter in my bedroom. Happy.

Speaker A [00:03:23]:

It's going to be May Day. That's actually April 30, but I am not recording tomorrow. And so you get it on April 29. You all know as an NSYNC super fan, it's a very important day. It's just basically like high Holy days in NSYNC fandom. Like March is very important. No strings attached. Well, NSYNC, which is their debut, and no Strings Attached which is their sophomore album, both dropped in March.

Speaker A [00:03:48]:

And then we have in April we have it's Going to be May Day, which is April 30, and then May 4 is Lance's birthday. So this is like high holy days in NSYNC fandom. This group and this music just it's pure serotonin to me. So it is just that the fans don't have much to hold on to. And so we'll take it. So I have my coffee. We begin, as always, with the book report. Because I am a bookhead, I'm still way ahead on my goodreads challenge.

Speaker A [00:04:21]:

I'm clicking over to check it. I am at 53 books completed. My goal is 100. I usually like to see how fast I hit 100 and then how far above 100 I can get. And at this rate, I'm probably going to hit 100 sometime in the fall, which is fantastic. I am 21 books ahead of schedule. I think I was about that far ahead last week. And I have started to slow down a bit on the reading because I am concentrating some time on writing, which is great.

Speaker A [00:04:52]:

I am not a person that cannot read while I'm writing. But I do want to dedicate some of that time that I spend on reading to actually writing. So let's talk about what I read first before I get all distracted and go on a tangent. First of all, first, happy 6th publication anniversary to dinner at Sam's. This is in the Rubies universe. It is not a follow up to Brunch at Rubies, but it is in the Ruby's universe. You do see cameos from the ladies from Brunch at Rubies in this book. I just love this book.

Speaker A [00:05:31]:

I just really love this book. You meet Vanessa Jackson. She's a former stripper. She fell in love with a client. He basically bought her off the floor, turned her into a housewife. And he turned out to be not so good. He wasn't a good dude. He wasn't a good dude.

Speaker A [00:05:48]:

And I'll be honest, I really liked writing Morin, because morin? Yeah. I don't know. Sometimes I like writing a jerk. I always have like one jerk that you don't need to root for in my books. Warren is that dude, I really enjoyed Warren getting what he got. And if you're interested in Warren getting what he got, you should pick up this book. It's at booksbydlwhite.com. Dinner at Sam's.

Speaker A [00:06:13]:

You can buy it direct from me there in ebook, print or audio. You can head straight to payhook.com booksbydlwhite. You can buy my books direct there in ebook, print or audio. If you buy it print, I will sign the book and send you a little bit of swag, whatever I happen to have hanging around, which right now is some pens. But I don't sell them anywhere. You can only get them if you order a book direct from me, something special. So this book listen, I just really enjoy this book. Let me read the blurb to you super, super quick.

Speaker A [00:06:49]:

Vanessa Jackson is just trying to get her life together. It's been a year since her marriage ended and her husband left her and their children destitute. If she could just divorce the son of a bitch, the future would be bright. But Warren is fighting the process every step of the way. If she wants a divorce and to move on with her life, she needs an attorney. Gibson Kincaid is the youngest of four brothers. All attorneys at Kincaid Family Law operated under the watchful eye of Sylvia The Silver Shark Kincaid. Gibson is the rebel, the one who's never going to do what Mother wants him to do.

Speaker A [00:07:22]:

Instead of serving the interests of wealthy and high profile Kincaid clients, gibson prefers to serve the down on their luck sector, earning him the nickname community Lawyer. When Sylvia rejects Vanessa as a client, it's a lucky break that she literally runs into Gibson. The attraction between them is immediate, smoldering, mutual and distracting. Vanessa is just trying to get divorced, not pick up a new client, and certainly not her divorce attorney. Gibson is trying to do right by his new client, but he can't lie. He wants to help Vanessa get divorced so he can have her to himself. Morin still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Vanessa is hiding a huge part of her past.

Speaker A [00:08:04]:

She is not ready for Gibson to know. So I published this book April 29, 2017. So, six years ago. This book is in the Rubies universe. It is not a follow up to Brunch at Rubies, but you do see cameos from the ladies in Brunch at Rubies. I was trying to fold Vanessa into the follow up, and Gibson just had a lot to say and it just kept getting steamy. And I was like, you know what? This is not a follow up to a women's fiction novel. This is a romance.

Speaker A [00:08:33]:

And so I had to start all over and pull out all the romantic elements and throw them into a new book. I do someday hope to write a follow up to Brunch at Rubies. The longer I get away from publication date, the less likely that seems. But it is still in my head. I do have some chapters written and I just have to dig into it, but my brain hasn't been in a contemporary women's fiction mode in a long time, so we'll see. So happy anniversary to dinner at Sam's. Snatch it up. If you haven't read it, it's very good.

Speaker A [00:09:08]:

You can read this book. We'll listen to this book in audio. You can request it at your local library. It's available at scribbed. If you have a subscription that says subscription service, you can read and listen to books for one low fee. I think it's like 1099 a month, nine a month, something like that. Not bad. It's like Kindle unlimited but not exclusive.

Speaker A [00:09:31]:

You can also listen to this on Kobo. If you have a Kobo Plus subscription, it's available on Kobo Plus. If you have Chirp books, you can buy it outright. There's a slight discount on it at Chirp. It's available at all your favorite retail outlets. It's also available in print at Resist Booksellers. It's everywhere. It's just every darn where.

Speaker A [00:09:53]:

Go get it. It's good. I like it. Gibson is one of my favorite, favorite heroes and there's a soft spot in my heart for Vanessa Jackson. So hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you love it. This week, I did not get too much red because I was kind of focusing a little bit on writing. I think I talked last week.

Speaker A [00:10:13]:

I was starting in the Clearing by Robert Dugoni. This is in the Tracy Cross white series. She is a detective that's dating an attorney and she solves crime. I did finish that book. It was a book. I don't even think I rated it. I'm just trying to get through the series and then I read Return to Hummingbird Way by Reese Ryan. This released on Tuesday, April 25.

Speaker A [00:10:37]:

I believe this is Holly Grove Island. Book number two. Like I said last week, if you set a book, seaside, small town, oceanside, small town, anywhere, small town, put it directly into my face, put it in my veins. I love it. This is an enemies to lovers romance. Enemies to lovers second chance romance. That is a hill that I will die on. Pick up my cold, dead body from that hill because that is where I have died.

Speaker A [00:11:02]:

Absolutely love it. Put it in my face. Every time I'm going to pick it up. I'm going to at least add it to a list. I'm going to pick it up because I save some books for like when I just really need something good to read. I'm like, oh, this is going to be good. I'm going to save it. I know that sounds crazy, but I also know I am not alone.

Speaker A [00:11:18]:

I definitely savor books for when I really, really need a good book. So I saved that this week. Coming up, tapping over to my list of books. I got a little bit of FOMO, a little Fear of Missing Out, and one of my friends, Kay the Reader, had an advanced copy of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Brigazi. And despite knowing that it is a really long book, it's like 700 and some pages, I requested an advanced copy of it. And I was a different person when I requested this book probably three weeks ago. I really thought I was going to get to it and have it read by May 2. And let me just let you know, that ain't happening.

Speaker A [00:12:00]:

I ain't reading this book. Well, I am going to read it. I am not going to read it by May 2. I'm definitely waiting for the audio to pop. I might even spend a credit on it. But I am not reading this book by Tuesday. I don't even know what the book is about. I just saw it and I was like, all right, I'll get it.

Speaker A [00:12:19]:

I don't know. No idea. But I don't know when I'm going to read it. I am going to read it eventually, but it ain't going to get rid by Tuesday. I don't know what I was thinking, but I ain't reading it by Tuesday. I am rereading hey Auntie by Jason Graham, who is a talented indie author. Hey Auntie came out in 2021. The book that comes before.

Speaker A [00:12:42]:

Say What You Mean. That just came out. April 28. That's a new release. It's. Hey, auntie number two. I wanted to reread hey, Auntie because it's been a minute since I read it, and I wanted to be familiar with the players. Y'all, this book is steamy.

Speaker A [00:12:59]:

Good Lord. Jason Graham, you need to go to your room and write another book ASAP. I know you just published a book, but I'm always going to be yelling at you about publishing a book. I need more books from you, sir. Hey Auntie. I am actually almost done with my reread. I'm at like, I don't 90%. It's so good.

Speaker A [00:13:21]:

And then I'm going to read Say What You Mean, which is the follow up to that book. Fantastic. I am also continuing my Beverly Jenkins reread I am at through the Storm, which is Levek book number one. It is. I believe his name is Romaine. I would have to look it up, and I don't feel like it Levek and Sable Fontaine. And if you have read Forbidden, which is Ryan and Edie sable is Ryan Fontaine's little sister. Yeah.

Speaker A [00:13:51]:

So we begin to meet the Fontaines and the Leveks. I'm very excited about this. She just happened up on Harriet Tubman, who's called Armenta in this book just randomly, which is fun. I always learn so many things from a historical fiction novel. I love it. I love that part of it. So learning a lot from through the Storm and then the Liemaker by Lynnwood Barkley comes out the week after next, like, May 16 or whatever that Tuesday is. Lynnwood Barkley is a thriller writer.

Speaker A [00:14:28]:

I think he has some young adult novels that I haven't read. Everything else, all of his adult fiction novels, I have read every book that he has released. Some of them are fantastic. Some of them are a book. I've read them all very much excited for The Lie Maker. And then Stacey Abrams has a follow up to While Justice Sleeps called Rogue Justice. This one comes out at the end of May, I think, May 25 or whatever that Tuesday is. I refuse to look at a calendar right now because I would get distracted.

Speaker A [00:14:57]:

But Stacey Abrams I liked Wild justice Sleeps. It wasn't like my favorite book or anything. It didn't blow me out of the water. It was a book. I don't remember what I rated. It probably four stars because I fangirl over Stacey Abrams a lot. I will say I'm be a little bit controversial. Let's whisper.

Speaker A [00:15:16]:

I am not a huge fan of the Selena Montgomery books. I think they're just they're older. They don't hit me. I think, like they would have had I read them when they first came out. I think they're more romantic, suspense, and I don't dig it. But I do like the Stacey Abrams fiction novels that this one and well, Justice Leafs is the only one that I have read, but I did like it. Not a huge fan of the Selena Montgomery books, but looking forward to Broke Justice. You know who else I really enjoy is Tamarind Hall.

Speaker A [00:15:53]:

I liked her debut. It was better than I thought it would be. It was not terrible. It had that thing where people the protagonist in that book is an investigative journalist. And you can definitely tell that Tamarind is in her bag in that book. And it just suffers a little bit from that thing where I need to convince you that I know what I'm talking about. So it's heavy on that tip, which I can forgive a little bit because it's a debut. But I hope that it gets less and less in that series.

Speaker A [00:16:26]:

I do believe that's a series. So I forget what the title of that book is. I don't want to get distracted by looking it up. But the Tamarind Hall novel, I hope there's more coming from her. I was super surprised when she popped up like, hey, I wrote a book. It's coming out soon. I loved it. The other person who is an actor who has been writing books is Eric La Salle.

Speaker A [00:16:47]:

Has anybody read any Eric La Salle books? I think they're not spy novels, but they're like suspense ish. I don't know. I literally have not opened a page of any of them. But they've been on my list for a while, so I need to get to them. But new books are shiny, shiny, shiny. So those are just kind of some books that I have. They're definitely going to go on a list of books I need to read and I will read them when I am craving something. Moving on to the writing and author update.

Speaker A [00:17:26]:

As I noted earlier, I have started to slow down on reading as I am digging more into writing. I mean, something has to give, right? And I hate for it to be reading, but when I'm writing, I will treat reading a lot differently than I will treat it when I'm not writing. When I am not writing, reading is my main form of entertainment, and when I'm not writing, I tend to dig more into TV and that kind of thing to decompress instead of reading because words, I will get burnt out on it. I treat reading as what I call foreplay. So if I'm going to write, I like to get up and pick out a book I really enjoy, a genre I really enjoy, an author I really enjoy. It might be a reread, but a book that will get me into the mode and the mind of reading and good writing, not necessarily deep or introspective or work that makes me think. Not that the books I read don't make me think, but I'm not reading Tony Morrison as foreplay for writing the kind of fiction that I write, I would read Tony Morrison as part of a buddy read or study or I like, I just need something with meat on it. I wouldn't read Tony Morrison as foreplay.

Speaker A [00:18:49]:

I would read like someone I super enjoy and someone that makes me feel like I can close that book and get to work. It primes my brain for fiction. It wakes up my voice. And if you want to read something totally, totally dry, tell DL white that she cannot read before she writes. That is the way to get something totally dry and uninteresting. I have to read while I write, but I treat it as foreplay or as a reward. So I might read a little and then write as it's getting good. Shut that book, put words on the page.

Speaker A [00:19:24]:

So once I get to like, 1000, 502,000 words, or I have finished a scene or a chapter or I'm at a part where, like, this is a good place to stop, then I can open up a book and read something I have been craving, something I have set aside and treat it as a reward. I get to read. If I put words on page, that really works for me, especially if I need to push, I will hold back and not let myself continue a work that I'm really enjoying until I put words on the page I can't not read when I'm writing. It won't happen. But what I generally do is dig into genres and books that I enjoy and are encouraging. Again, I'm not reading any texts that are deep or authors with an intricate writing style that will discourage me. Like I'm not reading any kennedy Ryan as foreplay because I feel like her writing style is so far above mine and it will make me feel like, well, I suck. I kid you not.

Speaker A [00:20:25]:

When I read real, I was like, well, I'm done. I'm never writing again because Kennedy Ryan is 100 times better than I am. I am never going to be this good. I'm never going to write this well, that's it. For me, that is short lived. But while I am reading a writer that is 700 times better than I am, it is not encouraging. And I hope people don't view that as an insult. It is actually the highest of compliments.

Speaker A [00:20:56]:

But I have to read things, authors that are encouraging to me, authors that inspire and motivate and make me feel like, yeah, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. So that's where I am with the reading and kind of trying to fold in reading and writing and create a balance in that life for me. Elysium is coming along. It is slow going, but I'm making my way. One of the things I have to do, like the first few chapters, like act One, is sort of the foundation of a book for me. We establish the status quo with my characters. Who are these people before they meet their intended beloved, to use something like a silly word there. But who are these people before their worlds collide? And I need to work at least the first three or four chapters.

Speaker A [00:21:58]:

I have to work and work and work them and mold and develop and revise and layer and whip them up until they're at a point where they are near perfect before I can move on to act two. That's my foundation. That's what I'm building on. And so I think I have got chapter one in a really good spot, except I'm more and more thinking that chapter one has to begin much earlier with a scene that introduces the relationship between Vance and Athena. They only know each other online right now, and I feel like I have to set the scene for this relationship so much earlier than I do. And I don't know if that needs to be a prologue. I don't know if that needs to be chapter one, I'm not sure. But I definitely need to add something before the starting point where I've decided this book begins.

Speaker A [00:22:53]:

It might begin much earlier than I placed it, and sometimes I try to begin a book later so that I don't get caught up in doing info dump and a lot of backstory. If this is a novella, I have to jump in the middle and find my way out. Otherwise it's going to be 97,000 words and I am not writing a big book. This is a novella. 60k is my cap. So kind of working within those parameters. I have Athena down pretty good. I'm working on advance and a thing that I need to do to make these characters real and fully formed is I need to know what they look like, what they sound like, what they like, where they live, what they wear, what they drive, what they read.

Speaker A [00:23:46]:

I do that through pinterest. So I have begun to set up my Pinterest board for Elysium. If you go to this is the only thing I use Pinterest for. I go to Pinterest.com Authordlwhite. I have pinterest boards for a lot of my books. I think I have. Haylever. Neverlist a thin line.

Speaker A [00:24:08]:

I thought I had one for beach thing, but I didn't see it. I'll have to dig. But I have started one for Elysium. And if you're interested in who I am visualizing in my head for these characters, they're not these characters exact, but like in the theme of in the realm of in the mode of these characters, take a look if you're interested. I have also started to map out my setting. Elysium is like a like a the Pearl to me, is a luxury hotel with different towers, and every tower has a theme or a purpose or a name. And Elysium is a tower at the Pearl Hotel. And so Elysium is like the luxury, upscale tower that has a spa and an entertainment complex and swim up bar, and it's on the beach.

Speaker A [00:25:03]:

And I'm really still putting all of that together. That is where I am sending my characters in this story. And it is going to lead me to writing about The Pearl in the next Back Diamond book. So hopefully I'm not spilling too much information. I can't be, because I haven't finished the story in my head again. I'm a discovery writer, so lots of things are coming out as I write. I have been working on Athena for the last few weeks, and now I'm working on Vance and pulling up his backstory. Vance is divorced.

Speaker A [00:25:39]:

He lives in Austin, Texas. He's just kind of in a mood where he wants to begin the second chapter of his life. He is ready to find someone to spend that second chapter with. Athena, I believe, was never married, but was in a long term relationship that ended a few years ago. And that's when she decided to become a contract nurse. And now she travels the country and works twelve to 16 week stints in a different hospital. And she just decided she needed to kind of break away and leave her hometown, which is, I think I have set her hometown as Greenville, South Carolina. I got a couple of pals that live there, so hopefully they are happy to hear that.

Speaker A [00:26:24]:

And so feel free to pop up any inside info if you would like me to include it in this book. But she won't be home for very long. She is currently working in athena is currently working in Minnesota, which is cold and snowy, really desperately needing a vacation, and she knows Vance. They only know each other online. And Vance is like, hey, let's meet. I got a great idea. Let me fly you out, girl. And so that's kind of where we are right now in the story.

Speaker A [00:26:59]:

So still putting that together, working with my Pinterest, I need something to describe. I need something to visualize. I'm a visual person. I have to do it. I have to see it. I have to jump in the middle and get lost and then work my way out of it in order to really immerse myself in it. I'm already in a spot where I feel like I'm overwhelmed with the story that I want to tell. And I don't know, man, I don't know if I can do this.

Speaker A [00:27:34]:

I don't know if this is going to work out. But I feel this way with every book, and every book turns out fine, but I'm really challenging myself to not rush through it. It's done when it's done and not a minute sooner. If it comes out in June, okay. If it comes out in August, okay. If it doesn't come till October, whatever. This is a thing I do because I feel like I have to do it and I have stories to tell. I don't live off of writing income at all.

Speaker A [00:28:03]:

And so I am just trying to get down to enjoying writing it, enjoying discovering the story, enjoying bringing the story to people and pushing myself, my talents, my skills, my storytelling prowess into bringing a good book. I want this book to be better than Hay Lover. I want this book to be better than Beach Thing. I want this book to be better than the books that I have been putting out. And I want to show growth, and I think I can do that, but I have to take my time. And we are rolling into the summer season at work. The executives and the partners that we work with don't really like to come together for big meetings in the summer. And so I have a little bit of slush time where it's not going to be so busy and I don't have back to back to back meetings that I have to plan, put together and put a lot of brain power behind.

Speaker A [00:29:03]:

So this is really a perfect time to dig into a new book. So I am excited that is where I am with Elysium. Hopefully I will have more of a progress update as we go on. Let me know if you have any questions about process, about character creation, about putting together a book about what I'm visualizing as I'm writing this book, putting things together from start to finish. You're really seeing the process of writing this book from the ground up. That's where I'm at. I'm using an app called Dabble Writer. Actually, it's cloud based.

Speaker A [00:29:44]:

It's like Scrivener, but it's cloud based. It's like scrivener. If you strip it all the way down. I really enjoy Dabble Writer because it's in the cloud, so I can pick it up on my iPad. I can use my phone if I want to, but I don't because I hate working on my phone. I can pull it up at any computer that I'm on. I just log into Dabble and start to write. So that's what I'm using there.

Speaker A [00:30:12]:

And of course I'm using Pinterest and that's kind of it. Right now I'm a very simple girl when it comes to writing, but all of the other elements come through when I'm done writing, when I'm going to edit and then publish. Can't think of anything else I really want to share. Yeah, I think that's about it. I did ramble a bit in the first episode and now I can't remember what I was rambling about and so I won't double up on that here. We just totally missed out on that kind of thing. I didn't watch too much this week. I just spent all that time in the document trying to put words on the page.

Speaker A [00:30:55]:

So that is the exchange of time. Something has to give. I am trying to catch up on Poker Face. I don't know if you know about this series, but it is on. Peacock Stars Benjamin Brat The handsome, awesome Benjamin Brat. This is a really good series. I believe like the first few episodes were directed by Ryan Johnson. I think that's his name.

Speaker A [00:31:20]:

I don't know. I can't remember. I don't know if that man's name is, but it is a very good series. It's very clever. It is a girl that kind of accidentally solves crimes. She is brilliant. And Benjamin Brat actually plays a bad guy and he's not in every episode, but she's actually running from him. And so you feel his presence in every episode, even if he doesn't show up.

Speaker A [00:31:46]:

I just got through episode four and he shows back up and I was like, oh, he's there, he's there. Oh, girl, run. Run, girl, run. So I am working on that one, of course. I am always watching documentaries on Alzheimer's and dementia. That's the thing that interests me randomly ever since I wrote Brunch at Ruby's that was inspired by Lisa Genova's, Still Alice, the book and the movie. That. Plus my Uncle T's experience with Alzheimer's disease.

Speaker A [00:32:21]:

It's just a thing that interests me. And then watching a lot of stuff on Parkinson's lately because Michael J. Fox has a documentary coming out in May, I believe, on Apple TV called still, which is ironic because Michael J. Fox is never still. He says it himself. I'm not picking on the man. He says it himself. I've never been still, so I'm looking forward to that.

Speaker A [00:32:41]:

Enjoy michael j Fox also because he was a person that I was watching and studying and researching when I was writing A Thin Line. Angie's dad has Parkinson's. And so I just am always thinking because I think about these people as real in my head. Angie's dad is real in my head. And so when I read about Michael j Fox or I read about these advancements that are being made, these devices that are it's like electrical stimulation. There is really a device that calms the tremors. And I've been seeing these on TikTok with people trying these out when they have Parkinson's, and it's like the shakes stop. They can walk, they can eat, they can speak.

Speaker A [00:33:28]:

It's just amazing. And so in my mind, I'm always thinking, I wonder if Angie's dad has been playing with that a little bit. So if I ever write a sequel or an update to that story, it's important to know, to bring that story forward and talk about the research and the advances, and maybe they're at a point where Angie's dad could walk her down the aisle. So stuff that just I have no part of a sequel to that story in my head, but these characters still live with me. They still live inside me. I still think about them all the time. I still think about the books that I've written and the characters that are still swimming up there. And in case I ever want to revisit those stories, I got to bring that story forward.

Speaker A [00:34:19]:

Tonight, I have something fun that I'm going to. I'm very excited about it. I am joining a book club this evening. It's going to be live in person. We are talking about brunch at Rubies, and the book club leader hired a chef to cook brunch for us. So we're having brunch for dinner. We'll talk about the book. It's going to be fun.

Speaker A [00:34:41]:

I'll try to take some pictures and really breathe in the experience, and then next week, I can talk about how that turned out. I am very excited. This is something I wanted to do when I launched the book, but I was too scared that nobody would show up, so I never did it. But here we are, eight years later. I am still so thrilled and touched that people like this book. They like my girls, they love these ladies, they like the story. They really resonate with it and with the characters. This is a book of my heart.

Speaker A [00:35:12]:

And so I always really love when people enjoy brunch at Rubies and then move on to the books thereafter. Someone on Twitter told me this week that they absolutely loved dinner at Sam's, and that just warms my heart. So I really love hearing how much you enjoy my books. The characters that I write, like I said, these people still live with me. They're real to me. They're inside my head. So thank you so much for reading and for enjoying them. That brings us to the end of today's episode, take to Lord, cross your fingers and let's just pray this works out.

Speaker A [00:35:47]:

I did do a test and it sounded fine, but we'll see. Thank you for joining me for another episode of the book cast. I'll be back next week with a reading update and a writing update. Please enjoy this weekend, have a superlative week and we'll chat again next weekend. Bye.