Author Moni Boyce talks about pizza reward programs, coming from the film industry (and what that's brought to her writing and career), transforming her process, being entirely indie, cover shoots and flexibility in the time of COVID.
May 05, 2020•1 hr 2 min
USA Today Bestselling romantic comedy author Andie Christopher talks to Jess about big bags of romance novels, representation in romance and writing her own background, "difficult" heroines, her process (when not in a pandemic) Chris Evans, not ever feeling worthy and Archie and Gus content for us all!
Apr 21, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Erotic romance author Louisa Bacio speaks to Jess about creating accountability for creativity, her process, the advantage of the system of traditional publishing, relationship building in romance and a little about RWA.
Apr 07, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Jess talks to cover models Drew Leighty and Courtney Rood about modeling vs acting, coming to romance covers, working together on The Broken Duke and how it lead to the illustrated version, Graham: The Broken Duke.
Mar 31, 2020•48 min
Jess talks to rising star Vanessa Riley about fairytales and historical romance, bringing faith into historical romance journeys, breaking the mistruths of what we "know", her publishing journey, telling stories that are important to you, making career decisions with larger goals, adding historical fiction to her repertoire, balancing her day job and writing, her process and believing in it.
Mar 24, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Reese Ryan talks to Jess about being a high producer and life intervening, her process and how it has changed over the years, the importance (and challenges) of love scenes, being a hybrid author, her gorgeous and groundbreaking covers and RWA.
Mar 10, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Bestselling historical romance author Cat Sebastian talks to Jess about how she started writing romance, the path to her first sale, queer historical romance, outside stuff impacting output, the value of experience in knowing what you can do, finding your ceiling and letting it adjust, her indie experience, her process, the getting to know characters during writing, and editing when things change mid-book.
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Jess speaks to fellow historical romance author Elizabeth Bright about puns and Schitt's Creek, writing book reports for allowance, what we lose when Society is judgmental of romance novels, her process, understanding the beats of romance by reading it and deconstructing them, balancing (or not balancing) life and a full-time job, the current demand to produce and produce, the issue of fraud and book stuffing especially in historical romance, is there really room being made at the table for all ...
Feb 11, 2020•59 min
Piper Vaughn joins Jess Michaels to wax poetic about Good Omens and The Mandalorian, their publishing journey, the process of co-writing versus individual work, taking ideas from real life, the nerves of writing OwnVoices and boy do we get into Dreamspinner.
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Jess speaks to author and editor May Peterson about processing our own experiences through writing, how reading was a refuge to her, the perception and reality of diversity in romance, her ever-changing process, making micro and macro decisions in a book, how being an editor influences her process and sensitivity editing is different than developmental editing.
Jan 14, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Jess is joined by her husband Michael where they talk about the explosion of RWA, a roundup of 2019 and hopes for 2020.
Dec 31, 2019•56 min
USA Today bestselling and RITA winning author Minx Malone joins Jess today. We talk about Twitter relationships, working with a writing partner, linking brand to voice, taking the risk of going indie and her groundbreaking RITA win.
Dec 17, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Jackie Barbosa joins Jess to talk about sweeping romantic sagas, Star Wars fanfic, creativity meaning more than fear, her process, grief and writing, providing a voice to issues in our books and taking a hard look at our own biases.
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Editor Angela James talks to Jess a second time, this time about transitioning and redefining throughout our careers, we wax poetic about Becca Syme and understanding your strengths, publishers losing the trust of authors, the advantages of traditional publishing, managing expectations, creating broader diversity from the top of publishing and the rare beauty of long term strategy.
Nov 19, 2019•58 min
Jess is joined by historical, contemporary and sci-fi romance author Samantha Kane. We talk about the very NON romantic life of the average romance author, being jolted into following her dreams, figuring out her writing weaknesses and learning how to strengthen them, her process, pivoting after loss (professional and personal) and whether or not working to the bone is a good thing.
Nov 05, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Jess speaks to historical romance author Felicia Grossman about coming into chick lit and romance, learning to write from reading, finding Twitter writer friends, hearing advice the right way and in the right moment, writing multiple drafts before getting input, developing your process with time but knowing what you need to keep, the boxes of historical romance and writing outside of them, how she's introduced her own Jewish faith and history into her stories and having truth called anachronisti...
Oct 22, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Jess talks to USA Today Bestselling author Kwana Jackson about why talking about writing is so fun, going back to past work and judging yourself, her journey in fashion and coming into writing, being influenced by visual creativity, her process, the benefits and frustrations of trad publishing, addressing diverse romance and shifting some of the onus onto publishing and not just writers, and the demand for TRAUMA in romances with black characters.
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr
Jess talks to historical romance author Anna Campbell about pen names, giving up writing, the importance of community in writing, her process, not wearing pants and we accidentally plot a book (or three).
Sep 24, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Jess speaks to former executive editor of Samhain and Carina, Angela James about impostor syndrome, choosing books as an editor, taking on the issue of diversity in publishing from the publishing side, disruptions in publishing, letting go of ego, her recent departure from Carina and what's next for her and in publishing.
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr 2 min
Jess talks to Anna Zabo about the fan fiction gateway to original work, the stress of release day, the Seton Hill MFA program, going from pantser to plotter, the influence of social media on calling out issues in our industry and tattoos.
Aug 27, 2019•58 min
Jess Michaels is interviewed by her husband/assistant Michael about the positives in rejection, her process, writing fast and the new podcasting schedule.
Aug 13, 2019•58 min
Jess talks to actress Danielle O'Farrell about recording audiobooks, acting, creating characters from a voice perspective and living as a creative.
Aug 06, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Jess talks to NYT Bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries about helping others without losing yourself, moving from academia to writing, swimming against the current and getting to where she needed to be, the push of "the fear" and her process.
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 2 min
On December 23, 2019, Romance Writers of America censured author Courtney Milan over a dubious ethics complaint. Since then, much has come out regarding the involvement of the president-elect of the organization (now president, as of December 28), who happens to be Damon Suede. I do not condone any of the actions taken and am deeply troubled by his involvement. I have chosen to leave this episode up as a testament to transparency. I interviewed Damon long before the events of December 23. This i...
Jul 23, 2019•1 hr 28 min
Jess talks to the remarkable Talia Hibbert about taking the chance on a dream, writing young, starting indie, becoming a hybrid and her ever changing process.
Jul 16, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Jess talks to the amazing Seressia Glass about doing goal check ins, choosing the right project out of all the ideas in the head, indie publishing and the fear of making that transition, and our shared love of anime.
Jul 09, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Jess talks to the enormously patient (so many technical problems) Sabrina Sol about finding time to write, changing the process that works best for you, our shared love of true crime, finding support in the romance community and making even more communities for yourself.
Jul 02, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Jess talks to her old friend, Megan Frampton about fashionista inheritances and the safe space of women at conferences, comparison with other authors, her process, being honest on social media, her experiences on the publishing side of publishing and dukes.
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Jess talks to historical romance author and old friend Manda Collins about falling in love with romance, creating a space for all kinds of stories, finding her voice and learning to work with it, going from pantser to plotter and her path of traditional publishing.
Jun 18, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Jess Michaels talks to USA Today Bestselling and Amazon All-Star Author Kathryn LeVeque about having many avenues of publishing and how she came to her own, her process, why she became a publisher to other authors and what she sees coming in the future.
Jun 11, 2019•59 min