Journeys of Romance - podcast cover

Journeys of Romance

Join USA Today Bestselling historical romance author Jess Michaels as she talks to other authors about their journeys to writing and publishing romance.
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Episodes

Episode 71: Moni Boyce

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, 20201 hr 2 min

Episode 70: Andie Christopher

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, 20201 hr 7 min

Episode 69: Louisa Bacio

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, 20201 hr 2 min

Episode 68: Vanessa Riley

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, 20201 hr 3 min

Episode 67: Reese Ryan

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, 20201 hr 14 min

Episode 66: Cat Sebastian

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, 20201 hr 12 min

Episode 65: Elizabeth Bright

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, 202059 min

Episode 64: Piper Vaughn

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, 20201 hr 16 min

Episode 63: May Peterson

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, 20201 hr 6 min

Episode 62: Happy New Year 2020

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, 201956 min

Episode 61: Minx Malone

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, 20191 hr 8 min

Episode 60: Jackie Barbosa

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, 20191 hr 4 min

Episode 59: Angela James Part 2

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, 201958 min

Episode 58: Samantha Kane

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, 20191 hr 5 min

Episode 57: Felicia Grossman

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, 20191 hr 5 min

Episode 56: Kwana Jackson

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, 20191 hr

Episode 55: Anna Campbell

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, 20191 hr 9 min

Episode 54: Angela James

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, 20191 hr 2 min

Episode 53: Anna Zabo

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, 201958 min

Episode 52: The One Year Anniversary Pod

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, 201958 min

Episode 51: Danielle O'Farrell

Jess talks to actress Danielle O'Farrell about recording audiobooks, acting, creating characters from a voice perspective and living as a creative.

Aug 06, 20191 hr 1 min

Episode 50: Sabrina Jeffries

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, 20191 hr 2 min

Episode 49: Damon Suede

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, 20191 hr 28 min

Episode 48: Talia Hibbert

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, 20191 hr 4 min

Episode 47: Seressia Glass

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, 20191 hr 5 min

Episode 46: Sabrina Sol

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, 20191 hr 3 min

Episode 45: Megan Frampton

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, 20191 hr 5 min

Episode 44: Manda Collins

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, 20191 hr 5 min

Episode 43: Kathryn LeVeque

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, 201959 min
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