Journeys of Romance

Today is a special day at Journeys of Romance - our 100th episode so Michael Petersen  & I reminiscence about the last 100 episodes & an update my summer break. Journeys of Romance podcast will be on hiatus until September 2021 (so go catch up)! 

The amazing Shelly Ellis talks to Jess building in tension and connections, being character vs theme driven, properly labeling for reader expectations, her process, learning the characters through writing, and that there is no meritocracy in publishing.

The amazing Sandra Kitt joins Jess to talk about getting over trying to write for anyone but yourself, not reading reviews, two steps forward and one step back in racism in publishing, having to prove more and work harder for respect, having a true sense of yourself, writing multiple genres, breaking out of the box through the indie revolution, the genesis of her process over the years and her advice to authors starting today.

Jackie Lau joins Jess Michaels to discuss how indie publishing has allowed her to write the stories she wants to tell, coming to romance late and embracing the genre,  her move to hybrid publishing and the journey to get there, her process (and I get very excited at her ultra-discipline) and accidental marketing genius. 

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling historical romance author Sarah MacLean talks to Jess about the indie shift, trope understanding and language, advice to new authors and determining your own process (as well as her own). 

Historical (and paranomal and contemporary) author Cecelia Mecca joins Jess to talk about coming to reading and writing late, discovering her own process and how to apply it to craft, the very different world of medieval romance publishing, how she decided the indie route and all the different metrics of success.

Author Therese Beharrie joins Jess to talk about the benefits and challenges of writing from South Africa, her journey into publishing, learning from many editors and her process. 

Kate Bateman joins Jess to talk about her time on British television, how she started writing, writing outside the Regency period, her process and her hybrid publishing decisions. 

Author Adele Buck talks to Jess Michaels about Twitter name changing, her covers, what surprised her with her debut release and her process.

USA Today Bestselling Author Maya Rodale joins Jess to talk about living in the Regency era (or NOT), her journey to publication, her process and the frustrations when romance is maligned by people who don't know the genre. 

USA Today Bestselling author Tamsen Parker joins Jess to do a deep dive into the 50 Shades phenomena and how it brought her to romance, the prude police, writing what you want to read and her utterly fascinating process!

Romance for the Runoff auction winner and historical romance author Clyve Rose talks her process, deciding what details to include or leave out of romance and being more honest about mental health. 

A recap of 2020 and all its insanity and looking forward to 2021. Happy New Year! 

Award-winning author Tracey Livesay talks to Jess about being a fan as well as a writer, becoming comfortable with your own process, taking the Strengthfinder class and how it helps with that process, generative pain, her publishing path and we go into a deep questioning of the premise of having to be on ALL THE TIME on social media.

USA Today Bestseller Zoe York joins Journeys to talk about all the factors that make each other different, from cannon entry to publication path to writing direction to everything in between. We also cover her process, how to pick the metrics that matter to you AND all the things we don't talk about in Romancelandia. 

Georgina Kiersten joins Jess to talk about the importance of teachers, the joy of tropes and archetypes, snark as seduction, their process and cracking open all the paths for publication, marketing and writing. 

Historical Romance author Liana De la Rosa joins Jess to talk historical romance, writing projects for herself, 'unlikeable' heroines and the false narratives of 'historical accuracy', plus the joys of pleasure without guilt. 

Becca Syme joins Jess to discuss starting with fanfiction, planting the seeds of what we love to read and write, her process and a deep dive into Clifton Strengths, including why she formed the remarkable Better, Faster Academy and how all of our brains work differently and that's *ok*. 

USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone talks to Journeys of Romance about pretty planners, being a high producer, how the entire scope of a writing and publishing journey matters, writing category versus single title and traditional versus indie, the joys of DNFing and creating escape.

Cheris Hodges talks about meeting our idols and being the idol someone meets, the importance of writer friendships, the impact of her journalism career on her romance writing, her process and how it's developed and been influenced by friends and how much has changed since we started.

Jess talks to Jack Harbon about how he started publishing on Wattpad and moved to KU, designing covers and how it impacts his creativity, plotting heavy but discovering character through writing, chronic pain and creativity and turning point books! 

Olivia Dade joins Jess to talk about her process to find a plot, sexy scenes, the joy and safety of writing, chasing the high of golden days and a deep dive into illustrated covers. 

Love Sweet Arrow bookstore duo Marissa and Roseann Backlin join Jess Michaels to talk about the joys of the romance genre, their first year in business and the impact of covid on it all. 

USA Today and NYT Bestselling author Katee Robert talks to Jess Michaels about pandemic writing and reading, embracing problematic joy, being a fast writer, her journey to publication and I go on and on about Your Dad Will Do.

USA Today Bestseller Mia Sosa joins Journeys of Romance to discuss the importance of finding your community and bonds, being a better/more intentional recommender, the evolution of reflection in romance, how she started writing (and writing full-time), her process and grabbing on to the good stuff! 

Author Joanna Shupe talks to Jess about her journey to writing and publishing, how there are no wrong choices in writing or publishing, not wanting to be boring and the horror of the middle of a book. We also do a deep dive into diversity in historical romance, the eraser of our true history and facing that truth of history in historical romance and the lie of "historical accuracy". 

USA Today Bestselling, award winning author Farrah Rochon joins Jess to talk about how Romancelandia is a little big town, learning from terrible first books, her journey in both traditional and indie publishing and the influence of her late sister on her career and how it's changing now that she's gone. 

Ruby Lang joins Jess to talk about tricking ourselves into losing romance for literary fiction, the concept of "very well read" in romance, processing emotions in what we write, her process, the ever changing parts of writing, her publishing journey, trying to explain our industry to people not in it and the nuances of the issues around illustrated covers.

My apologies for the sound quality this episode. I messed up my mic so I'm a bit echo-y.

EE Ottoman joins us today to talk about finding welcome as a queer writer and reader in Sci-Fi Fantasy versus Romance, fan fiction filling voids, the opportunity of historical romance to bring forward history that has been hidden or underrepresented, educating through narrative, plotting but not plotting, developing a process over time, his publishing journey and the decision process of indie versus trad. 

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. 

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!

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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 the voices, enjoying the editing process and RWA.

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.  

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.

Jess is joined by her husband Michael where they talk about the explosion of RWA, a roundup of 2019 and hopes for 2020. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 anachronistic. 

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.

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). 

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.

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.

Jess Michaels is interviewed by her husband/assistant Michael about the positives in rejection, her process, writing fast and the new podcasting schedule. 

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

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.

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 is that interview.

Read the timeline of the situation with RWA in full: https://www.claireryanauthor.com/blog/2019/12/27/the-implosion-of-the-rwa

Jess talks to Damon Suede about the inherent core to voice, checking in with your Keep It Real Crew, how opportunity and preparation really do go hand in hand, the changing industry and his remarkable journey to success as a romance writer. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

Jess Michaels speaks to the amazing Piper Huguley about the weirdness of names, learning from first books, being a planster and her process, the issues in the CBA and making strides with characters of color in Christian fiction. 

Jess talks to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh about discovering prolific authors, her journey to publishing, all the balancing acts between heart and head, her process, crafting a long running series and cover art.

Jess talks to New York Times bestseller Cathy Maxwell about introducing newbies to romance, how she writes every single book differently and letting go of what we can't control in the industry. 

Jess talks to USA Today Bestselling author Holley Trent about the joys of childhood book fairs, being hybrid, navigating rights return and her process.

Jess talks to LaQuette about the relationship between soaps and romance, the unique challenges of writing a multiple book arc for a couple, how white authors can help in the diversity fight too, her own hybrid path and how she balances everything. 

Jess talks to USA Today bestselling historical romance author Lenora Bell about obsessively reading romance, finding her true voice and the recurring theme of community building with other authors.

Jess talks to New York Times bestseller Erica Ridley about how we know each other, her history as an elementary school playwright, creating smaller, more realistic goals, strategizingas a publisher and how HEA is not limiting. 

USA Today Bestseller Darcy Burke talks to Jess about when people you know read your book, her journey to indie and traditional publishing and her repeatable process, along with dukes! 

Jess Michaels talks to Sue London about converting readers to the Church of Romance, finding your groove in the genre, the emotional toll of writing, advantages and disadvantages of long series and I give Sue some stuff to think about.

Jess Michaels talks to Adriana Herrera about her debut release, the inspiration to write, industry pushback...and not, using her experience in social work in her writing and the (sometimes toxic) relationship of trauma and romance. 

Jess Michaels speaks to RWA Librarian of the Year Robin Bradford about acquisitions, her journey to the library, how indie authors can position themselves and the defense of romance. 

Jess Michaels talks to USA Today bestseller Caroline Linden about conferences for writers, trusting and working with the team you have around you, realistic goals and hitting the USA Today Bestseller list.

I talk to Mia Hopkins about unoriginal jokes about romance, what we learn from writing shorter work, reader push back/feedback, and a really honest look at the struggles of writing and publishing.

Jess Michaels talks to Alyssa Cole about good man heroes, the impact of representation in fiction, the impacts of social media, how failure isn't failure, feeding creativity with variety and developing the process that works for you.

New York Times bestseller Kate Pearce talks to Jess Michaels about RWA parties, being too polite to call your dead agent, writing multiple projects, the joys of writing novellas, creating a solid team and figuring out what works best for yourself.

Jess Michaels talks to New York Times bestseller Elizabeth Boyle about L.M. Montgomery, piracy law, digging up the bones of a story, writing something completely different, and always learning.

Fellow historical author Nicola Davidson talks to Jess Michaels about the fascinating way we all write differently, how fun it is to not figure out what's happening next, walking the line between plotter and panster, the importance of representing and allowing joy in queer characters, and her move from traditional to indie.

Talking to USA Today and NYT Bestselling author Courtney Milan and Jess Michaels talk about emo poetry, what she calls her horrible process, traditional publishing changes, and a tiny bit about a very good dog. 

Jess Michaels talks to author Rose Lerner about all the ways we may or may not know each other, learning from fan fiction and pop culture, reacting to revision letters, writing outside of the aristocracy and shifting the market.

RITA winner Alexis Daria and Jess Michaels talk about finding the "right" system and your core values, the joy of helping others and going from being a panster to a plotter and a trad to an indie.

Jess and Janna talk about coming to writing late in life, character as plot, finding balance in your life and sex in historical romances! 

YA author Melanie Hooyenga talks to Jess Michaels about the importance of balance, the challenges of writing to a YA audience and being a very plotting writer.

Jess Michaels talks to her husband and assistant, Michael Petersen about weird stories from our life, the support and feeding of your author and managing a publishing business. 

Jess Michaels talks to KJ Charles about her insights about the publishing industry, seeing mistakes even as you make them and how to deal with critics of the genre.

Jess Michaels speaks to the amazing Beverly Jenkins about diversity, the green room in her head, the many changes in publishing and the movie of her book Deadly Sexy (and so much more). 

Jess Michaels and USA Today Bestselling author Maggie Marr discuss her fascinating journey from attorney to literary talent agent to author and literary attorney, plus the many opportunities to writers at this time in the industry.

Priscilla and Jess talk about creative minds trying to deal with technology, learning and living before publication and how much representation matters.

Jess talks to Aliza Mann about author photos, finding romance novels at the bus stop and developing as a writer through working with professionals.

Elizabeth Essex and Jess Michaels do a deep delve about creativity, the terror and joy of going indie and the importance of the romance genre. 

Jess talks to USA Today bestseller Eliza Knight about making hard eye contact while Regency dancing, catching the writing bug as a child and flexibility in publishing. 

Jess Michaels talks to New York Times bestseller Carrie Ann Ryan about starting romance late, finding your own voice, navigating grief through creativity and also she shares some news! 

Historical romance author Erica Monroe talks to Jess Michaels about accidentally writing romance, outside of the box characters and an excessive amount of Bob's Burgers chat.