Marty and Kate have a special episode for this season finale: reading ~1500 words of their current projects, and then giving critiques to each other.  Warning: Kate says the phrase "lean in" about a hundred times.  ..read more

Enjoy this repost! Kate and Marty are feeling the pressure of time and they weren't able to record this week. BUT next week will be the season finale, where they share writing and give criticism. So this episode seemed appropriate.  Come on a journey with Kate and Marty, through the ups and downs of giving and receiving criticism. The Orc from the Office is Kate Prior's latest novella. Or check out her website at www.kate-prior.com. Get Marty's latest novel Just Fake Married. Sign up for Marty's newsletter at her website to get "Hazel and Elijah Don't Get Caught" for free! You can fi ..read more

Kate wrote a prompt for this episode about what it is to dissect the meaning of love over an over again as a romance author, Marty interprets it as a craft question, Kate interprets it as an introspective question. Neither feel like they full answered the prompt.  ..read more

Apologies for Sounds of Opening Mail in the first few minutes of the episode. Kate and Marty discuss: Progress by Wordcounts and Nanowrimo Shelving Projects and Coming Back to them How was Your Halloween? Not Impressed with Past Selves It Takes 200 Hrs for Marty to Write A Whole Book Rest Is Productive 24 Hr Plays and Being Too Tired to Sleep Understanding Where Your Genre's Market Is At Marty Outlines Her 2024 Writing Plans Niche Troubles Kate Can't Conceptualize Time Further Out Than A Month Summary of the Strategy: Continue Building Backlist Apologize to the Buisness Majors, It Is Actual ..read more

This was an idea for an episode we had a while back. Think of it as a demonstration of soundboarding, something we end up mentioning really late in the show.  ..read more

This was an idea for an episode we had a while back. Think of it as a demonstration of soundboarding, something we end up mentioning really late in the show.  ..read more

It's all in the title this episode, Marty and Kate talk about the myriad of different ways a character can grow, what growth can look like and how it can serve the plot, as well as a really long (still relevant) discussion about Pride & Prejudice.  ..read more

This week Marty and Kate dissect the Second Chance Romance trope, since they realized they're both writing books with it at the same time. We cover: Why Are They Werewolves? Giving Second Chances Another Try Marty Verbally Wedgies Kate from 1000 Miles Away Holding Suspense Throughout Plotting A SCR is Extremely Weird Getting Rid of the Mindset that All Chapters Need the Same Pacing Differences Between First-Time and Second Chance Romance Beats The Right Level of Emotionally Wounded Required Reading: Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat Mid-Pod Apology To Marty's Mom Kate Rails Against the Best Fri ..read more

This episode is mainly about building your author business without giving in to hustle culture, but we also go off on a number of tangents, such as: Marty Is Eating Her Library Books If You Don't Enjoy Reading A Genre, Why Would You Write In It? There Are No Bears in Michigan The Lunar Cycle Brain Curse Kate Describes Writing Process Very Similar to ADHD Symptoms Your Manuscript's Honeymoon Stage Backlists Over Marketing FOMO Never Goes Away Get Out of My House, Off My To-Do List Kate Wants to See ChatGPT Cry Automating The Banal Ads Aren't the Only Answer Craft Books and The Bubonic Plague C ..read more

This episode, Marty and Kate talk about: The Outside Is Attacking Us (Allergies) Marty Isn't DNFing Out of Spite Marty F's Around with Prequels and Finds Out She Should Write More  Sideboob Logistics Kate and Marty Are Really Having An Easy Time Writing Books for Once and Are Really Confused About It Marty Sets Some Really Wild Challenges for Herself Surprising No One, Marty is an Extrovert, Kate is an Introvert Making Friends Or Writing Books Reflecting On Ways Our Lives Have Changed Over The Last Couple Years 24 Minutes in We Get to the Point of the Episode Defining Success Outside of ..read more