Tales from the Orc Den

When Authors Leave

• Monster Romance Reviews • Season 4 • Episode 4

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Amy, EJ, and Stacy are back for 2024! And we’ve got more bookish topics on our brains. A hard truth about the book world is that nothing good lasts forever. That also goes for our favorite series and authors. So, let’s unpack that and dig into some of our favorite authors who have left or pivoted.

Authors and Series we mentioned:

Artist we mentioned:

Where to find ARCs:

EJ:

We are back. Welcome back to Tales from the Orc Den. I am Baby, we're back! I am one of your three hosts. This is EJ, and with me is

Amy:

Stacy. Yeah, hi. You want some more musical renditions? Cause they're coming! And

EJ:

Amy.

Amy:

I, I will, I might actually have to add some backup to Stacey or try and figure out my own.

EJ:

Going to figure out a really solid tech stack for when we're recording these so we can be streaming at the same time.

Amy:

Yeah, because everybody needs to see me not wearing a bra and with no pants on. Remember, she's not going to use video. Oh, I thought you meant a streaming video. I mean I don't care if I'm Christianist. So it's no problem. She said streaming, not streaking. You can stream and streak at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive. I am definitely

EJ:

putting an avatar over your name, Stacey. Dear Lord.

Amy:

The joke's on you guys, because it's just gonna be my ass. We'll just put a peach for Stacey. Yeah, it'll just be a big old bouncing peach. Bouncing peach. Actually, it should be a pumpkin. My ass is pretty wide.

EJ:

So we're going to continue on with bookish stuff. We, we, we do have some specific book related discussions on cue, but right now we've just got so many bookish related topics that we've been wanting to talk about. And today's kind of an interesting one. I have yet to come up with a clever name for it. To be perfectly honest to our

Amy:

listeners. We can just call it insert clever name

EJ:

here. Insert clever name here. We're going to be talking about authors who have left the monster romance space or who maybe have like done major pivots because not everything lasts forever, even on the

Amy:

internet. Well, and there's a lot of times too that like authors will follow trends, which I know there was like a big thing and like the. Maybe the late 90s rolling over into the 2000s. Do you remember this, Amy, where it was like everybody who had been like a historical romance writer suddenly started writing romantic suspense? Oh, yeah. Yes. Like, Julie Garland started doing it. There were like 400 other people. Nora Roberts did some, I think. It was the same with Catherine Coulter did it too. Okay, it was also the same in the, like, I want to say early 2000s, where you had so many So many paranormal romances popping up, cropping up all over the place, and I don't, I don't know. They were all vampire. It was very rarely, in my experience, it was very rarely. And that was kind of, for me, that was also like late 90s, because there was stuff that was coming out of, I think it was what's that, there's that publishing house, which I don't think they exist anymore, mercifully, but they were infamous. They're the ones who tried to rip off Dara Joy they did a lot of that sort of like out there, a lot of time travel Dar Joy's stuff with aliens, and then there were a couple of vampire stories. One was like a straight up vampire story, and then one was a weird sort of vampire alien story. And then there was another one. Who was that writer? Amy, you might remember. It's like, I can taste the flavor of her book in my head, but I can't quite remember her name. I want to say both names started with an M. She did a lot of historic romance. Usually Cowboys, Old West kind of stuff. It was like, shit. Megan Margin. That wasn't her name, obviously, because that's a terrible name. But apologies to anybody out there named Megan Margin. But it was something like that. And because I remember she did a lot of stuff set actually in Washington during the Pioneer Day. She did stuff like in Montana and stuff like that too. But she kind of zig zagged and then did a couple of vampire books. Set in Vegas, if I remember right, and, but I don't, but then I think she went back to doing like Western, like it was just like a couple of like aberrations basically in her book catalog. I really think the reason why we're seeing such an explosion now in monster fucking is because self publishing is no longer taboo the way that it was until Amazon unveiled the, the self publishing feature. Oh yeah. So Amazon got something right, even if it was probably by accident. Right,

EJ:

right. You know, I, I'm not afraid to give them credit, while also criticizing the crap out of them. Yeah.

Amy:

Oh yes, of course. Yeah. A broken clock is right twice a day. So, cheers to that. I mean, it's like, it's like you have traditional publishers that are suddenly like, Oh, oh, this is a thing. We need to start picking up this thing. Yeah, because we're on gatekeeping for so long. Yeah, seriously. But then you have others that are pivoting in their, Should I, should I say her name? Yes, yes, I should. Allie Hazelwood, Bride, just released and it's, it's We're going to say it's Monster, Monster Romance Light, because it's vampires and werewolves, which of course I think are technically some of the most basic of monsters. No offense. Look, I, anything that has a dick that cannot, I'm, I'm here for, so bring on the werewolves. Love Hypothesis was

EJ:

her debut. There we go. Oh!

Amy:

My friend Cindy's actually friends with her. Really? Yeah. Huh. Because before the RWA imploded and proved that it was, you know, it wasn't actually a positive group, it was actually a group of cockroaches in a trench coat, they were both in the same RWA chapter. Go figure. Small world, man.

EJ:

So I want to pose to both of you. I, we had mentioned in our little Discord chat Stacey, you had, you had dropped some names, and I kind of want to hear stories. Yeah,

Amy:

I think Stacey has a lot more stories than I do. Because she reads a lot. I mean, that's, that's, I do read, like, it's not even like, it's like, it's not even flexing, like, it's to the point where even I'm like, this might be a problem. No, it's not. So the three off the top of my head, yeah, but, you know, I can't do things like math, so that's where we run into a roadblock. So the three names that came to my mind when I talked about people who had left, like left left as far as I can tell, are Erin Regan, and I know she left left because she announced she was leaving, basically, and she wrote this fucking amazing. overarching series. The first book is, is Python and it's P Y T H E N and it's Earth is invaded and they're saved by these species and the, the Python is the mate bond. Basically it forms between humans. Well, it forms with this one species and then everybody's surprised when they can form it with humans. And there are these like sort of bat looking, like bat gargoyle looking species. I remember you talking about this one. Really, really great series. Very huge overarching because I think the original series ran Seven books, maybe eight, and it's all like, it's, you know, it's different couples, but with an overarching storyline, and it's a whole thing where it starts out with Earth is invaded by these aliens that basically eat everything, and then Earth basically gets destroyed because the way that they deal with the, because there's this whole thing where there are these motherships, basically, and to kill the queen of this hive, they crash the mothership, which is the size of a state, into the earth, and basically everything is like, you know. Everything must go, like, climate change is escalating exponentially, there are storm systems that are sweeping through that are literally, that literally cover multiple states, and, like, weather's gone crazy, and, and so it's this kind of thing where the, the, the, the, the, I think it's the three alien species that have sort of formed like a A council together after the original council was found to be corrupt. Like, it's a whole thing. It's a really great series. But they're basically like, alright, well, we're gonna evacuate the humans and move them to a new planet, whether they like it or not. And so then that becomes a whole thing, and it's just, this was such a fuckin good series, and she had Spinoffs of the series, so it's still in the same world, but like, one of them was the Kilbus Lord, who was the, one of the, the three species that, like, made the call, and he's this, like, eternal being, basically, and he has two books called Well, he and Theo, the female main character, have two books called, it's like writing in spaceships with aliens and playing cards with aliens, but I don't remember which one's the first one and which one's the second one. And, like, that's a whole thing that's just this, like, amazing, gut wrenching duology, and then she started a third series. With an alien species who you were introduced to in Theo and Kel's book. And her problem started, so she released the first book. And then the second book there was supposed to be a second book. And she, like, tried, like, I don't know, like a million times to get it published. And Amazon kept fucking her over somehow. Like, it was supposed to publish and it just wouldn't, and she couldn't get anybody to help her with tech support. And then it happened with, like, two other books, and then, like, one of her books was, like, arbitrarily banned or something like that. And it was all Amazon fuck up. It was all Amazon fuckery. And she, it was finally, like She said that she, like, she didn't enjoy writing anymore, like, dealing with Amazon had, like, ruined any love, and I'm sure people constantly going, Well, when's the next book gonna come out? When's the next book gonna come out? And she was just to the point where she's like, I don't want to fucking deal with this anymore. And I can't say that I blame her, but at the same time, it's like, but fuck. Oh, I wish she'd come back because her books are so damn good. Like, I really, really, really recommend them. And I just, she wrote one of the books for the splintered galaxies. Universe, hang on, let me, I'm not saying that right, it's the, come on Demi, open. Oh, that I'm bitching about Amazon while opening the Kindle app. I mean,

EJ:

such is our lives, you know.

Amy:

Yeah, it's Shattered Galaxies, and that was a multi author series, and she contributed a book in the first season, because right now some of the writers are releasing season two, that's the Nancy Cummings books that I keep hyping up. Which is also excellent, and it's called Shadowmark. Anyway her book in it was really good, it's called Jagged Honor, and it has Thundercats, so you know, Stacy's a fan. But, really, really good, and it's just one of those things where, like, I read some of her books that I have and I'm just fuckin heartbroken knowing that I'm never gonna get any more from the source, you know what I mean? And especially because the story wasn't done, that's the part that haunts me, is with Two of these three writers, the story's not done, and it just kills me because I was, I was, I just like, there would be, there would never be any such thing as enough in the, in the world building that two of these authors have done. And so, Erin Regan, like, I totally respect her, like, being just like, deuces on out. But, God bless it, do I ever miss her. In fact, I've actually been kicking around the thought that I need to dig out the the Homeworld series, which is the, or I think it's the Battle for Homeworld, is what they call it. Which is the one that starts with Python. And just do like a big ass reread, because it's so fucking good. Like, you got like You know, sort of noble heroes who are trying to do the right thing, even if it fucks over the people that they're trying to help. You know what I mean? Like, kind of a, I must be cruel to be kind kind of vibe. And, but it's, and she doesn't shy away from, like, the damage that gets done. Which is something that I really appreciate, because the first book starts with The first character, the one who, the main female character in Python is, she's an artist, she's got trauma because her dad died unexpectedly, and then her mom, her mom's way of sort of reacting to it, it was like to sort of put her dad away and never talk about him, and then she ended up becoming a sculptor like her dad. In fact the wheel that she uses had been her dad's, and she also becomes a sculptor, her, she ends up using the same Agent that her dad had and so it's kind of this thing where it's it's sort of she's reminded everywhere of her dad and yet her dad's not there. So it's just, it's a really good, like, really great characterization. You like the characters. You're really invested in their stories, and it, so it just kind of gets me that, you know, unless she changes her mind, that's all the story I'm going to get, basically.

EJ:

So who else we got on the docket? Because believe me, I got discussion questions on all of this. I would go feet further

Amy:

into Amazon and the possibilities of hybrid publishing, but I want to save that for the discussion. I want the next story. Okay. Yeah. Okay, did you have somebody you want, Amy? No. Okay. No. But mine is, mine is really a moot point because she never really left. She just left the series I was interested in reading. Oh! Well, no, no, no, no. She finally came back. Granted, it seemed on the shorter side so perhaps she just really wanted to wrap it up because Right. There were three different People stopped asking her. There were three different Hey, I have never bothered this poor woman. I have only ever No, no, not you specifically. Oh, no, I know. But like other fans, maybe. Right. But I am glad that she's Well, the funny thing is, she was writing under a different pen name for this particular trilogy. Mm hmm. And Is this the one we were talking about before where I said I just started following that name and didn't realize it was the author you were talking about? Possibly. Celia Kyle Who writes this series Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Celia Kyle. Yes, because I got excited when I saw Aaron Tate because I was hoping it was Aaron Regan. The person I was just talking about. But anyways, I've read the first two books in this one series called The Warlords of Eterra, and they're, they're reptilian aliens, and granted, you look at the, the original cover for Red Sands and you're like, that looks like a human. It looks like a what? It looks like a human with just, you know, red skin. Was it when they were doing just, it was like all torsos? Something like that. The multicolored torso era? It has changed. The covers have changed to reflect what they actually look like more, which I'm like, I appreciate this a lot more. But it starts off with Red Sands and you, you have this, you have this spaceship that crashes on a terra and it's full of women, by the way. No men. I don't know why. That's fine. Remember why's been a while since I read? I'm not Human Men. It's fine. I think I read it back in 2021. Okay. So yeah, it's been a, it's been a minute. Little bit of a, yeah, it's been a minute. Quite a minute. But anyways it's been a fat minute, so, and. Of course, all of the, the, the aliens that are part of this world are divided up into three different tribes, clans, whatever you call them and it's reflective of the planet based on the sands that they inhabit. You've got the red sands, the colored sands, the scarred sands, and the living sands. So the first one starts off with red sands, and of course, All of the clans are like, oh look, females, yay, because apparently they're very low on females in this planet. Mars needs women. As all good sci fi romances start. Atera needs women, apparently. Right. I sense, I sense no lie. And so like the first, the first guy claimed he's like the leader of the Red Sands, and so he, he claims one of the females, but the weird thing about this race is that he's Their mates have to be the ones to cut open where their, where their, yes, where their peens are. Okay. Okay. Like, like, they are, they are, the males are totally virgin. Right. Well, you know, so they've got,

EJ:

like, their own version of, like, a hymen, only

Amy:

it's real. Yeah. Yes! Yes! Yeah, Dara Joy actually had, did something similar in one of, in her, she had a, she had a one off book where They never came out and said it, but there was implications of like reverse engineering and the way a male seal quote unquote was broken off of his cockhead was It was the vaginal secretions had to erode it, basically. I mean,

EJ:

about any, any vagina owner with a pair of dark underwear could probably see that

Amy:

happening. Oh, absolutely. It eats away at

EJ:

something,

Amy:

damn it. As bleached out as the guts of every pair of my underpants are. I know, right? But anyways. So with this, with this whole, I guess it's the sheath really, so the females of their race usually claw open it, and I'm just like, Gotcha. Okay. You have to have some serious, serious dexterity within claws. But anyways, so the idea is when the, when the women, the human women are ready to actually do the deed with their mates, they choose a knight. Which is, you know, a little bit of a mood killer for some women. Well, it worked, it works, but I mean, sure, it gets the job done, but I can also respect it being a I didn't expect this as pillow talk. But Come on, baby, play my sheep. There's some strife going on also within each of the clans well, supposedly each of the clans. In Red Sands, I forget what his name is, but he he has to deal with competition, obviously, for his leadership position, as well as his woman that he's claimed. By the way, she has red hair. That's one of the reasons why he picked her. Ah. And then, then we move on to the second book, which is Hard Sands. And this is like the mountainous region of their, of their world, I'm guessing. And same thing, of course, you know He claimed a woman and again, he's actually new to the leadership position because I think his father had recently passed. And so he has a whole different other form of strife to deal with within his clan. And then we, at the end of book two, we kind of get a hint as to what's happening in the living sands area, which is technically where all the, where all the life is, the oases, the healing sands are located there. And. And that was it. And I'm just like, where's book three? Oh yeah. And so finally it's been announced. And in May it's supposed to come out. And I'm just like, okay, thank you. We can finally, we can finally collect the trilogy and be done. It's one of those things where it's like, it's like you're so grateful, but at the same time, like did either of you guys ever watch Futurama? Yes. Do you remember the one where Bender adopted all of the orphans because he thought he was going to run a scam and make money on it? Yep. Yeah. And Bender goes, what do we say? Thank you! No. Time! There's just a little stereotypical orphan in my head. About time! But, I mean, she was still writing under her original pen name though, so it's like Of course, of course. And, and, honestly, like a lot of what I'm saying isn't just because Oh yeah, of course. Like Of course. Of course. We're lucky to get to read it. I understand why some authors do that. They'll, they'll leave us, they'll either leave a series to sit for a while because Mm-Hmm. they're not able to continue. We, we, we have spoken about this before with Tiffany Roberts. Mm-Hmm. and yeah, they had to take the break on the we, the weaver, exactly the, the brain, because we. We're all, we're all eager for it, but of course we understand, if they're not feeling it, they cannot deliver a story that they want to deliver a shite story. Exactly. I feel really bad for them, too, because over on their Discord, every time somebody new pops up, they always go, I heard there was going to be another series with the Bricks. Did that happen? And everybody's just like, please, shh, please. Remember, remember. Then Tiffany or Robert comes in and they're very polite, but you can tell they're very tired of answering the question. Alright, but that's my story about her basically returning to the series. I'm glad she came back though. Oh yeah, I'm glad. I am glad because I would like to know about that one because I was actually very interested in Trace's book. See, I remember his name. Do I remember the other two names? No. That's alright. Because he's the one I haven't met. I can tell you about characters. I can sometimes even tell you characters names. Name of the book? Forget it. I remember the name of the book more than I did the characters. I still can't. I still half the time, even though I have read this book, easily 20 times now, His Darkest Craving by Timothy Roberts. I can never quite remember if it's His Darkest Craving or His Darkest Kiss. And I vacillate between the two, and I drive myself crazy. I'll bet you book three is going to be his darkest kiss. It is, and then I'm just going to be fucked. Oh goodness. But yes, I am happy. I am very happy about that. It's always a wonderful feeling when they return to a series and you're like, ah! Especially when you're like, you've gotten to that point where you're like, oh, shit, I think I gave up hope on that. I think

EJ:

Stacey, I

Amy:

think we're ready for your other author. And I know who it is because I want to know because You know who I'm talking about. EJ knows who I'm talking about. I do, yes. You need to talk about her. I'm gonna save that one for third. Actually, I'm gonna save that one for third because the second one, there's not really big drama about it. I just wish she'd come back. Okay. And that's Mary Eau Claire. Who? And it's AAU Claire, not Eau Claire. It's A-U-U-C-L-A-I-R-E, I believe. And she was, she, I mean, was like 400 years ago, she wrote smut with aliens. She has. Several books out like a fairly like I wouldn't I mean she's got more fucking books out than I've got She's probably got somewhere around ten. I think and she started with like fantasy Paranormal fantasy kind of stuff. She had this really cool series with two Dragonrider books that were really good. It was Touch of Ice was the first one, and I think Touch of Fire was the second one. And it was the idea that before these books had started these dragon riding aliens came and basically decided to colonize Earth, whether Earth liked it or not, colonized it, and then it turned out that the males of the species, it's like you have to, it's like a genetic compatibility kind of thing. And because they're, they're kind of a two what's the word I'm looking for, like a two species species, basically, because you've got the ones who can bond with the dragons who were the aristocracy, basically, and then you have like the more like common class common place, which is everybody else, essentially. And they had problems on their home planet with. There were extremists who, essentially, it's like, like in Harry Potter with like the the, the, the fucking wizards screaming about mudbloods, essentially. It's the same thing where there were, there were like extreme factions who didn't want the dragon riders breeding with the non dragon riders and would attack mixed families, basically. But the problem is, is The Dragon Riders have to breed with whomever they're genetically compatible with, and you have to be tested to find genmate, basically. And it, then they turn out after they've colonized Earth that, oh shit, human women can crossbreed with us, which ups our, you know, boosts our numbers. But by this point in time, humans have essentially been reduced to sort of like medieval peasants and don't want anything to do with the Dragon Riders for obvious fucking reasons. And they can't be forced into a contract, because what it is is it's a breeding contract. And the other problem, too, is that it's dangerous for human women, that there's a high risk you can slip into a coma, and then you could die, or you and the baby could die, basically. And really cool world building, did two books in the series, and then I think she jumped to Aliens, which I really do wish she would go back and finish The Dragon. Then she wrote a couple of different Alien series, but the one that I feel that she's most known for is the, I think it's The Venomous. Yeah, Venom, it's the Venomous quadrilogy, because it's Venomous Cravings, Venomous, like, it's four books with Venomous something, basically, because it follows four alien brothers. And yeah, it's Venomous Cravings, Venomous Hunger, Venomous Heart, and Venomous Lust. And it's really cool with another one where it's this really cool world building where this time the human population is hugely decimated because once aliens figured out humans, everybody wanted a human pet and essentially everybody was stolen off of the earth except for like a handful of people. Well, then this other species came in and got themselves appointed by sort of the Galactic Senate, essentially, as like the overseers of humanity. Like, we'll set up a preserve, careful breeding, you know, we'll, we'll preserve the population. And really what it turned into is the, the person who owns the largest quote unquote breeding stock of humans was essentially creating tailor made sex slaves and selling them to other people. It was really good. And then she just kind of fell off the face of the planet. And I figured, okay, maybe she's just a slow writer. But then another writer, it might, in fact, it might even have been Ruby. said that she had chosen to step back from writing because she had several small children and wanted to focus on her family. So totally commendable, no drama there, but at the same time it's like, God bless it, I really like her writing, but I want her to come back and write me some more stories, dammit!

EJ:

Yeah. No, it's understandable.

Amy:

Right, and it's also totally understandable that, you know, she wants to be with her children while they're small. But it's one of those things where I do hope that, you know, when her kids are older and she is ready, that she does come back to writing. And it won't be something where she's like, eh, it's been a while, and I don't know if I feel like coming back to it. There is hope because she did recently recover and re release the Venomous series. So obviously there's some interest still in keeping the books out there, because I was really surprised, because I own the whole series, but when I went to look at it on Amazon, it was telling me that I could buy it. You know, I didn't get the green read now button, and so for whatever reason, she's re released it. So I don't know if there have been new edits, duh. Maybe something you have to do if you're going to release a new cover after so long. I don't, I don't know, but I'm hoping that's a good sign. And that means that, you know, maybe someday there'll be more stuff on the way.

EJ:

Mm hmm. Yeah, no, for sure. I always find it interesting. There's so many reasons to pivot and, and I can definitely say like the kid thing. I, I can personally empathize with it as someone. Oh, hugely. Yeah. Has a two year old and I've got another one due this year in June. So hey everyone, I'm pregnant. So like I get it. And I also can say like every, every. Parents got a different situation to sure.

Amy:

Yeah.

EJ:

Like, I don't see myself slowing down anytime soon, but also part of it is my own home life because I have it's a I have several things in combination. Like, I've got a really, I've got a true co parent of a father, daddy. And so I think that helps. Also, frankly, I have money to like pay for nannies. Right. So that also frankly fucking helps, and I'm going

Amy:

transparent about that. Yeah.

EJ:

Going be just I, I believe in that level of economic transparency

Amy:

in this. Well, yeah, That's you recognizing your privilege rather than pleading ignorance so that you don't have to. Face the fact that most people don't have opportunities like that. That's commendable of you, frankly.

EJ:

Oh, thank you. You're welcome. Even, even with, like, the awesome partner, that's not to say any, like, Another author could also have just an equal, maybe even better partner than what I've got, but if they don't have our economic stability, then well, right.

Amy:

Or if they don't have the kind of personality that they're like, I don't, you know, I feel like I could, you know, like Stevie Nicks has, has that quote where she said that she could have been an amazing mom, or she could have been an amazing performer. And she chose to be a performer, which is why she never had kids. And, and so it could be something like that, where this person, you know in their situation feels like I can be an amazing writer or I can be an amazing mom. And, you know, if I have to weigh the two, being the mom is obviously the one that's going to win.

EJ:

Especially those who recognize like. These are decisions that they have to make and they own that. Like, damn, good on them. I applaud that.

Amy:

100 percent and the simple truth of the matter is, if she chooses to come back, you know, I'll be right here waiting patiently, twiddling my thumbs. You know, waiting for the next book to come out, so. Yeah, no, for sure. So the third one, which Amy knows, and so does CJ, everybody knows, is Amanda Milow. Now I'm not, I'm not throwing shade. I'm not putting her on blast, but she just kind of disappeared. And I know people have said, like, have like tried to check in with her. And been like, hey, like, what's going on? And all she'll say is that she's fine, but no one has, has heard anything about, I think the last thing that she put out was either the werewolf's nanny or was the alien's

EJ:

little sister. I'm gonna look that up. And I just feel so invested because I've really liked her work

Amy:

in the past. Oh god, yeah. Her, well that's another one that I've been talking about where her world building is fucking amazing. And the last book that I'm aware of that she wrote in her sort of her big, like alien abduction series was the Quarry Master. And there were a lot of, I, what'd you say? That was the last one? I mean, other than the alien's little sister, but No, no, no. Oh, no. I'm, I'm just, of that series. I'm just like, that's one of the reasons I haven't started that series because I'm like, I don't know if I, if I should. Stolen? Well, it doesn't end in a bad way. It's just like, don't, you know, like, you might have questions that aren't going to get answered, basically. So there's, and the thing too is she, a lot of her, her, her series all kind of intertwine. I don't read her pet series because that's really dark, and I don't think it has a happy ending, so I just avoid that, but I haven't read all of the stuff in the Stolen by an Alien series because she does like to do a lot of, like, throuples, you know, reverse harem, like, Beth's stable has, like, she has five husbands, something like that. And then she'll do like, short stories in it. So like, there's the alien nanny for Christmas is a super cute one, but he's one of the, the, the Rahkee, which are these sort of dragon, dragon humanoids. And so, so her two main species in this are Rahkee and Hobbes, and the Hobbes are like, hot vampires, basically, they've got wings, but they're kind of like, Butterflies in the, the pouches, the wings on the inside, on the outside, they're like leathery looking gargoyling, but on the inside, they all have different colors, and they can hit you with it, and it's an aphrodisiac, and so it's something that, like, there's one couple in Craved by an Alien, where it's a hob, and he ends up with a human, where he likes to, he'll clap her in his wings, Get her all hot and bothered. And then there were some sort of secondary slash tertiary ones like Blindfall is Another species, but she was part of the original group that was abducted in the first Stolen by an Alien book. And that one is actually really sweet and really cool. One of the things I really like about Amanda Milas writing is that she can take a character And right from their perspective, no matter what it is. So like in the quarry master, I love the main female character. She, she's, she has an arm and a half and she wasn't born that way. It's just, you know, she's just born missing part of her. I think she said left hand, if I'm remembering correctly. And it, you know, it talks about how she, she does a really good job of showing how Isla can get around and be independent, even though she's, you know, missing. I am like, she can put her hair up in a ponytail, you know, she can do this, she can do that. In Blindfall, the main female character is blind, and she's actually abducted with her service dog Coda, which is it's really, it's really good though, and Breslin the hero is like the cinnamon rollist of the giant cinnamon rolls, and it's actually really sweet because what happens is she's bought at auction for Breslin by one of his friends who ends up being one of the husbands in Beth's stable, and It's super cute, because Breslin is very much against, you don't own sentient beings and you don't sell sentient beings, but he's afraid that something's gonna happen to her, and so He takes her with him back to his home planet, and the plan is that she's going to stay with him while the one who bought her is going to figure out how to get to Earth so that they can take her home, basically. And in the course of it, they fall in love, and it's really sweet because like, Breslin is a farmer, and it's, it's very much like, it's not a Like, super high tech alien farm. Like, it's like he lives in a one room farmhouse, you know, that he inherited from his family and, like, he has to go out and he has to tend to his fences because he raises narwari, which are sort of like deer unicorn except they're, they're fucking predators. And so, they'll sneak into the neighbor's pen and eat all of his meat stock, basically, but she's done a whole thing where she describes, like, like, she's come up with, like, words for it, like, Breslin's called a Garthmaw because he breaks narwari so that they can be turned into service animals, basically, and I imagine him with a Welsh accent because Garthmaw, to me, sounds like a Welsh word, but, you know, to each their own and, like, you know, like, there's, like, just terms that she, that she's come up with, like, moon raked means, like, adorable, you know. Like, like, at one point in time, Breslin to himself is talking about how just moon raked cute Sana is. And like, just, just all of these, like, like, this great terminology. He's just, like, the sweetest guy you've ever met. And then he goes into his rut. And he's like so I'm gonna be sleeping in the barn for the next couple of nights.

Stacy:

And she's like, what? Why? Because they're sleeping in the same bed. Because he's only got one damn bed. And she's like, what? Why? And he's explaining that my rut is on me and I can't be around you, and I definitely can't be around you if there are other men present, because I'll kill them. And this is so, like, anti Breslin that it's amazing. But it's also super hot because, you know, you've got, like, the restraints and all of that. And there's a scene where he goes out to the The barn to sleep and by this point in time, this is fairly far into the book. So they, they've definitely bonded to one another and she wakes up in the middle of the night because he comes into the house and grabs her by the ankle and he pulls her across the bed and you're thinking, all right, we're going to do it. It's happening. And what he does is he just picks her up and just like inhales. Like her scent off of her hair and like groans in her ear and then puts her back to bed and leaves the room and you're just like, okay, like that was the hottest goddamn thing I ever fucking read. So that's the thing that I love about Amanda Milo is that she can do stuff that's like hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, but it's also like really fucking funny too. And, and she does a great job of writing the world through Santa's perspective, Santa's perspective. Because she's blind, and like, she talks about how she likes that the, the, the farmhouse is one room because she can find everything, like, she knows where stuff is, she knows how many steps it is, and she, like, they talk, she, there's a, a bit where they go out to to eat at a restaurant in town, and it's very much like you get like a sort of a Wild West, Little House on the Prairie kind of vibe from it. And, but she talks about, like, how she, you know, like, she picks up her cup to take a drink of water and she leaves her hand where the cup had been, so she knows where to put her cup back down. And when she goes to find something, she puts her hands on the table and she slides it until she finds what she's looking for, because she doesn't want to knock something over. And so it's just this, like, really cool, really incredible perspective. And, like, you can tell, like, whatever research she does is fucking amazing. And then when she wants to go, like, cuckoo fucking bananas, that woman will go cuckoo fucking bananas. Because she wrote part of the Venus Needs Men series that Tiffany Roberts and I think Poppy Ri Poppy Reese and Naomi Lucas. Yes, thank you, Naomi Lucas also wrote in. The whole series, really good, and it's really cool because you get very different dragons and very different perspectives based on who the writer is. And so like, you know, Tiffany Roberts's two are like very thought out and very well planned and very heart wrenching in some places. Naomi Lucas's are very intense. Poppy Reese's is really cool because it's the only one where it's a winter dragon who doesn't blow fire, he blows frost, which was super cool. And they're, all of these tribes are like, this is like either pre technology or what I think is actually very far post technology. And so it's these tribes of where the birth rate of males is just extraordinarily low. And so most of the women are expendable, essentially, like, you know, they're the hunters in their tribes because, you know, if your tribe's only got six men, you gotta produce, you know, gotta protect the breeding stock. Well, Amanda took the, the job, you like how I referred to her like we're BFFs? So me and Mandy. So Amanda Milo took the idea and she fucking decided to go absolutely bananas with it. So she, her first book is, I believe, To Catch a Dragon. And, and the premise is, is there's a red comet that comes to earth every 10 years, I think it is. And it sends everything on the planet into like a mating frenzy. And dragons know to stay away from humans at this stage, because if a human touches the dragon while the red comet is overhead, they will become a humanoid essentially. And they'll be bonded to the human. And you know, and if you're a dragon that can live for millennia, now suddenly your lifespan has been tied to that of your human mate. And You know, I mean, like, you, you lose a lot, basically, and so each story is, you know, like, how this happened, and, like, each of them came up with their own tribe, so, like, Naomi Lucas tribes are like seagoing people like beachside tribes Tiffany Roberts tribes are, I can't remember, I want to say they're like cliff swallowers, or, I can't remember anymore. No, because Naomi Lucas had more of a jungle vibe than I remember. I can't remember now. It's been a while since I've read these. But, Amanda Milo's characters are grasslands. Like, so they're like prairie dwellers. And, it is one of the first, both books, honestly, are some of the funniest goddamn things I have ever read. And also the dirtiest. she just, she's just this great, great writer, and I really wish that she would come back, like, I hope everything's going okay in her life, obviously. But I just really, really wish that she would come back and write some more, and she recently recovered a bunch of her books too, I noticed. And so I'm kind of hoping, maybe that's a sign, like, contaminated, and what's the other one? I don't know. Contagion? Contaminated and contagion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. That's it. Yeah. Like, those ones are very, very, like, beloved. Especially contagion. Those two that I have read. And

Amy:

I enjoy them. Yeah. The

Stacy:

premise is, like, there are these, like, these, like, you know, like, death machine aliens who don't realize it. And in the second book, he's terrified of germs and everything that's on earth. So he's a literal killing machine and has no fucking idea. But he's terrified of mosquitoes. So it's really fun. We still love him.

Amy:

We still love him so much. Oh, yeah.

Stacy:

Oh, yeah, I'm kind of hoping that because there's new covers coming out maybe we're gonna get lucky and there's gonna be a new like she's gonna come back from wherever she wandered off to but Crossing my fingers. It's just like, there you go. That's the end of my dissertation. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

EJ:

I love it. And so, so now we, we, let's get into, let's get into some serious discussion time. So, like, how, the first one makes it sound like we're about to, you know, be part of a group therapy session.

Stacy:

I could probably benefit from some, to be perfectly frank. How

EJ:

does it feel when, how does it make you feel when authors leave or pivot?

Stacy:

Pivoting, I wouldn't be necessarily a deal breaker for me. Like, If I like the author's voice, I would at least attempt to follow them into whatever they pivoted into, unless they did something weird like, now I'm only writing clean romance. Then I'm gonna be like, well, Godspeed. It's been a good run. See you on the other side, Dr. Bankman. I'm with you, Stacey. Yeah, like, I'm not, I'm not interested in clean romance, and there's a weird, because there are some authors I know who, who've done stuff like that, where like, they've got religion or something like that, and suddenly they're not, You know, writing SMUD anymore. And You know, if that's the choice that you want to make, obviously that's your choice to make, but it smacks of more, like, like, moralizing and I'm not interested in being moralized,

EJ:

no, no, no judgment in fact quite, quite the opposite.

Stacy:

Yeah, like, I'm not judging either, but it's just a case of I'm not interested in reading that. So I probably wouldn't read that. Having podcast, and again, it's more

EJ:

the podcast is explicit for heaven's sake.

Stacy:

Yeah. But again, it's just that whole, it, it also smacks of, you know, I was a sinner, but now I'm cleansed. And it's just like, Hmm. Agree, disagree. Yeah. Yeah.

EJ:

So

Amy:

for me, I, I get, I would, I would with regards to pivoting, yeah. I'm with, I'm with Stacy there. It's like if they want to go somewhere that I might be interested in reading, then I would go there. I had mentioned before with, with just EJ, basically, I am not always going to read an author's entire backlog. I applaud people who do that, but,

Stacy:

I mean It depends, like, for me, if it's, if it's, cause like, some of them, it's like, like, fuck it, I'll read anything Ruby Dixon puts out. I'll read anything Tiffany Roberts puts out. I'll read anything Nancy Cummings puts out. But not every author is going to have that same level of devotion for me, basically.

Amy:

There are certain stories that I definitely am interested in reading or there might be an author and I'm like your stuff sounds cool But it's like I've tried one book And then I may try something else like oh this actually does resonate with me or I may just give up on an author Entirely because I'm just like your writing style isn't for me.

Stacy:

And that's yeah, that is totally

Amy:

okay because I think it also helps because also if, if they say leave, because I'm so used to kind of moving on so much, even whether it's, whether it's work involved or because I'm, I'm in the bookish world, I can't help it. I keep, I keep tabs on things that I'm not even interested in reading myself because that's just how. The library,

Stacy:

but I mean, yeah, I mean, you're a librarian, like, I have to know when the next person gets released, which would be 5 minutes ago and then another 5.

Amy:

Yeah, I'm just irked about what the latest one is, but we're not going to go there. But anyways,

Stacy:

Okay, but off the mic, we are going to go there, because now I'm curious.

Amy:

When it comes to leaving, authors leaving, I don't know, I'm just used to, kind of, authors kind of appearing and then disappearing

Stacy:

just really right because of the nature of what you do. So I mean,

Amy:

well, if it's an author that I'm really, I have enjoyed their stuff in the past, like, oh, I hope they're doing all right. Like, I know Maggie Stiefvater hasn't really produced anything after the Grey Waren series, which is the follow up to the Raven cycle. But apparently she's got some, she's got an adult book in the works, but

Stacy:

I haven't read all of her books. She's a

Amy:

young adult. No, I've actually only read, I've read two and a half of her books, no, three and a half, three and a half of her books. I've read Shimmer, I've read Scorpio Races, I've read The Raven Boys, I've read Dreaming Thieves. Okay, so four books. Four books.

Stacy:

I like how this number's getting higher as the conversation progresses. I've only killed two people. Okay, I killed that taxi driver. Three people. Alright, you know what, I cut that one guy in half, but he was still alive when I left, so I'm gonna say three and a half. I've killed three and a half people. Let's just say I've

Amy:

never finished a

Stacy:

series from her. I mean, yeah, but she's young adult, I'm assuming. Yes, she is. Yeah, so, and I can see, like, granted, like, I make it a point of avoiding young adult for the most part because the market got so damn saturated after Harry Potter and Twilight came out. But a lot of the Young Adult series really do seem to get kind of samey.

Amy:

They do, and the problem is, is that a lot, a lot of the publishers do focus on the money making. Right. And they focus on the

Stacy:

money making authors. They want, and they're deliberately picking the clones, basically, instead of the original ones.

Amy:

How many times has Well, her books are no longer considered YA. How many times have Sarah Janet's books been recovered and recovered and just like, huh. Yeah, Bloomsbury. You're gonna milk that cash

Stacy:

cows. Oh, yeah. Of course. Milk the cash cow before they send them off to slaughter.

EJ:

I'm over here thinking, you know, I, I feel, I feel very similar to, to both of you. Like, it's a, It's not like I don't care when authors pivot or leave. I'm more like, okay. I, mostly I'm concerned, like, are you doing it for your, you know, for your own good? If that's the number one thing, then I'm like, go,

Stacy:

go forth. Well, that's like with Erin Regan, like, I really, I really felt like, I feel like she left because it was a mental health thing. Which, it breaks my heart, but at the same time, she's got to do what's the best thing for her, and I can 100 percent respect that. Yes.

EJ:

And, and that kind of does go into my next question. Like, what are the challenges that these authors face that may push them to make these huge decisions? And gosh, there's like myriad. Where do we begin? So many. You know, you've got your, your personal life pressures that some of them can be negative or positive, quite frankly. Sure.

Stacy:

You know? Well, that's like what I was talking about with Mary Mary O'Claire. Like, Yeah. She wanted to, she stepped away to, to raise her kids and, like, that's not a negative thing. That's a positive thing, but, you know, it just sucks that you're a fan of her stuff. Right. It doesn't, you know, I'm sure her kids would all be like, yes, thank you.

EJ:

And there's also a lot of technical challenges. On one hand, Amazon, I do credit Amazon with a lot of opening up the indie author world. And at the same time, they do a damn good job subjugating it. Yes,

Stacy:

they wanted to open up the indie author world, but they want to make sure that they're the only ones that the indie authors can use and therefore create a monopoly. They're just as bad as the publishers. They're just, they just use a different. model to put the screws to the writers.

EJ:

Absolutely. I, I say bravo to any author who is brave enough to go wide. When they release their books, I know, Kindle Direct Publishing, that's where a lot of it is. I am a KU member. Okay, so I'm not over here.

Stacy:

Honestly, on my minuscule salary, that's one of the few perks that I can afford.

EJ:

Exactly. So I'm not over here being like, that is so common, or whatever, like, it's a huge part of the world. But I, I do appreciate the authors like who go out and frankly, it is a bigger hustle to go wide. Yeah, I, I do. I feel some optimism at this moment for things like hybrid publishing houses. I am very curious how those evolve. I'd love to do a blog post one day, just writing about some of the ones that I'm following right now on like Instagram. Just to Like, I, I'd love to talk to them directly and ask, like, what's your deal? What are, what are you planning on doing? And part of me is kind of curious how much of this may be connected, how many folks in the hybrid publishing world maybe have. Connections back to trad publishing because I like

Stacy:

how many of them maybe broke away or something like that. Yeah, right. personal

EJ:

Hypothesis watching trad publishing. There's so much merging going on. There's so much layoffs not just in tribe publishing, but all trad media Yeah

Stacy:

I feel for the people who are getting laid off, but I don't feel for the entities themselves. Right. Because they basically refused to adapt. And if you don't adapt, you're, you die. Like, that's the long and short of it. Like, instead of trying to stamp on. First of all, on the whole self publishing thing, just being vanity presh and all that kind of bullshit, that gatekeeping right there, like, that has changed within 20 years. 20 years ago, if you published a book on your own, that was the kiss of death. Nobody would ever touch you. Oh, yeah. Or if you sat face to face. If you what? I'm sorry? If you saw Create Space as the publisher. Yes, yeah. And, and now, and because of that, that led to, you know, the predatory actions that we've seen all of these dipshits engage in, like what I was talking about with Dara Joy, and then, now all of a sudden they're whining and shrieking that nobody's buying books anymore, and it's like, no, people are buying books, they're just not buying books from you, dipshit, because you didn't want a level of playing field. You know, the whole thing where it's like, you know, there's a reason why everybody decided sci fi was only for men and women had to write under, probably still have to write under pseudonyms in a lot of cases. Yeah. Yeah. So that because I know there was a, I cannot remember her name off the top of my head, but she was a black sci fi writer, black female sci fi writer. She won a lot of awards in like the 70s and 80s. And she wrote under her initials, and everybody assumed she was a white man, and it was easier for her than trying to get published under who she actually was. Right. And that's all, that's all gatekeeping. Like, there's no reason why people who aren't lily white can't access sci fi. And we

EJ:

know for a fact that this is still a consideration with the, the recent leaks of the Hugo awards, like people were straight up talking like in emails to each other. Hey, here's a short list of folks. What were they looking at? It was stuff that was, they, they didn't even allow the Chinese government to weigh

Stacy:

in. Nope, they self censored themselves. They self

EJ:

censored, oh no, these people are too much. Those quizzling

Stacy:

pussies. Yeah. Actually, you know what, they're not a pussy. You wish you were as strong as a pussy. They're a bunch of fucking quizzling limp dicks, is what they are.

Amy:

But I was trying to say, when it comes to indie publishing though, I mean, we're still seeing similar patterns that we do in trad publishing. Oh yeah, 100%. The authors that we see are, of course, white, which, but it's like, It's something that, it, it's just an unfairness. It is an unfairness

Stacy:

for traditional publishing. It is. But we are seeing more, like I know there are several writers that I read who are women of color. In the romance world. Regina Abel is a person of color. Oh, is she? Oh, she is! Yeah, and I know, of course, the minute I try to think of names, now I've drawn a complete guide. Of course, Regina Abel. Kimberly Lemming. I'm trying to think of who else I know I have. There are several women I follow who are women of color. And of course, now that I need to name

EJ:

names, I can't well, the obsidian feathers author. I keep on pushing on you. Yeah. Yeah. And Sarah, she is she is. I she's, she's particularly unique because one of the reasons I love her so, her work so much is that she delves into indigenous folklore, like, pre Hispanic folklore, and

Stacy:

that's, that shit's dark and so cool. Oh, hell yes. Yeah. Hell yes. If you want to ever read about some mean fucking gods, read about, like, Incan and Aztec gods that's actually one of my favorites. Well, howdy. That's how you say it. Inked Alpha, the artist, you know, her stuff is a lot of indigenous based stuff because she's indigenous herself. So like Agmos and stuff like that in her stories, like a lot of that is drawing from indigenous Mexican and South American culture, which I think is super cool. And also

EJ:

Agmos is hot as fuck. The folklore nerd in me would love to see more non Western writers, like, really getting comfy in their non Western culture. Mostly, in part, because I am selfish and I want those

Stacy:

stories. Yes. No, I totally get it. Like, I want the fucking story.

EJ:

So, but anyway, I want to wrap up our little discussion with something that. Maybe a little bit encouraging. If there was something you'd say as readers to authors, like we've mentioned, or or haven't who are maybe having kind of a hard time who may be thinking about pivoting or leaving what would you tell them?

Amy:

I would say, really, take your time and really think about what is best for you. If you, if you feel like you have run your course in this area of literature, then maybe a pivot is just what you need. If you really want to continue on, then I say, take a break. It is okay to take a break because Goodness knows we all need a break in this crazy insane world that we live in, but just, you know, really think long and hard about what is best for you, because ultimately that is what you need to focus on. Don't focus on the crowd that's gonna be like,

Stacy:

Oh my god, why aren't you getting us more books? Give me the next book! Oh my god, where's the next book? You need to

Amy:

basically close your ears to that nonsense, even if I'm one of the ones that's saying it, even though I have tried. I know, guilty. I like to think I have, I have grown to where it's like, The worst thing you could ever possibly say is, where's the next chapter? Where's the next book? Please, please, for the love of god, just appreciate what

Stacy:

they have now. That's true. Unless, in which case, get that shit out because, you know. I need help finishing.

Amy:

Sometimes it's like, you just want to write for yourself.

Stacy:

And that is totally Yes. What I would say I'm sorry, are you done, Amy? I am done. Thank you, Stacey. Absolutely. First of all, I would say, I am going to become Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything. And I am just going to stand outside your house with a boombox while Peter Gabriel plays. But also, and if you don't get that reference, well, you have a really good movie waiting for you. And young John Cusack is delicious. Old John Cusack's delicious, quite frankly. Anyway, before I fall down a Cusack K hole, I would also say, like what Amy is saying, is it's okay to write for yourself. You don't have to write to please your audience. It's also okay to just write because you like to write. Maybe you wanna be like, you know, like, like maybe the hustle aspect of it is what's wearing you down, but the love of the story is still there, and if that's the case, it's totally okay to just say, fuck it, I'm gonna step back, and I'm gonna write some shit for myself. And that's actually something that, because, you know, I do hope to someday publish myself, and that's actually something that I've had to tell myself while I'm writing, is that I am writing this story because this is the story that I would like to read. And it will appeal to people who have a similar interest. I'm not writing this to try and catch the widest net possible of readership. And I understand, I'm not, definitely not criticizing any author who's, you know, trying to make a living at it, obviously. But I think it is okay that if you feel like The demand, the outside demands on your stories and your time have become so oppressing that it is okay to say, fuck it. I'm writing for me. I'm not writing for anybody else. And also I'm Lloyd Dobler and I'm going to stand outside your house

EJ:

while Peter Gabriel plays on the

Stacy:

radio.

Amy:

It's like, if I'm happy with your books, I'm going to talk them up to other people. I mean, you know, I've just, I've just cast my net

Stacy:

towards

Amy:

one of my work friends with, with the Orcskorn series. Although, cause she, like I said, she enjoyed the Leviathan Fitness series, EJ. Love it, love it. Thoroughly enjoyed that one. And I've given her, she actually mentioned Cleo Evans, I'm like, yes, if you want something darker, read this. By Cleo Evans, but it's like, yes, I mean, I'm definitely going to talk up your books.

Stacy:

I mean, I like to think that I'm worse than Mormons going door to door, where I'm just like, let me tell you about this book by Alexis B. Osborne called Mate for the Alien Born Star. Or have I told you about our Lord and Savior, Nancy Cummings? Or, you should start with Ruby Dixon, because she's a great gateway drag. She is. Or, are you really into semen? Let me tell you about Finley Finn.

EJ:

Let us discuss the magical trope of magical cum.

Stacy:

Hey man, semen worship is a thing, so I ain't yuckin anybody's yum.

EJ:

Yeah. for me, I, I would emphasize to any author who, Is just looking down the pit of despair and knowing they're about to go in, or if they're in the pit of despair itself, I ignore the rest of us, which is really rich. Like, you know, we're spending all we're spending hours, you know, recording, talking about this stuff, but ultimately, like, the, the thoughts and judgment of. The three of us, or even your hordes of fans, is nothing compared to what you need to do for you. You are the most important person in your book community at the end of the day. Exactly! If I could only plead with authors who are moving or pivoting with 1 thing, it would be don't trash everything. Let Amazon

Stacy:

for the love of God. Keep it

EJ:

up on Amazon. Get yourself a little bit of passive income, you know, just just leave it up there. And if you come back, you come back if you don't. That's cool,

Stacy:

right? If you don't, then take that extra 5 a month and go buy yourself a damn latte. That,

EJ:

that is five bucks more than literally zero dollars, so.

Stacy:

Exactly.

Amy:

Also, I will say this is one thing that is actually for the readers. It ain't a hack to return your friggin Kindle books. No,

EJ:

it is not. Screw you. Anyone who does that. This ain't Kindle Unlimited. That's a

Stacy:

dick fuckin move. That's a dick fuckin Kindle Unlimited. What the hell is wrong with you? I, now,

EJ:

I, we may have strong feelings about

Stacy:

this. I've returned two books. One was a trilogy by an author that I had given up on. I've tried a couple of different times. They're just not for me. I'm not going to name names because I'm not interested in shaming. I returned it because I did not realize it was turning into a reverse Heron thing and there was nothing in the description that told me it would. I don't like reverse harem. And so once I realized it was heading that way, I noped out and returned it. And the other one was a horror story by an author who made just the most casual, like it's totally okay, like racist and homophobic joke jokes in quotation that I was just like, I can't give this motherfucker my money. Like, fuck you. I'm out. And those are the only two books that I've ever returned to Amazon. I don't

Amy:

think I've ever returned a Kindle book to

EJ:

Amazon. Yeah, not that I can think of. However, I would not discount the possibility. In the future Yeah. Stuff happens. Yeah.

Stacy:

Like I feel justified in my returns. Oh yeah. Yeah. But don't you know what I

EJ:

mean? Like, but you're

Stacy:

not doing it as some dumb budgeting hack. Exactly. I'm not, is not some kind of a, a budgeting hack. It's No, it's not a budgeting hack stealing money from authors. And if you do it, you're an asshole. Yeah. Yes you

EJ:

are. You're not sticking it

Stacy:

to Amazon. There's a thing called a library, Amazon Library Dip Shit. If

Amy:

your library doesn't have what you're looking for, one, you can ask if they can provide it, and two, if they cannot, then contact the author.

Stacy:

Right. Especially because most indie authors are desperate for ARC readers. Exactly. Oh my gosh, yes.

EJ:

Yes. In the year of our Lord Nancy Cummins, 2024. Sorry, Stacy, now you've got me, like, on

Stacy:

a whole thing.

EJ:

Like, yeah, become an ARC reader

Stacy:

if you are looking for some pre reads. Yeah, and like I said, like, and I have, I have ARC read for some fairly, like, this isn't a brag, but just a, I was surprised that I was able to get on their ARC team. Like, I've read for some pretty established authors. Mm hmm. Oh, yeah. Also,

Amy:

Edelweiss Plus. You can get an account with them for free. You don't have to be a librarian. You don't have to be in the book industry. You can get it for free. And there are scads of ARCs that are just available to download. They are ready for you to read. Oh, yeah.

EJ:

Netgalley is Sirens is pretty good. Netgalley. Netgalley is the other one. Yeah, Netgalley is another one. I could create a whole mini list to put in the show notes. Yeah. Of where to get started with, with arc reading.

Amy:

And sometimes all it takes is, Not you. Even just writing to the, figuring out, figuring out who, who takes care of arcs with certain publishers and writing to them and say, hey. Could I get on the ARC team? And sometimes they will respond, and sometimes they won't, but you'll still have access to the books. So,

Stacy:

a Discord server that you can get on is the Mox and Cox Discord server, and they've got a whole thing in there where, I think it's under author promo, where it's like people looking for ARC readers. There

EJ:

you go. Nice. I'll put that in the show notes as well. I'll bug you, Stacy, for the URL. Go for it. So, wrapping up take care of yourselves, dear authors, and look after yourselves, dear readers.

Stacy:

Yes.

EJ:

And we'll talk to

Stacy:

y'all later. And as I said, as a joke, that I wasn't joking about, in our Discord channel, life's too short to read

EJ:

Shite words. Amen. Indeed.

Amy:

Remember, you

EJ:

can let go of FOMO. Yep. Embrace DNF. That's right.