I Fully Vibe With That [Christmas] Life

[00:00:00] I just got struck by an inspiration thought and I had to write that down before.

[00:00:04] Oh my god, I love that though.

[00:00:05] Wait, I love that so much.

[00:00:07] Well, I just get relaxed all of a sudden. It's like, oh, this is something I'm working on

[00:00:11] and there's the idea. I needed to write that down. I'm so sorry.

[00:00:13] No, I love that.

[00:00:14] This is my dream, okay?

[00:00:16] Yeah, honestly.

[00:00:16] We were interviewing Jason June and he had an idea.

[00:00:20] Yeah. Like, it's our claim to fame now.

[00:00:22] Yes. I love it.

[00:00:27] Welcome to The Incoherent Fangirl.

[00:00:30] Where we are kickstarting the Christmas season a little early this year.

[00:00:35] I've got my Christmas sweatshirt on.

[00:00:37] I love it.

[00:00:38] One of my Christmas sweatshirts. I have plenty.

[00:00:41] I am Mandy of Winter Wonderland.

[00:00:44] And I'm Karin from the Marshall Empire.

[00:00:46] Welcome to, is it weird to say like the first episode after?

[00:00:51] Like, we're starting a whole new hundred, I guess.

[00:00:55] I was wondering where that was going.

[00:00:57] Yeah.

[00:00:57] My brain was like, after what?

[00:01:00] The first, this is the first episode after our 100th episode.

[00:01:04] Oh my goodness.

[00:01:05] The beginning of the next hundred.

[00:01:08] Look at us go. We're starting from scratch.

[00:01:11] From scratch.

[00:01:17] Okay, friends. In our timeline, it is October 10th, 10-10.

[00:01:22] And in y'all's timeline, it is October 18th.

[00:01:25] It is spooky season.

[00:01:27] I don't like it.

[00:01:28] My baby nephew's a year old when you hear this.

[00:01:30] Oh, really?

[00:01:32] Already?

[00:01:32] No, he's just born.

[00:01:33] Yeah.

[00:01:33] It was yesterday for the listeners.

[00:01:36] No, like really, he was just born.

[00:01:39] I don't like it.

[00:01:41] I don't know. He's walking.

[00:01:42] No, no, he's not.

[00:01:43] You're a liar.

[00:01:44] He's walking.

[00:01:44] You're a liar.

[00:01:45] He's got four teeth.

[00:01:46] Uh-uh.

[00:01:47] Uh-uh.

[00:01:48] Uh-uh.

[00:01:48] Interestingly enough, his sister has lost four teeth and he has grown four teeth.

[00:01:52] So I feel like there's something shady going on.

[00:01:54] There is.

[00:01:55] There's something shady going on.

[00:01:56] Are you yanking him out of her mouth and then putting him in his?

[00:01:59] That's weird.

[00:02:00] First of all, that is really weird.

[00:02:02] Not very sanitary.

[00:02:03] No, not at all.

[00:02:04] But also kind of real shady.

[00:02:06] Like, is this what, is this how that works?

[00:02:09] I've never thought about this.

[00:02:10] I hope not.

[00:02:10] That's so bizarre.

[00:02:12] So bizarre.

[00:02:19] This week in theme girling, what'd you do, Mandy?

[00:02:21] So I listened to This Cursed Light by Emily Thede.

[00:02:26] So it's the sequel to This Vicious Grace.

[00:02:30] I can't really tell you much about it because it's leading off of a cliffhanger.

[00:02:34] So just a recap of the first book.

[00:02:36] It was like a from blood and ash, shatter me baby.

[00:02:39] So you've got this girl who's blessed to be the, like a religious spearhead.

[00:02:44] And she's supposed to amplify her partner's powers by touch.

[00:02:48] So if she touches a partner that has fire magic, she can like shoot fire off into the distance.

[00:02:54] Unfortunately for her, her touch kills everyone.

[00:02:58] So yeah, she's a target, even though she's like the religious, like she's like the Virgin Mary.

[00:03:04] Like she's huge to the church.

[00:03:06] And so she hires a bodyguard to watch her back.

[00:03:10] And it's Dante who she finds she can touch.

[00:03:14] And things happen.

[00:03:17] And yeah, it was good.

[00:03:19] It was a good sequel.

[00:03:20] Then I finished If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkins.

[00:03:24] So it was the Scottish writing retreat ghost story.

[00:03:27] Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm because she's a debut horror author.

[00:03:31] He's a best-selling horror author.

[00:03:33] And she thinks his writing is shitty and overhyped.

[00:03:36] So throwing the book at him during a panel at a convention wrecked her career and wrecked his creativity.

[00:03:42] They unknowingly end up at the same writing retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland.

[00:03:46] And they're isolated from the rest of the world, both by distance and a snowstorm.

[00:03:51] So like they can't get out if they wanted to.

[00:03:54] I think I mentioned last week that the nearest hospital is 300 miles away.

[00:03:58] You're not going anywhere.

[00:03:59] Oh, and there's a murderous ghost on the loose.

[00:04:02] Of course.

[00:04:03] Just to add to the romance.

[00:04:06] But I really enjoyed it.

[00:04:07] It was good.

[00:04:08] It was funny and lighthearted.

[00:04:10] But then it would be like, oh my God, the ghost is like covered in blood.

[00:04:13] What's going on?

[00:04:15] Or she looks like she's going to kill me.

[00:04:18] So it was really good.

[00:04:18] I enjoyed it.

[00:04:19] This is my week of finishing things.

[00:04:21] I finished A Captured Cauldron by R.K.

[00:04:23] Ashwick.

[00:04:23] Everything's great on Rosemond Street until Ambrose is kidnapped during Potion Con after

[00:04:28] he was like, you guys are being so weird about kidnapping for no reason.

[00:04:31] He's kidnapped by criminals that want him to brew an impossible potion.

[00:04:35] So Rosemond Street, of course, is going to band together.

[00:04:37] They're determined to get Ambrose back.

[00:04:39] And Ambrose is determined to delay making this potion as long as he can to give Rosemond

[00:04:44] Street time to come save him.

[00:04:46] And maybe not just him.

[00:04:47] So this was higher stakes than Arrival Most Vile, but still like the cozy feeling that

[00:04:51] we know and love from R.K.

[00:04:53] Ashwick.

[00:04:54] There were new characters, new settings, new relationships.

[00:04:56] A freaking puzzle.

[00:04:57] Yes.

[00:04:58] So if you read A Captured Cauldron and you solve the puzzle, you enter a code on R.K.'s

[00:05:05] website and you get teaser art for the next Dudes of Brew book, which is really exciting.

[00:05:10] Yes.

[00:05:10] I thought that was so cool.

[00:05:11] Very cool.

[00:05:12] I went to Terror Fest, which was a little like we have the Trails of Terror here, which

[00:05:17] is like a haunted trail.

[00:05:18] But they did Terror Fest last weekend, which was like a vendor event.

[00:05:22] The twins and I set up a booth for Beacon, Beacon TV, because Josh was in Illinois.

[00:05:27] And so I was like, well, I'll go sell it for you.

[00:05:30] Unfortunately for us, it was two nights and it was dead.

[00:05:33] No pun intended.

[00:05:34] Both nights.

[00:05:35] It was really like it was it was fine.

[00:05:38] Like they tried, but I don't know if they didn't advertise it a lot or if people just

[00:05:43] were like, it's too early.

[00:05:45] It's too hot.

[00:05:45] I have other things going on.

[00:05:47] So there just weren't a lot of people there.

[00:05:48] But there was one vendor who had really, really cute earrings and they were like, all ghost

[00:05:53] earrings are a dollar and everything else is two dollars.

[00:05:56] The way I stocked up.

[00:05:57] The way I stocked up on cute earrings that I thought would be like ten dollars.

[00:06:01] Right.

[00:06:02] I've started flopping in a winter wonderland by Jason June, which we'll talk about in a

[00:06:07] little bit.

[00:06:08] And then thank God for this for Karen.

[00:06:11] I'm caught up on Agatha all along.

[00:06:13] Oh, I'm not.

[00:06:14] No, I didn't watch yesterday's episode.

[00:06:17] OK, well, I do want to give a trigger warning.

[00:06:19] That's not going to be a spoiler, really.

[00:06:20] But I would it wasn't like I was like screaming and hiding my face.

[00:06:25] But this show gets very close to like horror.

[00:06:28] Episode five has a character that like moves in a way that they're not supposed to like

[00:06:32] contorting and stuff, which I know can be a common trigger for people.

[00:06:36] And they move really fast while they're moving in the way in a way that a human body doesn't

[00:06:40] move.

[00:06:40] So if that's something that's upsetting to you, proceed with caution with episode five.

[00:06:45] And then a lot of the like special effects and makeup are very scary.

[00:06:50] Like one of the twins would be upset, like she wouldn't be able to get all the way through

[00:06:53] it.

[00:06:53] So it's not going to be like a slasher, gory.

[00:06:57] It's not the crow.

[00:06:59] But if you don't like people that don't move the right way, you know, if you don't like

[00:07:03] Reagan coming down the stairs on her back in The Exorcist, this might be a little hard.

[00:07:09] Well, the only thing I'll say is that there's a reveal that Josh has been calling from season

[00:07:14] one.

[00:07:14] And of course, he's going to be I mean, from episode one.

[00:07:16] And of course, he's going to be insufferable about it.

[00:07:20] He was like, I told you, but I have questions.

[00:07:24] I have an argument that I can't make yet.

[00:07:26] We'll make it next week.

[00:07:27] OK, yeah.

[00:07:27] Yeah, I was editing the pot.

[00:07:29] Well, I was distracted by reading and then I needed to edit the podcast.

[00:07:33] And so I think I didn't have time yesterday.

[00:07:35] Yeah, I think you're going to.

[00:07:36] I mean, this is good.

[00:07:37] This was a good episode.

[00:07:38] You know how like in Disney plus Marvel shows, there's like it's slow for a few episodes

[00:07:43] and then like it starts to pick up and all the pieces start coming together.

[00:07:46] We're picking up.

[00:07:47] Yeah.

[00:07:48] So you're going to like it.

[00:07:49] I'm excited.

[00:07:50] And that was my week.

[00:07:50] I didn't do a whole lot.

[00:07:51] I was kind of a bum.

[00:07:52] OK.

[00:07:53] What did you do this week?

[00:07:54] I finished A Captured Cauldron by R.K.

[00:07:57] Ashwick, which you have already talked about.

[00:07:59] So I won't do that.

[00:08:01] I read A Torch Against the Night by Sabah Tahir, which is book two of four of the Ember and

[00:08:07] the Ashes series.

[00:08:08] It literally picks up immediately where the last book left off.

[00:08:12] And I am so truly sad for anybody who read these books as they were coming out because

[00:08:19] the wait time between books already sucks.

[00:08:23] But like between this specifically would have been awful.

[00:08:27] I obviously can't say very much because of spoilers for book one.

[00:08:31] There's a lot of traveling, a lot of avoiding, a new POV character that we didn't have in

[00:08:35] book one.

[00:08:36] There's betrayals, twists and surprises, new alliances and another cliffhanger.

[00:08:40] Though I will say both cliffhangers are less oh my god someone's hanging off a cliff

[00:08:46] and will they survive level of cliffhangers.

[00:08:48] But like it's still stressful.

[00:08:50] You still want to know.

[00:08:51] Yeah.

[00:08:51] Then I read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Lori Gilmore.

[00:08:55] You've got Jeannie who is the new owner of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe.

[00:08:58] Logan is her produce supplier.

[00:09:00] It's insta-love but they both refuse to acknowledge it because of backstory.

[00:09:04] And I feel very lied to with this book.

[00:09:08] I was told that it was going to be super spicy.

[00:09:11] Somebody said like I think it was on threads or Instagram or something where somebody was

[00:09:16] like nobody told me this book was super spicy because the cover looks like it's like a cozy

[00:09:21] mystery.

[00:09:22] And I was prepared.

[00:09:24] I was all in.

[00:09:26] And they didn't bang until like 80% into the book.

[00:09:29] 80% into the book.

[00:09:30] And then it was just kind of like meh.

[00:09:33] Like the spice level was not.

[00:09:34] It was like one step above.

[00:09:37] Yeah.

[00:09:38] See people don't know.

[00:09:38] It was literally like one step above like closed door fade to black.

[00:09:43] It was not that spicy.

[00:09:45] Yeah.

[00:09:45] I was like I feel lied to.

[00:09:47] So to whoever said this I'm mad at you.

[00:09:51] I finished Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicolmeier.

[00:09:54] It is the sequel to Assistant to the Villain so I really can't say much but I did enjoy it.

[00:09:58] I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the first one which I mean I liked the first one already

[00:10:03] but I really like this one too.

[00:10:05] The tension is still there and it makes me very angry face like just you guys.

[00:10:11] But it's so good.

[00:10:12] Just do it.

[00:10:14] But it's so good.

[00:10:15] I read The Seventh Month Itch by Tanviye Pert.

[00:10:18] Justice has been separated from her husband Terrence for seven months and her best friend

[00:10:22] Emma is sick of her moping around so she basically like trick slash kidnaps her into going into

[00:10:28] a week long singles retreat in the middle of Vail, Colorado.

[00:10:33] Surprise surprise.

[00:10:33] Her soon to be ex-husband is also at this retreat.

[00:10:37] Whoops.

[00:10:37] He wants her back.

[00:10:39] She's scared to let him in again because backstory it is a second chance romance.

[00:10:44] Do I need to say more?

[00:10:46] Next up The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore by Lori Gilmore which is the second in the Dream Harbor series

[00:10:52] of standalone.

[00:10:53] So this is like the sequel to The Pumpkin Spice Cafe but not really a sequel.

[00:10:57] You've got bookseller Hazel who finds a secret message inside a book and doesn't know what

[00:11:03] it means.

[00:11:03] And the secret message is like she sees that the book is like not it's like crooked on

[00:11:08] the shelf so she pulls it out to fix it but then she realizes somebody has dog-eared

[00:11:12] a page and when she goes to like open it up she's like oh my gosh how could they?

[00:11:17] She goes to open it up and somebody has highlighted a passage on that dog-eared page and it like

[00:11:22] she's reading it and she's like wait is this a message?

[00:11:25] And she can't really figure out what it is.

[00:11:27] But that's okay because we've got fisherman Noah who by the way has been obsessed with

[00:11:32] Hazel ever since they first met.

[00:11:34] He is always up for a cryptic scavenger hunt adventure and so he agrees to help Hazel figure

[00:11:41] out what this secret message means and she gets more throughout the summer and the more

[00:11:47] time they spend together the more they start to realize that the chemistry between them

[00:11:52] may need to be explored.

[00:11:54] Yeah maybe a little.

[00:11:55] Maybe a little bit.

[00:11:55] Again this is not super spicy.

[00:11:58] There is spice in it but to the level of like what people were saying for this series no

[00:12:05] not so much.

[00:12:07] It was fine.

[00:12:08] Hey wait listeners I didn't just like grunt into the microphone that was George Bailey.

[00:12:12] That was George Bailey.

[00:12:12] You can't see.

[00:12:14] I always forget.

[00:12:15] This is going to be a really weird random sound.

[00:12:17] Sorry.

[00:12:18] So it's not like it's not amazing.

[00:12:21] It's not a bad story.

[00:12:22] It's just fine.

[00:12:23] It's very quick and it's really like really quick and easy read both of them were.

[00:12:28] Speaking of quick and easy reads I read two short stories by R.K. Ashwick.

[00:12:32] One is Welcome to Potion Con which is a short story that shows Ambrose's first time at Potion

[00:12:36] Con.

[00:12:36] We get to see how he was with his mentor.

[00:12:38] Spoiler alert.

[00:12:39] His mentor is the worst and I hate him.

[00:12:41] Oh yeah.

[00:12:42] And we get to see his first debate in which he, an apprentice, magnificently takes down

[00:12:48] probably the most famous and lauded potioner of the time which spoiler alert again he's

[00:12:53] also the worst and I also hate him.

[00:12:55] It was a good time.

[00:12:56] And then the other short story is A Clash of Cakes and Charms which centers around an

[00:13:00] annual charity bake sale headed up by Sherry.

[00:13:03] So we don't get a lot of Sherry in like the books.

[00:13:04] I know.

[00:13:05] Yeah.

[00:13:05] But we get, like she gets her own little story which is really fun.

[00:13:08] This year's charity bake sale is already off to a rocky start when Sherry finds out that

[00:13:12] none of her kids can come back to help like they have in past years.

[00:13:15] It's the first year that they're not able to come back and she's like not feeling great

[00:13:20] about that, you know, because her husband's passed away, she's only got her kids and this

[00:13:25] is kind of like their thing but they're not able to for various reasons and she gets

[00:13:29] it but she's still sad.

[00:13:30] To make matters worse, her arch nemesis in a sense, Hester, has planned a craft fair

[00:13:37] for High Vine which is like the neighborhood adjacent to Rosemond Street for the exact

[00:13:41] same day.

[00:13:42] So it's a battle of the baked goods and the crafts.

[00:13:45] Shenanigans ensue.

[00:13:46] It is a beautiful, wonderful, warm hug.

[00:13:49] I loved it.

[00:13:50] What does R.K.

[00:13:51] Ashwick write that's not a beautiful, wonderful, warm hug?

[00:13:55] It's perfection.

[00:13:56] I loved it.

[00:13:57] I read, I'm almost done, A Reaper at the Gates by Sabatahir which is book three of the

[00:14:03] Ember Quartet.

[00:14:04] At this point, I literally cannot say anything other than to let you know that Sabatahir is

[00:14:09] evil and I love her.

[00:14:11] Icebreaker by Hannah Grace.

[00:14:13] This is the book that all the pearl clutchers always point to with that stupid like romance

[00:14:18] books with Spice shouldn't have cartoon covers because think of the children.

[00:14:21] That discourse that comes around every now and then and I figured it was probably time

[00:14:25] for me to actually read it and I will say this, as the parent of a child, it is the parent's

[00:14:31] job to monitor what their child is reading if they have a problem with it.

[00:14:36] Full stop.

[00:14:37] Nobody else is.

[00:14:38] Nobody else is.

[00:14:39] If you are a parent and you're concerned about the content your child is consuming, that's

[00:14:44] on you.

[00:14:44] Correct.

[00:14:45] Do the research.

[00:14:46] In 2024, you can't take two seconds to Google.

[00:14:50] Come on.

[00:14:50] Or read the back of the book.

[00:14:52] Literally anything.

[00:14:53] That you're buying your child in Target.

[00:14:55] Are you kidding?

[00:14:55] Literally anything.

[00:14:56] Really?

[00:14:56] Like, come on.

[00:14:57] You're just going to put it on there in the cart because it's got a cartoon cover?

[00:15:01] Get out.

[00:15:01] Yeah.

[00:15:02] No, absolutely not.

[00:15:03] Okay.

[00:15:03] So we've got Anastasia Allen, who is a figure skater.

[00:15:06] She's been working her whole life in order to get onto Team USA for the Olympics, which

[00:15:11] it's going well because she has at her college is now part of the figure skating team and

[00:15:16] they're working towards that goal together.

[00:15:18] You've got Nate Hawkins, who has already been drafted by an NHL team, but he's deferred that

[00:15:24] so that he can finish his degree, which good for him.

[00:15:26] When a prank goes wrong forces the UCMH hockey team and the figure skating team to share a rink,

[00:15:33] sparks fly.

[00:15:34] And it's kind of feels like it wants to be enemies to lovers insta-love kind of thing

[00:15:40] because Nate is immediately infatuated with her and she's like, I could never date a hockey

[00:15:45] player.

[00:15:46] Hockey players, ugh, they're the worst.

[00:15:48] And so she's determined to be like, absolutely not.

[00:15:52] So of course they end up together, right?

[00:15:53] Oh yeah.

[00:15:54] So surprised.

[00:15:55] It was fine.

[00:15:56] It wasn't anything magnificent.

[00:15:58] It could have used some trigger warnings.

[00:16:01] And honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, there might have been, but I don't actually

[00:16:04] really remember.

[00:16:05] But just in case there wasn't, warning for disordered eating and emotional abuse.

[00:16:10] Other than that, it was pretty predictable and felt very like, this is a college drama.

[00:16:15] Yeah.

[00:16:16] That was fine.

[00:16:16] I feel like MH is Maple Hills or something like that.

[00:16:19] I read Wildfire and it was the same.

[00:16:22] Like, I'm not going to write to tell my, you know, anybody at home that they should be listening

[00:16:26] or they should be, I listened to it.

[00:16:28] They should be reading these books, but like I listened while I painted my bedroom.

[00:16:31] Right.

[00:16:32] It was fine.

[00:16:32] And it got me through.

[00:16:32] It was fine.

[00:16:33] It got me through a day of cleaning and painting.

[00:16:37] It's a book.

[00:16:38] It's a book.

[00:16:38] Yeah.

[00:16:38] It's a book.

[00:16:40] Like kind of the found family aspect of it, which was cool.

[00:16:43] Like I liked, I liked, yeah, I liked, I liked the group.

[00:16:46] And then finally I read Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabatahir, which is the finale of the Ember

[00:16:52] Quartet.

[00:16:53] Again, you can tell us the title.

[00:16:54] Yeah.

[00:16:55] That's Sabatahir is a monster and I love her.

[00:16:58] Yes, I cried.

[00:16:59] That's what I can tell you.

[00:17:00] That's, that's pretty much what I can say about this book because it's the last book

[00:17:05] in a four book series.

[00:17:07] Yeah.

[00:17:08] I really can't say anything else.

[00:17:10] I started Air, which is the first book in the spinoff duology set in the same universe.

[00:17:16] And I'm going to meet Sabatahir like immediately after we finish recording this.

[00:17:21] So it's very exciting.

[00:17:22] And I also started flopping in a winter, well, I'm almost done with flopping in a winter

[00:17:26] wonderland by Jason June.

[00:17:28] I am like 96% of the way through this book and I was like frantically trying to finish

[00:17:33] reading, but it's okay.

[00:17:34] It's, it's getting to like, I'm getting to that resolution and I'm like dying.

[00:17:39] Give it to me now.

[00:17:40] I just need to know how it ends.

[00:17:42] So yeah, but I'm really loving it.

[00:17:45] And that's my week.

[00:17:47] I almost forgot to tell some sad news that Angie reminded me of.

[00:17:51] I am, I'm, I'm to the point where I'm DNFing Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

[00:17:57] Oh no.

[00:17:58] She texted me about it today and she was like, I tried to read it a few years ago and I just

[00:18:02] couldn't get through it.

[00:18:03] Like she said, I stopped about halfway, which is about where I am.

[00:18:06] I feel like I've been listening to it for 500 years.

[00:18:09] Right.

[00:18:10] And I don't feel like there's a story really.

[00:18:13] It's just kind of random scenes.

[00:18:15] I mean, of course there's a story you're following a character, but I just feel like it's a lot

[00:18:20] of words and I'm like, if you are bigger than kingdom of ash, if you are longer than kingdom

[00:18:26] of ash, you better be as freaking epic or have as much plot or as much intrigue.

[00:18:32] You better, if you're bigger than this, you better have, you better have something.

[00:18:37] You better bring something to the table.

[00:18:39] And I just, life's too short to waste your time on books that don't completely just grab you.

[00:18:43] Right.

[00:18:44] Right.

[00:18:44] That's fair.

[00:18:46] DNFing that.

[00:18:46] I will say, I don't know why you saying that reminded me of this, but I have somehow worked

[00:18:52] my way up to listening to audiobooks at 2.5 X speed now.

[00:18:57] I do that sometimes.

[00:18:58] It just depends on the narrator.

[00:18:59] Yeah, well, so I started it with the Pumpkin Spice Cafe because it was like, the narrator

[00:19:05] was not as speedy as normally they are at 2X.

[00:19:09] So I was like, okay, let me do this.

[00:19:11] And then I finished that and when I jumped back to, I think it was probably book three of

[00:19:17] the Ember series, I was listening to it at 2X and I was like, this is slow.

[00:19:21] Oh, wait.

[00:19:24] So I think I might have a new default, which is, it's weird, but I'm here for it.

[00:19:29] It's fine.

[00:19:30] I'm not mad at it.

[00:19:31] I had to laugh because, you know, Libby, it's either Libby or Libro.

[00:19:34] I don't remember which one.

[00:19:35] Right.

[00:19:36] Auto defaults back to 1X for every new book.

[00:19:39] Oh, it's not Libby because mine stays up.

[00:19:41] Then I guess it must be Libro, but I just, I'm going to use this cursed light as an example

[00:19:46] though.

[00:19:46] And like, I don't, I'm making, I'm pulling this company right out of my ass, but it started

[00:19:50] and she was like, dreamscape media resents this cursed light.

[00:19:59] Bye.

[00:20:00] And I felt like I was in the DMV in Zootopia.

[00:20:02] It was like, I could not get that 2X fast enough.

[00:20:06] I was like, you gotta be kidding me.

[00:20:08] That's wild.

[00:20:08] You gotta get out of here with this.

[00:20:10] It's crazy.

[00:20:12] It's crazy what a difference this makes.

[00:20:13] It's like they're talking too jello.

[00:20:15] Yeah.

[00:20:15] Once you get used to a certain speed, like it really does sound like that.

[00:20:20] It's wild, wild.

[00:20:21] I feel like I would fall asleep if I had to listen to a book at 1X now.

[00:20:25] I feel like, oh, I definitely would for sure.

[00:20:30] Yeah.

[00:20:30] I, and it's crazy because like I was listening when I started Reaper, I was at 2X and I was

[00:20:37] listening to it and I was like, why does this, it feels like they're talking at regular

[00:20:40] speed.

[00:20:40] Like what?

[00:20:41] And then I was like, am I, am I too used to 2X now?

[00:20:45] Maybe that's what it is.

[00:20:46] And so I said it, I said it a little bit faster and I was like, oh.

[00:20:48] I flop back and forth.

[00:20:50] It just depends on the narrator.

[00:20:51] There, there's one, there's one narrator that I know.

[00:20:55] I can't, I don't know who it is, but I know that I've listened to one book where they

[00:20:58] were just, they were speaking so fast that I had to decrease like from 2X.

[00:21:03] It might've been a Robbie Couch book.

[00:21:04] One of his narrators, I think, or no, it might not have been Robbie Couch.

[00:21:09] It may have been a case in Calendar where they talked like a normal person instead of trying

[00:21:13] to be overly, you know, overly dramatic and whatever.

[00:21:17] It was just like you were listening to the teenager talk.

[00:21:20] Yeah.

[00:21:20] Yeah.

[00:21:20] So it was like, oh, that's too fast now.

[00:21:22] Yeah.

[00:21:22] No, I think mine was, mine was, I think it was a historical and I was like really shocked

[00:21:28] because like you would think of all of them historicals, they would be the most like

[00:21:33] enunciated.

[00:21:33] But yeah, it was, I was just like, no, I can't do 2X, which was shocking.

[00:21:38] So I know wild.

[00:21:41] Anyways.

[00:21:47] Speaking of wild, do you have any fictional boyfriends this week?

[00:21:50] Look how I didn't skip it this time.

[00:21:52] Oh, I know, Mandy.

[00:21:53] Good job.

[00:21:54] Let me go.

[00:21:55] Elias Viterius.

[00:21:56] I, this, this, this boy, this man is like, I love him so much.

[00:22:02] I can't even really explain what it is about Elias.

[00:22:06] I just, he's from the Ember series.

[00:22:08] He's like the male main character and he starts off as like the, a soldier in the martial empire's,

[00:22:20] you know, army thing.

[00:22:22] It's not like an arm.

[00:22:23] They call them something else, but like, he's like a soldier and he's the one who was like,

[00:22:28] I don't want to be here.

[00:22:29] I'm not having a good time.

[00:22:30] I would like to desert.

[00:22:31] I would like to leave.

[00:22:32] I do not want to be a part of this at all.

[00:22:34] And he is just a sweet baby angel and I love him.

[00:22:38] And I just, how, how do you have such a sweet, sweet man, a beautiful, wonderful, sweet man coming from somebody like Harris Viteria,

[00:22:48] who is like the Ember version of Professor Umbridge.

[00:23:21] Oh.

[00:23:22] I said I'm reading air right now and he has like a cameo in it because, okay.

[00:23:27] And it's set in the same universe.

[00:23:28] So I'm just like, I get to see him all grown up because it's like 20 years later.

[00:23:33] And I'm just like, oh, I love, I love.

[00:23:35] Oh.

[00:23:35] Hi, honey.

[00:23:36] I missed you.

[00:23:37] So yes, Elias Viterius is my fictional boyfriend this week.

[00:23:41] Okay.

[00:23:41] How about you?

[00:23:42] I have two.

[00:23:43] I really like Neil Storm from If I Stopped Haunting You.

[00:23:46] There's pining.

[00:23:48] Houston, we have pining.

[00:23:51] Ugh.

[00:23:51] I love pining.

[00:23:52] I mean, that's all I need.

[00:23:54] Yeah.

[00:23:54] You find out things that like these months since the book throwing incident about him that are just like,

[00:24:03] Oh my goodness.

[00:24:04] Little guy.

[00:24:05] Okay.

[00:24:06] Okay.

[00:24:07] Okay.

[00:24:07] And then I love Casey from Flopping in a Winter Wonderland because how could I not fall in love with a tender hearted 6'8 Christmas king?

[00:24:18] I mean.

[00:24:19] Love.

[00:24:20] I love.

[00:24:20] Yeah.

[00:24:21] He is so adorable.

[00:24:23] A little baby angel.

[00:24:25] He really is.

[00:24:26] He really is.

[00:24:27] The spirit of Christmas.

[00:24:29] Yeah.

[00:24:29] Just, yeah.

[00:24:30] Love.

[00:24:31] I agree.

[00:24:38] That sound means we have an intruder alert.

[00:24:40] Oh my gosh.

[00:24:41] I'm so excited.

[00:24:42] Y'all are not ready for the energy that is about to be here.

[00:24:45] We are interviewing Jason June, author of the upcoming Flopping in a Winter Wonderland, among other things.

[00:24:52] Oh yeah.

[00:24:53] We're very excited to talk to you.

[00:24:55] Thank you so much for being here, Jason June.

[00:24:57] Oh my gosh.

[00:24:58] Thank you all so much for having me.

[00:24:59] I am so excited to start like officially be talking Christmas.

[00:25:02] I know we're like, we're in, we're thick in Halloween season right now, but I'm just fast

[00:25:08] forwarding.

[00:25:09] So.

[00:25:09] I broke out my Christmas, my National Lampoon's Christmas wedding.

[00:25:14] It's a beaut, Clark.

[00:25:16] We're so excited.

[00:25:17] I love, I love Christmas.

[00:25:19] Christmas, especially since like when I had, I never used to until I had my daughter and

[00:25:24] now I'm like, well, I have to love Christmas.

[00:25:26] I have to have like the spirit and now I feel it and it's, I'm so excited.

[00:25:32] So what we normally first ask is if you could give us like a quick elevator pitch of the

[00:25:37] book for anybody who doesn't, hasn't heard about it.

[00:25:40] Yes.

[00:25:40] So Flopping in a Winter Wonderland is a gay YA dual POV Christmas rom-com set on a unfortunately

[00:25:47] fictional year round Christmas theme park Island.

[00:25:50] And the two point of views are Chris, a wanderer or a person who works on the island and Aaron,

[00:25:54] who's a mainlander that comes to visit.

[00:25:56] And Chris and Aaron both dislike Christmas for their various reasons and decide to go Grinchly

[00:26:02] together on Aaron's brother's Christmas experience at Winter Wonderland to prevent him from getting in a

[00:26:08] codependent relationship that has been like the, the driving force of his whole life for the past

[00:26:13] eight years.

[00:26:14] And along the way they discover the magic of Christmas and it truly is all about love and

[00:26:19] connection.

[00:26:19] And it's not phony.

[00:26:22] It's not.

[00:26:23] It's so good.

[00:26:23] It's so good.

[00:26:25] Like I am literally like pages away from the end and I'm like, what?

[00:26:31] I do need to know how it ends.

[00:26:33] I can't.

[00:26:33] I had to make her stop so that we could record because she has something to do after.

[00:26:37] So I was like, you need to stop.

[00:26:39] I'm like, okay.

[00:26:40] Record with me.

[00:26:41] Dang it.

[00:26:41] I love this.

[00:26:43] Oh my gosh.

[00:26:44] Have you heard of Santa's land?

[00:26:46] No.

[00:26:46] Okay.

[00:26:47] I don't want to get you like too excited because it is not Winter Wonderland.

[00:26:51] Okay.

[00:26:52] It's like there is a theme park that in Cherokee, North Carolina, I grew up going there every

[00:26:57] summer with my grandparents.

[00:26:59] Like that was like a big thing we did every summer.

[00:27:01] And it is if Winter Wonderland had like a million dollar budget instead of like billions.

[00:27:08] It's not that level at all, but it exists and it is very kitsch.

[00:27:14] And you need, I need you to go.

[00:27:17] I love this.

[00:27:17] And so it's year round.

[00:27:19] Yes.

[00:27:19] I went in June every year.

[00:27:20] But I'm going.

[00:27:21] That is Cherokee, North Carolina.

[00:27:23] So knowing that you didn't even, you didn't know that Santa's land existed.

[00:27:28] What inspiration did you have for creating such a detailed, beautiful environment in Winter

[00:27:34] Wonderland?

[00:27:35] Yes.

[00:27:35] So originally this book was set during the month of July and it was going to be like a Christmas

[00:27:42] in July type setting with, and it's still in Northern Alaska, but with constant daylight

[00:27:48] instead of constant nighttime.

[00:27:50] And I was really inspired by being able to still be surrounded by the magic of Christmas

[00:27:56] in the summer where like, I'm a firm believer in the full Christmas in July Hallmark movie

[00:28:02] marathons, like all of that.

[00:28:04] Not Hallmark Christmas movies in July and year round and Christmas music year round.

[00:28:08] And so I wanted to capture that spirit for all the holiday havers.

[00:28:13] We're obsessed with Christmas where we don't care what time of year it is.

[00:28:15] We just want to be in the magic of Christmas.

[00:28:17] And I wanted to create this land that was truly, that was truly the Hallmark, the quintessential

[00:28:22] Hallmark vibe and feel in a secluded island.

[00:28:26] And I needed it to be, or wanted it to be secluded so that like the magic could not be

[00:28:30] touched.

[00:28:31] That there was no way that you could venture too far and be out of the magic of Christmas.

[00:28:37] And God, I wish it was real.

[00:28:39] Right.

[00:28:41] It is so wild because when I was reading the book, we're introduced to Aaron's brother,

[00:28:48] Casey, who is like all about Christmas, loves Christmas.

[00:28:52] It's like his whole personality, right?

[00:28:54] We have a friend named Casey who is Christmas is her everything.

[00:29:00] Like she and her wife go all out.

[00:29:02] They have multiple Christmas trees in their house, in their house.

[00:29:06] And so there's a line that I highlighted that I texted her.

[00:29:10] I'm like something, I can't even remember the line, but it was something about how much

[00:29:14] Casey loves Christmas.

[00:29:15] And I was like, oh my gosh, you're in a book.

[00:29:17] I did the same thing.

[00:29:19] I text her and I said, it was, it was mine was christmascasey at gmail.com.

[00:29:24] This you?

[00:29:26] Why don't I have this book yet?

[00:29:29] I love that so much.

[00:29:31] Do you, so are you, are you Casey or do you have somebody like Casey in your life that it

[00:29:37] kind of inspired his character and any of the other characters in the book?

[00:29:42] Because they're all so like, especially the main characters, you know, we've got Chris

[00:29:46] and you've got Aaron and they're so unique to this world.

[00:29:50] And I'm just wondering if there's anybody who like inspired you to create them.

[00:29:54] Yeah.

[00:29:55] So Casey's love of Christmas is inspired in large part by my love of Christmas, but Casey

[00:30:01] kind of goes overboard.

[00:30:03] Casey uses his love of Christmas as a way to escape actual problems going on in his life.

[00:30:08] And I don't think I do that, but I mean, maybe that's something that I need loved ones

[00:30:14] to tell me.

[00:30:14] But he's, Casey is also loosely inspired by my brother.

[00:30:19] I think at its heart, this story is about three things.

[00:30:23] There's a trifecta of love in this novel.

[00:30:25] There's one, the obvious romance that develops between Chris and Aaron and, and finding love

[00:30:32] through the commonality of having, having a common enemy or something that you hate.

[00:30:36] And in this case for them, it's Christmas.

[00:30:38] They both hate Christmas.

[00:30:39] Uh, the other relationship that's really important is relationship between brothers and Aaron

[00:30:44] and Casey.

[00:30:45] And even though Aaron wants to get all Grinchy on Chris's, I mean, on Casey's Christmas plans,

[00:30:50] it's because he wants to protect his brother.

[00:30:52] And I've got a brother that we hated each other when we were growing up.

[00:30:56] And then the second he moved away to college, I was like, wait, I missed my brother.

[00:31:01] Wait a second.

[00:31:02] Yeah.

[00:31:03] And it took literally 180, like overnight.

[00:31:05] And we became, we became like peers and, and started a relationship as adults, even

[00:31:11] though at the time, I mean, he was like 18 and I was 15 or 16, but I all of a sudden

[00:31:15] understood and appreciated him.

[00:31:17] And my brother, Zach is not nearly as much of a himbo as Casey is.

[00:31:21] That's actually a neuroscientist.

[00:31:23] Like he's a very smart person, but he has that vibe of protectiveness that I do think

[00:31:28] my brother would do anything for me if it came down to it, which I think is at Casey's

[00:31:32] heart.

[00:31:33] So there's that relationship.

[00:31:34] And the third and final relationship is between Chris and his uncle, Toby.

[00:31:39] And part of Chris's backstory and storyline is that he wants his uncle to be the first

[00:31:45] gay Santa at Winter Wonderland, which has never happened before in their legion of Santas

[00:31:50] that they have on the island.

[00:31:51] And when Toby auditioned to be Santa, he was accepted.

[00:31:55] But Toby said on the condition that I want to be gay Santa and the Winter Wonderland powers

[00:31:59] that be said, no, they won't do that.

[00:32:01] And so Chris is trying to get Toby back on the island.

[00:32:03] But that relationship that Chris has with his uncle is really inspired by the relationship

[00:32:08] I have with my aunts and uncles that they're like another set of parents for me.

[00:32:13] My dad has four sisters and all of them in some way or another took on a motherly role for

[00:32:19] me and their husbands took on fatherly roles for me.

[00:32:21] And so this is sort of a love letter to them.

[00:32:24] And the impact that aunts and uncles can have, it can be just as strong and monumental and

[00:32:28] life changing as that of your parents.

[00:32:31] You're talking to an aunt who is raising nieces.

[00:32:35] Their dad deploys for months at a time.

[00:32:38] And when he's gone there with me, like they have their bedrooms.

[00:32:41] They have like that.

[00:32:42] This is their house too.

[00:32:43] And they, you don't see that very often.

[00:32:45] Like aunt and uncle representate.

[00:32:47] I don't even want to call it representation, but you know what I mean?

[00:32:50] Totally.

[00:32:50] And they'll send me TikToks and it'll be like, I would choose my mom in every life.

[00:32:54] And they'll just say aunt asterisk.

[00:32:58] They send me all of like the mom things and they'll just say my auntie.

[00:33:03] That is really special to see in that book.

[00:33:06] And I, I appreciate it as an aunt who is like a secondary parent.

[00:33:11] Yeah.

[00:33:11] Taking a more involved role in raising nibblings, nieces.

[00:33:15] I love that.

[00:33:15] Yes.

[00:33:16] They're going to remember you and the memories they're making with you like their entire life.

[00:33:20] And that's so important.

[00:33:21] And they're insufferable Christmas people too.

[00:33:26] Speaking of relatable for me though, Aaron being the middleman, the family middleman has

[00:33:33] kind of been a theme that I think is going to resonate with a lot of people because I

[00:33:38] know for myself, I was the middleman between my parents when they split.

[00:33:41] I had to pass the messages and the Christmas gifts.

[00:33:43] If these person wasn't, if this person wasn't talking to this person, but they still had

[00:33:47] to do something, I had to do it.

[00:33:48] I was always the one.

[00:33:50] And there's a part where Aaron talks about if I don't do it, no one will.

[00:33:53] So whatever.

[00:33:54] So where did that part of Aaron's personality come from being the doer, the fixer for everybody

[00:34:00] else?

[00:34:01] Yeah.

[00:34:01] I am a very Virgo Virgo and I need things to be like just so, and I need things to go

[00:34:07] in the way that I have planned them.

[00:34:09] And there's a, there is a few characters in my backlog that all have this sort of like

[00:34:14] type A tendency to them and what to do when life all of a sudden does not go according

[00:34:20] to plan.

[00:34:21] And for Aaron in particular, his, his lack of emotion when it comes to just getting things

[00:34:27] done is a defense mechanism from, from preventing himself from ever getting hurt again.

[00:34:32] And I think that that can be it for a lot of us for me and, and why I have been focusing

[00:34:38] on it in this book is I'm really realizing thanks to the wonders of therapy, how much

[00:34:45] I do not like things feeling out of my control and that it really, really sets me off.

[00:34:51] Like not in that I like blow up and get mad, but in a way that like I obsess over and I

[00:34:55] cannot stop trying to figure out how to get, get things back into my control.

[00:34:59] And I will sort of spiral in that, even if it's an internal spiral.

[00:35:02] And I wanted to show that struggle through, through Aaron, that even something as like

[00:35:08] whimsical and magical as Christmas can be something that sets somebody off that has hardcore

[00:35:13] control issues.

[00:35:14] And it's silly that that could make somebody upset when Christmas plans don't go according

[00:35:19] to plan.

[00:35:20] But yeah, I just thought it would be a good mashup because a lot of times Christmas stories,

[00:35:25] which I love, will focus only on like external battles going on and not a lot of the time

[00:35:31] in on internal battles.

[00:35:32] I guess you should say more modern Christmas stories focus on external things like what's

[00:35:37] going on with family and turmoil there as opposed to internal.

[00:35:41] Whereas like some of the founding Christmas stories, like a Christmas carol is really about

[00:35:45] the internal.

[00:35:45] Oh yeah.

[00:35:46] You gotta get your stuff going on.

[00:35:49] Yeah.

[00:35:50] I think you've done a really good job because I'm one of those people.

[00:35:53] And so it's like when the giant mess goes wrong with baking the cookies and it's like,

[00:35:58] this is supposed to be.

[00:35:59] Why isn't this magical?

[00:36:02] Exactly.

[00:36:03] And I think it's very like, especially during the holiday season, people get a little bit

[00:36:08] extra with the control.

[00:36:10] Yeah.

[00:36:10] So setting it specifically in this setting, it makes it even more like stands out more.

[00:36:17] Yes.

[00:36:18] And I don't know about y'all's families, but it seems to me like in most families, there

[00:36:22] is the person or small core handful of people that are the planners for Christmas.

[00:36:26] They're going to get it all decorated.

[00:36:28] They're going to make sure the meal's going according to plan.

[00:36:30] They're going to make sure everything is just so.

[00:36:32] And then the rest of the family, the next like 80 to 90% of the family is just along

[00:36:36] for the ride and wouldn't be able to make the holiday happen if it wasn't for those

[00:36:39] people.

[00:36:40] Right.

[00:36:41] Absolutely.

[00:36:41] That's me and my mom and my granddaddy.

[00:36:44] And the rest of them are just like, tell us when to show up.

[00:36:47] Yeah.

[00:36:48] If I need to bring a casserole.

[00:36:52] So speaking of planning, I'm always curious how each, because each individual author is

[00:36:58] different in the way that they write and they get through a story.

[00:37:02] So are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

[00:37:06] Like, did you, the story kind of come out fully fleshed?

[00:37:09] You had an outline or did you kind of just make it up as you go along?

[00:37:13] Like, did everybody, was Aaron like, okay, this is what we're going to do.

[00:37:17] This is how the story goes.

[00:37:18] I am a hardcore plotter.

[00:37:21] Like I cannot start a story unless I have a very detailed outline already going.

[00:37:25] And for me, it just helps my Virgo brain click more where I might get writer's block.

[00:37:30] But for me, that typically happens in the outlining stage where I'm like, okay, what

[00:37:34] is going to happen next to get to whatever core idea or theme or whatever it is I'm trying

[00:37:39] to flesh out.

[00:37:40] But once I have that outline and I'm drafting, I really don't have writer's block anymore.

[00:37:43] Knock on wood, the universe, all the things, miracles, which is really great that I can

[00:37:50] just draft and then revise.

[00:37:52] And that's not to say that there won't be things that that I didn't add enough of yet

[00:37:56] or characters that I haven't fleshed out enough yet or storylines that completely change.

[00:38:00] There's always that.

[00:38:01] But there's more of a flow once I outline where I can get the first draft done and then

[00:38:04] be able to see like, oh, this doesn't make any sense.

[00:38:06] Let's get rid of that.

[00:38:07] I struggled a little bit with in this particular book with the Raquel of it all with Casey's

[00:38:12] girlfriend that I needed to give her enough of a backstory, but needed to also needed to

[00:38:17] also establish her relationship with Aaron and not just Casey and how Aaron views Raquel.

[00:38:23] And that for me was the big thing in revisions that I didn't fully have fleshed out in the

[00:38:28] outline that that I am happy that came through or I hope came through in revisions.

[00:38:34] I figured it out.

[00:38:35] Yeah, definitely.

[00:38:36] It absolutely did.

[00:38:38] So I have some just rapid fire Christmas either ors.

[00:38:42] Yes.

[00:38:44] Every answer is going to be both.

[00:38:46] I know.

[00:38:47] Okay.

[00:38:47] Eggnog or hot cocoa?

[00:38:49] Hot cocoa.

[00:38:49] Me too.

[00:38:50] Peppermint or gingerbread?

[00:38:51] Ooh, peppermint.

[00:38:52] Ooh.

[00:38:52] All right.

[00:38:52] Ice skating or sleigh rides?

[00:38:54] Sleigh rides.

[00:38:54] Hallmark movies or decorating cookies?

[00:38:56] Hallmark movies.

[00:38:57] Christmas shopping or gift wrapping?

[00:38:58] Christmas shopping.

[00:39:00] We're like in all of them except I don't do peppermint.

[00:39:03] I don't want to feel like I just brushed my teeth.

[00:39:06] Yeah.

[00:39:07] I was just like, what can I?

[00:39:08] Like, let's do some rapid fire.

[00:39:10] Oh, that's right.

[00:39:11] Now, like, I want to go get my, I do a real tree.

[00:39:13] This makes me want to go get my Christmas tree.

[00:39:15] Yes.

[00:39:16] I'm so, like, in the Christmas spirit now.

[00:39:19] I'm like, yeah.

[00:39:20] Go ahead.

[00:39:20] I'm like, is it December time?

[00:39:22] Is it time, guys?

[00:39:24] December?

[00:39:25] November 1st.

[00:39:26] I know.

[00:39:26] That's really when the season starts.

[00:39:28] I know.

[00:39:29] I think we're officially on the November 1st date as a culture, even though a lot of people,

[00:39:34] like, do not like that.

[00:39:35] I'm like, no, no.

[00:39:36] That's what it is now.

[00:39:37] Too much of a people.

[00:39:37] My family has to eat Thanksgiving dinner around the Christmas decorations.

[00:39:41] And my mom and I are the first two people at the Lowe's when the trees come in.

[00:39:45] Perfect.

[00:39:46] Every year.

[00:39:46] I get people.

[00:39:47] Everybody.

[00:39:48] Yeah.

[00:39:48] See, I'm all for that for everybody but me.

[00:39:52] Only because my birthday is in November.

[00:39:55] So for me, I'm like, if we start decorating for Christmas, I feel like we're skipping my

[00:40:01] birthday.

[00:40:02] Right.

[00:40:02] I get that.

[00:40:03] That's just in my house.

[00:40:05] Everybody else can do it.

[00:40:06] I love seeing it.

[00:40:07] But I'm like, here, no, no.

[00:40:08] We're going to wait until at least after my birthday.

[00:40:12] I will say one of the biggest travesties of the universe in my mind.

[00:40:15] And this doesn't affect me because my birthday is in September.

[00:40:18] So I don't have this problem.

[00:40:19] But I think that people who have whose birthdays fall in the month before Christmas will get

[00:40:24] shafted by their loved ones all the time where they get a joint birthday Christmas gift.

[00:40:30] I'm like, this is really just not fair.

[00:40:32] And I don't.

[00:40:33] All the time.

[00:40:34] Yeah.

[00:40:35] I'm like, this is not right.

[00:40:36] So you're telling me just by the luck of the draw, this person you say you love as much

[00:40:40] as everyone else, but whom you give two gifts to or two thoughtful experiences to not

[00:40:44] necessarily like a monetary thing.

[00:40:46] You're only going to give one?

[00:40:47] That doesn't seem right to me.

[00:40:48] No, I'm a psycho about it because my husband's birthday is December 2nd.

[00:40:53] And so he's not, he doesn't want all of the fanfare, you know?

[00:40:57] So, but I'm like, no, we're having a birthday dinner where everybody's going to come and it's

[00:41:01] going to be about you and we're celebrating and we're not doing joint gifts because it's

[00:41:06] your birthday.

[00:41:07] And it's either going to be that or we're going to have to start doing a half birthday.

[00:41:09] Yeah.

[00:41:11] Or these people that don't understand are kicked out of the family slash friend group.

[00:41:14] Right.

[00:41:15] They don't have hearts, obviously.

[00:41:16] They don't like you as much.

[00:41:18] Yeah.

[00:41:19] They clearly don't like you that much.

[00:41:22] We don't need them.

[00:41:23] So my birthday's in November.

[00:41:25] My daughter's is on Valentine's Day.

[00:41:27] So I can just imagine in the future, like if she's dating somebody and they don't give

[00:41:33] her two separate gifts, like I'm going to have words, I'm going to have words because

[00:41:37] I've, I've grown up with, with Christmas birthday combined.

[00:41:40] We're not going to have that happen.

[00:41:42] No.

[00:41:43] And just in case any listeners out there are like, but it's not about the gifts.

[00:41:47] It's not about blah and all these holidays or birthdays or whatever.

[00:41:49] We're not necessarily saying something that you buy.

[00:41:53] We're just saying that whole moment people will cut in half by way of.

[00:41:59] Their birthday isn't celebrated like a birthday in June is.

[00:42:03] It should be.

[00:42:05] Exactly.

[00:42:05] Absolutely should be.

[00:42:06] Yes.

[00:42:07] Just something, something separate, something thoughtful and separate would be nice.

[00:42:11] For sure.

[00:42:12] Okay.

[00:42:12] So we have a couple of questions that we always ask our guests.

[00:42:16] And this is the moment where literally everything you've ever consumed is just going to leave

[00:42:20] your brain.

[00:42:22] So we have a segment on the podcast, which we call fictional boyfriend of the week, where

[00:42:26] we pick a fictional character.

[00:42:28] It doesn't have to be a boyfriend.

[00:42:30] It can just be any fictional character.

[00:42:31] We've had fictional found families, fictional pets.

[00:42:34] I've had a fictional granny one time, just a fictional character really vibing with.

[00:42:38] Mine was Casey this week because a 6'8 Christmas King Kimbo.

[00:42:43] I love that.

[00:42:46] So we want to know, do you have any fictional characters that you really vibe with that you

[00:42:50] think like people should meet this person?

[00:42:52] Yes.

[00:42:53] I am currently reading an advanced copy of Don Martin's Verity Vox, which is like a middle

[00:42:59] grade fantasy.

[00:43:00] But it's middle grade in the way that it's like a timeless middle grade that you could

[00:43:04] read it at any age and it doesn't feel like you're being spoken down to or anything.

[00:43:09] Not to say that I think middle grade writers do that, but you know what I mean.

[00:43:11] It feels like there's an omniscient narrator who's speaking to you about Verity's journey

[00:43:16] this whole time.

[00:43:16] And Verity is just this amazing, precocious little witch who is like around the age of

[00:43:23] 13 and in witch lore in Don's world is that they go out on their own on 13 and try to help

[00:43:30] just the world and the communities wherever the world is taking them with their magic and

[00:43:34] for like no other reward than just doing it and like growing your witchly powers and helping

[00:43:39] the community.

[00:43:40] And Verity is just so badass and I'm really vibing with her.

[00:43:43] I'm just like, this is the kind of attitude we need from everybody where it's like, I'm

[00:43:47] just going to help you because I have the ability to help you and you're not taking from

[00:43:52] me in the process.

[00:43:53] And it teaches me something about the universe to do that.

[00:43:57] And I think that's really cool and something we need more of right now.

[00:44:00] Yeah, definitely.

[00:44:01] And write that down for tiny human.

[00:44:03] Yes, it's on the list.

[00:44:05] Yeah.

[00:44:05] I think it comes out in, I want to say April, 2025, sometimes spring 2025.

[00:44:10] And I'm really looking forward to people.

[00:44:12] It's going on the list.

[00:44:13] Yes, it's definitely going on the list.

[00:44:15] She recently read Ava Evergreen.

[00:44:18] Oh, I love those books.

[00:44:20] And so like this sounds right up her alley.

[00:44:24] Also, I hope someday she has the opportunity to meet Julie who wrote those books because

[00:44:28] she is just like a truly magical human.

[00:44:31] I've had the pleasure of being on, I think, a couple festivals we've been at together and

[00:44:35] just every time.

[00:44:36] Love her.

[00:44:37] I need to tell you about yourself because you're a magical human.

[00:44:40] Yes.

[00:44:41] Yes.

[00:44:41] Yeah.

[00:44:42] I took one of my, my nieces are twins and one of them is bookish and one is not.

[00:44:47] And I, so I took the bookish one to Y'all Fest in 2022.

[00:44:51] And then we all went last year.

[00:44:52] But you, during the Smackdown, did the story where you had to pull it completely out of your

[00:44:57] ass about the little girl going through a portal.

[00:44:59] And you threw out the, Bella, where the hell have you been, Loka?

[00:45:02] And we still talk about how incredible and funny and wonderful that moment was.

[00:45:09] Like it's a core memory for both of us.

[00:45:12] Oh, I love that so much.

[00:45:13] I have no idea what I said in that story.

[00:45:16] That was the first time I ever did Smackdown at Y'all Fest and did not know exactly what

[00:45:21] I was signing up for.

[00:45:22] And some of them are like, quite frankly, this is no, obviously no ill will towards any

[00:45:27] of the planning or anything, but some of the challenges are much easier than the ones I

[00:45:32] had to do.

[00:45:32] And the other people that had to make a story on the fly.

[00:45:34] Some of them are like, answer this trivia question.

[00:45:36] Here's four multiple choice answers.

[00:45:37] And then you're done.

[00:45:38] Yeah.

[00:45:39] Well, we're crafting.

[00:45:42] I tried so hard to find a video of it just to like refresh it in my mind because I don't

[00:45:48] remember the full like story anymore, but I just know that she went through the portal

[00:45:54] and when she came back, it was Bella, where the hell have you been, Loka?

[00:45:59] We died in our seats.

[00:46:00] It was wonderful.

[00:46:02] It truly was great.

[00:46:04] Yes.

[00:46:04] I love that.

[00:46:05] I swear, like literally with, especially with flopping, like I swear you put some kind

[00:46:12] of like crack in your storytelling because I did not want to put it down.

[00:46:17] That makes me so happy.

[00:46:19] I really wanted this one to be a page turner.

[00:46:22] I wanted to get that.

[00:46:23] I wanted to get the feeling in book form of the perfect 90 minute comedy moment where

[00:46:28] like you want to get to the end, but you're also a little bummed that it's over when it's

[00:46:33] over.

[00:46:33] But if it had been two hours, you would have been like, it was a little longer than it

[00:46:37] needed to be, even if you were in this environment you really loved.

[00:46:41] So it's really trying to capture that moment.

[00:46:43] And I'm glad you had this, this desire to keep flipping through that.

[00:46:47] It really, it kind of flew by.

[00:46:50] Like, I'm not quite, I don't quite believe that it was like 300 plus pages.

[00:46:54] Like, I feel like I just started and I'm like, what do you mean it's been 300 plus pages?

[00:47:00] That makes me very happy.

[00:47:02] Thank you so much.

[00:47:03] As a lifelong Christmas lover, like when you see the printed edition, my author photo for

[00:47:09] this one is the picture from when I first met Santa, like for the very first time in my

[00:47:13] entire life.

[00:47:13] So I'm like two years old probably.

[00:47:16] And I have the biggest grin on my face.

[00:47:19] Like it's registered to me who this guy is.

[00:47:23] I'm like, this is Santa.

[00:47:24] This is the guy that's bringing all the presents.

[00:47:27] I love that.

[00:47:29] I'm like so excited.

[00:47:30] I'm like literally.

[00:47:31] That's amazing.

[00:47:32] I loved Christmas my entire life.

[00:47:35] And so to be able to have a Christmas book out there and kind of contribute to Christmas

[00:47:40] canon is really exciting for me.

[00:47:42] I love it.

[00:47:43] My gosh.

[00:47:43] Yeah.

[00:47:43] Like I have all of my movies that I have to watch.

[00:47:46] All of my dogs are named after It's a Wonderful Life.

[00:47:48] Like that one I cry through.

[00:47:49] My family hates my mom and I because we from start to finish quote a Christmas story.

[00:47:54] Like you can't watch it with us.

[00:47:56] We're so obnoxious.

[00:47:57] I love everything about that.

[00:47:59] Yeah.

[00:47:59] Like come, come to Georgia and we'll, we'll, you know, we'll just watch it all.

[00:48:03] It's terrible.

[00:48:04] So yeah, like I fully vibe with that life.

[00:48:07] Like I can't, I can't imagine not being that way.

[00:48:11] I know.

[00:48:12] Me neither.

[00:48:13] Like if Home Alone ever comes on, I will sit down and watch it.

[00:48:15] It doesn't matter what time of year it is.

[00:48:16] It's we're watching it.

[00:48:17] The Santa Claus, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

[00:48:19] Love Actually, The Family Stone.

[00:48:21] There's just so many, there's so many that I would.

[00:48:24] And this is getting added to my rotation.

[00:48:26] This is going to be one where I have to like read it every year because like it's just

[00:48:29] part of the Christmas experience.

[00:48:31] It is.

[00:48:32] Like I am honored.

[00:48:33] It's so immersive.

[00:48:34] It's, it's so immersive.

[00:48:36] Like I feel like I'm at Winter Wonderland and it's really upsetting that it doesn't actually

[00:48:40] exist.

[00:48:41] I know.

[00:48:41] Like in that iteration.

[00:48:43] Maybe, maybe Santa's Land will be a good idea.

[00:48:45] You're going to be disappointed.

[00:48:46] Like it's kitsch.

[00:48:49] Okay.

[00:48:49] You're going to be like, it's Christmas.

[00:48:51] But then you're going to be like, it's Christmas.

[00:48:56] Isn't it?

[00:48:56] Like I think you should, I think if anybody in North Carolina near Cherokee, it's worth

[00:49:01] a drive is all I'm saying.

[00:49:03] But there's not a flash mob.

[00:49:05] There's like an angry guy who would rather be at home dressed like an elf.

[00:49:10] But there's the Ruta Coaster, the Ruta Coaster roller coaster, which is for five-year-olds.

[00:49:15] But hey.

[00:49:16] It's something.

[00:49:18] It's something.

[00:49:20] Okay.

[00:49:20] Another question we always ask our guests is, and you've already given us one, but we

[00:49:26] know we love your book.

[00:49:27] We're going to recommend your book.

[00:49:29] We're going to be reading all of the rest of your books.

[00:49:31] But what books are you reading?

[00:49:33] What books do you recommend?

[00:49:34] Even if you're not currently reading them, do you have like favorite books that everyone

[00:49:37] should read?

[00:49:38] Yes.

[00:49:38] So my favorite book of all time is Donyell Clayton's The Bells.

[00:49:43] And she has heard me like completely fangirl out with her about this book.

[00:49:47] Every time I see her, I have to mention it.

[00:49:48] And then I'm like, oh God, I'm sorry.

[00:49:50] I'm doing it again.

[00:49:51] But it is.

[00:49:52] So a little bit about me.

[00:49:55] I have had a nose job and a hairline transplant.

[00:49:57] And I am fascinated with plastic surgery and body modification in general.

[00:50:04] Not in a way that it's like, oh God, he's got a problem.

[00:50:06] In a way where it's like, it's wild to me that we can do that.

[00:50:09] And what does it say about me that I felt I needed to do it?

[00:50:13] And what does it say about other people that don't feel like they need to do it?

[00:50:16] And I'm just fascinated by the like sociology and psychology of all of that.

[00:50:22] And I don't think there's any right or wrong answer.

[00:50:24] I actually would say the only right answer is what feels right to you and that you shouldn't

[00:50:28] be doing it for anyone else.

[00:50:29] You shouldn't be doing it for yourself.

[00:50:30] But The Bells is a fantasy world that is like inspired by New Orleans.

[00:50:35] And it's very French and like beautiful, gorgeous, macarons everywhere, colors everywhere,

[00:50:40] beauty, beauty, beauty.

[00:50:41] And it follows this group of young women called The Bells.

[00:50:44] And they have a magical ability to change the way that people look using their specific

[00:50:50] skill sets and a few other like substances that they help along in their transformations

[00:50:55] of people.

[00:50:55] And Danielle just explores so well what the price of beauty is and what people will do to match

[00:51:02] a trend and what the danger is when it's about a trend and not about you.

[00:51:06] And I just love it so much every time I think about it.

[00:51:10] She just crafted it perfectly to be this very commercial, vibrant world.

[00:51:14] But then also have such a deep like hit you in the heart and the gut message about about

[00:51:20] really loving yourself and loving your body and being grateful for your body regardless

[00:51:24] of shape, size, color, hair, all of it.

[00:51:28] It's just like gorgeous.

[00:51:29] She does an amazing job with that.

[00:51:30] So I always recommend that.

[00:51:32] I also really like The Ugly series for a lot of those same reasons.

[00:51:36] The movie adaptation just came out.

[00:51:37] And now I'm really like I've been reading a ton of YA over the past like 10 years as I've

[00:51:43] really gotten into the YA world.

[00:51:45] And I'm in this transition phase where I'm reading a lot more adult and a lot more adult

[00:51:49] romances.

[00:51:50] Like I've read, I'm currently reading Adib Karam's I'll Have What He's Having about two

[00:51:55] guys falling in love in Kansas City and one who is taking over his parents' restaurant

[00:52:01] and the other who is going to take the like master sommelier test and their life paths seem

[00:52:07] similar, but they could be going in different directions.

[00:52:08] And they like have sort of fallen into each other's lives at this very pivotal moment in

[00:52:12] both of their lives.

[00:52:13] And it's just that great contemporary rom-com feel and it's gay and Adib is amazing.

[00:52:19] And it's nice to just have these like the romance is having such a boom right now, which

[00:52:23] I love.

[00:52:24] And it's nice to see that with gay love stories.

[00:52:26] I read Bride this year and loved it.

[00:52:29] Allie Hazelwood's Bride.

[00:52:31] So good.

[00:52:32] I love things with like fantasy twist.

[00:52:34] And so it's really these adult romances are sort of inspiring what is hopefully going to

[00:52:39] come next for me is to do some adult romance, potentially with like fantasy vibes.

[00:52:44] Okay, well that leads perfectly into the next question, which is what comes next for you?

[00:52:50] I know Flopping doesn't come out until November, but we are so curious, like what,

[00:52:56] what do you have coming down the pipeline?

[00:52:58] Is there anything that you can share with us?

[00:53:00] Yeah.

[00:53:00] So I have, it's been an interesting, it's been an interesting year for me for a multiple,

[00:53:06] for a multitude of reasons.

[00:53:08] And I haven't been really fully diving into a new book project in a while since probably

[00:53:14] like I finished like the past pages process and all of that for flopping and the magic

[00:53:19] you make my book that came out just a couple of weeks ago, probably in March of this year.

[00:53:24] And so this summer I actually focused on a lot of screenplays.

[00:53:28] I'm trying to, I'm trying to write TV.

[00:53:31] I love TV.

[00:53:32] I love sitcoms.

[00:53:33] I love to laugh.

[00:53:34] And so I've been writing a lot of those.

[00:53:36] And in the meantime, I've been coming up with ideas for adult romances and I've got a handful

[00:53:42] of them that I've been working on some proposals for them.

[00:53:44] One of which is going to go to acquisitions next week or the week following, you know,

[00:53:49] it's publishing.

[00:53:50] It could be in a couple of months, who knows, but that is for an adult romance.

[00:53:53] That's light fantasy.

[00:53:54] And we'll see it.

[00:53:56] It's weird.

[00:53:56] It feels like a whole new world since it's not YA, but I, I know I can do it.

[00:54:01] And that is where I want to go.

[00:54:02] I feel like I've, I feel like I've said for the time being, what I want to say for a YA

[00:54:07] audience.

[00:54:08] And now I want to move into what I want to say for an adult audience.

[00:54:11] And that's not to say that I'll never go back to YA because I most likely will, but for

[00:54:15] the time being, it's going to be adult romance.

[00:54:17] Oh, this is so exciting.

[00:54:19] I love it.

[00:54:19] I cannot wait.

[00:54:20] I'm so excited.

[00:54:21] Well, this is the part where we do have to give you a little bit of bad news.

[00:54:25] Oh, well, see, now that you have been on the podcast, you're actually legally obligated

[00:54:30] to come back for all future book releases.

[00:54:32] Perfect.

[00:54:33] Um, so sorry.

[00:54:35] Gotta check the fine print.

[00:54:37] We'll happily do that.

[00:54:40] It's always fun to like preface that and see people's faces fall.

[00:54:44] And then, and then you're like, just kidding.

[00:54:49] Bye.

[00:54:50] People don't seem psyched enough anymore.

[00:54:51] That was a fun time.

[00:54:53] Bye.

[00:54:53] You know, we really need to bring it back.

[00:54:55] Yeah.

[00:54:55] We really need to bring that back.

[00:54:57] Also, I think it's really funny to call someone a skank.

[00:55:01] I didn't like that word though.

[00:55:03] Like it's such a good word.

[00:55:04] It's a millennial thing.

[00:55:05] Like if one of my nieces said it, it would be like the weirdest thing.

[00:55:10] Yeah.

[00:55:12] My, my cousins to me are some of the closest people in my life.

[00:55:16] They're like my siblings.

[00:55:16] And one of my cousins and I, we always call each other skank.

[00:55:20] Like calling her, Hey skank.

[00:55:21] I just think it's so funny.

[00:55:23] I love that.

[00:55:24] I think it's so hard.

[00:55:25] One of my like high school best friends, my nickname was for his nickname for me was skank face.

[00:55:32] Like we wrote each other notes.

[00:55:33] It would be like, what's that skank face?

[00:55:34] Oh my God.

[00:55:36] I love it.

[00:55:37] I'm probably, if I like, I'm probably in his phone as skank face to this day.

[00:55:41] I love that so much.

[00:55:42] It's a funny word.

[00:55:43] It is.

[00:55:44] It's so good.

[00:55:45] It's so good.

[00:55:45] Thank you so much, Jason June, for being here.

[00:55:48] This has been so much fun.

[00:55:51] I think we're having me.

[00:55:52] Everybody go pick up a copy of, this is not the cover, but flopping in the winter wonderland.

[00:55:59] It comes out on November 12th.

[00:56:02] Yes.

[00:56:02] So you have plenty of time to pre-order and then you can get it just in time for the actual Christmas month.

[00:56:09] And again, just get cocoa or some eggnog deep into the Christmas.

[00:56:15] It's so good.

[00:56:16] It's so good.

[00:56:16] You guys are going to fly through it.

[00:56:18] Please find me in my DMs to talk about it because it's so good.

[00:56:22] Absolutely.

[00:56:23] That means a lot.

[00:56:24] And feel free to find me in my DMs if you want to talk about it.

[00:56:27] I love getting little notes from readers about what they're going through when they're reading a book.

[00:56:31] Because I sit in my house typing all the time.

[00:56:34] I just remembered something.

[00:56:37] So Aaron's mom's name is Stella.

[00:56:39] And I have to say this because obviously we're not big fans of Aaron's mom.

[00:56:43] But the name Stella has such negative connotations for me.

[00:56:47] So I was like, wait, this is excellent.

[00:56:50] I love this.

[00:56:51] Oh my god.

[00:56:52] I got to narrate the audiobook, which was so much fun.

[00:56:55] And one of my favorite lines to deliver is Aaron going, where are the cranberries, Stella?

[00:57:05] Love that so much.

[00:57:07] I'm going to take that clip and put that in TikTok sound.

[00:57:11] Yeah.

[00:57:11] I'm going to have to do like a reread once the audiobook comes out so that I can listen to that.

[00:57:16] Because I just, I'm already in the Christmas spirit.

[00:57:18] And then once it comes out in November, I'll just reinforce it some more.

[00:57:22] I feel like this is a good vibe.

[00:57:25] Absolutely.

[00:57:25] Thank you all so much.

[00:57:26] It really means a lot.

[00:57:27] Thank you so, so much.

[00:57:28] This has been so much fun.

[00:57:30] Like literally my cheeks hurt.

[00:57:32] Mine too.

[00:57:33] God.

[00:57:33] Good times.

[00:57:34] Good times.

[00:57:35] Your testing will limit you on the next one.

[00:57:36] My Botox.

[00:57:38] Right?

[00:57:40] Oh my gosh.

[00:57:41] Thank you.

[00:57:42] Thank you.

[00:57:42] Thank you.

[00:57:42] It has been such a blast.

[00:57:44] We'll talk to you on the next one.

[00:57:45] Yes.

[00:57:45] We can't wait.

[00:57:46] Perfect.

[00:57:47] I can't wait.

[00:57:48] All right.

[00:57:48] Y'all.

[00:57:48] Merry Christmas.

[00:57:49] Merry Christmas.

[00:57:51] And a happy Halloween.

[00:57:54] Bye.

[00:57:57] I love it.

[00:58:00] He's like pure magic.

[00:58:02] Just joy.

[00:58:03] Just joy and magic.

[00:58:06] I'm telling you.

[00:58:06] I'm telling you.

[00:58:06] Jason June stepped onto that stage at Y'all Fest and it was like, nobody else is here.

[00:58:11] Like he is the moment.

[00:58:13] He is the moment.

[00:58:14] He is the moment.

[00:58:15] My gosh.

[00:58:16] I love him.

[00:58:17] He is just pure joy and magic and the energy.

[00:58:22] And I just.

[00:58:22] Christmas vibes.

[00:58:23] I feel so reinvigorated.

[00:58:25] He's the same vibes as Christmas.

[00:58:26] He really is.

[00:58:27] He is.

[00:58:32] George Bailey just left.

[00:58:34] Yeah.

[00:58:35] For anybody who did not watch that, George Bailey literally just left off the screen.

[00:58:40] It sounds like their dad must be getting ready to feed them finally.

[00:58:43] Ah, that makes sense.

[00:58:45] They probably heard the food rumbling and they're like, okay, gotta go.

[00:58:49] Anyways, Jason June, everybody.

[00:58:51] Jason June.

[00:58:52] My face like seriously hurts.

[00:58:55] I know.

[00:58:55] It was so much fun.

[00:58:56] It was fun though.

[00:58:58] Yay.

[00:58:58] Even though it was painful.

[00:59:00] The good kind of pain.

[00:59:01] It's a good kind of pain.

[00:59:03] Okay.

[00:59:03] It's time.

[00:59:04] Big announcements that I have nothing for.

[00:59:06] I.

[00:59:06] Yeah.

[00:59:07] I did too.

[00:59:09] As we were starting this, we will technique.

[00:59:11] Okay.

[00:59:11] So we do have two announcements, but we're only going to give you one right now because

[00:59:15] the other one is a secret that you'll find out maybe next week.

[00:59:21] It's.

[00:59:21] Yeah.

[00:59:22] I forgot all of that.

[00:59:23] So it's because I coordinated all the things anyways.

[00:59:27] So our guests for next week, I don't have the book, but it's right there.

[00:59:31] It's that white one for anybody who is watching.

[00:59:33] We are interviewing Ceci Robson, author of Blood Guard next week.

[00:59:38] And I'm so excited.

[00:59:40] Like, oh, I've been dying to read this book.

[00:59:42] Like people have been talking about it and like been so excited about it.

[00:59:45] And I'm like, I'm excited too.

[00:59:47] I want to read it now.

[00:59:48] It's over all my desk.

[00:59:49] I know.

[00:59:49] I'm like, it's right there.

[00:59:50] I can see it.

[00:59:51] It stands out because my bookshelves are black.

[00:59:54] Yeah.

[00:59:54] So that is next week.

[00:59:56] I'm so excited.

[00:59:58] It'll be so much fun.

[00:59:59] And that's going to be our last interview before the break.

[01:00:03] I know.

[01:00:04] So exciting.

[01:00:05] And then we'll have our annual candy awards.

[01:00:09] And then you won't hear from us again until 2025.

[01:00:12] Yeah.

[01:00:12] That.

[01:00:13] She said.

[01:00:14] Definitely.

[01:00:15] Okay.

[01:00:16] I guess it's time for a spiel.

[01:00:17] We're going to do a spiel.

[01:00:18] And if you see, if Patreon sees me shaking, it's because George Bailey's on his shit again.

[01:00:23] Oh, I can hear him.

[01:00:24] You can?

[01:00:25] That's how loud he is.

[01:00:26] I can hear him.

[01:00:27] See?

[01:00:27] And like, he keeps jumping up on my table and shaking it.

[01:00:30] But why?

[01:00:30] Like, let's just.

[01:00:31] Patreon.

[01:00:33] What?

[01:00:34] What are you doing, sir?

[01:00:35] What are you doing?

[01:00:36] He just.

[01:00:37] But now that he's up here, he's going to want to get down.

[01:00:39] Right.

[01:00:39] I give him 30 seconds.

[01:00:41] We'll see how it goes.

[01:00:42] Back over there to torment me again.

[01:00:44] Of course.

[01:00:45] Okay.

[01:00:45] Doing the spiel.

[01:00:46] Be polite.

[01:00:47] All right, friends.

[01:00:48] If you enjoyed this episode, please like, follow, and subscribe wherever you are listening

[01:00:51] to us.

[01:00:52] Please follow us on social media.

[01:00:53] We are at TheIncoherentFangirl on all the things.

[01:00:55] You can also visit our website, TheIncoherentFangirl.com, where you can also stream all of our episodes

[01:01:00] as well as read our blog, which has so many reviews.

[01:01:03] I can't keep count.

[01:01:04] If you're interested in early access to podcast episodes, full video episodes, and bonus content,

[01:01:09] you can subscribe to our Patreon by heading to TheIncoherentFangirl.com slash Patreon.

[01:01:14] You also have the opportunity, if you're not interested in a full-time commitment, to

[01:01:18] purchase bonus content individually or as a collection.

[01:01:22] There are options there.

[01:01:24] But if you subscribe to Patreon, you can see George Bailey's ashamed face for his behavior

[01:01:29] right now.

[01:01:29] It also is cheaper to subscribe than to buy things individually.

[01:01:34] I did that on purpose.

[01:01:35] Yeah, just do that.

[01:01:37] If you're interested in some merch, we do have a merch store.

[01:01:40] All the designs are from Mandy here.

[01:01:43] Head to TheIncoherentFangirl.com slash shop to do some self-care.

[01:01:48] It is the season of self-care, so take care of yourself by doing some shopping.

[01:01:52] And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, design ideas you want to tell

[01:01:57] us that we're pretty, you want to tell George Bailey to get off his shit, send us an email

[01:02:03] at TheIncoherentFangirl at gmail.com.

[01:02:06] We love hearing from y'all.

[01:02:07] Yes.

[01:02:08] And of course, one last way to support the podcast is to rate and review on whatever platform

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[01:02:12] Please give us your words.

[01:02:14] We love your words.

[01:02:15] I know we love words here.

[01:02:16] She is at Mandy Perv on all the things.

[01:02:18] She's at Miss Made in China on all the things.

[01:02:20] And once you've followed us on social media and you've followed the podcast on social media,

[01:02:24] you can head on over and do some more self-care by visiting our internet besties and shopping.

[01:02:29] It's like the holiday season.

[01:02:31] You definitely should be shopping.

[01:02:32] Always.

[01:02:33] First up.

[01:02:34] First up.

[01:02:34] Is that serotonin boost during seasonal depression season?

[01:02:37] Come on.

[01:02:37] It's pretty important.

[01:02:38] First up.

[01:02:39] You're going to head over to herecomesthenerd.com to get some of your artsy goodies.

[01:02:44] Use code fangirl to get 20% off your first order.

[01:02:46] Then, once you've got your pens and artsy goodies, you're going to head to onceuponabookclub.com.

[01:02:51] We have two codes that you can choose from.

[01:02:53] They do not stack, but we love you no matter which one you use.

[01:02:56] If you use code MANDY10 or KAREN10, you'll get 10% off.

[01:03:00] You just have to make sure you spell KAREN right or you're getting no percent off and we'll throw you off a cliff.

[01:03:05] With the character from Remember the Ashes.

[01:03:08] Yes.

[01:03:09] Yes.

[01:03:09] You guys can be in the valley together.

[01:03:13] In the canyon.

[01:03:14] In the canyon.

[01:03:15] Don't fall onto the rocks.

[01:03:17] And then, once you've done that, you can head over and visit our friend Amber D. Lewis.

[01:03:22] Go to amberdlewis.com.

[01:03:24] You can add 10 of everything to your cart.

[01:03:26] Use code FANGIRL10 and you'll get 10% off the 10 of everything,

[01:03:29] which basically means you've gotten one of each item for free.

[01:03:33] Math.

[01:03:33] Math.

[01:03:33] That's how it works.

[01:03:34] That's, yeah, exactly.

[01:03:36] And last but not least, I guess you should support the show Husband,

[01:03:39] even though George Bailey is being so crazy because he hasn't been fed yet because his dad is still on the phone.

[01:03:45] Hasn't fed him.

[01:03:46] So that's his issue.

[01:03:47] But I guess we'll still support him anyways.

[01:03:49] I guess.

[01:03:49] So you're going to go follow Searchers Believe on Everything and the Paranormal Mind on Everything.

[01:03:54] That's his paranormal group and his podcast.

[01:03:58] Paranormal Mind is on a bit of a hiatus, but with the holidays,

[01:04:02] they'll have more downtime to be able to record again.

[01:04:04] And if you'll head to searchersbelieve.com slash shop,

[01:04:07] you can get some Searchers spooky merch designed by yours truly.

[01:04:11] And then you're also going to want to subscribe.

[01:04:13] Did I even say the code?

[01:04:15] Nope.

[01:04:15] Use FANGIRL10.

[01:04:16] Get 10% off.

[01:04:18] I'm killing it, guys.

[01:04:19] We're kicking off 101 episodes strong.

[01:04:21] We're doing great.

[01:04:22] This is perfect.

[01:04:23] This is very odd brand.

[01:04:24] Okay.

[01:04:25] Searchersbelieve.com slash shop.

[01:04:27] Use code FANGIRL10 for 10% off.

[01:04:29] Then you're going to go to StreamBeaconTV.com and use code FANGIRL10 for 10% off of your

[01:04:35] subscription to Beacon TV.

[01:04:37] So this is a new streaming platform that is more horror, true crime, paranormal centric.

[01:04:43] We got tired of hearing about really good shows that were rejected by networks because they

[01:04:47] didn't fit into a certain box.

[01:04:48] And you have talented creators who were told by major networks that their stuff wasn't good

[01:04:53] enough when it is.

[01:04:54] So we are giving them a home.

[01:04:56] Yay!

[01:04:56] So yes, it's very cool.

[01:04:58] We got some very exciting things in the works.

[01:05:01] They announced that the cast of the Holzer Files is reuniting for a new exclusive show

[01:05:06] on Beacon.

[01:05:06] That's exciting.

[01:05:08] And yeah, just go subscribe.

[01:05:09] You can follow StreamBeaconTV anywhere.

[01:05:11] We're on Apple devices, Google devices, Android, Roku.

[01:05:16] We got Roku today, which was really exciting.

[01:05:18] Yay!

[01:05:19] And yeah, FANGIRL10 gets you 10% off of your subscription and it's five bucks a month.

[01:05:23] Yeah.

[01:05:24] Like, come on guys.

[01:05:25] Come on.

[01:05:26] You know you want to.

[01:05:27] Yay.

[01:05:27] It's the perfect time to do it too.

[01:05:29] It's spooky season.

[01:05:30] Spooky season.

[01:05:31] And you get a discount.

[01:05:32] And that might have been the Inco Hair Girl.

[01:05:34] The Inco Hair Girl.

[01:05:35] Thanks for listening.

[01:05:36] Thank you.

[01:05:37] We love you.

[01:05:38] Bye.

[01:05:38] Bye.

[01:05:40] We are sponsored by our friends at Here Comes the Nerd.

[01:05:43] Pins, stickers, magnets, and more.

[01:05:46] Here Comes the Nerd has happy art for all fandom loving hearts.

[01:05:50] New customers can use coupon code FANGIRL during checkout for 20% off their first order at herecomesthenerd.com.

[01:05:57] Coupon applies to ready-to-ship items only.

[01:06:00] Bye.