I Wrote a Rom-Com About the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

[00:00:00] My name is Sarah Adler and this is The Incoherent Fangirl. Welcome to The Incoherent Fangirl. Where we did not have to go on a wild goose chase to get this repeat offender intruder alert this week. Yay! I'm so excited. I am Karin from Catoctin, Maryland. I'm Mandy of Ithaca. Gee, I wonder what that could be. What did I do? Oh no!

[00:00:32] In our timeline it is July 21st and in y'all's timeline it's July 31st. How is it the end of July? That's crazy. That's weird. Yesterday for y'all was my anniversary. Yeah, I have that in my calendar. Yay! 15 years. That's crazy talk. Yeah. Crazy talk. I'm not old enough to have been married for 15 years. No, we're just babies. That's not possible. How is that? That's not possible.

[00:01:02] I know. That's some weird timey-wimey shit right there. I don't like it. I like it. I like being married, but I don't like how fast it's going by. Yeah, for sure. This week in Fangirling, what did you do, Mandy? I mean, it was more like this weekend since we're recording early. Yeah. It's been a couple days. Anyways, we did go see the Odyssey.

[00:01:31] People are ripping it apart to be edgy, but I'm married to a filmmaker, so I thought it was great. Like cinematically, perfect. When you see the Cersei scene and understand that all of that was real and not CGI, insane. I should go ahead and start with people are complaining that no one is giving spoiler warnings to a book that was written down 3,000 years ago.

[00:02:02] I'm really confused because I thought everybody and their mom learned Greek mythology as a child. And then we were like, I don't know about y'all, we were required to read the Odyssey in high school. I read the Iliad and the Odyssey for fun. Yep. But we were required to read the Odyssey. Yeah. It was a big... We studied the Odyssey. Like two months long thing. Yes.

[00:02:26] Greek mythology was an entire unit of study in my English class as a freshman. Yes. Mine was senior year, but still, yes. Yeah. Exactly. I just, I'm very confused because I truly believed that Greek mythology was just standard curriculum for everybody everywhere. Apparently. Okay.

[00:02:48] We also have to remember that the people complaining are the people who did not get past like a fourth grade reading level on purpose, like willingly. That's fair. So that's who we're arguing with. There's also the people who are complaining that it's not historically accurate when... It's not history at all, baby. It's not history. Oh, Lord. Yeah, I've got a whole list of rants. I'm sure. Okay. So I thought it was pretty freaking great.

[00:03:18] I'd like to see Christopher Nolan do more epics. Mm-hmm. I did impress my husband the other day. I'm a former English major, so it's wild that he was shocked by this. But I said, when we were getting ready to go see it, I said, yeah, it's one of the earliest recorded stories that we have. Yeah. Like, the earliest recorded book. One of the earliest. I was like, it's not the earliest. I think that's the Epic of Gilgamesh, if I'm not... If I'm remembering correctly. And I asked a word.

[00:03:46] And she said, yeah, that's like the oldest. Yeah. And he was shocked by that. He was like, how do you even know that? Because I had like a whole semester on the Epic of Gilgamesh. Do you know who I am? Right. Who are you talking to right now? Shut your mouth when you're talking to me. 15 years and you still don't know me. Right. I need him to do Dante's Inferno and I need him to do Gilgamesh. I need him to do Beowulf. Josh was like, oh my God, Beowulf would be so good. It was insane.

[00:04:16] Especially again, given that there was no CGI. When Cersei is turning these men into pigs, it is clay. Ugh. It's crazy. That's amazing. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I didn't see that part. I was covering my eyes. Yeah. But there's a lot of puppets that are like, the Cyclops is a puppet. Crazy. Um, okay. People are calling for spoiler warnings, which is crazy. That's silly.

[00:04:41] Um, a lot of people are mad that Telemachus, who is Tom Holland, calls his parents mom and dad. We are a couple of hundred years from like Victorian English where they father, mother. We are thousands of years from the ancient Greek that these stories were written in. It doesn't matter if he says father or dad.

[00:05:10] Historically, they're about the same level of wrong. Like you're weird. Like you need to watch Loki and see how much time is just not real. Okay. People just love to complain, to complain. I swear to God. Speaking up, people are complaining about Elliot Page as Achilles. Elliot Page does not play Achilles. Elliot Page plays Sinon.

[00:05:39] But just to say it, first of all, Achilles is not in the Odyssey. Achilles was in love with Patroclus. And so if you have a problem with a trans man or a member of the LGBTQIA plus community playing Achilles, potentially, I have some bad news for you about Achilles. You was in love with a dude. Okay. So sorry to ruin your life. So was Alexander the Great. He was gay too.

[00:06:08] So I saw someone on threads put it perfectly. They said like in the Spartan era and the Greek mythology and all of that, men were for love. Women were for children. I mean, not everybody, but for Achilles and his era of mythology. Men might have been for love. And it's okay.

[00:06:39] I just really need... I just... The media literacy is so dead. Astounding. It's astounding. It's insane because it's like you are complaining about XYZ and Zeus turned into a fucking cow. Right. There's a... Cyclops. Cyclops. Cyclops. Like... Yeah. I... What? Yeah.

[00:07:08] Historical accuracy who? Right. They're mad that Achilles wasn't in it. The other people, not the people who are mad about Elliot Page being Achilles when he wasn't. Which can we just talk about... Other people are mad that Achilles wasn't in it. And I'm like how hot Elliot Page has gotten. Oh my God, I know. Like... I can't. I cannot. Like... It's insane. I'm obsessed. Yeah. Sorry. Just throw it out of there. Other people are mad that Achilles wasn't in the Odyssey. Mm-hmm. It's because he's not in the Odyssey.

[00:07:37] You're looking for the Iliad, I fear. Which is the story of mostly the end of the Trojan War. And that's when you get Achilles and Agamemnon beefing. It doesn't get to the Trojan Horse. It doesn't get to the Fall of Troy, which is where we lose Achilles. Mm-hmm. So... I fear that people believe these are one button. If you want to see Achilles fighting, you need the Iliad. He doesn't die in either of them though. I... Yeah.

[00:08:06] He's dead by the time we get to the Odyssey. Oh my word. People just complain. So if you've lived under a rock or didn't go to an American high school or didn't pay attention in British lit or whatever literature class, the Odyssey is Odysseus' Odyssey to get home after 10 years of fighting in the Trojan War against Troy. He faces Cyclops, Sirens, Circe, Calypso.

[00:08:32] So he's stuck between a rock and a hard place, which is a whirlpool and an island with monsters that grab them that look like Rocky from Project Hail Mary, by the way. This is all over the course of an additional 10 years trying to get home to his wife and son who are figuratively fighting off suitors all day every day for her hand and Odysseus' throne. Like they're there all the time.

[00:09:01] So he's just trying to get back to his family. And it's that Odyssey. I do... The cast was... I mean, of course, you would rather see Greek people playing all of these Greek characters. I get it. But that would not have been a diverse cast either. You know? So like, I thought for the casting that we were given, it was perfect. Everybody was insane. Everybody was beautiful, stunning.

[00:09:31] Should not look that good. Like, how do these people exist? I have a couple of trigger warnings. Um, just again, in case you've been living under a rock. Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter. Um, I think in the Odyssey or in the Iliad, I'm sorry. I want to say she was older. In this, for the gut punch, she's like a toddler.

[00:09:55] And you don't see the actual sacrifice, but you do see her reaching and crying for her mother, knowing... And her and her mother knowing what's about to happen. And that is very rough. It's very quick. It's very quick. But it's very rough. Um, and then there are a couple of dog deaths where I... I knew it, obviously. And I looked ahead just to make sure. Yeah. Um, I've lost his name in my rage.

[00:10:24] Uh, the blind mentor, um, loyal to Odysseus, has Argos and his, like, litter of puppies. And he's throwing them off a cliff when Odysseus comes in. He's like, no, give me this one. Give me Argos. Um, so you see a puppy get thrown. Obviously, um, Legazaman has come out and said, there was a net there. People are going to hate me for that alone. But there was a net there. Just know the puppies are fine.

[00:10:53] Um, and then Argos is kicked for begging for food, put outside on a dung pile. And as soon as his owner, spoiler alert, Odysseus makes it home. Um, as soon as Odysseus gets there, Argos recognizes him, wags his tail, and then passes away. Because he's been watching and protecting his family until Odysseus came back. Um, sad. Very, very sad.

[00:11:21] Both, obviously, um, Agamemnon's daughter and the dogs. Oh, one more. One more dog death. Um, some of the suitors come up to, I cannot... I hate myself. I'm going to remember his name as soon as I... As soon as, like, you start talking. Um, some of the suitors come and they kind of ambush him and they take all of his... I don't remember if it's sheep or pigs. I think it's pigs.

[00:11:49] Um, and his dogs are barking at them in the yard. Well, Odysseus comes up a few minutes later and he's like, hey, where are your dogs? And he says, I'm burning their bodies on the pyre. And it apparently shows them. I knew to cover my eyes, but Josh was like... So, and it was bad. Be prepared for those moments. Yeah. I've told you when to look away. Um, you see the toddler twice.

[00:12:16] You see it when someone says he's so brutal, he sacrificed his own daughter at the beginning. And then towards the end, you see why his wife and her lover, um, conspired to kill Agamemnon. So, once those conversations start coming up, go to the bathroom, hide your eyes, cover your ears, whatever you need to do. Um, last trigger warning. For the love of God, go to the bathroom when the other mommy trailer comes up. Have you heard about this shit? No.

[00:12:46] Oh my God. Okay. I would not call the Odyssey horror. Uh huh. I mean like, it's a battle movie, but I would call it like, like a historical fiction or like, you know, a war movie. I wouldn't call it horror. I wouldn't expect a horror trailer at the beginning of it. I expected Spider-Man. I expected, I can't remember what else there were, but like, they were all movies that I expected until this one. If you see Jessica Chastain's face, leave.

[00:13:16] Oh no. Let me walk you through. I love her so much. I do too. I was like, ah, I love her. This is going to be like a psychological thriller. No. Oh no. So she comes in and she's like very kind of robotic, like a, like a working mom. Like she's very like Cynthia's mom on the rug rats, you know, like, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. She walks in and her little girl is maybe like six or seven is like six, seven. Oh my God.

[00:13:44] Her little girl is like playing in the living room. And she's like, mommy, you're home. And she says, I had a break and I wanted to come have lunch with you. And she talks very like business mommy. And she says, where's your dad? And she says, he's the little girl says he's taking a nap. So mommy puts some noodles in a pot and puts like a splash of water on them where immediately you're like, what the hell are you doing? Like, you're going to start a fire. Yeah.

[00:14:14] And so the mommy is talking to her about like Jessica Chastain is talking to her about like random stuff and it just keeps focusing on the pot. And the mom is like acting weird. And then the plastic catches on fire. And so the smoke and the smoke detectors going off. And so like, there's a little bit of chaos in the trailer back and forth. And the dad comes running out and then it shows the whole room and the mom is not there. And so he says, honey, what were you doing? And she said, we were trying to make pasta.

[00:14:42] And he bends down to pick something up. And Jessica Chastain is under the table, folded up like a damn spider, doing this creepy ass smile. And it's a, like, it isn't a jump scare in a trailer. It is a jump scare. I screamed. Like I literally was like, everybody in the theater was like, what the hell was that? And like Josh, who likes horror was like, what just happened?

[00:15:08] And I've seen so many people like making like TikToks and threads about it now about like, that's the biggest trigger warning you need. I am terrified. And I had so scary. Don't even see it. Oh, and I don't like when like when people are, I'm too squeamish. I don't like when people are bent the wrong way. And she looked like a spider with Jessica Chastain's head. And she just kind of like, oh, no, I'm gonna have nightmares.

[00:15:37] If you go to see the Odyssey, and you're in the previews. Go outside. If you see her face. Oh my God. That's awful. Because she's so beautiful. I know. And she's so good at like being creepy. And apparently it's like some spirit that can mimic the mom. And so she never knows, is this my mom or is this the monster mom? And it's like, it's a horror movie about that.

[00:16:07] And I'm pissed that they didn't call it which I it must be some sort of like licensee thing from Coraline. But like, why other mommy when other mother is right there? Yeah. So that's all my trigger warnings for the biggest one I'm telling you is the tree. Oh, God. Oh, hmm.

[00:16:28] Um, on the way to see the Odyssey, the show husband finished Restore Me because he only had like 20 minutes left in his Shatter Me journey on his Shatter Me journey. Now he's in Defy Me. Um, we saw the Odyssey Friday and Saturday. He had like a film job like 45 minutes away. And I had gone to the grocery store while he was gone and I pulled in the driveway about the same time as him. And I like I got out of the car and I could hear Kenji. He was listening to it without me again.

[00:17:00] So he's working through Shatter Me even when I'm not there, which I love. Um, I've been working through Adversary to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Mayer. It's the fourth book in a series. I can't tell you anything other than I love her, obviously. Obviously. And then I read Wild Goose Chase by Sarah Adler, which we will talk about later. Yay. What did you do this week? Okay, I read No Ordinary Love by Maya Ariel.

[00:17:29] You have Ella who is a pop star and she is she's not like a pop star. It's more like R&B soul that kind of genre of music. She's a sign. And she is she's phenomenal. Um, and she's like really popular up and coming. She is tired. She is tired of putting up with her her husband, who is this renowned music producer. After he discovered her.

[00:17:58] Um, they have he they have a very, very she has she signed a very predatory prenup because she was basically a child. Um, and so but she's tired of his chronic cheating. So she hires the super high powered attorney to look into like how they can she can separate

[00:18:23] because the way that the prenup is written is like I said predatory and it gives him control over her music. Um, even if they split. So she's like, how do I leave this man while keeping my career? Um, and it's it's looking like it's going to be a problem.

[00:18:45] And so her very smart, very powerful attorney is advising her you need to be squeaky clean. No drama, no tabloids, no scandals, absolutely nothing that's going to make you look bad in the public eye. Because for some reason and we know the reason because he's a man. Um, he can do no wrong.

[00:19:10] Never mind the fact that he's flouncing about Europe with his new singer person. All this does is remind me of Aaliyah and R. Kelly, where she was like 17 and he like, yeah, I don't know. I don't want to say he got custody of her. But he had like conservatorship or something over her and then married her or like was going to marry her. I can't remember. It's not good. Vibe. Not good. Um, the vibes. Yeah.

[00:19:39] So, unfortunately for Ella, there is a bit of a wardrobe mishap backstage at the Grammys right before she is set to go on stage and present an award with this rising MLB star and reformed bad boy, Miles Westbrook, who he very smoothly steps in. And he saves the day.

[00:20:02] Um, but unfortunately it does cause a lot of rumors the next day because of the way that things fell out. Uh, yeah, it, it doesn't look good if you weren't there, if you weren't backstage. The things fell out. Right. No, but if you weren't backstage and seeing exactly what happened, like it looked really bad. Yeah. The public eye.

[00:20:27] Um, so both of their PR teams go into crisis mode and they have decided that they need to be like publicly linked, not necessarily in like a relationship, but they need to be publicly linked. They have to have a reason for them to seem like as friendly as they were with each other. Yeah. Um, even though they were like super professional and they were literally reading words that were given to them to read. Of course. Um, but you know, everything. Right.

[00:20:54] And so they, as they're like strictly platonic PR relationship is being managed in the public, their feelings in private could very well ruin all of these very well laid plans. Ruh-roh. But it's a romance novel. So, you know, I will say. She works it out with her husband. Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Let me punch that man in the face. Ooh! Yeah. I enjoyed it.

[00:21:24] It was a good time. Um, yeah. Then I read, uh, Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgeman. This is the sequel to Godly Heathens and the finale in the Ouroboros duology. Um, so there's really not a lot that I can say about it, except that it really literally picks up right where the first one ends and it kind of meanders its way to the conclusion. Um, the pacing's a little bit weird for me personally.

[00:21:54] Um, but I enjoyed it overall. Um, my favorite thing about this series is the fact that like the gods are incredibly unlikable on purpose. Yeah. And, and it makes me feel like, and they're like the main characters, right?

[00:22:12] And it just makes me feel so like justified in like, just life because it's like you live, we live in this world and it's like how can you believe there is a just God when this is the world that we live in? And so I'm just like, okay, so there's, there's just no God. Like there can't possibly be a just God. Maybe there are these asshole gods like these people. Yeah. And it just, it feels great. It feels great.

[00:22:39] Um, and I will say this was, this is an own voices read. Um, it was written by a non-binary indigenous person and there are bits and pieces of their personality or their culture, their like, uh, personhood in this book. And it's very, very cool. Um, the hidden kingdom by two ET Sutherland is book three in the wings of fire series that I have been very slowly making my way through during any car rides with my daughter.

[00:23:08] Um, this is a 16 book series. So we've got a ways to go. Um, of course there is like an overarching plot line that they're, they're at war. The dragons are at war. The dragons are the main characters. The dragons are at war. And we follow this group of five little dragonettes and they are, you know, prophesied to like end the war.

[00:23:32] And so this book, we follow glory's journey, um, as the, the group finds themselves among the rain wing tribe, which is her tribe and kind of needing to solve a mystery for them that has bigger implications for the war as a whole. Um, and it's really, I like the way so far that the author has written them because each book so far follows one of the five dragonettes of the prophecy as they like return.

[00:24:01] Cause they were all taken away from their tribes as young little eggs, young hatchlings. Um, because they were like, well, you're going to grow up to be the dragons of the prophecy. So we have to train you in certain ways. Yeah. And so each, each book is them like returning to their own tribe as with their friends and kind of navigating what that looks like for them. Like, is this where I belong or, you know, am I actually, I've already got my family kind of thing. It's very, it's really fun.

[00:24:30] And there is such a huge like kid following for this series. And it's very cool to like, kind of dive into it, especially like my daughter's the perfect age to be reading these books. So it's really fun. Um, and then I read that time I got drunk and yeeted a love potion at a werewolf by Kimberly Lemming. I had to read that directly. Cause it's, that's a lot of words. I'm not remembering the title. Um, so you have Bree who is immortal.

[00:24:59] Uh, she is trying to fend off the unwanted advances of Jack, who is a man, just a regular old man who is the worst. Um, he's a man. That's enough said, but she's, trying to fend off his unwanted advances. Um, and then he tries to give her a drink and she gets so annoyed with him that she takes the drink and she throws it at his head. Except that he moves too quickly and the drink hits Felix in the back of his head.

[00:25:27] And when Felix turns around, um, he being a werewolf immediately imprints upon her and realizes that she's his mate. Unfortunately for him, uh, the drink that was thrown at him is revealed to be a love potion. That Jack was trying to give to Bree to get her to fall in love with him. And, uh, now she has accidentally dosed Felix with it.

[00:25:52] He is trying desperately to convince her that no, it's not the effects of the love potion. I'm a werewolf. I have imprinted on you. This is real. While she's just like, no, it's just the love potion. That would be cruel of me because you don't have, there's no actual consent there. There's no free will. And she can't comprehend the fact that he's like, no, I swear. And nobody around him is a werewolf. So they can't, he can't like explain it to them.

[00:26:20] Like how he can tell the difference between the love potion and actual anatomy. Um, and so they just go keep back going back and forth. Well, her best friend's husband, who is a dragon shifter, um, is like helping her. They're talking through like love potions and he's like, yeah, the effects of a love potion are really small. It can get really bad if they don't get the objects of their affection. Like they could die. And she's like, oh shit. What do we do?

[00:26:50] And he's like, well, we could do magic and we'll try to break it. And, and they're like, okay, cool. And so she goes back to Felix and she's like, we're going to try and break this love potion curse spell, whatever on you. And he's like, okay, but when it doesn't work and she, and she's like, no, it has to work otherwise. And he's like, well, if it doesn't work, then we bang. Right. Because otherwise I die. And she's like, as a last resort. Yeah, sure. We'll bang.

[00:27:20] They bang. To save his life. To save his life. The horror. Is he hot? Oh no. He's a hot werewolf. Like, oh no, the horror. Yeah. So it's a good time. I just, it's, Kimberly Lemming is just such a fucking hilarious author. Her writing is so funny.

[00:27:43] It's like the most, it's a series of just impractical, improbable, improbable, like chaos that does not make sense, but also makes complete sense. Yeah. And it's always a good time. Um, so yes, that's that. And then I also read Wild Goose Chase, which we will talk about shortly. And that was my week. It's a good week. Yeah.

[00:28:09] Did you have a fictional boyfriend this week? I, there is some piece of me that is just, I can't not love Callahan Lightner from Wild Goose Chase. Yeah.

[00:28:27] There's just something about this little nerdy, like, boy who is so down bad the moment he sees her that I just, I can't say no to him. I can't. Yeah. He's just, I love him. Yeah. Yeah. So that's who I will choose for this week. I'm not, I'm not asking. Don't look at me like I have. I have 20 minutes of Aaron Warner time, so.

[00:28:56] I'm like, don't, don't look at me like I'm supposed to ask you a question. You were with Aaron this week. Let's be real. You were with Aaron this week. Um, I also like Callahan, um, I live for a good antique store and so I love, it's hot when a man starts talking about patinas and dovetail joints and mid-century modern. All right. Yep. Yeah. There's just something about it. It's just so good. So good. Love it. Yeah.

[00:29:25] That sound means we have an intruder alert. It's a repeat offender. We're so excited. We have Sarah Adler back. We're going to talk about wild goose chase. Love it. Oh my gosh. Love it. So excited. Thank you so much for coming back, Sarah. Thank you for having me. I had so much fun last time. You did too. We're so excited, especially like you've talked about this book last time.

[00:29:53] So it's so cool to be able to like have you back to talk about it some more. Yeah. I think maybe the episode title actually came from me like yapping about this book instead of the book I was actually promoting. You know what? It all comes together in the end. All right. So the first question we always ask is the most difficult one. Can you give us the elevator pitch of the book? It is the most difficult one. You would think I would be good at this by now.

[00:30:21] But it's about a antique dealer who is kind of stuck in his ways, stuck in life, who through a series of events winds up in possession of a probably illegal taxidermy Canada goose and is altruistically blackmailed by his very cute temporary colleague at his antique store.

[00:30:46] But then they manage to lose the goose and they have to track it down on a literal wild goose chase through Baltimore and they fall in love in the process. I have to know the best. Where did this idea come? Like how did this come to you? Because that is brilliant. It's hilariously brilliant.

[00:31:08] I so this is actually like a really cool thing for me because I originally thought of the idea as a different idea several years ago when I was working on my second book. I thought it was going to be one with a taxidermy eagle. And I got about 20,000 words into it before I shelved it and moved to happy medium instead.

[00:31:35] But while I was working on that, my critique partner, Amber Roberts, who just like knows a lot of things about a lot of things. When I told her the idea, she's like, isn't that illegal to have a taxidermy eagle? And I was like, is it? And I started researching. No idea. Yeah. It's not a thing you generally think about. But you probably have not seen one outside of a museum and there is a reason for that.

[00:32:00] So I started researching and I found out about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and all that. And then I kind of just shelved that information in my brain for later once I shelved the project. But it was always something kind of in the back of my mind, along with like other fun historical facts that I'm like, maybe one day I will use this. And so when we were trying to figure out what my fourth book would be, it was like months and months of brainstorming with my agent and everything I sent her.

[00:32:29] She'd be like, I don't think this is quite it. And I was getting really frustrated because I knew she was right. And I was just like, oh, we got to figure this out soon because like we're running out of time here. And so my husband and I went out to lunch. My husband and I went out to lunch one day at a Cuban restaurant. Not relevant. It was just good food. And we were just chatting, brainstorming out loud, you know, what this book could be.

[00:32:57] And I was like, I think it would be cute to do something in an antique store. Like that would be a fun vibe. And I was like, well, what happens in the antique store? Maybe they're in possession of something they shouldn't have and they lose it and they have to track it down. And my husband went, oh, like a wild goose chase. And I went, huh, what if it was like a porcelain goose? And then I went, wait, wait, wait, wait. What if it was a real goose? Because that's illegal.

[00:33:26] And so I did a quick check, made sure that like Canada geese were on the list of birds you cannot kill. And then like it kind of exploded from there. And it was like this cool full circle moment of like this philosophy that I try to live by of like nothing you create is ever a waste. Because it eventually, it either is the bridge to the next thing or it like comes back around. Yeah. Oh, that is so cool. That is so fun.

[00:33:54] So you mentioned some other like weird laws, weird history things that, you know, is there anything? Like maybe even just in your research for this book that like either shows up in some fun way in this book or like that you might show up in future books? I have so many that I either haven't figured out how to make it into a rom-com because it's actually like really dark or have not yet convinced my team to let me do.

[00:34:23] Um, there's this like thing called the crash at crush from 1896. So basically there was this big promotional train crash they did where they're like, we're just going to run two trains into each other at full speed and we're going to sell tickets to it. It's like we're going to sell cheap tickets on the train so people can come see it. And it was like this big promotional thing and a huge event. But like when you run two trains into each other, that's bad.

[00:34:49] And it basically exploded and debris went everywhere and people were like killed and injured. And like it was a huge disaster. Oh my God. I feel bad laughing. But oh my God. I know. It's like a crazy thing though. And I have not figured out how to make that into a rom-com yet. I feel like that's a lit fic project. That would be really good though. If you can get it. That would be really good. A descendant of someone who just lost an arm or something. Yeah.

[00:35:18] Well, I think it's one of the, don't hold me to this, but one of the most famous photos of it was a journalist, like a photojournalist who actually got like blinded by it. So like. Oh my gosh. Ironic, I guess. But again, not really conducive to a rom-com. No. So I haven't gotten to use that yet.

[00:35:45] And then my latest like weird hyper fixations, like of historical like things. The transatlantic telegraph wire is like one of my things right now. And then automatats, which were like underground bunker houses, but it was like a huge bunker made to look like the outdoors. And then the house was like freestanding inside of it. Oh. So it wasn't like you go into the bunker and it's your house.

[00:36:13] You went into the bunker and you were outside again. And then you have to go into your house. Yeah. And they would like have fake grass and they had like a pool and like fake trees and they would paint the walls to be like landscapes. And they have like. Isn't there one of those you can go to in like Vegas? Yeah. So that's where one of the most famous ones. I don't know if you can go there, but that's the one that like caught my attention. I saw a video about it.

[00:36:38] And the guy who owned that one was like really high up at Avon, the like makeup company. What's he worried about? There was like a rumor that there were tunnels leading from the bunker to like Avon headquarters so that he never had to go outside. This man really didn't like the sun, I guess. So, yeah. He's a vampire. Yeah. But I find it really fascinating.

[00:37:06] And like the history of that and the guy who like created the first one tried to like sell the concept at the World's Fair. And it costs like a million dollars to build the prototype for the World's Fair. And then nobody ordered one. People like vitamin D. So, yeah. And I do have a rom-com idea for that one, but I have not yet convinced my agent and editor on it. But we are we are in discussions. So who knows what will happen? All right.

[00:37:34] Well, if you need somebody to back you up on this, we got. Yeah. Just send them our way. We'll convince them. So we kind of touched on this, but it had me rolling how like it was believable. So this is not a criticism at all. But how many people knew about taxidermy bird laws in this book where it was like, I would never have any idea what you can and can't taxidermy. But also so many of the people Annie and Cal encountered are so freaky rude.

[00:38:02] What do you mean you borrowed a bird and then loaned it to somebody else and then gave it? What was it like? What was the writing process like for crafting such a wild series of events for this goose to go on? Um, I this book was so weird to write because it all just came so easily and naturally and just kind of flowed out of me.

[00:38:27] I feel like I just I just intuitively knew where the next step would have to be. It was so strange. It was like, you know, what is the logical place for it to go from here? Like and I mean, the logical place is also often the funniest, I guess, in this particular instance.

[00:38:47] Um, and I also like got a little inspiration from like people I've met or just kind of like archetypes of people that I wanted to make sure to include. And, you know, just like I think that people in general are just interesting and I love getting to like put a bunch of secondary characters into a into a story. So this was like a lot of fun to throw in all these weird, interesting people.

[00:39:16] And like, yeah, I mean, why wouldn't it like go to write? Right. And it's so cool because they can be just so out there and that can just be their thing because we don't see them very like for a long time. So they can just be that one thing and be that one thing really well. Yes, exactly. Oh, it was so funny. It was a good time.

[00:39:42] It just had me dying where it's like they said they'd have it back to me by Saturday and Saturday rolls around and they're like, oh, I gave it to this guy. He said he needed it. And you're like, well, what do you mean? How many people need a goose? Apparently a lot of people. So all like believable. Like, yeah. Oh, well, that makes sense. Why you would need a goose? Yeah. I feel like a lot of my writing is always just like on the edge of absurdity.

[00:40:09] Like it's like I always feel so stupid saying it considering the kinds of books I write. But other than like the speculative elements in happy medium, I always try to go for something that could happen. Like it's always something that technically could happen so that there is not like too much like suspension of belief, like disbelief. What is the term? Is it suspension of disbelief or suspension of belief?

[00:40:38] I guess disbelief because you're suspending your disbelief. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. We're all word people and we can't figure it out. It is what it is. There's too many words and they're all so similar. But yeah, I feel like a lot of what I do is like, what is the line and how close can I get to it before it crosses over into like just too stupid? I think you straddle it really well. Because you're right. They definitely all.

[00:41:07] You're right. Technically, all of these things could happen. Is it probable that they all happen at the same time? But you know what? It's okay. So was this, was it always, did you always intend to have kind of a dual timeline? And like, how did you decide when you needed to kind of jump into the past and visit with them before coming back to the future or the present?

[00:41:37] So it goes back to the original project that I shelved. Because it actually was two projects, I guess, that turned into one. Where one was a purely historical about a local cryptid called the Snallygaster. And the idea was this newspaper man makes up a story about the Snallygaster in the area.

[00:42:04] And then this female ornithologist comes to investigate from the Smithsonian on behalf of President Roosevelt and discovers that it's all, you know, a fraud. Like he's a fraud. Like he just made it up. A hoax. That's what that's called. And it turned, but then everyone's like, but I'm, but we're seeing it. It's here. And they have to figure out what it actually is. And I was like, oh, it's a big ass eagle.

[00:42:31] Because apparently like the biggest, the biggest bird it could be is like a golden eagle. And so that was the original idea. But my agent was like, it's a little early to be switching to historical. You just released her first book. And so she was like, maybe not.

[00:42:50] And then I had another idea that involved, I guess it was Cal and Annie still, but they were different iterations. Cal was still in the antique store. Annie, though, was at a historical society. And Cal came to do research at the historical society. And eventually when I got my agents okay on the project, it was combining those two ideas.

[00:43:19] So Cal wound up with this goose or with an eagle back then, and then had to research it at Annie's historical society. And it was switching back and forth between the Snallygaster historical timeline. And, you know, it was the same eagle, blah, blah, blah. So it was kind of just like a given to me that I was going to do a historical timeline with this one, too. Because I wanted to explain where this goose came from.

[00:43:48] Like, you can't have, like, Chekhov's goose without, like, firing, I guess. Without it honking. So I knew that I wanted to do that. And Aura and John are, like, again, like, derivative of the original characters from the original project. So, like, it was really fun to get to bring them back and play with them in a more solid way.

[00:44:19] And then as far as, like, the back and forth, it's always, I do everything by vibes. Like, it's the least efficient way to work, honestly. I wish I wasn't like this. But I cannot understand structure. And I need to just go based on what feels correct, which means a lot of trial and error. But luckily, I have a really good editor. And if I'm ever wrong about where we cut to a different part, you know, she'll be like, hey, maybe let's move this.

[00:44:47] Or let's have another scene here. But, yeah. So it's really vibes based as to, like, where that fits in and how. Makes sense. So what I also had a note about the dual timeline. Because you do such a good job of, like, speaking, even as the narrator, in the, like, perfect dialect of the time period for each of the characters.

[00:45:17] What was it like jumping back and forth in time? And did you have to do any other than, like, Byrd Laws? Did you have to do other research on, like, their time for Aurora and John? So because of my background in history, I try not to do too much research. Because I know I can, like, easily fall down a rabbit hole. And then it'll be, like, four days later. And I haven't written anything but know, like, a lot about some random subject.

[00:45:45] And so I try to get the details correct. But not stress too intensely about it. Because, like, I am not writing a history book for people to learn from necessarily. Like, it doesn't have to be a thousand percent correct. That being said, I do have a reproduction 1908 Sears and Roebuck catalog that I referenced a few times.

[00:46:13] For fashion styles, for, like, what kind of suitcases, like, did they have? Like, what were they referring to them as? Things like that. Which was one of the main reasons I said it in 1908, honestly. Let's look up what hat he would be wearing. But that was kind of what I did.

[00:46:37] And then I had done some research on sort of the history of the Smithsonian. And, like, where they would be working at that time. And, like, you know, just the general history of naturalists and biology and all that. But, yeah, I mean, honestly, I did most of my research after the book was done.

[00:47:04] Because a really good nonfiction book came out this past spring called The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons. And it's the history of bird conservation in America. And it's so good. And it's so interesting. And I'm really glad I read it then because I feel like I could have gotten so bogged down trying to add, like, all these fun facts into the narrative. But now I can just talk about them in interviews and tell people about the importance of bird conservation.

[00:47:31] But, I mean, one of the, like, most interesting things that I learned in that book is just the scale of, like, how many birds were killed in the 19th century. Like, there used to be passenger pigeons. We do not have them anymore. But they were so abundant. They would fly in flocks that were literally, like, two miles wide and 13 miles long. Whoa. Oh, my gosh. Like, we do not have anything of that scale anymore in the United States. No.

[00:48:00] The closest thing you can probably think of is, like, flocks of starlings. Yeah. But even then, it's, like, nothing compared to what it used to be like. And they would, like, black out the sky for hours passing over towns and, you know, raining down poop. And, like, their wings would create wind. And it would startle the cattle. And people just had to, like, go inside and, like, wait out this, this, like, bird assault. The birds. And they're gone.

[00:48:28] People killed that many birds. Wow. Look, I, okay, slight spoilers. I nearly fell out of my chair when she said, it's a shame I'm going to have to kill it. What? I was with John. I was like, what did she say? Yes. Yeah.

[00:48:48] And, but you know what's crazy that I also learned from James H. McCallman's book is that originally when you were studying birds, when you were considered, like, a naturalist, and mostly it was hobbyists. It was, like, rich men who, like, didn't have to work would consider themselves, like, experts on birds before there was, like, an actual study field of ornithology.

[00:49:12] It was considered best practice to kill at least 100 of the same species to have a proper sampling of the variation. Oh, my gosh. So, even the people that were, like, quote, unquote, like, studying birds had, like, hundreds of each type to reference. And it was more of a collection and, like, clout thing than it was real science.

[00:49:41] So, like, yeah, it was. See, I'm just not Albus. No. Oh, no. It was, like, a pretty big transition into, like, field observation and birding as a hobby and, like, watching birds. And women were largely responsible for that turn. There's, like, a lot of women's rights history connected to bird conservation, which is something that I found really interesting while researching this project.

[00:50:10] So, it's a lot of things are connected to bird conservation. Honestly, I could go on forever. So, you should change the subject before I do. No, I love that, though, because that's, it feels like, and that's one of the things I think, like, I always say humans are the worst thing that have ever happened to planet Earth. Because we are. But it's one of those things that you don't think about how interconnected we are with, like, nature.

[00:50:37] Like, if bees go extinct, we're screwed. My niece just recently did a paper on how humanity is an invasive species on Earth. And I was like, I love you so much. I'm so proud of you. We suck. Yeah, I mean, and it also, and one of the ways they got people to chill out with the killing is, like, promoting birds as natural pest repellent.

[00:51:04] Like, oh, if there's more birds, then they eat the bugs that are eating your crops and anointing you. And, like, so people were less likely to kill them. And that's, you know, ignoring the whole feather trade for fashion. And it was, like, that alone almost wiped out most of the species that were, like, being killed for fashion. So, and there's all sorts of interesting, like, legal theory stuff behind it, which is why it's a treaty instead of a law.

[00:51:34] And, yeah, it's just, it opens a can of worms. I feel like I want to make a joke about the early birds. I was going to say. About the worms. Yeah. It's really fascinating. And, like, I got to meet James McCommons when he, because I found out about the book, read it really fast. And then, thankfully, he was, like, coming nearby to give a talk, like, the next week. And so I got to go meet him. Oh, that's so cool. That's so cool.

[00:52:03] I was like, this is going to sound, I slid him a sticker of the leucistic goose with the U.S. code on it. And I was just like, this is going to sound insane and I'm sorry. Maybe. But I wrote a rom-com about the Microtory Bird 3D Act. And I would love to connect. And he's like, huh. That's amazing. So funny. Yeah.

[00:52:29] It is definitely one of the, like, weirder conversation openers I've ever had to start with. Amazing. Oh, my gosh. All right. Well, we would love to continue to keep you forever, but we did promise that we wouldn't. So we'll head into our questions that we always ask. As you know, we have a segment on the podcast that we call Fictional Boyfriend of the Week, in which we pick a fictional character that we really vibed with that week. It doesn't necessarily have to be a boyfriend.

[00:52:59] I've had a fictional granny. Mandy has a fictional son. We've got fictional pets, as well as ones that really want to be in the interview. Do you have any fictional characters currently that you're just like, oh, everybody should meet these people? Can I have, like, a whole fictional extended family? Yes.

[00:53:24] So I've been, like, on a merry ballad kick for the last several months, going back, I think, to last year. And I'm currently reading her Westcott series, which is, like, a bajillion books. And they're all related, sort of, in some way or another. It's a giant family. And I'm having such fun, like, just reading those series and sticking with these same characters and watching them, like, interact.

[00:53:50] And then once they get there happily ever after, it's like, you get to keep seeing them in the next few books. And it's just a lot of fun. So I'm going to say the entire Westcott extended family. I love it. My fictional, I guess not boyfriend. Boyfriends and girlfriends and moms and aunts and et cetera. Yeah. Your fictional fam. My fictional fam. There we go. Love it. Okay. So that may be your answer for this question, too. Like, we love your books, obviously.

[00:54:20] We're obsessed. And we're not going to stop recommending them. But what are you reading? What are you recommending? Favorite book of all time? Or just go read that series? Books. There are a couple really wonderful debuts out this month, specifically. Kate Eberle, If Books Could Kill, is the genre mashup of my dreams.

[00:54:44] It's, you know, this woman accidentally wishes to be in her favorite romance author's next book. But she doesn't realize that her favorite romance author has, like, tried her hand at writing a thriller. Oops. Oops. Oops. And so she, like, winds up in this, like, really crazy, like, thriller, like, mystery sort of situation. And there's a guy. And it's just, I love it so much. I've read it twice now.

[00:55:14] And I get to do an event with Kate next week in Brooklyn. I'm so excited. I, like, basically demanded she be my friend. Like, as soon as I read it, I was like, hello, we are friends now. You have no choice. Taking you hostage. That's the best kind of book when you're just like, we are friends now. I'm so sorry. Yeah. It's like, I find sometimes you read a book and you're like, I love this person's brain.

[00:55:43] And that's how I felt with that book, for sure. And then Leslie Renee, her debut, Maggie and Arthur's Magic Moment, comes out the same day as Wild Goose Chase, the 28th. And we are doing our launch event together here in Frederick because Leslie is in Northern Virginia, not too far away. And that book is so cute and fun.

[00:56:09] And it's, it's like cozy fantasy academia, but with like real stakes. And like, it's just, I had so much fun reading it with my husband. We read it as a read aloud and had a really good time. And I'm excited to talk to Leslie about some of, about some of the stuff in there.

[00:56:30] Especially as someone who doesn't write fantasy, like, it'll be really interesting to, to see what she, what she has to say about some of, because like, when you're writing fantasy, that's also kind of the real world. Like, what do you, how do you decide what to make fantastic? And like, what is just normal? Like, you know, how things charge? Like, I don't know. It's so interesting to me. I never think about these things.

[00:56:52] Um, and then a couple months ago, Sophie Benoit, um, came out with, I believe it's her fiction debut. I think she has a nonfiction book that came out before. Um, but it's called The Very Definition of Love. And it's a historical romance about this like word nerd wallflower and this like really rakish, charming man that, um, she has to enter a marriage of, I guess, inconvenience with.

[00:57:21] After they're found together in a library. Um, and I also have read that one twice. I really love that one too. Um, so there's just like so many good books that have come out this year and I'm always so far behind on my, on my TBR, but those I have managed to get through. And, um, and I'm currently reading my friend, uh, Josette Alamence's debut, How to Hate a Prince, which is coming out in November from, um, Harlequin, I believe.

[00:57:50] And it, that is a lot of fun too. Um, it has this like Talia Hibbert meets early 2000s rom-com vibe. That's like sold. Sold. Amazing. All right. Well, what comes next? What can we expect from you? I know, I think you're taking a break for the next, you're, you're writing, you're drafting right now, right?

[00:58:13] I, no, no, um, yeah, I mean, I, I, I really, uh, I want to say I've been thrown a curveball, but I, I guess I threw it at myself. I somehow threw a curveball at myself. Well, it curves, so it, it comes back. It curves, it curves like a boomerang. It curves back. Yeah, that's how curveballs work, right? I don't know, I don't sport. Totally, it's just like a boomerang.

[00:58:39] Um, basically I wrote a whole book in three and a half months in the midst of severe burnout and then realized I shouldn't have done that because it was not good and it was not good, even good enough to fix. It wasn't worth fixing. And my team was very supportive. Um, I guess that means they agreed. And then, um, we kind of met up and brainstormed and we're like, okay, here's another idea that's like kind of related and like, you know, let's go. And I started working on it and then submitted some stuff and they're like, are you sure?

[00:59:08] And I was like, no. So we're back to the drawing board. We have finalized a Zoom meeting for brainstorming. I've sent a few ideas over, some of them more baked than others. None more than half baked, however. And we're gonna just kind of let the creative juices flow in between me and my agent and my editor. We're hopefully going to come up with something that feels right.

[00:59:37] And hopefully that gives me enough time to, to like attend to my mental health and not like make it worse again. Burn out. Um, because that was a lesson learned the hard way that sometimes pushing through is not the answer. No. Well, I, it must be nice to just have that team behind you too, like who are supportive and can help you like figure out what you're trying to say.

[01:00:03] Cause you're trying to tell a story and you've got these people here like, Hey, maybe this direction or maybe that direction. And that must feel really lovely to not. Cause I feel like a lot of times we were like writing is a very solo act, but you know, you do have people behind you who are encouraging and helping in that, in that way. Yeah. I'm so lucky. I have a really, really good team and I've worked with all the same people pretty much, um, my whole career so far.

[01:00:31] Um, and they always are like, your mental health is the most important thing. And it's really nice that they're not just saying that. Like they truly mean that if I, if I'm like, Hey, things are rough. They're like, okay, like, do you need an extension? What do you need? Um, you know, very supportive. And I, I really am lucky to have that because yeah, I mean, if it was up to me, I would probably write the most unmarketable, craziest thing that nobody wants.

[01:01:01] So it's nice to have like outside people to be like, okay, interesting. However, um, or to say that's fun. Could you combine it with this other thing you're thinking? And then I have like kind of an aha moment that, that leads to the right thing. So I love working with people who, who understand how I think and also like moderate how I think a little bit to make sure I don't completely lose the plot. Yeah.

[01:01:29] Well, I know I have very, have all the faith in the world that no matter what it is, it's going to be quirky and fun and perfect. Yes. Wholeheartedly agree. Yeah. Well, whenever that may be, you know, the rules. Now that you've been on the podcast, you are legally obligated to come back for your future book releases. So we'll be here waiting. Whatever that next book is, we're excited for it.

[01:01:54] But in the meantime, all our listeners, by the time this episode comes out, the book is out. So you can go pick up a copy of Wild Goose Chase. It's so much fun. We love it so much. I've been complaining all episode about how sleepy I am and it's your fault. I stayed up late last night because I could not put it down. I was like, oh my God, it's so good. I had to finish. Love to hear it. Thank you so much, Sarah, for coming back and joining us. This was so much fun.

[01:02:24] Always so much fun. Yeah. Thanks so much for having me again. I look forward to, I guess, 2028. 2028. Yeah. We'll be here. We'll be here with bells on waiting for you. We can't wait. Alrighty. Have a good one. You too. Bye. Bye. I love her so much. I love her so much. She's so much fun. And like I, like she was talking about like loving being able to be like, I love this person. Like I love her brain.

[01:02:54] Yeah. I love her brain. I love being able to see how her brain works through her books. Like it's so, so fun. She has such an infectious personality too. Yeah. Like she just, ugh. Yeah. Like I was tired before this. I'm still tired, but I'm like, I'm a little bit more energized. That was so fun. Yay. Before we get into announcements, I have to introduce somebody because he's up here. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Oh, that's right.

[01:03:29] Bye-bye. Okay, listeners. Oh, he's some baby. I told George Bailey that when it was time to give another dog a home to let me know. And then this guy starts showing up on my Facebook and his name at the rescue, named by the rescue was Ryerson. And like a lot of people know who Zayden Ryerson is, but not a lot of people know who Zayden Ryerson is, right? It's like a specific sect of people.

[01:03:57] So I sent it to Josh and he was like, oh, that's cute. And then like, we didn't think anything of it. I was just like, look at that cute little dog. Well, then like a week later, he shows up again. And so I sent it to Josh again and I was like, he's back. So I went downstairs a few hours later and Josh is on his phone and I said, what are you doing? He said, I'm filling out the application for this rescue to go meet this dog. And I was like, you don't have to do that. He's like, you've sent him to me twice. We at least have to go meet him.

[01:04:27] He said it was like a 14 page long. Like, first of all, like your information, who are you, references. Then it was like a quiz. Because how often or what kind of food do you feed your dogs? How often should a dog have vaccinations and what vaccinations? You know, like, do you ever create your dogs? If so, for how long? Like, how do you, what happens when you leave? Like to go to work or whatever. Like when you travel, who keeps your dogs?

[01:04:57] It was a lot. And then we didn't hear anything. And so I'm like, they took your $20 and they ghosted you. Well, the show husband and I have like spam blockers on our phones. Like phone calls go to voice. They go straight to voicemail if you're not in my phone. And if you don't leave a message, I don't know. Right. You know, like you're spam. Right. He got a text message that said, hello, Joshua. My name is blah, blah, blah. And I am reaching out today.

[01:05:26] And he stopped reading it. Because he was like, this is spam. The foster that had Ryerson was trying to reach him. And he saw it days later. And he was like, oh my God. So we called him back. They said, yes, Bebe is still. We've been calling him Bebe. Which is what my two-year-old nephew calls my six-month-old niece, Bebe. And he's Bebe. So we go over there. And the show husband, like, we meet them. But he's in front of us. Or he's in front of me. So he takes Ryerson first.

[01:05:56] And Ryerson immediately crawls upon his shoulder and falls asleep. Aww. He cares more about Josh. Far more than he cares about me. But internet. Besties. Incoherent fangirlies. This is Ryerson Dorian. He's named after two of our favorite shadow daddies. He is three pounds of fury. He is all black. It is precious. We thought we found a white hair on him the other day. I know it was Poochies.

[01:06:25] Sometimes when he's facing you, you can't see his eyes because he's so dark. So you don't know if he's facing you or away from you. But he's very sweet little three-pound. Chihuahua. Little long-haired chihuahua. He's very tender-hearted and dramatic. The other day, he was trying to chew a cord. And I need you to not do that. So I just bopped him on the nose with my finger. Like, I didn't hurt the dog. But I was like, no, no. So I went running to the foot of the bed crying.

[01:06:54] End of the world. Screaming. End of the world as if I had hit him. Which I have never hit this dog. But I just tapped him on the nose to get him away from the cord. And he cried and cried. Oh, you're so mean. You're so mean. That was so mean of you. How dare you? He's never done a wrong thing in his life. I know. So nothing will ever, ever replace the show dog. Like George Bailey. I miss him every day. I still cry myself to sleep sometimes. That was my heart.

[01:07:24] But I think Georgie sent this guy. And Harry sent this guy. Hey, you see your friend? He's like, I'm going to go to sleep now. He's like, I'm the only chihuahua. Hi, look at that's your buddy. That's your new bestie? Yeah. I know. He's just a baby. This is. I know. This is. I know. Ryerson, Dorian, Ryo, Bebe. Bebe is the one he recognizes right now. Because that's what we call him the most.

[01:07:53] That's what. My nephew will say. Who dat? Ryerson? Oh. I love. I love. All right. Anyways, I needed to introduce everybody to Ryerson. Oh. Wing leader. Anyways. Here he is. He's here. Oh. Nine times out of ten. He's going to be wherever Josh is. So. Aw. Probably won't see him much on the show. Because he loves his daddy. He follows Josh around. And I'm just like, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy.

[01:08:26] He's such a baby. He's a baby. He's such a baby. Look at that's your friend. He's a baby. He's very curious about everything. It's so funny. We haven't had a puppy puppy in years. Because we thought Poochie was about a year old when we got. When he showed up. This guy was. I think five months when we got him. Aw. A baby. Just a baby. Look at that. Look at that baby. Yeah. Can you see your friend?

[01:08:56] We got a new. We got another show dog. Another show dog. Oh. And that. This tail is wagging constantly. Does he. Oh. He helicopters. Yeah. Yeah. Your little helicopter. Oh my goodness. Okay. So now it is time for announcements. Multiple. I know. Next week. Get my stack. Let's talk about this. Because next week. Not only do we have a double header. But we have double repeat offenders.

[01:09:26] Because we're. Talking to you. Hannah Nicolmeir. And Chloe Gong. I'm sorry. What a powerhouse. I know. This. This episode. So good. The only way it could. Would be better. Is if we could have gotten them on. Together. The same episode together. That would have been cool. Yes. That. I feel like that also. Like it's already chaos. When it's just. One of them with us. Yeah. But like. All together. Honestly.

[01:09:55] I want to get Hannah and Brianne. Yes. At the same time. Nothing would be talked about. No. No too. It would be so good. No. But I'm so excited. I know. It's going to be. It's going to be super fun. Yay. All right. Now it is time for a spiel. Yay. Okay. If you enjoyed this episode. Please like. Follow and subscribe. Wherever you're listening to us. Follow us on social media. We are at the incoherent fangirl.

[01:10:25] On all the things. Visit our website. The incoherent fangirl.com. Where you can also stream all of our episodes. As well as read our blog. Head over and subscribe to Patreon. For early access to podcast episodes. Full video episodes. Bonus content. And the opportunity to ask questions. Of our guests. That's always fun. Mm-hmm. If you're looking for some merch. You can visit our merch store. At the incoherent fangirl.com. Shop. Because Mandy gets bored with an iPad sometimes. And we all reap the benefits of it. If you have any comments.

[01:10:55] Questions. Concerns. Suggestions. Design ideas. You want to tell us. That we're pretty. We will accept all of that. In our inbox. The incoherent fangirl.com. We love hearing from y'all. And of course. One last way to support the podcast. Is to rate and review. On whatever platform you're listening to us on. Give us your words. We love words. You know this. You know this. You've been around long enough. She is at Mandy Purve on all the things. She's at Miss Made in China on all the things. And once you've followed us on social media.

[01:11:24] And you've followed the podcast on social media. You can head over. And visit our internet besties. And do some self-care. Because we love you. First stop. You're going to visit our friends over at. Here comes the nerd. At here comes the nerd.com. You're going to get you some pins. And artsy goodies. Use code fangirl. And you'll get 20% off your first order. Then if. When those artsy goodies and pins aren't enough. You can head over to once upon a book club.com.

[01:11:53] Use code karen10. To get 10% off of. I don't know. Maybe a box with a short story that I wrote. In it. Um. But you have to spell Karen right. Or you're going to get no percent off. And we are going to. Make you sit in a room. With all of the people complaining about the odyssey. And just have to listen to them talk about it. Oh no. Yeah. That's actual torture. Yeah. Actual torture.

[01:12:23] Ooh. Also I hate how I worded this. Obviously pins and artsy goodies are enough. But I want you to add to your collection. Of nerdy things. Bestie things. Listen. Mandy's very tired today. Okay. I'm so tired. She's so sleepy today. You guys. I'm a sleepy girl. The words are hard right now. After I said it. I was like wait. That sounded bad. And I don't want it to be bad. You're like that's not what I meant. No. That's not what I meant.

[01:12:53] I meant this other thing. When you need more cool collectibles. For your shelf. When you need more goodies. Yes. How about that? Yes. That's about Karen right. Yeah. That's really important. Actually. Yeah. All right. And then you're going to visit our friend Amber D. Lewis. At amberdlewis.com. You're going to add 10 of everything to your cart. Because then you're going to add code fangirl10. And then you'll get 10% off of the 10 of everything. Which means you've gotten one of everything for free.

[01:13:22] And that's just math. I'm pretty sure. I mean you're welcome. Yeah. Hello. You're such a savvy shopper. And last but not least. You can support my family. You can follow the show husband. He's at Born at Josh on all the things. You can follow at Searchers Believe on all the things. That's his paranormal investigation group. If you go to searchersbelieve.com slash shop. You can get some more merch designed by moi.

[01:13:50] At 10% off if you use code fangirl10. I think they're also selling some event tickets. If you want to come to Savannah. And do some ghost hunting with them. I will be there. I will not be ghost hunting. I will be in the room by that point. But if they do things before the ghost hunt. You can see. That's in November. You can follow the Searchers podcast. At Searchers podcast. Maybe we'll go back to it. But there's stuff there that you could catch up on.

[01:14:20] But the big one is go follow at Stream Beacon TV on all the things. Beacon TV is his paranormal horror true crime streaming platform. While you're listening to this. It'll be about the two year anniversary of Beacon being public and announced. Already? Already? I know. Isn't that crazy? Two years. That feels so much like a lie.

[01:14:48] I still have to catch myself saying our new platform. Because when I went to Gettysburg a year ago. They were. It was the one year anniversary of when they announced Beacon. Wow. Yeah. That doesn't feel correct. I'm their social media person. So if we could make their social media really blow up. So they could see my value. And give me a raise. Yes. Just kidding. But not really.

[01:15:18] And if you want to subscribe to Beacon. Go to StreamBeaconTV.com. And use code Fangirl10 to get 10% off of your subscription. And then last but not least. I made something. I wrote something. That's the crazy. I still like can't fathom the fact that I wrote and published a book. Sometimes I'll just be driving. And I'll be like you did that bitch. You did. It's right here. This is The Living and the Dead. It's about a girl named Abby who was born a ghost. But ages like the living.

[01:15:47] And the reaper who would die to get her to look at him. I've been having a lot. I've written a lot of book two. And I've been having a lot of scenes come to me for book two. Where it's like oh this could happen. So yeah. Working on book two. If you would like a copy. I'm on all the major retailers. But if you would like a signed copy. You have to go to AEPervis.com. And if you use code Erin Warner. You'll get 10% off. Because it wouldn't be me. If I didn't make at least something.

[01:16:17] About Erin Warner. So. Just a little something. A little something. Yeah. All right. And that was. That was. Hey girl. Hey girl. Thanks for listening. We love you. Bye. Bye. We are sponsored by our friends at Here Comes the Nerd. Pins, stickers, magnets, and more. Here Comes the Nerd has happy art. For all fandom loving hearts.

[01:16:40] New customers can use coupon code FANGIRL during checkout for 20% off their first order at herecomesthenerd.com. Coupon applies to ready to ship items only.