A LITTLE TOO QUIET: THE FERNDALE LIBRARY PODCAST

This week, Emma and Jeff chat with romance author Nicole Cubba about her latest, Wild In Love, an Instant USA Today Bestseller. But here's the thing: Cubba isn't only an excellent romance author; she's also a marine geneticist with a background in marine biology, environmental biology, and zoology. So, naturally, subjects like sharks come up, but so do capybaras and, eventually, cassowaries. BUT, we also talk about how Cubba balances two lives, one in science and nature, the other in plot and character development, AND how/when the science part can weave into the romance part! Wild In Love is out now, and a new novel, Lost In Love, will be out in December. 

This week, romantasy author Kristen Vale, who writes queer cozy fantasy romcoms filled with sweetness & spice, joins us to talk about her latest, A Spell of Heart & Havoc. We talk about how she got started, how romance novels can re-regulate our nervous systems in a wild world, the benefits of escaping into the fantasy genre, building compelling characters, and the importance of libraries & independent bookstores supporting indie authors! 

This week, one of our youth librarians interviews Leslie Priscilla, an educator, advocate, and founder of Latinx Parenting, discussing her new book, 'Chancla: Healing Our Families, Ourselves, and Our Culture Through Nonviolent Parenting,' which came out last month. We also talk about how this book is available to borrow from our library's Parent/Teacher section, located in our Youth Area for parents/caregivers. 

Priscilla is a certified parent coach, family life educator, and the founder of Latinx Parenting, a bilingual organization and movement dedicated to children's rights, intergenerational healing, and ending corporal punishment in Latine families. 

This week, our co-host Mary Grahame welcomes two professors she studied under during her undergrad years: Dr. Anne E. Duggan, Ph.D. (from Wayne State University) and Dr. Julie Koehler, Ph.D. (currently at Michigan State University), the co-editors of Women Writing Wonder: An Anthology of Subversive Nineteenth-Century British, French, and German Fairy Tales. We talk a lot about fairy tales, and especially about the stories collected in the anthologies they've worked on, which feature under-recognized 19th-century texts by women authors who subverted traditional fairy-tale tropes in many ways, challenging the perception that marriage is mandatory and exploring class, race, and female agency.

Brittney Arena is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dance of Lies. Her latest, To Dance With Death, completes the Edge of Glass duology, as she looks forward to next year's Prince of Night. After a challenging health journey, Arena turned to writing—not only as a coping mechanism but as a means of exploration, transporting her to new worlds wherever she was, and allowing her to indulge her deep appreciation for all subgenres of Fantasy.  

https://www.brittneyarena.com 

When a first date between a doomsday prepper and a nerdy film professor goes horribly, zombie-apocalypse-level wrong, the mismatched pair team up on a road trip to safety in this delightfully feral rom-com. 'Doomsdate' is the latest from Laura Piper Lee, and we were so excited to have her on the podcast, not long after her recent visit to Love & Other Books!

Laura is super charming, definitely irreverent, very down-to-earth, and occasionally PG-13 with her language, which made for a hoot of an episode. You don't want to miss it, because we talk about quite a piquant variety of topics, most of which are covered in her excellent rom-com novels! 

https://www.laurapiperlee.com/ 

Mazey Eddings is a bestselling author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats. She's made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. Her latest, 'You Won't Forget Me,' is a dazzling sapphic romance about fame, friendship, and falling for the one person you were never meant to. We talk about rock romances, the fun of meet-disasters, and the legacy of the romance genre! https://www.mazeyeddings.com/

This week, we're chatting with Cait Jacobs, USA Today Bestselling author of The Princess Knight and essentially one of (if not THEE) earliest content creators in the decentralized community of BookTok, starting back in 2019. We "talk" about BookTok, building the romantasy of Princess Knight, which came out in 2024, and we also touch on the inspiration it draws from Legally Blonde. Other topics include how Jacobs brings their own experiences into their writing by intentionally crafting inclusive, queernormative worlds that feature representation for authentic disability and chronic pain. 

Also? Ryan Gosling comes up once or twice.  

Page Powars is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Indie bestselling author of But I Hate Him, And They Were Roommates, and the forthcoming Reins and Restraint. Powars has written three books for young adults with trans main characters, and his latest, But I Hate Him, comes out on August 25. We talk about all three of his published books, and more, including what inspired him to start writing in the first place and how to approach writing for teens vs. adults. 

https://www.pagepowars.com/ 

Ruta Sepetys is a Lithuanian-American author born in Michigan (currently based in Nashville), writing deep-diving and engaging historical fiction that unravels captivating mysteries while also transporting the reader on a journey to discover lesser-known moments and figures from our past! 

A Fortune of Sand, the latest by bestselling author Ruta Sepetys, is a gothic 1920s historical thriller set in Detroit. It follows Marjorie Lennox, the rebellious and overlooked youngest daughter of a wealthy automotive dynasty Bookreporter.com. Desperate to escape her controlling family and pursue fashion design, Marjorie secretly joins "Nightingale," an exclusive arts residency that holds more secrets—and more intrigue—than she could have ever imagined.