Audra McElyea returns to talk about her new locked-room, cancel-culture thriller Not Good People, a twisty ensemble mystery set in a blizzard-stranded Blue Ridge Mountain castle. Audra shares how a decades-old British play inspired her to blend popcorn-thriller pacing with a deeper moral reckoning, how she crafted eleven interconnected characters through actor-based mannerisms, and why the story’s escalating secrets force readers to examine not just the cast—but themselves.

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This week, I talk with Erin Crosby Eckstine about her debut Southern Gothic, Junie. She shares how the book developed across years of writing, the importance of portraying enslaved characters with full humanity rather than stereotypes, and why she crafted Junie as a flawed, emotionally real teenager navigating a world she can’t yet fully understand. Erin also explains Gothic and Southern Gothic traditions, the role of ghostly elements like Minnie, the influence of literature within the story, and how intergenerational family history shaped both the novel and her own life.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Gare, Steph and I share books we think are good discussion starters for book clubs!

Books We Talked About

Kate's Picks

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Dominion by Addie E. Citchens

My Husband by Maud Ventura

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Allegedly by Tiffany D Jackson

Gare's Picks

Keep it In the Family by John Marrs

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Steph's Picks

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

Don’t Forget the Girl by Rebecca McKanna

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Wen-Yi Lee about her adult fantasy debut When They Burned the Butterfly—a fierce, Sapphic story of rage, inheritance, and transformation set in post-colonial Singapore. She shares how her homecoming to Singapore shaped this deeply personal book, how real history and mythology intertwined to form her world of fire magic and girl gangs, and why female rage and found family remain at the heart of her storytelling. We also dive into her creative process, from “chasing the shiny thing” when writing to reimagining real-life places and histories that have since disappeared. If you love Jade City, The Poppy War, or any fantasy that blazes with feminist fury, you will love When They Burned the Butterfly!

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MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Gare and I got to chat with bestselling author Nic Stone to talk about her adult debut thriller, Boom Town—a gritty, sexy, and socially sharp story set in Atlanta’s iconic strip-club scene. Nic opens up about her path from YA to adult fiction, the inspiration behind Boom Town (and why she wrote it before anyone else could), and how she approached portraying sex work, power, and autonomy with authenticity and respect. We also discuss banned books, Atlanta’s strip club culture, Nic’s dad’s unforgettable reaction to the audiobook, and the sheer joy of writing complex, powerful Black women.

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MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Steph and I got chat with Kirsten Miller about her newest novel The Women of Wild Hill. She shares the evolution of her writing process, and the inspirations behind her sharp, witchy, and deeply human stories.

She dives into her love of flawed “unlikable” women, and her view of witchcraft as a metaphor for women’s power and connection to nature. She unpacks how setting, character, and “vibe” shape her work; how hope underpins even her darkest stories; and how The Women of Wild Hill extends the feminist universe begun in The Change, spanning generations of women using their power against patriarchy.

We also discuss the cultural resurgence of witch narratives, the importance of honoring women’s sacrifices throughout history, audiobook narration with January LaVoy, and the enduring magic of storytelling as both art and act of resistance.

Women of Wild Hill Synopsis

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Halley is back and she shares her experiences at NoirCon, I share my new obsession with Scream With Me, a non-fiction book that draws parallels between popular horror movies from 1968-1980 and feminism, and then we must dive into the monstrous men who star in and/or create some of said films. Because how could we not end up talking about that??

We also do a brief bit on Lily Allen's new album West End Girl, Kayla Nicole's Halloween clapback, and the continuing conflict of Ms. Swift.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I got to talk with Cate Holahan about her new thriller The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold. She shares the real life case that inspired the kidnapping structure, how anxiety fuels her best ideas, and how she approached writing an AI tech guru.

The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold Synopsis

Alice Ingold has been kidnapped. Call the police. Alert the media. You can't play this game without all the pieces.

Beautiful, blond, and immensely privileged, Alice Ingold is the perfect victim for a true-crime obsessed culture--and for a masked duo with a singular purpose. Instead of a demand for ransom, her captors have a riddle, and they're inviting the entire country to solve it.

No one is more invested in the search than Alice's parents: Catherine, a socialite with obscene generational wealth, and Brian, a visionary AI tech guru. But while Brian turns to machines to solve the problem, Catherine tries to crowdsource the solution, stopping at nothing to bring her daughter home. And America isn't just watching the story unfold...it's playing along. The nationwide scavenger hunt for Alice is on.

As an increasingly desperate Catherine strives to understand each new clue, a complex picture of the crime develops. Soon, everyone will see the kidnapping of Alice Ingold for what it is--and Alice won't be the only one who will need saving.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Pelumi Olatinpo about his new poetry collection Manifest Destiny. He shares how and why he created a new type of poetry, what inspired him to write about Manifest Destiny and the way it echoes throughout history, and the power of bearing witness.

Manifest Destiny Synopsis

America turns 250 in 2026. In MANIFEST DESTINY, Pelumi Olatinpo delivers an essential examination of what we’ve been, what we are, and what we might become.

This isn’t a traditional book. It’s a new form entirely—159 “sonetas” that compress centuries into seconds, each one exactly sixty words. Think of them as diagnostic tools, or prayers, or evidence. Olatinpo’s innovation makes complex history feel like music in your bones.

Olatinpo writes with the authority of someone who has lived the contradictions he interrogates: arriving undocumented at fifteen, becoming a citizen twenty-two years later. This second book after the acclaimed Poeta moves through four sections—from intimate love through historical memory to prophetic witness—each soneta a small revelation.

“All men are created equal, some more equal than others.”

“In Lagos, you damn the bled, or join the dead.”

“I’ve loved you with the darkest and brightest blues / Of every ocean.”

The journey spans continents and centuries, connecting Gaza to Gettysburg, colonial Nigeria to contemporary Chicago. Code-switching between biblical prophecy, constitutional language, and Nigerian Pidgin, Olatinpo reveals patterns we’ve been trained not to see.

Extensive endnotes turn every reference into a teaching moment. The final piece appears on the book’s endpaper—making it impossible to close without confronting the question: who remembers?

For readers of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, and anyone seeking to understand America at this crucial moment.

Essential reading for the 250th anniversary. A book that transcends genre to become necessary equipment for our time.

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This week, Gare, Steph and I share some of our favorite recommendations for spooky season!

Kate’s Picks

No Road Home by John Fram

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

Gare’s Picks
Nightwatcher by Daphne Wolsoncroft

Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James

Keep This For Me by Jennifer Fawcett

Steph’s Picks
Look Closer by David Ellis

Almost Surely Dead by Amina Akhtar

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Slewfoot by Brom

How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor