This week on Writers Behaving Badly, Brooke and Annie spiral into shame spirals, Lisa serves up a full-course manuscript masterclass (with sides of encouragement and mild roasting), and author Kylie Ladd drops by to destroy every writing rule you thought was gospel. Honestly? It’s a lot. But it’s also your new writing therapy session.

Welcome back to Writers Behaving Badly, the podcast where manuscripts are sacred, self-doubt is shared, and our editing decisions come with a side of existential dread. This week, Annie confesses her manuscript is quietly weeping in the corner, Brooke faces down some plotting demons, and Lisa accidentally unravels her WIP like a wool jumper caught on a nail.

Oh, and Kylie Ladd joins us to confirm: you don’t have to write every day. (Take that, hustle culture.)

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

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What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins –Annie flirts with 30 new book ideas and neglects her WIP (again), Brooke rewrites herself into a corner, and Lisa unpicks her manuscript like it personally offended her—then remembers she saved all the old versions like the good anxious author she is. Penance is assigned, sass is served.

✍️ Roast or Toast –Lisa gently (mostly) critiques Brooke’s second chapter, praising her brilliant rewrite and new narrative voice for Sully. She toasts the improvements, suggests trimming a few redundant words, and reminds us all that white space is a kindness—not a formatting crime.

🎤 Author Spotlight –Kylie Ladd joins the chaos to share her biggest writing sins, worst advice (spoiler: "write every day" is cancelled), and why her breakthrough book still hasn’t, technically, broken through. A vulnerable and hilarious chat on publishing, process, and resilience.

🍵 Tea Time Rant –Are author blurbs dead? Simon & Schuster seems to think so. The gang spills the tea on why blurbs are kind of fake news, the stress of begging favours from author friends, and how we’re all too emotionally fragile for this nonsense.

💀 Chaotic Sign-Offs –We wrap with a healthy amount of imposter syndrome, chaotic giggling, and an invitation for Lisa to join the Dragon Smut Book Club (spoiler: she declines with conviction).

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🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack—we’ll only make fun of it a little.

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