Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

The Verbivore references a Star Trek: The Next Generation noir episode that has stuck with her over time and is one source of inspiration for a mytery she’s working on writing. That episode is from Season 1: Episode 11 and is called “The Big Goodbye”.

The Verbivore references some resources listed in an article about researching a particular historical setting from an Australian author who has written some novels set in the Victorian era. That article is on her website KatClay.com under the title “How to effectively research historical fiction”. She also has a good YouTube Video on this same topic under her Kat Clay account titled “How to Research Historical Fiction”.

Here are a few articles and videos we referenced for this conversation:

- MasterClass Article “What is Historical Fiction? Definition of the Historical Fiction Genre and Tips for Writing Your Historical Novel”

- CeladonBooks.com Article “What Is Historical Fiction?”

- MasterClass Article “How to Use the Five Senses in Your Writing”

- KatClay.com Article “How to effectively research historical fiction”

- Kat Clay YouTube Video “How to Research Historical Fiction”

Books and Films Mentioned:

- Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Series 1 (TV Series)

- Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 (TV Series)

- What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

In this episode, we touch on the following previous podcast episodes:

Episode 105: Interview with Joy McCullough (Blood Water Paint)

Episode 17: Being kind to your readers and writing subtle character growth (Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock Series)

Episode 58: Let's talk about Mexican Gothic  

Episode 179: The Bridgerton series

Here are a few articles and videos we referenced for this conversation:

MasterClass Article “What is Historical Fiction? Definition of the Historical Fiction Genre and Tips for Writing Your Historical Novel”

CeladonBooks.com Article “What Is Historical Fiction?”

IAPWE.org Article “The Subgenres of Historical Fiction”

HistoryThroughFiction.com Article “The History of Historical Fiction, in brief”

TCKPublishing.com Article “8 Most Popular Historical Fiction Tropes”

InkandCinema.com Article “Q/A: Writing True Stories - "Based On" vs "Inspired By"“

Variety.com Article “‘Woman King’ Stars Viola Davis and Julius Tennon Talk Box Office Victory and Defend Film Against Historical Critics: ‘We Have to Take License’”

Books and Films Mentioned:

- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

- The Iliad by Homer

- The Odyssey by Homer

- Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

- A Study In Scarlet Women (The Lady Sherlock Series Book 1) by Sherry Thomas

- Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, 1) by Kerri Maniscalco

- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

- The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel (Kingsbridge Book 1) by Ken Follett   

- The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

- Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

- Outlander: A Novel (Outlander, Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon

- Bridgerton: The Duke and I (Bridgertons Book 1) by Julia Quinn

- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy 

- Kindred by Octavia Butler

- Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid  

- Doctor Who: The Christopher Eccleston & David Tennant Collection [TV Series 1-4]

- The Woman King - Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

- Gladiator - Directed by Ridley Scott

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

Anne J. Hill is an active member within the Instagram writing community, and an editor and owner of Twenty Hills Publishing. She’s edited and published seven anthologies (What Darkness Fears, Fool’s Honor, Sharper Than Thorns, Whither and Bloom, Briars and Blood, The Never Tales: Vol. 1, Tales of Many) . Twenty Hills next anthology The Never Tales: Vol. 2 is set to be released in summer ‘23. A self-professed writer of “magic, murder, and mayhem”, Anne is currently working on her debut fantasy Thorn Tower – which she hopes to release in December of this year.

Her latest anthology of Beauty and the Beast of retellings and inspired by novellas was released on March 28th, 2023 under the title Briars and Blood and also features stories from authors - Savannah Jezowski, L.A. Thornhill, Julia Skinner, Tasha Kazanjian, and Abigail Falanga.

You can connect with Anne on Instagram at @anne.j.hill.editing and on her website at https://www.annejhill.com/. Anne’s Twenty Hill Publishing website also lists the editing and writing feedback services that she and her staff provide including full edit, reader responses, developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading services - as well as her current rates. Information on Twenty Hills Publishing currently open anthologies that are accepting submissions can be found here.

Anne mentions two of her favorite design sites for premade and custom book covers. They are:

- J V Arts - https://www.justventurearts.com/ 

- Fantastical Ink - https://www.fantastical-ink.com/

In this episode, Anne touches on several of her favorite Master Classes on writing. Those are:

- Neil Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling

- Dan Brown Teaches Writing Thrillers

- David Baldacci Teaches Mystery and Thriller Writing

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- Briars and Blood by Anne J Hill, Savannah Jezowski, L.A. Thornhill, Julia Skinner, Tasha Kazanjian, and Abigail Falanga 

- Kit Saves The Day (American Girl Collection) by Valerie Tripp and Walter Rane  

- Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, 1) by Michael J. Sullivan

- What Darkness Fears: An Anthology (Black and Gold Anthologies) by Anne J. Hill, Lara E. Madden, Savannah Jezowski, Crystal Grant, Beka Gremikova, D.A. Randall, AJ Skelly, Kat Heckenbach, Effie Joe Stock, and Kristiana Sfirlea

- Sharper Than Thorns (Black and Gold Anthologies) by Anne J. Hill, Beka Gremikova, Hannah Carter, Lara E. Madden, Emily Barnett, Julia Skinner, Maseeha Seedat, Crystal Grant, AJ Skelly, and Tasha Kazanjian

- Wither and Bloom: An Anthology (Black and Gold Anthologies) by Anne J. Hill, Lara E. Madden, Hannah Carter, Cassandra Hamm, AJ Skelly, Maseeha Seedat, Crystal Grant, Miriam Wade, Kaitlyn Emery, and Beka Gremikova

- Fool’s Honor: An Anthology (Black and Gold Anthologies) by Anne J. Hill, Lara E. Madden, Beka Gremikova, Hannah Carter, L.A. Thornhill, Savannah Jezowski, AJ Skelly, Crystal Grant, Nathaniel Luscombe, and Anna Augustine

- The Never Tales: Volume One by Hannah Carter, Anne J. Hill, Brittany Eden, AJ Skelly, Cassandra Hamm, Emily Barnett, Kayla E. Green, Maseeha Seedat, Savanna Roberts, and Annie Kay

- Tales of Many: Book One by Anne J. Hill, Crystal Grant, Rachel Lawrence, Hannah Carter, Denica McCall, Cassandra Hamm, AJ Skelly, and Lacey Scott

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

Stephanie is an active member within the Instagram writing community, where we first connected with her. Her independently published fantasy debut novel A Land of Light and Shadow was released in May ‘20 and a collection of fairytale retelling short stories were published under the title Flower and Cloak in January ‘22.

This collection of fairytale inspired poems was released on February 1, 2023 under the title The Wistful Wild: Fairy Tale Poems of Longing and Ferocity and also features poems from authors - Stephanie Escobar, Caitlin Gemmell, Cortney Joseph, Jess Lynn, and our own Fable - Beth Stedman.

Stephanie is an active presence within the Instagram writing community and you can connect with her on Instagram at @author.stephanieascough and on her website at StephanieAscough.wordpress.com

In this episode, we touch on the following previous podcast episode where we interviewed Stephanie Ascough:

- Episode 50: Interview with Stephanie Ascough

Interspersed throughout this episode, several of the authors read short selections from their poems. Here are the names of the poems and the authors names, along with the timestamps:

- “Once Upon a Time” by Jess Lynn - 12:06

- “The Mermaid’s Sacrifice” by Beth Stedman - 17:24

- “Mirror, Mirror” by Cortney Joseph - 22:06

- “Three Women” by Stephanie Ascough - 27:39

- “Vigil” by Stephanie Escobar - 30:12

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- The Wistful Wild: Fairy Tale Poems of Longing and Ferocity by Stephanie Ascough, Stephanie Escobar, Caitlin Gemmell, Cortney Joseph, Jess Lynn, and Beth Stedman

- Deerskin by Robin McKinley

- Beauty and the Beast (1991) - Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

In this episode, we touch on the following previous podcast episode on romance stories:

Episode 173: Why read romance novels?

Episode 174: Not a guilty pleasure

Episode 175: Writing sex scenes

Episode 176: Romance Book Roundup

Within these romance episodes, both Fable and author CL Walters recommend Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese.

The annecdote about CJ Redwine’s The Shadow Queen is taken from this reel on her Instagram. Here is her caption:

“After listening to me rant for 45 minutes about Snow White & the Huntsman and what COULD have been done with that fairytale, my hubby finally said, "If you want it done that way, why don't you do it yourself?"

So I did.”

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- Two Wrongs Make a Right (The Wilmot Sisters Series) by Chloe Liese

- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

- Only When It's Us (Bergman Brothers Book 1) by Chloe Liese

- Always Only You (Bergman Brothers Book 2) by Chloe Liese

- Ever After Always (Bergman Brothers Book 3) by Chloe Liese

- Bridgerton: The Duke and I (Bridgertons Book 1) by Julia Quinn

- The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, 1) by CJ Redwine

- Emma (2020) - Directed by Autumn de Wilde

- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

- Pride and Prejudice (1995 - BBC)  

- Sense and Sensibility (1995) - Directed by Ang Lee

- The Cutting Edge (1992) - Directed by Paul Michael Glaser  

- Star Trek VII: Generations - Directed by David Carson

- Tron (1982) - Directed by Steven Lisberg 

- X-Men (2000) - Directed by Bryan Singer

- Rosaline (2022) - Directed Karen Maine

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

In this episode, we touch on the following previous podcast episode:

- Episode 172: Non-linear Stories (looking at Ali Hazelwood's novellas)

The Verbivore references a personal instagram post (@hitchipo82) about her hospitalisation at the beginning of this year. Here is that post: - https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpbLeFLwNM/

The Verbivore mentions a calendar with a piece of art and quote from Morgan Harper Nichols. The picture of that piece is available to see here. Here is that quote:

- “I do not know where tomorrow will lead, but I know I am free to give my all with audacious hope for what could be.” - MHN

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- Book Lovers by Emily Henry

- You've Got Mail - Screenplay by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron; Directed by Nora Ephron

- The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

Fable and the Verbivore reference an intimate scene in The Duke and I that reads like a rape, but where the consequences of that situation aren’t trully confronted and addressed. The TV series does a slightly better job of showing that this is a disturbing breach of trust, but the Verbivore mentions that she feels they could have gone farther to have the character Daphne understand and grapple with the impact her choice had on her partner Simon and have them work through it together. Here are a few articles that discuss some of this further:

- Insider Article “The controversial rape scene in 'Bridgerton' started a 'really great conversation around consent,' says show's intimacy coordinator”

- Vox Article “Bridgerton has a rape scene, but it’s not treated like one”

- NWA Center for “Why We Need to Talk About Sexual Assault & Bridgerton”

The Verbivore mentions that season 3 of Bridgerton will be focusing on Penelope and Colin’s story. As of this episode, they are still in production and a release date has not yet been given. But, a prequel that focuses on Queen Charlotte’s original love story is releasing May 4th, 2023 on Netflix.

Here are a few videos and articles we referenced for this conversation:

- CBS Mornings Interview with Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers talk story behind “Bridgerton"

- The Take YouTube Video “Bridgerton is a Fan Fiction About Today”

- The Take YouTube Video “Why Bridgerton Season 2 Works - Secrets of the Enemies-to-Lovers Trope”

- Deadline - Pilot Script of Season 1, Episode 1: “Diamond of the First Water”

Books and TV Series Mentioned:

- Bridgerton: The Duke and I (Bridgertons Book 1) by Julia Quinn

- The Viscount Who Loved Me: Bridgerton (Bridgertons Book 2) by Julia Quinn 

- An Offer From a Gentleman: Bridgerton (Bridgertons Book 3) by Julia Quinn 

- Romancing Mister Bridgerton: Penelope & Colin's Story (Bridgertons Book 4) by Julia Quinn

- To Sir Phillip, With Love: Bridgerton (Bridgertons Book 5) by Julia Quinn  

- Bridgerton Season 1 and 2 (Netflix) - Shondaland, Written by Chris Van Dusen and Others (Writers Room)

- Persuasion by Jane Austen  

- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

Names are important. Towards the beginning of this conversation we talk about how to pronounce Helen Hoang’s last name. We were close, but a little off. The phonetic spelling of Hoang is HHWae-NG.

The Verbivore references several details from author Helen Hoang’s author’s note that was included in the back of her paperback edition.

Fable references a series that we did on Fable and the Verbivore about writing Romantic Chemistry and another on Physical Intimacy taken from a behavioral psychology perspective. Here are those episodes:

- Episode 15: How to write great romantic chemistry

- Episode 16: Writing romantic chemistry part 2

- Episode 71: Let's talk about writing physical intimacy

- Episode 72: Let's talk about writing physical intimacy (part 2)

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

- The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

- The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

- Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

Fable mentions how much she enjoyed Emily Henry’s YA speculative novels. Here are those titles in order of publication:

- The Love That Split the World (2016)

- A Million Junes (2017)

- When the Sky Fell on Splendor (2019)

Fable mentions some dialogue writing advice Emily Henry shared on “The Shit No One Tells You About Writing” podcast. That episode is:

- Emily Henry's Advice for Writing Good Dialogue

As we close this episode, Fable mentions how Emily Henry’s dialogue reminds us of Nora Ephron films like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail. We also are preparing a class on dialogue using these films as examples which we plan to share on March 2nd at 10am AZ time. We’ll share more details on our Instagram as we get closer to time, but we hope you join us!

We’ve talked about Emily Henry’s YA speculative adventure story When the Sky Fell on Splendor on a previous podcast episode. That episode is:

- Episode 140: When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry

Books and Movies Mentioned:

- Beach Reads by Emily Henry

- People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

- Book Lovers by Emily Henry

- When Harry Met Sally - Screenplay by Nora Ephron; Directed by Rob Reiner

- Sleepless in Seattle - Screenplay by Nora Ephron, Jeff Arch (Story) and David S. Ward; Directed by Nora Ephron

- You've Got Mail - Screenplay by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron; Directed by Nora Ephron

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Notes:

The Verbivore references a quote from romance author Chandra Blumberg (Digging Up Love, Stirring Up Love), who we interviewed back in 2021. That episode was “Episode 89: Interview with Chandra Blumberg”. Here is her full quote:

“There’s definitely a stigma about different levels of heat in romance. Some people aren’t comfortable with the high heat and they think it’s all the high heat. But there’s all sorts of romance for all different people. I was worried that if I write the sort of romance that I want to, will there be a place for it. And the answer is yes because there is. It’s the same thing with fantasy and so many other genres – they run the gamut. Just like there’s cozy mysteries or there’s dark, gritty mysteries.… There’s so much diversity in the genre and there’s really something for everyone.“

Towards the beginning of the conversation, we talk about the Romance genre being wide and growing, with characters that are starting to more accurately reflect the world around us - but there is still a long way to go. We strongly believe representation matters and that we all should be able to see ourselves reflected in stories with happy endings. If you’re curious to learn more about where the industry is at, here are a few articles on this topic:

- NY Times Article “The Changing Face of Romance Novels”

- The Ripped Boddice “The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report”

- Writers Republic Article “Diversity in the Romance Novel Industry: Has there been any progress?”

Fable references the link between reading fictional stories, learning, and empathy. Here are a few articles that discuss this topic:

- Discover Magazine Article “How Reading Fiction Increases Empathy and Encourages Understanding”

- Medium Article “Reading Fiction Increases Your Empathy and Understanding of Others”

- Harvard Business Review “The Case for Reading Fiction” by Christine Seifert

Here are a few articles and websites we referenced for this conversation:

- MasterClass Article “Writing 101: What Is a Romance Novel? Learn About the History and Characteristics of Romance Novels”

- AllAboutRomance.com Review Power Search

Books and Films Mentioned:

- Book Lovers by Emily Henry

- The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

- The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

- The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

- Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

- Two Wrongs Make a Right (The Wilmot Sisters Series) by Chloe Liese

- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

- The Charm Offensive: A Novel by Alison Cochrun

- The Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Series Books 1 - 3 Collection Box Set by Rick Riordan (Sword of Summer, Hammer of Thor & Ship of the Dead)

- Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

- The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

- Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

- The American Roommate Experiment: A Novel by Elena Armas

- The Spanish Love Deception: A Novel by Elena Armas

- The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

- The Dating Plan by Sara Desai

- The Singles Table by Sara Desai

- Yes & I Love You: A Steamy & Emotional Contemporary Romance (Say Everything, 1) by Roni Loren

- We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

- Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

- Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1) by Grace Draven

- Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars) by Elizabeth Lim

- Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars) by Elizabeth Lim

- The Wrath & the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn Book 1) by Renée Ahdieh

- The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh

- A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

- The Hating Game - Directed by Peter Hutchings

- The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

- To Kill a Kingdom (Hundred Kingdoms) by Alexandra Christo

- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

- The Bodyguard: A Novel by Katherine Center

- Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas

- The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers Book 3) by Lisa Kleypas

- My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas

- Beguiling the Beauty (The Fitzhugh Trilogy Book 2) by Sherry Thomas

- Tempting the Bride (The Fitzhugh Trilogy Book 3) by Sherry Thomas

- Not Quite a Husband (The Marsdens) by Sherry Thomas

- The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan

- Bombshell: A Hell's Belles Novel (Hell's Belles, 1) by Sarah MacLean

- One Good Earl Deserves a Lover: The Second Rule of Scoundrels (Rules of Scoundrels, 2) by Sarah MacLean

- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

- Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

- Mr. Darcy's Diary: A Novel by Amanda Grange

- Austenland – Directed by Jerusha Hess

- Austenland by Shannon Hale

- Geekerella: A Fangirl Fairy Tale (Once Upon A Con Book 1) by Ashley Poston

- The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

We don’t mention them here by name, but we also have several bookclub episodes where we talk in-depth about books or series that have romantic pairings we enjoy. Here are those:

- Episode 21: Mixing fairytale, myth, and good character development - Hunted by Meagan Spooner

- Episode 34: We Hunt The Flame Discussion

- Episode 52: The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas

- Episode 66: Let's talk about Caraval

- Episode 74: Let's talk about Jane Austen's Persuassion

- Episode 86: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

- Episode 91: Would Like To Meet by Rachel Winters

- Episode 95: Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

- Episode 128: The Opposite of Always

- Episode 136: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

- Episode 149: Miles Morales Spider-man by Jason Reynolds

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)