Join us as we talk Christmas books and seasonal favorites. With special guests Betsy St. Amant and Morgan Tarpley Smith, we dive into their holiday book A Louisiana Christmas to Remember .

Fake dating, Christmas dopamine, hurricane impact, the never-before-heard story of the PINEAPPLE... and favorite settings make their way into the conversation.  Follow our guests for more fun book info:

@morgantarpleysmith, www.morgantarpleysmith.com

@betsystamanthaddox, https://betsystamant.com/

Let us know--Have you seen the movie Holiday in Handcuffs?

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”

– Laura Ingalls Wilder, 

Prairie Wisdom

@karissariffel.books ;⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://karissariffel.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

@christie_b_kern_writes ;⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.christiebkern.com/

@kellyborjaswrites ;⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.kellyborjas.com/⁠

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Welcome to our festive Thanksgiving episode! Join us as we discuss a range of topics--feasts, food, and family in our favorite fictional worlds! Of course, we learned a whole lot about each other and how we celebrate the holidays. Come along with us for the journey!

We'd love to know...

What does BBQ mean to you, where you live?

Do you eat acorn squash?

And do you have Bojangles?

@karissariffel.books ;⁠⁠ ⁠https://karissariffel.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠

@christie_b_kern_writes ;⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.christiebkern.com/⁠⁠⁠

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Here are our book recs this week!

Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascall

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Louise Penny

Alaskan Courage Series by Dani Pettrey

O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Dive Team Investigations by Lynn H. Blackburn

The Lost Library by Melissa Koslin

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood

This episode contains book recs for the season! We have a spectrum of options for you to choose! Come along as we talk through some of our favorites!

@karissariffel.books ;⁠ ⁠https://karissariffel.substack.com/⁠⁠

@christie_b_kern_writes ;⁠ ⁠https://www.christiebkern.com/⁠⁠

@kellyborjaswrites ;⁠ ⁠https://www.kellyborjas.com/

Here are some of our favorites:

Light and "clean" fall-themed books:

Just Don't Fall, Emma St. Clair

Can't Help Falling, Courtney Walsh

The Madwoman Upstairs, Catherine Lowell

Slightly Spooky, Christian:

Echoes Among the Stones, Jamie Jo Wright

Ted Dekker books

Darcy Coates books

Moody, but Not Scary

Bone Gap, Laura Ruby

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All, Laura Ruby

House of Hollow, Krystal Sutherland

Chief Inspector Gamache, Louise Penny

Vale, Tess Bentley

Classics:

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

Horror-Leaning Fantasy:

Neil Gaiman

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

Starling House, Alix E. Harrow

Silver Nitrate, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Simone St. James, especially The Sun Down Motel

Classic Scary:

Dracula, Bram Stoker

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Edgar Allan Poe

Shirley Jackson

Modern Scary:

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Hollow Places and A House with Good Bones, T. Kingfisher

How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix

Psychological Thrillers:

I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Iain Reid

Looking Glass Sound, Catriona Ward

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

Join us as we talk through this spooky topic! We'll talk through what makes this genre unique, the difference between horror and terror, catharsis, our first horror movie experiences, and so much more!

We want to know: have you heard of the "final girl" trope?

Take a look at Karissa's Substack article for lots of additional thoughts: https://karissariffel.substack.com/p/why-i-write-horror-as-a-christian

@karissariffel.books ; ⁠https://karissariffel.substack.com/⁠

@christie_b_kern_writes ; ⁠https://www.christiebkern.com/⁠

@kellyborjaswrites ; ⁠https://www.kellyborjas.com/

In this episode, we discuss our opinions on the state of Christian fiction. We cover a brief history of Christian fiction, talk what trends we're liking, and cast our hopes and predictions for the market! Where did it start? How has it changed? Does it need to have a salvation narrative to be considered Christian? Listen to this week's episode to hear our thoughts.

Spoiler! We want more romantasy!

@karissariffel.books ; https://karissariffel.substack.com/

@christie_b_kern ; https://www.christiebkern.com/

@kellyborjaswrites ; https://www.kellyborjas.com/

Want to check out the books we mention?

When Calls The Heart, Janette Oke

This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti

Ted Dekker

Grace Livingston Hill

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Redeeming Love and The Mark of the Lion, The Atonement Child, Francine Rivers

A Midnight Dance, Joanna Davidson Politano

He Should Have Told The Bees, Amanda Cox

Becky Wade

The Destiny Trilogy, A.C. Williams

Stats, data, and research articles can be found here:

Bestsellers:

https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/fiction.php?id=0924

https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/fiction.php?id=BO23

Data:

https://www.circana.com/intelligence/press-releases/2024/adult-fiction-outperforms-the-u-s-book-market-in-2023-circana-reports/

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/91845-redefining-christian-fiction.html

https://wng.org/articles/the-lost-realm-of-christian-sci-fi-and-fantasy-1725932830

https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/12/christian-fiction-finally-has-issues-messy-clean/

In our first episode, we talk about our fiction favorites, a bit about ourselves, books that formed us, and our writing genres. We're so excited to start the Lit Ladies Literary Journey with you!

@litladiespod

Follow our individual writing endeavors below and on social media:

https://karissariffel.substack.com/ ; @karissariffel.books

https://www.christiebkern.com/ ; @christie_b_kern

https://www.kellyborjas.com/; @kellyborjaswrites