"His bowling buddies try to find out why her son tries to invade Earth in the Texas bayous." Who is he, who is she, and why IS her son trying to invade Earth? And how do the cheerleaders play into all this? Thank you to our guest, Tim McMeen, for helping us flesh out this story with far too many characters.

"An old friend finds himself shooting a big-budget war movie, but he is distracted by shop-lifting." How does somebody just "find himself" shooting a big-budget movie? Who is he an old friend to? And who is doing the shop-lifing?

Thank you to our guest Kealohilani for helping us create this story! Check out her Amazon author page here: https://www.amazon.com/Kealohilani/e/B00NAHG84M/

"On Christmas, a vampire starts shooting at him, and in doing so somehow knows a lot about angels." Who is the mysterious "him"? Why is the vampire shooting? How on earth does the shooting improve someone's knowledge? So glad we had Nat Chan on board to help us flesh out this bizarre holiday story.

(Note that Hannah's audio is pretty rough for the first few minutes of this episode - it does improve about 5 minutes in! Looks like it's time to invest in a new microphone.)

Follow Nat on Instagram at @knatkat44 for cat pics and check out https://www.scribecat.ca/ for all your literary editing needs!

"A movie about the shifty and harsh life of the seven friends Rasputin."

That synopsis is beyond confusing. What does "the seven friends Rasputin" even mean? Why do they all share one life? Are they the twins mentioned in the title? Thank you to our guest Rachel Kulik for helping us dive into this truly bizarre plot this week!

Follow our guest on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/rachelreading14 and listen to her podcast, Checking Out, on any podcast service or here at the podcast website: www.checkingoutpodcast.com

"A police psychologist only has an hour to decide to fight back as an outlaw."

Who is the psychologist fighting back against? Why do they only have an hour? What laws do they break to become an outlaw? And isn't there already a book called "Horns"? Thank you to our guest Calissa Wall for helping us work through our plot this week!

"A cute woman and a wealthy woman face life in Hollywood, looking for loyalty and heroin."

Who are these women? Do they find the loyalty they're looking for with each other? And what on earth is up with that title? 

Thanks to Kate Smith for joining us to unpack this, as well as sharing about her exciting new Chicago show and her mental healthy journey. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://onewomanhamlet.com/

(For anyone listening with kids, note that there is a little bit of adult language in this episode.)

"A chronicle of the life of a film director, who was reviled for her mysterious invitation."

What are these mysterious invitations? Why do they make the director reviled? And who is Marcus? We delve into some brainstorming to figure out the answer to this and more.

Make sure and check out our guest Denise and her new book, "The September Project," which comes out this spring!

"The college's most popular girl, who is having difficulty in their marriage, has to help a U.S. government agent and realize the importance of a volcano."

What's wrong with her marriage? What does the government agent want? And what on earth makes the volcano so important? Thanks to guest Randy Kirkpatrick for unpacking this dramatic plot with us! Follow him on Twitter at @r_w_kirkpatrick.

"In the rural South, a bounty hunter struggles to partner with a young woman."

What does the bounty hunter want? Who's the young woman? What does their partnership look like? We untangle these questions and more with the help of our guest Shem Greenwood.