Welcome back to The Trial of the Tomes! This week, Murder Mystery Thriller authors take the test in the following categories: first impressions, design, writing style, general plot, characters, and our critical and enjoyment scores. Who's on the chopping block? Six Stories: A Thriller, a USA best seller, by Matt Wesolowski for the Men and Listen for the Lie, A Good Morning America Book Club pick, by Amy Tintera for the Not -Men! Who will make it out of these trials alive?! 

Welcome back to The Trial of the Tomes! This week, Romantasy or just Romance Fantasy authors take the test in the following categories: first impressions, design, writing style, general plot, characters, and our critical and enjoyment scores. In one corner for men, we have Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, and in the other corner for the NOT-Men is What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. P. Djèlí Clark is award-winning, with the Nebula Award for Best Novel. Isabel Ibañez is a USA Today, Indie, Sunday Times, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of whimsical historical fantasies for teens and adults.  Who will come out on top?! 

Let the trials begin! This week, we are putting Romance to the test in the following categories: first impressions, design, writing style, general plot, characters, and our critical and enjoyment scores. In one corner for men, we have Thunderstruck by Carter Blake, and in the other corner for the NOT-Men is Jackson by Nyssa Kathryn. Carter Blake writes novellas about steamy alpha romances. Nyssa Kathryn writes suspenseful romances of alpha men in small-town romances. Who will come out on top?! 

EXTRA EXTRA listen all about it!! We started recording this series almost two years ago, so we have a backlog of recordings talking about the discrimination based on gender and identity in publishing and reading. Here was our "First Draft" of the season from 2024. 

Our introductory episode to our new series, The Trial of the Tomes, where we look at the data of publishing, popularity, quality, and more, comparing gender, genre, and race. The General Hypothesis: "Men do it best," the idea that the public's opinion is that men write better than women or the lgbtqia. We are reviewing the factual data across multiple sources, introducing the genres we are reviewing, and the rubric we have constructed to be as non-biased as possible. 

Welcome to the Trial of the Tomes! We're looking closely at the idea of author gender in genre, publication, and writing style. How that impacts the public eye, reader experience, and marketing. Most importantly who does it best?! We have read one male author and one not man in the following genres Romance, Romantic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Murder/Thriller! Pitting them against each other with trials to see who ranks supreme in the Trial of the Tomes!! Follow the competition to see who is victorious and who falls! This week is all about gender in publication and everything to go with it!

A tortured fate, destined heartbreak, trials of life and death, forgotten gods, ruthless monsters, but a love that goes beyond death and dust. We read The Scattered Bones by Nicole Scarano, a dark fantasy romance that will have you sobbing over tragically beautiful romance. We hope your Valentine's Day was full of book boyfriends!

Nelle Nikole came on the podcast for our They Know How to Write series. As a successful author of the Rising: A State of the Union series, a dystopian dark fantasy where "The Before doesn’t matter, only The After." As well as co-authoring the Kuxtal Academy: The Beginning series with author Mikayla Hornedo. A Mayan-inspired urban fantasy romance following siblings in an academic setting. We absolutely loved chatting with her about writing, inspiration, and the creative process. Check out her books now!  

We are back!! It's been way too long, but we are back in 2026 and have a lot to share with you guys. We can't wait for all is to come this year and share every minute with you. Thanks for listening and following! Stay tuned for more episodes and big announcements! 

It was amazing having a local author on the podcast! Dai'ja S. Rose is a Virginia author who wrote a completed YA fantasy series called Legendary Stars Saga. Book one, Golden Eyed Legend, starts the series off with quite a memorable beginning:

Gifted and Hunted… The Universe Chose Him

Now his choices will either save his people... or destroy them.

It was so much fun diving into the lore, creativity, writing, and a closer look at her work with Dai'ja. You can find all her books on Amazon, her website, and follow her for more updates on Tiktok or Facebook @DSRtheWriter

We loved having B.L. Brown on the podcast! She publishes urban and paranormal fantasy. We talked most about her Ritual Income series, an urban fantasy, slow burn, enemies to lovers, and WITCHES! Literally everything you could possibly want in one book! From inspiration to writing process to series and more, B.L. Brown shares with us all the behind-the-scenes fun and more in this interview! You can find her books on Amazon, her website, and follow her on Instagram for more updates at @brittawritesthings