Bookwild - Thriller Authors Who Deserve More Love with Steph Lauer

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

This week, Steph and Kate discuss different ways you can support authors that don't cost a thing!  Then, they dive into thriller authors they feel deserve more attention on Bookstagram and BookTok.Authors We Talked AboutJM CannonVera KurianYasmin AngoeHannah MorrisseySusan WalterJulia HeaberlinAudra McElyeaJaime Lynn HendricksSagit SchwartzJess LoureyFaith Gardner  Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

This week, I'm back with Seth Lauer, and you had a really good idea for kind of part of what we're going to talk about this week. You sent me a reel that was talking about different ways to support authors that like doesn't cost you any money. And I thought that was just a great idea. So thank you for your idea. And thank you for coming back. Well, thank you for having me again. And yeah, I saw. I saw this reel and actually I think it was from one of the authors that I'm talking about today. And I think it is easy to support authors by if you're able to pre-ordering their books or buying copies of their books. But there are also ways that you can do it for free, which is awesome.

Yeah, it is. It is. what so i think we had 10-ish was like what was in the real um so you want to list off a couple of those yeah so the 10th one was to cast a spell so i don't know i'm saying it down but obviously i'm saying it now yeah so one of the the top one that was there which i actually thought was interesting because I think not everybody knows is to request it at your local library because when you request a book and if a library stocks a book it does count towards the purchase copies book that an author, like the author's numbers I guess you could say. So and I was also telling Kate just before this I said when I go through the thriller

section of my local library I think it could use some love and I really should start requesting books from some of the authors that we talk about a lot because I think people haven't gotten the exposure. Mm-hmm. So. Yeah. We have on the library note randomly. We have a library coming in that's like, like it's our town's library, but it's

literally coming in in our neighborhood. So they've just been like building it in this area that used to just be kind of like open. like dog park space like just grass basically which no one needed to know but I'm over explaining it but um every time we pass it I not every time but close I always laugh because I'm like like I'm such a obviously I'm such a bookish person and super into books but like there's this library going and you'd think I would be like oh my gosh this is so exciting but I'm such a kindle girlie that like it probably is being wasted on me that that I'm going to have a library literally in my neighborhood, but at least I can go in and

start requesting really specific thrillers so that everyone else in my town and my neighborhood can read all these good ones. Yeah. And you know what's interesting? Like I was talking to my dad about getting a Kindle because I thought that he might like one. And I, it makes me just think about this point more now is that I don't know if you can request certain, I think you can request audio. I think you could request e-books because if you use Libby, like I know you can get e-books. Oh, you're right. So I think that you can request different formats, which is awesome. Yeah, you're right. I forgot about that.

So the next, I guess two I'll put together. So one is to leave a review on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. And then also one was to vote for the book or add it to a Goodread. list. I know that one of the last times I was on this podcast with you, I had talked about trying to find a historical fiction thriller mesh. And I was all on the Goodreads lists for that. So I know that people use them sometimes. Yes. Yeah, I have, I've used a few of them before. I probably don't use as many. But it is sometimes even the like Goodreads creates the lists. But like their lists of like the best ones of each year or whatever. Like I've definitely looked through those or like

the voting at the end of the year is always fun like trying to get one of your favorites all the way through. So I know people use them a lot for like all kinds of different things. Totally. And even with reviews that I don't know if, okay, confession, I don't know if you're supposed to do this or not. But sometimes I've read from different authors about putting your reviews on Amazon. I don't always buy my books from there, but I've tried and have been successful sometimes still putting my reviews on it. So I think that so many people do use that as a place to purchase and to research books that it's important still.

Yeah. Yeah, I definitely check out reviews. So they're always helpful. Mm-hmm. Totally. Another tip was to suggest it for a book club to post on social media, which a lot of us that are on bookstagram or book talk do a lot already. Yeah. Another one was to ask for it from a local bookstore, which I, the Madison area has a lot of independent bookstores, which is very cool. Oh, yeah. They do not always. have the thrillers that I'm looking for. So I sometimes will buy them on bookshop.org and then choose a local bookstore to get

some of the proceeds. Or I think some of these stores you can pre-order through them and they will sell to order it for you and you can pick it up or whatever. Yeah. I think that seems to be the case. Yeah. Because I love going to my local bookstores, but I'll go with my list of books I'm interested in and I'm like, nope, none of them are here.

they're not here never mind okay there's one mystery thriller specific bookstore that is my favorite but sometimes still it's like a smaller publisher or something yeah and then finally to recommend to friends just word of mouth and to nominate for awards

so I guess that would be something probably like the Goodreads awards and things like that yeah yeah Yeah. It is obviously we podcast about books too so we can technically add that one as part of our word of mouth, I guess, is like broadcasting all of our favorites to everyone too. But it is fun at the end of the year of like trying to see there was, who was it? Oh no, it was did you hear about Kitty Carr? I was like so hoping that because I think she was up for two different ones. It's kind of historical fiction. And maybe it was also, I can't remember if Goodreads does debut. They might. That might be one of them.

But she was up for two of them and she got so close. Like every time I got the like email that I could vote again, I was like, let's get it through. So it is kind of fun like getting attached to the books and then trying to get them awards at the end of the year. Totally. And I would say I could even make the effort to look up different places to vote for different types of Yeah, that's true. But on the note of podcasts, I mean, so many of the books that I read are from you and Gaird recommending them.

And then there's some of the books that maybe I'll go to the bookstore and they weren't there. So I think the fact that you both have recommended so many already might not be like the big one that Barnes & Noble is announcing. is so important. Right. I know. That's what crazy. Like sometimes I think about it just when I'm, when I'm reading anything, where like, sometimes you are reading a book and you're like, how do more people not know about this one?

Like, there really are some books that just don't get the like darling treatment. I think, I don't know if that was in yellow face or just discourse in general, but that someone was talking about. how like each year there really are the like by genre they're the like six darlings that just get like all the attention for that whole year and you just see it everywhere which is great obviously and if you're an author that's what you want but it is like weird sometimes thinking about the serendipitous way that like things line up where like sometimes it lines up and like you're going to get this big publicity or sometimes you write a book that's still just as good,

but like through whatever events, it's just not getting plastered all over Instagram. So that was what kind of made me think it would be fun to talk about some authors that we think basically just deserve a little more attention or love or publicity, I guess in our case. We were technically publicizing them a little bit. So I thought it would be fun to talk.

about those authors that don't get as much attention. Well, yes, I love that idea. I think we have, I'm sure we both have some good ones today. When you said that just now, not to get into the weeds about the algorithm on social media, but I can tell the difference when I post a review about a book that a lot of people already knew about, maybe a hyped book or people were really looking forward to it. It's already a pretty popular author versus if I put up a review of a debut arc or something. It is just night and day, the engagement on it.

And I think really people want to find out about new stuff on these platforms. So it's just interesting how it all comes out. Yeah, it is. It is for sure. I can't even figure out the algorithm. So I'm with it. you just on all accounts there i just let it bother me a little bit and then i move on right yeah i know like i'm like it's just some of the accounts that are like huge have like yeah i who knows who knows

how the algorithm works it works the mysterious ways yeah yeah well but when i was oh go ahead yeah yeah yeah no that's where that's where i was headed with it um one of the first ones that I thought of was someone who actually found scrolling TikTok, which if you've been listening to the podcast for any amount of time, you probably wonder how much time I spend on TikTok, and it's definitely a decent amount. But I can't remember what exactly I saw her posting about first, but J.M. Cannon is her name. It's her author name. I don't know what her really. name is, but I know that that's her pen name. And I have read, I just saw that she had a new one come out that I actually haven't read yet. So I'm going to have to bump that one up. But the first

one that I read from her was called Blood Oranges, which is like this like really atmospheric murder mystery about a girl slash woman. I think she's early 20s. whose mom is like one of the most successful televangelists in the country. And basically there's that whole plot. And then there are also bodies showing up on orange farms or one orange farms, something like that. Around them, I really liked it. The atmosphere of it and like the grittiness of it really reminded me of like Gillian Flynn, like dark places. and sharp objects type vibes.

Like some of it was just so overtly gritty, I guess is really all I can say about that. And then she has another one called The Flash Girls, which is about basically girls are like when they're walking home or something, someone takes a picture of them with a Polaroid camera and there's like a really big flash and then they end up dead. And so the main character is trying to figure out what's going on there. It also has some very creepy vibes.

And there is like a hurricane coming in. So there's like this added tension to figure out what's happening. Then her first one is called The Quiet Wife. I have not read that one yet. And then it looks like she just published one called Girl in the Dark that just came out in February. The cover is very cool. So I'm definitely going to have to add that one. But she just writes like really good, gritty crime fiction where like the characters feel very real to me.

And yeah, I found I discovered her on TikTok. I think she's more active on book talk than Instagram. And I've just loved her stories. Yes. I've read Blood oranges and the Flash Girls. And I, one of the most memorable scenes for me is in the Flash Girls when she's talking about being in a restaurant and on the TV, there's like this boat in the ocean. And it reminded me if anyone gets shown on their feed, like the North Sea. Oh, yes. That is like so scary to me.

And as I was reading book, I was, I was like, I don't usually get, like, scared, but like that stuff freaks me out. So she did a great job. It is so creepy. I do. I do. But like not as much now, but there was a period where, like, with the, uh, oh, sound was popping up in my feed all the time. And I was like, the ocean is terrifying. And I don't ever want to go on a cruise. I don't want to do any of it. Like, no, thank you.

It is creepy. Like, people who are able to do those jobs are their next level tough. Mm-hmm. Not paid enough at all. Yeah. The other thing in the Flash Girls is they got like the girls who are being found have been like kind of turned into dolls. And that part was very creepy and stuck in my head too with I can't remember now if it's both eyes or just like one eye, but their eyes would be like replaced with doll eyes. So yeah, it's very dark thrillers. This is not this is not a gateway like beginner thriller for you. Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. Um, well, I guess I'll start with the author that I got this list from, who is Vera Curian. And we had talked about her last time I was on with Never Saw Me Coming, which is about, uh, it's a dark academia with, um, a group of psychopaths in a study and all this chaos happens. But then she was solidified as one of my favorite authors with her newest book, a step past darkness, which is, uh, a step past darkness, which is, uh, chunker, but it's about a friend group that I just really love the way she writes. She has a really great sense of humor.

I really got to care about all the characters and a really strong sense of friendship. And it's not really a spoiler, I guess. It gets a little supernatural, but I was like, you know what? That's not always my bag, but I don't really care because I just love the characters so much. So I really appreciate how she writes. and especially since she put away this list of how to support authors. I was like, let's support you. Yes, totally.

I know. I'm like super intrigued to see what she does next because those two were obviously so different. Yeah. So it's kind of intriguing to see like what she's going to like which direction she wants to go with her next one as well. Yeah. And both of her books so far have had. add like a group of young people, young adults. And I'll admit my, like, Lockdroom Mysteries are not my favorite genre.

But she's able to create this group where you get to know everyone without it necessarily being that, which I think is a really cool balance. Yeah. Yeah, she does have really big ensemble casts in both of those for sure. that's always impressive because there's so much to keep track of like i can't imagine writing all of that yeah i think her newest book that's a long was just because you were in so many people's perspectives that it just took a while to get things rolling um but then by the end i can tell when i really like a book that i'm like well i'm fine with it like it doesn't need to end like it's long

but i'm still good yes yeah yeah i totally feel you on that So yeah, we're big fans of her as well. Another one that came to mind for me is Yasmin Ongo. Her first three books were all part of a trilogy, the Nina Knight trilogy, which are all about a, it's not necessarily that she is a spy, but it is spy vibes. she's an assassin for basically a group of, I don't know why I'm struggling so hard to explain this. Like the Knight family who they're kind of like working to. So she's an assassin for like this kind of business syndicate called the tribe that is trying to basically bring more African cultures.

to like relevance and prosperity is what their main goal is. And so, yeah, basically probably can't really completely summarize the trilogy in quickly because there's like so much that happens in all three books. But it feels like a spy novel, even though she's not like a CIA spy. The action scenes are amazing. and the character development is just so good. Like, I was so attached to Nina from the very beginning. She does have a lot of trauma in her past related to sexual trafficking and physical violence.

So if that is a little bit too much for you, just consider yourself, like, trigger warned. And so I basically, I just don't see. it on Instagram a ton. I don't see it on bookstagram a ton. And the three covers are really, really beautiful, too. But I'm also very excited because she has her first domestic thriller. Basically, I mean, it just says thriller on Goodreads right now. But she has basically her first standalone coming out in September called Not What She Seams. And that cover is, very dramatic and cool too. So I'm super excited to see what she does with a domestic thriller, basically, because she's just like so good at keeping the stakes really high. And it'll just be

a little bit different for her. So I'm very excited for that one. I wonder if that type of, I could, I could see that being really cool if that type of pacing steps from act, like that type of action to a domestic thriller. Like that could be fun. Yeah. Yeah, it looks like it's like someone, it's, it's your story, Jack Brody. She basically left her hometown for years. And then her father was the sheriff of that really small town. But then she's pulled back to the town because her granddad lands in the hospital. So she goes back to be with them. And a wealthy newcomer has transformed more manner into a quaint country inn. She's convinced something sinister lurks behind his exterior. So it'll be very interesting to see. I feel like it could.

Like being at odds with some newcomer in town could go all kinds of directions. Yeah. What are your intentions for being here? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm very excited. it's not on that galley yet but the second it is i am requesting it um well speaking of hometowns i couldn't help but talk about hannah morrissey because he is from Milwaukee where

i'm from and her most recent book was on book of the month so that really like blew up but when i'm looking at goodreads that book has so many reviews However, the first two, which are still in the same Black Harbor series, didn't have as many ratings at all. So when I'm dead is they're all standalones, but I still recommend starting from the beginning with Hello Transcriber and then there's the Widow Maker and when I'm dead. And it's interesting to feel almost biased because there's this really cool Midwest noir vibes that she has. and around here, like my, you know, people I connect with, it's very popular, but I really don't know if people on the coasts and all the rest around the rest of the country are as interested and invested. So I have to hype up my girl, Hannah. Yes.

Yeah, those series are so good. It is very noir. I hadn't really thought of that when I read it. And also, she just like, she. She just is so cool. Like, I want to be as cool as her when I grow up, basically. It is cool seeing, like, how book of the month, like, will help, like, elevate a lot of authors, for sure. Yeah.

But, yeah. It's, like, the other ones are just as good. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. I think Hello Transcriber is probably my favorite tied with when I'm dead just because she does, this really well-balanced way of writing. Like, they're all kind of, I mean, I guess, noir, like kind of dark. But the first one, the first book, Hello Transcriber, there's a little romance element that I actually really liked, because I appreciate when an author can

write romance and a thriller, but it doesn't like blind the characters from seeing what's in front of them. Yeah. The maker is quite dark. Like I would say, travels with like the last housewife. Yeah. And then when I'm dead was just like, I thought some people thought it was her darkest i thought it was not as but still really good so yeah i don't know she has a lot to offer it's a memorable character yeah so i'm excited to see what comes next whether it's black harbor or not yeah i can't remember we haven't seen anything about if it'll be black harbor again or not right i can't remember she came to one of our book clubs there may be like some of each in the works but i don't oh nice i don't remember

for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Those are, they're very good. And it is. It is noir in the Midwest. Well, my next one, I can't even remember. I don't know how I ended up stumbling upon hers. But Susan Walter is the author of three books. And the first one of hers that I read was over her dead body, which is like this ensemble cast, basically a woman who was a really successful casting director, passes away like she's in her 70s. And she leaves her inheritance to this girl, woman. I can't remember if she's like in her 20s or younger. She leaves her inheritance to someone that she met basically like two days before she died. And so her children and their spouses, I don't know if they all have spouses, are trying to figure out what made her do that, like all of them

expected to obviously be a part of the inheritance. And so it's just like, to use my favorite word, it's very fun, it's very snarky. And again, it's like, it's a true. to do the whole inheritance gone wrong thing, but I really, really, really enjoyed how she did it. So you even kind of have some like an outsider's perspective and then all of the family's perspective. The way it comes together in the end is wild. Something I feel like all of her books do really well too is like she has ensemble casts in all of them and multiple P of E's and all of them. And like all of the characters feel like they have complete characters. are arcs. So like even though there's a lot of things going on and a lot of people that you're

bouncing through, like it all feels like they were needed for the story and that they all like had a satisfying arc in the whole story. She's another one called Bye Bye the Pool that came out right at the end of 2023. That I'm trying to make sure I don't give any spoilers away. but it's basically this woman who is recently widowed. She doesn't have any money. She climbs the fence of a house and basically just like sleeps in this pool house that is open. Like no one's living in the house at all. And so she's sleeping in the pool house.

And then the owner comes back at one point and invites her back for a party. and so then when everyone leaves she like just can't resist the idea of sleeping in a bed that night so she stays over in the house and the next morning she wakes up and there's a dead body in the pool and she's trying to figure out what happened before the police try to like come for her so it is so twisty at the end and it's like very it's just I love that one I devoured that one as well Then she has another one. Her first one was, um, it's called Good is Dead. And it's basically this woman is, um, she sees her husband like get killed in a hit and run like right in front of her. Um, and basically a fixer, um, in L.A. comes to her and offers her, um, like a luxury house and like all kinds of, um,

money to stay quiet about it. She has a daughter that she can't really take care of now that her husband's dead. And so she accepts the deal. And when she moves into this neighborhood, she starts to realize there's like a lot of shady stuff happening in that neighborhood. So that's another one. Lots of POVs. And they like all come together really perfectly at the end. I'm going to have to add those to my list because, well, first of all, all those covers are very cool, all three. I know. And they all sound really good. And they're all Kindle Unlimited, if anyone is a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. So that part is nice as well. Hmm, I see there's a good reads called Running Cold with Zero Everything. So I wonder if that's going to be a new one.

That is her next one. So I interviewed her as well about Lie by the Pool. So if anyone reads that and wants to listen, you can. And yes, there's a lot. It's something about competitive or no. I don't know. It's something like in the wilderness of Canada when it's like freezing cold and snowy. And I can't remember exactly what the main character is traversing, but she briefly talked about it. So somewhere it's in my mind.

Well, certainly mixing it up from all these covers with palm threes and pools. Yeah. I know. She said like all of those take place in L.A. And her agent or her editor was like, what if we got away from L.A.? Seriously. Well, it's interesting how some, like even I remember listening to other, like maybe May Cobb or something where she's like, oh, my book's take place in Texas, but I'm going to go to L.A. and then I'll probably come back to Texas. Like so, you know, there's a lot of people kind of stay with what's familiar and then take a book out for at least a book. look here to you yeah yep hally sutton's like that she i think she said her next one is not l.a so but she likes l a her her episodes are so fun if i don't listen they should she just has so many interesting random facts and interests i was like can i have that i love it that many interests yeah i know um Interesting. So not makeup, but someone that has a lot of her books written in Texas. So once again, I have one that Julia Haverlin. So her most recent one, Knight will find you seem to be kind of more all over Bookstagram and things. But I've read more of her backlist now. And I will say she's probably one of my favorite authors. My favorite one being probably Black-Eyed Susan's.

Yeah. But a lot of her books are set in Texas. And they're kind of like slow burn, which is not usually my thing, but I love being in her character's worlds. And I feel like she's been around for a while, but I don't hear enough people talk about her. So I was taking a look at some of the Goodreads number of ratings and just at her Instagram with the number of followers. And I was like, man, I, if more people need to know if they, don't always believe that her books are definitely worth taking a look at. Yeah. Especially if you are a person that likes to take some time getting into the story and into the mystery. I almost picked her, but I haven't read much of her backlist. And I knew, I know you've talked

about it. So she's kind of like hovering in the back of my mind for like ones I want to read more of but I almost included her too because I was scrolling through my red ones and saw Night will find you and I was like man that one was so much fun oh my gosh there's so many things going on I love one there's there's a few books I've read now including hers where there's just this little hint of what's it like vision like not necessarily a psychic but some a little bit I guess you could say it's probably a description for it I think that that's such a fun tie-in of that of a character that might have those abilities but they're also trying to balance it with like obviously police and crime solvers deal with facts of tangible evidence so it's a it's an

dynamic and i like that yeah is with that in her books yeah i think it i think metaphysical might be what we're trying to say and i do remember her i can't remember if i saw like a reel or if it was even just like a post where she just like typed it out but she kind of talked about like leaning more into that um with night will find you and just like asking some bigger questions which i do think is always i think it makes thrillers like stick in my mind longer when they kind of like tackle other issues or like even like philosophical kind of stuff as well so i do need to read more of I know I bought black-eyed Susan's on like a double

Kindle Points Day, so maybe I need to bump that one up on my list because as I was telling you before, I've had some meh ones lately. It's the best way to put it. Actually, when I was telling Gare about it yesterday, he was like, yeah, mediocre march hit hard. And I was like, well, I didn't know it was a thing, but yes, I have to agree with you.

Yeah, I mean, I will say I wouldn't dive into her books when you're looking for just something super fast-paced and twisty. No. That's not what you're going to get. And so I, as we've talked about many times, like sometimes I'm like, I think getting people set up for success with a book is important. So we kind of have to go in being like, this is a more character-driven, what a person's been through type situation. Yeah. I agree.

Well, if you want some kind of faster, snappier, but still, there's still character development, but very fast and snappy. One of my favorite authors who doesn't get talked about enough is Audra McLeoyer. She has two books out now. Her first one's called One Little Word, which is, again, with these ones that are, like so twisty. I think that like I know it enough that I can talk about it and then I'm like, wait, maybe I should look at what the synopsis actually said. But this main character, Madeline, right? I think so. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Her, um, she basically has a note dropped into her lap about an author who was murdered, Allegra Hudson.

And she thinks that this story that she's now chasing about Allegra could be like a story that basically launches her career. So she kind of starts interviewing Allegra's widowed husband and then finds out some more shady things about like a conniving best friend and a stalker ex-boyfriend that Madeline was dealing with. And as she's digging deeper into what happened to Allegra, she just starts having creepier and creepier and threatening things happening to her, trying to keep her from figuring out what happened to Allegra. So it's obviously a very, very brief synopsis. But Audra, who I had on about one little word and her next one, if you see me,

talked a lot about how Hitchcock is really big influence for her, and it really is that kind of like, you're just like, what is about to go wrong? Like, you just feel like there's, like, bad stuff happening on the periphery of her life. So that one, like the suspense was just, like, really hit for me with that one. And then she has another one called If You See Me,

which is about these two friends, Leighton and Marnie, and Leighton is taken at a festival where like everyone basically saw her and then she's gone. And the police have just like decided to think that it's trafficking. But her friend Marnie and her husband kind of don't think that that's actually what happened. And then there's also someone named Sarah who saw something at the festival that doesn't add up with what the police are thinking. And so Marnie and kind of Sarah are both trying to figure out what actually happened to Leighton. And there are so many twists at the end. It is just wild what she did with this one.

I devoured it. She sent it to me kind of early on when she had just kind of like finished drafting it. And she was like, I think it's ready. And I read it. And I was like, this is amazing. So that it's just is it's so fun. Like you're looking for it's not like action packed in like a spy thriller way. But it's like there's constantly stuff that's like shifting your perspective of the people in the story.

And the ending is just wild. and great. Yeah, that book had so many twists. So many. I was reading, well, I read both of them this year, and I, in my head, I would think about how, in my opinion, in the beginning of both books, the main character seems really like proper and maybe a little quieter. But then all of a sudden there's this, like, strength.

that comes from them and like no i'm not just going to let me take it like i'm going to stand i i think that audra writes that really well in my opinion like women at first you're just kind of like oh this little kind of like goody-goody girl and it's like no you're not that way actually and i love that i know it's cool it's cool you say that because that's kind of what she's like too so it probably fits for that reason because she is she's like so sweet she's like a cute little mom of two kids but she writes these wild thrillers yeah yeah the twist in one little word i was like wait what so yes it's wild that one's amazing and i went yeah that one's hard to talk about without giving it away so i won't yeah even say what i compare to but she also has another one coming out

here soon that i've read as well and i can't remember how much i can say about it but she does have another one coming out this year. Yeah, I think I just saw that maybe on my own. Let's see. What I have next? I will say also in some of the twisty, fast-paced ways. So I feel like on this podcast and in my accounts I follow on Bookstagram, I see Jamie Lynn Hendrix all the time.

However, when I was looking at good. reads and things, I was like, wow, there aren't that many ratings for her books. And that needs to change. So I know that it does on the podcast before. And I personally, like when I, I just read her newest one and put up a review. And she was so sweet and sent me like a name plate, like a signature plate for when I get my pre-order. So she's just so cool as a person. And her books are so fast and have a lot going on and there's just this like you know what people write how they speak that's why I picture the her books it's I agree sassy and awesome and I know like just little tiny like they'll just be a sentence that just makes me laugh so much so yes if you haven't read

anything by Jamie Len Hendrix she has finding Tessa which was her first one then it could be anyone which is about a wedding, which I thought was just so smart. Like the groom sucked and you kind of find out who did something to him. I didn't do it. It takes place at almost like a thriller fest type situation. And her newest one is, I think, a little bit different. It's past and present of a friendship of kind of a situation they were all involved in and the past comes back in the future.

And I loved it so much. So I think all of her books are great. I know. She is so fun. And when you're saying like the voice part that like it almost feels like it's written in her voice, she used to live in New York. And now she lives in Florida, which is where her newest one, a lovely lie takes place. But she has like always reminded, especially when she was still living in New York. She like always has reminded me of someone who, like, always has reminded me of someone who. would be so funny and hysterical on Real Housewives of New York City. Yeah. Real Housewives of New York. I don't think it's even called New York City. But I always was like she not in the like, I don't love Ramona Singer. Let me be clear about that. But I like always felt like she could like hold her own with Ramona Singer and be like a more positive version of someone like her.

So she does. She just has such a cool voice and I am. I need to, yeah, I need to reach out to her about getting her scheduled because I want to talk to her again. Oh, yeah. She's always so fun. Totally. Yeah. And she was one of my first guests.

So, like, that's, some of those are, like, cool now that I've done it longer to have had, like, people who've been on multiple times and then you feel like you kind of know them. So that is like the really fun part with her too. Oh my gosh. And to just see the progression of her ideas and I don't know. I'm so excited for her because I think her books are so great. And now I'm like, well, I'm just going to talk about them all the time because I need to read that. Yeah. So another one, keep mentioning people who have been on the podcast.

guest, but I can't help it, is Soggy Schwartz, who has had one that came out this year called Since She's Been Gone. And it is about a woman whose her mom died when she was 15, her mom died in a hit and run

accident back then. And now she's a psychologist or a psychiatrist, one of the two. And she has a patient come in who basically comes into her office and insists that her mother is still alive. And so our main character, Beatrice, basically gets like pulled into this mystery of what actually happened to her mom. And it, yeah, this is in the synopsis.

It is connected to like a family that owns a drug company that is like largely responsible for the opioid epidemic. So it gets into some of that. And as well, the main character Beatrice developed an eating disorder after her mom passed. And so there are some very raw depictions of live life with an eating disorder. So there is that trigger warning. But it was such an emotional thriller where like there was like she really packed a lot of punches with the character development. and you really got to see a lot of like why the character is the way she is. But also like in the present chapters, you're like scared for her the whole time.

Like she's obviously like diving into something where like the family she's investigating is super powerful. So it very much feels like a thriller and it feels like a character study. And it made me cry at the end. And I cried talking to her about it. on the podcast. So, yeah, it was a really, really powerful emotional story. So I'm like, I'm just super excited to see what else she writes as well. Yeah. Gosh, that book is on my, one of my top lists of books to pick up. And I'm doing like a bookstore day with some friends coming up. And I'm not sure if I'll end up needing to order it or if it will be at some of the local

bookstores, but that one is, like, I need to read it. It's really good. Yeah. It just really does balance, like, the emotion and the thriller of it all really well. Yeah. I mean, she seems like such a really genuine human being the way that she was so excited for you when you said you were, like, writing a book, huge. I know.

She's the coolest. I know. Every time someone is nice about that, I'm just like, like, like, heart-mormed for like the next few days. I'm like, oh, that was so sweet. Yeah, she, she just is so sweet. Yeah, someone that genuinely is rooting for you back. You know, it's so cool. I know. I know. I'm so excited about that one. I don't know what it is. As a, like, a Y-A reader when I was in my teens, there was something interesting about, like, the psychology of food and and like disordered eating and thinking that's just interesting to me.

And I appreciated her point of it is in a lot of like teen books or at least it was when I was a teen reader. But yeah. Not so much as an adult when it, I mean, it can absolutely affect adults. So I think that's really important. Yeah. Yeah. It was and it was really cool.

She and I talked about it. You just kind of reminded me of it. The way, so she's like helped people with eating disorders. So that I think that's another reason there's like a really authentic and emotional aspect to it. But the way she like separates the voice in her head that is her eating disorder from like who she is as a person. If you've had really any struggles with mental health, mine specifically that it was reminding me of is like my OCD and like ruminating thoughts. A lot of the stuff in the book was even like reminding me of how you can separate it out. Like it's hard to separate it out. But just the way that like sometimes you feel you feel convinced that those thoughts are honest and true and what you should act on and they're not.

And just how hard it is sometimes to get above those thoughts. So it really just approaches mental health in general with a really cool perspective. so cool that books can be entertaining well and all those things I agree well I'm going to take it into the straight entertaining those are very important too yeah another Midwestern author which I think most of people are familiar with the Corey girls is Jess Lowry it's so close to my last name, but it's still hard to change. It was hard to say for me a little bit. So I read the Corey Girls first and I was like, wow, this is so good. I love the setting in the

Midwest, short chapters very fast. And I've just gone through almost all of her backlists now. And I love her books and I love her writing. It's so entertaining. It's very fast-paced. If you are from the Midwest, I think there's just some little extra bonuses of how people speak in her descriptions of things. Yeah. I think she also might do like romance or YA. I've seen a lot of her on NetGalley,

but I really only read her thrillers. So I think there's more out there. I am excited to see what she keeps bringing to the table. Her newest books are the taken ones and then the reaping, which is on NetGalley,

comes out in the fall. And that's a series of two detectives. And they always end on cliffhangers. And I got to just keep waiting. So I don't know. I'm, if you're into thrillers and fast-paced thrillers and maybe ones that are like a little bit weird, they're in a good way,

like quirky. And I say that because multiple of her books take place in these towns where it's like almost culty, but like something is up with the people in these towns and they do not like outsiders um and i think that's fun like whenever i travel or go through like wilderness on like road trips between cities you're like man these people do not want to live in cities for a reason they are looking to be away from things and it like creeps me out a little bit and that's the vibes i get from her books yeah yeah i did not realize that she had written like stuff other than thrillers as well too

but i need to read i have quite a few of hers that i need to read because you read you liked bloodline recently right bonkers yes yeah okay i every now and then i need bonkers for the sake of just having some fun so totally man i need to pump that one up too yeah they're super and they're unlike, I mean, I feel like her books are similar to each other in certain ways, but unlike books I've read like bloodlines. I was like, I have not read a storyline like this. And it just, like, it was wild.

Ooh, maybe I need to read that one now. Oh my gosh, I'm scrolling good weeds, good weeds, good reads. And like, just as you just said, that was wild. I just saw your review that says, whoa, this book was wild. Thus me saying book weeds. So, oh my gosh. Now you have me wanting to read Bloodline and Black Eyed Susans. Well, you could read them next to each other because they're very different pacing and X. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. I'm trying to knock off my neck galley list, but sometimes you just need like a book that like someone else has already read and is like,

no, really, you'll love this. Yeah. I mean, okay, do you ever, you know how we talked about like with the last housewives, like John Hamm like characters? So in multiple of her books, did you ever watch the show Mind Hunter on Netflix? We watched the first season. Like the older detective with like the cut. Yes.

I imagine him playing like every. older or like dad character in almost every four I read. And I'm going to put him in bloodlines. Oh my gosh. Now I'm probably going to. Kind of like husky voice. I picture. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. I love that. Now I just want to read all day, which is exactly what happens when we record these. Same. You have anyone else? I just picked five. So I'm...

The only spotlight one I had, which, so prior to starting recording, I had only mentioned, I only picked ones that I had read multiple of their books, but one that I had multiple on my TBR was Faith Gardner. And I read her book. So it used to be called Amen Maxine. And now it's called The Prediction. And now if you look on Amazon, it's a picture of like a little egg speaker, kind of like a glowing egg. And she has this series called the Joel Vicks series, J-O-L-V-I-X. They're all stand-alones, but they're in the same world.

And I'm not usually one for like near future or sci-fi. But so far, like in the book I read, it was a very like approachable way of dipping your toes into that type of setting. She has understandalones as well. But I thought the first book I read by her was so entertaining and very, very, on and it made me immediately want to add the rest to her to my TBR. I think a lot of Amar and Kendall committed. So, and I believe you did it as well. Yeah, I read the prediction.

And then I just added a bunch of other ones I haven't like dove into any of the other ones. But I agree. It's kind of like how some Black Mirror episodes feel like they're only like five years into the future or something like that. It's kind of like that. and it's definitely not like dense sci-fi. I think we kind of talked about with the prediction it's almost domestic suspense. Yes.

With just like kind of some technology that's like a little bit ahead of our time. Exactly. Yes. And I think that's what I learned from it was it really felt like reading any other thriller or domestic suspense novel. So it was, it taught me a lesson, I guess.

yeah i'll say yeah definitely that too it brought it brings up a lot of questions like i remember just like thinking about a lot of different stuff when i finished that one but yeah she's really cool she posts a lot on tic-tok too yeah i was where i saw it close to real i'm like oh i need to read that i know she's really good at like grabbing your attention yeah yeah so that was some of the only ones. I mean, there's a lot of books that I have read only one by the author, and maybe that one is their debut, or I just haven't gotten there yet. So, yeah, but those are the ones that came to mind right away for ones that need to be hyped. Yeah, me too. Hopefully, hopefully something grabbed your attention as a listener. And if you do read anything,

thing. Obviously, I'm always down to talk about books. So everyone can DM us if they want to. Totally. And I think too with like the list that we brought up in the beginning of how to support some of these authors, something that just came to mind like when we were talking about how crazy the algorithm is. And if we post some of these reviews that don't always seem to do as well, it seems like because no one has really heard about the book yet, maybe to like comment on those posts or share those posts. It's interesting to you to help those books get more engagement on the platforms that you're using.

I think authors can use every little bit they can get. So.