YOUR WRITING BESTIES
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YOUR WRITING BESTIES •
YOUR WRITING BESTIES
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YOUR WRITING BESTIES •
Hannah and Jess give advice on practical ways you can elevate your manuscript. Whether it's reading your book out loud, or learning how to ask for feedback, these tips are guaranteed to improve your current WIP.
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Hannah and Jess discuss their favorite books of the semester, including some horror, romance, historical fiction, and honorary mention memoir!
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SHOW NOTES
HANNAH'S PICKS:
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir Of A Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
JESS'S PICKS:
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Hannah and Jess interview guest author Jade Gonzalez about her self-publishing journey ahead of the next release in her series. She gives advice on how to tackle insecurity as a writer with a dream and offers powerful perspective on how to navigate the self-publishing world.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
Jade Gonzalez is a New York–based author of young adult and contemporary romance. She is best knownfor her debut YA novel As The Sparrow Flies and her coming-of-age romance The Unhappiest Place on Earth. With more than a decade of writing experience, Jade specializes in stories about messy hearts, growing up, and the complicated relationships that shape us.
When she’s not buried in a manuscript, she’s usually spending time with her husband and two cats, listening to Taylor Swift on vinyl, or daydreaming her way into the next story.
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess discuss the pros and cons along with the ethics of generative AI in
the writing industry, as well as guidelines for ethical use for those interested.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok,
and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
Author's Guild Ethical AI Use Guidelines
ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study | TIME
How Creativity Survives in an AI Monoculture
In their first interview with a literary agent, Jess and Hannah discuss all things querying, publishing, and more. They talk about the agent/author relationship, how the business of writing a book can be the majority of an author's work, and Jessica even answers some rapid-fire literary agent questions!
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
Jessica Berg is the founder of Rosecliff Literary. As a literary agent, she helps guide authors through every stage of the publishing journey. With an MFA, a roster of successful clients, and a role as a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest, she is known for her clear, approachable style. She speaks regularly at major conferences, teaching querying, comp titles, and the business of authorship with an emphasis on building sustainable, long-term careers. Her client list includes ZS Diamanti, Lisa Roe, Trisha Blanchett, Christa Innis, Katia Sinchenko, Vincent Zandri, Arizona Bell, and others.
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess visited the 30th Texas Book Festival and share live insights from their time there!
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Emily Soderberg has always loved reading and writing mysteries. She was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, only moving away for college. She graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied Religious Studies and German, subjects that have come in handy exactly twice in her professional career. She's lived in St. Louis ever since, because moving seems like a huge hassle. These days, she spends her free time up in the air as a trapeze and aerial hoop coach. She might be tempted to run off and join the circus, but her cats prefer a more settled lifestyle.
SHOW NOTES
Tropes have received a bad rep, but The Fiction Lounge is here to set the record straight! Jess and Hannah discuss what a trope is, how it is used, how it can benefit your work, and how you should embrace tropes in your work without compromising its literary value.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
Tropes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Jane Friedman
How to Use Tropes in Fiction | Writers.com
Tips for Using Genre Tropes to Generate New Work | Writer's Digest
Jess and Hannah process how to make a book pitch you can be proud of, while discussing all the aspects that need to go into making sure that pitch is solid.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
TFL Episode on Loglines and Elevator Pitches
After a thoughtful question from the earlier Q&A episode, Jess and Hannah tackle the new industry of hybrid publishing: exploring the pros and cons, the expectations, and the standards that have been set for those interested in pursuing this hybrid path to publication.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Hybrid Publishing | Jane Friedman
Hannah and Jess answer questions about editing, revising, genre, and hybrid publishing, the last of which is a new adventure our co-hosts will revisit in full in an upcoming episode!
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess tackle the trickier side of punctuation, explaining the differences between certain similar punctuation marks, as well as breaking down the different rules of dialogue tags.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess talk to prolific writer Vicki Delany on her writing inspiration, her process, and she gives advice to writers seeking the opportunity to write books full-time.
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than fifty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, the Tea by the Sea books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates).
She is a past chair of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. She is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing, and will be the Cozy Guest of Honor at Bouchercon in Calgary in 2026. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the CWC Awards of Excellence.
Vicki lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess share over coffee the highs and lows of their novel writing process thus far, along with things they're learning as well as struggles.
Hannah and Jess talk about the different points of view in literature, ways you can determine your own POV for your work, and give examples of books in each POV as well as recommendations on how to study it.
NOTE: You might notice at times, it seems like Hannah and Jess are talking over each other significantly. This was a software glitch from the day of recording, and most of it has been edited out.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
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Author Carmela Dutra returns to share with the podcast how her journey to publication day has gone, and gives some wisdom to those of us pursuing publication as well!
SHOW NOTES
Hannah and Jess break down the different types of writing communities available both in person and online, and give tips on how to find the writing group or groups that will best support your journey.
Hannah and Jess share their favorite reads of the summer semester. Hannah shares an upcoming release she read early, the pair share their most anticipated fall reads, and surprisingly enough, Jess's favorite of all her summer semester reads is....non-fiction?!
Hannah and Jess share their tips on how to make your writing process more productive, but not the typical kind of productivity. They discuss the kind of productivity that isn't measured but brings life to every writing session.
Do you have feedback or episode requests for us? Fill out this form to let us know.
Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
Stacy Frazer is a formerly repressed creative soul turned fiction writer, Author Accelerator-certified fiction book coach, and host of The Write It Scared Podcast. She helps writers work through self-doubt, shape stronger stories, and actually finish the novels they’ve been dreaming about without losing their voice (or their sanity) in the process. When she’s not writing, reading, or cheering on writers, you can find her crafting with her daughter, hanging out with goats, or on the trail with her goofy love-pups.
Do you have feedback or episode requests for us? Fill out this form to let us know.
Don't forget to follow us on social media: @thefictionlounge on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! And you can always visit our website!
SHOW NOTES