Historical Happy Hour
Jane Healey is the bestselling author of several books of historical fiction and the host of Historical Happy Hour, a live interview and podcast featuring premiere historical fiction authors and their latest novels: “One of my favorite things as a writer is to talk to other writers. In each episode, I will interview a historical fiction author with a brand new book coming out. We’ll talk all about their latest novel, but also discuss their writing process and research, and their life beyond being an author.” Healey's new Cold War spy novel, The Women of Arlington Hall, releases July 8th, 2025 and is available now for pre-order.
Historical Happy Hour
The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
New York Times bestselling author Sarah Penner is Jane Healey's guest to discuss her latest novel. The Amalfi Curse is an enthralling story of secrets, shipwrecks, and sea-witches set along the Amalfi Coast that alternates between 1821 and present day Positano. Set against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance, and the untamed magic of the sea.
Welcome to Historical Happy Hour, the podcast that explores new and exciting historical fiction novels. I'm your host Jane Healey, and in today's episode, I welcome bestselling author Sarah Penner to discuss her latest novel, the Amalfi Curse. Right here. Beautiful cover. Which book list called a mystical page Turner that will leave Readers Spell Bound. It releases this coming Tuesday, April 29th. Sarah, thanks so much for doing this in your very busy launch schedule. I appreciate it.
Sarah:You bet. Yeah. Thank you Jane. Thanks for having me. And thanks to everyone who's tuning in on this Thursday evening. Yes, thank you.
Jane:Um, and always everyone's tell me where you're from and what you're reading. I'm gonna do a quick bio, Sarah, and we'll jump right in. Sarah Penner is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary and the London Science Society. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and her debut, the Lost Apothecary, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Amazing. A graduate of the University of Kansas. Sarah spent 13 years in corporate finance and now writes full time. In her free time, Sarah enjoys hiking yoga. And cooking. She also sits on the board of directors at her local animal. She shelter friends of strays, Sarah and her husband Mark, live in Florida. Again, welcome and, um, congrats on your latest. Thank
Sarah:you. Gosh, yeah, it's, uh, we're just a few days away now. Um, this is actually, uh, some, I somehow got my hands on this paper back. Um, but if, you know, for those of you who've pre-ordered, are gonna buy it next. Week you'll get the hardcover. Um, but I'm so excited of the three books. This one is easily getting the best early reviews from both, um, industry reviewers, but then also readers who've had a chance to read it early. So many people are saying they like it better than the Lost Apothecary. So I'm very, very excited about this book.
Jane:Oh, that's amazing. Well, I loved it. Um, and I want you to just tell everyone about the overall premise and why you decided to write about. Positano and this amazing kind of combination of nautical archeology, which I didn't, I didn't really know was a thing, but of course it makes sense that it's a thing. Yeah. And, and, and witchcraft see witches.
Sarah:Yeah. So, you know, my inspiration, uh, in 2022, my husband and I traveled to Positano, which is the gem of the Amalfi Coast and. I told him at the time, I didn't have a third book idea. Um, you know, the London Seance Society was well underway. I don't think it had come out yet, but I needed to start writing my third book. It was under contract, and I told my husband, I don't have an idea if this trip to Italy doesn't inspire something. I don't know what's gonna happen. Like I, I don't know where the next idea is gonna come from. Well, thankfully, um, you know, anyone who's been to Positano knows it's like a feast for the senses, and there is this abandoned villa on the hill on a hilltop on the west side of the village. Anyone who's been there and taken photos might actually have this villa in their photos without realizing it. But I looked at that villa and it was just like, I love abandoned buildings, first of all. Um, but I looked at this villa and I was just like, that was the spark I needed. And I told my husband, I have a book idea. It's starting to take shape, but I know that that abandoned villa is gonna be in my story somehow. And sure enough, that's the villa where the witches of the sea, um, a couple of them live in my story. So. That was really all I needed. And I think a lot of authors know what that's like. Sometimes just one spark is enough to kindle the whole fire. So, uh, we returned to Positano in 2023 on essentially a research trip. I had some open items I wanted to address and we went to a couple of, um, archives and museums and Naples, which is the main city north of, uh, the Amalfi Coast where people fly into. So between the two trips, I had everything I needed to really kind of have the, you know, this cohesive, uh, background for the story that I wrote.
Jane:I have, um, been been up for my birthday a couple years ago. I went to the Amalfi Coast with my husband and I'd always dreamed of going there and it's like nowhere else on earth. And there's something very like, um, I want, not magical, but there's something very special. Just the a, the architecture and also the terrain. The geography is like nowhere else. And so. What a fun idea, first of all, like to, to write about this and like, and you really captured the setting. So I, I actually, my next question was like, tell me about your research. Not only there, but your research into nautical archeology. I, I love to hear your whole research process.
Sarah:So, you know, one of my first thoughts when I decided I wanted to write a book in Positano was what else in commercial fiction exists that is set in Positano? Because I really like approaching my story ideas from a place of fresh original. Premises. So there are a couple of books that take place, um, but nothing that had elements of mystery or magic. Um, the few books out there that are set in Positano or that area of the world are more like family, um, kind of, uh, like more internal characterization, kind of slower pace. Then, mm-hmm. The types of books that I write like to write, which are really plot driven, lots of tension, lots of cliffhangers, so there was nothing in Positano. Um, so then what I started doing was I said, okay, well what was Positano 200 years ago? You know, now it's a, it's, there's influencers and there's mega yachts, and we see it on Instagram. But what I was. Um, really pleased to learn was that in the 18 hundreds when my, when the historical narrative of my book takes place, Positano was a really quaint, humble fishing village, as were a lot of the places along the Amalfi coast that we now know of because we've heard about them. So, uh, I thought that that was an interesting contrast. And so I was able to tell some of my story set in this really lovely fishing village, um, with very close knit families, but then also in the present day, this very trendy, sexy city where everyone wants to go and be seen. So. I really liked kind of that, um, that blend of the, you know, I was able to, it's one village, but kind of two entirely different settings. Um, so I, I did some research on that. I also researched the Italian art of witchcraft, which is known as stria. But, uh, although there is a strong culture and legacy of practicing witchcraft in Italy, I knew that the witches in my story, the coven of women. Needed to have some sort of specific powers, and I decided to give them power over the sea, which I think is very appropriate and apt given that Positano is situated on the coastline. So the seven incantations at the beginning of the story are entirely my own invention. They're fictional. They, uh, demonstrate the, the different, uh, ways that the women can manipulate the ocean for good and for protection. So, um, the, the STR area and the witchcraft was another element of research. And then of course, the scuba diving. So there are several scenes in the book that take place underwater because haven my present day, nautical archeologist. She's investigating a cluster of shipwrecks just off the coastline that she thinks might be related to a coven of witches who lived in the area 200 years earlier. So she's wreck diving and she's taking photographs and she's looking for anything strange She. So I could not write those scenes effectively if I myself were not a scuba diver. My husband and I got certified to dive more than 10 years ago in Kansas of all places, which is landlocked. But we, uh, we did our check dive, our sort of final certification in this really deep lake in Arkansas. And we've now been diving all over the world and we've done a lot of rec diving in the Florida Keys. So a lot of the immersive, um. Kind of sensory details in the dive scenes. You know, what it's like to feel cold water hit your skin even in a wetsuit, um, or the way that you communicate underwater with the hand signals. Those were things that I knew from my own time and experience, scuba diving, and I think Raiders have had a lot of fun with that because. Many readers are not scuba divers. And so this way they're able to be safely, uh, you know, on their couch under a blanket with a cup of tea, but feeling what the characters, uh, are feeling. And then lastly, the last part of my research was around nautical archeology. So you mentioned, Jane, that you. Hadn't heard of that or aren't familiar with that. It's essentially archeology underwater. So, um, you know, archeology is the study of manmade artifacts and items that we dig up to learn about humanity. Well, the sea covers more of the earth than land and there are so many, um, shipwrecks and manmade objects that are buried on the sea floor. So that's what nautical archeology is. And I actually. Took a couple of online certifications in nautical archeology to learn how recs are excavated and photographed, and how to handle them in not only a safe way, but a way that preserves, uh, what's been left behind. So kind of all of that together, um, found its way into the story. And it's unlike anything I've written before and what I'm hearing from early readers. It's unlike anything. A lot of. People have read before.
Jane:Amazing. Yeah. I, I, I read in your notes in the back that you took that online course, which I thought that must have been so interesting. And, you know, I, I, one thing I always ask, um. In terms of research, as you were going through the research, whether it was the kind of the lore of, of witchcraft or nautical archeology, like, was there anything that you came across that kind of changed, like helped you figure out the narrative or changed the narrative as you were thinking about it?
Sarah:Um, gosh, anything that helped change the narrative? I mean, not really. Like I, I outlined the book in the beginning. Um, you know, through the editorial process, my editors asked questions, uh, that I addressed, but. Um, you know, through my two trips, a lot of the world building and things that I observed, you know, the walls of bogan via the aroma in the air. So Positano, parts of the village literally smell like olive oil. And so details like that, there are, um, there are cats all over the village, like hiding in these little nooks, there are sparrows flying in and out of roof soffits. So. I remember walking through the village writing all of these things that I was seeing in my phone, and then I, um, you know, wove them into the narrative. So there's nothing that I encountered that, like changed the plot direction per se, but every single page of that book, there is some sort of detail that I very likely experienced when I was walking the village myself.
Jane:I remember all the cats. There was a lot of cats around
Sarah:in
Jane:that whole area. It's so funny. Um, so the novel features two strong female leads into very different eras, like you said, in Positano, like, which all, I mean definitely very different settings as well, even though it's the same place. Um, 1820s. There's ma who's the head of the witches coven in Positano and Present Day Haven, who's a nautical archeologist, who's, who's on this mission. How did you approach developing the voices and the narrative arcs of their, these women's stories?
Sarah:Yeah, so that's a great question. Um, and one of the challenges of dual writing, dual timeline fiction is that you are essentially writing two completely different books and then weaving them together in a meaningful way. And part of that is that you're gonna have to have two completely different protagonists. So Haven, she's very much a professional. She's well educated. Uh, she's grieving the loss of her father. Um, and she loves the ocean. In the, in the first, in her first chapter, she likens it to a playground in her backyard growing up in the Florida Keys. Mari. On the other hand, she's in this leadership role kind of by birthright. She didn't choose it, and she reveals in her first chapter that she's lost to the sea. Two people who were most important to her. So she, despite her control and power over the ocean, the paradox is that Mari actually loaves the sea. She views it as a villain and she's trying to escape it. She daydreams about living in the mountains as far away from the ocean as she can be. But of course as, uh, as we do as novelists, I send conflict both directions to both characters that, uh, really challenge their, um, you know, where they're at when the story begins, and sort of what we know about them in chapter one has to change so that they can. Pursue their quests and fix their problems. So, um, the, the women are very different. Um, but I will say a couple of commonalities. They're both grieving in different ways. Haven's grieving the loss of her father. Um, Mari is grieving the loss of two people who are very important to her. And then they both have a love story throughout the book. That was one of my favorite parts, um, of writing this story. So Mari is in love with a man she is not supposed to be in love with. He's an American sailor. Um, but she's almost engaged to be married to this other man that she really dislikes. So we kind of see these secret diary entries with her, um, her forbidden lover, and then in the present day Haven. She meets this boat driver and scuba shop owner named Enzo. His name was actually inspired by a waiter that my husband and I met when we were having dinner in Positano. There was this really handsome server named Enzo and I leaned over and I told my husband, I'm gonna name one of the love interests in my book after the sky. Um, so writing the scenes between Haven and Enzo, you know, there's a little bit of. There. Um, but nothing that, you know, nothing that's too spicy. So, um, but that, those were both really fun, um, relationships to, to develop over the course of the story.
Jane:Excellent. Um, I, I saw you do a, a quick bit on an interview on YouTube where you talked about that there's always a little bit of you and your characters. Was there a particular character in the story that you related to the most?
Sarah:Definitely haven. Uh, you know, she, she's, as I said, sort of a professional. She's, she's very techie and I think that, um, I'm kind of techie too. I, you know, I like learning about new, uh, developments and in the tech space, and she's working on a project with a startup firm to essentially render four dimensional images of shipwrecks. So when the story starts, that's her professional objective. Now it quickly goes awry, but, uh, I see a lot of myself in her and, you know, there's a scene, she's single. I'm not single. I'm very happily married for 10 years. But there is a scene where she's kind of walking through the streets of Positano and. Thinking, well, what, you know, what harm does it have for a girl to have a little fun on a, you know, on a work trip? So some of her voice and her sort of, um, levity, I think, uh, you know, I can hear a little bit of myself in her voice.
Jane:Very cool. I always ask questions about writing. Um, what is your process like? I see Terry White asked, and I, I'm curious about this too. You said you plot things out in the beginning. She also asked like, did you write one A arc first and the other one after, like Mari Mari's first, and then Havens? What's your whole process like?
Sarah:Yeah, so with dual timeline fiction, in my, my personal process, I have to write the historical narrative. To completion first, because my present day character is always uncovering or solving some mystery that happened earlier. So how can she solve it if I haven't yet written it and know all of the intricacies in the minutiae of that mystery? So I always write, um, the, the. Points of view one at a time. That also helps maintain a consistent voice. So a woman telling her side of things 200 years ago is gonna sound a lot different than a woman telling her story. Now, I mean, there's literally words that, uh, exist today that, that didn't exist then. So I, in order to maintain a consistent voice, I find it best to write them one at a time. And then during the revision process, you have no choice as you weave those two narratives together to edit the book. From a co, a cohesive manner, um, kind of as one, and that's where you really get to monitor. All right, the pacing, you know, if, if this chapter was really like driving the reader forward and presenting a lot of suspense, maybe slow it down a little bit in the next chapter. We don't just want back to back high, high, fast pacing and then back to back slow pacing. So when you look at those two narratives together. You can address things like pacing issues, uh, reveals or red herrings, um, kind of how you drip feed the secrets and the discoveries throughout the narrative. So, uh, I'm, I'm writing my fourth book right now and I'm almost done drafting the present day protagonist's point of view. And then hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to merge them together and start to see. Where they line up and then where I need to move things around. Fascinating.
Jane:Do you use Scrivener or Microsoft? Are you Microsoft Word or?
Sarah:I use Scrivener. Uh, which for those who aren't familiar with that, it's a, a writing software. Um, it's got a little bit of a learning curve, but I've written every single book in Scrivener. Um, so I use Scrivener until developmental revisions are complete and then I'm ready to export it into Microsoft Word and deal with it there.
Jane:Same. Yep. Exactly. So you, all three of your books have been hi, his historical fiction with an element of fantasy, um, or mystery or magic. What do you love about, like, what drew you to this type of writing? Why, why did you, why did you go down this path?
Sarah:So, I, I'm a reader of historical fiction. Um. But, and I, I use the word purist and what I mean by that is it's not cross genre. It's, it's pure historical fiction. And while I like that, um, I also have always sort of just liked this speculative element, whether it's magic, uh, seances. Which is because the further back we get in time, like 200, 300 years ago, the more things sort of feel fantastical anyways, sort of fantasy oriented. It's so distant from what we know now. I. That it's almost impossible to not imagine that maybe there were things then that happened that we haven't like figured out or don't have today. So, you know, when we talk about healers and how 200 years ago they were accused of witchcraft. Well then it's kind of inevitable that in some of my historical narratives, I'm gonna weave in elements of witchcraft. And what if you take it a step further for the reader and it's actually real. It's not just legend or um, fiction. So I like sort of playing with these cross genre elements. And also just from a pure, um, I guess marketing perspective, it sort of sets my book into a smaller, uh, genre that's been less tapped into. So for instance, world War ii, historical fiction. Uh, for those of you that love it, I don't mean anything by this. I'm not a reader, but it's very saturated. That's an objective statement. There are so many World War II historical fiction books. There are not a lot of writers who do historical meets. Mystery meets magic, and that's what I consider my brand. And I've had a lot of fun building that and. Exploring that and, uh, my team, my publishing team continues to encourage me to pursue that brand because so far it's working.
Jane:Excellent. Um, so I know you do a lot of speaking and offer resources for your, for writers on your website. Um, so this is a two part question that I ask every author who comes on, what's the best advice you can give to aspiring authors about writing and also about getting published.
Sarah:So I'm asked this question a lot. Um, I always tell writers, make sure that you have not fallen in love with the idea of writing and that you actually enjoy writing. And what I mean by that is so many aspiring authors, I think they think that this business, this gig, is co sitting in a coffee shop. You know, a nice rainy day with a beautiful latte sitting in front of them. The words are flowing. They're gonna write it, it's gonna be in great shape, and they're gonna send it off and get a book. Big book deal. That is not at all. That's what you see on Instagram. But Instagram is curated. That's not at all what it's like. Instead sitting at home alone at your laptop, your dog barks every time the mailman comes up or a package gets delivered and you lose your train of thought, and then you sit down and you start over. You write maybe four pages. You're kind of proud of it. The next day you sit back down and you decide it's all trash or it doesn't work, it doesn't fit, and you end up deleting it and having to rework the whole thing. If you can do that day in, day out. For years, because even after your publisher buys it, they're still gonna have edits for you. If you, uh, like that, then absolutely pursue writing. But if you're hoping that it's gonna kind of look like you see on tv, it's, that's gonna be a difficult pill to swallow. So that's my first piece of advice. Make sure you like writing, not the idea of writing. Mm-hmm. Uh, and then I would say at that point, find your community. So before I was agented or published, I got involved with the Historical Novel Society. I'm going to their conference next month actually. And I started meeting people who ultimately helped review my early manuscripts to get them ready to send off to agents, and I'm still friends with these people today. So, uh, get involved with your community and it's kind of amazing how the universe brings the right people into your orbit at the right time.
Jane:So, so true. And that's all excellent advice. Um, I noticed, um, that your novel, the Lost Apothecary, which was huge, has been option for a TV series, and can you give any updates on that?
Sarah:So Fox sat on that option for three years, and then last year they sold it off to a women owned, women run production company in the uk. Um, who I, I don't know what they're doing with it. So the reality is many books that. Readers know and love have been optioned for television and just haven't gone anywhere. So I'm holding out hope. Maybe someday someone will do something with the Lost Apothecary, but at this current moment, it is, uh, just floating, you know, waiting for, um, I guess the right showrunner or producer to, to get interested.
Jane:Fingers crossed for that. Um, if the Amalfi Curse, um, was made into a limited series or a movie, do, who would, who do you picture as Haven and who do you picture as? Mari, have you thought about
Sarah:it? I haven't, and to be quite honest with you, I don't really even watch tv. I don't think I could name five actresses right now other than like. Reese Witherspoon, I, I don't think I could even name them. So what I like to do,'cause I always get questions, you know, who would you cast? And what I always say is, I don't know, but if, if readers have ideas, feel free to put'em in the chat. I guess not many people have read the Amalfi Curse yet, so maybe, you know, after some people have read it, then I'll start getting thoughts from people about who they would cast.
Jane:In my head I was thinking Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. Anne Hathaway Steven and Jessica Chastain is Mari, but then I'm like, are they too old for the roles? Maybe? I don't know. But I don't know any young actresses. Yeah. So like that's all I got.
Sarah:Yeah. Yeah. It's a tough, it's a tough question to answer. My husband and I, we are watching, uh, the third season of White Lotus right now, so, but I don't even know. The names of these people. Um, I've always been so bad with pop culture, which is probably part of why I'm a big reader and writer'cause I don't watch a lot of television.
Jane:Um, Terry White says Sydnee Sweeney for Hate. Oh, and I
Sarah:actually know Sydnee Sweeney. Me too. Yeah. That's why. She was on White Lotus. She's, she's a big deal in Hollywood right now.
Jane:Yeah, she's
Sarah:huge.
Jane:Um, are you ready to talk about what you're working on next?
Sarah:Uh, yeah. So I, I am, I don't know why I shouldn't share it. Um, my fourth book is going to, if all goes as planned, it's gonna be the sequel to the Lost Apothecary.
Jane:Oh, cool. Excellent.
Sarah:Yeah. So, uh, I'm very excited about
Jane:that. And is that for 2026 or 2027? Are you
Sarah:It would be 2027. Uh, fingers crossed. I, I had to ask for an extension, um, because it's taking a long time. So 2027, hopefully. Yeah. Excellent.
Jane:Um, how do you, what's the best way that readers can stay in touch with you?
Sarah:So, I'm not difficult to find online. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, and then, um. I've got a website where people can sign up for my newsletter or shoot me an email as well. But I'm most active on Instagram.
Jane:Yeah, you are really good with the social media. I, I noticed and you had a lot of tips on your website for social media, which I, which I read, so Yeah, you're, you're very active. You do, you do a great job with that.
Sarah:Thank you. Yeah, I think part of it is I'm a millennial, so I grew up with, you know, the advent of, I was a freshman in college when Facebook, uh, came to life and it was only allowed for college kids at that time. So I was like their primary demographic. Uh, so I grew up with social media. I love Canva. If I, I always joke that if I had to go back to the corporate workforce, I would try and get a job at Canva. Um, but I love doing the social media thing and thank goodness, because, uh, that's what book promotion is a lot of these days. Yes.
Jane:Uh, we have a few questions and if anyone else has questions, put them in the chat or the q and a. Um, so let's see. Anisa Armstrong. Hello. Anisa asks, do your characters talk to you when you're writing? And if they do, have they changed the course of your book ever?
Sarah:So, hi Anissa. Um, she is, has been such a loyal fan. I'm actually gonna see her next week in Greenville. Um, the characters, you know, I don't hear their voices in my head a lot, but absolutely they do take the, the, uh, plot in their own direction. So. Um, especially the one, one, uh, observation I've had of myself over the course of writing three books and now drafting a fourth, I, the women in my stories continue to have more and more agency, which makes them more and more of firecracker characters. So, uh, they kind of like, I'm finding the women in my stories, just the more I write them, they kind of do what they want. And, uh, maybe that also relates to me like I'm. 38. And you know, as the, as I approach 40, I'm finding that I just care less about what other people think and I do what I wanna do. So, um, the, you know, it's been fun kind of listening to the characters drive the plot in different ways, because maybe I had outlined them doing X, but then as I'm writing the scene, that doesn't feel like that's what they would do. It feels like they would do. Why So then I have to divert that direction. Interesting.
Jane:Um, Christine Mott is here also. Um, launch. She's been, I, I don't know if you've ever missed a, a podcast. Christine, you're amazing. So does the publisher ask you about having sprayed edges on your book? I pre-ordered the Barnes and Noble one and I have book of the month. For your others, your cover art is always amazing and matching your novels. Actually, that was a question that I had kind of an extra question. Um, I love your covers and I love this one. Do you have a lot of say. So
Sarah:my contracts do allow me final cover approval. Oh, that's great. Uh, so it's a, I think that I have a more collaborative process than a lot of authors probably get, which I'm very grateful for, um, the sprayed edges, that they're like having a moment right now. Um, I don't, I'm not involved in what, uh, extra enhancements are put into the Barnes and Noble. Exclusive additions. Um, but I do definitely have a say in the cover, and I just think that this cover is, um, I think it's my favorite of the three. You know, it takes people often a while to see the little shipwreck down here at the bottom. Uh, they of course, see the one at the top. But it's like the gold sort of represents ma, the ma, the women's magic, and then the water, it's sort of just like splitting open and about to take this boat under. So, uh, I think it's beautiful and it could not be more suited to the actual subject matter of the book.
Jane:Very cool. I also noticing, uh, I noticed earlier today you have these recipes in the back, which are like book clubs already. Always love that stuff. So you have, um, an. Multi coast themed antipasti antipasti menu, including lemon cell spritz, um, sliced tomatoes with fresh barta bar ratta is like my favorite thing in the world. Mm-hmm. Artichoke and can bean salad, like just amazing. So, um, yeah, book clubs out there. Do you use Zoom with book, book clubs? I usually ask that as well.
Sarah:I have a request form. Um, I, I accept requests and I get a lot of requests, so I hate to even say this, but I don't do it for free anymore. Mm-hmm. Um, I, I, I did a lot of that for my first book and I would be doing book clubs all day, every day. So, um, I don't do it for free. Um, but if the book club is large enough. And we can ensure good book sales, then I will do it for free. But I recently put up a book club kit on my website. So it's got all of those recipes, it's got discussion questions with spoilers, and it's got a really fun book club activity. Um, instructional that people, because book clubs, they love activities. So with the Lost Apothecary, a lot of clubs made like little vials of essential oil blends. Uh, so this is not that, this is something else, but I think they'll have a lot of fun with this one.
Jane:Oh, very cool. Um, last question, Sharon. Hello Sharon. She's another one that's always on. Um, how are you going to celebrate on your pub day?
Sarah:Yeah, my pub day. So, uh, let's see. I've got, uh, a live TV appearance at noon. I'm doing an Instagram live with BookBub at 3:00 PM Eastern, so anyone who wants to tune into that. And then, uh, my launch event is that night at a big bookstore in Tampa. It's sold out. There's gonna be about 250 people there, and we'll have like a little VIP friends and family thing first at the champagne bar where. My husband and I, you know, cover the tab for all of our friends and family in Oxford Exchange. Got a cake and we'll have some charcuterie and then everyone will go upstairs for the, the main events, and that'll be me talking and signing books. And then the next morning at 9:30 AM I fly to Greenville, South Carolina. So. Uh, hopefully I'll be able to sleep and, um, I do, one of the things that's most important to me is physical and mental wellbeing. So when I wake up on pub day, I will get some sort of yoga or exercise class in and I'll take, you know, 10 minutes of just silence, you know, for myself to kind of, um, meditate and, and express gratitude and all of that. So that helps keep me grounded. So it's gonna be a really fun day.
Jane:Excellent. And I also noticed, uh, you recently posted your tour schedule, so if anyone's interested, your book tour schedule is on Instagram, so That's right. That's, and check that as well. So thank you so much for taking the time, Sarah. Again, this is out on Tuesday. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, pre-orders always matter. I'm sure it's gonna soar though, so, uh, best of luck with everything. Best of luck with the tour. Thank you everyone for coming tonight. Thank you. Um, to the regulars, and thank you for anyone who's new here. Next up, I have Christina McMorris in a couple weeks. The Girls of Good Fortune. She's on on, been on before, and um, she's always amazing. So you can register. At Jane tilley.com and everyone have a great night. Thank you again, Sarah. Thank you so much. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye.
