we're all in this (the query trenches) together - feat. jasmine ahmad

Hey everyone! Today's episode of Talk Wordy features the absolutely darling Jasmine Ahmad, author of BACK TO YOU and NOT FOR KEEPS! We had an absolute blast chatting about her books, her writing journey, and her latest (daunting) endeavor: the query trenches. Send her some good luck dust and some online love by streaming our episode together. Thanks for tuning in! (Recorded February 2026).  

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Author Website: https://www.authorjasmineahmad.com

Buy BACK TO YOU: https://a.co/d/03Vec9qV

Buy NOT FOR KEEPS: https://a.co/d/0aY3q8Px

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjasmineahmad

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Worthy, my hub for all of the words that I read, write, or otherwise want to yap about. Today I have a very special author guest on the pod. She's a romance author who writes emotionally rich love stories filled with heart, depth, and swoon-worthy moments. And her latest release, Not for Keeps, is available now. Please welcome Jasmine Ahmad. Hi, I'm so excited to be here. I came by your table yesterday at the con and I was like, I can't wait to leave.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Yeah, I'm so glad. I'm I it was also so nice to see you yesterday. Yeah. Really great to have to meet you beforehand.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Okay, so something I like to do to warm up with my guests. Normally when we have full-length episodes, I do a whole rundown of girl, what are we reading, watching, listening to but in efforts to save time so we can talk more about you and your books. I just want to know do you have any kind of current pop culture y hyperfixations on the brain? A TV show you've watched, a book you've loved, movies, anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Okay, right now I'm in the Tell Me Lies trenches. Oh my gosh, when I tell you I've heard so many things about Tell Me Lies and I I know nothing about it beyond what I'm hearing. I need to watch it. You haven't watched it? No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

But I've heard incredible things about it. Yes. Please watch it and please mentally prepare yourself for the absolute trauma that you're gonna get from watching it.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Ooh, okay. Let's see. I might need to get out of my seasonal depression era.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Get out of that first.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

I'm like, once we get to March, I will come and I will watch Tell Me Lies.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Exactly. Get out of there first and then go under the Steven DeMarco trauma train. Yeah. You'll love it.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Okay, absolutely will do. No, I've heard so many good things about the show. Is it on Hulu? It's on Hulu. Okay. Hulu's been putting out some good stuff lately. Yeah. I cannot tell a lie. I feel like every platform, like streaming platform, has these kind of like seasonal shifts where it's like, oh, Apple TV is really ahead of us. Or like Christmas time, it was Netflix with uh Stranger Things and everything. But now it's like, who's coming back?

SPEAKER_01 2:29

They're like, this is my time to shine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Well, I guess Netflix and HBO were kind of warring with heated rivalry and Stranger Things. And what a what an interesting mix that was around December.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Two complete opposite spectrums.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Okay, so talking a little bit more about you and your books, um, did you always know that you wanted to be a writer, or was that something that kind of developed later on for you?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Yes, uh, great question. Um, I've been a writer since I was a kid. I always joke that I used to write like bad songs, poetry, short stories.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

I feel like every author started in some other kind of writing media, too. It's just always writing. I've been there.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

I think one of them said like stop, drop and roll. So it was really bad. It wasn't a good moment. Um, but I've just always been like a book nerd. So like I would read the dictionary for fun. Like that was like my fun. I would read um an encyclopedia. I was just like obsessed with books. I used to walk like the 10 blocks to the library and then come back home with a stack in my hands.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Oh, I'm lucky.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, I've just always been a book nerd and I always wanted to write. And it just took me forever to actually like, you know what? I'm gonna do this and share it.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yeah, absolutely. Um, what were some of the first initial sparks you had for what ended up becoming your debut book? Yeah, um, yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

So my debut book, I always say that I wrote that one for me. Um, in that first book, she is a um a DV survivor, so she's a survivor of domestic violence. Um, and she also has chronic illness, which I myself have as well. And so I think I put so many pieces of myself out there in this book and just like really wrote it as like this like cathartic, like, okay, like I'm gonna let it all out. And I just really liked also the um the hope that came with like after DV finding not just love in like a partner, but love in yourself. And that felt really special to me.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Oh, I absolutely love that. Um, also the quote snippets that you post online from your books have me on my knees. I was literally, I was going through your Instagram last night, as one does. Um, I will shamelessly admit that I like lovingly stalk all of the authors that um I admire or am set to interview. And I was going through and I was like, oh my gosh. I need these. Um do you have any favorite quotes from either of your books that like really stand out to you?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Oh gosh, now my brain has to start thinking. I mean like, uh oh. Oh suddenly and a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a suddenly and I don't know what I've written. Um, I think one, and uh I I want to say this is in the first one where he's like, you know, as they do, they break up. You know, they're not breakups. Um, and he's just like, like, I will wait for you. I will be there for you. I'm I'm in it. So you do your thing, and I'm gonna be back for you whenever. So and he's just telling her, like, you're it for me, Mariana. Like since the moment you walked back into town, I knew. And I'm just like, oh gosh, Sebastian.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Um, is there anything that you can tease about what might be next for you?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Okay. Um, yes, so I'm currently working on the third book in the Lake City series, and so that's really exciting. Um, I am really having fun with these two specific characters. I will say I always joke like my books are more rom cry, less rom. Oh, yeah. Like rom. Romtrom. Exactly. So um prepare for some of that in the third book. Um and I do have other projects that like I've been I've been plotting out and like really excited about. Um, and you know, just kind of like hanging out in the query trenches right now.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I was just about to say, we gotta get into that. Yeah. It is rough out there. Um, they real they love hearing more from authors that are still in those processes. So tell me a little bit about the project that you're querying and how querying has been going so far.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Quering is um crazy.

unknown 7:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

It's crazy. Um, it is completely different from what I currently have written. Um, so it's a sports romance set in New York, which who doesn't love New York? You're gonna get fall vibes. Um New York in the fall. Yes. And then think you've got male and best friends to lovers. Ooh! Yes. So queering's been fun. I do have um a couple agents that requested fulls. So fingers crossed. Um, and but it's been an interesting experience to say the least. Like, you know, I think um queering is really interesting because like you have to remind yourself that it's not always about you and maybe not always about your work, right? It may just not be the right time for that agent, or maybe they have something so similar with another author that they're like already working on. And so, like, I've been really trying to like remove myself from like how hellish queering can be. Yeah. And just like, you know what, this is queering over here. I'm gonna start writing something over there.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah. To keep yourself occupied. Yeah, I'm keeping myself busy, yeah, for sure. Um, so what made you want to go from indie publishing to trying to throw your hat in the ring for traditional publishing?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Oh, yeah, I think it's just like that little girl dream, right? Yeah. I just can't let go of it. I want to be hybrid, so I still want to make sure that like I'm independently publishing some things, and then I would love to also traditionally publish. Um, but it's just that dream of like walking into a Barnes and Noble or even at an airport and just like seeing my books. Like, especially an airport. Yeah, there's just something about airport books.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Yeah. It's like, oh, I've made it. I've made it sleep deprived, 6 a.m. Potential passengers are like walking by my books to get a bag of cheeses or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

I've just always had that dream. I actually grew up in New York, and so like, you know, random houses there and like in the city and stuff, and just like walking by these buildings. I used to think, like, okay, that's gonna be me one day. So I'm throwing my hat in.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

I believe in you, truly. Um, also, what kind of sports romance is it? Uh, football.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Go sports. Honestly, sports. I got really heavy. I was like watching um football reels, and then I made like a whole document about like football rules. I want to learn it, I want to know it. Like, I have to get into it if I'm gonna write about it, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:55

And so I was like, oh, that was a good play right there. Yeah. Oh, they really got the zone coverage going on here. Whatever that means, but I've heard somebody say it, I've heard it on the new heights podcast. There you go, new heights. Yeah. Um, so do I take it? Did you watch the Super Bowl this year at all? Yeah, okay. Thoughts on the game or the halftime show? Either. Um, the game was very boring. Uh it was.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

I think the right team came out on top in the end. I agree. But the right team won. I just wish I saw more action during the game. And honestly, I was there for Bad Bunny. Yeah. Like, I'm Puerto Rican. Yeah. So Bad Bunny is basically my family in my head. Like, we're related. Um, so I was really excited, and there were just so many like little things that he put like all of the knots. Oh my god, my heart. There was like piraguas and then uh the bodega, things like that. Like, or the little kids sleeping at the party because like yes, on the chairs, yes, that's what we do. Like, we I was the little kid sleeping on chairs because my parents were partying. Yep, and just like it's just so nice to see that and like see that representation. And then at the end, all the flags. It was just so beautiful. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

It was honestly such a beautiful show. I don't know what I was expecting the show to be, but it was really good. Yeah, it was. It did take me a couple watches just because like I don't speak Spanish to go back and understand, like, okay, this is what this song was covering, and this is how it ties into the visuals. I loved the incorporation of the power lines um and the power workers with all the um the sparks, and I it was just so beautiful, so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah, I know. I keep I I still haven't gotten down from the high of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Yeah, yeah. And I also okay, I know I've talked about this already on the pod, but it's still like a Roman Empire moment for me. The um the wedding.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

It was a real wedding. It was a real wedding. There was a proposal, yes. Yes, was that real? Yeah, too. I heard that that was real. Oh shoot. I was like, oh, we're getting lots of love today. Oh my gosh. No, it was beautiful. I'm like, that's can you imagine? I got married at um the Super Bowl halftime show while Bad Bunny was singing.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Well, because I heard what it was. They had invited Bad Bunny to their wedding, but he said, I'm unavailable. However, in a reverse, do you want your wedding to be at my halftime show? Which I think is honestly props to that couple for going full throttle. That's insane.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Yeah, I couldn't, I don't want that many people looking at me. I don't think I was nervous at my own wedding and it wasn't even that big.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Okay, to close out the episode, I want to do a short little game of this or that. Okay. There are no wrong answers, there are only your answers. Okay. Okay, so standalone or series?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Oh, I'm a series girl. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

They're so good. Especially whoever came up with interconnected standalones, they need a race. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Immediately. Geniuses. Um, binge read or slow read.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Oh, that depends. Oh gosh, but I think I am a binge reader. Yeah. What's the last thing that you binge read? Oh, okay. That's a great question. The last thing that I binge read was um uh the Trials of the Sun King series by Nisha J. G. J. Tooley? Yes. I I'm actually kind of sad that I binge read it because it was so good. Oh now I wanted to kind of that it's over. Yeah. I kind of wish that I could wipe it from my brain and reread it.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I was just about to say something that I've loved asking authors is like if you could wipe your memory and reread a book for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

I want to reread that one. Yeah. Like there was it was it was perfect. You guys read it. Please.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

I've like I've heard nothing but good things about her books, so I'll have to check it out. Um, books that make you cry or books that make you laugh?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Okay. Books that made me cry. There was this book, um, You've Reached Sam. Oh my gosh, yes, about the oh yes by Dustin Tho. And when I tell you that I was cooking dinner, reading the the last few pages, sobbing my eyes out.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Oh, I bet, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

But it was the most beautiful story.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

I have a friend that I mean, she reads books like professionally at this point. She, I mean, her her year recap is in like the 200s.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

She had to like, and she reads books fast. She had to take some time in between like reading sprints with it. No, it's great. Um reading with music or reading in silence.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

I have to read in silence because my brain will start singing if I'm listening to music. Smart. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Okay, but similarly, writing, do you write in silence or do you write with music?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Now, see, that's funny because I write with music.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

I do too. Okay. Most people I've talked to have preferred silence. I'm just like, I can't.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

I can't.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

I need to have something.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, I need to have something.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Um, and then character driven or plot driven.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Ooh both. Because I they're just, they both matter to me. I don't know. I because when I'm plotting out my books or I'm thinking about like what I'm going to do, I think of it in both senses, right? Like those the characters, I want to know them so deeply that they can be my best friends. And I want to see their growth in my stories. Yeah. But then, like, also the plot. What's that going to look like? And how can I immerse my readers in there? So I can't choose.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yeah. I pick both. Which actually works. Um, because that's actually my last question for you. So at the time that we're recording this, we are at Lovelight Con. But by the time the episode releases, we will not be, and it makes me so sad. Um, where can our listeners that are listening to this in the future um find you, whether that's your social media, your website, where your books are at, if you're going to any other upcoming events? Share all the things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Um, so I don't have any more events planned yet. Um, but you can find me. I'm mostly on Instagram. I'm not really on uh TikTok. I'm also on Threads. So if you do want to see maybe some unhinged posts, go on Threads and find me. Um, I my books are able to be found on Amazon. I think also on Steamy Lit. So if you want to support Indy, which I love, um, go on Steamy Lit and you can get not for keeps there. Um, and then yeah, I think that's all I'm at. I don't really go on other social medias. They get me nervous.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

It's like it's too much to micromanage. Okay, well, there you have it. Thank you so much for tuning in to Talk Quarty and my thanks again to Jasmine Amon for coming on the show. This has been so fun. So fun. I feel like we match each other's energy really well. Which really helps because when we're recording this, it's like eight in the morning. Yes. Um, don't forget to follow the podcast on Instagram at TalkWordypod, and I will see you in the next one. Bye, you guys.