Romance, Recovery & Reinvention with Roxy Storm

This week on Bound in Dark Ink, I'm joined by debut romance author Roxy Storm!

From transforming her husband's wild ideas into full-fledged stories to discovering healing through the writing process, Roxy opens up about her journey from devoted reader to published author. We dive into the ways storytelling has helped shape her personal growth, the inspiration behind her books, and how pieces of herself find their way onto every page.

Of course, we couldn't talk with a proud Michigander without discussing sports, her love of romance, and the experiences that continue to influence her writing.

Join us for a heartfelt conversation about healing, creativity, and finding your voice through fiction.

Follow along on Instagram @boundindarkink and @prettymamasbooks.
Until next time–Stay dark. Stay obsessed.

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:00

You're listening to Bound in Dark Inc., where dark romance, obsession, and bookish chaos collide. I'm Alicia. Let's begin.

SPEAKER_09 0:08

So you're using this to pass the time, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:12

I'm sorry, what was that?

SPEAKER_09 0:14

While you're hub you're using this to pass the time, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:18

While you're hugging Yeah, he works a swing shift. So he goes into work at like 6 p.m. sometimes and 6 a.m. other times. It's it's wild.

SPEAKER_07 0:29

Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, tell us about yourself and what you write.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Okay, well, um, my name is Roxy Storm. I write contemporary romance, uh, mostly military romance. My husband was um is a Marine, or was a Marine, I think the the term is once a Marine, always a Marine. And um I currently have one book out with book two coming next month. So um, I am based in Michigan in the Great Frozen North currently, although it was like 40 degrees yesterday, so it was a miracle.

SPEAKER_08 1:18

Yeah, and so how long have you been doing it and what got you started?

SPEAKER_00 1:28

So I started writing last year, I think it was. And okay ironically, it's a really funny story how I got book one going. Um, me and my husband are huge sports fans. We're huge Tigers fans, which is baseball, and Lions fans, which is football. And we were at a Tigers playoff game the year before, and we were looking out between if you don't know Detroit, Comerica Park is where the Tigers play, and right directly next door on the other side of the street is Ford Field, where the Lions play. And we were looking out over there, and we looked down on the rooftop, and there was a girl in a police bulletproof vest, and then two guys dressed up in all black, like cargo pants and combat boots, like they were private security guys with sniper rifles for security. And my husband has a very interesting imagination, and I had been a romance reader for a while. Um read most of my life, but got back into reading and specifically reading romance post-COVID and all of that kind of fun stuff. And yeah, he looked down and seen these the two guys and the girl was like, What how much you want to bet once the game gets started, those three are gonna go underneath the stands and and have a threesome essentially.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

And so I had been joking with a friend about his random story, and she was like, Well, we should take all these really wild ideas that our husbands come up with, because hers was also very vivid imaginations, and we should turn them into books. Initially, it was supposed to just be little short stories, just novellas based on these weird, wild ideas that they come up with. And so I sat down and started coming up with these ideas, and I developed a series called the Devil Dog Security Series. So it's a group of Marines who are now out of the military and run a private security firm in Detroit. And um the they work with the local police department to cover games and such where they need more security than what a police department normally can offer. And uh it is all kind of flowed from there by uh my character, the care main character Nyx. She is based on one of my best friends, and it's it was very therapeutic for her because we wrote some um the the ex in the book of hers is inspired by someone that she knows, and then book two is technically inspired by myself, and some of my trauma and healing through all of that, and you know, you don't realize how therapeutic writing can be until you sit down and you start kind of not exactly telling your story, but getting it out there essentially. It it gives you a way to kind of think and grow and process through things that you might have just shoved in you know a box somewhere in the back of your mind, and you don't want to think about it. So um, NYX is so a book one is called Beautiful Broken Pieces. It is a um MFM Y choos where two best friends who have shared everything, um, including women before, have met Nyx and decided that they actually want to keep her because they've never kept a girl for more than a night or two. And um they built a house together, you know, these guys have been attached to the hip. They went to school together, they joined the Marines together, they've been deployed together, and they knew pretty much since they were became adults that if they ever were to find separate girls, that it's gonna be hard for that relationship to work because they are pretty much codependent on each other because of their own traumas. Um, the guys are very yin and yang to each other. So Dimitri's my my dark fruity soul. Um he's grumpy, he has his uh little sister Anastasia had been um kidnapped and killed while he was deployed, and his family kind of disowned him because they wanted him to just pack up and leave deployment, which is not possible, to come home and take care of the family and help find his sister and all of that fun stuff. And Graham is my golden retriever, cinnamon roll energy. Um, he is goofy, but he's also my tech guy, so he's my hacker. He will hack into the computer or into cameras and find things and um trying to do his best to protect Nyx because little did we know she has a stalker. And this the stalker starts leaving notes on her apartment door. Um, at one point they break into her apartment and throw red paint everywhere. There's creepy pictures that are left at the guy's um front gate, and so you have these two men who are used to being able to protect everybody and you know protect the country, not being able to protect the one thing that they need to protect the most.

SPEAKER_08 7:27

I'm sure they feel have strong feelings about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Oh, yes, definitely. Especially my my poor tortured Dimitri, who had already dealt with the fact that he couldn't protect his sister when she needed him the most. Right. Now he's he's got NYX. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_08 7:49

All right.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

It's a ride.

SPEAKER_08 7:52

It is. Um, so I would say what got you started, but it was kind of just you and your friend's husband's crazy ideas, huh?

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yeah. Um, I wrote short stories and such when I was a kid growing up. I always had a notebook and you know, always the princess saving the day or whatever randomness came into my you know small child mind. But um it was never something that I was like, yeah, like that's what I want to do with my life. Yeah, it was always, oh, this is fun, right? This is an interesting thing to do. Like it passed the time. I'm an only child.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

So having you know, imaginary friends growing up or just random things that you write down or whatever, but I've always been an avid reader, so I guess making the switch from reading to writing makes sense.

SPEAKER_05 8:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

It's just never something I initially thought that I was gonna do until I just kind of did it.

SPEAKER_05 9:00

All right.

SPEAKER_08 9:02

And what would you say your motivation was?

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Um kind of just wanting to put out a real representation of Michigan and specifically Detroit. I read a lot of books and it drives me absolutely insane when they're like, oh, based in Detroit, but nothing makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 9:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Because I'm, you know, I'm a huge sports fan. I go down to Detroit all the time. I live about two hours north of Detroit. Okay. But we're down there, especially in the summer during baseball season, we're down there all the time. And um I got real sick of reading books that didn't actually truly represent a city that I love. And not very often do you see Michigan in general being represented in books. Right. Um so I I kind of wanted to give a little bit of that representation in the book world. Also, at the point when I had started writing Beautiful Broken Pieces, all of our sports teams were doing really, really well. And I wanted to kind of immortalize that in my books a little bit because you know, we have the Tigers playoff game that they work at, they go to a Lions game, you know, they mentioned the University of Michigan national championship and all of that. So I kind of wanted to immortalize all of my favorite sports teams doing well for once.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

I don't know if you're familiar with Michigan sports at all, but we've had a rough, a rough go at it lately. So it's kind of fun to have your own, you know, everything kind of in its own little world, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_08 11:16

All right. Um, so this one might be a little weird, but do you feel like you've made it? Or is there a specific goal or achievement that you have in mind that you need to reach before you're able to sit back and just go, like, damn, I've I made it?

SPEAKER_00 11:40

I would definitely say that I made it. Um, I'm still I would still consider myself a very baby author. Like I said, I have one book out, book two comes out um on March 10th called Sunshine in the Dark. And I just I think in order for me to say I made it, like I want to just see random posts on social media of people reading and loving my stuff, whether that's on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever, to sit back and you know, just see people go, this is my favorite author.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Or, you know, hey guys, I read this book. I really, really loved it. Everyone needs to go and read it. Um, you know, I am still very small. I wouldn't, you know, K you page reads are still everything to me. Right. But I don't necessarily do it to make money either. I do it because I enjoy it. It gives me a place to kind of vent feelings and traumas and frustrations and to to bring a world to life and keep the the crazy at bay, I guess we could say.

SPEAKER_08 12:59

Yeah, for sure. All right. So what would you say is your favorite part of what you do?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Not to repeat myself, but to bring representation to the state of Michigan and specifically Detroit. Detroit isn't all bad. Everyone likes to say, oh, Detroit's so awful. It's really not. They've they've done a lot to make the city better and to make it safer, and um, that kind of stuff. So I just I want to show the world, even the country, that it's not such a scary place to be, and to have it truly represented in the book community.

SPEAKER_08 13:45

Okay, fair, fair, fair. Okay. So is there any advice or guidance that you would share with someone who's just starting out writing?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Just do it. Like to be completely honest, okay. Don't overthink it, because you can sit down and write a hundred drafts before you believe that it is perfect and ready to put out in the market. But just sit down and write whatever is on your mind. Um, if you think it's crazy, trust me, it's probably not, and I've probably read something crazier. So yeah, for sure. Kind of run with it. Um and make sure you have a good support system behind you. Um, you know, to have people that are going to be brutally honest if something's not working. Um just do it. Just sit down, put words on paper, the rest of it, the rest will figure itself out.

SPEAKER_08 15:02

And then on the flip side, is there something that you wish someone would have told you when you were just starting out? Got me there.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

I guess make sure if you are working with other people within the industry that you get contracts.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

For a lack of better terms. So if you know, if you're exchanging services or something like that to get contracts, okay.

SPEAKER_08 15:39

I feel like there's a story behind that.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Maybe just a little. It's fine. It's just there are so many people in the book world who are are amazing and I love them, and they are the best human beings on the face of the planet. But there are also people out there that are only looking out for themselves.

SPEAKER_08 16:09

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

And make sure if you do something that is what you truly like covers, for example. Don't if you're working with a cover designer, do not accept, oh, this is good enough. Wait until you absolutely love it. Okay. Um and don't be afraid to be nitpicky because that's your name on that cover, technically.

SPEAKER_10 16:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Like, yes, the cover designer will use it in their portfolio and all of that kind of stuff. But if you're not happy with it, then keep nitpicking it until you are happy with it, because that's your book, that is your cover, that is what you are going to have forever.

SPEAKER_08 17:01

Absolutely. All right. Do you have a favorite trope as a writer?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

I feel like based on my first two books, it's like crazy X's. Okay. Um, I as I'm thinking about all of my FMCs, like they're all dealing with some form of so you know, Nyx, her story starts with walking in on her fiance sleeping with who she thought was one of her best friends. Um, and then Kira is her like ride or die best friend, it's her, you know, platonic soulmate. And in book one, they both get kidnapped by her stalker. And um once Kira gets home, she realizes that her fiance pretty much didn't care that she was gone.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

He's like, good riddance, I'm done with that girl. Um, and this whole time Kira is fighting with herself through her book, Sunshine in the Dark, because she has feelings for Catalum, who is Graham's little brother, little big brother, as we like to call him, because he's I also have a thing for very tall men, which is ironic because my husband is like 5'1. So all of my um MMCs are extravag extravagantly tall. Like Graham is 6'7 and Callum is 6'8.

SPEAKER_08 18:39

I feel like that's just a thing in the romance world now, is like um the tall ass man.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah. So Graham and Callum are inspired by one of my um favorite football players. So he is 6'7. So I I went from there, and then when we were developing Callum, who is Graham's little brother, I was like, wouldn't it be funny if he was technically the little big brother and we made him bigger than Graham?

SPEAKER_10 19:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

And so it kind of just went from there. Um, but yeah, it's my husband's like, should I be concerned? Because he is he is 100% Irish, so my mom calls him the leprechaun, and it's adorable.

SPEAKER_08 19:29

But oh my god, it's funny, it's actually funny that you mentioned that because my husband will sit over here and like there was a while a couple months ago where he's like started shaving his chest, and when he first did it, it was like uh a role-playing thing we were doing. He understood the assignment fine, but then he kept doing it, and I'm like, why do you keep doing that? And he's like, I'm just trying to be like a man from your books. Like, I'm just like, oh my goodness, like, stop. And then the other day he's like over here looking at all my Gemlin cards that I had like that I've acquired at events and stuff, and he's looking and he's like, see, none of the none of these men have hair on their chest. So I can I can just, you know, I just need to cover myself in tattoos. I need to get rid of the hair on my chest. He's like, the only problem is I could never be over six feet tall.

SPEAKER_07 20:34

I'm just like, I mean, fair. You can't make yourself taller.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Right. Well it's we um always joked when the like door frame lean on TikTok was like going around. Yep. And I was like, I need to film this with you and um have him like drag over a step stool.

SPEAKER_08 21:00

Yeah, I was showing him like um, I don't know if you're familiar with the the couple that's like been on social media like crazy, Hannah and Griffin.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_08 21:13

So they she had done like one of the trends the other day, and she was like walking with a book, and then she'd like lean up a wall, like up against the wall, and then it went like dark red moody, and it was like the silhouettes of them. And he's like, Yeah, that'd be a great idea, but like I might have to wear platform shoes or something.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Oh man. I told him I was like, let me get through because my the Double Dog Security series is the interconnected standalone. So the world kind of continues and it builds on itself as each book goes along, but it follows the guise of Double Dog plus one, there's a um one girl on the team. Okay. And uh So I told my my husband, I was like, once I'm done with Devil Dog, because I can't have short Marines, even though he's a short Marine.

SPEAKER_09 22:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

I'm like, maybe I need to write like a a short king book of some sort. Like, even if it's just a novella and it's just fun.

SPEAKER_06 22:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Because you know, tell him specifically uh is very much my husband's personality.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Just six eight. So he's like, seriously, you you couldn't have maybe like five eight, a little bit taller, but like closer to what I actually am. I was like, no, that's not gonna work.

SPEAKER_08 22:45

Right, right. No, sorry, sorry, buddy. Not this time, right?

unknown 22:53

Oh man.

SPEAKER_08 22:55

Okay, so what is your favorite trope as a reader?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

I am like a dark romance, why choose kind of person. Um like my immediate half to buy is if it's dark why choose academy bully or college bully, if you throw in a little secret society, I am all here for it.

SPEAKER_08 23:23

Okay, so with that being said, have you read the Gallows Hill series by Caitlin Taylor yet?

SPEAKER_00 23:28

No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_08 23:30

You need to. It is amazing. It is um Skyla and her five men, and it's like Secret Society, and it's in um oh my god, Salem, and it it it's amazing, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I was definitely having to check it in.

SPEAKER_08 23:52

Yeah, I read um like she's one of my favorite, favorite like Mount Rushmore authors, and um I read Gratify First, which is like a standalone. It's her, it's her and her uh ex-boyfriend's dad slash godfather. Oh um, so so that one was really good. I did at one point send Caitlin a message and I said, Okay, I love you. I loved that book. However, how many times do you have to say, Oh yeah, you like when your godfather's fucking you, don't you? Like, girl. Um, yeah, so and then I read Graves, and Graves is also amazing. It's um Twin Brothers.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Ooh.

SPEAKER_08 24:48

So that was that one was amazing. And then I went into the Gallows Hill, and then at one point, one of the Unalivers in Gallows Hill had there's like a mini crossover with Zaydan Graves, and there's like a a favor ode that gets brought up. Uh Caitlin just released like a little crossover novella um in, I want to say the end of November, December, and it was called Graves and Griggs, uh Bloody Christmas, a very bloody Christmas, and that's exactly what it was. Like she took the Graves Brothers and then that one little like IOU from the Gallows Hill series and made a novella, and it is just amazing.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

If you like dark white shoes, that kind of situation. Oh, absolutely. Um, PH Nix, her Edgewit Academy Elite series from PH Nyx, absolutely devoured.

SPEAKER_08 25:50

I love her. I just interviewed her recently.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Um my god, I love Nyx so much.

SPEAKER_08 25:57

I just I just I just recorded with Nyx recently, and actually she love her two pieces. I was telling her like her episode is gonna come out a little bit later. Um, because when I first started this, I wanted to have the episodes released weekly. But when I first when I first came up with the idea, I had a lot of authors that like wanted to come on. And the the forms are kind of getting a little bit slower of people, you know, wanting to come on. So rather than me having to like figure it out, I just pushed them so that uh my episodes are releasing every other week. So I have a little bit more time to like get more episodes for you guys. Um and I had mentioned that to Nix, and she was like, Oh girl, send me the form. And she like she had sent it out um to a couple of people. And so now I have Brooklyn Cross that I'm gonna interview soon, AL Maruga.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

I love AL. She was the next person I was gonna tell you about.

SPEAKER_07 27:03

I'm like, Nix, you did the thing.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

See, when I said that there are people in this community that are amazing, Nyx and Maruga are like, mm-hmm. They're the I love them so much. I don't know if they know that I exist as like an author, I but I love them as a reader.

SPEAKER_08 27:28

Right, right. I actually I met um AL Maruga at Sinners and Stardust 2024. And it she's amazing. And Poppy Jacobson too. She is a sweetheart.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Yeah, like I met AL in Rose City, well, it was the Rose City convention in Windsor. Okay, and I absolutely adore her. Yeah, like I've been as a reader, I've been with her pretty much since the beginning. Okay. So another author, she specifically writes Y choos, but she writes a lot of different things. Um, Sarah Hines, she's another Michigan author that I absolutely adore. Okay. Her um husband actually is my cover designer, and I love him. He's amazing. And so she has like a gang Y choos. Okay. She has paranormal and shifter, and she has demons and billionaires, like you give me a trope, and she probably has a series to go along with it.

SPEAKER_06 28:48

Okay. Is she Sarah with or without an H?

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Without.

SPEAKER_06 28:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Um, but I adore her, she's amazing too. Um, so I'm trying to think of anybody else.

SPEAKER_08 29:03

I I recently finished um Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid. That book was amazing. I'm gonna continue this series. Um, but aside from my podcast, I have a book club too that I run on Instagram and Discord. And we have the dark romanticy, uh, sorry, the dark romance side and then the romanticy side. And so this month we're reading Slasher Pass by Tyler Page. Sorry. Yeah, this yeah, this month we're reading Slasher Pass by Tyler Page, and then it was Forged and Blood by Sadie Kinkade. And um, I finished the Forged and Blood already, and that is amazing. Like, I didn't so a fun fact about me is I go into everything blind.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Same, same.

SPEAKER_08 30:02

I don't read the backs, I don't like I don't, I don't, I just go into absolutely everything blind. So I had no idea what I was gonna what I was in for. I just knew it was romantic, and that was all I knew, and that was enough for me, and it was freaking amazing. I cannot stop talking about the vampire MM scenes in that book. Oh my goodness. And there was like vampires and witches and werewolves, and amazing, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

I wish I could write fantasy. I dabbled, it never got published, but I dabbled in fantasy for a hot second. Yeah, and I just like it was going really well. It there was they were shifters, there was a little bit of MM, why choose, yeah, like the witches who only kept men around for like breeding purposes. It like it had a solid base, but I am not a plotter typically. I will have a general direction in which I want the book to go. Okay, but I don't sit down and like okay, well, this is gonna happen, and then this is gonna happen, and we're gonna foreshadow this back here, and like the the stalker twist in Beautiful Broken Pieces. I knew that there was gonna be a stalker, didn't know who it was gonna be until I got to the point in which the stalker is revealed.

SPEAKER_08 31:43

Oh, interesting. That's how I wrote it.

SPEAKER_07 31:48

I was like, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

So it definitely like there was there's been times where I've had tried to have a direction, like this is exactly what's gonna happen. And then the characters are like, ha ha, yeah, right. And I would rewrite a scene and rewrite a scene and rewrite a scene to try to get it to go the direction that I had planned it to go in.

SPEAKER_05 32:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And they just laugh in my face, essentially.

SPEAKER_05 32:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Like um a while, a long time ago, when I first got into um reading and all of that, I had talked to actually it was Ale Maruga, and she had told me that Carter from her Casberry Prep series was not behaving. Okay, and she's like, He won't he won't listen, he's doing whatever the heck he wants, he's gone rogue. I'm like, Ay L, he's your character, you make him do what you want him to do. Little did I know that's not how that works. No, I am just the mouthpiece. Yeah, I just tell their stories. They they tell me how it's gonna be told.

SPEAKER_08 33:01

Exactly. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

So yeah, like I I figure if I plot too much, then they you know, they always say, like, if you make a plan, God laughs kind of situation. That that's my characters. If I try to make a plan, they just laugh at me. So I just I have a general direction of where the book is gonna end, what happens between the beginning and the end is completely up to them.

SPEAKER_10 33:30

Right, right. I love that.

SPEAKER_08 33:32

Love it, love it.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

I love it to a point, yeah. Because draft one is usually very wait a minute, you said this back here, and you should have said this, and like my my alpha readers, they are my lifeblood because they're always like uh pretty sure you said something completely different. Yeah, sorry, my dog is coughing in the background.

SPEAKER_08 34:09

All right, so what books, if any, have influenced your writing or helped get you into writing?

SPEAKER_00 34:17

I would say any of the ones that I have mentioned. Um definitely AL Maruga for sure, Sarah Hines for sure. Um, you know, they they all are such amazing women in this book world that they are definitely they're they're definitely good people.

SPEAKER_06 34:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

I would say like they influenced my my writing per se, because my writing is definitely my own, right? Like, yeah, if you can't tell by my personality that um I'm a little crazy, so it's fine.

SPEAKER_08 34:58

I mean, I think you have to kind of be to be in this industry for sure.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Like, to I was talking to my mom, and I love her dearly. My mom is like a Freedom McFadden Colleen Hoover kind of reader. Okay, and I always like to give her the most insane things that happen in my books just to see her reaction, like anything that I'm reading. Um, I remember I was telling her about Does It Hurt by HD Carlton.

SPEAKER_08 35:32

Oh my god, so good. I don't know if you've read that one yet.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

And she's like, wait a minute, he made her bleed and then stuck her in the water. What?

SPEAKER_08 35:43

Yeah, I unheld her there, mom.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Exactly. And um, like my my poor mom. She's she reads my stuff, and I just want to hide in a hole because she's not she's not a romance reader to begin with. She's definitely a thriller. She doesn't when 50 Shades of Grey was super popular, she's like, Do we need to have all of the detail or can we just allude to them having sex? I was like, that's not how this works, mom.

SPEAKER_08 36:15

No, we're not doing it off page, mom.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Like, um, I read The House Maid by Frida McFadden because she really wanted to go see the movie. I'm a firm believer that I read the book before I go see the movie.

SPEAKER_06 36:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

And I went into it knowing that it's not my kind of book, because I am pretty much a romance reader, or I read a lot of fantasy or dystopian YA. Not so much anymore, but that was that used to be my big thing.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

And so, like, every time something kind of spicy started happening and then it faded to black, like they woke up the next morning. I was like, seriously, like, it doesn't have to be in deep like extreme detail. We don't need five chapters, but like, give me something here, right? But I was like, that's not this book. So watching my poor mother's face while she like pre-reads any of my stuff is is entertaining. She's like, Why does there need to be two of them? Like, why not?

SPEAKER_04 37:18

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

Why does a woman only get one when there are cultures where men get multiple?

SPEAKER_04 37:24

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

She she just looks at me and gives me that mom eye. I'm like, what? So it's hilarious. But she's she is so both her and my dad are so supportive of it. They're like, so when you make it big, we get to retire, right? I was like, that's all you want from me, is you just want my money, right? Right. But no, they're amazing, and it's hilarious. My my dad is not a reader at all, like he reads fishing magazines, and that's about it. So it's funny watching, watching him like try to understand, yeah. Um, or like he comes up with the most random things that he's like, you need to put that in a book. It's like write that down and put that in a book. I was like, oh my god. I love that you're so supportive, but no, we don't need to put everything in a book that you say that. It's fine. So silly.

SPEAKER_08 38:25

Okay, what do you wish that more people understood about what you do?

SPEAKER_00 38:31

That unfortunately, you can't make everybody happy.

SPEAKER_06 38:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Um, and you know, the way that your book goes is the way that your characters or you decide it goes. And it it's not for everybody. And just because a book's not for you doesn't mean it's a horrible book.

SPEAKER_08 38:52

Right. Because reading is subjective, people right.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Like the number of times you just you look at reviews and you're just like, okay, well, this book is not for you. Why did you pick it up? You know, if you don't read why choose, why did you pick up a why choose?

SPEAKER_10 39:11

Exactly. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

And then choose to rate it badly because there's or like if there's a reason, a constructive reason why you didn't like a book, yeah. Let the author know.

SPEAKER_06 39:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

They can't get better if you don't tell them. Like, you get a one-star review, which is fine to each their own, but like they don't leave an actual written review.

SPEAKER_08 39:37

Like, obviously, if you rated it once Yeah, they're just like, oh, it was trash. Like, okay, how's that helping anybody?

SPEAKER_00 39:46

Right. Like, like, it's not gonna help another reader. And I I completely 1020% understand that reviews are for readers and not necessarily for authors. I don't care that you leave a bad review of my book. But if there's a reason, I wanna know so I can make it better.

SPEAKER_10 40:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Like I might be might not be able to fix that book, but if it's something that I can can can work on in future books, I would like to know. Absolutely, but don't be a joke about it, you know? Yeah, like don't come in my DMs being like, oh my god, it was so horrible, and I don't know how why you even wrote that, but like, oh hey, it felt repetitive, or I just didn't vibe with this or whatever, like something constructive that someone can work on helps, especially to a new author. Yeah, like someone who's just trying to find their footing in the world and like find their voice. Any little bit of actual constructive feedback is so helpful.

SPEAKER_08 40:52

Yes, all right. Um, what does your writing routine look like?

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Ironically, I write a lot at the gym.

SPEAKER_08 41:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Um most of Beautiful Broken Pieces was either written between weightlifting sets or on the stationary bike at my local gym. Um it's a place where I don't have to worry about anything else. I don't have to think about what my husband needs, what my dog needs, what my big girl job needs. It gives me a space where I can just focus on what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_06 41:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

And for some reason, in that like clarity of being at the gym, and your brain isn't thinking about 800 different things, is when my characters are the loudest.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Uh it it it's weird, but and most of book one was written completely on my phone, not even like in front of an actual keyboard.

SPEAKER_04 41:58

Fair, fair. All right.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Like I would sit down in front of a laptop or even my iPad with like an external keyboard, and nothing. Like my brain would go completely silent. Yep, there'd be absolutely nobody talking to me, and then the minute I pick up my phone, they it's I don't know if it was like imposter syndrome or what it was. But it was like, no, we're not we're not gonna do this.

SPEAKER_08 42:24

Yeah, that's so funny. Maybe in your brain, it's just like actually, we're not writing, we're sending some texts, so it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

I really do, and I think like it's just like, oh, you're journaling these thoughts onto paper, or or something like that. Like, it's not actually writing a book, and I think that's it's a wild thing, anxiety and all that fun jazz. But yeah, I'm like, hey, I won't I won't mess with the the flow.

SPEAKER_08 42:58

No, can't, can't okay, and do you give yourself goals like um a set daily or weekly hour word goal?

SPEAKER_00 43:09

Depends on where I'm at in the groove of things. Okay, um, right now I'm kind of in a if because I just finished Sunshine in the Dark that is with my editor and formatter currently. It comes out March 10th, and so like right now I'm not really doing a whole lot of writing because I can't let go of Kira and Callum until they're done. Right. If that makes sense, like I still need to stay in their world present with them until pretty much it's it's loaded onto Amazon and I can let it go from there. Um But my next book, we'll we'll throw a little teaser out there, is Finding Freedom. I have it scheduled out for a year out. But I do that and then I can move it forward. Like Sunshine in the Dark wasn't scheduled to release until like October or November of this year, but I obviously moved it forward because I got it done earlier. Um I do this for fun. I like I don't want to put myself on extreme writing demands when I have a regular job and all of that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_10 44:39

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Um but luckily Finding Freedom has a good chunk of it already done because it initially started as a short story in a military anthology.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Um I'm just trying to piece together the beginning before the short story comes into play, and then I'll continue after that. But right now I'm kind of just allowing myself a little break.

SPEAKER_08 45:15

Totally fair. Um now is finding freedom book three, or is it yes separate?

SPEAKER_00 45:24

It's book, it's it'll be book three.

SPEAKER_08 45:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:29

Um currently, I think you can still get the paper back for the military anthology. It's to love and protect um on Amazon. And that is a like 10,000-word, one night stand, age gap, girl on the run kind of situation. It's gonna be um Molly and David's story. David is kind of the dad of Devil Dog Security, he's older, um, and has never wanted a girl or wanted to settle down. He just he was content with himself until he was a part of the rescue team for Nix and Kira and stumbles into Grant's bar. Grant is one of their military buddies, and this super curly-haired, red-headed uh southern peach is working at the bar if she's new, and is on the run from her husband.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

She kind of had an arranged, she had an arranged marriage situation and never got to be who she wants to be. You know, she was in college and she was always raised like she went to the finishing school to learn how to be the perfect trophy wife, not for an education. And her parents were like, Nope, you're gonna marry this guy. Um, his name is Travis, he's kind of a douchebag. And essentially, she comes from old money, Travis's family, their family business is failing, and they need her family's money to kind of save his family.

SPEAKER_02 47:22

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

But she decides that she's gonna hop, she's gonna hop on a Greyhound bus and disappear. And that's when she stumbles, uh, she gets off the bus and stumbles into Grant's pub for lunch, and he kind of takes her in as like a daughter. Grant is single, but he currently has no prospects, although he won't leave me alone. So there might be another book that's not currently planned for him, even if it's a novella. Um and she David needs a drink and to just get some stuff off her off her off his chest. So she kind of goes, Well, you know, a bartender's the best therapy, right? And they both ag she tells him that she can only give him one night and he's convinced that he will get more change her mind. Yeah, yeah. Uh at the end of the short story, she sneaks out while he's still asleep, but she works for his one of his good friends, so like um, pretty much the entire Devil Dog security series is a found family kind of situation. They all have their own trauma and horror stories when it comes to their family, or they just don't have family at all, except for the members of Devil Dog, and they have their little girl gang, as they call it, because you don't want to call them a girl group because they'll just kick your butt.

SPEAKER_06 48:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Um, because Nyx is a Detroit police officer. Then there's Elyra, who is a former Marine and is part of the Devil Dog security. So those two alone will not be tolerate being called a girl group. So they they have titled themselves Girl Gang. And then they bring Molly into the fold, and and Kira's already there because Kira is Nyx's like platonic soulmate. So okay. It's a lot of just they they take care of each other. And whether you're with a member of Devil Dog or not, or you're just a friend of they got your back. And Molly has it takes Molly a while to understand that. As much as she doesn't want to drag David into her drama with Travis, um they're already a part of it, right? Because she's part of their family. So whether her and David are together or not, he's still going to protect her. And all of the other members of Devil Dog will protect her. So I'm a thing for crazy exes or crazy husbands, or it's fine.

SPEAKER_05 50:22

It's fine, everything's fine. Yeah, like everything is fine.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

We all have our our one thing.

SPEAKER_08 50:36

Oh, yeah, for sure. Um, what would you say is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

SPEAKER_00 50:43

Either wrangling the characters so they don't go completely rogue, or trying to actually figure out the direction. Okay. Like I know the beginning, I know the end, but figuring out what happens in the middle to make it make sense. Um, because as much as I'd like to say that I immediately know exactly where everything is going from the moment I open a Word document, that would be a lie.

SPEAKER_06 51:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

And even if I do have a general idea, somebody's gonna change it on me. And I just have you just roll with the punches.

SPEAKER_08 51:24

Right, right. You're like, okay, this is what we're doing. Alright. Would you say that you have any unique or quirky writing habits?

SPEAKER_00 51:35

My Midwestern slang or grammar.

SPEAKER_02 51:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:41

Like I have discovered, what is that? I say there, you know, I say is instead of are a lot. Um, or like I will use a random saying that we say here all the time that most people would understand, and then my editor who lives in Utah, um, it's like, what in the world does that mean? Mm-hmm. So we'll say my Midwestern, my Midwesternness.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

She's like, I can tell you live in Michigan. I was like, hey, be nice.

SPEAKER_10 52:20

Right, right, exactly. Right, right.

SPEAKER_08 52:32

Crazy. Yeah. That must be crazy, like looking back at it and being like, wow, I do that.

SPEAKER_00 52:42

Yeah, it's it's it's it's interesting. You're like, oh, I speak so horribly all the time. It's fine.

SPEAKER_08 52:51

It's fine. All right. Uh if you could give your 18-year-old self some advice, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 53:01

It gets better from here. Like a lot of here I am trying to figure out how to put it into words. Like I I was in a rough place at 18 to 20, and just that it it gets better. It seems dark and scary, but to lean on those that you love and they're gonna love you no matter what. Definitely, because they will help you get out. Sun Sunshine in the Dark is definitely working through a lot of that trauma, so yes. You want a a sneak peek into my life? There you go.

SPEAKER_08 53:49

What is your favorite time of day to write?

SPEAKER_00 53:53

First thing in the morning, like I write at five in the morning at the gym like a crazy person. It's the one time a day when it's just for me. Nobody needs me, nobody's looking for me. Most of my friends are still in bed, so nobody's like talking in like group chats or anything like that. So, because I'm the crazy one that's up at 4 15 in the morning.

SPEAKER_08 54:23

Yep. All right, let's see if you have an answer. It's so this next question. This next question is like I love it, but the next two actually I love, but it's very mixed always, whether someone actually has answers or not. If your books were ever cast as a movie or a show, do you have people in mind that you would like to play your characters?

SPEAKER_00 54:53

I mean, almost all of my characters are based off of somebody. Um I mentioned earlier that Graham and Callum are based off of my favorite football player. Yep. Granted, he's not an actor, but like he is the he is them essentially. Um okay. David is is based off of Dan Campbell from the Detroit Lions. He's our head coach. So like they're all based on somebody granted, not actors again, but still famous people nonetheless, I suppose. And I mean ironically, the girl. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_08 55:41

I was gonna say, in the famous world, I guess you would call it, or whatever you might call it, they've I've I feel like they've been pretty interchangeable. Yeah. I mean, we got wrestlers as actors, actors as wrestlers. We got like what is the the Miz or something who started out on a reality TV show and now he's like a wrestler or something. So I mean, fair that years our sports guys.

SPEAKER_00 56:13

Like, I mean, I guess that's at some point they would they could make the switch over to acting if they chose so choose. I mean, they do commercials and stuff, so I I guess it would work.

SPEAKER_08 56:24

And they are on TV, right?

SPEAKER_00 56:28

Yeah, it works, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 56:30

Fine definitely works. Okay, so with that being said, the next question is if your life got casted as a show or a movie, who would you choose to play yourself?

SPEAKER_00 56:48

Oh gosh. Um is I'm horrible with names and like honestly, same.

SPEAKER_08 56:54

I have to look them up. Like, I'll be like, oh, that girl from that one show, and then I have to look it up to actually have a face to the name.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

Honestly, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_08 57:09

Like that's that is not uncommon. Like, that is my most unanswered qu question.

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Because like I I can pick apart like different pieces of characters from movies, but not like an actress person, collectively, yeah. I guess if I had to pick somebody to play me, I would probably go with I think her name is Nicola, but she's the girl that plays Penelope in Bridgerton.

SPEAKER_08 57:46

Okay, yeah, I haven't seen that, so I'd actually have to look that up. Um, all right. Were you a Twilight Girly?

SPEAKER_00 57:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 57:59

Alright, so are we Team Edward or Team Jacob? Or has it changed?

SPEAKER_00 58:05

I mean, growing up, I've I was always Team Jacob. Um yep. Always. I guess now as like an adult, I would probably be Team Charlie.

SPEAKER_04 58:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 58:21

But I I still love Jacob. Like, I don't know. I I was I was the crazy one who stood in line at Barnes and Noble at midnight to get my next editions of Twilight. So that is that tells you how old I am at that point.

SPEAKER_08 58:42

The new the new hardcover that just came out, like the collector's edition with the slipcase.

SPEAKER_01 58:48

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_08 58:49

Um, with the gold sprayed edges. It's I work at a bookstore. Um, and it took me to going to another one of our bookstores to help, like with a project or something. And one of the girls there showing me that if you fan them as you know, either way, you get Bella or Edward in in within those gold sprayed edges. And I'm blown away. I'm blown away.

SPEAKER_00 59:25

It was really funny. Um, when I got my first box of author copies of Beautiful Broken Pieces, my husband took a look at them and he's like, What? No sprayed edges. I'm like, do you want to pay for sprayed edges? Right, right. Because I can tell you right now, I am not making enough money for sprayed edges. So, unless you want to pay for me to order special editions, no, they don't have sprayed edges. Because I'm a book collector myself, like normally. So he's like, You have all of these fancy books, and you didn't make yours fancy. I'm like, hush, before I beat you with this book.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:06

That's right, that's right. And I've also learned over the years, um, I no longer rush to buy the book, and I only say that because they come out with the boring one, and then I rush to buy it, and then a couple months later, there's like this gorgeous edition that comes out, and I'm like, damn, do I really need another one? Granted, I do, like uh Emily McIntyre, for example. I have each different cover of Hexed. All I have all three covers of Hexed. Um, and the newest one that she came out with Burning Daily, I have all three different versions of the sprayed edges. But like for her never after series, I have all of the paperbacks. But then I also have the hardcovers that have recently came out with the um like nicknames or the settings on the edges. But then I also have like book box editions from two other and I'm just like that's fine. I love her. I will just buy all of her books, and like even Caitlin Taylor have multiple copies of her books because I have like signing exclusives or you know, whatever. But like, for ex like mainly um Boys of Tomen by Chloe Walsh. I I was reading them on my Kindle, and I was so glad I hadn't bought that whole series or any of that series for that matter, when these new these new editions came out with the sprayed edges and stuff. And I'm just like, I'm so glad. And um, same thing with Liz Tomford or Tom Fordy's um Mile High series, well, the Sin City, the Sin City series that starts with Mile High. I didn't buy any of them, and then they came in with like the sprayed ombre edges, and I was just like, I'm see, I'm so glad that I just waited.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:23

See, if I don't have a ton of space for books, so if I have a paper copy of your book, that means I absolutely adored it because I am not one to buy books without reading them on my Kindle first.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

Um and but I am guilty of having multiple copies of books that I love.

SPEAKER_10 1:02:47

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:48

Fourth Wing, for example. I have four or five copies of Fourth Wing. Um, and currently trying to convince my husband that I need the new sprayed edges that match Onyx Storm. Her fourth wing and onic storm?

SPEAKER_08 1:03:06

Or not Onyx Storm, uh, yeah, the newer ones that they released, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:11

Yeah, or um Typage, for example. I have the original editions, I have the rip box of her Final Girl series, I have her anniversary collection of the Final Girl series. Like, I have problems, it's fine. Um so yeah, like I am a sucker for special editions or sprite edges, or they've redid the cover and now it's like super gorgeous or something like that. Right. It's fine. Yeah, I'm running out of room, but it's fine, we'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:52

I know my fairy loot books are still in their boxes because I just don't have the space for them right now. But I also don't really have the time to like redo the entirety of my bookshelves to display them, so they're just safe and safe at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:13

I know that's like the one thing that I will get all of my bookshelves like perfectly organized the way I want them, and I'm like, oh yeah, they're perfect. And then I somebody buys the new series off of my wish list or something like that. And I'm like, where where am I gonna put these? Right. Yeah, yep, it's so crazy, and then you have to organize your entire shelf all over again, all over again.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:43

I feel that.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:44

Yep. All right, so let's see. Let's see. Are there any topics or tropes that you would never even consider putting into one of your books?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:57

No, I don't. I would probably have to say I'm not a huge fan of Slowburns. Okay, I'm like an instant gratification person. Um I but I will never say I will never put something in a book because there's a time and place for everything. And if that's what the characters need, right, then that's what the characters need. Um, but I also like Sunshine in the Dark, for example, it takes Callum and Kira a while to officially be together.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:33

But there's things happening before that.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:37

So like, yes, relationship wise, I would classify it as a slow burn, but there's spice and and things happening. It's not just like oh ha ha, yeah, you like me, and like shy flirting. Like there's things happening, okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:59

If that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

Um I I'm not one for guys fighting their feelings. So I want them to fall hard and fast and like instantaneously. But never say never, I suppose. I guess it just depends on what they want.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:23

Yeah, okay, that's fair. And on the flip side, are there any topics or tropes that you won't read?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:31

I honestly don't think that there's anything I won't at least give a shot to. There's nothing that because I've read tropes, like I'm not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope. It kind of annoys the heck out of me.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:43

Oh my god, it pisses me off so much. I'm like, if you could just just said this one thing, this whole situation would have been over by now.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:52

Right. But I'm also a sucker for anything that makes me feel any sort of emotion, whether that's anger, frustration, happy, sad, makes me want to throw things. Like, so as much as I say I hate miscommunication, miscommunication tropes and they annoy me, they also make me feel something. So, like I can't necessarily say I hate them either. If that makes sense, but I've also read books where there are tropes that I absolutely adored the trope, but dislike the book. So yeah. Um I I give just about anything a shot. Um because you never know, even if it's a trope that I'm not a super huge fan of, there's ways it can be done that I don't mind, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:51

Yeah, for sure. And there's definitely like good ways to write them and bad ways to write them. Like the accidental pregnancy or just like pregnancy in general. I generally love that trope, but there are some out there that make people hate that trope.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:12

Because it it was just poorly written and poorly executed.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:17

Yeah. Like anything that you, you know, you could tell me that a book was why dark romance, why choose, academy bully, secret society, and it like on paper, it sounds absolutely word for word exactly what I want.

SPEAKER_10 1:08:34

Everything you want, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:35

But I just don't vibe with the book. And that's fine. It's just it's it's weird, I guess. You know, you could love every single trope that's being listed, but still not like what you're reading.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:55

Or you could hate a lot of the tropes that are being listed and really adore the book. Yep.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:03

Yeah, it's funny how that works, though, right? Okay, let's see. How would you describe your ser your book series in one brutal sentence?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:17

Oh goodness. You got me there. Holy cow.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:22

Um, yeah, this one's this one's a tough one.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:26

What do you mean by brutal sentence?

SPEAKER_08 1:09:28

Like, explain it badly or like no, like, um, so let's see. I think my favorite one, and this might sound a little biased, but and uh well, actually maybe not biased because it wasn't Caitlin Taylor that said it. Um, I think my favorite one what so far has been by um Jenna Doyle. Do you know who she is?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:54

I recognize the name.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:56

Okay. So she has like she has a lot of um motorcycle romances, but she also has like a retelling of Midnight Summer's Dream. And so her one brutal sentence for the her Midnight Summer's Dream retelling was if you ever wondered what all of those characters got up to in the woods, they had an orgy and I was the one to write about it. Like, I think that that's my favorite one so far. That's even the clip that I like saved and teased her her episode for. Like it was just amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:44

Um, I love that.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:48

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:49

So if that helps at all, or maybe makes it harder, I'm not sure. But um, that is one of the ones that I've gotten.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:58

That's some big shoes to fill. Um especially because like all of my books are they're in the same world, but and like they're the same people, but they they definitely cover different things.

SPEAKER_08 1:11:16

I guess like I mean, you could you could break it down by book if that helps.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:22

I mean, series-wise, I would say I don't want to word it. Uh that's the hard thing. Like, as an author, you're supposed to be great with words, but thinking on the spot and not being able to like write something, then delete it, and write something, then delete it, it's yeah. Um wow. Hold on. If I I think it's can you still hear me?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:52

Okay. I so I have one okay that I use as a teaser for beautiful broken pieces.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:02

That is um have you ever wondered what it would be like to have two men who want nothing but to take care of you?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:09

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:10

Um, that would be beautiful broken. Because my books are very like obviously they they fall in a you know romance world, so everything's perfect and da da da, but they're still very real. Um here's the sunshine and the dark would have to be hmm. One sentence, I guess. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:36

That's so bad that I can't just I know that's the hard part.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:41

Yeah, that's so bad that I can't describe my book in one sentence.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:46

Hey, you gave me what? I mean, but like, how often do you get asked to do something like that?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:57

Not very often. Like, not at all.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

Like, yeah, I got nothing. All right, you you got me. I'll give you that.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:12

Okay. What would you say was your favorite chapter to write?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:17

My favorite chapter. So beautiful broken pieces. My favorite chapter would have to be the rooftop scene. Okay. Um, when Dimitri finally kind of gives in to Kira and Graham walks up and uh watches. Okay. Graham is Graham is my lawyer. He he likes to watch them. And Dimitri, Dimitri likes to be in control. So Dimitri gets his piece before Graham is allowed to participate.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:52

Uh, Sunshine in the Dark, my favorite scene would have to be so Callum buys Kira a business front, like a building, to open her bookstore because she has dreams of owning a little romance bookstore, coffee shop, bar kind of situation. And he surprises it for her for Christmas, and they uh decide to christen the place, but they forget that all of their loved ones came with them to see the the building. Oh no. And so they they have to kick everybody out.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:38

Yeah, you think?

SPEAKER_08 1:14:43

Oh, that's amazing. Okay, and what would you say was the hardest chapter to write?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:52

Kira finally telling Mike off. Mike is her ex. Okay. Um, and and her finally letting go of a life that she thought she had wanted, yeah, in order to be able to become the person that she needs to be. Okay. That was the the that their entire relationship um is very reminiscent of a former relationship of mine. So it's been pushing 20 years at this point, but you don't realize the things that you thought you were over, yeah, and you've healed from until you really like sit back and look at it. Yeah. So there writing Sunshine in the dark, there was a lot of tears, there was a lot of putting off writing because I didn't want to revisit some moments, but you needed to. Yep. So that was probably the hardest stuff to write.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:04

Yeah, because like, you know, it's like you've you've moved on from it, but you know, re writing it into something else, I still I mean, obviously, I'm not I'm not an author myself, so I don't like know this wholeheartedly because I haven't experienced it, but you know, as even a reader, I feel like a lot of things you do base off of past experiences that maybe you have moved on from or felt that you've moved on from until you're essentially reliving them just through your eyes, not your body, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:42

Yeah, it's it's reopening scars that you thought had been long closed. Yeah, you feel a lot lighter after you do it though.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:54

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:55

That's good. That's good. Uh I I like that answer rather than being like, oh, you know, it puts me in a depression or it makes me spiral, or you know, because that that doesn't seem like fun time.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:11

No, it definitely like doing it initially was rough. It it was not fun by any means, but to get it out and to get it on paper, one someone else who reads your book might relate to it and and realize that they they either are in that situation and they can get out of it, um, or have been in that situation and can relate to the to the growth. Um, and to just because there are things that I wrote that nobody knows about what happened.

SPEAKER_10 1:17:45

Okay, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:46

Like, you know, like my mom, for example, has a a brief overview of how awful the situation was, but I'm kind of terrified for her to read and like actually see truly see it.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:03

Because there are things that nobody knows about. So to finally get them out on paper and like out of the boxes that stored them in the back of my head was is relieving and it's healing. Like, nobody knows necessarily that it was, you know, my trauma, but I'm still telling people.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:28

And also at the same time letting those know who have either gone through something similar or are going through something similar that they're not alone. For sure. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:41

Um, what would you say was the ideal reader that you imagined?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:46

I mean, you would have to love romance books and like smuddy romance books and and be along for a little grit. Because while my guys are doting, you know, boyfriends, husbands, whatever, um, they do what they gotta do to protect those that they love. So if you're looking for a cute, adorable Robcom, this is probably not for you. Um, but I would say I tell the line of being like light gray romance. Right. I wouldn't say it's dark romance, okay, but it has dark themes, especially book one. Um, so you have to be okay with a little grit.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:31

And a little realness. There's definitely not a rose-colored lens over the the story. Obviously, they they run their own business, they have money to do with what they please, but it's still very raw and real and like not so fantasy world, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_08 1:19:52

Yeah. Okay. All right. And then I have a couple that are like more broader about you. Okay. Um, and then two more after that. So we will who are you as a reader?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:08

What do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_08 1:20:10

Like, just um, like who are you as a reader? I mean, I guess I already know that you're like a dark romance wide shoes reader. So I guess we kind of already touched on that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:23

Um, I mean, I as a whole, I read a little bit of everything as long as it's spicy for the most part. Um I read everything from Avatar and Fourth Wing to some dark, sick, and twisted dark romance. So I don't do a ton of like super adorable rom commie stuff. Um just because I typically like my men to have a little bit more grit to it. And I am really weird about sports romances.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:58

That's fair though.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:01

As a sports girly myself, um, if I'm reading a sports romance specifically like baseball or football, because those are my sports, uh, they need to be done right. And if they're not done right, I get very upset. Okay. Like I can do hockey because I don't know hockey all that well. So if they screw something up in hockey, I'm just like, okay, whatever. I don't, I probably wouldn't notice, anyways. But if they screw something up like football or baseball wise, I would be upset. I just I get worried that people write sports romances just because that's the cool thing to do right now. So and not actually done the research or know the sport, and I am very much a sports girly, so yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:44

What would you say your top read of 2025 was?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:48

Top read of 2025. You're gonna make me remember what I read in 2025. Let's see. Nope. When you read 250 books a year, it makes it hard to holy moly girl. Yeah, well, I work from home, and so I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I'm reading, also. So that helps. Um I oh, you're gonna make me pick one.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:17

I think they say it's not fair to do things that you wouldn't do, and I don't think I could choose just one.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:23

So I don't know how fair this question is.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:26

It's not fair at all.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:31

Um, my favorite book of 2025. I want to say like Onyx Storm, but like that just seems so generic. Um I think I have to go with Almost Ravaged by Abby Millsaps.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:54

That would probably be my top read.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:56

All right. Now I know this one's gonna be easy, so normally I go top five, but I'm gonna go top ten for you. Top ten authors.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:06

I have to go AO Maruga, PH Nix, Jen Bullard, Abby Milsaps, Shay Ruby, Sarah Hines, um what, six? Probably KJ Roos, Jordan Grant, Vanessa Stock, and Ty Page. I think that's 10.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:24

Okay. Um, and are any of your books on audio? Speaking of audio books, not yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:31

No, I would love to.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:32

Okay. All right. Um, but you do listen to them. I do. So who is your favorite male and then your favorite female narrator?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:46

Jake and Bridget Bordeaux.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:47

Who the who else said the Bordeaux to me? I think it was Nyx.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:52

It it is Nyx because Nyx has them doing Edgewood Academy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:57

I'm like, wait, someone said that to me. Yeah, it was Nyx.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:02

I am a sucker for Zodiac Academy and like the whole world of Solaria, and then the Twisted Sisters um United States of Anarchy series, and they do all of their books. Like, I prefer out of all of the graphic audios that I listen to, because like I typically love the graphic audio versions of books, but I refuse to listen to the Zodiac Academy graph graphic audios because I love Jake and Bridget so much.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:29

Okay. That's I listened to Aquitar as the graphic audio. Um, but then the last two the the little novella and then um the sister story, I ended up not doing them on graphic because they changed the cast. Or maybe, maybe I'm crazy, but it to me, it felt like they changed the cast, and I was very confused. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:58

Like I can confidently say that I listened to Zodiac Academy probably two or three times a year. So my friend got me the first part of The Awakening on graphic audio. Yep. And as soon as I started playing it, I was like, but it's not Bridget.

SPEAKER_08 1:25:19

I don't actually want this.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:22

I was like, no. And like, um, I met Jake and Bridget at Readers Take Denver in 2024. Okay. And had an Uber fangirl moment. So like I I don't know. I adore them. And when Nick's announced that they were doing her Edgewood Academy series, I I lost my ever-loving mind.

SPEAKER_08 1:25:44

Yeah, yeah. So alrighty. Do you have any events scheduled for 2026?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:54

I do not currently have any events scheduled.

SPEAKER_08 1:25:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:57

Um, I mean, I have a tiny little local like craft show type thing going on, but I wouldn't call that a book event. It's um a charity craft show thing for a friend. But okay. No, I do not currently have anything scheduled. I'm hoping my town does a book fair usually in the spring, so I'm hoping to be a part of that. Okay. When they announce that.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:23

All right.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:24

And then I'll go to events just as a reader, not as an author.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:29

I was supposed to volunteer at an event at the end of this month. And then I was gonna see Nikita, but she's actually she's going as um, not as a author either. Um, but I'm unfortunately not able to go now, so I'll have to wait to see her again until spellbound.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:49

Like I'll probably go to Dreaming Dirty in Michigan as a reader because Sarah Hines is always there gonna have to go see them. Um, and then I'll be at Rose City again in Windsor with um Ale Maruga, probably.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:04

And then I might pop into a few others, but those are usually if I have nothing else going on, nothing like planned.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:13

Right, right. Alrighty, and then um the last thing I just have for you is where can the listeners find you?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:20

I'm on TikTok, I'm on Instagram, I'm on Threads, I believe I am all Author Roxy Storm. On all of them, yes, Author Roxy, yep, author Roxy Storm. My books are all available on Amazon, and then paperbacks, I have wide distribution on those. And I currently don't have like a store out, but if you want signed paperbacks, you can shoot me a message and we can figure things out.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:53

Okay. Well, thank you so much, Roxy. It was great talking to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:58

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:59

And your books are now on my TBR for sure, and this was great. And um maybe we can do it again sometime.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:10

Yeah, that would be awesome.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:12

All right. Well, thanks again for coming on. I hope you have a great night, and I hope your March 10th release goes great.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:20

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:22

All right.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:23

Bye bye.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:24

Bye. This has been Bound in Dark Inc with Alicia. You can find me on Instagram at Bound in Dark Inc. and Pretty Mama's Books. Until next time, stay dark, stay obsessed.