TASTEFUL AMOUNT OF CRINGE Ft. Brooke Averick

So much of romance can be cringe. And I found that too, like reading things out loud is really helpful. And like some of it, some cringes is okay. Yes, of course, but sometimes a tasteful amount of-- A tasteful amount of cringe is always okay. But when it makes you go like, and takes you out, yeah, it's really hard. There's such a delicate balance. Yeah, I agree. (upbeat music) Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show, sorry me, your favorite, everybody knows me. Who cares about me? Onto the guest today, we have the iconic, the hilarious, the published author herself, Brooke A. Brick. Woo, woo, woo, thank you so much for having me, Drew. Oh my God, thank you so much for coming. I feel like it's been a long time. It has, it's been a long time coming. I feel like I may be here. Yeah, and you know what, no better time. No better time. It's like a present. Phoebe Vermen's gonna lose it. Yeah, I think you guys can see in the wide. I don't, when does this come out, is she out yet? Mm. Or is she, she's about to be out? (laughing) Oh, she popped yesterday. Okay, yeah. Okay, very good. So that's incredible. Yes, so yes, I'm officially a publisher author. Oh my gosh. Yesterday. How exciting. Yeah. This episode of the comment section is presented to you by Barilla. You know those nights when you're deep in a reality TV binge, and suddenly the snacks aren't cut in it, you need a proper meal. Something that hits as hard as the most unhinged clapback. Albranzo by Barilla is crafted with textured ridges that actually hold onto sauce, so every bite is rich with flavor. That moment you go back to swipe the clean plate. That's Scar Petta, the art of savoring every last drop. Albranzo by Barilla, the pasta that does Scar Petta. Look for the red bag. Please tell me about Phoebe Vermen's gonna lose it. I really wanna talk all things. I'd love to. Published author. Yeah, so Phoebe is a romcom. Yeah. She is basically it's about a hopeless romantic Phoebe. She's 29 years old. And even though she's a hopeless romantic, she has this very crippling intimacy anxiety that she's had since she was a teenager. And so she has not lost her virginity yet. And she becomes super obsessed with losing it in the 30 days before her 30th birthday, which is when this book takes place. She makes a list and that is her goal is to lose it. And she goes from kind of a non-existent love life to having three prospects. So it's kind of like, is she gonna lose it? If she loses it, who is she gonna lose it too? So kind of like mystery thriller element there as well. Murder mystery. Murder mystery too. No, but it's just like I tried to really channel those early 2000s. Romcoms and this one is for kind of like, like, productions. Yeah, if she was like on a lot of anti-anxiety medication. OK, so tell me about the process of coming to write a book. Like I know you're a huge bookworm. Yeah. And I know you love to read, especially fiction. So I do. Like what inspired you to want to write your own? Like did it kind of come naturally? Were you kind of like, I've always wanted to do this. And I have the opportunity to have the camera. I have always wanted to write a book. And I have always wanted to write about this like super-- romantically anxious person. Yeah. But I just thought I wasn't qualified. Like I was always under the impression like I had to go back to school and get a master's in creative writing. Or like I had to take a class. Like I was always looking up like creative writing like USC. And then I don't know. I was just like waiting for something to like give me the permission that I was looking for. Totally. And then one day I kind of just realized like, I think I don't need that. I think I can kind of just write a book if I want to. Right, totally. And I think giving myself that permission kind of just like the floodgates open. And then once I kind of wrote the first sentence, it's just all like kind of spilled out. Just kind of spilled out of that point. Were you pulling from any inspo for Phoebe, the world itself? I was definitely the anxiety piece I was kind of pulling from my real life. I am also super anxious. Yeah. When it comes to romance. And so I had kind of used like my lack of dating experience and through that in there. Yeah. So this one's definitely, yeah, for the late bloomers. It's beautiful. I think that's a wonderful thing. Thank you. Do you have any like any books that you were reading? Like have you read adult fiction for a while? Like as an adult, because I got back into adult fiction. Like I want to say like two, three years ago, like I for some reason thought like at past a certain age, I'm like, oh, I guess I have to read self help books from the rest of my life. But I realized I was like, wait, I don't have to do that. I can read fiction still and that kind of got back into it. Yeah. Was that the same for you or you? I've always, I've always been a fiction reader. Love. But for whatever reason, like I wasn't reading. I was always like desperate for the romance. Right. Within like literary fiction. Because I kind of thought like the only thing I could be reading in my 20s was literary fiction. I don't know. I guess you kind of like put yourself in a box once you turn a certain age. Exactly. For your reading. And then I was like, wait, I can be reading like cheesy romance as much as I want. And then I was like, that's awesome. It's actually so tea. That's so tea. It's so fun. And that's so awesome. It's me and my Kindle against the world. It really is. And so I think for Phoebe, I took from like every genre that I love. Love. Zero man's, there's part, like just like general women's fiction and like weird girl, let fake like. Yeah. So I kind of, yeah, I drew from a lot of those. That's amazing. Do you have any favorite books that like we're kind of inspiring to you as you were writing? Did you read it all while you wrote? Like, I know sometimes folks are writing. Actually did. Oh, there is this author whom obsessed with Emily Austin. Okay. And she writes about really unique mentally ill women. And I'm obsessed with her. And I think everyone should read her books. And those definitely informed my writing about mental illness for sure. And also just like a lot of, I just like love a good romcom like Emily Henry. Yeah. Christina Lauren. I believe in me wrote people we mean on vacation. We mean on vacation. She wrote book lovers is my favorite. I feel like she has five and everyone feels really, really strongly about like which one is the best. Yeah. I know the book talk girls do not play around. No, they do not play. No, on good reads. No. That was like one of the first things I talked about with my team when I came out with my first book because I was like, good reads is scary. Good reads is scary. I take the wrecks very seriously, but good reads man. Do they write a novel in there? I have an addiction to good read. Like it's really bad. It's my most used app, which sucks because no one else uses it. I check good reads probably 50 times a day. I love good reads. The wrecks are so real on there, but like I was so afraid of my own book being put on there because I was so afraid of what people would write. Terrifying. Yeah. And I'm letting myself look at Phoebe reviews before it comes out. And I'm going to really, really try not to do that after it comes out. I think it's going to do really well and I think everyone's going to love. From what I've seen, everybody's already really loving it. So I think that's a beautiful thing. Did you guys get to send out arcs and stuff? Yes. That's so great. Yeah. That kind of stressed me out because I didn't know much about like that whole process. But arcs, like there are some things that I've changed since the arc. And I have like pretty severe OCD. So like going to sleep at night, knowing that like there are people reading an unfinished copy of my book. That's crazy. You change things after arcs. That's crazy. Yeah. Like not a lot like not like the plot is the same. No, I love that. But like there are some sentences in the arc that I'm like, I hate this sentence. It is killing me that people have read this sentence. I feel you. That's how I felt when I started writing the proposal for my fiction book because it went through so many versions that like I changed some stuff, but just structurally like sentence wise. So that some of the versions they got, I was kind of like, fuck. Did you have arcs with your book? With my first book, yes. I didn't. I didn't change anything. No, because at that point, I feel like with that book was very different though for me because I feel like because it was like self help slash memoir. It was almost like I wanted to set it and forget it because it's really hard for me to be vulnerable like that. Yeah. To that extent. Totally. About myself. Yeah. Like I feel like I could write that way about other people or made up people, but like about myself, it was making it hard. So I almost like didn't want to look at it again because I felt like I might change too many things. But it was mostly because it was about me. That's really hard. But it was different. I feel like it was different. Yeah. It was different to me. Well, at some point, like because I was still editing a little bit after the arc and my agents were like, you're making it worse and you've just thought, like I get to a point where it's like, you just can't look at it anymore, which is so scary. Yeah. Like it's done. Yeah. I could have worked on that forever. Honestly, trust that you've done a wonderful job. Trust. You've done a wonderful job. You have to trust. You have to trust. Thank you. Do you see Phoebe having any future books? I think it's a good question. I definitely. So I got it. It was a two book deal. And I didn't know what I was going to do with the second book. But I think I've decided it's going to be like in the Phoebe universe. Okay. A character from Phoebe will make an appearance. But like it won't be a direct sequel. And you can totally read it as a standalone. I think that's awesome though. I think like because a lot of Phoebe is like a about turning 30 and something that I was grappling with and I kind of used her to come to terms with something in my real life. I think if I have something like that again where I'm like this is something that I need to come to terms with, I could bring back Phoebe. I was like kind of like my therapy. She was really like the best therapy I've ever had. - Oh, that's so beautiful. - I think I could maybe bring her back in the future but ask for now her stories. - I think that's great though. I love when we know, like you know for sure. 'Cause like even I've read some really, really good fiction books that were just either standalones or they were duologies like no more than two. - Right, I think that's great. - Right. - I think that's beautiful. - Yeah. - How was the editing process? - I like, I think I like editing more than writing. - That's two. - Yeah, I think, 'cause it's like at least everything, the story and like where I wanted to go is out. And now it's just about like making everything flow. - And like perfect. - And perfect, which I think is a lot easier for me than just like getting the story out. - Tea. - Yeah. - Did you have any, okay so for the suitors of Phoebe? - Yes. - Did you have any people in mind? - Yes. - I always have people in mind. - There's one, so there's three suitors. - Yeah. - There's Jonathan, her roommate and best friend. - Okay, love. - There's Finn who is a new teacher at her school. - Okay. - And then there's Matthew who she went to high school with and resurfaces in her life through hinge. And also, words with friends. And so Jonathan is described as like being like so hot. It's like kind of like overwhelming. And for him, I was kind of always picturing David Corn Sweater, Jonathan Bailey. - Tea. - 'Cause it's just like, what can you do there? - They need that though. I love, the book talk girls love a good description. - So that, yeah. - Yeah, so. - And then for Finn, I always pictured Evan Peters. - Okay. - And I was writing, but it changed to Hudson Williams pretty immediately upon heated rivalries. - Had to swap, really quick. - Yeah. - And then Matthew, I've been picturing Joe Kiri. 'Cause he's like a little bit fault. - I love that. Nice diversity, nice different kinds of hotness. - Yes, different kinds of hotness. And Phoebe, I can't picture. - No. - Phoebe is whoever she is. - Phoebe just kind of like a mop of curly hair. - Yeah. - Yeah. - I love that. I think that's wonderful because I, I love watching the book talk girls do like sketches. Like of what they believe that. - I love that. - My explore page is shocking when you see it. And it's all Romanticie stuff. Like, 'cause I feel like, especially now I've been watching a lot of different kinds of like, I would say like, yeah, like Romantic, like fantasy kind of romance stuff, but also I've been watching lots of other things to try and inspire the writing of like the fiction world. And 'cause the world building is, I would say the hardest part for me. - Yeah, especially-- - And you can imagine. - You're not smart enough to do that. - Especially in the like Romanticie world. That's actually why I'm co-writing 'cause like I have someone helping me. - Yeah. - Because I feel really confident. I can write like characters, I can write banter, I can write romance, that kind of thing. But like the world building I was so like nervous about. 'Cause it's so expansive when it's like in a fantasy world. - It really is. - Like I think about how like the Game of Thrones universe was written all by one person. And that like stresses me out. - Yeah. - 'Cause I'm like, what am I going to do on my supposed to do that? Like I see people like Game of Thrones historians do family trees and I'm like, he wrote all the way back. - That's crazy. - How do you, I don't know, how do you do that? - Whenever I'm reading fantasy, it's almost like distracting like how intense and I'm just like, how did someone, how did someone do this? - Yeah, how did they, how did one person-- - How did this come from one brain? - No, for real. I think the same thing. I think what's your favorite kinds of tropes? Like in not just like Romanticie, but also just fiction in general. If you're looking at the romance fiction. - I'm looking at the romance. I'm a, I love Enemies to Love Earth. - Me too. - It doesn't get better than that. Which like now looking at my book, it's like I did three friends to potential lovers options and it's like, what, why? Like, but it worked out, but it's like next book like maybe Enemies to Love Earth. - Yeah. - I love Enemies to Love Earth. - Me too. - 'Cause I need, I can't do Enemies to Love. Like to me, like first kiss needs to happen at last page of the book. (laughing) - Chapter 50. - I need like the whole book to be like tensioned up. To me that's better than like when they actually get together. - I agree. - And that doesn't really happen with like Enemies to Love Earth, less so friends to Love Earth. - Yeah. - I'm all about that. And then within Enemies to Love Earth, one bed at the end. (laughing) Like when I get those TikToks-- - Oh, make a room left. - Yes, when there's like memes of like I'm reading under my covers three, I'm in there's one bed left at the end. Like I am sprinting around my house. Like it is truly-- - Well now I'm gonna be up for hours. - It is my favorite. Like the second and author mentions like we need to stop at a hotel. I'm like let's go. - I'm like yes, yes, yes. I know I feel like that's why I've been averse to YA. Only because I don't mind YA. I feel like there's ways to do YA in a way that's like you're not edging me the whole time. - Yeah. - Like give you a little sum. - Yeah. - Obviously doesn't need to be graphic. But like I felt like reading, that's how I felt reading Throne of Glass because I know Throne of Glass is really good. I really wanna get into it. I really loved the first one. I started the second one. And then they pan to the fireplace one too many times. And I was like they'd be a kiss. - For us, Meadrew, you will be like, it is gonna take you about 900 plus pages. - No, 900 times like three. - Right. - But you will. It does like I think as her audience grew, she got more comfortable with like more like sexual scenes. - That's true. - And so you will get there. It will be in like the seventh book. But it was, it's one thing. - Man and I bet it's worth the wait too. - I love Throne of Glass. - Yeah, I know. I've heard many a good thing about that series. - Yeah. - And I also read Akatar, read the whole Akatar series too. I thought Akatar was awesome. - I mean, I had a fucking blast. - I would say with my full chest, I am in love with Akatar. Like I love it. Like to me nothing compares to Rees. - It's really just like so. It honestly to the fifth one, the sisterhood part of it. Romantic tears. - Yeah, oh it's crying. - It's beautiful. And like there's so much like, especially in like the second book like Fera, like coming to terms like with herself. Like there's a little so much more to it than just like romance. - I agree. - Yeah. - The world building of that one. - The world building and just like powerful females just like being badass and I love banter. - I love banter. That is how I learned I love one bed at the end. (laughing) Like I really learned so much about. - Talk about slow burn. - I had to wait a while for that one. - Oh yeah. - I know I was even telling my friend, because I got my other friends, my girlfriend's to read it. We were all kind of reading at the same time. And then one of my friends, she was like, are they gonna fucking kiss or what? And I was like, go just study the course. - Study. - 'Cause when it happens, it's gonna be awesome. It's well worth the wait. - Chapter 55. - Chapter 55. - The one the only. - Actually I feel like you're either a chapter 54 girl, which is like kind of the like lead up to chapter 55. - That's true. - For the chapter 55. - Yeah, that's true. - Girl, and I actually would say I'm a chapter 54. - Me too. - Because even in writing, well like first of all, writing's not in any regard, 'cause I haven't even really touched it yet. I've only like barely scratched the surface on writing that, but I, even so it's humiliating writing it. - I was gonna ask how you feel. I avoided it completely in Phoebe, 'cause I just kept thinking about my pop-up, reading it. And I was like, I'm gonna skip it for this book. - Yeah, yeah, you know, you're got, I got a baby step my way in there. I really, it freaks me out. Like I want to do it, but I just keep it. - And I love to read it. - I love to read it. - But writing it, it's another animal entirely. - And like people know you. - Yes. - And so it's really hard, I think, when people know you and you're writing like really intimate sex scenes and like, are they gonna be thinking of you? Like how does this work? Like what are the politics here? - Right, what are the boundaries here? - Yeah, what are the boundaries? - I agree, 'cause it is, even when I've written so far, has not even crested really. It's not even actual smud, it's just like sexual tension. Which I enjoy writing, like that part's easy. But even there was like, there's like a little bit of physicality and not really anything at all. It's more so a pan to the fireplace thing. But like, I even in baby stepping and I'm like, (sniffs) I'm really gonna have to get in there, get my hands ready, that sucks. - Yeah, it's not looking forward to that. - It's God bless you and like, please let me know how it goes because I want to get there for book two. - My hope, my hope is that I can offload most of it onto my co-writer. - Yeah. - I'm like, you need to get in there girl, and maybe I'll edit a little 'cause I'm getting nervous thinking about it. - Yeah. - Just getting anxious, just thinking about it. - I think for me, it's just like, I'm thinking about like my family reading it. I guess I don't really care about just like, anyone else besides my family. I don't know, it's just like really freaks me out. I guess that's all. - I think I'll say I had a co-writer and just like she wrote those scenes. - So from page like 300 to 300 to 200, I didn't write that. - Yeah, don't worry about that. - Don't associate that. - If you want to skip it. So I might just say, like, yep, someone else wrote that. You don't have to worry about it. I don't know what's that. - Right, I agree. I was writing it in like, I obviously want to smut in mind. You and my co-writer was like, I'm so excited. I really want to write smut 'cause in all of her books, they've all been like the ones she's written before. They've all been YA. So she was like, I've actually never even really gotten to go there. So I'm excited. And I'm excited for you to get in there. Yeah. But I do feel like I also have OCD. So I do feel like I'm gonna be so analytical that I'm gonna have to get in there. But you're right. Because it is one of those things where you're like, if someone's reading this, are they gonna think that this is what I'm rocking with? Yeah. And then it feels almost too intimate. Right. Right. So I get it. And I have, like when in my like my smart preference, I'm still learning what that is because I think it's really hard. A lot of I'm reading Crescent City right now. Have you read Crescent City? I've only skimmed a couple of it a little bit of it. I haven't actually read it. Definitely daunting. I haven't on my Kindle. I'm in the second book. They're huge. They're 800 pages each and like set in modern day, which is really kind of hard to wrap your head around. That was kind of the part that was. When I tried, I was kind of like, I don't like that they have iPhones. That I I'm about that. Yeah. It's definitely hard. Yeah. But I just got to the book. I mean, kind of spoiler of when they first have sex, but they don't have sex until like the middle of book two. Yeah. We're talking about like 900 plus pages. Oh, yeah. And the words that she's using to describe certain body parts. I don't feel like I'm aligning with. And I feel this a lot when I'm reading Smut like what what words do you do? You're right. That's too. That's hard. You're right. Because right now she's describing like the female anatomy. She's just using the word sex. Yeah. Describe like, oh, her sex. And I'm just like, I don't think I've I like that right now. Not loving that. But what I'll see you use. Yeah. It's nothing. You're right. There's nothing that you can do. Yeah. That's true. It is kind of a dealer's choice at that dealer's choice. And it nothing. I haven't found anything yet that I'm like, yup. That's it. Yeah. That doesn't make you go. That's the word. Yeah. Doesn't make you recoil just so I think that's something that as authors like we will have to figure out. It's not easy. It's not easy. No, that's true. Like I that was something else. I because I had sent and I'll send it to you too. Actually, if you'd like my proposal, I'll take it to you after. But I send it to my friend Taylor Tomlinson. And she was like, this is fucking awesome because she loves reading fiction. And she was like, this is so good. And she was like, I love the banter. And that's kind of how I picture writing smut because sometimes the banter, especially during smut, can be a little it can throw me just a little like where I'm kind of like, well, why would you say that? Like I think that like in my head, like some of the things the men say to the women is kind of like, that would take me out of it. Yeah, take me out of it. That was me. Yeah. I hate that. Oh, yes. And I think that is like I was talking about banter with her and I was like with banter, even with flirting. I like I say it out loud. It to myself. And if it makes me like, then I don't then I change it. So key. Yeah, I have to hear it. And if it hits my ear wrong, I have to rewrite it. That's so smart. Yeah, because it's like if it's if it makes me feel cringed, like, then I have to change it. That's so smart. Yes. So much of romance can be cringed. And like some of it, some cringes, okay. Yes. Of course, but sometimes a tasteful amount of cringes is always okay. But when it makes you go like and takes you out. Yeah, it's really hard. It's such a delicate balance. Yeah, I agree. I even one of I think like my favorite fantasy romance books like that I've read is called A Curse Carved in Bone. It's like a Viking one. Yes, that's the sequel to yes, it's like there's two of them. So it's like a duology. It's done after the second one, which is kind of tea. I actually really love that author. I love her her romanticy books. I've read a couple of them. And they're also good. But did you see she has a new one? Yeah, she has a new one called, well, I read Bridge Kingdom, which was also really good. That's like, I only read the first one though. And I I was starting to read the second one, but she moved on to another couple. And I was like, ah, don't care about this couple. Like the first couple took so long to get together. Then I was like, all right, then we're going to go into them. And then the next one's her brother and his girl. And I was like, care about them. Those are hit or miss when we switch to a different couple. Yeah, it's a bad. Yeah. Like if there's more, like I feel like Akatar was different because there was like so much building. Right. That eventually when you pivoted, you're like, okay, cool. Like what are these two up to? It was also like a very natural segue. And Akatar, because she gave us that little one. Yes. That Christmas special. Yeah, the Christmas special that planted the seeds and kind of transitioned us. Yes, you're right. So I hated that one. But yes, yeah, I read it in like five hours. I felt like it was over. I know, like, I just didn't like this one couldn't put it down. I read it in a few hours. I know I was like, oh, she's just shopping this whole goddamn book. I kind of like just like seeing like slice of light. No, you're right. That's TV because I was like, I am enjoying them living life though. Yeah. So I guess that's kind of nice. Yeah. It was kind of like I don't think we needed it. But like I would read anything. But she really. So I guess I needed it. Yeah, exactly. It was for me specifically. Exactly. But I read the Viking one. And it was I thought she did such a wonderful job of like building like tension. It was like an enemy's to lovers thing. It was like a betrayal thing. Or re-earning trust. Love it. What about tropes that make you DNF? Do you have any? I'm not. I don't really like an accidental pregnancy. I hate those ones. There's one that does it really well called out on a limb. Okay. Yeah. Which I which I really liked. But I think that's a really that's an exception. I think I and that's because I love the author. And I was like, I'll read this because I love her and paid off. But I don't think I would pick up an accidental practice. Yeah. Same. Yeah. That's I read one. That's like a stretch. Let's stress. Like I don't want. I don't want to be thinking about that. I don't want to immerse myself in that. Not in this world. Not right now. Not right now. I even like for the the pregnancy trope one. I also hate that. I read one called from blood and ash. Yes. Have you read that one? No, but I've heard of it. Don't read it. It's pointless. Like I enjoyed myself, I guess to an extent. But I was kind of losing me because there was so many things going on that it was like it felt like one of those where it feels like I'm being attacked on all sides. Yeah. Like I feel like I have to take notes because I can't remember any of the different magical elements and then like tell me with curiosity right now. Yeah. And there was a point where there were wolves too. And then the wolf like was talking about having like a threesome with her and her guy. And it's like, yeah, that sounds good. And I was like, what the hell is going on in this book? Whatever. Like when you're reading fantasy, just like read a page that you're like, if I read this out loud to someone, they would commit me. Like, what am I reading? Like if anyone caught me reading this, they would think I'm a freak weirdo. Last night like in I was reading a chapter of my book where like a fire sprite dragon hybrid was lounging on a wooden coffee table and it was synching the coffee table, but her body was so curvy that like the guy didn't notice it as coffee table was burning because she was so hot. What the hell are you talking about? Because physically like her body. And I was just like, what the hell? Where where how did we get? How did we get here? I'm glad. But like how? I'm not judging. I'm just kind of confused. I'm just like, yeah, I'm a little uncomfortable. That is how I felt reading from blood and ash. Like and I read the prequel to it because like the from blood and ash one, I think there's like five books. I read three of them because I was at first when I saw a reading fiction. I was like, I was trying to be a completionist. So I was like, let me at least finish. Yeah. But then I got to a point where I was like, these books are so goddamn long. I can't take it anymore. So I switched to the prequel almost identical in every way except it was ancestors. Like the hair, her ancestors, but it was still good. So I was like enjoying myself. But then it was like that one's like four books. I think I got to book three. They're building up to this enormous war. They're like, this is this huge fucking thing. She spent so much time like earning respect from other gods and whatever the fuck was going on. And then literally I saw like the start of one chapter. It starts saying that she starts feeling sick. I go, no, they're not going to do that. I'm a fucking girl. I literally was like, they're not going to do that to my fucking girl. There's no way. I've spent six books getting here. There's no fucking way. And then it was like another one. She ran and leaked her up again. I said, no fucking way, dude. No way, no way. Then she finds out she like goes to her friend who like is like a doula in essence in this world. And she like tests her essentially. And she's like, oh my god, pregnant, not just pregnant pregnant with twin. No pregnant with twins. In fact, so much so that they're both magical. And they're siphoning all her power. She actually can't now fight in the war. I said, D in that. I'm not finishing this book. I was like, I was so angry. I put it down. I was like, I'm not you guys have wasted my time. And now you're going to take my girl out right before the big game. That's crazy. There's never a normal pregnancy. No, no, because it's either like they're siphoning their power. One has wings that won't fit through your pelvis. It's like always something like extremely dramatic and awful. And you would think in the magical world, they would have figured that out. Just figure it out. Yeah, you they would have figured that out. You would have all the control. That's like a crazy thing about Romanticie that like sometimes bothers me is that like as character could be in a situation where it's like you have no way out. Like you will die. Yeah, yeah. And then it's like, wait a minute. I've had this amulet in my pocket the entire time as it turns out randomly just put these pants on this morning and we'll have happens to be in it and it's gonna get me out of this exact situation that had no loophole and that we have been like agonizing over for the last eight chapters and it's like I'd almost rather the person die it feels I don't know it kind of almost feels like a cop out sometimes I see when you just throw in this like magical thing artifact that well especially because the whole time magic has not been helpful and then all of a sudden it is it's just helpful when when it is when you don't want exactly and that's why when they when they benched her before the big fight I was like I'm not reading this shit I'm not reading this shit not to mention those entire books they were fucking in second all over those books why now you got to bring in all of us all right now all of a sudden before the war yeah right before the war huh decided not to pull out right before the war all of a sudden do you feel like good about DNFing yeah if it's justified in that way yes sometimes I feel like I should go back and finish it because I was just getting annoyed and so that's why I like I don't always DNF unless something like that happens and I'm like I'm never gonna I don't need to see all this ends because I'm over it I wish I could DNF and if I needed to if I really needed to I would just look up the end I was like I'm not wasting my time reading this I'm just gonna look it up because I'm angry now yeah which is what I did with that book yeah because I was like I'm not sitting through another book when you're gonna bench my girl and I was like really rooting for her at that point I was like yes yes yes like I'm so down my mind like won't let me DNF a book because that's why it wasn't like if I already read 200 pages of this it's gonna count towards my good read school it's gonna have to and if I can't mark I have to mark it as read on good reads for it to count that's true that's a good that's a good like goal marker though and I can't mark it as read if I didn't read it to completion my sister says on her Kindle that the little like the little percentage at the bottom she's like racing that thing yeah she's like every time I see I'm like oh my god I'm almost done I'm like 50% of the way through oh my god I makes me sad when I look at that thing it is I'm almost done I know what's a bummer I read the Throne of Glass Kindle version that was all of the books in one but PDF I guess I was shit no way and I was done I would say I read like probably the first three books so like over 1000 pages 2% done that was really really hard that's fucking insane what about fourth wing you read fourth wing I've read fourth wing how do you feel about it I am much more of an Akatar yeah girl I feel that I read the first one and I think I read fourth wing right after I finished all of Akatar and Akatar was my first ever romance to see oh yeah yeah and so then to read fourth wing right after it I was like this just kind of feels like a fanfiction yeah of Akatar was like Zaden was like doing shadows and and mine reading it was just like all too similar right I agree and not as good to me and so I was I didn't mind it like I was totally entertained actually like the world itself is cool the world itself is cool I like the school like yeah kind of gave like Hogwarts yeah vibes which I really like yeah and I actually like the second one better which most people like hate this second one I like the second one better and then the third one I was like I'm done oh I'm finished I'm actually completely finished thank you though thank you yeah the Gen Z banter yeah you know not my faith I'll be honest not my faith and I've really struggled with violet just because I I really like what the author was trying to do with like chronic illness rep but it was really hard to like believe like on one hand she's like this really really fragile girl and then on the other hand she is saving the entire kingdom like with with her power and so that I was like trying having a hard time wrapping my head around but yeah like one second she can't cannot walk yeah in the other second she has completely saved the entire world yeah and then she's like that was nothing but a scrap yeah exactly so that was hard this episode is brought to you by Pandora I'm such a sentimental gift giver like I need the gift to mean something which is why Pandora is kind of perfect and for me personally if I was gonna get someone to give from Pandora I would get them earrings my Pandora earrings are some of my faves I'm wearing one right now beautiful but they don't just have earrings they also have everything from lab-grown diamonds to colorful enamel pieces so it never feels generic it's always giving thoughtful because Pandora is more than just jewelry it's personal shop Pandora today in store or online at pandora.net I read a quick silver did you read quick silver I fucked with quick me too I fucked heavy with that one did you read the second one no did you no I started it haven't finished yet though but I'm not deen effing it I just haven't finished what's it what's it like it's really it's good still but it is getting insane there is a lot of that happened well that's another thing too like once they brought in the vampires at the end I was kind of like like I would say up until like 85 90% of the book I was like yeah yeah yeah once they brought in the vampires I was kind of like all right okay I would have some are completely no worries but I just felt like there was already so much happening I was like okay a third a fourth a fifth a sixth magical element okay all right I liked how it ended I loved it I had such a blast reading it I thought it was so tea second one I was reading and I was kind of like okay all right like there's just a lot going on with the vampire element of it which is it's kind of throwing me a little bit which is a bummer because I really loved the first one you'll have to let me know because it's really hard for me to read a sequel when I don't remember anything from the first one you're let's just leave it as it was yeah what it was it was beautiful but some girls who recap on TikTok like are doing God's work like if I like looked up I forget what just came out I think for fourth wing I was like fourth wing recap before in the third one came out and these girls are doing whiteboard like full like notebook of notes really really helpful yeah I can help to brush up yeah yeah I've done that before with like YouTube videos yeah sometimes people do like little animations of it just to kind of walk you through it again yeah which I appreciate yeah yeah I but I really fuck heavy with quicks over I really like to look at it it was one of those that I closed the book and I was like wow five stars and then I opened good reads and everyone's like worst thing I'm like oh wait shoot you're like oh I had a blast and then you ever like read their views and you're and you're like okay yeah that is true yeah yeah I will give you that yeah that happens to me a lot when I'm like and sometimes it would let pick to when they're like this was really like bad problematic harmful and I'm like shit I completely miss that yeah you're like oh yeah yeah I read I've never read Fantasma yes what do you think about that one let me pull it my good read review yes bring up your memory I had a problem with it yeah oh I think it was the end didn't make any sense to me yeah the end was really confused yeah I think I just really had a yeah I gave it three stars yes see the same I would give it three two yeah my review is another book the begs the adult question am I down or was that ending bad like I just think I didn't nothing me oh yeah cuz he was like a sorry spoiler yeah spoiler yeah he was like a double agent but also yeah he also didn't remember her at all I didn't yeah he was like he was saying like the first time he met him met her as a spirit on the outside of the house like he doesn't remember that because his dad wiped his memory which I was like so in the whole time cuz I was like wow Victorian like ghosts kind of like spiritual kind of thing I've never read one like that like wow okay and it was like so horror like there was so much like so much potential yeah like so I was like all right like and at the end I too was like what like I was so confused like and then the second one was so freaked out I was like I can't even do you know I finished the whole thing I just couldn't even I was like I feel like this was mostly for the sex the second one that then sometimes it's like and that's okay too that's okay I just thought the first one had so much like a lot of and it took forever for them to fuck like it that it did but also that one like the what I really liked about it like I was I felt like I was there like the army really really good same I agree the world building was so awesome yes it was but just like the plot just really fell through at the end and the second one I was like okay so it's like the movie ready or not like if you're seeing that movie it's basically like she marries into a family and then they basically all try to kill her until the very next day she has to like run from them the whole time that's like their thing and I've told people like that's essentially the plot of the second one like in Chantro she's like they're playing this game and like they're trying to kill each other but they're all spirits she's not so she died she'll die for real but like her guy and like the there was so much sex in that one way more than the first one which I'm like that's cool but it kind of feels like we're moving from one room to the next just to fucking a different way like that's it felt like we're just this is all fluff until the next time we fuck yeah which I that's when you start losing me because I I am a huge fan of of smut in the books don't get me wrong but it has to be like enhance the plot yeah there has to be a payoff to some extent when you're just wanting to watch them fucking different areas of the house I'm kind of like and it was a spirit yeah well he was a demon that time I love that I think the first one was a spirit this one's a demon yeah I remember I know I'm well. I know well and the second they introduced him as having like white blonde hair. I was like, no. (laughing) Why did you tell, why did you say that? Oh, don't tell me that. 'Cause then it's like, okay, this is Malfoy. Yeah, that's what I was seeking too. And then I'm all, I don't wanna cry. I want that. I know. I'm gonna want that. I know 'cause the second guy had brown hair. Yeah, okay, that's maybe all read. Maybe all read, maybe all read. But the second one, there's a point where they, sorry, it's white lyric. There's like, I don't know the third or fourth time they fuck, but they like fuck for real, I guess. And when he pulls his dick out, she talks about there being a piercing. No. And I said, so now they have Prince Albert's in the spiritual realm like since, no. When did that demon go to get a piercing? I guess that like fits with my vision of a demon. Yeah, I guess, but what about that? Who pierced the demon? Like did he go to a shop? Like that's where I was kind of like, you lost me. That's what it's like, I need more world building. Yeah, that's what I was like, I need more context. The piercing she was like, I'm leaving with more questions than answers. So that's why I was like, when I read that part, I went, I was on a plane. I remember reading it and I was doing, no, why would they write that part in there? It's like, does the person next to me know that? I'm reading about a dick here, saying a demon. Yeah. And then she's like, ooh, yeah. Like it's like that whole paragraph is just for her to be like, whoa. Right. So it really serves nothing. That would take me out. Pretty good bit. Yeah, that's hard. I just didn't think demons were doing that shit, but you know, what do I know? What do I know? I know nothing. I will say the ending of that one though is really beautiful and sweet. And I think it's because there's a part at the end of that one, which not to spoil it, but like there's a part at the end where she forgets everything. That after love that. She loves the white people's memories. Yeah, complete amnesia. Yeah, so she forgets everything. And then the demon guy keeps with the dick piercing, he keeps coming back to the same spot to like essentially wait for her memory to like kick in. OK. Takes her maybe a couple weeks after they get out of the house. And then she's like, I remember everything. And then he's like, thank God. By the way, don't forget. I have a dick piercing. Don't forget. One thing you can't forget. The one thing you can't forget. OK, what are some fiction books that you like always recommend to people? Like if you're going into your foray of adult fiction, like what are some that you're always recommending? There is this book that really has not gotten its flowers. It's called Idol Wilds. Oh, OK. I'm part of it. You have? Yeah, I'm part of it. OK. It's by-- I believe the author's name is James Frankie Thomas. And the book is about just these two kind of like weird girls in high school. And the high school is this like really like tiny like Quaker, liberal arts school, super gay. And it's just like about these two girls like finding themselves through like fan fiction and like sexuality. And just like it really like captures the way. I just remember how I felt in high school. And it felt like everything was so intense in the end of the world. And just like if my crush doesn't like me back, like there's no reason for me to keep on living. And like I just felt like I was back there when I read this book and the characters were just so well developed. And I thought that was brilliant. And that is a book when I read it that I was like I want to write. Oh, that's so nice. Because it just really-- yeah, it's one of those books that makes you think about how important writing is and like what you can do with it. How powerful it is. How powerful it can be. Totally. So that book I really love. There's also I was telling you Emily Austin. I just love her books. Like the best weird girl lit. And one of her books is there's this like the main character. She just like has a phobia of bald men. And like the book is about her. And I both-- Navigating, navigating that deep fear. And what else? I mean, Agatar, I'm always like, you guys-- If you need romance. If you need dip the toe. Must get it about. I also really-- this is not a lot of-- this is-- I don't know how people will feel about this. I love Ali Hazelwood. OK. And I think she writes really cheesy books in a way that I love the love hypothesis. Some people are like, this is too cheesy for me. Is that the one that Lily Rhinel was making? OK. And I do get that. But something about it, like worked for me in every way there's a scene where I want one of my friends brought it. I was like, I can't read this. She said she's fake dating her professor. And there's a scene where there's no seats left in the lecture hall and her and her professor. Everyone knows they're dating. Quote unquote. And she needs a seat. And so she has to sit on his lap. And most people are like, absolutely not. Like, can't do this scene. I was literally like chewing the pages. He said it was working for me. I was like, I love that book. There's also this scene. They have to like, they're still trying to prove to everyone they're dating. And where she used to put sunscreen on him. To me, this is like smile. I loved that book. And they're like really nerdy, which I really enjoy. She writes a lot of like, stem romance. I think that's really cute, though. I think when you can enjoy, it's like we said earlier, cringey, but a tasteful amount. It was-- some people are like too-- Right. Not tasteful for me. It was so much for me. I was like this. It was just the right amount of that. And her-- she kind of copy and pastes her books. I don't know why, but I love-- I'm just reading the same thing over and over. Yeah, same show. And I love it. And it's always just like this massive, hoking, nerdy guy that is so hot and smart and yet has never had a girlfriend. And for some reason-- And it's awesome. Because no one's ever taken off his glasses and seen how beautiful he is. Exactly. Yeah. So I really-- I love her. I really do. She's awesome. That's great. That's how I felt about the summer I turned pretty books. I got that. Yeah, I felt-- I read all those books in like two days because they're pretty quick reads. But I was like, I was eating it up. I will say, though, I am one of those people that if it starts going the way I do not like, sometimes I will stop reading. Because I have the ending. It's up here. That's amazing. I wrote it. I wrote it. It's up here. I haven't read why I in a really long time. And I'd like to. Yeah, I read those ones. I would say like, even if you watch the show, I would say that both brothers are infinitely worse in the books. No. Yeah, they both are even more-- Yeah, like, you have to hold that. I was, I was, I was, when I watched the show initially. Yeah. And then obviously in the last season, they made him the op of the century. Yeah. Literally episode one, I was like, they are running a smear campaign on my guy. And it's working. Yeah. Because I hate him now, too. Like, he fucking sucks. Like, they made him unbearable in the last season. I hate it. And he was like, not like that, the other fucking, too. So in the books, both brothers are infinitely worse. Like, they're like the Cheating's Far worse Conrad's Way Meanor. Wow. Like, they're actually way fucking meanor to her in the books. Perfect. And they're in the show. Like, in the show. They really soften the edges. So like, that book series is a perfect example of like, cheesy, but I was eating it up. Yeah. I got that. I got that. With that, like, I feel like I just watched the show. I didn't read the books. But like, that should have been like my bread and butter. But for whatever reason, I was like, I don't like Germaya. I don't really like Conrad. And then everybody's like, well, you're team belly. And I'm like, I don't think I like her either. Yeah, they made her uncomfortable. Yeah, they look well. Can't do Laurel. No, no, no. Yeah, no. I was like, yeah, mom. Oh, yeah, unfortunately. I kind of was just watching for like the vibes. Yeah, I agree. And I love them. We're all doing a collective watch of something. Me too. I always watch them. I don't appreciate getting people trying to jump me for it. But I did. I did appreciate that either. You know what's funny though, is when I was going to bat for like the Jeremiah girls, because I was like, I'm standing on the platform of the last two seasons. Like he was awesome in the first two. Yeah. The last one, yeah, he took. But that made Lil'a tongue follow me. So you tell me. You tell me. That's so cool. Yeah. I wonder, I know she's always like, no, I'm team belly. Like I would love to know her on her filter. Her actual fucking team. Yeah. And this is an also kind of random, but like Conrad, the guy who plays Conrad, his real life girlfriend also follows me. Okay. So I'm like, you know, oh, and Mini, two Mini-mills, like she played Steven's girlfriend. Yeah. She also follows me. Wow. Wow. Wow. The girls are fucking with me over there. You got them wrapped around your fanderer. So now I have to go ask them what team they have for real. Oh, and report back. And then I violate their hip a right. So I'm going to tell everyone. That's fine. They won't mind. They won't mind. What about like any sort of book series when you were a kid? Like did you love any book series as a kid? Yes. When I was like, little, little, I loved Juni B Jones. Oh, I loved those books. Which I feel like she was like the first like, we are girl, like, totally the precursor. And I loved Gregor the overlander. Did you read those? I did. It was Suzanne Collins's series before Hunger Games. Yeah. And it was more middle grade. Yeah. And it was about this boy. I think he like fell through his laundry machine and then stumbled along like the underworld with like these massive bats. I don't really remember it was about, but it was amazing. And I would reread those in a second. Love. I loved the clickbooks. Oh, I loved the clickbooks. I want to reread those. I know. I'm curious if they've held up. I would say they probably haven't. Probably not. But I want to see how. I read the clickbooks and pretty little liars to I read as a book series too. I feel like I stopped at some point with pretty little liars. But I definitely was loving those. Yeah. And then did you ever read the TTYL, TTYL? Yes. - They were like green pink and they all talked about. - Later Gator, like, solely and I am. - That was genius. - Genius. - At the time I was like, this is really, this is like my DaVinci code. Like, this is awesome, right? - Oh, I loved those. - Were you a Twilight girl? - I was such a Twilight girl. - I loved Twilight too. - Were you team Jacob? I feel like I see that for you. - Yeah, I was team Jacob initially. I think just across the board standard, I'll normally pick the brown one. - Yeah. - If it's between a brown and a white guy, I'm like, obviously I'm gonna pick the brown one. I think that's just kind of my vibes, but like, as an adult, I think Edward made more sense, but that's only because I'm thinking about the money. Like he has endless amounts of money and you could live forever and you guys are in love, so I guess that kind of works out. But I think she would have been cool either way. Honestly, I think she would have been happy no matter what. - Yeah, I think she would have been happy no matter what. - Except for when she had a kid. - Yeah. - Well, actually I wonder like what would happen if she had a kid with Jacob. I guess that wouldn't, I guess he wouldn't in print on his own. - No, I doubt it. - Yeah. - Honestly, well, that part did throw me. I remember being like, I read those when I was in middle school, so I remember when I read that part, I was like, "What?" - It's like, I remember being like, "And I remember I read the first three, and then my friend was telling me, "Oh, this is like the final one, like breaking dawn." And I was like, "Oh!" And then she told me, "Yeah, like I think she has a baby in this one and like Jacob." I remember her kind of telling me and I was like, "You're fucking lying to me." And she was like, "No, I swear to God, "that's what happens in this book." And that made me read it. And I was like, "Damn, she wasn't fucking kidding. "They do do that in this book." - I remember making complete sense at the time. - It's like, "Everybody wins." - Yeah. - You can, that we're going. - Like him falling to his knees over the baby and was like, "Yeah." - Well, he's in printing. - And then when he's like, "Well, haven't you, "didn't it seem weird that we wanted to be around "each other so much lately?" Well, she's like getting full term with her baby. - Yeah. - Oh, okay. - Oh, makes sense to me. (laughing) - That checks out. - I think the Hunger Games, I love that book series. And I even said this like in my publisher meetings, like when I was selling my fantasy book, but I think the Hunger Games to this day has one of the strongest love triangles like ever written because it persists until the end. - That's so true. - And also like the love triangle exists as like, it's not necessarily like which one's better. It's like who she is when she's with them. - Oh, okay. - So it's like who does she want to be, who does she feel more aligned with? So like obviously Gail is like more of her fire, it's more of her resentment, it's more of her bitterness, like it's revenge, it's all that kind of stuff which she's already had. And then Pita's different. It's like an acceptance, a peace, a love, like that kind of calm. - Full body tell. (laughing) - And I was like, I really did feel like that was one of the strongest love triangles because like obviously it's YA. So there's no like sex happening, which that book series does not need sex. They have a lot of things going on. - A lot of you are not going on. - Yeah, they have way too much going on. But like I think that it's beautiful the way that at the end, first of all it ends the right way. I was always a team Pita girl, but also I felt like she chose on her own and she chose because she's, it's not necessarily what happened with Gail. It's more so that like she doesn't want to be angry anymore and she doesn't want to feel bitterness anymore. And she's like, he makes me feel like I could be more than that. Which I was like, - Tee. - Like I think that's one of the strongest love triangles. - That was sad and so true. - That's where I thought it fell a little short for me with Twilight because I loved that love triangle too. But it wasn't really her choice in the end. Like it kind of was. Like she did choose Edward, yeah. But then she still held on to Jacob until the very last second and he imprinted and then she's like, "Okay, well he's good now so now I can be happy." - Which I didn't really love. I was like, "You didn't close that one the right way." Like it felt very like, "I want her to be with Edward so he's gonna be with the Edward." - I wonder how you'll feel about Phoebe's love square. - I know I'm so excited to read it. - 'Cause I love a love triangle. I think love triangles are fun. I think it's fun when the women's autonomous in that. I also wanna say I do love that Phoebe is 29. My girl's also 29. - I love that. - Look at us. - Really, really key age. - I was gonna say. - Yeah, a lot happens then. - And even in one of the publisher meetings I had, one question the woman asked me was, "Would you be interested in making her 23?" And I was like, "No." And also she's a fairy so technically speaking she's 700. I think she's fine. Everybody's in their hundreds so I think she's good. - I kind of hate reading books now when people are younger than me. - Yeah, and there are other ways. - Which obviously is happening a lot as I age. - Yeah, well they're also like 18, 19. - And that's so yeah. - Yeah, that's why they're like, now I'm ready to have them maybe. - Yeah. - Yeah, save the world first. Now I'm ready to have a baby and I'm 21. Works out perfectly. - Like I feel like, I don't know when fair as age was mentioned for the first time in Akatar, but like when they dropped that like 23 bomb, I was like, "Oh man." - No. - And she's the youngest too. - I think so. - Yeah. - Or the middle. - My forget. - I don't know, youngest or middle. - Yeah, but she's not the oldest, which was another thing I didn't like either. That's, they made, I felt like Nessa was so hard to love for so long, which I was like, "I get it." And I was like, "Rap this up a little bit sooner. It's making it hard for me to root for her." - I know, I truthfully I haven't given in to Nessa yet. She was too awful. Like I'm all for like an unlikable female character who has her demons. - That has like an arc. - She went a few steps too far always. Like she was bad to the bow. (laughing) And like so many people are like, "I'm so Nessa." And I'm like, to an extent, but like she was so-- - She was so bad. Like especially in the fifth book, even like my friend Keri read it like after me, like as I was finishing it. And she was like, "I might quit. I really can't stand her." - Yeah. - And I was like, "I promise it gets better." Like it's not to the last fucking two chapters, but I promise it gets better. Like she gets less awful. - And it went on for so long. (laughing) - If you waited for that character redemption arc until the last page. - The last second. - Right. When you're like, "Okay, so I'm just gonna hate her forever, I guess." - Yeah. - I guess that's kind of my thing with her. But I'm with you on the age. I love that. I think that we need more adult fiction with older women. - Completely. - 'Cause you don't turn into dust when you turn 30. - You don't turn into dust. - Yeah, that's a beautiful thing. You can still look young. - Yeah, exactly. It's a thank you for saying that. (laughing) - Okay, I'm gonna transition now into some fun facts. - Okay. - Miss Arthur. - Yeah, we're gonna read some fun facts about you and you can tell Amanda if they're incorrect. - Interesting. - Okay. - Okay. This one says, "There has been a New York Post article written about you with the headline, quote, "Woman mortified to match with brother on dating up." - I would assume that's true. That sounds-- - I do remember that story. - I did match with my brother on a dating app. Or no, we didn't match. We-- - You just saw each other. - He was my suggested most compatible. I did not match with my brother. - I just wanted to clear that up really quick way. We did not match. - We did not mutually swipe right. He was a suggested most compatible, which I and I left swiped him. (laughing) - What did your brother say? He was kinda like, "Well, that's us." - I know, he left swiped me. We were both home for Thanksgiving, which is why we got each other 'cause we were in the same house. - They're like, they're geolocating the two of you. - I just opened it and saw him and I was like, this is-- - I think we're-- - That being the first one to see, too. - I think it's a painful. - I'm not saying painful. - Especially dating apps. - Yeah, they're a prison. - Prison. (laughing) - This one says, "Your very first post on Instagram is from 2012. It's a picture of Harry Styles with the caption, quote, "Harry eating a pie." - That sounds true. - That sounds true as well. - Just like an update on him. - Yeah, I was a picture from eating a pie with a heavily filtered. - A heavily filtered. - Any particular reason or just letting everybody know? - Yeah, I was just letting everyone know. I just posted pictures of Harry and Nile for quite some time. - Those were the, your faves? - Yeah, and it was like that. Humor, I thought being funny, there was this really weird era in 2013 where humor was just like, observations. - Right, it's just like-- - Like that's so random. - Just thoughts. - Yeah, exactly. So he's really quiet. - I feel that. - I'm sure I was trying to be funny. Some of my old, like my oldest tweets, like my Twitter's been gone for years now, but like, I would say Twitter was probably the first social media presence I had outside of Facebook, but the thoughts I had and shared, like nobody needs to know this. They weren't even bad. They're just like pointless. Like they really serve no purpose at all. - Yeah, the way I spoke back then was so specific and weird. And like not, like, it's like a different language of its time, i.e. Harry eating a pie. - Okay. - Okay. - Perfect. Did you read any fanfic about Harry and all of them? - I did more imagines and watch jobs. - On Tumblr? - Oh yeah, one shot's from my deal, too. - Yeah, I live for those. - Yeah, my sister and I would send them to each other. My sister being a lesbian, by the way. So that's extra funny that we would like send them to each other in college before she knew she was like, a lesbian? 'Cause I'm like, now that I look back, I'm like, where were you getting out of that? - Right. - I think we did think-- - Hey, everyone could get something from a one shot. (laughs) - It's really just, it's personal. - They were that good. - Yeah, they were just that good. I recently read, I am a big avatar of the last Airbender fan. So I love that show. They're coming out with a movie. The movie got leaked and there's like a ton of, like edits being made of the movie. Like, and all of the characters are now, like 250 pounds of pure muscle and everybody's in their, 30s. Oh wow. So all the girls are like, no, what is this? And I've seen so many edits that I got one of random TikTok that was like, oh the, the girls who love shipping certain characters together of this animated series, they're going crazy with the fanfiction right now. You know what that made me do? Open up AO3. Yeah. I had to open it up again and I went and looked and now I'm reading one. I'll keep you guys updated on it. Please do. I love fanfiction. I love fanfiction, honestly. I think it really, it's one of the ancient texts in my opinion, especially for like a fiction that we love reading. Yeah. And smut. Are you kidding me? Yeah. I was really into the glee fanfictions. Oh yeah, you're a big glee. Yeah. I was a huge gleeke too. I did a lot of claim fanfic. Yeah. Big claim. Big claim girl over here. I was on the podcast with Jenna Uschko with. Yes. And I forget Artees real name Kevin McKayle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was on their podcast. It was really fun. And there was a part where they were like, we were talking about covers. And I was like, there are, I listened to glee covers to this day because they're so good. Some of them dare I say better than the originals. Most most of them. And one of them I really love is I'm not going to teach your boyfriend to dance with you by blaine. Of course, the blaine, like no one said a chance when blaine was covering. And that one, especially I loved and they were both like, that's so funny to say that, like if people bring up blaine covers, that's like always one of them that they bring up is I'm not going to teach your boyfriend to dance with you. And I said, I think that's because like, obviously, no blaine is a gay man in the show. And you know he's with Kurt. And you're like, okay, yeah, I know that. Yeah. But then when you watched him sing that song, that was like one of the first times I watched him. And I was kind of like, why he kind of, he's kind of sexy. What is that? Well, it's kind of strange. Oh, blaine Anderson is the hottest man alive. Truly. In that one song, I felt moved. I felt moved. I have been moved by him since I was a very young girl. I know you're a huge Jonathan Groff in two. So him being on that show, all your favorite thing. He was, I will never be as alive as I was on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in 2010. I rewatched Glee a few years ago too, like front to back. And it's still great. It's still incredible. Those first three seasons. Yeah, they then I can't speak for the rest. Yeah, yeah. They were really phoning it in at the end. But like at the very end, but right in the middle, like three, I would say like two and three, I was like, incredible. Like best show at it. It was so good. And honestly, really progressive for the time. Complete. When I look back now, I'm like, that show was honestly way ahead of its time. It really was. Like way before any other shows were like daring to foray and to shit like, no, I remember like when Kurt and Blaine had sex for the first time, it was like a crazy thing that they aired that episode. Yeah, like no one could, like no one could believe it. And like now it's like heated rivalry. And but they Kurt and Blaine walked so, yeah. And Shane could run. That's true. Yeah. We must pay respect to the ancient texts. Okay. This next one fact says you used to have a choker with the planet Saturn on it. Probably. Every factor like. Oh, yeah. I'm sure I think did I Instagram just a picture of the choker? And yeah, like lower lip choker. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You big fan of Saturn. Put it on Tumblr. I fucking love Saturn. You love Saturn. That's very is that your favorite planet. Sure. I mean, yeah. Sure. I had to pick one. I guess. Okay. Like Sun says, before you got big one, TikTok, you worked as a preschool teacher. That's true. And how were you with the kids? I think good. Like I, yeah, I loved the kids so much. But that really was the only part of the job I liked. Like I couldn't do the lifestyle. I, yeah, it was really a big preschool teacher. I was like so drained. Oh my god. I can only imagine. Yeah. I really, I didn't really have a life molding mine. Yes. That's what you were doing. Yeah. Oh, completely. Okay. Last one, it says in a quote from your high school newspaper. You really done. Yeah. You said your brother Noah would quote eat all the applesauce packets and leave none for you. That's a quote in my high school's newspaper. You and your brother, man. Damn. I mean, if I said it, I, I feel like I wouldn't lie about that. You know the context of it. There was no context of that. It's just a picture of us. Damn. Can I get a quote about your brother? And he was like, yeah, he fucking eats all the applesauce. So there you go. Oh, you know what this was? No. It was in the era of gogo squeeze. Oh, okay. And I was obsessed with those. Yeah. I guess he ate them all. Yeah. That's that rings true. And you had to hold them accountable. That rings true. Yeah. You completely blasted him. In school paper. Put out a hit piece on your brother in the school newspaper. When I was in high school, I got voted most likely to want to be stranded on an island with which felt racially charged. Really? For me. Well, I just thought I was like, you guys say I'm going to turn into fucking Tom Hanks when I go there. I got that. I'm just going to automatically assimilate like that wrong. But I felt like I should have gotten something else like like funniest. Yeah. I don't know. I felt short-change. We had to write our own, which is like for yourselves. Our own most likely to's, which is so dumb. What do you do? I saw mine circulating on TikTok the other day because some girl I guess for my high school found an old ear book there. So like I'm like mortified. It was like most likely to be betrothed to all of the members of one direction at the same time. Like don't let 18-year-olds write their most likely to. Don't do that. Why would you do that to me? Don't do that to me. Now it's on the internet. Don't post it again. Do not post that. I got into one direction. I feel like a tiny bit late. But when I was in there, I was in there. Oh, I was. I was a big Jonas Brother girl though. So that's yeah. I think that's why I was like so balls deep in the Jonas Brothers shit that like when one direction came around, I remember like actively thinking to myself, I can't get into that. I don't have the bandwidth. I can't even open the door because if I do, that's all that's going to be up here. And I need to focus. Oh, I was so sick. But then eventually I had to give in. Eventually they got me. They got my fucking ass. I watched that acoustic cover they did on YouTube of one thing. You guys can look it up still. It has like fucking 50 million fucking views. But that was the first video I watched them and I said, well, now I got to get into this. I'd like to get involved with that. Do you remember the acoustic cover of them doing more than this in the baseball jersey? Yes, of course I do. That I think that was my most that is my most watched YouTube video of all time. Yeah. That is burned into my mind. When Harry got a long hair, I said, now you're going to have to stop or I'm going to be I'm going to do something crazy. He he that nothing has existed like that or will exist again. I'm telling yeah, like the way that he made me feel. Yeah, the feeling I got inside my father almost helped sick all the time. Yeah, just thinking. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, those are all your fun facts. Awesome. But to circle back your ear so fun, you have so many fun facts. Thank you. I sure do. I want to circle back to Phoebe. What do you hope everybody takes away from your from your very first book? How exciting. But also just your first fiction book, your first world building kind of book. I hope that everyone takes away that everyone has their own metaphorical virginity. Something that they're really focused on a milestone that they feel like they should have hit and they haven't. So you're not alone in that and you're going to you're not a freak. Yeah, everyone has their thing. Everyone has their shit. Yeah. And yeah, I think that's beautiful. And would you want to see Phoebe get made into a movie or a TV show? I would. Yeah, that would be beautiful. I think she'd make a good movie. Do you think you would be in it? I would like to be there's like a very just like a side character at one point who has like five lines who I could see myself. Oh nice. Oh, one of those author cameos. If you were going to cast it, who would you cast in your main in your principal cast? Well, I would I think Joe Kierry. Yeah. David Corn sweat. David Corn sweat. Evan Peters. Evan Peters. Right for the men actually. I'm switching him out. Oh, it's a Hudson. That's right. And I would want Phoebe to be in unknown actress. That's such a great idea. That's beautiful. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Look at you. You have all the plans. Thank you. I'm so excited. Do you have anything you want to tease about your next book or just to expect it other book? I hope you can expect it. It's definitely like a psychological process that I feel like through to write a second book after this one. But hopefully you can expect it. Yes, I think you can. Yeah. And I want to say too, I'm so excited for you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you for I cannot wait to read your romance. Oh my gosh, I can't wait to read Phoebe. Oh my god. I can't wait. It's going to be amazing and beautiful. I'm so happy for you. Thank you. And I really do think this is like this makes the most sense for you. Like to write a fiction to write a romcom like anything like that. I think you're like such a genius for doing it. But I also think you have the brain for it. I'm so excited to see what else you can do. Thank you so much. Oh my god. For happening. Thank you all so much to you for tuning into this episode of the comment section. Thank you so much for amazing guest Brooke Averick for maybe the one or two people that don't know you. Oh please. Where can everybody find you? I also have a podcast called Broken Connor Make a Podcast. You can find that anywhere. And yeah, a few on good reads. Brooke Averick and then I think that on Instagram as well. Yes. And make sure you all go get your copy of Phoebe. Burman's gonna lose it. - Out yesterday. - Yes, out yesterday. Make sure, I'm sure all of you bitches already have it, but if you don't, make sure you go get it. I actually also bought a copy. - True, that's so sweet. You didn't have to do that. - I know I didn't. (laughing) That's very sweet. I know that. I'm very, and trust me, I do not buy every book I see. - Thank you. - So, I'm very excited for you all to read it. I think it's gonna be amazing. Thank you so much to the amazing Brooke for coming on the show. Don't forget new episodes of the comment section. Drop every Wednesday. You can stream the audio and all streaming platforms. The video right now is on Spotify, but it will soon be on YouTube. Thank you so much for my amazing guests. Thank you so much to all of you, and I'll see you next time. Bye. (upbeat music)