Where I Left Off
Welcome to Where I Left Off, a bookish podcast. I'm your host, Kristen Bahls. Join me to hear my recommendations of a mix of romance, mystery, thriller, and young adult novels.
With a mix of author interviews, bookish guests, and book recs, my show is perfect for anyone looking for new friends in the book space. My recs are a mix of indie + trad books, and I'm always up for a trip of the library to find new to me authors.
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Where I Left Off
The Trouble with Love and Ink with Author Harriet Ashford and Sarah Blair
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More from Harriet and Sarah:
- The Trouble with Love and Ink by Harriet Ashford
- Harriet's website
- Harriet's newsletter
- Harriet's Instagram
- Tides of Darkness Series by Sarah Blair
- Sarah's Instagram
- Sarah's website
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Introduction + Current Reads
Kristen BahlsWelcome back . I'm Kristen Bahls and you're listening to Where I Left Off - a Bookish Podcast . And today we are the ultimate trio and we're here to talk about the contemporary romance novel The Trouble with Love and Ink , and I am joined not only by author Harriet Ashford , but also by urban fantasy and contemporary romance author Sarah Blair . So thank you guys so much for coming on thanks for having us so excited .
Kristen BahlsIt's gonna be a blast it is so fun to get to talk like kind of in person , because we dm all the time , so now we get to unleash our chaos live . I love it .
Sarah BlairI don't think the world is ready for us .
Kristen BahlsOkay , I have to know , Harriet , how did the Jeneva Rose event go ? I need more details .
Harriet AshfordIt was so awesome . She's just . She is such a nice person . You know , you see her if you watch her videos . She is like the queen of clapbacks , you know , and she's just very sassy , was so sweet and just very gracious and it was one of those things where I got up to the table and of course I'm just a nervous mess because she's royalty to me and I just said she looked at my tabbed book and she said , wow , there's a lot of tabs in here . And I said , well , I obviously loved your book . And then I was like the Nickelback part and it just sent me and she just stopped and made eye contact with me and she said thank you so much . And then she went off to talk about Nickelback with me and I just like my brain just went like blank . It was awesome . So she was just the coolest ever .
Kristen BahlsWhat is your favorite Jeneva Rose book so far ?
Harriet AshfordI think , because I am a romance author , I really like It's a Date Again . It's very cute . I honestly haven't read that many by her . I read of course oh , what is it ? The Perfect Marriage . Yeah , The Perfect Marriage she , I didn't know that she's has . It's always hard to think on the spot oh yeah see titles .
Sarah BlairTitles are hard right . Yes , they are .
Harriet AshfordYeah , that's why I didn't blame you . We were talking earlier and you forgot the title of mine . I'm like girl , I same , but yeah , no , um , and she's making a sequel . I didn't know that , for The Perfect Marriage is gonna call it be called The Perfect Divorce , and it just sounds awesome and uh . Anyway , I'm very interested to read more of um . Home is Where the Bodies Are , which is what I just started . So she's , she's so cool oh , I love her .
Kristen BahlsI love getting to watch her reels . Those are my favorite . Um , I was gonna say that I really like It's a Date Again , that one you know like it's . So it has so many tropes . I feel like if you were kind of reading a plot synopsis you might think that it sounds like every other romance book , but it's like something about the way that she does it is just so different , like I think I guessed the ending and probably the first 50 pages and I didn't care because it was just so .
Harriet AshfordAbsolutely , and she's hilarious , and I knew she would be from watching her videos . But it's one thing , it's just . It's a whole other thing to see it in a rom-com spelled out , and so it was very good .
Kristen BahlsSo , sarah , add it to your TBR right now . Yes , absolutely , it sounds amazing . Just take her whole backlist and just add it right now . Yeah , so what is the best thing that's happened to everyone this week ?
Harriet AshfordMine was Jeneva Rose , so go ahead , Sarah .
Sarah BlairYeah , this week I have to say well , I mean , this podcast is pretty awesome , top of the list . But I was just telling Kristen , I was talking to a guy who was a locksmith and he was telling me all these amazing stories and it was just fascinating . Um , I had a really good time chatting with him . So , uh , yeah , that was a . That was a fun time .
Kristen BahlsAn hour well spent today this afternoon . It's always like the least um , whenever you least expect it , that you run into someone with like the coolest story and then you're just like how did I not know this before , especially if you've interacted with them like multiple times , and then they're just sitting on something super cool like being a locksmith .
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Kristen BahlsI have to answer my own questions . Ah , okay , I well , the bookshelf is one thing it's finally up behind me and now I have to fill it , which I mean that's the best part , so I'll take that any day , um . But I think the other thing is , I mean , I guess I haven't really talked about on the podcast , just cause , you know , I didn't really know , um , where it was going to go . But I'm writing a cozy mystery , uh , with a romance subplot , and my friend so my best friend she lives in Arkansas and so we have , like , our monthly calls , we have to schedule them . So we were chit chatting and she's the first person that I like read the whole thing to like in one sitting .
Kristen BahlsEveryone else that's looked at it as kind of looked like little chunks and bits and pieces . So , anyway , she gave me good feedback , but she also gave me really important feedback of something that was kind of missing . That I didn't even realize until she said you know , I'd really like to see more of this , and I'm so happy that I'm only like 10,000 words in instead of like 30,000 words in , because now I'm going to take this for the rest of it . So there , there's no comparison getting someone else to just read it . There there's no comparison . Getting someone else to just read it and she's not a reader and she's not a teacher and it's teacher kind of themes . So having someone completely outside of it listen was just the best . So , anyway , always talking to her , but getting her feedback was pretty invaluable .
Harriet AshfordThat's so exciting . I love that .
Kristen BahlsYeah , that's awesome . We'll see what happens . Obviously , you guys are the pros you have published , oh please let the imposter syndrome kick in , please , right now what ? What is everyone currently reading ? I have to know . I always have to ask sarah , name your 50 books so I just got this book .
Sarah BlairIt's called from cradle to stage and it's by Virginia Hanlon Grohl , which is Dave Grohl's mom , and she wrote this book about , um stories from the mothers who rocked and raised rock stars . So it's all about all these different moms of very famous rock stars and it's fascinating . So it's got like Dave Matthews mom and you know , um , yeah , yeah , so , um , dave Matthews mom is in it and just like a whole list of like really cool um people . So , yeah , it's , it's fascinating . And then , um , I finished Bride . So , um , yeah , that was a great read , that was a lot of fun , it was really good , and that was my first Ali Hazelwood book , so I'm very excited to read more .
Harriet AshfordYep , they're all amazing .
Sarah BlairYeah , tell me what order to go in .
Harriet AshfordI don't know if I have a suggested order . I just I can't . I can't ever remember . I love , Love Hypothesis . Of course . Love Theoretically is her newer one besides Bride . Right , that's the one that came out before Bride . I liked that one , but I liked Love on the Brain and Love Hypothesis more . But they're all great , they're all so good . Have you read them , Kristen ?
Kristen BahlsYes , I've read them all . I don't know , I think I Love Hypothesis first . I probably need to go back and reread it because it's been years at this point , but obviously it made me fall in love with Ali , so I feel like I like that one the best . And then Love Theoretically was pretty close . I think Love on the Brain was maybe my least favorite , but it's Paige's favorite and so now she's got me back on it and we keep talking about it so much that I feel like I don't know she might have converted me . But then check and mate is really good as well . Oh , I want to check that one out .
Kristen BahlsYeah , yeah , it's her YA and it , so it made chess interesting .
Kristen BahlsIt's really good and it's it is ya , but it kind of reads a little bit more new adult .
Kristen BahlsI mean , I wouldn't necessarily classify it as new adult , but like when you're reading it you just feel like you're reading an ali hazelwood book with chess and a little bit less spice , so it doesn't take out any of the banter and everything and basically in that one the main character so she used to play chess but she quits , her name is Mallory and she works at like an auto shop to take care of her family and her mom gets sick and so she is like the breadwinner and so that's why she gave up chess . Um , because her parents there's a whole thing with her parents and chess and her and her dad were really close and they had this whole falling out . So anyway , what happens is she decides to just like play this charity tournament because a friend needs her and it turns out that the like world chess champion he's there and she beats him . That's cool . And so then she gets like recruited to do chess professionally and anyway they're in the same little like chess grouping and it's super cute that sounds like so much fun yeah .
Harriet AshfordI love it . She's just the . She just makes me laugh so much when I read her books .
Kristen BahlsIt's just constantly I'm tabbing things because it just she cracks me up and it doesn't matter the genre , like bride or typical romance , right , it doesn't matter .
Harriet AshfordI was afraid to pick up Bride because I thought it was just going to be very melodramatic . I felt like it was going to be more serious . No , it was awesome . It was so funny .
Kristen BahlsI loved it . Harriet , what are you reading right now ?
Harriet AshfordRight now , Home is Where the Bodies Are . I'm reading an indie author book . I just started those by Erin Fitzgerald and it's Something Gained , I believe is the name of it . I just started that and I'm also, I just started that and I'm also reading I hope I don't get judgment from this the Ritual . I think the darkest romance I've ever read would be Butcher and Blackbird , and so I was just kind of curious . I'm dipping my toes in and no comment . So far no comment , but it's new territory for me .
Sarah BlairI read Monster Romance , so let me know when you're ready for that .
Harriet AshfordI'll eat you in okay I'll hit you up in a couple months .
Sarah BlairGo easy it's okay , you'll be all right now I feel like I should try some yeah , we should just do it .
Harriet AshfordWe should do it together buddy read that .
Kristen BahlsOh my gosh , the voice memos that we would probably send each other would be so interesting , like what is going on you'll have to do it in the group chat because I need to like experience this vicariously .
Harriet AshfordYes , yes , you got it . Okay , you can be our guide , yep .
Kristen BahlsAnd I'm the worst at trying to like guess what's going to happen . So then I have all these weird theories , so it would be like half full of weird theories and then half full of our commentary , so you would get to hear it .
Harriet AshfordOh , get to look it's actually a great idea we need to put that somewhere where we don't forget someone take notes it's a good thing we're recording this .
Sarah BlairYou know we'll just go back and I know exactly I'll have the transcript .
Kristen BahlsSo we can't , we can't say no . I'm reading Middle of the Night by Riley Sager . Um , that's an ARC . Oh my gosh , it is so good . Um , hit , it already scared the crap out of me .
Kristen BahlsUm , the way that the writing is like just creates the ultimate suspense . And for me , riley sager , he can be kind of hit or miss . You know , sometimes he has some good ones sometimes and I did like the only one left . But anyway , this one is just incredible so far . So I have really high hopes for that . Um . And then I'm reading Paging Dr Hart , and oh , yay , yeah , and that one's Melissa Dymond . I , like I said before , I think I have to set a timer when I'm gonna read that one , because otherwise I will just keep flipping , and a timer when I'm gonna read that one , because otherwise I will just keep flipping , and especially when you know you have books that you have to read and I just keep going back to that one . So I have to stop myself . But it it is a romance , of course , but it actually has a lot of suspense that I feel like could almost rival a thriller . And if Melissa wanted to start writing thrillers I feel like , could Like .
Kristen BahlsThere are a couple parts that were just as intense as the thrillers that I was kind of reading side by side . So it that's so cool yeah so it's really unique .
Kristen BahlsIt's really , really unique because it has the medical side , it has the romance side and then it also has like that kind of suspense aspect . And then I am trying and failing to get through . First , Lie Wins yeah , Paige and I are going to be talking about that this weekend and I need to finish and I have like 200 pages left . And then she gave her copy to a friend and so I'm like sending her voice memos of what's going on , so she can't like reference it back . So I'm sure that that will be a very , um , interesting , interesting episode . Can't wait for that one . Yeah , moral of the story is just don't lend your friends books , I guess , because every time I've lent someone a book , then that author has like a signing event coming up or that's the book that we decide to talk about . And then I'm trying to find it at the last minute , like anywhere at the library or whatever , and it just no , it doesn't work .
Sarah BlairWord your books like a dragon . Just be a dragon . Be a book dragon . I need to do that .
Kristen BahlsYes , but you know , sometimes the only way to get someone to like read the book that you want them to read is to just put it in their hand and say like you're gonna read this and then tell me what you think about it . So I don't know .
Kristen BahlsI've been kind of shoving books into people's hands lately doing the lord's work then yeah , exactly so that's why I'll have to get my paper copy of the trouble with love and ink so I can just shove it in people's hands . And then same with Tides of Darkness . I haven't bought the paperback of that series , only Kindle Unlimited . So yeah , I'll just have to buy them and then just start shoving them in people's hands , getting them addicted .
Harriet AshfordAppreciate you .
Sarah BlairI can send you some bookmarks . Yeah , oh , that's amazing .
Kristen BahlsPut it in people's hands so you don't have to give the books away . I could do that too . Yeah , let's do that . Yeah , that's perfect . So today we're talking , you know , about a contemporary romance . You're both married , so I'm dying to know how did you actually meet your husbands ? Is there a little meet cute story in there ?
Harriet Ashforduh , so I was Sarah and I were talking about before I was a heathen . Uh , I used to regularly go to church and it was a , uh , pentecostal church anyway . Uh , we were putting on a church play and for this play I was supposed to play Eve , but we needed an Adam , and so , anyway , brian , he ended up coming to church . And it's so funny looking back now , because he is not , he's an introvert and he does not do theater , that is not his thing , but anyway , he decided to be Adam for the play . So we were Adam and Eve together . No , we didn't have to like be naked on stage or anything , but anyway , it just kind of we hit it off from there . He was the cool senior at my high school and I was the dorky freshman , and we've been dating , I mean together , ever . Since how many years have you been married ? So we've been married for 10 and we've been together for 18 . Well , what about ?
Sarah Blairyou , sarah ? Um , kind of well , I did meet my husband when I was a junior , in high school , I think . So another high school romance . He had already graduated , he's three years above me , um , but they filmed the movie October Sky in our hometown and we were both extras and we met on set and hung out during the day , because there's lots of downtime when you're filming and there's nothing to do but chat , because we didn't have cell phones back then . So we just talked to each other .
Sarah BlairAnd that my favorite part is we exchanged AOL screen names instead of phone numbers , because I was like this guy's a stranger and he's older than me . I don't really know him , but he's kind of cute , so I want to stay in touch . So I gave him my AOL screen name and we chatted for like two years and didn't see each other , even though we lived in the same town and we just got to be friends online . And then we're like let's go hang out at Borders books and music . So we , we had our first official date at Borders and we've been together ever since . Oh , is he a reader too ? Um , no , nope . Yeah , he's more into like computers and he does music , he does synthesizers and so he's creative in that that regard . So , yeah , he just he was more . We kind of wanted to try to write screenplays together .
Kristen BahlsSo , yeah , right , yeah oh , I knew you guys would have good stories , so if they show up in like future novels of yours , then I know where you get the inspiration from .
The Trouble with Love & Ink
Kristen BahlsSo , actually talking about Love and Ink , we're actually getting into it . So the Trouble with Love and Ink comes out May 6th . It will be available . That's so close , uh . So , harriet , can you sum up the plot a little bit in a couple sentences for readers who are gonna pick up the book ?
Harriet Ashfordyeah , sure . So basically , emily needs a vacation and Beck needs a date for a destination wedding , and the solution is fake dating in Costa Rica , unfortunately , they really don't like each other , so it's a fun time . Um , it's got enemies to lovers . Fake dating slow , slow burn . A little bit of spice and a lot a bit of banter .
Kristen BahlsLove the banter and on the spice I felt like it was well A , it was really well done , but it's like spicy without being too spicy , Thank you . It's like that perfect kind of in between , like if you're looking for spice , you're going to get it , but it's not going to hit you over the head to where you're like whoa , like what . You know , what am I reading ? So ?
Sarah Blairit's spicy without being graphic .
Harriet AshfordYeah that's a good , that's a good way to put it . I tried really hard . You know it's so tricky and I appreciate the feedback because I was . You know I was talking to Sarah about this before , is I mean ? This is my first time ever writing Spice and so I didn't know what I was doing . And anyway , it's just , it's good to know that it's being well received , so I appreciate it .
Sarah BlairYeah , I was sending you so many like on fire , on fire emojis so I know that you're working on .
Kristen BahlsI hate to always ask about like authors work in progresses , but I know that you know you finish one book and you're already on to the next , because it's kind of just like your life , um , as an author , but game stories next .
Harriet AshfordYeah , I'm getting more and more excited about it . So of course , it's a work in progress , so anything can change . But for a while I was . I had this outline and I liked it . It was good , but it was just missing something . It was almost too sweet and I wanted it to be different . It's not going to be an enemies to lovers . I wanted to change it up , but it was . It was too sweet for me and finally something clicked into place and I feel like it's got some bite now and I'm just very excited to get into it . So , yeah , and I I've just barely started I um , I think I'm about 10 , 11 chapters in , but now I've got to redo a lot in the beginning now that I figured out that element that's going to change . So I've got my work cut out for me , but it'll , it'll be worth it , it'll be good yay , I can't wait .
Kristen BahlsUm , I was gonna say that I think that what makes like a good romance and again , you know , this may just be my opinion , but , um , like having the sweetness but , like I said , kind of combating it with something , whether that's banter or bite or depth , like any one of those three things kind of lead me into it being a four star read to a five star read . Otherwise it's just you know .
Harriet AshfordYeah , I agree completely . It's got to have some sort of tension or angst or something to keep us . You know , otherwise it's too sweet . It's that Hosier ? How do you know otherwise ? It's too sweet , it's that Hozier ? How do you pronounce their name ? Hosier song ? Too sweet for me , yep .
Kristen BahlsThis may be hard for us to choose , but let's talk a little bit about our favorite scenes from the book , of course trying not not to spoil anything , which is the hardest part .
Sarah BlairI would love to know , Harriet , when you were writing like , what were your favorite scenes to write , so my favorite scene to write without spoiling anything , uh , is the part where Beck this will , this will , kind .
Harriet AshfordOkay , it's the part where Beck keeps her from falling . Do y'all know which part I'm talking about ? That was my favorite to write and I don't know why . I told you , sarah , I think I have a little bit of I like a little bit of hurt , comfort , and I just have a thing about , uh , I don't know , being there for someone whenever there's a um there , when they're going through something . So , anyway , that was my favorite to write that was a fun one .
Sarah BlairWhat about you , sarah ? Um , I think the , I think one of my very there was it was so many to choose from , because I literally inhaled this book . You know , I just I told chris and I was like , oh , we both got arcs , let's buddy read . And I was like , oh , we both got arcs , let's buddy read . And then I was like , oh , I finished , sorry .
Kristen BahlsThat was a mistake . I was like my bad she finished in like five seconds .
Sarah BlairI think I finished it like a day or something , I just sat down and couldn't sit it down . It's so good . Yeah , it was great , thank you . And then the whole time Sarah was was like where are you at ? Where are you at ? You have a day job . What , no , you're supposed to be reading .
Kristen BahlsLet's go I know I know you hit me in like peak uh podcast editing episode mode where I get like 10 minutes at the end of the day , so I was trying to like squeeze it in at lunch and stuff , but oh man , yeah , it is really good yeah .
Sarah BlairI'll try to keep pace better , I promise next time . But yeah , it was just . I just got the . I got my hands on it . I was like I can't stop , won't stop . I got my hands on it . I was like I can't stop , won't stop . I loved the swimming . When they first the first swimming scene when she goes in , yeah , all the banter in that scene I'm trying to be careful about spoilers . I think the first swimming scene , any of the pool stuff , is great . That that was really fun . Yeah , all of the pool scenes are just hilarious . Um , they were fun to write and the waterfall was great .
Sarah BlairThe spice , the yurt when that spice finally hit , that was just incredible . So yeah , it was great .
Kristen BahlsThat reminds me of your real today period about the yurt etsy shop I died .
Harriet AshfordI can't believe those are products . I almost want to message that lady . Be like hey , do you want to partner on this ? But the trouble with love and ink on one side , yes yeah , all she can do is say no , right , just ask true .
Kristen BahlsWell , it's kind Allie Samberts like . So she has a little Etsy shop with like stickers of the characters and like little prints that you can get with your book copies . So that would be . That would be like perfect , so cute , everyone could take out their library .
Kristen BahlsI think my favorite was the waterfall scene . Um , as well , just because , like you said , it's just I don't know she was freaking out and then he came right to her aid . He didn't make her feel stupid , which you know , I mean sometimes like guys they try , but you know they land right , and so the way that he approached her and you know it didn't seem like unrealistic but it was also like wow , okay , he really , really cares for her . And you know , of course , any of the pool parts were also a favorite and I liked , honestly , just like the cubicle stuff a little bit too , because that , like I like workplace romances and that seemed the most like you know , that can actually happen to you like on a daily basis and you could kind of have that camaraderie with your co workers . So I don't know , I liked all of . I liked it all . I mean , it's hard to pick . Well , thank you .
Harriet AshfordI like those parts too . The I feel like the waterfall scene you're referring to was one of the first scenes that kind of came to me and so it was a lot of building up to that point .
Kristen BahlsSo I'm glad you liked it oh , I'm glad that , um , you came up with that first . Did you just kind of like write it down like I know that I want this to happen , and then figure it out later ?
Harriet Ashfordbooks , and it's just it will . I am so obsessed with an idea , but it's hurting the plot so much that I've got I feel like I've gotten better at just . You have to let it go sometimes .
Kristen BahlsUm so it can be hard when that happens , but it's what it is because it's your baby , and if you like that scene and oh man , that would be like the hardest part yeah , right , it's so hard , especially when it's really an emotional scene .
Sarah BlairYou know those are , I feel like , are a lot harder to let go of , for sure so this book is full of banter .
Kristen BahlsWhat , what are your favorite I say favorite line of banter , but of course you know you could do like a scene or a scenario . I have my phone ready so I have like a specific line , but you guys could go to depth or not . It's more , I want to hear yours kristin okay , so this is on chapter three .
Kristen BahlsThis is towards the beginning and without saying a lot , there's a situation that happens in the beginning when they first meet , and so this is , I think , like the second or third time that they are meeting in the office and Emily says because she has to zing him before , he will zing her at first . She said I'm just impressed by your bravery continuing to put your banana republic collection at risk after what happened to the other one .
Kristen BahlsYes , I love that line , it just it made me laugh and , like I said , she , she goes all out with him first and like he'll match her .
Harriet AshfordHe's not afraid to match her .
Kristen BahlsBut , like , as I was looking through , I noticed that she does a majority of kind of like the quips and then he's literally just taking it where she kind of like wants to , and so you see , how you know , it's a little bit more one sided her way .
Harriet AshfordThe enemies to lovers , part husband read the book and he he said I know this is an unpopular opinion , but Beck's not the jerk , emily is . And I said honestly , yeah , there are some parts where she dishes it out and it's not exactly warranted but he did steal .
Kristen BahlsWell , I mean he didn't steal , but he did kind of steal her promotion . So he did yeah , I mean so I I feel like any of us would be angry in her situation and it would be hard not to like let little bits kind of slip out when you know she's worked super hard and she knows the whole situation and poor bex , he's having to pick up on a lot of cues that he probably didn't even realize before . It was like what's the backstory of this ?
Harriet AshfordExactly , exactly , and it was just so funny . I was working with my editor and I absolutely loved her , but it was one part . I changed a few things because she said they're just , they're way too unprofessional . And I was like , sherry , that's what makes it fun .
Kristen BahlsAnd they're like at their cubicle a lot of the time talking , so hopefully no one's like overhearing this anyway , or at the pool . I just thought that was so fun though oh , that's how you know that you made it . You gotta comment like that exactly .
Harriet AshfordSarah , what about you ? Any parts that stuck out ?
Sarah BlairI mean , I don't know that part with the snake . I think that you like too that . Just that whole scene just made me laugh so hard out loud . It was so funny and I love when they both blurt out the wrong name . You know I'm trying not to spoil too much , but it's so funny . Um , yeah , like all your banter , just so funny . I need to get the physical copy so that I can tab everything , like scrolling through my phone , on my Kindle and it's just not the same .
Harriet AshfordIt's not , I think , one of my favorite parts . I picked one toward the beginning because I didn't want to spoil anything , although , sarah , you explained it perfectly without spoiling a thing . You're better at this than I am , but I think I like it whenever she finds him in the pool right and she says you know what are you doing here ? And he , he , he , like bats back what are you here ? I thought you only did open water , swim , I guess , of her falling in the like woodlands . It was so much fun to write .
Kristen BahlsWhenever you made mention to the fact that she'd fallen in in the beginning , had you already written that part and so you knew , like as you're writing it , that it was going to be a tie in , or did . Is that one thing that you like kind of went back and fixed ?
Harriet AshfordNo , I knew she was going to . That was a pretty early decision .
Sarah BlairI know like , do you skip around when you're writing scenes back and forth , or do you go straight through ?
The Writing Process and Inspiration
Harriet AshfordI try really hard to outline but I inevitably end up it's I mean are you like that , sarah , where it's like you can't help it ?
Sarah BlairThey come to you when they come to you these ideas , so you got to go back and change things constantly like I'll make notes when something is really clear in my head at the end of the . I use pages and so like I'll just jot down notes at the end until I can get there . But every book is different . Sometimes I can skip around more often and then other times I have to go straight through , like with Love Creek . I have to go straight through because I don't know the characters well enough yet and because it's a whole new world . Like with Air and Darkness , it was a lot easier to skip around because I knew the characters so well already , and this I'm still getting to know them , so it's a little tougher . I feel like I have to go in order to keep everything straight in my mind .
Harriet AshfordI feel you on that ? Yeah , it is . It's different processes each time . Like you said , it's pretty crazy . It really has a mind of its own . It's it's pretty crazy . It just , yeah , it really has a mind of its own . The , the creative process .
Kristen BahlsIt's really .
Harriet AshfordIt's really cool though .
Kristen BahlsI know I love to hear how , like , everyone is so different and their preferences and their book and their characters just really differentiates each , each thing . So I don't know , it's just really interesting to me to get to hear a little bit of everything .
Harriet AshfordKristen with yours . Are you trying to like do you have an outline ? Are you just kind of writing it as you go , like what's your process ?
Kristen BahlsOh yeah , I have some plot documents , um , so I so I found this girl on Instagram who had like this template and it was this whole like save the cat template and yeah , and she it calculates like what page everything should happen on . So you just write it all down and so I have like super specific plot documents , but then it allows me to just mood write whatever random chapter I feel like writing . So even though it's super planned out , I only write like what I want to write that day , I guess . So that way , you know , my enthusiasm comes across and it comes out a little bit more natural . So kind of I mean definitely a plotter , but I do skip around a lot .
Harriet AshfordI love save the cat . I feel like it was . It made a huge difference in the trouble with Love and Ink and I just really felt like I had direction .
Kristen BahlsI agree that mixed with Story Genius helped me so much . I haven't heard of Story Genius , I don't have it behind me , but I'll look it up . Yeah , I've got mine . I'll look it up . Yeah , I've got mine . It's like the whole what if ? Question . That helped a lot in thinking about the characters' motivations and stuff .
Harriet AshfordOkay , okay , I'm going to add it to my Goodreads . Right now it's reversed , but yeah , lisa , cron , c-r-o-n .
Sarah BlairPerfect thank you . Or is it Cron ? I don't know , I don't know . Right , c-r-o-n . Perfect Thank you . Or is it crumb ? I don't know , I don't know , right , c-r-o-n . Lisa , her name is Lisa . Yes , all right , cool . Yeah , I actually didn't get that far into Story Genius because I started reading it but I didn't have a new idea and I feel like it's kind of one where you sort of have to have start fresh with . So maybe I should actually like read this right now , since I'm still kind of mostly fresh with Love Creek it'd be a good time for me to start it too , because I haven't gotten too far with the second one .
Kristen Bahlsso , yeah , I mean I'm gonna be honest like I think that not only seeing all the authors on Instagram kind of talk about their process , but Save the Cat and Story Genius gave me the skills I felt to like take it from an idea to a full story . Because , yeah , in Story Genius you do like this whole what if ? Statement and then it helps you craft your story and then you write this whole little like paragraph about the character's motivations and their backstory and that's one really big thing in there . So anyway , that helped me that's awesome .
Harriet AshfordI'm always for more .
Sarah BlairYou know resources for the craft , so that's great yeah , I feel like that's one of the hardest parts of , like , developing the story is taking it from an idea to something that is a whole story , because it's easy to have an idea but it's a lot harder to figure out the conflict and you know the inner stuff and the yeah , you know it's . That's what makes the story really rich and you don't always get that with just the idea . Like you have to really develop that and spend time thinking about it .
Harriet AshfordYeah , 100% . You can have this amazing scene in your head , but it's like where is this going ?
Sarah BlairLike what is ?
Harriet Ashfordyeah , what's the point ?
Kristen BahlsAnd , like you said , it may be the scene that ends up getting cut later on , because it just doesn't do anything for the overall plot .
Harriet AshfordAbsolutely .
Kristen BahlsYou know it was hard to think of a would you rather question related to the book . So I feel like this one's very extreme . We're probably all going to pick the same thing , but would you rather get bitten by the snake or have to hand letter the mirror with your current experience level and this mirror is an entire like guest seating chart , so it it is an expert level project five foot five foot mirror .
Harriet AshfordIt's going in a wedding with all these you know semi-famous , you know half royal people . So , yeah , I still feel like I'd have to pick the mirror because we don't know what kind of snake it was , because Emily doesn't know what kind of snake it was .
Sarah Blairso I would imagine it . I would have guessed it was a huge one , a gigantic snake a snake a huge snake , yeah , but I mean , I'm terrified of snakes , yeah , I would have freaked out .
Kristen BahlsEither way , it could have been like a teeny , tiny little garden snake .
Harriet AshfordI feel like if it had been a garden snake I'd take the bite . But but no , that's some jungle viper .
Kristen BahlsNo thanks , right yeah , I don't , probably not garden snakes probably wouldn't be in Costa Rica , but no way , oh , I would also take the mirror . I've been told that my handwriting looks like a boy . Um , so you know , I don't know that they would like it . I don't know that anyone would like it , but you know they would get something that is slightly legible and at least I wouldn't have been bitten by a snake move along , helen , you're at table two , obviously .
Sarah BlairAll right , let's go if you squint , you can tell that that's your name right exactly yeah , I actually have a friend who's a hand letter and she is a million times more talented in it than I would be , but I did . She pointed me towards some classes so I've had a tiny amount of training so I feel like I could at least do it competently if not , you know , beautifully but I'd enough that I feel confident that I could definitely take that over a snake any day .
Kristen BahlsYeah , that's awesome got this , harriet , didn't you also do some calligraphy for for your research ?
Harriet Ashfordso I didn't do any professional classes , but I did . I bought workbooks and I bought you know different markers , and then I bought ink and the you know nibs and things like that so I could practice and then I watched a lot of videos from several different people . So that way I felt confident . I don't know if a calligrapher will pick up this book and be like this is bogus , but I really tried . I really tried to put in the research . So , yeah , I was fun , though I really , I really liked doing it , I still still like doing it and it's fun doing cards for people and things like that .
Kristen BahlsI believed it .
Harriet AshfordIt's fun .
Kristen BahlsYeah , I felt like . You sounded like an expert .
Harriet AshfordWell , thank you . It's kind of like that quote that Beck tells Emily about how , even if you're not an expert , no one in the room is going to know , and that's kind of how I feel at this point is like I know just enough to where it sounds like I know what I'm talking about .
Sarah BlairI feel like most hockey books are like that too . I don't think 100% . There's definitely hardcore hockey fans . I believe that . Did you guys know that ?
Kristen Bahlsclean hockey romance is a thing that exists . No , I didn't know that either until I found it .
Harriet AshfordYeah , that doesn't interest me in this life Just kidding , I'm sorry , just kidding .
Sarah BlairI was going to say what's the point ?
Kristen BahlsWell , you're over here reading dark romances .
Harriet AshfordI've completely gone to the dark side guys , that was a joke . I love clean romance . Clean romance is great . You know , I really plot over anything else , but I obviously do like I would prefer like a little bit of spice .
Kristen BahlsI don't know , it depends on my mood , I guess I feel like I flip back and forth . I read either like super , super clean , or just kind of regular or like bride . So you know , you don't , yeah , and it's hard to know what you're gonna get until you get into it , you know .
Harriet AshfordAnd then you're in the scene and then you're like , oh yeah , okay , oh wow yeah , yeah it's crazy because you know I mean Katherine Center , you know , you know she writes clean books and I love them all . I think they're great . She's an amazing writer , super funny . Um , she's got the best themes , I swear . But um , yeah , it just it's . It's just . It's interesting seeing , uh , people's different styles .
Sarah BlairIt's cool I love that there's something for everyone , yeah yeah , it's like such a wide range that it doesn't matter you . There's something out there for everybody right .
Kristen BahlsThey say don't even get me started on Katherine Center . I could have a whole like conversation .
Harriet AshfordI know Just about her .
Kristen BahlsI know you could , oh my gosh , yeah , I don't know Things you Save in a Fire was like a little bit spicier than the others , not much , but like a little .
Harriet AshfordThat's true , that's true . She does such a good job of making it really hot without opening that door , doesn't she ? She's clever , she's clever . I have this fantasy that I'll run into her because she lives in Houston . You know like I'll just run into her somewhere .
Kristen Bahlsoh , my gosh , she was the nicest human being ever , ever , ever . Oh , I believe it , she was the best . And her husband , um , she's , so she's super funny . And her husband is a firefighter and so he was the one that , like , told her all these stories , and so she was talking about this thing that she wanted to put in things you save in a fire , and it was like this whole story with , like a bedpan , and they dumped the bedpan and it landed on someone's car , like on their windshield , and so she put that in the story and her editor was like we're not doing it , no , we don't need . Yeah , because her husband was like more fire , more fire and then's awesome .
Kristen BahlsShe really does have some awesome , awesome stories , oh man , but yeah , then of course you have like the total opposite and you have like Tessa Bailey . So , like you said , there's just something for everyone . I was not prepared for Tessa Bailey . I thought everyone was kidding .
Sarah BlairI'm reading fangirl right now . I just started it yesterday . Yeah , I read that .
Harriet AshfordOh , y'all have . I haven't picked that one up yet .
Kristen BahlsPut it on the TBR .
Harriet AshfordAnd if you could use three emojis to describe this book , what would they be ?
Kristen BahlsI think for me it's like face , palm eye , heart eyes . Oh , that's so good , it's perfect for the trouble of lemon ink . I would probably say a palm tree , a seashell and , uh , the rolling eyes emoji , and like there's eventually love there .
Harriet AshfordBut you know yeah , somewhere in there it's in the title .
Kristen BahlsIt's gotta be exactly it's a love story , so it's gonna happen . It just , it just takes Emily a second yeah it does . It takes her a hot minute man I love it .
Kristen BahlsWell , that's it for today , and okay . So Harriet's book the Trouble with Love and Ink will be out on May 6th . You can buy it down with the link in the show notes . You can sign up for her newsletter . You can look at her website and then same with Sarah . You can sign up for her newsletter . You can look at her website and then same with Sarah . You can sign up for her newsletter . You can look at her website . Or you can buy any of the Tides of Darkness series with the links in the show notes . They will be packed and well , I have a feeling that you will hear from Harriet and Sarah again . Yes , so stay tuned and see what happens next week .