LAUREN ROBERTS: Barnes & Noble YA Award Winner on going from independent to romantasy star in one year

We've got some breaking news for you! Just hours ago, Barnes and Noble announced Lauren Roberts as the winner of its annual YA Award for her debut novel, "Powerless"! Hear from Lauren about this exciting honor, plus some hints about what is to come with the series as book two, "Reckless" hits shelves this summer.

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Transcript

00;00;00;02 - 00;00;06;24
Speaker 1
There's a few things in Reckless that are also a little bit inspired fruit.

00;00;12;00 - 00;00;31;17
Speaker 2
Hi and welcome to the Literary Hype podcast. I am Stephanie, your literary hype woman and today's author conversation could not be more perfectly timed. Just a few hours ago, at the time of this posting, Lauren Roberts was named the winner of the Barnes Noble Y.A. Book Award for the year, which is very exciting, very big honor for her.

00;00;31;17 - 00;01;01;20
Speaker 2
And so we have the perfect timing to discuss this honor as well as her books. Lauren Roberts is the author of Powerless and her new novella that just came out. And her sequel to Powerless is coming out very, very soon. So without any further ado, here is my really fun conversation with Lauren Roberts welcome to Literary. I'm so excited to have you on the show, not only to talk about powerless and powerful and reckless, but also we've got some big news to talk about.

00;01;02;13 - 00;01;12;12
Speaker 2
Do you will have just been crowned the winner of the Barnes and Noble Y Award, winner of the year? What's it like for you to get this recognition right off the bat with your debut?

00;01;13;04 - 00;01;38;12
Speaker 1
So, so surreal and insane. And I'm so honored and grateful like I, I was just thinking about this today, about how I grew up, like browsing the aisles of Barnes Noble and like looking at all these authors and I never thought my book would even be in Barnes Noble, let alone like this happening. So it is so, so insane.

00;01;38;12 - 00;01;42;27
Speaker 1
And I'm so thankful and wow. I just I.

00;01;42;27 - 00;02;02;12
Speaker 2
Feel so lucky that they know who I am, like, oh, my as a bookseller. Oh, we know that book is flyin. And we put it out by the case. It does not stay put for long. Oh, my goodness. That's so cool to hear that. Makes me so happy. What was it like hearing that you were even nominated and like that whole process behind the scenes?

00;02;02;19 - 00;02;22;23
Speaker 1
Yeah, I got an email from my editor on the S.A. team, and she was like, surprise. Like, this is so cool. A great news she sent, like this whole email. And of course I'm reading it, like I'm freaking out. And then at the end of the email I go, I was like, So what does this mean exactly?

00;02;22;23 - 00;02;24;16
Speaker 2
I was like, This is the coolest thing ever.

00;02;24;16 - 00;02;31;25
Speaker 1
But I was like, I don't actually know, like the ins and outs. So I remember I emailed her back and was like, This is insane. Thank you so much. What does this entail?

00;02;33;02 - 00;02;34;15
Speaker 2
So that was my first question.

00;02;34;22 - 00;02;58;15
Speaker 1
But obviously, like, I was so like over the moon. It was it was so surreal. And I never I didn't even think I was like in the running for any of this because I remember they had told me before the like the other books for the short list had come up and so I didn't even realize I was like chosen to be even in the running.

00;02;58;22 - 00;03;12;00
Speaker 1
And so that was just like so, so crazy for me. And again, I just it's so odd growing up in that store and now being able to be like, oh, yeah, I have like a relationship with this bookseller.

00;03;12;00 - 00;03;13;22
Speaker 2
And it's so, so cool.

00;03;14;07 - 00;03;15;19
Speaker 1
And again, just so honored.

00;03;15;27 - 00;03;19;09
Speaker 2
And your signs for your real critiques. Oh, yay!

00;03;19;13 - 00;03;33;10
Speaker 1
Oh, my God. I love that is the coolest thing too, because my like local Barnes Noble, which I go in and I visit them all the time because it's so cool and they'll have like signs of my face, like local author. And I'm like, oh, my.

00;03;33;10 - 00;03;35;25
Speaker 2
God, it's so it's so crazy.

00;03;35;25 - 00;03;40;13
Speaker 1
To be walking the same aisles that I did as a child and now, like, be a part of it.

00;03;40;15 - 00;03;47;21
Speaker 2
You had kind of a unique journey to getting published and putting this book out first independently. So talk a little bit about that journey.

00;03;47;22 - 00;04;07;15
Speaker 1
I wrote the book when I was 18 purely just for me. I always tell everybody I was like, That's why there's so many tropes in Powerless, because I just threw everything that I wanted to read into a book, and I kind of brought the Internet along on my journey, which again, is like the only way any of this would have been possible.

00;04;08;04 - 00;04;26;12
Speaker 1
So I would share literally, I'd write a scene like in the morning, and then I'd read it on TikTok and people would be like, Oh, we can't wait. And so I just kind of grew this, like, really supportive community around me. And this book that I was writing and I finished it in like three months. It was like my whole life, like all I did.

00;04;27;00 - 00;04;48;21
Speaker 1
And then I went away to school and worked just in a different career that I thought I was going into. And then I remember I called my mom and I was like, Mom, I want to come home and I want to publish this book. And crazy enough. She was supportive. Like, my mom is very, like, love. My mom did that, but she's very cut and dry.

00;04;48;21 - 00;05;07;22
Speaker 1
Like, you're going to school, you're getting a degree. And she was like, OK, you get to take a semester off, and if it doesn't go anywhere, like you're going back to school and all this stuff. So I came home and I was working and literally it was November at the time, and I had set the goal to be self-published by February 1st.

00;05;08;10 - 00;05;43;25
Speaker 1
And did I know what I was doing? Not even a little bit like I literally my search history on Google was like how to self-publish book. Like it was so like I had no idea. Like from ISBN numbers to like formatting and covers. Like, I just I found a lot of really, really great freelance artists and I found a freelance editor who completely turned help turn powerless, listen to what it is and just worked with a lot of great people and kind of just like fit everything together somehow and released it into the world.

00;05;43;25 - 00;05;55;04
Speaker 1
February 1st on Amazon and Barnes Noble's like online publishing and after about three months, for whatever reason, the book was selling, and.

00;05;55;04 - 00;05;56;24
Speaker 2
I truly think it was because.

00;05;56;24 - 00;06;23;03
Speaker 1
I had grown this community and people started talking about it and buying it and it was on Tic TAC as like a self-published book. And three months later, Simon and Schuster reached out to me and they're like, We would love to talk to you. And that was like the coolest thing ever. So I had a call with them, and then shortly after I had, I had signed, and now I'm working with like two incredible teams because I'm with the U.S. and the UK is a joint deal and everything.

00;06;23;03 - 00;06;47;09
Speaker 1
So I have two amazing editors and just like Double the Power, which is so cool. And we took it off the shelves for the self-publishing and then republished it. And it's been honestly like a learning curve, adjusting to having like this well-oiled machine behind me because I was literally in my childhood bedroom, like doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to.

00;06;47;09 - 00;07;12;02
Speaker 1
And now it's like there's, you know, order to everything and there's a person for every aspect of the publishing process that I was trying to do on my own. So I'm a little spoiled now. I will say just being able to, like, write and then hand my work over to this huge team. But it has been such a crazy journey, and it's been just over a year almost exactly a year since I signed with Simon and Schuster.

00;07;12;15 - 00;07;18;21
Speaker 1
And all of this has happened and it's been so incredible. And I just I can't wait to see what the future.

00;07;18;21 - 00;07;26;23
Speaker 2
Holds, too. You've got a powerful your little novella in Reckless is coming out soon. How is the process different now that you are part of a traditional publishing team?

00;07;26;27 - 00;07;47;14
Speaker 1
The craziest difference is the deadlines, because again, like when I was on my own, I would I would obviously set like loose dates when I would hope that the book would be done. But now it's like, hey, you have a deadline because there's, you know, a dozen other people who need this work in order for it to get on the shelves.

00;07;47;14 - 00;08;05;08
Speaker 1
And so that's been something that's been a little different for me, like, OK, I got to get this done so everyone else can also do their job. And the other great part is having I have two incredible editors that I will just call up at any time of the day because one's in the UK and one's in the US.

00;08;05;08 - 00;08;05;27
Speaker 1
So there's always.

00;08;05;27 - 00;08;10;06
Speaker 2
Somebody awake pretty much and it's very convenient.

00;08;10;14 - 00;08;35;23
Speaker 1
And so I will call and be like help. Like I need help with this character or like this scene and we will just sit and like ramble and just bounce ideas off of each other for how long we need to. And that has been such an amazing change. Because I was so used to doing everything like by my lonesome in my parent's house just quietly.

00;08;36;05 - 00;08;55;12
Speaker 1
And that has been incredible. And obviously just having like a whole like design team and like marketing team has been so, so fun, but it feels much more relaxing now. Like I can just write besides the deadline, but I can write and then hand it over and then I get it back and I do some edits and all these things.

00;08;55;12 - 00;09;05;24
Speaker 1
So it's a lot of weight off my shoulders and I'm very thankful for that and I love everybody that I work with. So it's been just so fun.

00;09;06;09 - 00;09;16;13
Speaker 2
So for anybody who hasn't seen Powerless, Powerful, or the hints at Reckless that are going around, give us a little insight into this world that you've created.

00;09;16;13 - 00;09;48;26
Speaker 1
I love to say that powerless specifically is like if The Hunger Games and the Red Queen had a child that doesn't really resemble the parents as it gets older, so powerless does resemble the parents for sure. It has a lot of Red Queen and Hunger Games in it, but the series really kind of grows away from that. And I also feel like I'm growing with the series, which is really fun to see because I wrote Powerless when I was 18, and then now it's like I wrote Powerful when I was 20.

00;09;48;26 - 00;10;16;24
Speaker 1
And then, you know, now I'm 21. Not that I'm so much older, but I feel like I am like really growing up with the series and also the readers. And so yeah, it's very it's got a little bit of like dystopian vibes with There's A Plague that sweeps through and it basically turns everybody in Ilya either to an elite with powers or an ordinary without powers, and the ordinary are now banished from the kingdom and our main character is an ordinary.

00;10;16;24 - 00;10;37;01
Speaker 1
And she poses as a psychic, as an elite, and she gets tossed into these trials where there's also a prince that she's kind of like falling for. And if he figures out that she's an ordinary, then, you know, that's the end of her time there. And if she loses in the trials, that's also equally as bad. So there's a lot of different layers and things.

00;10;37;01 - 00;10;52;00
Speaker 1
And then so that's really powerless. Kind of summed up is like that Red Queen, Hunger Games and Powerful is the little novella, the 1.5, and it takes place the same time as powerless. And it follows a which is my.

00;10;52;00 - 00;10;53;18
Speaker 2
Beautiful, lovely girl.

00;10;53;18 - 00;11;17;01
Speaker 1
That you'll meet in powerless. And it's basically kind of what she's up to while Peyton is in the trials and who she's up to it with. Just very short and sweet and just gives you some more insight, kind of fills in some of the gaps that you might have seen in Powerless. And then Reckless is book, too. And I'm so excited for it to be out so I can.

00;11;17;01 - 00;11;19;17
Speaker 2
Finally talk about it. It's like without spoiling.

00;11;20;21 - 00;11;37;15
Speaker 1
But it definitely, like I said, it grows away from that Hunger Games, you know, Red Queen feel and it doesn't really take place in Ilya. There's a lot of like cat and mouse between Kai and Peyton because a lot of things need to be resolved if.

00;11;37;23 - 00;11;40;01
Speaker 2
You know, if you read the power is.

00;11;40;01 - 00;11;52;00
Speaker 1
Yeah, and it's just a lot of them together and a lot of like crude but close proximity and stuff. So it's got a different sort of feel, but I'm very excited for everyone to read it.

00;11;52;00 - 00;12;05;28
Speaker 2
Oh, and we are so excited to so, so excited to read, so glad I need it. Like now I got especially after that cliffhanger because I know I'm by.

00;12;05;28 - 00;12;07;00
Speaker 1
No, I'm sorry.

00;12;08;19 - 00;12;22;03
Speaker 2
So why are you crafting this story and these elites that have these powers? How did you decide what powers you wanted to use in this world and like, who needed to have them? Oh, that's a really good question.

00;12;22;18 - 00;12;50;08
Speaker 1
I oh, OK. I would say there were like some of the obvious answers, like there's like telepathy and like super strength and super speed and things like that. So those seemed like the the givens. I was like, OK, let's put all those in. And I kind of like tweaked some names, like for strength. They're called bronzes. And for speed, they're flashes, you know, which is nothing profound.

00;12;50;18 - 00;13;09;28
Speaker 1
But so they were pretty easy to come up with those. But then there were some others. I, I remember on the first draft of Powerless, I had just kind of just written straight through it and there were just powers and there was no hierarchy really. And then on my second draft I went in and added more of like this food chain to the powers.

00;13;09;28 - 00;13;34;22
Speaker 1
So there's mundane which are like the weaker powers, and then there's the defensive, which is kind of in the middle, and then the offensive. So that kind of created like this sort of, you know, food chain, like I said, in Ilya. And so it's like even if you were an elite, you still some, some were still considered weak, which is such a crazy thing concept that was developed in this kingdom.

00;13;34;22 - 00;14;04;06
Speaker 1
But yeah, I think with some of the more like obscure powers I literally I think at one point, again, this was a couple of years ago now, but I think I Googled even like like unheard of powers. I remember like like like literally scrolling through this document of like old comic book powers and one of them was like, you know, skin turns to like stone.

00;14;04;13 - 00;14;27;16
Speaker 1
And so I used that and I called it I called them a shell. And there was another one that was like, you know, teleportation, which is not crazy, but I kind of did my own little twist on it and called them like blinks and like, anywhere they could see they could, like, teleport to. So yeah, it was a lot of just like random comic research as well.

00;14;27;17 - 00;14;28;13
Speaker 1
Like, I would just like.

00;14;28;13 - 00;14;29;19
Speaker 2
Scroll through these.

00;14;30;00 - 00;14;49;15
Speaker 1
You know, websites of like all these different lists of things. And I'd pick off the ones that I could see were helpful in the book. And then when it came to assigning a power to each character, some of them just like made sense. Like Blaire, if you know her, she's very, like.

00;14;50;00 - 00;14;50;22
Speaker 2
Rude.

00;14;51;19 - 00;15;11;03
Speaker 1
I love her, though. I do. I have a great time writing her, and for whatever reason, it just made sense to give her a very powerful ability. Like she's a tall witch so she can move things with her mind. And it made sense for her character as well because she's not physically strong she's not a fighter. So she kind of hides behind her ability.

00;15;11;19 - 00;15;34;03
Speaker 1
And I guess with like Jack's, for instance, he's a blank. And that just it just felt right to me, I guess. And I didn't really have like much reasoning behind what powers besides Kai. I knew obviously Kai was going to be a wielder, which was like he could wield any of the powers, which is why, you know, he's the enforcer of Alien.

00;15;34;11 - 00;15;35;24
Speaker 1
We getting into the nitty gritty, but.

00;15;36;08 - 00;15;36;23
Speaker 2
I think.

00;15;36;23 - 00;15;44;15
Speaker 1
With everybody else, it just kind of like fell into place. And that's not a great answer, but it just kind of made sense.

00;15;45;17 - 00;15;56;11
Speaker 2
One of my favorite parts of Powerless is the banter between Peyton and Kai. How do you approach crafting delightful banter between your two main characters?

00;15;56;29 - 00;16;22;08
Speaker 1
Thank you. So much. It was, I will say with Powerless, it was a learning curve for sure because I had never done it before. I think one of the most important things before, even like stepping into your work, is to make sure you know your characters, like the back of your hand and really just like really digest and dissect who they are, like the who, what, where, when, why.

00;16;22;08 - 00;16;49;29
Speaker 1
All of that. And a good tell for me is if I know my characters enough is like if I could put them around the dinner table and know exactly how the conversation is going to go and like, who's going to say what? Then I'm like, OK, I know how they're going to act in most situations and stuff. So I think I had really specifically I knew exactly who Peyton was and I knew who I wanted her to be and I knew how I wanted to act.

00;16;50;09 - 00;17;17;08
Speaker 1
And so something that made the banter a little easier for me was choosing Kai almost as like the instigator and having Peyton be kind of the reactor. So she would more react to his, like, instigate eating, and that can really help it. It seems less scary to look at banter that way, to kind of be like you're going to have one person initiating it and the other is just reacting to what they're saying.

00;17;17;21 - 00;17;36;13
Speaker 1
And then in that way, it doesn't feel as scary to be like, oh, they have two separate dialogs. Like they're working in tandem, like you're you're writing these characters together. You're writing this dialog so that it weaves together and there will be times to where it would flow super well. Like, I knew exactly who they are and what they're going to say.

00;17;36;23 - 00;17;59;22
Speaker 1
And then there would be other times where I would know I want a scene between the two of them, but I just couldn't formulate exactly what I wanted them to say. And that's OK. And I would just kind of highlight it and be like, come back and write snarky banter scene here, you know? And then I come back to it and it would all click but I will say, the more I spend time with these characters, the easier it is.

00;17;59;22 - 00;18;04;22
Speaker 1
Like they just it sounds so weird, but they really will just kind of say whatever they want. Now.

00;18;05;18 - 00;18;10;15
Speaker 2
So many authors say that, like, it's not me making it up, it's the character. They just tell me I'm really down.

00;18;10;28 - 00;18;22;21
Speaker 1
Right? And that sounds so like creepy and weird because obviously like it's our brain, like we're writing it, but some it just like makes sense when you put them in certain scenarios that they're going to say this or do this.

00;18;22;27 - 00;18;34;20
Speaker 2
One of the hallmarks of romanticism is that balance between the romance and the action. How do you find that balance? And so you're avoiding going too far, one direction and keeping the tension on both sides.

00;18;35;04 - 00;18;44;02
Speaker 1
That's another great question. I think one of my solutions to that is to do both at the same time. So I.

00;18;44;02 - 00;18;45;11
Speaker 2
Love a good.

00;18;45;23 - 00;19;15;05
Speaker 1
Fight scene between the two love interests. I think it's such a good way to like show, you know, the reader that obviously they're enemies or rivals, but there's still that like romantic tension there. And we see that a lot with Kai and Paden and also it's just fun for me to write. Like I'd much rather write like a kind of steamy fight scene than just a boring fight scene, you know, like that scene is way more fun.

00;19;16;10 - 00;19;41;29
Speaker 1
But also when it really comes down to it, I think outlining is is very important and that's something I've been forcing myself to do more because I really am leaning towards like the Panther type of writer and when I outline the I'll kind of figure out what chapters I want to be more romantic, like themed and more, you know, plot slash tension fighting type of themes.

00;19;42;08 - 00;20;03;29
Speaker 1
And so that way it's like I can really map it out and see, OK, am I leaning too heavily on romance here or do I need to add more of like the plot and the tension and things? So but yeah, when it comes to like romantic too, I feel like the fun of it is to just combine the two you know, and, and really play with both sides as equally as possible.

00;20;04;08 - 00;20;07;16
Speaker 1
But yeah, I would say that's how I try to go about that.

00;20;08;06 - 00;20;13;11
Speaker 2
What is it about Romantic Sea that has all the book Talk Girls in a Chokehold? Now, I.

00;20;13;11 - 00;20;39;05
Speaker 1
Feel like and I've thought about this a lot, I feel like it's the most or one of the most like obscure or like unrealistic genres in the sense that like, no man in present day like, we're not wielding swords, we're not like riding dragons or like doing any of that. And I think that's the draw to it because there's always a small part of us that wishes we were doing that.

00;20;39;27 - 00;21;00;11
Speaker 1
Whereas, you know, with the contemporary romance, it's like you can picture that in real life, obviously, because it takes place in real life. And so I think having the element of fantasy and like a world that we all kind of want to be in with these dragons and this fighting and like, you know, badass women who carry daggers on their thighs, you know, like, we love that.

00;21;00;11 - 00;21;23;15
Speaker 1
And then I think adding like this beautiful love interest in there, it just adds so much to it. And the other thing about that, too, is it's so funny to see the Internet saying, you know, if one of my fantasy men's like men said these things to me in real life, I'd get like the epic, like, we would never, you know, so I think never because there's every scary it would.

00;21;23;22 - 00;21;39;05
Speaker 1
So I think being able to read those like one liners and like that, like tension is the draw because we know we wouldn't have that in real life because it would be weird or scary that makes sense.

00;21;39;17 - 00;21;46;17
Speaker 2
It's like that. Nope, you crossed a line there, but exactly. Exactly out of this room, right?

00;21;46;25 - 00;21;47;18
Speaker 1
It's a right.

00;21;48;07 - 00;22;01;01
Speaker 2
There's another great dynamic in Powerless that is getting quite stories about crafting the dynamic between these two brothers as future king and enforcer. But also they have the same ties to the same girl.

00;22;01;04 - 00;22;18;23
Speaker 1
And when you look at it, you can obviously see they lean very heavily on like one's the blond and he's the golden retriever. Here, and the other has the dark hair and he's like the black hat type of thing. Like that's their vibe. So at the base of it, it's nothing profound. You know?

00;22;19;22 - 00;22;20;13
Speaker 2
But I think.

00;22;20;13 - 00;22;48;07
Speaker 1
As I kid is a very layered character and I think at the end of Powerless we start to see that a little bit and we will hear from him more and Reckless, which was very fun for me to write also. But yeah, I really I felt very strongly about having like this brotherly bond because, you know, I love when two girls are like sisters and they're best friends, but it's so different seeing.

00;22;48;07 - 00;22;52;01
Speaker 2
Boys like they're just boys, you know, like it's a different.

00;22;52;01 - 00;23;23;24
Speaker 1
It's a different dynamic scene, you know, two brothers act that way and I guess I just I guess I drew maybe from my, my real life, like, I have a brother and we tease each other all the time and like, are very similar in like a bantering way. But, you know, and so I feel like I added a lot of that aspect into their relationship and I really wanted to solidify them and make it clear that, like, they are best, bro, you know?

00;23;23;24 - 00;23;43;10
Speaker 1
And I know that they kind of go for the same girl, but it's because they love each other so much that there's if there's tension, it's very, you know, buried and they don't really want to talk about it because it's not like this rivalry between them. It's like, yeah, I get it like you like or two type of thing.

00;23;43;10 - 00;24;07;03
Speaker 1
And so that was also interesting to navigate and again, Powerless grew so much from the first draft. I mean, I originally had Kit like in the trials. I wrote the entire book and I had Kit in the trials. And I remember the editor I had at the time, she was like, so like why is the heir to the throne in these deadly trials?

00;24;07;03 - 00;24;09;23
Speaker 2
And I was like, Hmm, that's a great question.

00;24;09;29 - 00;24;33;00
Speaker 1
And so I completely wrote him out of it, which then allowed me to write these scenes between just him and Peyton, like in the Garden and like him being her partner to like the balls and stuff. So I feel like that added so much to him as a character. And also his relationship with Kai. There's so many things I could talk about here.

00;24;33;00 - 00;24;34;04
Speaker 1
I hope that I answer the.

00;24;34;04 - 00;24;53;13
Speaker 2
Question, but they're so fun to write they're so great to read. And it's like it's kind of got that edge of like, ooh, like you feel like because it's Kai's perspective that she's going to end up with Ty. But then the kids still has that connection, so it's like, maybe, hmm, we still have some mystery here. Right? Right.

00;24;53;19 - 00;25;07;28
Speaker 2
And your worldbuilding is so solid in this book, I really love the vernacular. So talk a little bit about crafting the worldbuilding with the vernacular. Like, Debt is a plague. Like look at the plague dragged in thank you so much.

00;25;07;28 - 00;25;37;23
Speaker 1
First of all, before I even wrote Powerless, I have to get myself, like, excited about certain aspects obviously, like every writer does. And so I, of course, would, like, jump ahead and be like, oh, I can't wait to write this scene or this scene. But I knew for a fact that I wanted to have, like, slang words that only lived in this world because I think and I grew up being a reader before I was ever, you know, a writer.

00;25;38;02 - 00;26;06;03
Speaker 1
And I remember reading these fantasy books, and any time they had, you know, that slang in it, it felt like a more polished, like, world building tool. Like, it felt very it felt so tangible and real to be like oh, wow. Like, this feels like a real place that uses these words. And so I remember I was like, I want to use something like that to make this this world really come to life in this kingdom, come to life.

00;26;06;03 - 00;26;30;12
Speaker 1
And so obviously, the whole premise of the book is this plague sweeps through. And so I was like, I really love the idea of people saying plague a lot, like fake the plague or like, that is the plague, things like that. And then to kind of the opposite of that was I wanted Hayden to never want to say thank the plague because that's just not she has nothing to thank the plague for because she's ordinary, you know?

00;26;30;29 - 00;26;59;17
Speaker 1
And so I think it's funny that you ask that because that was one of the first things that I had like worked through, which I'm not sure why. It's not like it's the most important thing. But again, I just I really wanted to have something that seemed so real. And so I remember I had gone through and I made like a list of kind of like these phrases that people would say or just throwing kind of like legs in a sentence almost as like a curse type of thing.

00;27;00;14 - 00;27;36;17
Speaker 1
And I loved love doing that. And I think that obviously played into the worldbuilding as well. Like, again, just having characters say that slang really helps solidify everything. But yeah, I had again, this this book went through so many different editing processes and like, the worldbuilding was not what it was. Now when I first wrote it and my editor really advised, like spreading things out because no one likes it in modem, like it's not fun and I love having a little mystery to things.

00;27;36;17 - 00;28;04;11
Speaker 1
So I like readers reading a couple chapters and being like, Wait, you know, what does this mean? But then they find out a little bit later. So I think the timing of everything is just as important as the actual content of the worldbuilding. I, I I think, you know, spacing out your telling with your showing and like kind of doing the two of those is so, so important.

00;28;04;11 - 00;28;26;04
Speaker 1
I there are so many things that I switched up, like where Chi was explaining things, but then I would pull it and I'd have paid and explain it instead because even from the two separate point of views, you learn two different things about the world because they view this kingdom so differently so yeah, it was just, it was a fun time and again it was a couple of years ago now.

00;28;26;04 - 00;28;39;12
Speaker 1
So I'm like racking my brain trying to think of like, you know, what, how did, what did I do while writing this? Because, you know, obviously with the other books there's not nearly as much worldbuilding because it's already there and it's more so just reminding the readers.

00;28;39;23 - 00;29;04;03
Speaker 2
Like your use of plague reminded me of Victoria Graveyard and Spindle in her the series that she just finished, Run Breaker. So you can be blessed. Spindle Curse. Oh, Spindle yes, yes. You get by. And I was like, oh, yes, that romantic sea fantasy vibe of you have to create your own language too, while you're building the world, which not everyone does.

00;29;04;03 - 00;29;30;22
Speaker 2
And that is one thing that makes it a good book is, like you said, it's more polished when you have that feeling let's get to know you a little bit better because I read that you have the hobbies of a grandma and a child own one. And I also read the knitting and superheroes, and so does your weird combination of hobbies that you love.

00;29;30;23 - 00;29;46;00
Speaker 1
It's been almost like my whole life. I've been like collecting random hobbies and then like dropping them. But as a nine year old child, I asked my mother to take knitting classes. Like, that's what I wanted to do. I was like, please.

00;29;46;09 - 00;29;46;29
Speaker 2
And so I went.

00;29;47;00 - 00;30;07;22
Speaker 1
To reading classes, and I remember I knit like a purse and like all this stuff. And so now it's like, I just do it for fun. Like, I'll just need a square. I'm not good enough to knit anything I can wear. But it keeps me busy. And I also like, obviously, I love to watch movies or shows, but I can't, like, sit still.

00;30;07;22 - 00;30;30;15
Speaker 1
And then I find myself like on my phone and then I'm not paying attention. So with this, it's like just the perfect way to keep me busy and like, engaged. And I recently picked up crocheting as well. To kind of see what all of that was about. And I can't I think I like knitting a little better. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I had salt, like, I just have a lot of fun doing that.

00;30;30;25 - 00;30;40;00
Speaker 2
You were spot on about knitting, too. What helps you focus? Because I will literally take my knitting to a movie theater. Yes. If my hands are busy my eyes can focus.

00;30;40;07 - 00;30;43;02
Speaker 1
Exactly. I, I completely agree.

00;30;43;29 - 00;30;49;21
Speaker 2
Or if I'm proofing shows at work, I'm probably knitting so I can pay attention to the graphics make sure they're right.

00;30;50;08 - 00;31;17;23
Speaker 1
Right. I get it. I get it. I also love laser tagging was like a burning passion. I will beg anybody to go laser tagging I think it's so fun. I obviously. Right. That was like, you know, a hobby until now. It's kind of a job, but I would say obviously writing is my job, but I think poetry is my hobby because obviously I'm not doing that for anybody yet.

00;31;17;23 - 00;31;39;17
Speaker 1
And later in the future, I'd love to do something that involves poetry, but that's like kind of my creative reset, you know, before I sit down to write I love to just whip out like a quick either just like a no or just a poem of like how I'm feeling or where I'm at. So there's that there's so many others.

00;31;39;17 - 00;31;54;01
Speaker 1
I have two cats. They're kind of a hobby now. They say they're a lot of work, but I love them dearly and they walk all over my keyboard and delete all of my stuff. But yeah, I think I think that's it.

00;31;54;21 - 00;32;02;16
Speaker 2
So Reckless is about to come out how many books do you have planned for this series? Whew.

00;32;02;16 - 00;32;05;28
Speaker 1
OK, so there are three.

00;32;06;09 - 00;32;08;05
Speaker 2
Three of the main books. So it's a.

00;32;08;05 - 00;32;19;10
Speaker 1
Trilogy. And then there's two novellas, which the Internet was shocked by this. I kind of like dropped some information, but that's because I thought everybody already.

00;32;19;10 - 00;32;21;08
Speaker 2
Knew because it came.

00;32;21;08 - 00;32;38;06
Speaker 1
Out in the UK like it was publicized in the UK, and I guess it wasn't quite yet in the US so it wasn't a secret. We just hadn't told you that. And so yeah, there's going to be two novellas, which one of them is already out, and then the main trilogy. So five books all together.

00;32;38;06 - 00;32;42;18
Speaker 2
But the last question we always ask because is literary hype. What books are you hyped about?

00;32;43;02 - 00;32;46;22
Speaker 1
Oh, you like to come or now.

00;32;46;22 - 00;32;52;12
Speaker 2
Anything anything you read, anything you think people should read, anything people should be watching for, anything.

00;32;52;12 - 00;33;21;00
Speaker 1
New. OK, one, I'm always going to promote all of you. Blake my queen. Her writing is just unbelievable. Beautiful prose. So along with you in the ether is one of the most beautiful like, mundane love stories I've ever read. But it's, like, not mundane because there's so many layers. And her writing is just so poetic. So anything by her is so, so good.

00;33;21;00 - 00;33;50;06
Speaker 1
And I'm currently reading, like, I believe it's masters of dress by her came out a little bit ago. So good. Other than that, I'm always going to say Dance of the Thieves the doo ology by Mary Pearson very much inspired, like my love for dual posy. I love it so much. And also there's a few things in Reckless that are also the little bit inspired from Dance of Thieves.

00;33;50;06 - 00;33;59;00
Speaker 2
So love that book so much. So, so much. Well, thank you so much for hanging out with literary types to talk about power, powerless, powerful and drag queens.

00;33;59;27 - 00;34;03;23
Speaker 1
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. And I had such a great time. This is so fun.

00;34;09;04 - 00;34;27;03
Speaker 2
Thanks again to Lauren for taking time out of her day and her very busy travel schedule to talk about powerless, powerful reckless and the rest of the series. If you want to get a hold of Lauren's books, the links to do so are in the show notes for you. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to give us some stars and subscribe to the literary Hi podcast.

00;34;27;16 - 00;34;30;00
Speaker 2
Thanks for listening to the Literary Types Podcast.