This week, MacKenzie Green and I talk with Bridget Howard about her new Romantasy Lovers' Journal.

Listen to hear about:

• Bridget’s journey from book blogger to Bookstagram creator to marketing professional for publishers and authors
• How romantasy evolved from YA and paranormal roots into today’s booming genre
• Why romantasy, fantasy, and romance deserve the same literary analysis and cultural respect as “serious” fiction
• The creation of the Romantasy Lover's Reading Journal and how it helps both seasoned readers and newcomers engage more deeply
• Beginner-friendly romantasy recommendations, from gateway reads like ACOTAR to duologies and standalones

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

This week, Gare and I talk about books we think deserve adaptations ASAP! Gare also brought a messy icebreaker to the episode.

Books We Talked About

Good People by Patmeena Sabit

The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson

Secret Lives of Murderers Wives by Elizabeth Arnott

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

Night Watcher by Stephanie Woolsoncroft

She Drinks the Light by Yasmin Angoe

Ours Is a Tale of Murder by Nora Murphy

The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

This week, I talk with Priya Parmar about The Original, her fictionalized portrait of Katharine Hepburn’s early life and Hollywood reinvention, diving into how academic rigor, obsessive research, and creative intuition shaped the book.

We discuss:

• Priya’s transition from academic and PhD research into fiction writing—and how scholarship still shapes her creative process
• The accidental Google rabbit hole that led her to Katharine Hepburn’s hidden early struggles
• A fascinating look at 1930s Hollywood as a surprisingly progressive, image-conscious, and socially fluid ecosystem
• Fame, performed authenticity, grief, reinvention, and how public myths are intentionally built
• Behind-the-scenes insight into writing historical fiction about a real woman whose voice, image, and legacy are already iconic

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

This week, I chat with Rachel Kramer Bussel—editor, essayist, and founder of Open Secrets Magazine—about a lifelong love of reading, writing and editing. Listen to hear about:

• How memoirs allow readers to experience others' lives in highly personal ways
• Rachel’s journey from editing 70+ erotica anthologies to building a personal essays literary magazine
• How “ordinary” lives still make compelling, meaningful essays
• The behind-the-scenes reality of running a submission-based publication
• The emotional and ethical tightrope of writing about real people, relationships, and personal struggles

Rachel's "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to ban books" T-shirt

Books We Talked About

I'm Glad My Mom Died — Jennette McCurdy

King of Ashes — S. A. Cosby

Razorblade Tears — S. A. Cosby

Camouflage — Heather Sweeney

Hologram Boyfriends — Mike Albo

Somebody I Used to Know — Wendy Mitchell

Agorafabulous — Sara Benincasa

Actress of a Certain Age — Jeff Hiller

Do What Godmother Says — L. S. Stratton

Adult Braces — Lindy West

Strangers — Belle Burden

Famesick — Lena Dunham

Destroy this House – Amanda Uhle

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

You all know how excited I am to say that this week, I got to chat with Marcus Kliewer about his newest horror book The Caretaker! We dive into his unconventional path to writing, our shared fascination with psychological horror, and how he plants his Easter eggs in multiple mediums.

Listen to hear more about:

• The Caretaker’s premise, tone, and how it connects to We Used to Live Here
• Marcus Kliewer's origin story—from Reddit horror posts to book deals and adaptations
• Insight into psychological horror, ambiguity in endings, and why “not knowing” is so unsettling
• A candid discussion on OCD, anxiety, and how those experiences shape the story’s tension
• Behind-the-scenes details on worldbuilding, Easter eggs, hidden codes, and what might connect across his books

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Today is a solo episode, and I share all of my thoughts on Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, The Drama and Trust Me: The False Prophet. I briefly discuss the discourse around Yesteryear and The Drama without spoilers, and go in depth on Trust Me: The False Prophet, WITH spoilers. Then, for anyone who wants spoilers, I discuss spoilery aspects of Yesteryear and The Drama at the end of the episode.

Here is the link for the Substack article I mentioned about The Drama.

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

In this episode, I talk with Rebecca Sharpe about her debut con-thriller Harmless Women.

Listen to hear about:

• Rebecca's long, bumpy publishing journey
• How the book explores the way society underestimates women, and how that perception can be both a vulnerability and a weapon
• How Rebecca's fluid, character-driven writing process focuses on emotional pacing, moral complexity, and letting the story evolve organically rather than rigid outlining

Harmless Women Synopsis

Avalon Dale is a masterful grifter. She researches her victims thoroughly, kidnaps and sedates them, cleans out their bank accounts, and uses injections and hair clippers to change their appearance so that when they wake up, they can't easily prove who they are. It gives her a head start and a new identity to get away. She's targeted Primrose Meath for her last big score, and then she'll fade away to a life of ease and luxury--something she's dreamed of since a very tough childhood.

On paper, Prim is the perfect wealthy, workaholic, and distracted by her cheating husband. But when Avalon finds Prim's husband dead, she can't get away so easily--not when she's been mistaken for Prim who's now wanted for murder. The two women, opposites, enemies, are suddenly on the run together, and must learn to get along, to depend on each other, in order to get away. And then, what starts as a cat-and-mouse run to the coast of England becomes a fight for their survival.

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

In this episode, I talk with Justin C. Key about his speculative novel The Hospital at the End of the World. Justin shares how his medical training and fascination with AI, consciousness, and ethics informed the novel’s evolution from a short story into a full-length work. We dive into the tension between technological advancement and human connection, particularly in medicine, emphasizing the irreplaceable value of empathy and lived experience. Justin also discusses worldbuilding choices, balancing speculative ideas with grounded realism, and both the promise and risks of AI in healthcare and learning.

Listen to hear about:

• How Justin’s writing journey evolved naturally from a deep love of reading into a disciplined, intuitive creative practice
  
• How his “pantser” approach prioritizes discovery, with structure and outlines often emerging during the editing phase
  
• How The Hospital at the End of the World began as a short story and expanded over years alongside his medical education
  
• The way the novel explores AI in healthcare, balancing its powerful analytical potential with the risks of over-reliance and loss of human judgment
  
• How the novel explores the irreplaceable role of human connection, arguing that empathy and presence are just as critical as data in medicine

Follow Justin C. Key here and grab a copy of The Hospital at the End of the World here

Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack

Get Bookwild Merch

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba