Episodes
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On this episode of Complicated Conversations, we are thrilled to welcome back our friend and one of our favorites, #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Giffin, to discuss her new novel, The Summer Pact, which tells the story of a group of friends who make a pact in the wake of tragedy that will cause them to reunite a decade later and embark upon a life-changing adventure together.
We are longtime fans and readers of Emily’s novels, and as you’ll hear on this episode, our connections with each other go way back and feel totally fated. So of course we had the best time chatting with Emily about the relatable characters of The Summer Pact, Hannah, Lainey and Tyson; why she likes to explore the messy parts of people and their lives; how friends can truly be found family and the importance of coming-of-age friendships; and the spot-on aspect of Emily’s astrological chart that resonates with her and the themes of this novel.
The Summer Pact is out now and fans of Emily’s will be so thrilled to have this in their beach bags! Buy it, read it, share it, and listen to our spoiler-free chat wherever you get your podcasts.
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Episodes manquant?
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On this episode of Debut Discussions, we’re chatting with Lauren Aliza Green, about her debut novel, The World After Alice, a gripping story of two families brought together to celebrate an unexpected marriage, twelve years after a devastating tragedy upended their lives. The characters are so alive in this story and the hook of having two families come together for a wedding after their last “reunion” was a funeral is so clever!
Lauren chats with us about her love for reading as a child, her decision to pursue writing, and the development of her characters and their intricate connections. We also discuss how the book explores themes of grief, friendship, and the complexities of relationships. Lauren leaves us with a real lightbulb of thought about twins and astrology!
Listen now to Lauren’s story wherever you get your podcasts. The World After Alice is out now -- buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).
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In this episode of Complicated Conversations we chat with Liz Moore, the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Long Bright River, which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick and one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020. Her beautiful and complex new novel, The God Of The Woods, follows a wealthy American family who build an estate in the Adirondack Mountains. Their daughter, Barbara, goes missing from the summer camp they built, and the mystery of her disappearance is intertwined with the disappearance of their son years earlier.
We chat with Liz about the ambitious structure of the novel, which is told from multiple perspectives and written in dual timelines; her exploration of the themes of self-reliance, power dynamics, gender, class, and duality in the novel; the use of words with multiple meanings; the interconnectedness of characters and the power of belief; her process of finding the title; and, of course, her very fitting astrological sign.
The God Of The Woods is out now and you should believe all the hype! Buy it, read it, share it, and listen to our spoiler-free chat wherever you get your podcasts.
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On today’s episode of Complicated Conversations, we chat with New York Times bestselling author Ashley Poston about her new magical book, A Novel Love Story, in which her protagonist Elsy finds herself trapped in the town of her favorite romance series and must learn to become the main character of her own life.
Ashley discusses happy endings, writing a fictional hero to act as a foil for Elsy, why she loves a magical twist, her fanfiction roots and unironically loving what you love, as well as astrology, tarot, and a very prophetic palm reading she received!
A Novel Love Story is out now!
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On this episode of Complicated Conversations we welcome Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy, a 2021 Reese’s Book Club pick, to discuss her riveting new thriller, Trust Her, which brings back sisters Tessa and Marian Daly three years after they narrowly escaped the IRA’s worst punishment for informing.
We chat with Flynn about why she ended up coming back to tell Tessa’s story; her interest in The Troubles in Ireland; exploring sisterhood, trust and forgiveness; motherhood and the passing down of experiences and emotions through generations; and the astrological sign that many Reese Book Club pick authors all share!
Listen now!
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On today’s episode, we’re back to discuss the rest of Hacks season 3 (episodes 3-9), a show that continues to shine with the stellar writing of Lucia Aniello, Paul Downs, and Jen Statsky and the incredible cast lead by Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder (complemented by this season’s standout guest actors like J. Smith Cameron, Christina Hendricks, Helen Hunt, Tony Goldwyn, Deidre Hall, and Christopher Lloyd).
Everything in this show is layered and never just one thing - from Deborah’s quest to fulfill her lifelong dream of hosting late night TV to Ava’s pursuit to gain respect as she rises in the ranks while trying not to lose her own beliefs. We discuss that (surprising!?) ending and what it says about where Deborah and Ava are in their own journeys, our favorite moments from the season, and what we’re looking forward to next season. We know we will definitely be back!
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On this episode of Complicated Conversations, we chat with the incomparable Adriana Trigiani. Beloved by millions of readers around the world, Adriana is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty books of fiction and nonfiction, including her latest, The Good Left Undone - an instant New York Times bestseller, Book of the Month pick and People's Book of the Week. She is also an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer and filmmaker, as well as the host of the hit podcast “You Are What You Read,” in which she interviews the great authors and luminaries of our time about the books that built their souls.
Talking to Adriana is inspiring, informative, and thoroughly entertaining. We talked about the transportive, life changing power of reading, motherhood, being a woman in the publishing industry, career advice, her most recent novel, The Good Left Undone, and her amazing podcast. Adriana blew us away with her ability to read faces and left us with important wisdom on everything from life to the best long-wearing lipstick. We absolutely LOVED this conversation.
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We are one month to the launch of The Astrology House, Carinn's debut thriller! Listen now and come along on the rollercoaster ride of emotions this journey brings!
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On this episode of Debut Discussions we’re chatting with Fiona McPhillips about her debut novel, When We Were Silent, an unputdownable, thrilling story of exploitation, privilege, and retribution about an outsider who threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school.
Fiona shares with us the moment she knew it was time to follow her long-held dream of writing a novel; how she wove together elements of literary fiction and thrillers to create a compelling and unflinching story that explores the silence and denial surrounding abuse; the inspiration she drew from personal stories, those of others, and the realities of the world; why she wanted to explore the complicated dynamics of mother-daughter relationships; and her journey to finding an agent and securing a book deal.
Listen now to Fiona’s story wherever you get your podcasts. When We Were Silent is out now – buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).
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On this episode of Debut Discussions we’re chatting with Sarah Crouch about her debut novel, Middletide, a gripping and intensely atmospheric literary thriller about the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor in a small town and the prime suspect, a reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind.
Sarah shares the challenges of her path to publication and how she and Carinn have personally bonded over it; writing flawed and complex characters; the importance of accurate representation of indigenous culture in fiction; the meta book within a book concept of her novel; how she trusted herself to fight for this title; and how she’s juggling the launch of her debut novel while on submission for her second.
Listen now to Sarah’s story wherever you get your podcasts. Middletide is out now and it’s a Book of the Month and Indie Next Pick -- buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).
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On today’s Complicated Conversations we welcome back Becky Chalsen to discuss her new novel, Serendipity, a big-hearted, page-turner that delves deep into a complicated friend group as they navigate one messy yet magical midtwenties summer in a Fire Island share house.
We had so much fun chatting with Becky about how she turned her lifelong love of reading into the unimaginable dream of published author; the personal (sisterly) inspiration for her two main characters; the dynamics of friendship; the importance of living life to gather material for future books; the unpredictability of the future, and the value of observation and openness. Such incredible wisdom!
Serendipity is out now. Buy it, read it, share it, and listen to our spoiler-free chat with Becky wherever you get your podcasts.
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In today’s Complicated Conversations we welcome back Annabel Monaghan to discuss her new novel, Summer Romance, a story about a professional organizer, Ali Morris, who finds herself living with the literal and physical weight of things left not tended to. As a recently separated mother of three, Ali embarks on a summer romance to get unstuck in her life.
We chat with Annabel about the relatability of Ali’s journey to return to herself and find her voice; how Annabel had to convince people that a skateboarder could be a hot romantic lead; our mutual obsession with (human) mirrors and the ways we all exist in relation to each other; how complicated it is to be a daughter and a person; grief and the ways we stay connected with those who have passed; tricking herself into maintaining joy while writing and what candles and angel cards have to do with it!
Summer Romance is out now! Buy it, read it, share it, and listen to spoiler-free chat with Annabel wherever you get your podcasts. Like a real life summer romance, you will read this book and it will end, but it will be so fun and totally worth it!
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On this episode of Debut Discussions we’re chatting with Jaclyn Westlake about her debut novel, Dear Dotty, which follows the chaotic year in the life of Rosie Benson, a 24-year-old whose life unravels after the sudden passing of her free-spirited great aunt, Dotty. In a bid to feel close to Dotty again, Rosie reaches out to all of Dotty’s contacts via email and starts learning about her life through the eyes of her many friends, while also finding out who she really wants to be herself.
Jaclyn chats with us about Rosie’s journey of self-discovery, sibling dynamics, the writing process, finding an agent, the career advice she gave to herself, and a preview of book two!
Listen now to Jaclyn’s story wherever you get your podcasts. Dear Dotty is out now -- buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).
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In today’s recap we discuss Episodes 4-8 of Under The Bridge on Hulu. This true crime limited series is excellent from beginning to end. The series is based on a book by Rebecca Godfrey about a real life murder, but it infuses this factual underpinning with such humanity, complexity and nuance that in the end we are left with the best kind of questions about justice, nature vs nurture, forgiveness, and the shades of darkness inside so many of us.
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On this episode of Debut Discussions we’re chatting with Paula Gleeson about her debut thriller, Original Twin, a story about how one young woman must follow the invisible thread that connects her to her missing twin before someone else can sever it for good.
Paula tells us about her long road from reader to published author, how her characters' voices live in her head and direct the narrative, her fascination with twins, and how she learned to pivot without ever losing sight of her end goals (there may have been some tears, wine and pizza involved along the way)!
Listen now to Paula’s story wherever you get your podcasts. Original Twin is out now -- buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).
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On this episode of Debut Discussions, we’re chatting with Nishita Parekh about her debut novel, Night of the Storm, a locked room thriller about a multigenerational Indian American family marooned in a house with a murderer during Hurricane Harvey.
Nishita shares how her love for reading mysteries as a child led her to follow her writing dreams; how the idea for this novel first came to her while being stuck in an apartment during a hurricane; and why she wanted to write about motherhood (specifically the challenges of being a single mother), the influence of patriarchy in Indian culture, the clash of values faced by immigrants, and the complexities of family dynamics all within the structure of a locked room thriller!
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In today’s episode of Complicated Conversations we welcome Joy Sullivan to discuss her bestselling, transformative debut collection of poetry, Instructions For Traveling West, which explores what’s possible when we heed our instincts and honor our intuition.
Joy reads from her collection and chats with us about so many themes we love that her poems speak to: choosing change, celebrating the messy parts of transition, embracing desire and appetite in a world where women are expecting to suppress those wants, writing from the body, and becoming more curious about astrology.
Instructions For Traveling West is out now. Buy it, read it, share it, and listen to our conversation so you too can be transformed by @joysullivanpoet’s beautiful perspective!
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On today’s episode we’re chatting about The Idea Of You, Amazon Prime’s hit romcom directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jennifer Westfeldt, based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee. Starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, it chronicles the love affair between a single mother and the lead singer of a popular boy band. Based on the number of viewers in its first two weeks on Prime Video it has become Amazon MGM’s No. 1 romantic-comedy debut of all time! So the hype is certainly there, but we have some real questions, especially as readers of the book…a book that explored ageism, sexism and female agency. As always, we have a lot of feelings on this adaptation!
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