The darker the better, right?! Welcome back to our second episode of  The Spice is Right! This week we are talking about all those red flag men we love to hate. Especially the billionaires, mafia, motorcycle gang, and the bad boys. This is your warning now that this season will be talking about explicit sexual content, all trigger warnings associated with the categories, and lots of sexual comedy. Dark Romance is probably our favorite version of the spicy verity!!

Welcome back to The Spice is Right! You guessed it We Know How to Read is getting spicy! We are starting our newest season all about spice, romance, and all 50 shades of grey. This is your warning now that this season will be talking about explicit sexual content, all trigger warnings associated with the categories, and lots of sexual comedy. This week we are focusing on Contemporary romance, period piece romance, and all the swoon-worthy rom-coms you can think of! Each week the topics will get darker and spicier!

The fun begins! We go over all the special released chapters for House of Flame and Shadow as well as talk about the future for this series and the others. Enjoy our long-winded thoughts and theories on the SJM multiverse!

All good things must come to an end and rounding out of the Spring season of They Know How to Write the very talented Kate Dramis joins us this week! Inspired by a dream about a woman calling down lightning to save a friend, The Curse of Saints is Kate’s debut fantasy novel and the first in the trilogy. We had so much fun chatting with Kate this week and her book is truly amazing, add this fantasy to your TBR asap!!

The epic finale is finally here! We are wrapping up this adventure with nonstop action. The teams are all converging on the Crystal Palace. Bryce and Hunt fighting for the world, Ruhn and Lydia saving her sons, Hel battling the forces of Asteri. The whole time Bryce is tearing apart and making their world whole again. Tag along for the epic finish and return in TWO weeks for our theories, predictions, and final thoughts including bonus chapter content.

Welcome Nicole Northwood to the podcast! She writes fantasy and fairytale romance stories for adults that are atmospheric, intimate, and alluring. Nicole was amazing to have on the show to share all the fun times she had writing In Flames, The Kestral Chronicles, Book 1, and her future projects. It was a load of laughs, nerds just being nerds, and more.

Part Three the Ascent - into what? Well, buckle up because we dive into this section head first! The world is unstable, Bryce is opening portals again! Tharion is owning up to the consequences of his own actions, and so is Ithan, but Sathia and Hypaxia help them out. Ghosts are rising from the dead, and the plan is forming on how to ultimately end the Asteris' reign, but only time will tell!

Welcome AJ Vrana to the pod this week! AJ Vrana is the author of the Indie Author Project-winning Chaos Cycle Duology, the 2023 Ontario Author Project Winner in Adult Fiction, and all an absolute blast to have on the show! Her duology and short stories brought us together at the infamous Imaginarium conference where we met. Rich with folklore and paranormal intrigue, The Hollow Gods is an atmospheric supernatural thriller that will satisfy lovers of Maggie Stiefvater's THE RAVEN BOYS, especially those craving a fable with a darker touch. We talked about her writing process, many side quests, and more in this episode.

This is a long one but what an epic adventure it is! The gang is back together and their journey is only just beginning as they are piecing together how to destroy the Asteri. Like always Bryce is being a BA, Hunt is Hunt, Ruhn is making us swoon and Lidia is caring the plot.  Ultimately the most important question in this episode is are you Team Caves or Team Archives?

Welcome Aurora Ascher a New York Times and USA Today bestselling fantasy & paranormal romance author. Dreams do come true when it comes to making this interview happen! Aurora recently published Sanctuary of the Shadow The Elemental Emergence Series - Book One, a fantasy new adult romance. Aurora shared with us her musical upbringing to trad publishing vs self publishing and much much more! We talk about Sanctuary of the Shadow and whats coming next for Aurora on this episode of They Know How to Write.

We are back! This episode like always is full of our chaotic rambles and thoughts while reading probably one of the best get away/ rescue scenes ever written! Lidia is carrying this story through like a champ! We literally dive into the depths of these pages and find some sweet morsels of information and THE PLOT thickens as our characters learn shocking new information about each other. Plus our dynamic duo, Bryce and Hunt are back together!

Our spring They Know How to Write continues with another amazing author, Sara DeLaVergne! What is even more special is TODAY (Feb. 27) is also the release day for Son of Shattered Souls: Book Two of the Shattered Trilogy!! Congrats to Sara on publishing her second novel! Go check out her fantasy series featuring forgotten gods, magic, forbidden love, and much much more! We talk about Daughter of Shattered Skies and many crazy things on this episode of They Know How to Write.

What an info dump in the most delicious way!! Megan and Natalie can agree this section of the book just might be their favorite part - so far! Bryce, Azirel, and Nesta are learning about Pyrthian's history and how it intertangles into Bryce's world back home. While Ithan and Tharion are battling their inner demons, but Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxion are fighting literal demons in the form of parasite Asteri. We had so much fun diving into these sections!

Introducing our Spring debut novelist Thea Claire, to start our season 12 They Know How to Write Author Interviews! Thea Claire is a storyteller at heart. A North Texas native, she loves to write about strong characters creating beautiful lives for themselves and those around them. Go Find Less is a curvy girl love after loss a second chance romance! But there is more! This is the first in a series and we got into all the details, laughs, and more with Thea on our interview this week!

It's officially been one week since House of Flame and Shadow has been out and we couldn't wait any longer to overshare our thoughts - that's why this episode is so long - sorry guys! Spoilers only for the first 17 chapters to include: recap events in these chapters that we wanted to share with you, and much more like chaotic rambling and jumping to conclusions! Join us on our Discord every Book Club release at 8 pm EST to talk with us and others about the latest HOFAS thoughts!

SPOILERS! We are diving head-first into all of our unhinged, well-thought-out theories and predictions for all the characters in the upcoming House of Flame and Shadow release! This episode is long but we have so much to cover before Jan. 30th. Enjoy the crazy train ride into our inner SJM theories and join us on our Discord to talk more about these delulu predictions and more!

We've done it so you don't have to. We have combed through the extensive work of SJM to bring together what we think is the creme de la creme of recap information for you before the release of House of Flame and Shadow. Spoiler warning for ALL Sarah J Maas novels and series. We are diving into the lore, the maps, the characters, and all the breadcrumbs Sarah's been leaving us for years!

Hello, 2024! We are so excited to wrap up this mini-series of our top 12 reads of 2023!  This is the third and final part of the series that will feature our top reads for Sumt-ober, October, Yarros' November, and December of the year. Think of this as our 2023 book bracket meets our ultimate book recommendations to you - with a lot of chaotic, embarrassing, laughable, moments along the way! Join us starting in February for our House of Flame and Shadow book club!

Hello, 2024! We are so excited to be reading our way into the New Year with you! As we all are writing down our book goals, TBRS, and more. We want to share with you our top reads of 2023. This three-part series will feature our top reads for each month of the year. Think of this as our 2023 book bracket meets our ultimate book recommendations to you - with a lot of chaotic, embarrassing, laughable, moments along the way! So happy for you to join us this year for more bookish chaos!

Hello, 2024! We are so excited to be reading our way into the New Year with you! As we all are writing down our book goals, TBRS, and more. We want to share with you our top reads of 2023. This three-part series will feature our top reads for each month of the year. Think of this as our 2023 book bracket meets our ultimate book recommendations to you - with a lot of chaotic, embarrassing, laughable, moments along the way! So happy for you to join us this year for more bookish chaos!