Author Diary Entries

Did you know? ALL romance novellas in the Polyamorous Passions Universe include a special “soundtrack” for each book! But you might be wondering… What goes into the song choices for each book soundtrack? What process or method do I use to create the book playlists? How do I decide the order of the songs and how many songs to choose? At what stage of the book writing process do I create each book p...

Curious about the symbolism of a burlesque act? What might go into the meaning-making of a burlesque act? In this episode, I do a breakdown to share 10 examples of the symbolism in my recent burlesque solo, The Personification of Anxiety.  We talk about why it’s a chair dance, the meaning behind the outfit I chose, why I never remove the secret second layer of gloves (spoiler alert!), the thought...

Did you know you can use Tarot to understand books? It’s time for another “book insights” Tarot reading, in which we do a creative analysis of a book using Tarot cards! The question: “What does Love By Design [my most recent romance novella] want to teach you, or tell you, as the reader of this story?” This was a 5-card spread:  Overall message that this book (Love By Design) wants readers to know...

Use these book club discussion prompts for a romance novella ( Love By Design — Book 2 in the Small Town Stilettos duology) as a starter kit for analyzing text of all kinds! Alter the questions as you see fit for this specific novella, or adapt them for other novels you’re reading. Try zooming in AND zooming out: Dive into the pages and focus on one tiny detail of a book so you can explore what it...

Happy BOOK RELEASE DAY to Love By Design: an insta-attraction, forced proximity, friends to lovers, in love with a married man, small town romance with an unexpected premise: The main character needs to live alone with her boss’s husband (without her boss around), and she develops a HUGE crush on that man — and he seems to be interested in her, too — AND her boss seems to be encouraging them to sp...

In this episode, your podcast host and why choose romance indie author Sagan Morrow shares behind the scenes all about the writing and editing experience for her upcoming romcom novella, Love By Design! Get an inside look at the overall journey for how the book writing and editing process went, the specific methods she used with examples for what she worked on during various rounds of writing, rew...

Do you enjoy why choose romance novels with the forced proximity trope, a small town setting, and romantic comedy vibes? You’re in luck! “Love By Design” is the next romance novel you need to read. It’s a cute and flirty contemporary romance that will make you kick your feet giggling… Tune in to the episode to learn more about the book, hear the back-of-book blurb, and get 3 teasers about the book...

In this episode, your host and chick lit indie author Sagan Morrow shares a play-by-play of how she planned the entire chapter-by-chapter outline for her upcoming romcom novella ( Love By Design ) using a Tarot spread!  Tune in to find out which Tarot cards were pulled to represent each of the 11 chapters for this novella, the meaning behind each of those cards, and how Sagan has translated each T...

This episode explores two extremely problematic aspects of generative AI in creative spaces: a) lack of consent, and b) plagiarism. We discuss this through the lens of the performing arts (such as the burlesque community), as well as book events (such as markets).  This isn’t a call-out, it’s a calling-in, and please know that all of this is said with love! ALSO: I am addressing this episode to pe...

Is it realistic for a character to regress in a novel? Why might a character regress, and is it relatable for them to do that? In this episode of the Author Diary Entries podcast, your host and chick lit indie author Sagan Morrow analyzes character regression in contemporary romance novel Kiss Me — Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series. We do an analysis of the main character, Scarlett, and he...

Happy World Tarot Day! In celebration, we are doing our FIRST-EVER live Tarot reading on the Author Diary Entries podcast… This Tarot spread explores the question, “What does Kiss Me (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series) want to teach you, or tell you, as the reader of this story?”  The 5-card spread:  Card 1: Overarching message or theme from this book (III Pentacles)  Card 2: Hidden teachi...

Gather together your romance reader friends and book club besties… In this episode of the Author Diary Entries podcast, you’ll get chick lit book club discussion prompts for Kiss Me (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series)! Use these discussion prompts to stimulate conversation, enjoy a deeper reading into contemporary romance novels, explore character motivations, analyze themes and parallel s...

In celebration of book launch day for Kiss Me (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions “why choose” chick lit series), author Sagan Morrow shares 5 of her favourite things about this novel… plus reads a scene from the story!  Kiss Me is a heartwarming short novel featuring found family, an extra dose of angst, the why choose trope, a couple steamier scenes, and a people-pleasing burlesque performer who...

Following up on Episode 189… In this episode, “why choose” chick lit author Sagan Morrow shares more about her experience with writing and editing her upcoming release, Kiss Me (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series) — plus why it’s taken SO LONG to finish this particular book!  Kiss Me is a heartwarming short novel featuring found family, morally grey decisions, the why choose trope, a couple...

In this episode, “why choose” chick lit author Sagan Morrow announces her upcoming release Kiss Me (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series) — and shares with you the back-of-book blurb, plus what to expect when you read this novel!  Kiss Me is a heartwarming short novel featuring found family, morally grey decisions, the why choose trope, a couple steamier scenes, and a people-pleasing burlesqu...

“As the world changes, what place do my polyamorous romantic comedy novels have in our society? If the world now understands and somewhat accepts open relationships, is there even a need for my novels? These novels are for pre-pandemic times, BEFORE a lot of things changed — so what happens now? Are they ‘subversive enough,’ and is there a place for them?” These are some of the questions your host...

Using generative AI to quote-unquote “write” a book is harmful not only to the artists those people are plagiarizing from, but it’s also harmful to the plagiarizer and to CREATIVITY, itself.  Let’s talk about that! In this episode, your Author Diary Entries podcast host — romcom novelist and Personal Fulfillment Coach Sagan Morrow — takes the conversation about *AI as art theft* a step further by...

What is the art of creative weirdness? What are some great examples of creative weirdness, and how can YOU tap into your own creative weirdness when you are creating art (of any kind)? What is the ONE situation in which creative weirdness is NOT effective? Does art NEED to be “weird” in order to be powerful and incredible? What social commentary and feminist lenses can we view mainstream blockbust...

In this episode, your host and indie author Sagan Morrow shares her experience with reviewing her current work-in-progress (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series) using a "reader mindset" prior to doing rewrites!  She shares her process and results for reviewing her current WIP as a reader:  Find out a breakdown of the process she’s using, the game-changing book writing method that’s...

What is creative cross training, and how can it help you navigate (and overcome) creative blocks? In this episode, Sagan shares examples of creative cross training and the importance of creative cross training (and how it’s prevented her from having any major creative blocks as a business owner, indie author, and multi-passionate creative)... ...Plus why focusing on one thing can get boring and le...

In this episode, we explore the difference between polyamorous IDENTITY vs the PRACTICE of that identity , and answer these questions: Can you write about polyamory if you aren’t ACTIVELY polyamorous? Do you ever think being polyamorous is a phase, and that you and your spouse might go back to being monogamous? Resources mentioned in this episode:  Small Town Stilettos and the Polyamorous Passions...

Find out why Sagan got outraged at a random person’s Instagram comment when they were dismissive of a 30-something Twilight Instagrammer reading Young Adult novels, the POWER of the YA genre, why you should read what makes you happy, her opinions about referring to romance novels as “fluffy,” and more! Resources mentioned in this episode:  Small Town Stilettos and the Polyamorous Passions series:...

“Do you write queer characters?” → Well… Yes and no! In this episode, I explain why this question is a tricky one, what makes a novel “queer enough” (an even more loaded question!), the nuance behind all of this, and the importance of using the words and labels that feel right for you. Resources mentioned in this episode:  Small Town Stilettos and the Polyamorous Passions series: SaganMorrow.com/b...

Is it rude to refer to a romance novel “smut”? Not to me ;) You can call my books whatever you want! …BUT, there’s a lot of nuance to this (and context matters) — so in this episode, we’re exploring important questions we need to ask around the labels we use, our intentions behind our word choices, and the problems with gatekeeping in the romance novel community.  Examples we discuss in this episo...

In this episode, your host (and indie author) Sagan Morrow shares an author update about what she's been working on since our previous episode over a year ago, plus why we've rebranded the podcast from "Indie Author Weekly" to "Author Diary Entries!" Resources mentioned in this episode:  Small Town Stilettos and the Polyamorous Passions series: SaganMorrow.com/books  ...