Bad Lit Friends

We’re back for Season Two, huzzah! And we’re literally starting at the beginning. Also figuratively. This time around, we dig into why first pages matter so much, and how they so often go sideways. We talk genre expectations, the great prologue debate, and what actually hooks readers (and agents) from page one. Along the way, we share hard-earned lessons, favorite examples from popular books, and...

BAD LIT FRIENDS FIRST ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!! We were going to take the week off, but then a publisher was VERY WRONG on the internetz and… well. Surprise! Consider this a late holiday season present from Kirk and Meagan because who doesn’t like a little bit of legal analysis while they eat their weight in Danish butter cookies? This episode is all Hot Goss, Contract Law Edition as we dig i...

EPISODE 20! We made it even though we still barely know what we’re doing. This week we’re roasting literary tropes like chestnuts in the fire. Join us as we rate enemies-to-lovers, chosen ones (spoiler: thank u, next), ticking clocks and much, much more on a scale that’s completely inconsistent! Also, Meagan gets weirdly deep about property law and Kirk insists the romance genre needs more corpses...

In this episode, we’re chatting with indie author Jessica Lunt about her writing journey and her debut novella, The Witch Hunter’s Wife . We talk about what it’s really like to write historical fiction, from research and routines to tackling big themes like marriage, social expectations, and pregnancy loss. Jessica also shares how she balances writing with life as a mom of four, and what the indie...

Yes queen/king/court jester, we're tackling alpha and beta readers: what they are, when you need them, how to find them, and what to ask for when someone agrees to read your ugly book baby. Consider this a companion to our last episode on critique partners and writing groups because we said so. In Hot Goss, we wonder why anyone cares how many books other people read in a year, and lose our min...

In this episode, we welcome our guest, Anne Wells, to the show to talk about writing groups and critique partners. We share our very different experiences: Meagan's unicorn-level luck with her supportive four-year-old writing group, Kirk's unfortunate writing-group curse, and Anne's adventures in a Meetup group where the rude go to die. We also dig into what makes a writing group actually work, ho...

In this episode, we're wrapping up our three-part series on novel, talking about actually finishing the thing, managing the emotional rollercoaster of finishing, stepping away after “The End,” and getting your manuscript ready for beta readers. In Hot Goss, we dive into the latest BookTok drama involving author and influencer Elyse Myers, reader spaces, parasocial relationships, and the increa...

Welcome back to the second part of our "So You Want to Write a Novel" series! Last week, we covered the basics: genre, POV, and whether your idea could just be vibes (spoiler: no). This week, we're tackling the actual writing part, which turns out to be kind of important. We discuss where (and where not) to start your novel , why your first draft is allowed to be garbage, and the imp...

Episode 14: “So You Want to Write a Novel — Really? (Part 1: Before You Begin)” This week, Meagan and Kirk kick off a three-part series on actually writing a novel. If you’ve ever said, “I think I’ll finally write that book,” this series is the audio equivalent of Cher slapping Nic Cage in the face in Moonstruck . Maybe. In Part 1 of the series, we’re talking reality checks and big decisions: are...

This week, we tackle every writer's favorite task (narrator: no it's not): revisions. From massive rewrites to line editing minutiae, we discuss what to keep, what to fix, and what to destroy in a fire. We also have some show news, as Rylan steps back to focus on her writing unless, you know, there was some kind of write-in campaign demanding her return. (ahem) Thank you Rylan for all of your hard...

This week, Meagan, Kirk, and Rylan talk about the wild world of online pitch events—you know, those (used-to-be) Twitter (and now Blue Sky) contests where you condense your entire manuscript into 280 characters and hope an agent notices you in the mob. Are they a legitimate path to publication? A performative Hunger Games for writers? A way to connect with your people? Spoiler: it's complicate...

This week, Kirk, Meagan, and Rylan sit down with debut author Amber Hamilton to talk about her dark academia romantasy, Seven Deadly Thorns , a twisted Snow White retelling where true love's kiss kills instead of resurrects. Amber shares her journey from rejection to landing five agent offers for her second novel, and the delicate balance between writing what your heart wants and writing what the...

This week, Meagan and Kirk tackle the sacred cows of writing advice, from “show, don’t tell” to “kill your darlings,” and then gleefully tip them over. We also discuss adverbs, passive voice, and confess to crimes against first drafts. Meagan shares post-conference war stories (and book five confessions), and Kirk reveals his "sure, why not?" two-adverbs-per-chapter rule. In Hot Goss, we...

The Bad Lit Friends are live(ish) and in person! Meagan, Kirk, and Rylan are recording from the Colorado Gold writers conference, sharing a microphone and thoughts on what it's really like to attend a writing conference. In this episode, we discuss: Our writing progress (or lack thereof) heading into the conference What to expect at your first writers conference versus what actually happens Th...

In this episode, Meagan, Rylan, and Kirk discuss the complexities of writer's block, sharing personal experiences and strategies for overcoming creative challenges. We explore the different types of writer's block, the importance of community support, and various techniques to stimulate creativity. And in our Hot Goss segment, we call out book haulers and performative book collecting for i...

Summary In this episode of Bad Lit Friends, we discuss arguably the most challenging part of your query package, the synopses. We share personal updates on our writing progress, delve into the structure of a synopsis, and explore common pitfalls. In our "hot gos" segment, we talk more about the Anthropic settlement, the future of publishing, and the impact of fan fiction on the traditional publish...

Rylan is off having East Coast adventures, so it’s just Meagan and Kirk left unsupervised like gossipy Kevin McCallisters. Whether you’re staring down your first query or have already sent out fifty, this episode is packed with hard-learned experience, do’s and don’ts, and the structure of your query letter. We break down the must-haves, and Kirk shares his actual hook that landed an agent. We als...

With Kirk away on vacation, Meagan is joined by producer (and guest co-host) Rylan for a deep dive into the writing contest industrial complex. Are contests a legitimate path to publication, or just an expensive detour filled with dashed hopes and black-box judging? Together they compare notes on entering contests, from quarter-finalist laurels to anthology publications, and debate whether the dea...

Content warning: We discuss the alleged sexual assault incidents at the Sinners and Stardust conference. (Starts at 29:00 and ends at 34:45) In this episode of Bad Lit Friends , Kirk and Meagan dive into the messy, beautiful realities of the writing life. They reflect on their own journeys as authors, sharing candid stories of jealousy, comparison, and imposter syndrome, as well as the pressure th...

Meagan and Kirk dive into the Reddit community r/PubTips, unpacking both the helpful advice and the more problematic trends they’ve seen circulating in the subreddit. They also explore some of the recurring debates that dominate r/PubTips, including the infamous word-count rules, comparative titles, and the murky territory of query personalization. For the Hot Goss segment, Meagan and Kirk turn to...

Meagan and Kirk pull back the curtain on an inevitable part of writing life: writing your next book when your first one’s fate is still hanging in the balance. Kirk has just completed the manuscript for his second novel while his debut is out on submission, and Meagan is halfway through drafting her follow-up while actively querying her first. Together, they explore the strange mental limbo of won...

In our chaotic debut, we ask the big (and terrifying) question: Are you still a writer if you're not actually writing? We discuss writing routines (or lack thereof), the myth of writing every day, perfectionism paralysis, the distinction between writing and writing-adjacent procrastination, and why having a cheering section might be the key to finishing anything. Also: research rabbit holes, book-...