Demythifying

Alexa play obsessed with me.... In this episode Lauren and Charlotte talk to Ella McLeod about "Andromeda". Obviously a huge part of the episode focuses around embracing and celebrating her heritage and they dive into why she's been whitewashed so much. They also get very into how Ella took making everything gayer to the next level with her romance choices. Obligatory spoilers inclu...

Lauren is joined this episode by Lindsey Byrd to dive into her duology "A Tale of Two Crowns".  The whole episode is spoilery starting with last years book one The Sun Blessed Prince and finishing up with the recent release The Moon Blessed King Tell us what you've been loving....

Disclaimer: no vampires in this book sparkle. Charlotte Cross joins Lauren to demyth her debut. A feminist gothic horror retelling of the brides of Dracula "The Brides". They delve alot into Charlottes writing process with letters and journals and different timelines. Her writing journey and advice for authors. What makes a book feminist... and a dollop of vampires. Obligatory spoilers i...

Call me Ishmail..... actually scratch that. Call our main character I as we delve into Hell's Heart with Lauren and author Alexis Hall.  They delve into how closely the book mirrors Moby Dick. Queer reading of the original novel and how the book was adapted to make it scifi There are the obligatory spoilers that go more into the AI choices of changing a racially stereotyped character and a ch...

This could well be Lauren's book of the year! Enter the world of The Last Starboon Seer.  Lauren finds out all about Venetia's debut journey and Venetia offers her opinions on tropes on fantasy. Prespoilers they talk about world creation and decisions in that process. In spoilers Lauren gets INTO plot points with Venetia which will hopefully keep her going during the long wait for book 2...

Get your warm hunting gear ready for The Red Winter. Lauren deepdives with debut author Cameron Sullivan about his pansexual monster hunter novel "The Red Winter". They go into the piece of werewolf lore that came from the Beast of Gevaudan story. The technical challenges of writing multiple timelines and how you deal with rejection. In spoilers they go into the folklore in TRW, history...

it's your typical love story woman meets bull... falls in lust and births the minotaur. but what if it wasn't? On this episode Lauren talks to Jane Dougherty about her twist on Pasiphae and the minotaur. Look out for the obilgatory spoiler section with more plot deep disections. Tell us what you've been loving....

Timna Devolpi joins Lauren and Charlotte in time for Valentine's to talk all things love and dating in the Ancient Greek myth world as they chat about her book  The Goddess Dating Guide. From loved-up couples to familial heartbreak, with some very thought provoking questions in between, it all gets discussed, and listen to the end to hear Timna's reality TV castings of the Olympians! Fol...

In the last episode of the year Lauren gets into Made Things with Adrian Tchaikovsky to celebrate its UK release. Firstly they get into his degree... his writing process and a little bit into his back catalogue. They also deep dive into Made Things with plot points and spoilers. Including which of the homonculi types Adrian would like to be Tell us what you've been loving....

Norse Mythology retellings or inspired fiction seem so thin on the ground compared to other mythologies so OBVIOUSLY Lauren was all over Rachel Van Dykens "Fallen Gods". Lauren finds out all about the inspiration behind it, background information needed and the US setting. In plot points they go more into runes, more into characters and discuss the ending. Tell us what you've been lo...

Lauren jumped at the opportunity to speak to romantasy great Carissa Broadbent about the first in a trilogy Daughter of No Worlds after it was picked up by traditional publishers. Talking about the inspiration behind the main characters. Carissa's feelings on booktok and transitioning to traditional publishing and those all obligatory plot spoilers Tell us what you've been loving....

What if you see a little something you can't quite explain but your brain tries to rationalise?  Venture into Angel City for the first in the Red City series with Lauren and author Marie Lu. Lauren gets into the world building of the alternate Los Angeles (Angel City) and it's alchemy magic system. They discuss the challenges of YA vs Adult writing, Marie's reaction to the AI emotio...

Head on a quest for family with Lauren and Maddie Martinez as they dive into The Maiden and Her Monster. They discuss how Maddies educational background shaped the novel and the history of the Jewish Golem myth. They also talk about the crafting of the love plot and obviously obligatory spoilers Tell us what you've been loving....

Jane is back for a bumper episode about one of the first women of Rome.... Fulvia. They get into roles of women and the perfect Roman woman and what Rome was like in Fulvias time. They dig into certain events from Fulvias life (taxes), her choice to remarry and reremarry and of course THOSE bullets. They also play and invite you to play along with one of the stressiest Shag Marry Kills ever Tell u...

We all know the story of Anthony and Cleopatra. Have you ever thought about their daughter? No Lauren hadn't either until she discovered Dr Jane Draycotts book all about her. They get into the backstory of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, iconography and retrospective romantacising. Then we get into the woman of the moment and her journey from Egyptian Princess to Roman Prisoner and then Finally A...

Lauren is going full on lover girl for a summer of love with Phoenicia Rogerson and her second book Aphrodite. They cover thousands of years of mythology guided by a goddess? who admits straight away that she lies.  They get into the two origin stories of her and fitting that into an already confusing timeline and theres obvious obligatory spoilers Tell us what you've been loving....

Get ready to adventure down to the underworld.... Lauren hangs out with one of her earliest guests JJA Harwood for advice on how to get an undead vampire husband of her own ala FMC Irina. They discuss Jo's vampire reseach and real life weddings to the undead. Jo enthuses hard about her partly research and partly fun trips to Romania. In obligatory spoilers they get into Jo's underwordly...

Have you ever been obsessed with a book before you've even read it? Thats how Lauren felt about Liz's new book Sinners. Introducing us properly to Beatrice Cenci who you may remember from Disobedient. They go into her story, Liz teaches Lauren about convent dowries and what early Rome was like. In the obligatory spoilers they get into the events around a court case, a painting that for y...

Lauren goes back to school with Shannon Mayer and her FMC Harlow -  a more age relatable morally grey heroine. They get into world building, staple fantasy building blocks like chosen family, why we love magic systems and school books and Shannons journey from indie published to traditional publishing. The spoilers are some of the hottest ever with a teaser for book 2 including the book two name a...

Lauren meets a new Roman woman to the historical fiction space - Fulvia. Author Kaarina Parker teaches Lauren how not to get pregnant the ancient Roman way. They discuss which theory about the Bona Dea festival they want to bring back together and Kaarina makes her views on one Roman orator VERY clear. They discuss the obligatory spoilers as they demyth the first of Kaarinas duology about the life...

Lauren plays host to Leigh Radford this episode. They talk about femgore, zombies and which item frightened Leigh that she found in a flat more than a second hand zombie husband. The episode gets very raw as Leigh reveals her lack of science background and the inspiration behind the book leading to a raw and honest heart to heart between her and Lauren They obviously discuss obligatory One Yellow...

Who would think time travel could mix with crime and Jane Austen... none other than this episodes guest Amelia Blackwell. She and Lauren get into the ridiculousness of weaving these three ideas together. Why Austen is still important today and how hard it actually is to find a guy in finance who's 6' 5" with blue eyes. There's obligatory spoilers into the plot and Lauren brings...

This episode Lauren delves into all things dragon with L R Lam. Building of magic systems, gender fluidity and making dragons sexy. This episode rather than a spoiler section the episode splits to delve into book one and book two Tell us what you've been loving....

Lauren welcomes back Emily for the second part of deep diving into Mythica and this episode Lauren cherry picks women from The Odyssey.  They talk about the importance of new translations. More on what the Linear B tablets can tell us and go into Lauren's favourite topic weaving. They agree on coming back as a sexually charged magic female goddess as being life goals and why certain women sho...

This episode is the first of a two-parter with Emily Hauser. Today we look into some of the women in the Illiad and dive into chapters in Emily's new book Mythica Tell us what you've been loving....