Story Deep Dive Podcast

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel close out their month on Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros with their editor’s takeaways: the developmental-editor view of what this blockbuster teaches working writers. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on earning reader trust by showing what you tell, why your protagonist ha...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel close out their month on Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros with their editor’s takeaways: the developmental-editor view of what this blockbuster teaches working writers. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on earning reader trust by showing what you tell, why your protagonist ha...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel dig into the characters of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: the secondary cast that mirrors the protagonist, a love triangle with two real answers, and the POV choice that makes the dragon banter land. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on anchoring your cast to your protagon...

Rachel from Story Cipher here! If you’ve been around awhile, you’ve heard me talk week to week about the Academy where I coach members through writing their novels. This week, I’m opening the doors for new members! If you are struggling to get the story in your head actually on the page, I can show you how! When you join the Academy, we get you started with what is called Novel 101, where we spend...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel break down the plot of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, from the in-medias-res opening to the magic system that had both editors reaching for their red pens. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on opening at full speed without flattening your escalation, choosing how an academ...

Hey Story Deep Dive fam! You know I talk about story on here all the time. The craft of it. What makes a reader stay up past midnight. What makes a book impossible to put down. I run a Bootcamp for romance writers a few times a year. Five days, one hour a day, where I walk writers through plotting their romance novel using the framework I’ve used to plot hundreds of books over twenty years. By the...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel open their four-part deep dive into Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros with the conversation every romantasy writer needs first: what this genre actually is and what it demands of you. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on blending two genres without shortchanging either, intert...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this bonus episode, Dana and Rachel dig into structure — not as a set of rules imposed from the outside, but as the tool that makes telling a story actually possible. Whether you’ve been resisting a beat sheet or spinning out on a blank page, this episode reframes structure as a cheat code that works for you and a compass that points toward the story you’re trying to...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel close out their month-long study of Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas with the editor’s takeaways — the distilled craft lessons a writer should carry out of this book into their own work. They also preview June’s pick, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and open a substantive conversation about romantasy as a developing genre and what hap...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel break down the character work in Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas — including the POV approach that wouldn’t fly in today’s market, the Hathaway family as an active story force, Poppy’s growth from sheltered girl to decisive woman, and Harry’s transformation that’s meaningful without being a full 180. Whether you’re a romance writer,...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel dig into the plot mechanics of Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas — specifically what happens when a romance doesn’t have a concrete external goal, and how tropes can function as a story’s structural engine when the external conflict is light. Whether you’re a romance writer, a fantasy author, or anyone working through the question of...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel open their month-long study of Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas with an overview of what makes this Victorian romance worth a full four-episode breakdown. Whether you’re a romance writer, a historical fiction author, or a story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights on crafting a thematic series spine, deploying modern tropes insi...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! This week Dana and Rachel close out their four-part Spinning Silver series with editor’s takes — the final synthesis, the honest prescriptions, and the distilled craft framework from a story that rewards close study. They also announce their next book: Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas — a regency romance, a morally gray hero, and a protagonist who just wants a quiet...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! This week Dana and Rachel go deep on character in Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — how Novik builds three women who are fully distinct, how she generates reader sympathy for protagonists who could easily read as cold or difficult, and what “three forms of magic” actually means when you’re studying how a story makes you care. Whether you write fantasy, romance, or any ge...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! This week Dana and Rachel dig into the plot of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — specifically how she escalates stakes without a single major character death, navigates tension across a multi-POV structure, and uses a bargaining thread to keep every major story event personally costly. Whether you write fantasy, romance, or any genre where your characters need to feel ge...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel open their four-part series on Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik with a full overview of the book, its historical context, and the craft framework they’ll be unpacking across the month. Whether you write fantasy, romance, or any genre in between, you’ll come away with a clearer picture of how to use multiple points of view intentionally, ho...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this bonus episode, Dana and Rachel step away from the book analysis for a coaching conversation that keeps coming up in both of their communities: why does writing a novel feel so hard, and what’s actually happening when it does? They break down the vision gap, the first-draft mindset, and what it actually means to finish — so you can stop circling the same chapters...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Rachel and Dana wrap up their discussion of Sin & Magic by K.F. Breene by pulling together the biggest craft takeaways from the book. From individual character stakes to world expansion, romantic tension, and the role of book two in a same-couple series, this conversation highlights what makes a sequel feel necessary, compelling, and structurally strong...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel dive into the character work in Sin & Magic by K.F. Breene, exploring how book two in a series can deepen relationships, expand the cast, and strengthen both emotional and structural stakes. Whether you’re a writer, reader, or storyteller, you’ll gain valuable insights on how to manage a growing ensemble cast, how character arcs evolve a...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Rachel Arsenault and Dana Pittman dive into the plot craft of K.F. Breene’s Sin & Magic (Book 2 in Demigods of San Francisco ), exploring what it takes to build a satisfying installment inside a long series—without losing the romance-first reader promise. Whether you’re a romance writer, fantasy/paranormal writer, or storyteller building a series, you’l...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive! In this episode, Dana and Rachel kick off their deep dive into Sin & Magic by K.F. Breene (book two in the Demigods of San Francisco series) by examining it as writers—with a special focus on what it takes to sustain a single-couple paranormal romance across six books. Whether you’re a romance writer, paranormal author, or story strategist, you’ll gain valuable insights...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive ! In this episode, hosts Rachel and Dana wrap up their four-week discussion of Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan—not as readers, but as writers. Whether you’re a writer, editor, or storyteller studying romance craft, you’ll gain valuable insights on how to balance heavy themes with joy, how “realistic” character choices can cap emotional highs and lows, and how to use back...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive ! In this episode, Rachel and Dana dive into the cast of characters in Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan—breaking down how character design, lived-in history, and community dynamics can carry a story with emotional power. Whether you’re a writer, storyteller, or craft-minded reader, you’ll gain valuable insights on how to build protagonists shaped by grief and recovery, ho...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive ! In this episode, Rachel and Dana kick off a three-week craft breakdown of Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan—reading as writers, not just readers. Whether you’re a writer, editor, or storyteller, you’ll gain practical insight into how to build deeply realistic characters, sustain romantic tension in a second-chance setup, and weave heavy topics like grief and therapy into...

Welcome to Story Deep Dive ! In this episode, Rachel and Dana kick off a three-week craft breakdown of Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan—reading as writers, not just readers. Whether you’re a writer, editor, or storyteller, you’ll gain practical insight into how to build deeply realistic characters, sustain romantic tension in a second-chance setup, and weave heavy topics like grief and therapy into...