YA-OK

This week we are doing a Spoiler Filled Deep Dive into Erik's new Thriller "Better The Devil". Make sure you have read the book prior to this episode to avoid spoilers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our 50th Episode we sit down with Ellen Cochrane who took a true story she remembered from her youth and crafted an exciting and informative middle group book out of it. Follow the Water has strong "Hatchet" vibes in all the best ways and we know you're gonna love Ellen as much as we did! ⁠Buy Merch⁠ ⁠Join Our Facebook Group⁠ ⁠Follow us on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

We're back!! Today we sit down with author Cassie Miller to discuss her debut YA Novel "Meet Me Under the Lights"! This book was pitched to us as "Friday Night Lights" meets "The Notebook" which obviously checked all our boxes. Enjoy an hour conversation about baseball, theater and Kenny Ortega! Also at the end Erik gives a life update and how it will affect our release schedule for the next year...

In a mini-Episode Producer Matt sits down with past guest Lance Rubin about his new book Forever 16 and the audiobook he made with his wife and brother! Buy Merch Join Our Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we go through our favorite books we read in 2025! Buy some merch! Follow us on Instagram! Join Our Facebook Group! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our Christmas Episode this year we are very excited to be joined by Kevin Jakubowski, a screenplay writer who wrote the YA novel 8-Bit Christmas which later became a huge hit on HBO Max. We discuss the transition from screenplays to novels as well as what it was like seeing his first book become a film! Buy some merch Follow us on Instagram Join our Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choi...

This week we are joined by the author team Fox Starr about their new Fantasy YA novel The Bone Tower! Buy some YA-OK Merch Follow us on Instagram Join our Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Randy Ribay who wrote the critically acclaimed Patron Saints of Nothing as well as well as some Avatar The Last Airbender novels and the more recently released "Everything We Never Had" Buy YA-OK Merch Follow us on IG Join our FB Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Erik and Alyssa are joined by Abigail Hing Wen who talks about her novel "Loveboat, Taipei" which was turned into a Netflix movie as well as her newest novel "The Vale" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in honor of Halloween just around the corner Erik takes the time to educate Alyssa and Producer Matt on all the dark tales we missed out by not reading Christopher Pike in their youth! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 5, 2005 Twilight hit book shelves and immediately became a global phenomenon! Today to celebrate that Alyssa and Erik dive into their history of these books and if they think they hold up still! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Jeff Miller about his middle-grade book Rare Birds. Jeff talks about getting his foot in the door in writing and what lead to this much more adult themed book compared to his previous work! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week instead of our usual interviews Producer Matt talks to host Erik J Brown about why you should pre-order his new book "Better Than Devil" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Alyssa and Erik are joined by author Zachary Sergi to discuss his new book Love & Video Games! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are thrilled to welcome Heir of Storms author Lauryn Hamilton Murray to discuss her debut novel and why she loves fantasy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Rory Power to discuss her newest novel Kill Creatures as well as her award winning novel Wilder Girls! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are thrilled to have this week's guest Kiersten White on! For the last year we've all raved about how much we love the book Mister Magic, but now that Kiersten has released a YA Thriller called "The House of Quiet" we finally were able to invite her on! Unfortunately Alyssa was unavailable for this interview but Erik has more than enough questions for Kiersten! Learn more about your ad choices....

Instead of a guest this week we are breaking down the books we love that gives us Summer Vibes and at least one book we haven't read but look forward to reading this summer to hopefully give us summer vibes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by J.L. Simmonds whose new YA “Run Away With Me” has been described as Thelma & Louise with Lesbians! We discuss how Aerosmith inspired the plot, the perfect naming of Muppet bands and why despite being in Europe J.L. felt like the road trip story only worked in the United States! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are excited to welcome back Jennifer Dugan, our first return guest. Since we dove into Jennifer’s process last time this time we discuss movies, Kristen Stewart, straight men and concussions. We do also find time to discuss Summer Girls, Jennifer’s newest book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are honored to be joined by author Brian Selznick! Brian is a beloved author in the realm of middle grade famously illustrating Andrew Clements "Frindle" and then writing The Invention of Hugo Cabret which later became the Martin Scorsese film "Hugo". Now he's dipping his toe into the world of YA with his new novel "Runaway With Me"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

This week we were joined by Natalie Naudus, Natalie has one of the more unique trajectories of any author we've had on the show. Natalie started her career doing audiobook readings before deciding to write a book of her own. We discuss her debut novel Gay the Pray Away! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author K. Ancrum who you may remember as the author of "icarus" which was Erik's favorite read of last year! She joins us to promote her new book "The Corruption of Hollis Brown" and discuss her early says writing short fiction and her path to critically acclaimed books! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author and literary agent Eric Smith to discuss his books (including his newest novel With or Without You) as well as his career as a literary agent! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by Laura Zimmermann the author of My Eyes Are Up Here as well as Just Do This One Thing For Me. Laura was put on our radar by past guest Lance Rubin and she was an ABSOLUTE DELIGHT! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices