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Tarah DeWitt: Savor It, Narrative Therapy, and What’s Next! | S4Ep4
371 Plays3 months ago
USA-Today Best-selling Author Tarah DeWitt joins us to talk about her recent release Savor It, and the re-releases of Funny Feelings and the Co-Op! She also teases what readers can expect from her forthcoming novel Left of Forever and plays a round of “Build of Romance Book.” Follow Tarah on Instagram!
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Transcript
Introduction and Special Guest Announcement
00:00:08
Speaker
Good morning. Welcome to Bring Your Own, a catch all bookish most of the time podcast. I'm Brandi. I'm Kendra. I'm Kayla. And today we have a very special guest with us. We're so excited. We were teasing it at the end of last episode. But today with us is Tara DeWitt. Yay. Hi, Tara. Hi, I'm so excited to be here.
Meet Tara DeWitt
00:00:33
Speaker
We're pumped if you've been living under a rock and you don't know who Tara is. Tara is an author, wife, and mom. She felt like she devoured every rom-com available in 2020, and she indulged herself in writing bits and pieces of her own. Eventually, those ramblings from the Notes app turned into her debut novel, so Tara loves Stories centered around perfectly imperfect characters, specifically the ones who may have just enough trauma to keep them funny without being forcefully cavalier. She believes laughter is an essential part of romance, friendship, parenting, and life. So thank you so much for being here, Tara. Good job on that. That was such a mouthful. And I always thought every time that's read back in my hand, I really should change that. I love it. It's great.
Host Updates and Recent Reads
00:01:15
Speaker
Since obviously I got that from your website, it didn't have savor it listed in like the author ofs yet. So I added savor it there at the end. I was like, oh, she needs to include savor on there. Thank you so much. I am in the process of updating my website and changing it over to like a different thing now. So it's a little
00:01:33
Speaker
It's a little outdated currently. Yeah, lots of changes. We'll talk about them all. Oh, yeah. gosh But before we get started, what are you guys reading? What are you drinking? I'll go first. I am back to school officially. The children are back in my classroom full time. And I, of course, immediately got sick within the first week and a half. I was going to say, are you sick? Yeah.
00:01:54
Speaker
Mm-hmm, sure I am, so I have some chai tea, um it's not like a latte, like a true like chai tea, just to try and, you know, work some stuff out. And then what I'm currently reading, I just started attachments to by Rainbow Rowell on audio last night, so I'm excited about that, yeah. But I'm also listening to The Bond Dies First by Joelle Wellington, um and I was listening to that last night, but it got too scared, you guys.
00:02:21
Speaker
It's scary. I was just like, oh, this is unsettling. I would like like to listen to audiobooks as I'm like you know winding down. I was like, this is pumping me up. So I'm also listening to that. So yeah, that's what I'm reading right now. Cool. and cool I am drinking water. Womp womp. Nothing fun. um I did have coffee this morning, but let's see. I am re-listening to Bella Donna by Adeline Grace. Oh my god. That's crazy.
00:02:47
Speaker
Cause I want to do with Syria. yeah Oh my God, slay. I want to do with Syria, but I feel like I would do that book a disservice if I didn't reread. Cause I forgot everything. So, um, and these two, Kayla and Brandy, if I were to say one bad thing about with Syria, they rip my head off. So.
00:03:08
Speaker
because i wasn't the biggest fan of fox club it's okay so you know there's a time maybe my opinion we'll see on your reread yeah we'll see we'll change yeah but um ah that's all i'm doing right now like not physically reading anything my reading is slowing down i've had a very very very busy month i just bought my first house which i can finally say i happened literally yesterday i'm so excited thank you yes i'm officially a homeowner and i feel really proud of myself so Yeah, that's that's what I'm doing in life currently. Yeah, you got a lot going on. I know it's very busy. Yes.
Tara's Current Reads and New Kittens
00:03:43
Speaker
I'm back to my roots today. I do have a Coke Zero. I feel like I've actually like I talk about Coke Zero all the time on this podcast, but I haven't had it in a long time at a reasonable time to probably well um
00:03:56
Speaker
It's 9 a.m. That is not the truth to be so clear. like hold that and wait a second It was 11 45 a.m. And Kendra was like, oh my God, Kayla, it's not even noon. I'm like, it's literally 15 minutes to noon.
00:04:09
Speaker
mean anyway you It's a cafe and a beverage. I'll give you that. What does it matter? And then I am currently reading Rebel Witch by Kristin Sicarelli, which is the second book in the ah Crimson Moth series, which I, you know, love The Heartless Hunter, brain I both did. So I'm reading that arc right now. And then I'm listening to The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean by i just got that Anne Rose. ah Thank you so much PRH Audio besties. Love you guys so much.
00:04:45
Speaker
Um, and it's, it's super interesting. I knew zero about it, um, going in, but basically it's this story of this girl who's getting ready to get married on her wedding day, but you don't know who she's getting married to. And so it like goes in the past and like goes through all of her different, like the different relationships that she's had. So it's like a mystery who she's going to marry by the end of this book. And so it's really interesting. I'm really enjoying that. But yeah, that's currently what I'm, what
Publishing Journey: Indie to St. Martin's Press
00:05:10
Speaker
I'm reading. Tara, are you reading or drinking anything right now?
00:05:13
Speaker
I am. you know I was off the sauce for a few weeks, but I've had a time. like it just it's been ah It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I'm back on my diet club bullshit. This is my second one of the day. I had my first one at 9 a.m. Okay, yeah. No judgment. No judgment. No judgment. Oh, but when it's me. Okay, but when it's me, I got it. Yeah, I got it. It has been- You're not our special guest.
00:05:36
Speaker
yeah
00:05:39
Speaker
i I was really like, you know what? I've got to get off i've got to get off the coke. I've got to like fix my life. i'm You know what? I'm going to embrace tea. And I was. I was doing great for a while. And then two weeks ago, I had a day and I cracked open a crisp one. And I went, oh, this is why life is worth living again. So I got a 36 pack i mean immediately. go but anyway As you should, they missed you at the story. They said, oh my gosh, where have you been? Yeah.
00:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, I am reading right now. I'm reading the finest print by Erin Langston. It's a historical and I am just enamored with it. I love how Erin writes. I just she's so playful with language, but in a way that makes sense. You don't ever like sit back and go that was
Re-release Experiences and Changes
00:06:36
Speaker
kind of a weird word. do you You never have any of that.
00:06:39
Speaker
And I think that's kind of been something I've noticed since I started writing is that my brain really likes that to be kind of tickled that way. And the men she writes are just so hot.
00:06:54
Speaker
down bad. It gives me all those feelings that like the the best Clapas books give me and stuff too. so I love historicals. um Yeah, I started reading them because of you. i youah youre You appreciate my unhinged historical loves too. Tame of the Highlander. Oh, that one was so fun. one i That one I had broken band.
00:07:19
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, and I'm re-listening to Bella Donna because I want to eventually read Wisteria. I never even read Fox Live. I did listen to this before, and I really have loved the audio book, but I couldn't tell you. I couldn't remember a single thing, so yeah my brain has just been overloaded.
00:07:39
Speaker
I love it. Yeah. I was like, who's Percy? And then I was like, oh. Who's Percy? it's Crazy. Oh, all right. All right. Awesome. Amazing. Also, um totally unrelated. But Tara, I saw that you just got some new kitties. I almost like brought them in so that I could just have them on here. They're just teeny, teeny, tiny. Yeah, somebody um found them and abandoned a parking lot. And I...
00:08:08
Speaker
but have like this thing where I just feel so bad for specifically for black cats because they are they take the longest to get adopted and also like a bunch of things came into like fell into alignment at the right time. My husband found rats in our garage and I was like, and he goes, man, maybe we need to get a rat cat. And I've just been waiting on that permission for forever. So I went, I've got two. You said it once. Yeah. So they are, yeah, I went and scooped them up this week. They're adorable. They're ridiculous. Kittens are so funny. And they're so easy. They're so smart. It's nothing like a puppy. Puppies definitely feel like you can compare them to men. They need to be trained, and they need to be like handheld and stuff a little bit more. But the cats figured out how to use their litter box within 30 minutes. It was insane. It was funny. It was funny little things. And what are their names? Oh, Zelda and Scampi. Oh, Scampi, that's so cute. I love that.
00:09:18
Speaker
and my kids came up with them. All right. Should we jump in? You guys? Yes. We're going to do some questions. And then as always, we do have a little bit of a game, which Tara doesn't know about. So we're really excited to get to that. We always enjoyed that piece. It's so fun.
Themes and Character Challenges
00:09:35
Speaker
OK. So first, Tara, you self-published your very first book, Root Brown, in 2021, correct? Yes.
00:09:42
Speaker
yeah ah Can you talk to us about your journey as an indie author into someone who is now signed with St. Martin's Press, as well as just the inspiration behind wanting to write that first book? um Absolutely. i So during 2020,
00:09:59
Speaker
i but Before 2020, I had only ever read romanticy and fantasy paranormal stuff because I like kind of grew up on that those escapist reads and that was what my I was sort of used to. and Then 2020 rolled around and i was like and I go through some bouts of insomnia you know every once in a while. and When I wasn't sleeping, I was reading and I just got really sick of like the existential world ending type foe and then everybody having magical power because at that point I was like, I would like to magic myself the fuck out of my house because we were all trapped.
00:10:44
Speaker
and um I just couldn't, I was, it was the first time in my life I couldn't connect and now I'm a big huge, again, I've, I've reacquainted myself with romanticy. But during that time i I was like, I got to find something else. And then I think the very, the very first rom-com I picked up was The Unhoneymooners.
00:11:03
Speaker
by Christina Lauren. And I went back and binged pretty much everything
Insight into 'Left of Forever'
00:11:09
Speaker
they've ever written. I read Tessa Bailey. I read Kate Claiborne. I went through the gambit of of everything and was addicted to it. was also There were a again a few things that came into play here. I was also binging Yellowstone like everybody did that year. yeah um And I just kind of kept thinking about like it would be so nice. I kept imagining myself like escaping to wide open spaces. And so I started like literally writing things in scenes and stuff in the notes app on my phone. And I never thought I would show it to anybody. like i I wrote this book when the rest of my family was asleep. like Eventually, I did go to my laptop and do it. um
00:12:00
Speaker
I had a friend who had a Bookstagram account and for years she had been telling me,
Exploring 'Savor It'
00:12:05
Speaker
you read more than anybody I know, you read more than people on Bookstagram, you should start one. And I went, no, because then I'll try to take pictures of stuff and I won't actually be reading. yeah that um And I was always bugging her for Rex, but I actually had was a few glasses of wine deep at our Friendsgiving that we do every year.
00:12:26
Speaker
And I admitted it to her, and she was like, let me see it. And so I like had the doc like pulled up on my phone, and she started reading it. And she was like, you have to try. You finish the book. You have to try to get it published. And I went, no, I'm absolutely not going to do that. i'm If I get rejected by you know one querying one agent, I'll be like, OK, never mind. I don't need to do this. This was yeah fun to me. I don't need um to do that. But she was like, no, there
Crafting Intimate Scenes
00:12:55
Speaker
are people who self-publish now.
00:12:57
Speaker
And so then that sort of opened up my mind. I was like, what do I have to lose? I'll just put it out there. So I did. And I didn't know anything about the marketing process beforehand. i didn't There was a lot that I i sort of stumbled into. um but then But I just got really lucky that ah there were a few people. I think the first person that ever read Root Bound was Danielle, who's um forever booked up.
00:13:26
Speaker
and i don't know if you know but i yeah i think i follow yeah yeah yeah and then And then people just started reading it and talking about it. And after that was when I was the,
Future Writing and 'Birds of Spoons'
00:13:37
Speaker
like, I kind of had like this baby blues, but book blues thing. I started watching a lot of comedy again, cause that's my, my favorite, you know, past times. And that's when the idea of funny feelings sort of shaped up in my head and that, um,
00:13:53
Speaker
That's the one that you know took off and and a lot of people read and were talking about. and it just I never thought anything of it, um but it did well enough that I was like, okay, I'm going to pursue this. and um If I can replace my income, you know I'll get to do it full-time. The co-op came out. My agent happened to read the co-op on KU.
00:14:20
Speaker
and then reached out to me on Instagram. It was such a backwards journey. I got very, very lucky. like It was such a crazy, and she was like, I want to know what you're working on next. And that was when I had started working on Savor It. So then um I decided, ah you know yeah, I'm going to have her represent me. I'm going to try. And they wanted to buy my backlist books, too. So they bought my backlist books and then signed me for a couple of new ones.
00:14:49
Speaker
and that's how it all came into place. Wow. That's awesome. I love that. It's very cool. It's always good
Hypothetical Romance Game
00:14:57
Speaker
to hear like positive stories coming out of the pandemic. How much do you think things happened? Because it's been like something like you would have never been here. like No, I wouldn't have. Definitely not. i If I hadn't you know just been not sleeping and scribbling random things on my notes app. Okay. So funny feelings has officially been re-released out into the world. And then the co-op is coming up. What is it? October or November that it's coming out? November, November 12th. Comes out November 12th of this year. Can you talk about with funny feelings? Like how did your re-release day differ from your like first release day? Um, and how like did they compare? Yeah.
00:15:39
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. um So as I re-release the marketing, like going up to a re-release is a little bit different because even when they like transferred over to my publisher, the eBooks were already released. So there wasn't like an ER distribution, but there were like libraries and stuff that got copies for the first time because when I was self-publishing, it was very hard to get. There were some like librarians that happened to be on Bookstagram.
00:16:09
Speaker
and and in social media. And
Episode Wrap-Up and Social Media
00:16:11
Speaker
they that's how they got my copies of my books. But otherwise, you know the distribution process for that is a little bit different. But it was it was definitely ah like kind of a quieter sort of release. in ah and But it was like this very affirming thing, because there were all these people that loved Funny Feelings so much that they were like celebrating it with me. Like, oh, good. Now other people get to come and love it too.
00:16:37
Speaker
know The build up for Savor It for me was, it was actually kind of a really ah difficult transition because I was, I had gone into this very driven mode where, okay, I'm, I was close to, I never did ads. I never did anything like that. My books were, I was just very lucky that people were talking about my books and so they were doing well enough. And I got to quit my job that made me miserable and I got to,
00:17:06
Speaker
you know, do this, I did release a book, three books within this man of a year. And so going from that and from like, and like immediately you know kind of hustling to being done with a book a year before it actually comes out. yeah it was really it would kind of it kind of like was It was such a hard transition because you're like, what do I talk about? What do I post about? but do i it That becomes part of your what you consider part of your job. you know and so um But it was like when it went out and when it
00:17:44
Speaker
you know did ah did fairly well in everything and everything. I definitely put a lot more pressure on it just because I knew, okay, it's automatically going to be seen by more eyes just because the accessibility of it in stores and all that. it it was But it was really cool. It was really fun. It was it was Like, again, like a very affirming sort of experience, I guess. do you notice like Do you think there's a difference between your audience that you had being indie published versus like the new readers you've discovered being trad? I think so. Yeah. I think that a lot of it, um there are definitely, but like when you're indie,
00:18:29
Speaker
um ah Again, like the your primary marketing is is social media, is everybody online. And so people are to talking to you constantly about it. But and like i there are like I've met people at in-person events for Savorit and stuff who are like, you know they've never posted about my books because they don't they're not on Bookstagram or Booktalk. And so knowing that there's like talking to an audience outside of that and then and just kind of their perspective, like
00:19:01
Speaker
you know, somebody's like, I can't believe you actually responded to me. And I always laugh at that. I'm like, Yeah, I, this was hilarious that you responded to my story about this with like this feral, you know, of course, I'm gonna respond. I think it's great. But so yeah, definitely. and But I wouldn't say like, I wouldn't say that taste is different, necessarily. And what but you know, the energy around certain books, like in social media and stuff is what kind of the the difference where I noticed the differences, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. So speaking of the re-releases, you have the co-op coming out, like we said, November 12th. And you mentioned and have mentioned a couple of times that this book has gone through some like very serious changes. um Can you speak a little to that for the folks who have read it and loved it and for people who are picking it up for the first time? Yeah, um absolutely. i
00:20:00
Speaker
when I first sold it to them, I was like, and if you I had, I always have like bonus material for my books that never gets seen. I always tell myself I'll put it out in newsletters, and then I'm terrible at doing that. So ah they don't always go out. Um, so I kind of had, you know, bonus scenes and other little notes and stuff. So I had just said, like, if you if we want to, when it comes to re releasing, if You want extra material added in, let me know. um Then you know my editor at the time went went through and was like, you know what if we do what if we like do an edit on it? And so and she was like, you can takee pick and choose. you know
00:20:45
Speaker
take and leave what you want from these suggestions. But once I was in it, and like based on some of the suggestions that were already there, it became like a full restructure of the book. And when I initially wrote it, I had just written Funny Feelings, which was dual timeline. And I didn't know, I didn't think it was a good idea to do two dual timeline books.
00:21:07
Speaker
in a row um just because you know I wanted to like explore you know my range or whatever. um but it is like I realized with their story, like there ah were things that just would have made more sense to see instead of just be told. like i need i It was would have been better to show.
00:21:31
Speaker
And so I started um getting into it and it just things other things just went into alignment like with the some of the side characters so that it made more sense and added more.
00:21:44
Speaker
motivation um to the to why the characters are the way they are and and what things they do and how things transpire. So it I would never, ever, ever want to do it again. um Editing a book that you've been done with for a year like to that extent is... I'd rather write a new book, an entirely new book from the beginning than ever do that again, just because you're so you get so attached to characters and, you know, when you're in them and in their voices and you're putting so much you're trying to like be objective while you're writing, but it never happens. So you're so like immersed that
00:22:27
Speaker
when you've been out of their heads and and their motivations for a long time and then you get back in, it's just so frustrating to try to like puzzle it together the right way. that yeah and This book, I knew from the get-go, like this the co-op would be my most like divisive book because there I went from Farley and Meyer who are very like easy to love from page one to Oh, how am I going to like either of these people with the koala? And I like that as a reader, I like to be like, Oh, how are they going to, how is, how am I going to be sold on these characters just individually and on their romance? So I knew it would always be divisive, but the people that love that book love it hard because they identify with them. So I had that added pressure on it and like wanting to figure out a way to
00:23:21
Speaker
for the characters to stay themselves, but for the pieces of the story to to change in a way that enhanced it all it didn't just nothing felt like filler, you know, it was it was a huge undertaking. But I have to say like, I think that that book is probably you know because of the stakes and how like they're unlikable at first and how they come together in the end. I think it's some of my best stuff, so I'm really proud of how it came together. It was worth it in the end, but
00:23:58
Speaker
I tell you what, I um ah i pretty much almost, my poor agent, my poor agent, I don't think when she signed me, she knew she was gonna be my part-time therapist. I will say like, having gotten to read the newer version, it has been like such a treat as somebody who read, you know, the indie co-op years ago to like be able to revisit these characters. It's like kind of everybody's dream a little bit, right? To like yeah get to live that story again, but have it feel brand new.
00:24:27
Speaker
um so i I hope that the people who loved the co-op initially are like feeling really excited because it's it's so good. Oh, good. I'm so glad. You're re-releasing the audio book too. Is that correct? is that kind it's getting It's getting a new audio book, yes. It is being re-recorded now. um Yeah. Yeah. I'm so excited. Okay. This might be a little hard.
00:24:53
Speaker
you know okay um I hate to make people pick favorites, but I'm going to ask anyways, do you have a favorite book that you've written and it can include, you know, books that haven't come out yet. Um, and do you also have a favorite couple you've written? Yes. That's great. Oh, okay. Uh, I have to say that it is harder. It's very close for me between left of forever.
00:25:23
Speaker
And the coop two point zero co co-op 2.0, the, I like, again, because those characters are just such a specific, so specific and like such, um like they're like razor sharp personalities. I'm really proud of how I think they become and in the end and grow in a realistic way and all that, but Left of Forever is so like personal to me. I think writing that book was like,
00:25:54
Speaker
it Yeah, and the Ren and Ellis are, I don't know, the one I'm writing right now, my rival Ren and Ellis were my favorite couple, but I would say Ren and Ellis are like my favorite, my favorite couple too. Yeah. Love to hear that. Mine too. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. we do like ah i get giddy I get giddy when I think about it. Anyways, sorry. I love, I just, ah there's certain books that like,
00:26:23
Speaker
I try not to get caught up in the themes of the book and like sacrifice plot just to explore themes, but I think the best books like have a really strong theme and plot. sort of like You create like an intricate enough plot to to bring it to life. and For me, the themes in Left of Forever are like how you know, life does give us sort of chances that are in circumstances that make our relationships harder. And you can't control that aspect of things, but like lasting love ultimately comes down to choice. And so I think seeing how that can all come into play and how
00:27:05
Speaker
certain things in rent analysis life like did affect their marriage and and hurt them, like especially when you fall in love with your person and have a kid with them before you have a fully developed frontal lobe. I mean, you like it it changes you. It changes your ability to make the right choices and communicate correctly. And I think that showing that, but showing that like ultimately it came down to a choice and they chose to split. and now like Why now? and getting to I don't know, getting to explore that. It's so hard to talk in circles around books without like giving away too many spoilers, especially because I know you guys have read it. and and i you know
00:27:47
Speaker
Yeah, not to brag. I will say that I think a lot of people felt this way when reading Savorite, but I remember reading an arc of Savorite in like November of last year and like the Renan Ellis crumbs and I'm not even gonna say it because some people maybe haven't read Savorite yet and I don't want to ruin it, but like the crumbs that are in that book, I was like, oh my god, and this is your first interconnected standalone. So I was like, oh my god, what if we don't get What if we don't get their book? And then by the end, obviously it was so obvious that they were going to, yeah. Yeah. Okay.
00:28:19
Speaker
As the first time that's ever happened to me, because I always have, I have too much stuff that like too many ideas. And so I never, I was pretty like notorious for saying, I don't think I'll ever write a series because I don't want to stay in the same world for too long. And then like immediately when I started writing Sabret, it was like, I imagined Sage as like this role in her family. Like she even, you know, took her.
00:28:47
Speaker
brother and her ex-sister-in-law's horse so that it would be on neutral ground for them. like She's very much like, how can I be useful to people and be like make other people's lives easier? and and how can i you know She's definitely that type of personality. and Then little things kept coming to me when it came to them. and then the you know the town hall idea happened and I went, all right, I'm going to have to write write their book. yeah you can't you can't You can't put that in and not expect people to you know pick up on it. It's pretty cool. So you've already kind of talked about how you've written a wide range of personalities, like people who have big personalities or like, quote unquote, hard to love, you know like a Lauren or a Deacon or something like that.
00:29:42
Speaker
of all your leading characters, who has been the hardest to write and why is it those people that are considered hard to love that you're like nervous that the audience might not, you know, like as much or what does that look like for you? Um, I think I've gotten pretty good now at sort of leaning into the fear aspect of things and just being like, No, I'm gonna write you know, I live for that rush and knowing how when somebody does connect, like it might it won't apply to everybody won't be as easy to love for everybody. But when somebody does connect, they're going to connect hard and I'm okay with that. But so the for me, the hardest personality to write was Sage, I think because I was reaching so much to want to be more like her to want to look for those things and to want to just like, you know, she didn't care that if anybody thought
00:30:33
Speaker
She was a manic pixie dream girl. She accepted that about herself and she owned it. But she's so you know positive and like uplifting. And no, I'm going to just love the little things and soak up my life. And I am not naturally like that. I was definitely, especially when I was in the process of writing that book, I was going through what Fisher was going through. I was going through burnout. I was going through this major, like sort of imposter syndrome thing where I was burnt out on it, but also at the same time, like, well, you better prove that you deserve it. Like with every good thing that was happening for me in my career specifically in my career, I kept thinking like, okay, well now you better show, do better. Now you better show that you do deserve this. Not like, especially with that being my first traditionally published book. So that was easy for me to connect to. It was less easy for me to connect to Sage.
00:31:32
Speaker
And to have, I just, I wanted to be more like her and I wanted those feelings, but it was the hardest to craft without wanting, like I didn't want her to feel gimmicky, you know? Yeah. I didn't want her to feel like something cheesy. I like when people, when characters feel like they could be real. So. Right. Was it like almost like a little therapeutic for you? Exactly. Right?
00:32:01
Speaker
something aspirational like that. yeah chip yeah I've recently learned this is actually a type of therapy. They call it narrative therapy. like If you want to write yourself into a story and write. you know Yeah, it's not working for me in this aspect. it why ah no i don't I don't know if I recommend it. It's not a recommendation for it, but apparently there is a type of therapy that, you know, which is knowing that as part of what inspired a little section of Left of Forever.
00:32:34
Speaker
so yeah yeah I mean, i I will say I think me personally, Sage is probably my favorite FMC that you've written. yes Even though like you mentioned like you can't maybe personally relate to it. I don't think I really can either, but I don't think that that really makes a difference. And at least to me, this is maybe a personal thing, but you know, I don't have to always 100% connect to a character or relate to somebody for me to be able to Like love them and be like, oh my god I wish I was either more like you or had different characteristics like you I can still learn something from that character and that's you know something I love so yeah, I love i love Sage as well. She's she's been I think that's how it should be That's how like I yeah think you should if you are only gonna read stories that you can self insert into you're missing out on So much stuff so I love that and that was what like I
00:33:28
Speaker
That was, that's my, I want, I would want Sage to be my best friend in real life. Like I love her to death. She just is hard for me to personally write. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I feel like Liz Tom Ford said a similar thing when we had her on. I forget which character she was. Was it Indy? Where she was like, we have nothing in common. Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:50
Speaker
And now like Sage is so many people's fan favorites and India is so many people's fan favorites. So I think that's like, it's just really cool to think about like the ones that you guys are like the least alike. I love that. It just puts, it gives you so much faith in readers too, that they are like signing up, that they're able to like read a story even though they, the.
00:34:13
Speaker
they can't they don't look like the characters, they don't they have the same personality as the characters, but they can still appreciate their love story and their whole, you know, I love that. Yeah, absolutely. Jumping back a little bit to funny feelings, this is a book about two comedians. And as we heard in your author bio, and you talk a lot about like finding the humor in like really serious moments, like you balance humor and like heart achiness so well in your books. And we're curious about how do you go about writing humor, especially for Funny Feelings where it's a book about two comedians writing almost like you're literally writing some standup jokes at some times. like How do you go about that? Yeah. And that I will say that that was probably the hardest aspect of that is that I knew I couldn't write full standup sets where
00:35:06
Speaker
because so much of it would be description and that stops being funny, like describing what they're doing because you're not able, to I mean, writing humor, it's literally two dimensional. Like, and so it's not you can watch a comedian And you get to see the gestures they make and hear the different way they change their inflection and just the silly like Sebastian Maniscalo, I think that's how you say his last name. Just sometimes the stuff he's saying is so funny because of the way he says it and what he's doing on stage.
00:35:39
Speaker
Um, so you take that away and a lot of that becomes really difficult to write, but I just think, and so for me, it was like, I put that in the author's note at the beginning of this book. Obviously they have to be witty. I have to make sure that they're back and forth, registers as like quick and funny so that you believe that these people are funny. but For me, that book was not like situational, goofy comedy. It's more like brain stuff, because again, it's just going to be two-dimensional on paper. So how are they thinking? Their own internal monologues. I joke, but am serious sometimes. I'm like, I think I'm hilarious in my own mind and my own head. I'm having the best time. And so writing that and making putting that on paper
00:36:26
Speaker
is such a risk, especially if they're comedians. The stakes in that are high. For me, um i there's all almost always been something semi-funny that's happened even in a dark, very serious moment. And so and having that, has always those moments have always felt like a little bit of a reprieve so that I can actually process the other stuff.
00:36:53
Speaker
So that's to me why it's important. Humor is always going to be subjective. It's always going to be a gamble. there For every person that thinks that funny feelings is funny, there are there's just as many people that are like, this wasn't funny at all. I guarantee it.
00:37:08
Speaker
oh It you just you have to be able to accept that and lean into it and, you know, make it so if it's your characters and and your story, the way that because that's all you can can can control at the end of the day. You can't control what somebody is going to find funny and what somebody is not. So if you find it funny, lean into it. Sweet.
00:37:31
Speaker
So we talked a lot about Savor already. um And when that book came out, it was truly like, I like love this when it happens like authors are like I like follow and stuff but to see the amount of love that that book got was like so amazing around release day and I feel like it's continued like I can't scroll on my feed a single day without seeing someone talk about how much they love it. Kayla talked about earlier Sage is one of her favorite characters.
00:37:52
Speaker
Um, but for anyone who has been listening and doesn't know what savor is about, could you give like an elevator pitch about the book and like what readers can expect? Yes, absolutely. So it takes place in a small town called spoons, Oregon. And I named it that so that I could use the line not to be confused with works Washington. Um, yeah smart I think I'm hilarious, but, um, I, and there's a few Twilight jokes in that book.
00:38:22
Speaker
i want It's a small town. Sage is definitely on the outside like your quintessential small town girl. um Fisher is asked by his restaurant investor investor from back in New York um to go and consult on a new restaurant that is being built out on the Oregon coast. He's recently been fired from his job for getting into it with a critic, um, you know, kind of like chef inspired that movie chef and, and, um, the, he also has recently become the primary guardian of his teenage niece, Cindy, whose mom, uh, died in an accident. Um, he's burnt out. He's, you know, going through his own
00:39:17
Speaker
journey of self-discovery and trying to figure out like how to parent a teenage girl on top of all of it. And Sage agrees she to take him under her wing for the summer and work with him on like but how to develop the menu and the restaurant and to keep the nosy townspeople.
00:39:46
Speaker
off of his back. On the surface, it's definitely like a quieter concept book. It's ah it's a small town and kind of reads like but the like ah like a Hallmark movie, but I think that the stuff inside sort of adds a little bit more depth and you know depth humor, sex to it. And so um it was a, it was... Spicy Hallmark movie. Exactly. hall um homemark Hallmark after dark. And it's, I definitely like got really tongue in cheek with some of it. And so it was on purpose. There were certain things like somebody at the end
00:40:27
Speaker
or somebody read it and said like, Oh my God, like you named him Fisher because he was like a fish out of water and then sage because she's got all this sage advice. And I was like, Oh yeah, I didn't do that on purpose. But yeah, subconsciously I must have but um, yeah, I I love that book. I'm so proud.
00:40:48
Speaker
ah of yeah how that came together. yeah It was, it was, it should be amazing. The audio book is my, like, I, that's like my binky. Yeah. That's like my binky audio book. I listened to it. It makes you so cool. And I always like notice a different part too, that sometimes I don't always remember, you know, I don't remember consciously thinking ah about it. And cause that's apparently my brain does that. It just,
00:41:18
Speaker
discards things, but that's so funny yeah, I do love the audio. So you already talked about how the series takes place in ah a town called Spoons in Oregon and a pacific the Pacific Northwest. So was there, other than using that very clever forks line, was there another reason behind this fictional location that you chose? ah Definitely. So I just think Oregon is delightfully weird.
00:41:45
Speaker
um I like the Pacific Northwestern coast specifically is so different. I feel like a lot of the small towns that we read are all like very i idyllic and, um, the coast or like, you know, warm beaches and, and cute beach town type setups and stuff. Um, Oregon is not, it's, it's, it's definitely,
00:42:12
Speaker
mostly cold and moody and foggy. And um I just thought that's kind of like what I tried to go for again, like conceptually, like on the surface, it looks like a pretty quiet concept. But when you get into it, it I wanted it to feel a little bit different. um Somebody said it was like more like a degenerate Schitt's Creek, and and i I really love that description.
00:42:38
Speaker
um and so For me, I just wanted to pay homage to some of my favorite, like or specifically Oregon small towns, but also some super northern um California coastal small towns. It was kind of like a blend of Astoria, Oregon,
00:42:56
Speaker
band in Oregon and Mendocino California for me. um I just kind of like wanted to put it in a blender. So then when other people asked about like, towns that were mentioned fictional towns that were are mentioned in it.
00:43:11
Speaker
and they could pick up on it and knew like, instead of Kuzbe, I said Yuzbe, instead of um ah Bandon, I said Gandon. Like I did that on purpose because I wanted to emphasize that this is a fictional town. So um that just kind of gave me the freedom to put everything that I wanted sorta into it.
00:43:35
Speaker
That way, but I just like I just think Oregon again is so Delightfully weird like you look at the coast and it's dramatic and rocky and Then there's Coos Bay which has these random like Huge golden sand dunes and stuff. So yeah kinds of weird stuff there Earlier you said that savor it is well we coined it all collectively that savor is like a spicy Hallmark movie. Yeah How do you go about crafting your spicy scenes? We ask every author this, um like what your process is? Do you find it awkward? Do you find it weird? Do you put music on like, or do you check the world out? Like, how do you go about writing them? So it's been different for every book. But the one thing that has been, um,
00:44:24
Speaker
you know, evergreen for each one has been I personally am the ugliest and the most disgusting I've ever been when I am really going getting into the how they look and I don't know why that is I think maybe because I am so focused on it. I do spend a lot of time trying to build like really specific intimacy for them. i Jessica Joyce and I have talked about this before. where we like so I remember who said it, but
00:44:55
Speaker
We want our sex scenes to feel so specific that if you took away the rest of like the book and and then took the names out of it, like you would know it was between the so them, like between those characters. um And so everything's different. There's going to be different language that I use for different books, just because it feels like it applies. It doesn't feel like you know some some male main character specifically, it doesn't feel like they're ever going to have like a really open dirty talk game. I just can't. Like cock. Yeah, i co like cock. Exactly. and i like i I do love talking about it, but sometimes I'm like, man, I sound like this is all I'm thinking about when it comes to it. not not i There's so much other stuff that goes into it.
00:45:54
Speaker
that and I want it to feel like them. Sex is awkward. Sex is messy. It is. It is weird. It is a lot of things moving around. It is weird sounds at it like there are. ah But but with reading about it, you get this opportunity for it to feel like to have all of that, but to feel like really lovely at the same time. And so I think that that's why I'm passionate for me and my characters about writing an open door.
00:46:24
Speaker
But just I just think it's fun but to to figure out like what feels like it's going to be right for them, what feels like it's going to be, and how is it going to apply for the stories. like that I understand when people people say, OK, if you want to skip the spicy scenes, skip these. But for me, I try to make them part of the plot, too, and part of the story, too. so yeah I love when authors talk about how like it is just as much a part of it. And like like you said, I totally respect other like if people who don't want to read it and stuff like that, but want to become part of like their relationship building and stuff like that. And I've talked about this quote on this podcast before, but I saw Kennedy Ryan speak a couple of years ago at the LA Times Festival of Books. And she was like, I hope that with my book specifically, and I understand if you don't want to read them because of this, but I hope that if you skip the spicy scenes, you're missing part of their relationship building. yeahp She's like, I don't want you to ever be able to flip through a spice scene in my book. Yeah. That's, exactly that's how I feel about mine too. Um, I respect everybody's decision either way, but for me, I think that it, I mean, it's called their intimate scenes. It's building intimacy for a reason. Um, and I think when it comes to like a really rich relationship, but where you're going to imagine these people
00:47:45
Speaker
going on and existing off the page, happily ever after. That's part of their future too, right? So you, I don't know. It feels like a weird, it doesn't necessarily feel like a weird deletion from some stories. I have read so many closed door stories that it did they didn't suffer for it. But for me and the honesty aspect that I tried to bring to my specific stories, it it applies.
00:48:12
Speaker
Yeah, aye I agree. I love it. You're very good at it. Thank you. I have fun. Good. We already talked a little bit about Left of Forever earlier. All three of us have gotten the chance to read it. Yes. Thank you so much. It was so fun. Yeah, it was such a great time. So you have been teasing little bits here and there on your Instagram, but what can you tell listeners about Left of Forever at this point?
00:48:39
Speaker
um i can tell you that it's you know it's marriage reconciliation, but I guess second chance because they have been divorced for five years. but um I just think that in terms of overall story, it's definitely my anxious. There's definitely some of the like heavier like angrier moments for me. But it's also somehow like my most tender and most romance focused, I think, because yeah um of how the plot comes together. It makes it so they are like, okay, should we give this another chance? And so then it gets to be like this very focused zoomed in look, and it focuses on on, you know,
00:49:30
Speaker
the tension between those two characters and rebuilding that um communication and trust between them. And I just think it's a really good exploration of how even when you've been, I mean, I've been with my husband since we were, I was 17. I had babies super, super young. I just, um so like a lot of this felt very,
00:49:57
Speaker
personal and very vulnerable. But I think that, again, that makes a story worth it, especially when some people connect to it. But it's such a good ah exploration of how communication changes even when you've been with somebody for so long and how you have to choose to find to meet each other in in wherever each other are at and like communicate what you want.
00:50:26
Speaker
and be open to what they want to. like that That's the overall theme, I feel like. Yeah. i One of my favorite things about Second Chance and one of the reasons I love Second Chance so much is when an author can show like, this is not going to fall apart again and here's why. And I thought that was so beautifully done and left out forever. And I think about that book all the time. It's my favorite of yours and I love it so much. I have so much for everybody else to read it.
00:50:58
Speaker
I know I can't I can and can't wait. I think again, like I said, make it will it's it's one of those things like I knew so early on to into writing save it how I wanted this boat to go and especially like around the same time my kids class had put together care packages and and stuff to go to a big fire that was happening. out ah I live in California. We have huge fires every year. Fire season's about to start. for like People think it's summer, it's not it's fall because everything's dry and then the winds pick up and it it's awful every year. um but And I just kept thinking like, because you don't you don't address it to anybody specific. And I just i had this like,
00:51:43
Speaker
including of an idea like what if fate like brought two people together this way again, but what if it was like two people that had already been apart? How can I sell that? How can I make it so it wasn't just like, and it's not just unrealistic that, you know, fate gave them another chance I need them I need it to be very intentional how it works out beyond that.
00:52:09
Speaker
So that's how I knew so so so early on into how I wanted to write that. um And then it just became like this very i like, I don't know, it sounds crazy to be like, I just care about them so much because they are fictional. But I I i do. And I i hope that. I just have such like I'm so I just love that story so much. It means so much to me. I can't wait for I can't wait for it to find its people. Yeah. And the care comes across, too. I think like you can easily tell when an author just like wrote something to write it versus like when they truly like cared. so And that was the case of that one. Thank you.
00:52:52
Speaker
and i can't i'm i'm very um I'm interested to see like how things change over the course of a full writing career. I have no intentions of quitting this anytime soon, so I do wonder if there will ever be a book that I can write from a less um attached standpoint. some I've i've like had this conversation with writers before. like Every once in a while, we try to start something and try not to get over ourselves too attached to it and try to be objective because then you stand the chance of getting hurt less if it doesn't but if it's not you know received as well as you hope. um But I haven't found that ability yet. I don't know if I like i ever will. And that's totally fine.
00:53:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Does this series, cause I actually don't know the answer to this. Does this series cause there are interconnected standalones, but does this series have like an official series name? No.
00:53:52
Speaker
Is there an official spell? I call them the birds of spoons, but that's just me. Oh, that's cute. Put on goodreads. Put on goodreads. I don't know. I don't know if I can. I don't know if I can, because I think I do. I have to try to write them each as stand-alones, where somebody can appreciate each book where it's at.
00:54:11
Speaker
um When you write it that way, I've learned that you have more opportunities for that book, like book boxes. They don't usually want to pick up the second book in a series without picking up the whole series. with so yeah i i Again, but for me, I have like a secret Pinterest board and I call it Birds of Spoons. and i you know i have a home Yeah, I call it that. but so you're You're welcome to call them that because there is a bird in each book. I'm writing another bird right now. and and yeah Oh, I told you guys about this one, but that was in LA. All right.
00:54:51
Speaker
Now I think we are officially at our little game portion of the episode. So um this we've played this game with authors before and sometimes we do like a quote game or a superlative game but we like this game a lot because I think it I'm so sorry, but it does put you on the spot a little bit, but there's a lot of creativity involved and we've had some really good ah pitches come out of this. So this is the build your own romance book game. There's going to be different categories. We're each going to tell you the categories and you're going to pick based upon like what um
00:55:30
Speaker
option you pick and we'll explain. So the first, the first portion is going to be ah picking the main trope for your book. Okay. I'll tell you the options. I'm going to tell you them out of order so you don't, you don't know, but we have age gap, second chance, single parent, marriage of convenience, brother's best friend, secret baby and enemies to lovers. Okay. And I'm going to have you pick your favorite color and I'll tell you which color corresponds to what trope. Okay.
00:55:59
Speaker
What are my color options? I would just go ahead and pick. What's the first color? Yeah. Green. A marriage of convenience. Okay. That's pretty good. and that's not better like And this is where, yeah. Yeah. The next ones that Ken and Brandon are going to read, this is where things get a little bit.
00:56:17
Speaker
weird yeah little bit um So your next one will be the location for this marriage of convenience story. um The locations are the White House, a cat shelter, a boat lost at sea, Mount Everest, a meat locker, Burger King.
00:56:38
Speaker
Oh, my gosh, Gotham, the Everglades, the International Space Station. Oh, my God, those astronauts. Well, they're not in the space station, but those astronauts are still up there. I hope they're having fun on a plane, deserted island and forks, Washington. And, Tara, you just recently celebrated a birthday, so we're not going to ask you your birth month. But what is your husband's birth month? Oh, God, January.
00:57:08
Speaker
Okay. Wow. Well, January corresponds with forks Washington. oh you got like yeah All right. All right. And the next one is going to be the wildcard option. So this is what's throwing your book. This was gonna make your book stand out.
00:57:27
Speaker
Um, so it's going to be based off of your coffee or tea order. Okay. Um, so i the options are, uh, he's a time traveler from 1776. She has a secret twin trying to kill her. He has a big toe fetish.
00:57:44
Speaker
He's a blue alien with three penises. She's a secret pop star. Think like Hannah Montana. It's a shifter romance. He has knives for hands or they're step siblings. Oh my God. Okay, so I'll first ask you, do you drink coffee or tea? I drink coffee. Okay, so your options are latte, black coffee, cappuccino or frappuccino. Ooh.
00:58:14
Speaker
If I have the option for a good one, a cappuccino. Okay. So this is a shifter romance. Oh my God. That's amazing. Okay. yeah yeah All right. i You guys are going to laugh because I kind of have a random notes app idea that was. I love it. It's exclusive. Yes. Oh my God. That's so funny. Okay.
00:58:40
Speaker
So you just want me to start spouting off about it. Yeah. You can take your time. Yeah. hit Pitch us a book. So again, for for just to recap, Tara's going to pitch us a book that is a marriage of convenience that takes place in Forks, Washington. And it is a shifter romance. Exactly. So yeah there is like, it's a shifter world, you know, Omega, Omegaverse, if you will, in this lovely town of Forks, Washington.
00:59:08
Speaker
There are werewolves. There are vampires. yeah We already know this. We know the lore. A vampire woman witnesses um a major majorly known like werewolf gang commit some insane crime.
00:59:33
Speaker
umm She is put into a witness protection type program for paranormals where she marries a werewolf.
00:59:47
Speaker
um so that they have like joint protection under this witness protection program. They're carted off to this special town um where they are supposed to be safe and far away from this whole thing that she witnessed. And so they are tasked with like building a new life. he His job is something undercover.
01:00:15
Speaker
like heat where he's still trying to like undo this this mystery, but keep by keeping her close, she gets to be under his protection at the same time. Does that sound good? Yeah. Oh my God. Sway. That's amazing. I love it. It works. I really like each other. They don't like each other. Working title? Working title?
01:00:37
Speaker
um Oh, man. I don't have one. It's totally fine. I don't have one. I don't have one. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. The book that Lauren Asher is going to write was called The Rat Who Could Do Anything or something. The Rat Who Could Do Anything. Oh, man. You could get one. I think that was what it was, something like that. He almost landed on a shifter romance. Oh, my God. A rat shifter.
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's just Peter Pettigrew or what isn't that scbbers i your fanfic. Oh my god, that's insane. um I will be reading your shifter book when you publish it. So when paranormal witness protection. Let's see. yeah I love that. ah Shifters after dark. I don't know. You could call it something silly like always use protection. I don't know. Yeah. There you go. I love it. will There you go. one Amazing. come here with Coming So much.
01:01:39
Speaker
Of course. Thank you for having me. Where can our listeners find you if they're not already following you? Oh, I am. at i'm I'm only really active on Instagram. um I am on TikTok too. You should follow me there in case I ever get my shit together and start posting over there. But otherwise, I am at author Tara DeWitt on Instagram.
01:02:04
Speaker
Amazing. Savor It Is Not Now, Left of Forever this year. But before that, the co-op re-releases in November. I guess it does. Awesome. Thank you so much, Tara. This was so much fun. And we appreciate you so much. We can't wait for um all your success in the future. We're so excited for everything that you have going on. so And thank you for being so kind to us as well. Oh my gosh. Of course. Thank you for having me. I can't wait. I'll come yap with you guys anytime.
01:02:32
Speaker
Bye guys! Bye! Thank you!