Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Tumblereads 17: Snowstorms and Thunderbangs
96 Plays4 days ago
This week, we chatted for a while about what we're reading, and then Ingrid got real nerdy about how weather can impact the tension in a book.
Show notes at smutreport.com/podcast
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Smart Report Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Hi, and welcome to the Smart Report podcast. This is our weekly-ish Tumble Reads edition, um which is when we talk about whatever we feel like, and ah there's very little to no editing. Congratulations, you're with us now.
00:00:19
Speaker
In all of our glory. so yeah So I am your fearless
Meet the Hosts
00:00:26
Speaker
leader today. i am Erin. I'm Ingrid. And I'm Holly. Okay. So I realized that I have never... I'm going to set our timer.
00:00:34
Speaker
I have never just asked, what are we reading this week?
Current Reads and Personal Insights
00:00:38
Speaker
So ah I'm going to start with that. What are you guys reading this week? Oh, I'm glad you asked me that question. I'm so glad you asked me that question because i had... and Whoa. Who is banging stuff around.
00:00:51
Speaker
That's my husband. He's washing the dishes. That's very good. We'll be responsible. It's the best actually because i was like teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown this morning.
00:01:02
Speaker
It's one of my offspring's birthdays and ah and I had a lot of birthday prep that I didn't get done because we ended up spending the day before in urgent care. So anyway, okay.
00:01:14
Speaker
With the other one, we're fine. Everything's fine. life It's just parenting. It's standard parenting, nothing out of the normal. It's just, this is the way it goes. um Okay. All right. So i what are you reading?
Unique Romance Novels by Stephanie Burgess
00:01:25
Speaker
Okay. well So this is what I'm reading. So I was reading, I picked up this, this book and I, and I was like, Oh, this looks interesting and a little bit different, which, you know, because I've been like mainlining romanticy for a year now, over a year. um I can tell I'm teetering on the edge of wanting something different, like my hyper fixation may be passing, which is great because it'll pass right in time for me to finish this romantic deep dive I'm doing and then... um Move on.
00:01:51
Speaker
Move on. Yeah, the timing Never read a romantic never forgot again. romantic again. I'll be like, yeah, forget this. So i I'm... For once, I feel very pleased with how the timing is working out. But anyway, I was reading this thing and it was ah it was kind of a joke, but it was on a Reddit you know thread. And it was about how... um It was like, show me your, it was like inverted, um it wasn't tropes, but it was something like that. Equality is for romanticity that you'd like to see turn on its head. And it was like, um I loved it though, because it was like, she is like the other girls.
00:02:25
Speaker
um yeah And like, um and ah just all kinds of stuff kind of in that. rob She does not have something to prove. She is not the toughest girl in the room, like stuff like that. She's not the chosen one. She's not the chosen one. um Stuff like that. So it was hilarious. And so I i started i had already just started reading this book and I was like, oh, this feels kind of like that.
00:02:52
Speaker
So the it's by Stephanie Burgess. and it's Oh, yeah. queens of villainy series ok and i read um wooing the witch queen first which is the first book in the series and i'm on the second one um but yeah it's it's awesome there're it's really good so i love it because she is kind of a source in the first one with the witchwe she's kind of a sorceress and she's kind of a grumpy badass like but she just wants to hang out in her lab she doesn't really want to like talk to anybody And he is this Archduke who he's like, you know, he's fled his kingdom because he's been, you know, a puppet basically like getting abused and used by this regent.
00:03:35
Speaker
So he flees because he's like the only person who can stand up to this guy who's oppressing me and like is this crazy witch lady queen. he flees to her country and she thinks that he's a dark, a dark sorcerer to come to organize her library.
00:03:51
Speaker
And so like, yeah. So, and he is not a dark Lord. He's like the meekest, sweetest, softest cinnamon roll of all time. Like he is just so gentle and soft. And like, anyway, Erin, I thought about you because this, this guy badly, like he needs his hair rumbled in the worst way. And she's like, she is so, so, you know, in most romance novels, right? Like he's the one who goes and like seduces her and pushes her boundaries and like that total opposite this time.
00:04:19
Speaker
Like she's the one who like stalks upon him in the library and seduces him. And he's like, oh my. And it's so cute. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life. I ate it up with a spoon. It was fantastic. And then he just kind of – his job is to kind of like support her and, you know, like being who she is and not softening herself for other people, you know. So I
Character Analysis in Stephanie Burgess' Works
00:04:40
Speaker
adored it. I thought it was fantastic. The second one is a little bit – weirder but I'm digging it too it's a little different but it's the same kind of vibe where it's you know just she writes with women characters so I just think I think she's great I'm loving this experience for me anyway that's so fun so I read a Stephanie Burgess I think I've only read one by her um so I read Snow Spelled like a long time ago like when we first started the blog and she wrote it like at the end of 2016 wrote it right after the election she's and you know And she's like, well, what if women were in charge and we have a magical matriarchy? Yes.
00:05:21
Speaker
That's what this is. And I feel like it's got a lot of the romantic – there's like, you know, fae nonsense going on. Oh, Gotta have some fae nonsense. Yeah. And I feel like when I read it, i was like, oh, I was expecting this to be more of a romance novel and didn't like it that much because it's like more fantasy with a little bit of romance. Sure. um But i do remember like the gender stuff was really fun and her character work was really great. And I'm like, oh, maybe I should check out what she's been writing.
00:05:51
Speaker
Yeah. More recently. You should check out. These were a quick read. They are not super long. Yeah. And I definitely think she leaned more into her romance. It's not, ah it's definitely, definitely more heavy on the romance. Okay. But it's not, but I wouldn't call them, um I would know i wouldn't certainly not call them like, they're not spicy. No. they're not It's not like no no constant scenes in closets or anything like that. But just like really satisfying emotionally. These reads were so, they felt so good. They were so good. That's great. Yeah.
00:06:24
Speaker
So if you need a feel good thing where you just, I mean, yeah I walked away from it. just It was like a huge breath of fresh air. Just wonderful. Loved them. Yeah. Anyway, that's what I'm reading. So definitely try it.
Exploring 'Fractured Fables' by Alex E. Harrow
00:06:35
Speaker
So i'm I'm between books. But one thing I read recently, um finished recently, is ah Fractured Fables by Alex E. Harrow. Oh, Alex Harrow!
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah, oh like I love her stuff. Okay, because she's on my list to read next. um yeah I would say... Well, okay. So I've read some of her books before. um I've read... I read like the...
00:07:00
Speaker
Doors of January book a couple years ago and Once some Future Witches i really liked. i Neither of those is romance. They're like straight fantasy. Sure, sure, yeah. um And I went and put to put The Everlasting on hold at the library and I'm like, well, let's see what else she has. And I was like, oh, well, Fractured Fables... I can just read it now. So I got it out. um And so Fractured Fables, it's actually two novellas that she then put together there is as a duology into one book. um So the first one is the shattered the spindle shat The Spindle Shattered, and the second one is a Mirror Mended. um And basically the premise is um Sleeping Beauty into the Spider-Verse.
00:07:41
Speaker
Oh. Okay. so um You know how in ah like Into the Spider-Verse or like that um Spider-Man in the MCU Avengers series where like all the old Spider-Mans come back and they have to join together?
00:08:03
Speaker
completely forgot that I watched that movie. It was like, we have to watch it. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. And then somebody was like, oh, well, that's the one, my father-in-law. I think that's the one where all the old Spider-Mans come back. Oh, I remember that. I remember nothing else.
00:08:16
Speaker
Well, yeah, but that's the important thing is all the old Spider-Mans come back. um But so it's about this girl who has, um she has like a weird genetic condition um caused by, you know, i pollution. Yeah.
00:08:34
Speaker
basically, um that means that she's not going to live to be 22. And um so on her, and so she is really into Sleeping Beauty because Sleeping Beauty is a girl who reaches a certain birthday and then dies or falls asleep. and But for her, she's like, okay, but maybe like falling asleep would be better, right? And so she does all this. And
Secondary Character Romances: Then and Now
00:09:01
Speaker
so she's like gotten a degree in fairy tales and like read all these different like Sleeping Beauty versions and all this stuff. And she, on her 21st birthday, her best friend throws her a Sleeping Beauty-themed party because it's like, this is your last birthday, so... If you want to have a princess party, you can have one.
00:09:21
Speaker
And kind of as a joke, she touches the spinning wheel that's there. And then she sucked into a different version of Sleeping Beauty with another Sleeping Beauty. And then they're like running around having adventures, trying to change their fate and like jump in between different Sleeping Beauties and hanging with other Beauties. That's cool.
00:09:40
Speaker
So it's really fun. And then the in the second one, she um gets ah pulled into Snow White instead. um by accident because she's now like jumping into different fairy tales um and that one has a little bit of a love story. um Okay, so the first one's not really romantic. No, the first one is not a romance. I mean, um like her best friend and one of the Sleeping Beauties she meets have a... So it's like there's like a secondary character romance, but not for her. But in the second one, um you know, she...
00:10:16
Speaker
she meets someone who she finds very interesting don't you miss all those old school books where they're like definitely secondary romances going on and you're just like m yeah more for all of us to go around yeah and you gotta read you gotta read more romantist here and because i'm not gonna do that they they just they as soon as the as soon as it gets to a point where like the primary coupleship is like okay you guys need to find a hobby because all you're doing is like you know and each other closets yeah um they they will introduce a side romance that is sometimes resuscitates the series. It's a common thing. ah No, but that's as they're writing no that but that's not what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about like, like old Amanda QuickBooks, right? Yeah, where there's like 15 secondary characters and like the butler his like for his valet and her lady's maid are also sneaking off into closets. right yeah Or like they're the chaperone and his uncle that he lives with are meeting up at the same time they're meeting up. or Yeah, they're like having yeah like a cute later in life thing.
00:11:29
Speaker
Yeah. There are many of those in older books. they don With all the focus on, or I think with the quantity of publication and I think ah as we've discussed before, but we won't do it today, like maybe a lack of developmental editing or just who's publishing and getting popular.
00:11:49
Speaker
ah a lot of authors seem to be focused, just like really focused on the main characters and don't necessarily have a robust supporting cast. Which is fine. That can be a good book, but it is really fun when there's a robust cast. For me, I feel like I either want it to be basically just the main characters, like those really claustrophobic, just the two of us books. I really like those. Or I want like a huge cast, but they have to be well-developed. And I feel like that's really hard to do. Anyway. Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:21
Speaker
So, okay. Well, is that all your book, Holly? Yeah. So Fractured Fables. That's what I'll talk about.
Reading Habits and Tech Integration
00:12:27
Speaker
was fun. It was like... Yay! It just... it was It was like a quick read and it was super satisfying. um And I read it right after I read The Housemaid, which is just like psychological suspense, pure trash, like not well done. um i shouldn't call books trash because people call romance books trash, but this book is like not well done. And, you know, there's like the thing at the... The twist at the end. I'm like, ugh.
00:12:51
Speaker
Jillian Flynn did that first and she did it better. so I'm not shocked by it. Yeah, every now and again, that's what you need, though. Just a little bit of that. Well, OK, so I it was on a completely different track than you guys. And I don't know if you know, but Audible, which is owned by Amazon, Goodreads, which is owned by Amazon, ah finally decided to be friends.
00:13:17
Speaker
And so they added all of your want to read books as a list in your ah Audible lists. Oh, now like it automatically does that for you?
00:13:28
Speaker
Yeah. So like now it's way easier for you to just buy the books. So I still, you know, I have my whole process of looking at like this thousands of books and being like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Are they at the library or where are they? um But now I can very easily see the stuff that is just like read now on Amazon. um A lot of which is on Hoopla, but, you know, or in other places. but So I was scrolling through and I found this one and I was like, ah a murder mystery.
00:14:02
Speaker
And now I am in another like romantic suspense wormhole like I did with the Australian Spy vs. Spy last year. So I read the first trilogy, ah Zero Wow Trilogy by Amy Nicole Walker in the past couple of days. Finished last night.
00:14:18
Speaker
So now I am reading their next trilogy where they get married. And I was up really late last night because the last book was a serial killer book. And was like, god, that's going to happen. So stressful. I don't
00:14:33
Speaker
so So that was a little fun divers diversion um while I was doing my, you know, chores and playing with my hobby. You did chores. yeah yeah little I mean, this is I guess this is the benefit of being able to do audio books because like when I'm stuck in a book, I'm like, nope.
00:14:53
Speaker
Sorry, not making dinner, not not cleaning the kitchen, not doing laundry. All right. bute Well, my new problem there is I told my kid who was like, no, we're not going to have dinner until seven. i was like, no, no, no. That was just because the last couple of days were crazy. and But then I started working on a glass pattern. And you were like, dinner's at eight. And dinner's at seven. Yeah. It's like, no, I just got to do this one more thing.
00:15:21
Speaker
um Glass pattern. i like to do stained glass team for those of you who are not aware of my hobby. She doesn't like to do stained glass. She lives stained glass. It's like, oh, I just want to play with glass. is stained glass.
00:15:34
Speaker
yeah All right.
How Do Settings Affect Reading Experience?
00:15:35
Speaker
So now we're at about halfway through, which was maybe, i don't a little farther than I wanted to go. But, you know, this is how we roll. So and I don't have a really great plan, but i was thinking, ah Aaron, you do not have a plan for today. and then I was thinking about how i don't have much brain capacity for a plan because we had a snowstorm and can't function and my kids have been home forever. And ah so I was thinking about let's talk about how setting affects your read. So like we did Christmas in July one year. So like wintery, like what does a wintery setting do for you? What is a summery setting? What do you notice or not notice? Like I think I notice winter settings way more than I notice summer settings. Like default settings are warm weather settings for me. You know, it's a good point. Huh. Pay attention to. See, I feel like default settings are like, people assume it it's like a perfect crisp autumn day.
00:16:36
Speaker
Right? Is the default setting. Not too hot. Not too cold. Yeah. Right? Because I feel like... Sometimes it'll be a summer setting. it's hot and sweaty. And it's hot. And they talk about like how humid the air is and like how sticky with sweat they are. And then like the cold blast of the air conditioning. I live in a hot place. So I like, I'm like, oh yeah, that's.
00:17:00
Speaker
I know that what you're talking about. Like, i don't like that feeling. um You're like, oh, that's normal. um But I feel like I feel like in a lot of books, like the temperature or the the setting, not like the place, but like the ambient, the weather is not important. It's one of those things is like not important unless the author makes it important. So I think the default is just like, oh, yeah, it's like 65. Or between 60 and 75 50 and 75.
00:17:31
Speaker
You know, like light jacket weather all the time. Yeah, except for they don't even put on jackets. I feel like. Or like whatever. like if It's like 70. The entire world is 71 degrees. Yes. But you
Impact of Weather on Storytelling
00:17:42
Speaker
know what? Here's the thing. So like this is i think setting is such an because, you know, I always go on all these.
00:17:48
Speaker
excited squeaky tangents about how everything is a tool you know but like setting is such a great tool too because like you said Erin when you're thinking about snow days and you're like cramped up at home you know right so like just think about how many ways weather and setting can, can, um, force behavior can be a tool for moving the plot along. So, you know, because you can't, if, if they can leave that, it's not forest proximity, they have to be snowed in or that, you know, there's a storm and the road is washed out, you know, stuff like that. But also, but also that, for example, if there's peril, usually right, like snow storms have a more peaceful feel, Not not all the time. Obviously, if there's like an avalanche or you know, a blizzard. But like snow tends to be like peaceful house party type, you know, forced proximity where hurricane winds, thunderstorm, lightning. That's when you get like that situational tension, stuff like that.
00:18:48
Speaker
When you get that summer heat, then it's languid. You don't want to do anything, right? Like, you know, um there's a lazy feeling to it. There's, you know, the – the if let's say let's picture the same situation in different weather just roll with me on this right all right right if we're saying like house party house party like we're saying house party okay like ex exactly people in a house together and it snows and then you're like cozy and you go snowshoeing yeah and you have a fire and it's all cute collect greenery for you collect yes Right. But also like just picture Let's even narrow it down even further. House party moment of sexual tension. Nothing's happened yet, but something's cooking. Right. So you have the same scene. Right. So you put it in a winter house party setting when you're snowed in. It's like the outside world doesn't exist anymore. Your bubble is smaller. Your center of activity is smaller. Right. So it takes it takes the action and it pulls it in so that we're not thinking about tomorrow anymore. Do you know what i mean? But in a relaxed way, in a cozy way. So it's like. relaxed It's like having a nice like big glass of wine.
00:19:54
Speaker
That's the vibe, right? Okay. And like then, you know, so thunderstorm is we're in there together and we're huddled together because we're worried. It's a little different, right? There's some concern. What's going to happen tomorrow? You're not thinking about now when it's a thunderstorm. thinking about tomorrow, right? It's anxiety. Well, or you're thinking about now, but you're anxious about it. Yes. Well, anxiety is about future. Well, right. But like maybe you're afraid of thunder. What will happen. This is scary. Yes. Yeah. the leak, there's a leak in the roof. Yeah. Right. So, you know, you're like singing my favorite things to distract yourself. But that's what I'm saying. So like snowstorm, you're only aware nothing exists outside of our little bubble. Thunderstorm, you're hyper aware of what's happening around the periphery of your little bubble. So it forces you inward to cope.
00:20:42
Speaker
Right. See what I'm saying? Okay, so Ingrid, what if it's just a house party book and it's 72 degrees and sunny even though it's in England and should be raining? like so What does that do in the house party? like if If there's default default book weather. Right, if it's default book weather, it's going to open the, the um what would you call it, the French doors?
00:21:08
Speaker
Well, I wasn't thinking that. That would be symbolic, but I was thinking just like the the arena of action, right? If you think of like, so when we're talking snowstorm, small bubble, right? Thunderstorm, small bubble. As soon as the weather opens and it's a house party, there's going be more options. There's going to be things. People are gonna want to go outside.
Weather and Social Dynamics in Novels
00:21:28
Speaker
You know what i mean? So it opens the action a little bit further and then you have to start accounting for what other people are doing. Do you know what i mean? So that's where like if the weather's nice, I would expect to see more interaction with other people.
00:21:40
Speaker
a Like they have to go saying hunt for a fox or like play croquet whatever. Exactly. So now all of a sudden it's not like – that it's going to be stolen moments of forced proximity because the likelihood of other people milling around is higher. Do you know what i mean? Just because it opens – the weather is nice. It opens up more possibility for action.
00:21:57
Speaker
The limits are off. so in the cozy house party, everyone is hanging out in the main parlor because that's where the scene of the action is And it might be easier for our lovers to have rendezvous in the study.
00:22:18
Speaker
Correct. Well, because it's just it just makes it so that it's the yeah, everything is smaller. Plus, the other thing is that we talk about how that's different than like everybody is playing croquet on the lawn and we meet up in the maze garden. Well, so this is where i get in my own this is where I get into characters' heads a little bit. But like think about it this way, right? When the weather is nice, there are a lot of options and people tend to handle good weather perfectly fine. Do you know what i mean? like It's just like, yay, weather. know it's just I don't even have to think about it because it's so nice. We know whatever we want.
00:22:50
Speaker
When you're snowed in, people tend to either want to socialize or they want to be away from people socializing and they can't. So I think what it tends to do- Or it shifts over time, right? Right. So like the longer you're snowed in, the more you want to not be around each other. So I think i think like when you're snowed in right, it makes it so that people tend to hole up on their own they get fed up with each other they get bored so there's just more opportunity for one-on-one time you see what i'm saying i mean i don't disagree with you yeah just psychologically speaking people don't like to be penned up so they get grumpy so they isolate themselves or they go bug people but and then they are avoided you know what i mean so i just think it's more isolated in general when you have something like that um and then you know yeah when it's really hot outside it's you know
00:23:38
Speaker
i I always picture the sweat, right? Sweat. it Well, i I guess I'm wondering, has either of you ever read a house party book that takes place on like a tropical island or like during a heat wave where everybody is just like lying on the veranda fanning themselves? Because like I don't,
00:23:56
Speaker
I don't know that I have. I think that's pretty rare. Yeah. Because. i guess because it's like, ooh, then you start thinking about how often these people are bathing. yeah Well, there's that. But also. Once we open the can of worms. But also just like, you know.
00:24:12
Speaker
from a plot standpoint, people escaped the city to go somewhere cooler for house parties. That was the whole kind of the whole point. so like Yeah, if you're thinking like all the New Yorkers going to... You're going somewhere cooler on purpose. So, you know, it might be warm, but you're going to be like, you know... Catching a breeze. Yeah. Up to the mountains. And they're going to go out at times of day. So, it yeah, I think that heat is a little bit more avoidable.
00:24:36
Speaker
You know, um you can dodge that. Plus, like you said, these are romances. This not... so Yeah, this whole sweat thing is gross. Yeah, I feel like I have read that in like psychological thrillers, right? And everybody, because like they're it's like really hot out and everybody is really on edge, right? Yes.
00:24:57
Speaker
So but that's the another moment where it can impact how people are behaving. So like I would picture, yeah, when I think of hot scenes like that, it's more that like I would picture more crackling energy, more like, you know, we he's I don't want to move, but he's so attractive and I'm just stuck here with this feeling of like, oh, i you know, I would love to ah watch the sweat drip down his neck or whatever, you know, like it makes more of that crackling discomfort.
00:25:22
Speaker
tension you know what i mean so i just this is yeah it's like don't snuggle me yeah don't snuggle me i just want to watch you do you know what i mean yeah like that kind of a thing so yeah this but this is where i think there are pools if there are pools then it's like then you get yeah you get all into a pond yes yeah So, um but it's interesting how house I think it's a like I could talk about this for hours because I feel like it's such a a useful tool that I think a lot of people don't realize is being used, you know, and until really think about it.
Setting as a Narrative Tool
00:25:55
Speaker
Authors don't use it or don't seem to think about it. Like Holly said, authors don't seem to think about it unless they're really thinking about it. Right. Yeah. Right. Where if that if the ambient temperature is just room temperature. Right. Well, and I would argue this. I would argue this.
00:26:10
Speaker
ah and A newer author would probably be like, oh, I need them to be forced in ah in a forced proximity situation. I'll make a thunderstorm, like a really bad one, so they can't leave, right? But like I feel like a more experienced author would – Yeah.
00:26:28
Speaker
weather being heavy and hot and then there is that like crackling discomfort from the heat before the summer thunderstorm do you know what i mean you would use that weather in a way that's that drives the tension more skillfully and more subtly um and you might not even have to have as bad of a thunderstorm maybe there's no thunderstorm at all it's just the threat of the thunderstorm and they're stuck together preparing for the thunderstorm or do you know what I'm trying to say like yeah I do you know and it's really fun when they do it or you get those really dramatic sex scenes where they like they're fight like finally yeah finally and there's like the the thunder booms crashing outside and the orgasms happening inside and are you talking about fourth wing
00:27:13
Speaker
Oh, did that happen in Fourth Ring? I don't remember. Every time they do it, they make a thunderstorm. Oh, I didn't remember that. She has an orgasm and she takes out a grove of trees. That's hilarious. No, there's definitely a Kelly Bowen book that I read many years ago where they have sex during a thunderstorm. And it's very dramatic because everything's dark except for when the lightning flashes. Which is skillful. And I'm not saying that like, oh, if there's a thunderstorm, like tension scene, that's not skillful. But what I'm saying is, is that next time, like if you're really loving a book, like pay attention to what led up to it, because I'm betting that there were clues in the setting, like, and it could be anything, but clue, the setting pulled out tension in little ways before that scene that made it just really successful. So it's not necessarily the thunderstorm. It's all the heavy air, the tension, the stillness outside before the storm hits. Like it's those moments that kind of like really ratchet up the tension before it actually happens that we might not notice.
00:28:17
Speaker
I love that. Love that for us. I know. I just – writing is the best. It is. People who are good at it are so fun to read. Yes. All right. And sometimes people who are still developing their skills are also fun to read. You're all fun, off baby authors. You just keep going. Good job, authors. Just don't stop. Keep writing. Work hard. All right.
00:28:37
Speaker
Well, on that note, I will call an end to this episode of Tumble Reads, which thank you for getting into setting even more than i thought we were going to.
00:28:48
Speaker
ah Since I didn't have a plan, I don't know how much thought about it. Say less. Anytime. Anytime.
Conclusion and Encouragement for Writers
00:28:53
Speaker
And until next time, keep it smutty, folks. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Smut Report!