1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: Good morning, Sasha. How are you doing? 2 00:00:03,359 --> 00:00:04,879 Speaker 2: Good morning? I'm fabulous. How are you? 3 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Absolutely excited to talk with you because you have done 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,519 something here that I wish a lot more authors would do, 5 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,720 and that is creating the Cliffhanger. My wife, when she 6 00:00:12,759 --> 00:00:14,800 finished this book, she goes, it can't be over. It 7 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:16,079 can't be over. What am I going to do? I 8 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,359 need another book? And I kept telling her it could 9 00:00:18,359 --> 00:00:21,160 take two years. Lee, come on stop. But yeah, I mean, 10 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:23,280 I just love the way that you go into this 11 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,600 whole entire storyline knowing there has to be a continuation. 12 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,559 Speaker 2: Thank you. Yeah. Well, the good news is for those 13 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,880 who have read The Cliffhanger, I finished the first draft 14 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,119 of the sequel last night, so we have a cook beginning, middle, 15 00:00:36,119 --> 00:00:37,759 and end of the next book. So it should be 16 00:00:37,759 --> 00:00:40,320 out next year. The wait will not be too terribly long. 17 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:42,920 It's funny. I actually went into this book hoping to 18 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,560 only write a standalone. I'd written a duology in my 19 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,000 first series and didn't want to write another series. I've 20 00:00:48,039 --> 00:00:50,119 gone to urt one book, and then this idea came 21 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:51,320 to me and I started to map it out, and 22 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:52,640 I went, oh, no, it's two books, and I know 23 00:00:52,759 --> 00:00:53,799 exactly where it is. 24 00:00:55,119 --> 00:00:57,799 Speaker 1: There's so much going on inside the story that the 25 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,240 thing is is that, but it makes it it's so 26 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,520 interesting to keep going to the next page, because this 27 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,280 is one of those where you say, Okay, I'm gonna 28 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,640 put the book down after this book, after this page, 29 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,319 but you don't. You go three more, you go four more. 30 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,239 Speaker 2: That is the ultimate compliment as a writer. Thank you 31 00:01:13,359 --> 00:01:15,920 so much. That was my goal. My favorite thing is 32 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:17,560 when people say I finished this in one sitting. I 33 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,439 finished this in one day. I really set out to 34 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:21,359 write a fun popcorn book. 35 00:01:22,519 --> 00:01:25,519 Speaker 1: What is it about our love affair with two guys 36 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,640 falling in love for the same girl? I mean, this 37 00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:30,239 was even on the Brady Bunch, So how is it 38 00:01:30,239 --> 00:01:32,519 that we still are in love with storylines like this? 39 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 2: Oh? I feel like it's the ultimate fantasy. I mean 40 00:01:36,359 --> 00:01:38,400 I write for young adults, so I do feel like, 41 00:01:38,439 --> 00:01:40,400 you know, there's such a crossover because you never fall 42 00:01:40,439 --> 00:01:42,319 in love the same way you do it's seventeen or eighteen, 43 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,920 and that feeling is universal. But I write primarily for 44 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,879 young people, and it's that fantasy I think is being wanted. 45 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,040 You know, it's seventeen and eighteen. I think what you 46 00:01:52,159 --> 00:01:55,239 want is for somebody to see you and to see 47 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,439 that you're special and that you have something, And that 48 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,200 fantasy of two people seeing it is so fun. And 49 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:05,000 I also think in young adult literature, you're being presented 50 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:06,959 with two different versions of yourself. You know, you're not 51 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,879 necessarily choosing between the boys. You're choosing you know, do 52 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,240 I want to be, you know, a sweet, good wife 53 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,960 or do I want to be the most powerful, fiery 54 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:20,039 version of myself? And using romance as a tool to 55 00:02:20,159 --> 00:02:24,159 explore the interiority of the main character is always really fun. 56 00:02:24,759 --> 00:02:26,879 Speaker 1: Yes, Sasha, you talk about it being for young adults, 57 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:28,879 but the thing about it is, though, is that there 58 00:02:28,879 --> 00:02:31,080 are a lot of adults reading your work. 59 00:02:33,479 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think that a good story 60 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,319 is universal, Yeah, and a fun story is universal. And 61 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,080 I am an adult who still reads young adult fiction. 62 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,080 I think that there's something so fun, particularly about young 63 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,919 adult fantasy, with the pacing and the world building that's 64 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,919 just so inherently readable that I've never been able to 65 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:56,719 move on from it. 66 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: But you create a description here that I've never heard before. 67 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,199 But I'm waiting for Hollywood to pick it up. Romanticy, 68 00:03:04,479 --> 00:03:08,080 Oh my god, what that totally describes what's going on here. 69 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I feel like it's become you know, the 70 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,919 portmanteau of the last couple of years, these books that 71 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,599 are you know, they're fantasy in their world building, but 72 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,599 the story is being driven by love, which are my 73 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,479 favorite kind of books, you know. And we have these 74 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,639 massive blockbusters like a Court of Thorns and Roses and 75 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:35,080 Fourth Wing and they're these you know, great grand magical worlds, 76 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,360 but the heart of the story, you know, I don't 77 00:03:37,479 --> 00:03:39,960 really care who ends up on the throne at the end. 78 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,560 What I care about is, you know, is she marrying 79 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,159 the guy that I want her to marry. Are they 80 00:03:44,159 --> 00:03:46,039 going to kiss when I want them to kiss? Or 81 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,439 is the battle happening? I find this something so so 82 00:03:50,639 --> 00:03:54,520 compelling in page journey about a love story that I've 83 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,199 never been able, you know, to get away from. You know, 84 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,960 from the first time I read Enchanted at twelve, I've 85 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:03,360 always been rooting for a handsome friends. 86 00:04:04,759 --> 00:04:06,759 Speaker 1: Now, what did you do in order to get yourself 87 00:04:06,759 --> 00:04:09,000 into the mindset of where this book and the story 88 00:04:09,039 --> 00:04:13,599 takes place, Because it's not in twenty twenty five, no, 89 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:14,159 So the. 90 00:04:14,199 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 2: Rosebargen takes place in eighteen forty eight London and an 91 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,959 alternate history where the Queen of England is a fairy 92 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,399 who tricked her way onto the throne four hundred years 93 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:23,959 earlier during the English Civil War. And so we have 94 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,040 this really fun kind of mishmash of a fantasy world 95 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,199 where you know, the queen is a fairy, so what 96 00:04:29,199 --> 00:04:32,319 would that look like. They're having rebels and bonfires and 97 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:34,839 there's a tree growing through the middle of Kensington Palace. 98 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,480 And then we also have all of the rigidity and 99 00:04:37,639 --> 00:04:42,399 manners and ball gowns of Victorian England. And so I 100 00:04:42,399 --> 00:04:45,160 got to have a lot of fun, you know, combining 101 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,360 those two aspects, As with all things I read. I 102 00:04:49,439 --> 00:04:53,600 read a thousand regency romance novel like everybody. I was 103 00:04:53,639 --> 00:04:56,680 swept up in the Bridgerton craze, and I love Lisa 104 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,079 clay Pass and Beverly Jenkins and all of intessadaire. And 105 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,199 you know, I read so many regency romance novels, and 106 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:05,560 you know, there's only so many times you can read 107 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:07,480 somebody kissing in a carriage before you really want to 108 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:08,240 try it out yourself. 109 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,959 Speaker 1: That's why we have the Biltmore Estate here in the South. 110 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,439 We go there for our little romans, and we feel 111 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,800 like we're in England is what we try to do. 112 00:05:18,439 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 2: There's something so compelling about it. I get it. 113 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,439 Speaker 1: There's one thing that happens inside the storyline that I thought, whoa, 114 00:05:27,079 --> 00:05:29,759 it's been going on for centuries. Fake dating? 115 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 2: Yes, also there yeah, I mean, I love a trope. 116 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:38,040 And when you know, in all books are tropes, there's 117 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,920 no trope free book. But when I sat down to 118 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,000 write this book, I was really sad. I was in 119 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,000 a kind of a dark place in my life, and 120 00:05:45,079 --> 00:05:47,560 I decided that this book was going to be my lifeline, 121 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,360 and so I threw all of my most favorite tropes 122 00:05:51,399 --> 00:05:56,480 into this, like really sparkly fantasy world and I love 123 00:05:56,639 --> 00:05:58,560 I love you know, fake dating as a trope where 124 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,439 you have to you know, of course, we have to 125 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,759 leave the kiss for the good of the country, and 126 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,399 you have this this plausible deniability as you're falling for 127 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,000 somebody that makes it kind of safe to do things 128 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,240 that you wouldn't ordinarily do. I think it makes you know, 129 00:06:12,319 --> 00:06:15,399 characters a little braver. We also have the just one 130 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,240 bed trope. We have a lot of longing across a 131 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:22,000 crowded ballroom. We have a Kissing for Practice Trope book. 132 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,879 I just had so much fun writing this book, and 133 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:26,480 so to hear that readers are also having fun with 134 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:28,040 it is the best thing. 135 00:06:28,439 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: Don't you wish you could put a camera inside your 136 00:06:30,639 --> 00:06:33,120 imagination when you're when you when you're putting this thing together, 137 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,519 because we see it as writers, we see it all 138 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,720 coming to play, and now we've got to put it 139 00:06:37,759 --> 00:06:40,199 on a page and it's like, Okay, did it identify 140 00:06:40,199 --> 00:06:42,720 itself as such as it did inside my mind? 141 00:06:44,199 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 2: Absolutely? I am a very visual plotter. I am seeing 142 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,879 the movie in my head and so trying to translate 143 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,920 that into something that feels just as vivid, but it 144 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,600 also doesn't slow down the pace thing Like I could 145 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,240 write about a ball goam for hours, but at the 146 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:58,800 end of the day, we've got to have some action. 147 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,040 So I absolutely agree with you trying to create that 148 00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:04,120 sense of place in the ways of challenge. 149 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about you 150 00:07:06,639 --> 00:07:08,680 and how we're going to stay connected with you because 151 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,079 this story, like you said, you finished it last night. 152 00:07:12,879 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah. Sequel coming out soon, so I promise you 153 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:16,839 don't have to wait too long. I'm on Instagram at 154 00:07:16,879 --> 00:07:19,680 Sosher Peyton Smith and my website at Sashapasmith dot com. 155 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,959 Speaker 1: I love it. Please come back to this show anytime 156 00:07:21,959 --> 00:07:23,360 in the future. The door is always going to be 157 00:07:23,399 --> 00:07:25,519 open for you, Miss Sasha. 158 00:07:25,839 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 2: I'd be delighted. 159 00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant? 160 00:07:27,959 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 2: Okay, thank you so much for your time.