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Episodes
It's Like Throwing a Pebble into Space
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the final episode of season one, Mona and Courtney chat about their top failures of 2025, self-forgiveness in writing, season one's highs and lows,...
S1E24 - It's Never Gonna Be Perfect
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with author Jennifer Hudak about negotiating major career shifts, the necessity of fallow periods, negotiating identity as a wr...
S1E23 - The Book of Your Heart is Not on Trend
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with debut novelist Emily Zipps about going on sub when the world is on fire, silence around the novel submission process, the ...
S1E22 - If You Force the Zipper, It Won't Budge
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with debut author, Piper L. White, about the debut learning curve, how other types of writing and art inform and interconnect w...
S1E21 - It's an Economy of Favors
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat publishing, precarity, and privilege with debut author Lacey Dunham. Transcripts here! Find Lacey online at www.laceyndunham.co...
S1E20 - It's Like Army Crawling Through 30 Inches of Snow
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with debut novelist Rebecca Danzenbaker about the power of persevering, finding what works for you in the publishing process, a...
S1E19 - You Need a Suitcase Full of Skills
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with author Lisa Tirreno about shifting from journalism to novel writing, celebrating rejections, gamifying the writing process...
S1E18 - You Need Work-Life Balance for Writing, Too
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona debut novelist Alysha Rameera about the skills you need to learn on the fly in debut year, the feeling of not being enough to write ...
S1E17 - You’re (Not?) Two Halves of the Same Brain
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with MK Hardy, co-authors of debut Sapphic Gothic Horror, The Needfire, about what happens when your agent leaves agenting, co-...
S1E16 - Progress isn't an Upward Slope
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with author Rukman Ragas about short stories, getting paid, the importance of complexity in representation, survivorship bias, ...
S1E15 - Plotters have an Advantage
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with debut author Sasa Hawk about short story vs novel submissions, identifying your own patterns, writing synopses, genre labe...
S1E14 - You Can't Just Set That Book Aside
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat deadlines, post-deal writing slumps, advocating for yourself as an introvert, and anxiety and mental health with author Roselyn...
S1E13 - It's a Business Relationship
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat agent relationships, prioritizing yourself, and combatting comparanoia with author Lorraine Wilson. Transcripts here! Find Lorr...
S1E12 - You Lose the Calluses
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with mythpunk and horrorromance author Danai Christopoulou about writing in a second language, unsupportive family, the power o...
S1E11 - You’re a Member of a Losing Team
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with author and writing teacher Daryl Gregory about community, imposter syndrome, awards, teaching, and tricking yourself into ...
S1E10 - There's a Room Full of People Talking about You
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with debut horror author C. J. Dotson about rebuilding your writing process from the ground up, handling reviews, what it's lik...
S1E9 - You're On the Publishing Treadmill, and You Don't Set the Speed
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author Premee Moh...
S1E8 - You're Not (Always) in Charge
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courtney and Mona chat with fantasy author Demi Winters about writing from and about personal experiences, her journey from self-pub to trad pub, and ...
S1E7 - You'll Fall Down
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with debut author Saratoga Schaefer about reframing failure, getting sober, debut pressures, and mental health support in the p...
S1E6 - It Takes Luck
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat with debut fantasy author M. Stevenson about luck and timing in the publishing process, revising to trends, and giving back to ...
S1E5 - It's Going to Get to You
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat about the hidden pitfalls of writing full time, the importance of joy in the work, and how to find community with horror and fa...
S1E4 - You Have to Learn to Edit Yourself
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mona and Courtney chat about slow-burn careers, leveling up, community, and the importance of learning to edit your own work with David Goodman, autho...
S1E3 - There's Another Mountain Past This One
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mona & Courtney check in about their failure to launch this podcast on their original timeline, what their writing lives have been like this year,...
S1E2 - The Ladder of Success is a Möbius Strip
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mona West and Courtney Floyd chat with guest Zohar Jacobs about the particular failures that can follow early success, submission strategies, the ladd...
S1E1 - We're all Participating in the Rejection Olympics
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Mona West and Courtney Floyd kick off the podcast by interviewing each other about rejection, failure, and coping mechanisms. Transcripts here!...