Lesbians Who Write Podcast

TB and Miranda are working on Devil’s Advocate, their next cowrite, but the heat and humidity are killing TB, making her sluggish and cranky. TB survived the IHS Christmas in July sale, which was the best yet. Sadly, Amazon is struggling with rankings yet again, so it was hard to tell by the charts. TB is currently in Maine on a writing retreat. Go TB, go! Clare got the Christmas book from the editor in 5 days! Word is, it’s the funniest Clare Lydon book yet. The Brazilian translation of You’re My Kind has been released. Unfortunately, it too is getting snagged in the Amazon ranking debacle. Clare went on a rant on Twitter about book returns and many authors cheered her on. Book pirates suck! They move on to the topic: conferences. Clare and TB have both been to conferences recently, so this chat is timely. One of the most popular questions the duo receives is whether conferences are worth the investment (travel, accommodations). It’s a difficult question to answer since it’s hard to see the return on the i

Please note: due to the extreme heat in the UK on the day of recording, the audio cuts out at some points. Apologies! Pride Month is over and just in time since TB’s left arm is rebelling about all the long hours at the laptop while launching the Pride Collection. She actually lost feeling in two fingers and it wasn’t until heading to New Mexico without the laptop that the pain eased. Miranda threw TB under the bus in front a roomful of people at GCLS while they accepted a Goldie for The AM Show. It’s hot as heck in Britain and Clare almost melted during the recording. She’s just returned from two weeks off, but dove right back into work on her Christmas story because what better way is there to deal with the heat than to write about Christmas-y weather. Clare’s launched a surprise Italian translation of Before You Say I Do. While at GCLS, many people told TB they enjoyed the show, but TB can’t remember everyone’s names. She wants to say thanks to everyone for being supportive in New Mexico and for being

TB’s halfway through 30 days of Pride, which is part of the launch strategy for the Pride Collection. On the writing front, TB and Miranda have started a new writing project and TB is super excited about tapping out fresh words. In freaky news, TB is stumbling upon more snakes while hiking. Clare has been trying to launch It Started with a Kiss but Amazon is complicating the process. She’s also battling Audible to get the correct categories for Change of Heart. It’s not all bad news. The Brazilian translation for Before you Say I Do was prominently featured on the socials for a massive bookfair. Toot toot! They crack on to the topic: what’s your relationship with money? TB didn’t want to discuss this and is pretty sure Clare suggested it only to frustrate TB’s aversion to numbers. They break down their relationship with money, starting with their backgrounds. As full-time writers running their own author businesses means they’re constantly dealing with money. What’s your relationship with money? Head over

Programming note: the duo is scaling back and will start releasing episodes every other Monday. Happy Pride! TB’s excited to announce the Pride Collection has officially launched!  Toot toot! Abby Craden has finished recording Two of a Kind and TB is excited to see how the audiobook release goes hopefully later this month. In relaxing news, TB’s next editing deadline isn’t until August. She plans on crashing for a few days to recover from the Pride launch. Clare has had an intense week getting It Started with a Kiss ready for publication, although she’s forgotten how to set up direct sales on BookFunnel. Finally, the audio version of Change of Heart is out! Clare has to get her next book off the editor by the end of June because she’s going away for two weeks in July. To celebrate getting her book done, she’s off to a barbeque party. They crack on to the topic: trigger warnings. They break down what trigger warnings are, when to include them, and discuss how they can be divisive. Have a listen to find out

Programming note: the duo is scaling back and will start releasing episodes twice a month. TB just got back from a weekend trip to the beach and she’s a bit more relaxed than normal. Shocking!  In great news, Take Two in the Pride Collection, which TB and Miranda cowrote, is back from editing and should be heading to the ARC team soon. Toot toot! Now TB is focused on launching the Pride Collection, which is much more stressful than she thought and she’s losing her mind. Clare just returned from Paris, where she’d gone with her lovely wife to celebrate their anniversary. Now she’s prepping It Started with a Kiss for publication, but it’s been 8 months since the last launch and she’s pretty much forgotten everything she needs to do. Given all the turmoil that’s happened in her life, Clare is looking forward to getting back to a routine. Her next writing project is her Christmas novel. Holly jolly time! They crack on to the topic: travel in fiction. This episode is timely since both of them recently returned

TB is neck deep in getting her pride novel ready for the June 1 launch. But it’s even more complicated, because there are 8 books in the Pride Collection, so, she’s coordinating 8 authors and let’s just say, being organized isn’t TB’s jam. The rebranding of IHL to I Heart SapphFic is making everything take so long and TB is kicking herself for launching the Pride Collection and changing the website all at once. Did we mention she’s a terrible planner? Clare’s book is back from the editor and she’s been avoiding like a pro. It should be noted, her father’s funeral is this week, so it’s understandable. She’s been doing bits and bobs with social media and getting admin work out of the way. In good news, Clare attended a Tottenham match, and they won! In giggling news, Clare rediscovered a beaver fever shirt from her teen years. They crack on to the topic: what are you doing for you this year? It’s important to make time for yourself and have a listen to see how Clare and TB spend their “me” time. What are you

The duo is back! TB is super stressed, which seems to be her normal state these days. A London Love Story, the Kindle Vella series, has been published as an ebook and paperback. Somehow TB has gotten herself in the middle of a BDSM debacle. In great news, all 8 books in Pride Collection, which TB and Miranda spearheaded to celebrate IHL’s fifth anniversary, are available for preorder, and they’ll go live on June 1. Launching two projects just wasn’t enough to manage at once, so TB and Miranda are also in the middle of rebranding IHL to I Heart SapphFic. No wonder TB’s stressed! Clare just returned from her trip to Jamaica. In fact, she landed hours before recording. (TB said they could wait a week for Clare to recover, but she’s that dedicated to LWW listeners.) If she sounds knackered, that’s the reason! She did such a fab job emceeing the wedding, and it might become her side gig. Kidding… maybe. While in Jamaica, she finished her book and sent it off to the editor. It wasn’t all work. She read two fab bo

Programming note: The duo is taking some time off. TB loves it when Clare calls TB coast, instead of co-host. It’s an adorable quirk. TB and Miranda MacLeod are working on their pride novella, but both are a wee bit burned out, so they’re baby-stepping their way back into another writing project. A London Love Story, the Kindle Vella series, will be published as an ebook on April 25th. Finally, readers outside of the US can read it! Clare’s book is heading to the editor. Hooray! She’s still not convinced it won’t end her career, but TB gently reminds her it’s still in the editing stage, meaning things can be fixed, not that the book will have to be fixed. In not so good news, Clare went running and buggered her hip. In possibly the best news ever, a new brewery has opened near Clare’s home. Now she can run there, drink some pints to numb the pain, and stumble back home. Brilliant! They crack on to listener questions. The questions range from favorite musicians to how to find an affordable editor. Tune in t

TB is very upsetti spaghetti. After some nice warm days, snow and cold temps have returned, and TB is done with winter. In good news, Two of a Kind, the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod has published. Toot toot! In bad news, two episodes ago, TB struggled to get the podcast episode up and running. She had to take down the episode, a couple of times, and then she waited for half a day for the podcast host to fix the problem. So, if you noticed the episode appearing, disappearing, and reappearing, that’s why. Clare has also had goods and bads since the last episode. Her vineyard book is almost ready for the editor, and Clare's at the stage where she thinks this book will end her career. It won't, but most authors experience this close to finishing a project. She’s also dealing with an IngramSpark hilarity nightmare. Unlike the weather in Massachusetts, spring is happening in London. In fantastic news, Clare had her big movie premier at the BFI, and her scenes weren’t cut. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the sc

TB is full-on panicking. She and Miranda MacLeod are prepping Two of a Kind for publication, and after her last two releases were torpedoed, TB is even more panicky than usual. All 80 episodes of A London Love Story, season 1, are now live on Kindle Vella! TB has started her pride novella for the IHL Pride Collection coming out on June 1 with other fab sapphic authors. Finally, TB went on a walkabout in Boston when the sun was out, something she hasn’t seen much of in the past 3 months. Clare has extended her writing deadline due to life happening. The good news, she’s on draft three, and she doesn’t think it’s complete shite. She took a mental health day to read a book, and she’s going out for karaoke. Her go-to songs are “Teenage Dirtbag” and “Copacabana.” Speaking of music, Clare is rocking Heardle, a game that’s like Wordle, but you have to guess the song after hearing a snippet. They crash on to the topic: write your holiday novel now. Clare, the holiday lover, takes the reins of this episode. She outl

We’re gathering questions for an Ask Us Anything episode, so please send some our way. This is the last week of season 1 of A London Love Story. For 16 weeks, TB and Miranda have been publishing 5 episodes each week, meaning there are 80 in total. Two of a Kind is heading to the ARC team this week. Toot toot! In bad news, TB just figured out the LWW Buy Us a Coffee account had mysteriously been unconnected from the Stripe account, so all payments submitted in 2022 were never processed. It’s been reconnected to Stripe, and payments can go through now. Clare has had a lot of things going on in the background, so she hasn’t made as much progress as she wanted to on the vineyard book. In business news, she’s testing different prices on platforms. This Friday is Clare’s movie debut at the British Film Institute. To refresh your memory, she’s part of a butch gang in the film, but she’s not sure of how much airtime she’ll get or what scenes ended up on the editing floor. In award news, Clare finally received her 2

We’re gathering questions for an Ask Us Anything episode, so please send some our way. TB met the final editing deadline for A London Love Story, the first season that is, and she’s feeling a bit more relaxed. Not completely, though, because she’s gotta stay true to her anxiety-ridden self. And, the clock is already ticking on her next deadline. Even so, she did take the weekend off, heading up to Vermont for some much-needed time away from the laptop and to recharge her batteries. Clare is working on the second draft of her book, which is exciting but also slightly painful. Being the true professional, she’s jotting down lots of notes (in the hundreds, which really surprises TB because how many toes and fingers does Clare have?), to polish the story into a sapphic gem. Why is writing so painful? In business news, Clare’s officially changed her company name, ditching Hot Dog Creative. They crash on to the topic: are you a good publisher? At first, TB didn’t understand the topic when Clare first pitched it,

TB has just survived an excruciatingly close call with her March 1 editing date for Two of a Kind, the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod. In good news, IHL hit 30,000 views in February, a record! And, A London Love Story, the Kindle Vella series, made it to the first page of the top-faved chart. Clare is almost finished with the first draft of her book, a good thing since the edit deadline is quickly approaching. The narrator working on Change of Heart is nailing the Scottish accent, and TB can’t wait to listen. Big London Dreams won Best Sapphic Historical Romance of 2021. Toot toot! Clare’s going to see Tottenham, and fingers crossed they win, but there’s no guarantee because they’ve been all over the place this season. They move on to the topic: the explosion of queer fiction. Clare came up with this topic for the podcast after speaking with a New York Times literary critic, because Clare’s fancy like that, about the influx of queer fiction advance reader copies. Clare gives her views on why queer fiction has

TB is in full panic mode, trying to make a March 1 edit deadline, but authors would never finish a project without the fear of a deadline. She didn’t do a great job planning everything going on behind the scenes leading up to this one and has been managing a lot of stuff while also trying to meet the writing deadline. On March 1, TB may collapse out of exhaustion and not get up for a week. The words for Clare’s latest book are flowing out of her, a good thing because she also has a March deadline. Fortunately for Clare, hers is on the 25th. Like TB, Clare is also struggling to get her book over the finish line, proving that writing is hard and stressful. In life news, for the first time ever, Clare gave blood to honor her great niece’s first birthday. They move on to the topic: author brands. TB takes the reins for this episode, explaining how having the right author brand helps create a fan base and a connection with readers. In the beginning, TB didn’t have much of a plan when it came to her brand, but ov

TB is sad about the topic because she’s cold and doesn’t want to talk about anything to do with winter because she’s over it. In Kindle Vella news, A London Love Story, the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, is ranked really well on the platform. In other amazing news, IHL, TB’s website dedicated to sapphic fiction, got 10,000 views in one week. Even though TB was freezing on the day of recording this episode, three days prior, it was beautiful outside, and TB went for an adventure with Pepper, her car, and was able to feel the sun on her forearms. Amazing! It’s been very wet in London, but Clare learned her office space has a fantastic rain feature in the middle of the building. Clare’s spring release briefly stuttered because she couldn’t get ahold of a vineyard, making TB think she needs to come up with better excuses, but as it turns out, Clare’s book is set on a vineyard, something she’d been keeping a secret. She’s hoping to get back on track this week. Wine should help to get her in the mood, but not sure

TB’s week got off to a rough start, when her laptop had a hissy fit, turning a ten-minute task into forty-five long minutes. A London Love Story, the Kindle Vella series TB is cowriting with Miranda MacLeod, is past the halfway point, a good thing, because the project has become more time-consuming than either thought it would be. In more writing news, Miranda and TB are cruising along on the ranch story, that Clare prefers calling raunchy. ACX dropped a bomb on US tax payers, causing TB many headaches, because taxes weren’t already headache-inducing. Clare is back from Whitstable, and she had a fabulous week, getting loads of words down. She’s been watching the Winter Olympics and is applying the discipline of athletic performance to her current writing project. Will she be able to nail the landing? Clare’s workspace is going well, aside from a noisy and slow crisp eater. There’s always one in a shared space! The best news, she’s made some pals to have lunches with. Imagine that. Human contact! But, that’s

TB is in a state this episode. A massive storm dumped a shedload of snow and while digging out her car, TB wrecked her back yet again. Also, since the storm, there’s been major snow removal operations, involving construction trucks that keep beeping day and night. Basically, TB hasn’t slept in 48 hours, and it quickly became obvious during the recording. Two words: hot mess. To round out a really terrible time, Amazon’s ranking issues have greatly impacted TB’s latest release, The Proposal, because that’s what she needed on top of everything else. While the duo recorded this episode, Clare was fun and frothy in Whitstable, sitting on a daybed, balancing her laptop between her thighs. During her writing retreat, she’s been getting up every morning, going for a walk along the seafront, 3 hours of writing, lunch, another walk, then another writing block. During her walks, she’s realized that Whitstable is forever tied to One Golden Summer, the duo’s cowrite based there. In new writing news, she wrote 4k on her

TB is really nervous to publish The Proposal, more than normal, if you can believe it. In health news, TB finally went for a massage, after stopping them in 2020, when everything shut down. A back spasm, though, had her whimpering, so now she’s getting massages again. In co-writing news, TB keeps unintentionally calling the ranch book the raunchy book. Finally, TB has to wear a tutu, and it’s all Clare’s fault! Clare, if everything has gone according to plan, is currently in Whitstable, going for long walks, writing lots of words, and chanting how much she loves the charming seaside town. To prepare for her writing retreat, she’s been researching and plotting her next book. In major movie news, Clare’s extra role in the docudrama has been beefed up, and she’s now a character with an actual name. They crash on to the topic: print books. Recently, Clare noticed on Amazon that out of the top twenty sapphic books, a quarter of them didn’t have paperback editions. She offers some stats that shuts down TB’s brain

TB waged war with audiobook pirates on YouTube and won for a day, but she knows it’s going to be a long battle. The Proposal, the London novella, is with the ARC team, but TB is more nervous than normal about releasing it due to the whole Amazon deranking issue. In fun writing news, TB has started another cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, and the story takes place on a ranch. Despite TB’s ancestors being ranchers, her knowledge about it is minimal, unless you count ranch sauce on a salad. Clare has had a very unexpected week. Her writing retreat in Whitstable had to be postponed to February because she got COVID. But Clare turned the negative into a positive by doing her January writing retreat at home, adding 25k to her first draft. Change of Heart fans, the audiobook has been commissioned. Toot toot! In more actionable news, while in quarantine, Clare booked her three editing dates for the year. Considering it wasn’t the week she expected, she was super productive, making her the positivity queen of the year s

TB and Miranda MacLeod are still cracking on with A London Love Story, the Kindle Vella series. Because of this series, TB now has to dress up like a princess! TB launched the 2022 IHL Reading Challenge and they’re starting a new feature on IHL called Writerly Wednesday. The reason they’re amping up the offerings on the website this year is IHL turns five this spring! TB hit some roadblocks with her upcoming new release, but she remembered something she learned while climbing a mountain and applied it to her writing. TB learns about an aspect of Clare’s childhood and is still processing… Clare crunched her 2021 writing words and, as it turned out, she wrote more words than in 2020, which is surprising given she had to deal with lots of family upheaval. In 2022 news, she’s worked out her schedule and finalized her goals (a good thing because that’s the topic for today!). Clare completed her first HIIT session of the year and almost vomited. And, Clare’s liquid-silk voice is taking the world by storm. They b