Lesbians Who Write Podcast

Please note, due to a storm, TB’s mic cuts out occasionally. We apologize for the annoyance! TB only has two weeks to get the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod to the editor, and she’s starting to full-on panic. Mayday! Mayday! In Girl Love Happens news, she’s going through the final stage before publishing, but TB never determined a publication date, which is kinda important. She’s not sure how that fell through the cracks. And, TB finally announces what big project she’s cooked up for I Heart Lesfic in 2022. Clare has a new telly and eyeglasses, opening up a whole new world. Sadly, her knee is still effed. Big London Dreams is launching next week! Don’t miss her first foray into historical fiction. She’s also cracking on with her other book, but she feels a bit weird to be so far along in it since she normally doesn’t juggle two projects at the same time. And, the cover for the new book is in the works. Exciting times! Not surprisingly, Clare has experienced yet another printer fail. They move on to the main

TB just returned from a trip and is exhausted and slightly upset. For the third time this summer, TB’s weekend away was plagued with rain. Lots and lots of rain. But it was nice to catch up with friends. On the work front, TB is still getting words down in the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod. Also, TB is rebranding the Girl Love Happens series, which is a tedious and thankless task. And, Lizzie fans will be happy to hear progress is being made on the next book in the series. Clare’s life is manic at the moment. Big London Dreams will be published later this month! She’s in the process of finessing the blurb and doing the front and back matter. In techy news, her laptop had a major meltdown, but she walked away, and when she came back, lo and behold, it was working again! Her current WIP has been put on hold due to getting Big London Dreams pubbed. While cheering on the English football team, Clare had an epiphany that can be applied to writing. They move on to the main topic: their favorite summer reads. TB b

TB’s chugging along on the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod and is halfway through the next Lizzie book. However, she’s worried (What else is new?) about messing up Lizzie’s backstory, but TB shares when she heard one of her favorite authors address this very issue and how the author also got things wrong. The audio version of The Date is live! In shocking news, TB actually ate inside a restaurant. Clare had a couple of blue days after returning from her trip and sitting back at the laptop, which is the worst part of taking time off, getting back into the groove. However, her trip has inspired a new book that she’s motoring along on. And, it has a title already, which is fab news because the cover designer is booked for July. Big London Dreams is with the ARC team! Due to an upcoming construction project, Clare’s shopping around for a shared work space for peace and quiet. She has her eye on a posh one, but the cheaper option is closer to home. Stay tuned for her decision. They move on to the main topic: half-y

TB is flustered, per usual. In fab audio news, A Woman Trapped, the 8th book in the Lizzie series, is now live and only took 8 days to go through ACX. A true miracle! In more miraculous news, TB’s writing resistance has finally ebbed, and she’s making amazing progress on the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod. Not everything is rosy, though, and TB suffered through a disastrous kitchen flood over their two-week break. Unlike TB, Clare had an epic hiatus exploring the Scottish Highlands, experiencing stunning scenery, fantastic food, incredible beaches, and perfect weather, which is a rarity in Scotland. And, the trip inspired a couple of stories, a fantabulous bonus. Big London Dreams is back from the editor, meaning Clare is in the final push for publication. In sports news, Euro 2020 is filling Clare’s heart with joy. They move on to the main topic: favorite Pride memories. There’s been a lot of chatter about Pride this week. Some of the news has been terrible, like the restrictions in Hungary, and some has bee

Programming note, the duo is taking some time off, and the next episode will air on June 28th. TB has started the cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, and it’ll be a test to see if TB’s writing brain snaps back to life or if it’s completely broken. On the marketing front, TB is busy rebranding the entire Girl Love Happens series since she did everything absolutely wrong on the first go. In fun news (kinda shocking for TB to report something lighthearted), she went to P-Town for her birthday and drank wine from a rainbow can. Clare is currently traipsing through Scotland, hopefully blister free. She’s also booked restaurants by a lake, which sounds so delightful. Walking, eating, drinking wine... What’s not to love? Before leaving, she published a blog post about how to launch a book, so be sure to check that out. For blog lovers, she’s posting two a month on her author website. You don’t want to miss her gems. They move on to the main topic: are you languishing? It won’t come as a surprise to listeners to hear TB

TB published the third Lizzie boxset, and she’s still trying to figure out why readers love Lizzie so much but is grateful they do. In writing news, TB is in serious crunch time to get Girl Love Happens done for her editing date. In other news, technology has decided it hates TB, and everything has been breaking on her websites, causing a lot of screaming and even more tears. Clare has been prepping for her walking trip in Scotland, including getting her feet taken care of and a pap smear test, making TB wonder what Clare is expecting on this trip. She has ordered a bunch of bandages for her feet in case she gets blisters. She’s still tapping out words, hoping to hit a target before her getaway, but she’s still not sure if this is the project she’ll publish next. They move on to the main topic: selling your backlist. Both are passionate about this topic because for most full-time writers, it’s the backlist that keeps the lights on while most of the buzz surrounds new releases. Authors can’t solely bank on n

TB is on a tight editing deadline, and it’s going to be a close finish. On the Lizzie front, things are going pretty well with the story, but JJ is an entirely different story. Just in the nick of time, TB is starting another cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, and fingers crossed the joint project helps kick TB’s writing brain into gear. Sometimes, it’s best to have a buddy during difficult times. Clare is squeezing out some words on her next book, but she’s still not sure if this is the right project. While she puzzles that out, Clare is not sharing what the story is about just in case she has to ditch it. The tricky part is Clare has her cover designer scheduled next month, meaning she needs a title and general idea of the story to create the cover because her designer is booked solid. No pressure! And, Clare has been avoiding telling TB something… They move on to the main topic: is self-publishing second best? This is a matter that keeps rearing its ugly head, and some love to claim only those who couldn’t g

TB has to admit Clare was right: the audio version of The Love Project sailed through ACX, which isn’t known for their efficiency. TB expected it to come out in late May, but it dropped in the final days of April. On the writing front, TB is switching her focus to Girl Love Happens to meet a June 1 edit. In outstanding news, TB got her second vaccine jab and has been recovering, meaning there haven’t been any fresh words on the page, but she’s fully vaxxed now! Toot, toot! It’s amazing Clare sat down for the recording because her day hasn’t gone according to plan. First, she’s been dealing with difficulties finalizing her Irish passport. Second, there was a spider attack. Third, she had a call with her first reader of Big London Dreams going over all the comments, but the big takeaway is the reader says this is Clare’s best book yet. Now, Clare needs to wind back up into the mode of first drafting for her next story. And, spider proof her house. During the comment section, they discuss whether tits can solv

TB has started over on JJ, the book that won’t cooperate or die. She needs to figure out exactly where she drove the story off the cliff and try to pull it back. For those keeping track of the JJ vs Lizzie race, shockingly, JJ is back in the lead. TB had a battle with the water supply in her apartment, and she’s wondering if bad karma is to blame. Big London Dreams has been sent to the first reader. It’s nail-biting time for Clare as she waits to hear the report. In the meantime, she’s trying to decide what story to write next. She has a few ideas in mind but won’t share any of them. In horrendous news, one of Clare’s narrators has to sit out the next year due to a voice injury. Finally, Clare went to lunch with a writer friend, and she got a haircut. She’s living like it’s 2019. They move on to the main topic: boobs! While procrastinating writing, TB started googling different words for breasts and stumbled upon a blog post that had 300 words. Most of them are hilarious, so TB proposed each of them should

Even though it’s wrong to hate, TB hates her allergies and has been miserable for days. In writing news, she reworked her schedule to provide more writing time for book 3 in The Miracle Girl series because it’s creeping forward so slowly it’s probably going backward. That’s basically the end of TB’s update because she hasn’t been working much in order to give her brain a rest. Clare’s audiobook The Long Weekend sailed through ACX’s process and is up for sale. Woot! In bad audio news, Clare crunched the numbers and was shocked by the amount of audiobook returns. In writing news, Clare has finished the second draft of Big London Dreams. Can we get a toot, toot! Clare went to dinner, and TB yelled because she thought Clare was eating inside. She wasn’t, and it’s possible TB hasn’t fully apologized for yelling. During the comments section, Clare is the one who turns red when they breakdown the phrase: Weeping Love Canal. They move on to the main topic: Haters are gonna hate. TB suggested this podcast after lea

Clare calls TB the resident curmudgeon, and TB wants that on a T-shirt because it’ll make her happy. TB is still struggling on the writing front and wants listeners to weigh in. Who will cross the finish line first: JJ or Lizzie? In marketing news, to help promote her latest release, The Date, TB ran a freebie on The Setup, and in the back of the ebook, there was a sample of The Date with a buy button. This helped nudge The Date to number 1 in lesbian romance. Meaning, the effort of freshening up the back matter in books is having a positive impact, although redoing all the intros and outros to the backlist has been tedious and is far from over. Clare is nearly done with Big London Dreams, but she befuddles TB by talking about being decimalized, which makes TB picture terrible things, not decimals. In big effing deal news, Clare worked out she’s published 1.5 million words in her seven-year career. And, in the past week, Clare’s decided she loves being a writer. (Apparently, she didn’t get the memo about to

TB is extremely low energy, but she tried to buck up before the recording. The culprit may be her epic battle writing book 3 of The Miracle Girl series. Her word count is so low TB has started writing the next Lizzie book six months ahead of schedule just to feel like she’s accomplishing something. It’s now a race to see which project will get to the finish line first: JJ (The Miracle Girl) or Lizzie? In good news, TB got her first vaccine jab! Clare is still trundling along on the second draft of Big London Dreams, and in a surprising twist, she’s fallen into a historical research rabbit hole, warming TB’s heart. Also, now the book is connected to the Miss World contest, which is the oldest-running pageant. Clare uncovered an interesting fact about the founding of one of the largest lesbian bars in London. In milestone news, Clare published her first novel seven years ago! And, she’s still going strong. Toot, toot! They move on to the main topic: What’s in a name? Clare came up with this topic to remind au

Clare starts off by saying lady bits, knocking TB, the prude, off her game right out of the gate. In writing news, TB is struggling with the third book of The Miracle Girl series, only tapping out 100 words a day. In Twitter news, TB set up an account for Lesbians Who Write and they need followers, so pretty please follow them, or TB will cry. She’s high strung like that. And, TB totally stole a character name from Clare. In Clare’s world, she’s going through the second draft of Big London Dreams and digging into history books, making TB somewhat jealous. In translation news, Clare has a German language book coming out soon. In not so fun news, she received a notice to get GDPR insurance, and she’s pretty certain it’s a way for the UK government to pay for all the COVID-19 bills. In fantabulous news, Clare has booked a table in a pub garden. Toot, toot! They move onto the main topic: What to call your lady bits? In a shocking twist, TB was the one who suggested the topic concerning acceptable words to use f

TB launched The Date, formerly known as Earl’s Court. Also, TB got the fancy schmancy Buy Us A Coffee button up on the LWW website. This task had been dogging TB for weeks, and she officially gets to scratch it off her to-do list. If listeners want to buy them a virtual coffee, all the proceeds go to the fees associated with running the podcast. Lastly, TB got her mammogram, and her boobs are almost back to unsquished status. Clare finished the first draft of Big London Dreams. Toot toot! Her brain is recovering, and she hasn’t started the second edit yet. The good news, Clare was able to push her preorder after her family emergency, giving her some breathing room. She road-tested the quality control approval times of ACX and Findaway Voices, and this won’t be shocking news. ACX is not the most efficient. Finally, Clare got her vaccine jab! They move on to the topic: let’s get seasonal. One of the goals as a writer is to give a sense of place so your characters don’t wander around in a void. Adding seasonal

TB starts off the episode by saying she doesn’t want to look like a gnome. In writing news, she’s finalizing Earl’s Court for her ARC team and will soon be in full launch mode. Toot toot! In shocking news, TB has started writing book 3 in The Miracle Girl series. This story involves a lot of research, which she loves to delve into, but it’s difficult for TB to stop researching and to start writing. In podcast news, TB has been working on a techie thing, and it just might be live soonish. So don’t start tooting any horns until it’s been made official. Clare is getting some writing done, which is fab news for those who can’t wait to read book 8 in the London Romance series. However, she set up a preorder for this one, and with her family drama, it’s possible she won’t make the original date. Clare needs to figure out the best way to tackle the preorder problem: extend it for a month or outright cancel it. On the health front, she’s back to doing yoga and daily walks. In Brazilian publishing news, Clare receive

This is the third week of their spring-cleaning themed episodes. TB struggled figuring out the time of the podcast recording because the US has sprung forward, but the UK hasn’t yet. There’s a good chance, TB will never figure it out because math... She’s been drowning on two fronts: formatting the IHL mega sale and gathering all the paperwork for taxes, meaning TB hasn’t done any writing or editing for 10 long days. In good news, she was able to wear shorts and go to the beach but, sadly, not on the same day. Clare hasn’t done any writing lately, but unlike TB, Clare’s two-week break involved a family crisis stalling every other aspect of her life. She’s back at home, in a semi-routine, but she may have to dash back out of town soon. As if things weren’t bad enough, Amazon blocked one of Clare’s books from sale. While she was back in her hometown, Clare went for a walk along the beach. Please, everyone, send positive juju Clare’s way. Every kind word goes a long way. They move on to the topic: spring-clea

This is the second week of their spring-cleaning themed episodes. TB has finally finished the I Heart Lesfic mega sale pages, so get your clicking fingers ready. Calling all Girl Love Happens fans! Episodes 1 through 4 have been edited, and now TB just needs to write the final couple of episodes to complete the third season. She’s knee-deep into researching two books at once, because that’s how she rolls. In fabulous life news, the temperatures are improving, allowing TB to feel sunshine on her skin and expunging her grumpiness. On Clare’s side of the pond, the sun is also shining, filling Clare’s heart with joy. On the Big London Dreams front, she has four chapters left to finish the draft, leaving her five weeks to get the manuscript nice and shiny for the editor. Clare’s been doing some audio proofing on one book and expecting another one soon. In fun news, Clare had a women-only whiskey tasting Zoom night. Keep an eye out for a future whiskey-loving character. Roscoe has a new buddy that Clare can’t ki

This is the first week of their spring-cleaning themed episodes. March is off to a rough start for TB. She’s had to juggle a lot of admin tasks, leaving her frazzled. In writing news, she got Earl’s Court to the editor with two days to spare, shocking the heck out of everyone. TB is formatting the sale pages for the I Heart Lesfic mega sale. As she works on the pages, TB keeps chanting: Copy. Paste. Copy. Paste. In audiobook news, she’s commissioned Lori Prince for two books. Woot! Clare is still toiling on Big London Dreams, and she’s put her foot down on the word-count pedal. This one involves a sex scene set in the 50s, and TB wants to know what garments are being removed. In the weird things you never thought you’d learn about Clare, she didn’t have a freezer of her own until she was in her thirties. On the book marketing front, Clare redid all the front and back matter for the London Romance Series. In outstanding news, Clare’s library event was a smash hit! They move on to the topic: spring-clean you

This is the fourth and final week of the love-themed episodes in honor of V-Day. TB is trepidatious about the podcast topic since she’s not big on emotions, but she showed up, so that’s a start. On the publication front, TB has been launching The Love Project, her cowrite with Miranda MacLeod. In writing news, TB is knee-deep in getting her Earl’s Court novella ready for the editor. It’s going to be a close finish, folks. In strange but true news, TB can’t pretend she’s a tree, and trying to stresses her out! Clare is carrying on writing Big London Dreams, and her two protagonists meet in a garment factory. Writing their story is jogging Clare’s memory that she was shite at sewing when in school. A writing angel is looking out for Clare by hiding something she needed to see to help prevent a disaster. On the entertainment front, RuPaul’s Drag Race is helping to keep Clare sane—well, as sane as possible. Clare has finally learned the true definition of Je suis désolé, and she’s sorry to all the French speake

This is week three of the love-themed episodes in honor of V-Day. TB, stumbles right out of the gate on this episode because Clare claims TB is erotic. Naturally, the prude’s face went up in flames. TB has big news. The Love Project, her cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, has been published. Woot! In frustrating news, TB is in yet another battle with ACX over her London novella, The Setup. In I Heart Lesfic news, TB is organizing the next mega sale. Clare doesn’t know what to call ice, because in London, it hardly gets that cold. She calls it frozen water. Clare has commissioned two audiobooks and is considering avoiding ACX by using Findaway Voices. In writing news, she’s outlining Big London Dreams yet again, after pantsing 10K, which seems to be her magic number when starting a new project. She’s had to change her research methods, relying more on books since she’s still in lockdown in London. Finally, Roscoe is still alive! They move on to the main subject: romance vs. erotica. What’s the difference, and wh