Book Shop Chats:

From Hallmark Tropes To City Lights: A Romance Author’s Playbook with Suzy Langevin

• Season 2 • Episode 12

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Feeling the magic of Christmas in today's episode. Suzy Langevin flips the classic Hallmark trope on it's head and we are here for it. 

About the book 

The Cowboy Christmas Glow Up

Levi Dearborn, handsome heir to a ranching family fortune, knows exactly what's expected of him. Get married, take over the family business, and spend his days working cattle on the cold plains of Montana. It's not the life he wants, but the one he seems destined for. But when everything goes wrong one fateful Thanksgiving, he skips town to start over in New York City.

Zara Mitchell is building an empire. The makeup line she started with her best friend while they were still in college is now worth millions. But that's left her precious little time for anything else, including her long-term relationship that her fed-up boyfriend ends over the phone in the middle of her Black Friday sale. Even though she's not that broken up about losing the guy, she's stressed about attending the biggest fashion industry party in the city, one that could make or break the future of their business, and she already said she was bringing a date.

After a messy chance meeting in a coffee shop, Zara learns that Levi might just hold the key to landing the celebrity brand ambassador her business needs. Determined to close the deal, she invites Levi to the party. As they get to know each other in the run up to the event, sparks fly. But when complications and revelations start to swirl like snowflakes, will their holiday romance make it to the new year?

Purchase Link: https://a.co/d/htSrLxG

Author Bio:

Suzy Langevin loves love, even though she forgot how to say it in Latin when she was a contestant on Jeopardy! She is the winner of the 2024 RWA Golden Heart Award, and is nominated for two 2025 Indieverse Awards. Her short fiction has been featured in several anthologies and magazines. Her career as a clinical social worker, along with her own experience living with autoimmune disease and ADHD, allow her characters to embrace the tough stuff without it becoming a cliché, incorporating themes related to mental health and addiction with authenticity, heart, and humor. Suzy lives and writes in central Massachusetts.

My socials/website/etc:

https://www.instagram.com/suzylangevinwrites/

https://www.tiktok.com/@suzylangevinwrites

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52433329.Suzy_Langevin

https://www.suzylangevin.com/


About Victoria:

Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together. 

Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE

📝 Developmental Editing: Get expert feedback that elevates your manuscript, strengthens your story, and polishes your characters.
✍️ 1:1 monthly support: Revitalize your creativity, map out your novel, and unleash your authentic voice.

Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!

📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial


SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Book Shop Chats, where we cozy up with books of creativity and embrace the magical, messy process of writing a book. I'm Victoria Jane, a writer, developmental editor, and coach for sensitive, busy writers, and I love to support you on your journey of bringing your story to life. So whether you're here for inspiration, behind the scenes peaks of what it what it means to actually write a book, or just some bookish conversations, you are definitely in the right place. And if you're looking for more personalized support, I also offer one-to-one writing support sessions to help bring your story to life because sometimes you need a little bit of support digging through the noise that is your brain because if you've got a finished draft, I would love to chat to you about developmental editing. It is my favorite thing. I love supporting authors in bringing their story to life. You can find all of the details in the show notes. So grab a coffee, grab a tea, plug in your headphones, go on a little walk, and let's dive into today's episode. Welcome back to Bookshop Chat. In today's episode, I'm chatting chatting with Susie. Susie, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Me too. It's early for me. It might not be so early for you. I am here. I've got the coffee and I'm really, really excited to dive in and hear all about your books. Uh, we were just chatting before uh I hit record, and you've got a number, a number, like you've been busy. Um busy, busy lady. So I would love for you to dive in and share about your current book that is out in the world. And then maybe if you feel so inclined to tease us with the potential books that are that are upcoming.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So my first release that came out last November is a Christmas novella because I love a good seasonal read. I love being able to capture the feeling of a particular time or a particular season. So my first release was called The Cowboy Christmas Glow Up. And the whole idea behind the book was what would happen if you took a Hallmark Christmas movie and turned it on its head. So we all know the traditional Hallmark Christmas movie narrative is a successful woman from the big city runs away to a small town and learns the true meaning of Christmas by falling in love with a flannel-wearing guy who bakes pies or whatever. That's the storyline. Yes. And I love them. I love cheesy Christmas movies. Hot Frosty was it for me last year. And somehow in that storyline, it's always this successful, ambitious woman ends up giving up her life in the city in order to pursue true love. So I said, Great, love that for you. But what if you got to get the guy and keep your life in the big city? So the Cowboy Christmas Glow Up is about Levi, who is an heir to a ranching fortune in Montana, whose father is trying to force him to marry the daughter of a rival rancher to kind of unite their families and unite their businesses. And in the 11th hour, he finds out that she is cheating on him. So he decides to run away to the big city for Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And when he gets to New York, he um has a meat, not so cute, we'll call it, because he dumps coffee all over her. Um, Zara, who is a makeup executive in New York City who founded her own brand and is kind of creating her beauty empire. And so the story is about the two of them falling in love and making the choice for Levi to embrace Zara's world in New York City. And so she gets the hot cowboy and to keep her business, which is really the best of both worlds.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. That's so fun. I feel like it's such a different way of like, yeah, just challenging it a little bit. And like, yeah, just a fresh take on it because I definitely feel like it's, I mean, we love, like you said, we love those, those cheesy movies, right? They they just they're they're comforting, they're predictable, like we know what we're we're getting, but it's always fun when you can kind of like just play with it a little bit and like challenge that trope just a bit, just to see how that would go, right? Like what would it look like? Um, I love that. Um so you also have some other books that are coming out. So I'm assuming that you kind of write in that sort of romance genre. Is that kind of like where where we're sitting? Um, which is amazing because they're like I I love them.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I am a tried and true romance girly. And it's actually funny thinking about sort of the trajectory of my life as a writer. Um, I've been writing my entire life in in different capacities in in different ways, but for a very long time, I really felt like I couldn't write a novel. I couldn't write something that was going to sustain over that period of time, in part because I have a degree in English literature. And so it's this idea that books are important. Books tell something that has this big moral or lesson or needs to say something in order to be worth kind of investing your time and energy in. And that was always my perspective as a writer, but interestingly, never my perspective as a reader. I've always loved romance novels. Um, and the it's a combination of, you know, there's the escapism factor to it, right? That you're getting into this world where you're guaranteed a happy ending. So that in today's chaotic life can sometimes be really reassuring. Um but there's also some really interesting ways to say really important stuff by talking about who and how we love and how we make the decisions about you know who is viewed as worthy of love. Um, so what I found was I can actually say those important things that I'm thinking about through this lens of a love story, which is what I love to read. So when I sort of dropped the sense of, oh, this has to be the great next great American novel, it can just be writing what I want to read, that opened the doors in a whole different way. So that's what I really started writing in the romance genre, learning about how to write in the romance genre, um, and just fell in love with the process of how you build a love story and how you kind of build these two characters because it's really about each person's individual journey and their journey together, and that you get to see all of those different dynamics and aspects, I think, is really, really cool. So I write in a I dabble in a bunch of different places in the romance genre. I think all of my work that is currently either published or in queue to be published is in the contemporary genre. But I've been playing around with a historical romance, playing around with a paranormal romance. So everything kind of under that umbrella of putting a lens to who and how we love has been a part of my writing journey. And so coming out next is after I wrote this first Christmas novella, I just loved the process so much that I was like, let's do it again. So I have a second one coming out this year, and it continues sort of that theme of how do we take this love story that has looked a really traditional way in this holiday genre and drop it in a different setting? Um, because I'm a city girl, so I'm a firm believer in the romance of the hustle and bustle of a city. And so now we have what is now called the Christmas in the city collection. Um, and the second book in that is coming out this November. Um, it's called The White Lie Christmas, and it is this collection's take on the fake dating trope. Yes. Um, a woman who is getting her doctorate. Her younger sister is getting married, and her younger sister is very much her mom's like archetype of what it means to be successful as a woman because she's in this successful relationship, she's getting married, and at the last minute, she decides I cannot go home for Christmas and hear about my sister's wedding for a week. I just can't do it. So she invents this boyfriend that she's going to be spending the holiday with who does not exist. Conveniently, her roommate has told her childhood best friend, Oh, you can stay at our apartment over Christmas because nobody's gonna be there. We're both going home. Um, so she literally stumbles into a candidate to be her fake boyfriend in her own apartment. Yes. And it becomes their story of how they get to know each other and play off each other in this sort of fake dating situation that ends up being much more real than they anticipated.

SPEAKER_02:

I love it. I'm so here for that. And I think there's something so magical, like just kind of backtracking of what you mentioned. I know romance for whatever reason kind of has like this bad reputation. And I can't, for the life of me, figure it out, like honestly, because at the core, humans want love. Like we're we're social creatures. Like that is like a core part of how we all thrive and and communicate and connect. So I think that that's a really interesting way of like just showcasing that. And that's something that I'm really loving about um a lot of the books that I'm seeing, especially in like the self-publishing kind of space, in the author space, as just challenging things and showcasing, you know, obviously there's drama because like that's part of a book, but there's also like there's not necessarily like all of the miscommunication. There's other, like there, you're showing kind of the messiness of love in uh ways that feel a little bit more real and relatable and like just different kinds of ways, which I really am like I love that. Like that's it's really cool to see like the different ways that you can create that sort of tension and and um emotion without it necessarily being this sort of like really unhealthy kind of relationship dynamic.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. We we love healthy communication and consent and all of those great things in in the indie space. Um, that's what's been interesting because I have a couple of books coming out next year with uh a small press publisher.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's been really interesting to see what it's like on the indie side of the house versus what's in the trad side. And my publisher was wonderful, they've been really, really great to work with. And I really loved how hands-on you can be with independent projects. Um, I learned how to design my own cover. I learned how to format a paperback edition, like seeing all of the pieces come together was a really cool experience. And it gives space to play with different things that you might not be able to otherwise, because both of these um books that one that came out last year and the one that's coming out in November, they're novella length. They're just under 200 pages. They're meant to be sort of bite-sized holiday treat kind of uh approaches to this that traditional publishers aren't gonna make a ton of money selling books that are that short. So it doesn't make sense from them as a business proposition, but there's still space in the market for it, and the indies can step up and fill that void is really, really cool.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. Yeah, it's it's really I I think that's one of my most favorite things, is just seeing how much that self-publishing indie other spaces like exploding. And like it's just so many amazing stories are getting out into the world that otherwise wouldn't get out, not because that they're they're bad stories. It's just like like you said, uh publishing, traditional publishing is a big business. And it's all about like they have to make money off of it. Like if they're investing all of this in your book, they need to think that it's going to like they're gonna make it back, right? And more. So I think that sometimes can be a little bit like a hard thing for for authors, is like it just becomes a sort of like personal like belief that that your work's not good enough for traditional publishing. And I really think now the conversation, it's just like there's there are options, like it's you this one or that one, and whichever one is best for the book is kind of what you need to do, right? Like, so I think that that's I'm glad that that's becoming more like of a thing now. Um, and I'm like it's just it's wild to see like these epic stories that are coming out and just the the art and the the creativity and all of these like amazing characters and worlds. I just like I get so pumped to seeing this.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's such a nice balance as a reader, too, because I think most writers are primarily at their core readers as well. So being able to find a diversity of voices, a diversity of perspectives, all these different stories that never would have found their way into the world if it weren't for the explosion of these other outlets for these stories to be found. Um, so primarily as a reader, it makes me really excited to see the indie part of the industry really taking off and coming into its own while also balancing that with there's aspects of TriadPub that are really, really helpful and make certain things more attainable without needing to do some of the same upfront investment financially that can be a barrier for entry for some folks for the indie space. So I love having the ability to have both of those things um come up for that.

SPEAKER_02:

It's so true. Yeah, definitely. I feel like that's that's definitely a proof. The traditionally publishing space is like, oh good, I don't have to do those things. Amazing. That's so nice. Because it's a lot, there's so many things involved. Um, I would love to hear a little bit more about like what is your like favorite part of the writing kind of journey? Like, what has been like when it comes to like writing your novel? I know some people love the actual drafting, it's the editing. Like, I'd love to hear a little bit more about that kind of like process for you.

SPEAKER_00:

What a great question. So I oftentimes look at the initial drafting process as the story sort of unfolding itself for you. I joke all the time that you think when you're the writer that you're in control that you've created this universe. And then these characters just go off and do whatever the heck they want. It really feels like sometimes. Um, so while I really enjoy the process of kind of getting messy with it and going through it and figuring out where the story is gonna go, I really love the editing process and the refinement of, in particular, the characters' voices. My background is in um theater and performing. So I am that person who will sit and read every line of dialogue in my book out loud in character to like see how it's gonna land.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

It looks a little bit insane, but it works. And in terms of helping people find their speech rhythms and what that's gonna look like and sound like, so to speak, on the page. So I just really love that process of refining and honing each character's individual voice and perspective on whether they're the point of view character or not in that particular moment. So I really love that piece of the process. Um, now that you've sort of gotten the plot out of the way, tell me about who you are and show me where who you are in this process.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. That's such a great tip, honestly. Like I often say that, like when people when um when I'm working with like uh authors before they come and and edit with me, is like reading out loud your your novel is like huge. It's such a great way, especially with dialogue, because I think sometimes what is actually grammatically correct isn't actually how we talk. So I think it's really like learning how to like make the dialogue sound authentic. Um, because there's a lot of like, yeah, there's a lot of like grammar rules and things like that that you kind of have to break in order for a book to feel like natural and to feel like somebody is just like it's a casual conversation. And then also having all of your characters sound different is like so like that's such a hard thing.

SPEAKER_00:

So hard. And I think that's one of the things that as you write more really becomes a part of your process. I think most of us start writing almost as like a self-insert in some ways. It's our voice that's on the page, and that is where we all start, and the part of the process where we're uncovering who we are as a writer. And then it's about giving your characters agency and identity on the page. I'm actually working right now on a series. Um, and so it was really interesting to take a character who was not the point of view character in the first book, but turns into it in the second book, and play around with how did you sound look feel in book one based on other people's perception of you versus how do you look, sound, feel in book two when we're seeing the world through your eyes. So that was such a fun experiment to play with. He's also kind of the antagonist in book one. You're not supposed to like him in that one. And part of it, part of the second book is sitting with my critique partner right now, and she made a comment of like, oh ha ha, I love him. And I was like, I did it. I you hated him in the first book. I have like all of these comments about how mad you were at him, but now you love him because you can see the world through his eyes. Fantastic. Mission accomplished.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, that's always amazing when that happens. And that's so interesting. I just for whatever reason I didn't think of that because there's so many standalone series where you're kind of like you've got all the friends, and then each one of them gets a book. And then just to think of like how like how these characters need to kind of like be cohesive throughout the book, and then how you're taking your first point of view character and then putting them into this other book, who is now they're not like the main character, right? And how can you like make them feel the same? Not necessarily the same, because obviously your characters are going to grow, but there is that level of cohesiveness throughout, and it's all of those subtle things that you don't really think about. I feel like when you're first kind of like starting the writing journey of like, oh, I just need to write the story, it just needs a beginning, middle, and end. And then you're like, wait a minute, there's so much more that goes into this. Definitely. It's just one of those things that uh it's I think uh what I've learned in in the journey is like the best thing that you can do is write and read if you are ever interested and you want to write that book is just just start writing, reading and just uh let it let it flow. And I think you're gonna get better the more you do it. And the beauty of like uh like the storytelling like you've talked about is that it's you don't have to write like this best, like like groundbreaking novel that like is a literary masterpiece. And I think sometimes we get like we get so like put so much pressure on ourselves to like make it this like epic thing. But the reality is we like those like our light beach reads, um those stories that are just like yeah, it's probably like epically cheesy, but it makes us feel good. And I think that that's there's space for all of that sort of stuff. And also like as a writer, reading all of those different kinds of things is such a great way to like uh like deepen your skill. And that's something that I I've been doing a lot of like reading from the perspective of a writer. Um or even listening to audiobooks, I find that it's really interesting to hear like how they've they've done the dialogue and then to hear how they've structured things and and all of that sort of stuff. It's it's really cool to see how that still creates a beautiful visual and tells the story and just like pulls you in, basically.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's what I think is so interesting about like looking at story structure or you know, plot mapping or beats or those kinds of things that talking about how romance gets a bad rap, I think sometimes people think of it, oh, it's formulaic or oh, you already know the ending because you are your contract with your reader as a romance writer is don't worry, there's gonna be a happy ever after at the end. Um and I think that perspective sort of misses so much of the aspect of storytelling. Because I think with writing, it works on so many levels, right? There's the line level craft in terms of how you actually put the words together and how that flows, but there's also this broader aspect of what is the story you're telling for these characters, and then on the meta level, what what are you saying with their story? And so when it really is working well, you're operating on all of those different levels. That the line level craft is where it needs to be, um, doesn't have to be Shakespeare, but it's working, it's clicking, there's some beautiful language in there. The story makes sense, and people are invested in the character's journey, and it arcs back to what's important to you that you're communicating to the reader. Um, so when you can hit on all of those cylinders, that's when you know you've got something.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's so true. And it's it's really amazing to see those like come to life and it's a process, and it takes time to like get that um, yeah, that story to come together, those characters to cooperate because wow, sometimes they take you on a wild ride and you're like, this is not what was supposed to happen.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm a big fan of the shower revelation that I'll be like washing my hair and all of a sudden go, oh, that's why they did what they did. It's all coming together now.

SPEAKER_02:

It just takes a little bit to figure it out, and you're like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, I see it now. Um, or figuring out, yeah, it's always the best ideas come in the shower or driving. And you're like, oh my gosh, this is what needs to happen now.

SPEAKER_00:

And of course I can't write it down because naturally, right?

SPEAKER_02:

And it's never, it's yeah, it's so hard to get it to hit in the same way as it does in your head that first time, and you're like, oh, but then eventually it comes and it's all great and and wonderful. And then you're like, oh, thank goodness, because I knew that this was such a pivotal scene that I needed to share. Amazing. Well, I would love to hear a little bit about the um the I guess the publishing side. Like you've got a book out, you've got another one coming. Like, how has that process been? I feel like that's like often we think that we're done once we write the book. And then you're like, oh, wait.

SPEAKER_00:

Turns out it's only the beginning. Um I released the Cowboy Christmas Globe Up independently. Um, I self-published through the Kindle Direct publishing platform. And that was, like I said, just a really cool experience to get to have your hands in every single piece of the process. I'm very lucky that I have an incredibly detail-oriented spouse who is my copy editor. Um, so he will go through and mark up all of my grammar and hey, you missed a quotation mark here kind of stuff. So um he works for free, which is great. Um, but really getting to do all of the pieces of that process was was really interesting. And then on the other side, I have two books coming out with a traditional publisher. And that's been really interesting to see sort of the querying process and how you go about constructing a pitch for a book and how you sort of take that to folks in the industry to think through where is your book positioned on the shelf? Where what other work is it in conversation with, um, so that people can understand kind of where where you sit in the broader publishing landscape. Um, and really sort of thinking through how do you capture or distill down this thing that you've been living and working with for such a long time into three paragraphs than an email. Like, how do you go through that process? And I think going through that has made me a better writer just in terms of needing to really have that crystalline understanding of the story that you're selling, that you need to be able to say really concisely. And I'm still not great at the one-sentence pitch, but the one sentence is so hard. So hard to really get that sense of this is the story that I want to tell. And it's not about the plot, it's not about the vibes, it's about the overarching. This is who this book is for, this is what readers are gonna take out of this experience. So that has been such a valuable experience to just sharpen that message and really get down to what is the story I'm trying to tell here, what's important, what is important to this character. It's a skill set that you have to develop by necessity in this process. Um, but I think makes you a better writer overall.

SPEAKER_02:

Definitely, definitely. Of like that, I feel like is the hardest part of writing of just like how do you summarize it? First of all, like down into three paragraphs, and then even like smaller of like how do I take all of this and make it like engaging and like hopefully invite somebody to be like, oh, like I need more of this, like tell me more. Um, and I feel like a lot of the just from kind of kind of how a lot of the authors talk about querying, it it feels a lot like dating, like speed dating. You're like, oh my God, please like me. And it's just this weird sort of place that you're you're in. And it can be such a a process, but um it it really it just comes down to finding that right author, right? Like that right person that's like, I I see the vision like you do. Um, and that's something that I think just it can take time or it cannot take time. Like uh the I've talked to many authors that are like, yeah, it was like very quick, and then others it was like years and years, and they're like, I almost gave up. And then I got like um finally got a request. And so I think it's just one of those things that that as you mentioned, like we're like it's only the beginning, writing that first book is just kind of the beginning, and then you get to keep going and see what else you create, which is so cool.

SPEAKER_00:

And I won't say it gets easier with subsequent books because it does not, uh, but I think you find your style and you find the things that work for you in how you create. I refer to myself. So in writing communities, there is this dichotomy between plotters and pants, is what you'll often hear. Um plotters being outline people who really have the whole thing mapped out before they start, panters being the people who just open a word doc and away we go. And I have primarily been a pantser, um, somebody who has like just gone for it and seen what happens on the way. But I was actually part of a writing mentorship program in 2024. And my mentor, Sarah Vance Tompkins, who is a published romance writer, introduced me to the concept of a beat sheet, which is a rough outline kind of that just captures where are you at different points in the story. Yes. And it was such a happy medium for me that I could set a direction and know where I was going while also not having to give up this sense of the discovery as we go along the way. Um, so my most recent manuscript is the first one I've written sort of totally out of order because I knew where I wanted the story to go. But if I got stuck on a particular scene chronologically, I just said, well, forget that. Let's go write something else. And so it was such a different process that was really freeing in a lot of ways to be able to say, I don't have to hit the brick wall and get stuck. I know the structure, so I can play around with another part of the story while I'm waiting for the shower of revelation that's going to fix chapter six. Um, and so learning that sort of new skill set and finding a way to have that balance between the structure that is really helpful and my impulse and style of just letting the story unfold. It was so valuable to be able to find that middle road. Um, and I think that's always the way that I'm I'm going to right now is let's have the roadmap so. to speak, um, but we're still gonna discover the destinations along the way.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. Like I feel like I call myself like a plot-ish writer, which I guess is probably like a beach sheet kind of thing where there is that like rough framework and kind of like mapping out like you know the first 25% of like what needs to happen here. And I feel like that's a really helpful like especially for having like an ADHD brain, often it's that lack of clarity and the overwhelm of the bigness of the project that can be so daunting. And usually if I'm struggling with like writer's block, it's not really a block. It's like a lack of clarity of like where do I need to take this story? And I love that you can like you plug it in. You're like, I know what needs to happen. And sometimes I'll even go smaller and be like, okay, in this chapter that I'm writing, what are the things that need to happen here? Like the main like is there a main point that needs to happen here? How do I want the readers to feel? Like all of those notes can be helpful just to kind of like spark something. And sometimes it's a lot of insert this here, insert that here, more heat, um, like whatever it is, but at least it's something right like at least we kind of have a rough idea. But I love that way of like that's such a brilliant way of doing it of like the balance of like chaos but also like anchored chaos.

SPEAKER_00:

Well we know what the touch points are and we'll flush out as we go. It's funny I actually wrote a dual point of view book and for a really long time poor poor Jeff was just like because I alternate the point point of view in chapters and it would be insert Jeff's chapter here. Like we Jeff took a little bit longer to cook and and come along in terms of what his internal experience was going to look like. So he he had to sit aside for a little while while we figured out Alyssa and then we went back and figured out Jeff but that's so funny.

SPEAKER_02:

It's so true. But like honestly writing guys is really hard. It's really hard especially when there's that like it's just obviously it's not our lived experience. So it's just a little different of like how do you make it sound authentic but like is it always just gonna sound like it's it's not written by a man like that sort of like it's interesting to see how like how how do I put this in in a way that like makes sense for the character too. But it's it's fun. It's a process of like learning these people and then you're sad when you have to say goodbye to them because you're like I they're my best friends.

SPEAKER_00:

You're my best friend that only lives inside my head right now. Right.

SPEAKER_02:

It's fine. Amazing um well I would love for you to share how people can get in touch with you and follow along on your writing journey.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely so where I am I guess most active right now is inexplicably on TikTok. I am in an author group chat with some authors from my publisher and it's really entertaining because it's mostly horror authors and then me writing my shiny little romances over here. But um one of them has been particularly like telling all of us you need to get on TikTok, you need to get on TikTok. So I have and my inner theater kid is sort of loving it with all my dumb lip sync videos that are over there on TikTok. So um I'm on TikTok at SuzyLangevines that is also my handle for Instagram as well where I'm active over there. And so those are the two best sort of social spots to find me. My website is susylange.com and that will have all of my info and links to all of my work that's there. Everything that's coming out so Cowboy Christmas Globe which is already out and White Lie Christmas are on there for pre-order as well as my two books that are coming out next year American Royalty which is coming in April 2026 and The Plus One Pact which is coming in July 2026 are both linked on there to Goodreads so you can add me to your TBR on there and also available for pre-order in ebook forms.

SPEAKER_02:

Amazing amazing well everything will be linked in the show notes so it'll be super easy for for people to click through and find you and your books but it was lovely chatting with you. I feel like I just yeah perfect wake up and like I feel like I learned a lot which was so fun. And yeah I'm here for the Christmas stories.

SPEAKER_00:

I know it's like August but like there's something so cozy about those never never too early for thinking about hot chocolate and cozy blankets I think is that's that's the bad.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. And if you really loved this author I highly encourage you to go check out their links and comment and share their work because let's be real as an indie author all that stuff makes such a difference. And if you're feeling a little stuck on your draft and just want some gentle accountability check out my one-to-one offers that are linked in the show notes as well. I'd love to support you with your writing or editing journey. And if that's not quite where you're at I've also put together a really amazing free resource to help with taking your writing to the next level because there are so many amazing resources available without needing to spend a ton of money or get that MFA or all of the things that you may think that you need in order to write a book. Until next time keep writing your way and trust yourself enough to tell your story because I promise if it's coming to you there's a reason and someone needs to hear it.

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Victoria Hopkins

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