The Mythic Mic Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S.2 Ep. 140: Dark Academia, Dead Bodies, and an Ancient Nordic Monster: Taylor Grothe on Lethal Kiss Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes the monster in the classics department isn't the professor who literally eats people.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with author and medieval scholar Taylor Grothe to discuss Lethal Kiss, a dark academia horror romance blending Jennifer's Body energy, Nordic folklore, murder, monsters, queer romance, and one deeply sinister university.

At the center of the story are two professors: Marcella, an ancient Nordic revenant hiding centuries of trauma and a need to feed, and Lacey, an autistic mortal professor desperately fighting for tenure in a system seemingly designed to keep her from succeeding. When they discover a body on the top floor of the classics department, they're dragged into the festering underbelly of their university, where some of the monsters are supernatural and some definitely aren't.

🩸 What happens when one of your professors is literally an ancient monster?
📚 What if the darkest part of dark academia isn't the supernatural horror at all?
🖤 And can falling in love make horror even more terrifying?

If you love dark academia, queer horror romance, ancient monsters, Nordic folklore, feminine rage, morally gray characters, murder, academic corruption, forbidden knowledge, literary horror, camp, gore, and romances between women who have absolutely been through it, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Taylor's journey from medieval scholarship and studying Arthuriana and Nordic saga to leaving academia and becoming a published author.
✨ The realities of changing literary agents and why Taylor believes authors should remember that an agent is ultimately a business partner.
✨ Moving from YA horror into adult fiction and why writing for adults had always been Taylor's long-term goal.
✨ Lethal Kiss, a Jennifer's Body-meets-Ninth House dark academia horror romance about two professors, a dead body, and a university crawling with monsters.
✨ Creating Marcella, an ancient Nordic revenant inspired by medieval saga and Beowulf, and Lacey, an autistic professor fighting for tenure while carrying religious trauma.
✨ Using supernatural horror to explore the corruption, misogyny, elitism, and systemic problems Taylor encountered within academia.
✨ Why Taylor believes romance doesn't soften horror but can actually make the horror more intense.
✨ Going completely full throttle with gore, camp, unhinged winter formals, and a final showdown Taylor describes as “crazy bananas.”
✨ The deeper themes of trauma, self-acceptance, and learning that what happened to us can shape us without having to define us.
✨ What's next, including the gothic fantasy Monstrous Beautiful Things and a deeply unsettling spore-horror story filled with grief, mushrooms, and things that definitely should not be happening.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Taylor Grothe – @TaylorLGrothe

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 139: Wanda Hellmund on Our Dark Incantations Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Wanda Hellmund – @WandaHellmund

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Off the Shelf Ep. 4: Have Tropes Become More Important Than The Plot? Oct 17, 2026

Show notes

Have tropes become more important than the actual story?

Welcome to another episode of Off The Shelf, Mythic Mic's monthly segment where we dive into bookish trends, deep dives, hot takes, and all things fantasy!

In this Off the Shelf episode, host Britt is joined by Mythic Mic team members Amara and Teresa Diaz to unpack the rise of trope-driven reading, BookTok marketing, microtropes, and the increasingly blurry line between using tropes to describe a book and using them to sell the entire story.

From enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity to fated mates, slow burns, miscommunication, cinnamon-roll love interests, and shadow daddies, the conversation explores why readers gravitate toward familiar tropes and whether knowing them upfront helps or hurts the reading experience. The group also gets into whether trope lists can accidentally spoil a book, why the same trope can feel completely different depending on the writing, and whether authors are starting to feel pressure to build stories around whatever trope is currently trending.

We’re asking:

Have tropes become their own genre?
Do trope lists help readers find books they’ll love or spoil too much of the story?
Are authors feeling pressured to write toward popular tropes?
Can the right book make you love a trope you normally hate?

Along the way, Britt makes the case for “diet enemies-to-lovers,” Amara champions fated mates and cinnamon-roll heroes, Teresa defends the much-maligned miscommunication trope, and the group debates everything from Fourth Wing, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City to Swordheart, Ashwalker, and Dungeon Crawler Carl.

If you’ve ever picked up a book solely because it promised enemies-to-lovers, immediately rejected one because of a trope you hate, wondered whether happily-ever-after is technically a spoiler, or found yourself asking whether the trope is supporting the plot or becoming the entire plot, this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 138: Reverse Little Mermaid Meets Jennifer's Body with a Splash of Feminine Rage: Matteo Franco on The Undertow of Evelyn Graymore Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes getting murdered is only the beginning of your villain origin story.

This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Amara sit down with author Matteo Franco to discuss The Undertow of Evelyn Graymore, the first book in the Hearts of the Drown series, a dark paranormal romance Matteo describes as The Little Mermaid in reverse meets Jennifer's Body with the paranormal vibes of Twilight.

After Evelyn Graymore is murdered by a powerful billionaire and thrown into the Puget Sound, her rage summons an ancient ocean entity who offers her another chance at life with a catch. She's transformed into a siren who must feed on the darkness inside corrupt men's hearts while hunting down the man who killed her. There's just one more inconvenient rule: if she falls in love, the person she loves will die.

🌊 What if The Little Mermaid came back from the dead looking for revenge?
🩸 If a siren only kills terrible men, is she really the villain?
🖤 And what happens when falling in love could literally kill the person you love?

If you love sirens, feminine rage, morally gray heroines, revenge stories, forbidden romance, paranormal romance, horror, shadow daddies, golden retriever love interests, forced proximity, deadly bargains, and women who refuse to stay dead, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Matteo's journey from fine art and dreams of filmmaking to writing stories that blend horror, fantasy, and romance.
✨ Why Matteo describes The Undertow of Evelyn Graymore as reverse Little Mermaid meets Jennifer's Body with darker Twilight vibes.
✨ Writing feminine rage, morally complicated women, and a story that asks whether Evelyn is actually the villain at all.
✨ Evelyn's murder, the ocean entity who answers her rage, and the Faustian bargain that transforms her into a siren hungry for the darkness inside corrupt men.
✨ The forbidden romance at the heart of the story and the devastating rule that falling in love could kill the person Evelyn loves.
✨ Siren lore, revenge, visceral horror, and Matteo's cinematic approach to creating an atmospheric world readers can see unfolding like a movie.
✨ Building a massive reader community before publication and why Matteo believes readers connect with authors who feel like people rather than billboards.
✨ The unexpected Instagram connection that led to Matteo signing with his literary agent without ever entering the traditional query trenches.
✨ Why genre blending is opening new doors for readers who love romance and fantasy but might never normally pick up horror.
✨ What's next, including Book Two of Hearts of the Drown, an upcoming gothic botanical horror romance, and even more psychological horror to come.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Matteo Franco – @Matteofrancoauthor

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 137: Indiana Jones Meets The Mummy in a Lost Incan Tomb: Natalia Hernandez on The Lost Guardian Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where ancient legends are real, lost treasures are waiting to be found, and some tombs are better left undiscovered.

This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with author Natalia Hernandez to discuss The Lost Guardian, an Indiana Jones-meets-The Mummy adventure inspired by real Peruvian history, Incan mythology, ancient curses, deadly riddles, and the mystery surrounding the lost tomb of the last Incan emperor.

Santiago is a timid, history-obsessed archaeology student who grew up listening to his grandfather's stories about ancient Incan legends. But when his grandfather dies, Santiago discovers that those stories were never just myths. He's the last in a long line of guardians sworn to protect the location of the tomb of Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor, whose legendary resting place may contain an unimaginable fortune in stolen gold and treasure. Now, Santiago must follow a trail of ancient clues to find the tomb before dangerous enemies reach it and unleash a devastating curse upon the world.

Luckily, he's not alone. Enter Ali, a gun-wielding, martial-arts-trained adventurer who's much more comfortable with danger than Santiago. Together, they'll navigate ancient mysteries, uncover hidden history, and embark on a journey that challenges everything Santiago thought he knew about his family, his heritage, and himself.

🏺 What if Indiana Jones met The Mummy in a treasure hunt inspired by real Incan history?
💀 What happens when the last guardian of an ancient emperor's tomb discovers that the legends he's spent his life studying are real?
⚔️ And what if the badass action hero is a woman, while the man she's protecting is a history-loving cinnamon roll?

If you love Indiana Jones, The Mummy, Tomb Raider, Atlantis, archaeological adventures, ancient civilizations, lost treasures, deadly curses, historical mysteries, powerful heroines, cinnamon-roll heroes, and fantasy adventures inspired by real mythology, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Natalia's multicultural upbringing across Turkey, Romania, Poland, and Guatemala and how discovering her Latin American heritage shaped her storytelling.
✨ How a vivid dream, a viral TikTok with 1.7 million views, and thousands of curious readers launched Natalia's career as an author.
✨ Why Natalia chose independent publishing after encountering pressure to make her stories less queer and less Latin, and how that journey led to her traditional publishing debut.
✨ The Lost Guardian and its Indiana Jones-meets-Atlantis adventure inspired by the real history of Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor.
✨ The mystery of Atahualpa's lost tomb, the treasure stolen by Spanish conquistadors, and the ancient curse threatening to be unleashed.
✨ Santiago, a gentle, nerdy archaeology student who discovers he's the last guardian of a secret passed down through generations.
✨ Ali, the gun-wielding, martial-arts-trained heroine who flips traditional adventure-story gender roles and keeps Santiago alive.
✨ Ancient riddles, hidden maps, Incan mythology, and the real historical artifacts and locations that inspired the book's puzzle-box mystery.
✨ Natalia's research trip to Peru, including ancient aqueducts, stone forests, petroglyphs, and the history that helped bring the adventure to life.
✨ The importance of authentic cultural representation, advocating for accurate character artwork, and refusing to water down identity for publishing.
✨ What's coming next in the series, including a new adventure in the Peruvian Amazon featuring a fan-favorite professor Natalia affectionately calls "Indiana Juanis."

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Wanda Hellmund – @NataliaHernandezAuthor

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 136: The Mortal Child the Fae Never Gave Back: Ann Aguirre on The Hocus Pocus Handbook Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes the child stolen by the fae grows up to become a little chaos bunny instead of an evil queen.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with author Ann Aguirre to discuss The Hocus Pocus Handbook, a cozy fantasy romance filled with found family, grumpy/sunshine romance, he-falls-first pining, a road trip through Faerie, misfits challenging the powers that be, and one delightfully chaotic heroine.

Thea is the mortal child on the other side of a changeling story: stolen from the human world and raised among the fae. Now an outsider with a unique place in the Winter Court, she's determined to help the wild fae and create a little well-intentioned trouble along the way. Enter Kerboros, her tightly controlled, isolated opposite, and a romance Ann designed to feel like a cup of warm tea on a cool fall day.

🍂 What happens to the human child stolen away in a faerie changeling story?
✨ What if love and found family are the only things standing between a heroine and her evil queen era?
💕 And what happens when a chaos bunny meets the ultimate grump... who falls first?

If you love cozy fantasy, faerie courts, found family, grumpy/sunshine, he falls first, pining, chaotic heroines, opposites attract, magical road trips, misfits, fall vibes, and stories that feel like a warm drink on a cold day, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Ann's childhood dream of becoming an author, including the unforgettable moment Shel Silverstein helped her realize writing could actually be a career.
✨ Why Ann rejects “write what you know” and believes writers should give themselves permission to imagine beyond their own experiences.
✨ The twenty-year journey from her first novel and rejection as a teenager to finally becoming a traditionally published author.
✨ The Hocus Pocus Handbook and Ann's twist on changeling lore: what happens to the mortal child taken away and raised in Faerie?
✨ Creating Thea, a chaotic-good outsider whose upbringing and adoptive father's love may have saved her from becoming an evil queen.
✨ The grumpy/sunshine, he-falls-first romance between social chaos bunny Thea and tightly controlled, isolated Kerberos.
✨ Discovering she'd chosen the completely wrong love interest and rewriting the entire first act once the characters set her straight.
✨ Thea's tender relationship with her adoptive father and Ann's belief that the people we choose as family are every bit as real as the ones we're born into.
✨ Building a completely original fae realm and exploring Thea's complicated role as both an outsider and someone valuable to the Winter Court.
✨ Why Ann hopes readers finish the story feeling seen, safe, happier, and a little more restored than when they started.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Ann Aguirre – @Ann_Aguirre_Author

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 135: Alchemy, Immortality, and an Impossible Murder: Lynn D. Jung on Mothsblood Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where immortality can be murdered, prestigious universities conceal rotten foundations, and ambition may demand more than anyone should be willing to sacrifice.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with fantasy, science-fiction, and horror author Lynn D. Jung to discuss her dark-academia debut, Mothsblood!

Lynn shares her long journey from a multilingual childhood storyteller to landing three agents, surviving multiple submission rounds, and finally receiving her first publishing deal. She opens up about navigating publishing during the COVID shutdown, pivoting from young adult to adult fiction, and why persistence matters even when your career does not resemble the six-figure success stories most often celebrated online.

We also dive into Mothsblood, where ambitious alchemist Larkspur Lee attends an elite graduate school in Paris and ruthlessly pursues the ultimate goal of immortality until one of her supposedly immortal professors is murdered. Lynn discusses historically inspired alchemy, magical metals and runes, classism within prestigious institutions, financial inequality, messy healing, and the terrifying questions raised when the achievement Lark has sacrificed everything for proves far less permanent than she believed.

⚗️ What happens when an immortal dies at a school built around the promise of eternal life?
🩸 How far will Lark go to claim power in a system designed to keep outsiders beneath its elite?
🦋 And what remains of her ambition when the future she is chasing may be another carefully constructed lie?

This is a must-listen for dark-academia readers, murder-mystery lovers, ambitious and morally complicated heroine enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by alchemy, institutional power, and the dangerous pursuit of immortality.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Lynn’s life as a science educator, zoology graduate, traveler, and longtime writer.
✨ Growing up as a multilingual learner and discovering storytelling in elementary school.
✨ Cold-emailing agents with a childhood manuscript before learning querying etiquette.
✨ Signing with three different agents before receiving a publishing deal.
✨ How COVID disrupted submissions and affected early-career literary agents.
✨ Amicably leaving representation to pivot from YA into adult fiction.
✨ Why querying newer agents with strong mentorship and industry connections can matter.
✨ The persistence required when your publishing journey is not a rapid success story.
✨ Creating a dark-academia fantasy inspired by Lynn’s experiences living near Paris.
✨ Larkspur Lee, an ambitious alchemist determined to achieve immortality.
✨ Entering an elite academic world dominated by wealthy legacies and powerful families.
✨ Writing a woman of color forced to work harder in a deeply stratified institution.
✨ Building a magic system from historical alchemy, Hermetic metals, and runes, including researching Isaac Newton’s secret alchemical writings and other primary sources.
✨ The impossible murder of an immortal professor and why that death forces Lark to question the system and her own obsession with immortality.
✨ Examining prestige, classism, racism, and sexism within academic institutions.
✨ The difference between valuing an education and valuing the name printed on a degree.
✨ Portraying healing as messy, nonlinear, and sometimes harmful to the people nearby.
✨ Dreamlike scenes where reality, substances, magic, and nightmares begin to blur.
✨ Lynn’s upcoming gothic fantasy about a death priestess infiltrating a noble house of necromancers.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Lynn D. Jung – @LynnDJung

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 134: Stolen Lifetimes, Demonic Deals, and Gothic Desire: Charlotte B. Plumb on Reap and Sow Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where desperate wishes cost years of your life, mirrors become gateways for demons, and the creature everyone fears may be far less monstrous than the holy man hunting him.

This week, host Bethany Amanda and Mythic Mic Team Member Britt sit down with fantasy author Charlotte B. Plumb to discuss her highly anticipated gothic romantasy debut, Reap and Sow.

Charlotte shares how reading His Dark Materials at thirteen sparked her desire to make complete strangers cry through fiction, why her first queried manuscript received little interest, and how she found the perseverance to write another book instead of giving up. She also opens up about being laid off only days before receiving offers from Penguin Random House UK and Berkley XO and the surreal mix of joy, terror, and imposter syndrome that followed her breakout publishing deal.

We also dive into Reap and Sow, set in the gothic city of Blackbridge, where anyone desperate enough can trade years of their life to a demon in exchange for their deepest desire. Eda Shaw and her brothers are indentured to one such demon and forced to recruit new people willing to make bargains. But when her brothers are arrested and a deal goes disastrously wrong, Eda must form a pact with Kit, another demon who may claim her heart along with her remaining years. Charlotte discusses Faustian bargains, reluctant allies, forced proximity, deceptive appearances, grim humor, and writing a demon who loves humanity opposite a human woman who has lost faith in it.

🪞 How many years would you surrender to receive the one thing you desire most?
🖤 Can Eda trust a demon who seems more human than the people surrounding her?
⏳ And what happens when the bargain meant to save her family begins costing her far more than time?

This is a must-listen for gothic romantasy readers, fans of dangerous bargains and morally gray demons, lovers of forced proximity and reluctant allies, and anyone who prefers their book boyfriends snarky, sinister, and slightly reminiscent of a wet angry cat.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Charlotte’s lifelong love of fantasy, role-playing games, and story-driven adventures.
✨ Baldur’s Gate 3, Dragon Age, The Witcher, The Sims, and her predictable Astarion romance.
✨ How His Dark Materials inspired her to pursue the “black art” of making readers cry.
✨ Querying a manuscript that received almost no agent interest, and why market timing can matter as much as the quality of a manuscript.
✨ Writing the next book instead of allowing rejection to end her career.
✨ Becoming part of Berkley XO’s inaugural launch list.
✨ The joy, terror, and imposter syndrome surrounding a major debut deal.
✨ Creating memes, unboxing ARCs, and learning to appear on camera as an introverted author.
✨ The Peaky Blinders question that sparked the idea for a criminal fantasy family.
✨ Drawing visual inspiration from Edinburgh, Prague, Elizabethan England, and gothic architecture.
✨ The creation of Blackbridge, where demons grant desires in exchange for years of human life.
✨ Eda and her brothers’ indentured service recruiting people into dangerous pacts, and the deal that forces Eda into an alliance with the demon Kit.
✨ Writing Eda as a jaded human who resents humanity.
✨ Creating Kit as a demon who loves humanity and longs to imitate it.
✨ A romantic dynamic built around two characters who unknowingly have something to teach each other.
✨ Kit’s Howl, Spike, and Astarion DNA—and his wet-angry-cat appeal.
✨ Why the demon is not the true monster of the story.
✨ Balancing grim subject matter with snark, wit, and emotionally revealing humor.
✨ Why humor can act as “cerebral foreplay” between romantic leads.
✨ Tripp, Kit’s rude imp familiar and Charlotte’s scene-stealing favorite character.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Charlotte B. Plumb – @CharlotteBPlumb

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 133: The Villains Are Back for One Final Superpowered Showdown: V.E. Schwab on Victorious Oct 05, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes the best fantasy stories don't need heroes at all.

This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara Santillan sit down with V.E. Schwab to discuss Victorious, the long-awaited conclusion to the Villains trilogy, a series Victoria describes as Magneto and Professor X meets The Secret History and a toxic college bromance where superpowers definitely don't make you a superhero.

From the book that helped save her writing career to the finale she waited eight years to be ready to write, Victoria takes us behind the scenes of Villains, her intensely precise creative process, and nearly two decades of building a career by refusing to stay in one lane.

⚡ What if superpowers didn't make you a superhero?
🖤 How do you end a series readers have spent more than a decade fighting for?
✍️ And what happens when you realize you aren't the right version of yourself to write a story yet?

If you love morally gray characters, superpowers, toxic friendships, villain stories, dark academia, complicated rivalries, obsessive characters, and fantasy that makes you question exactly who you're supposed to root for, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Victoria's journey from poetry to novels and why she believes you don't need to be published to take yourself seriously as a writer.
✨ How a poetry background shaped her obsession with rhythm, precision, metaphor, and making every sentence earn its place.
✨ Why Victoria spends months outlining before drafting and how she preserves the beauty of a first draft without relying on the dreaded “garbage draft.”
✨ The realities of publishing even after nearly two decades in the industry, and why Victoria says no one ever truly figures the business out.
✨ Why writers are the one truly original ingredient in their stories and the importance of writing for yourself instead of chasing trends.
✨ The origin of Vicious, the canceled series and career uncertainty that pushed Victoria to stop writing what publishing wanted and create the story she wanted to read.
✨ Victor, Eli, near-death experiences, manufactured superpowers, and Victoria's original experiment: could she write a book without heroes and still make readers root for someone?
✨ Why Vicious was never an overnight success and how years of reader word-of-mouth transformed a small first print run into a fiercely loved trilogy.
✨ Why Victoria waited eight years to write Victorious and how she knew she needed to become the right version of herself before she could finish the story.
✨ Saying goodbye to Villains, writing the ending backward, and why Victorious feels like both the end of an era and a love letter to the readers who kept the series alive.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 VE Schwab – @VESchwab

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

S.2 Ep. 132: Cursed Heirs, Forbidden Witches, and Four Sons of Salem: Lucy Smoke on Hallowed Bones Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where cursed bloodlines hide beneath ordinary society, ghosts haunt college corridors, and one forbidden witch is about to become entangled with four dangerously broken heirs.

This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with bestselling indie and traditionally published author Lucy Smoke to discuss Hallowed Bones, the first installment in her Sons of Salem series.

Lucy shares her nine-year journey from publishing a debut she later removed from circulation to building a full-time author career across multiple pen names, genres, and publishing paths. She opens up about stubbornness, rejection, one-star reviews, surviving unpredictable indie income, finding the right agent, and why fear should never be the deciding factor when choosing whether to pursue a creative dream.

We also dive into Hallowed Bones, where Haven enters Ipswich College despite warnings to stay away from Ezra Bishop, Cameron Good, Lyle Corey, and Reyes Scott, the four cursed Sons of Salem. Lucy discusses combining The Covenant with Wednesday Addams energy, researching the Salem witch trials, interviewing practicing witches, Wiccans, and neo-pagans, and creating a hidden paranormal society filled with inherited magic, demons, blood contracts, ghosts, and other planes of existence. She also explains the immense challenge of crafting four distinct romances and character arcs while refusing to let why-choose storytelling be dismissed as “just spice.”

🕯️ What happens when the witch everyone fears is more powerful than the four cursed heirs meant to contain her?
🩸 Can Haven survive Ipswich College when ghosts, gods, and hidden bloodlines are closing in?
🔥 And how do you fall for four different people without any of those romances or the men themselves feeling interchangeable?

This is a must-listen for gothic paranormal readers, why-choose romance fans, lovers of Salem-inspired witch stories, and anyone who wants layered relationships, dangerous magic, and broken characters fighting toward a realistically messy happy ending.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Lucy’s real-life found family, friend-family vacations, and hunt for the perfect milkshake.
✨ Pursuing writing despite being repeatedly encouraged to choose a more “practical” career.
✨ Studying English literature, professional writing, and education before leaving the classroom path.
✨ Why finishing and releasing an imperfect first book was essential to her growth.
✨ Learning through failure, removing early books, and continuing without regret.
✨ Why rejection letters and one-star reviews prove that a story made someone feel something.
✨ Building a full-time indie career through experimentation, research, and stubborn persistence.
✨ The financial highs and lows of treating authorship as a real business.
✨ Finding her third agent after previous representation ended or became unhealthy.
✨ Challenging academic attitudes that dismiss indie publishing and commercial fiction.
✨ Why affordable books, Kindle Unlimited, libraries, and format accessibility matter to Lucy.
✨ The origins of her Lucy Smoke and Lucinda Dark pen names.
✨ Her introduction to why-choose romance through anime, manga, and reverse-harem stories.
✨ Why writing four love interests means constructing four complete romantic arcs.
✨ Exploring what makes someone fall in love with multiple people for entirely different reasons.
✨ Helping bring why-choose romance from a niche category into mainstream traditional publishing.
✨ Haven Wardwell and the four cursed heirs of the Sons of Salem.
✨ Researching the political and economic motives behind accusations of witchcraft.
✨ Interviewing witches, Wiccans, and neo-pagans while distinguishing their belief systems.
✨ Deconstructing a rigid good-versus-evil worldview while creating the book’s magic.
✨ A hidden paranormal society populated by witches, demons, werewolf-like beings, and ghosts.
✨ Bloodline-based magic that manifests according to the individual rather than copying a parent’s ability.
✨ The beloved aunt, the brutal cliffhanger, and why book two may reveal something even more shocking.
✨ Reader Mafia, accidental branding, chaotic honesty, and Lucy’s infamous eyeliner.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Lucy Smoke – @AuthorLucySmoke

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

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