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This show aired live on Thursday 28th August 2014 at 9pm EST.
New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo loves her coffee, chocolate, and margaritas with salt. When she’s not writing, she spends way too 
much time watching old reruns of Friends and Sex and the City. When she’s not watching reruns, she’s usually enjoying the California sunshine or reading.
She believes in true love and happy endings, and that the most palpable regrets come from watching those two things slip away. Her favorite books and movies are the ones that challenge her mentally and leave her emotionally scarred. Her family has declared her a “method writer” because she gets “in character” while writing. She believes becoming the character is the only way to truly understand him or her. Her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills.
In addition to Cassia, we’ll have super romance divas Mimi Strong & Zoe York filling in for the rest of the team who are on vacation. Well other than Carl Sinclair, the biggest diva of them all.
See you live
9pm EST
Mommy has her waffles and has retreated to her room for SPRT.
michelleread Hi Michelle!
michelleread I had waffles….but need to get everyone to work and school first. In Book Week costume, no less
PatrickStemp michelleread Hi Patrick and Demelza 🙂 Watching Honest Trailers til showtime.
Demelza Carlton michelleread Cool! So you’re in costume to yes? 🙂
michelleread I hope you brought enough waffles for everyone.
jlward michelleread Hold the spit, right? And yes. I did!
michelleread PatrickStemp Do you like the How It Should Have Ended series as well?
Whoa, hey…I thought I was the early bird! Evening, all! 🙂
CateMorgan Hello there
PatrickStemp michelleread Yes! And the Everything Wrong With
CateMorgan Hey Cate!!!
CateMorgan It’s early bird Thursday.
michelleread jlward LOL. No chocolate milk for you.
michelleread PatrickStemp Another good one. My weekly favorite is John Oliver’s Sunday episodes of Last Week Tonight.
Anyone want a slice of birthday cake? If I ever look another cheesecake in the face, it’ll be too soon. *oof*
CateMorgan I thought this was like Star Wars. I’ve been camped out here since last week.
Ha poor Carl. We’re about to watch Zoe and Mimi show him who’s boss. lol
jlward I’ve been known to camp out for concert tickets, but I’ve never done it for a movie (though I wouldn’t put it past me). Call me the Urban Warrior.
CateMorgan Yes please.
AJ Vale You know he’ll love every minute of it.
michelleread I swear, my birthday was a week ago, and it’s STILL THERE. STARING at me.
Hi everyone! This is my first live SPRT show. Will it begin to play automatically at 9 or do I need to have something else open?
CateMorgan AJ Vale Yes he will. lol
CateMorgan jlward Ah concert tickets. I’m so excited! We got tickets to see Jim Jefferies here in early October. I can’t wait!
skfalls Welcome welcome! They’ll let you know when to refresh your screen.
CateMorgan Yum!
skfalls lol sometime around then, you’ll see a box to click play. It will remain blank until they start. Tech difficulties can make it start late.
CateMorgan skfalls Ah, okay! Thank you!
CateMorgan michelleread Also? Happy birthday!!
skfalls Welcome welcome! Glad to have you here 🙂
AJ Vale Oh we’ll see about that. I’m the biggest diva of them all.
AJ Vale skfalls He he, thanks! Me=total n00b
skfalls welcome friend.
Refresh your page to get the video imbed above.
michelleread skfalls TY! So excited to catch my first live show. 🙂
PatrickStemp CateMorgan jlward Nearly had to camp out for Lindsey Stirling, but it was so worth the near-heat stroke. She was fuh-mazing!
skfalls CateMorgan refresh your page now to get the box
Carl Sinclair skfalls Thanks, Carl! I’m a huge fan of your accent and dry wit. 😀
skfalls Carl Sinclair Aren’t we all.
skfalls don’t forget to press play now.
AJ Vale skfalls Ooh, thanks!!
michelleread Demelza Carlton No….my tail is neatly folded in the blanket box
*slides in*
Oh hi. I’m here! I’m on time! It’s like… a miracle…
*dusts self off*
skfalls michelleread It’s really a fun place to be – plus there will be tons of info, so grab a notebook.
S.M. Butler Bossy Pants!!
michelleread I’m wearing them tonight too! Do we need bossing around tonight? 😀
S.M. Butler michelleread Hangs head…..yes ma’am. I have to write four thousand words tonight. AFTER the show.
S.M. Butler since when do we start on time in this joint. SPRT is always fashionably late. lol
hi
I am so excited about this show! – here’s her Amazon page if anyone wants to see it while we’re waiting.
http://www.amazon.com/Cassia-Leo/e/B00914L3ZM
I’ve been listening forever and I’m finally going to watch it live for the first time! Whee!
michelleread Holy shit, lady. You might need the Slim Fit Bossy Pants.
RolandDenzel Hi Roland 🙂
MelJolly Yay!! Welcome 🙂
We will be starting soon.
AJ Vale This is why I fit in so well here. I’m always fashionably late. 😉
MelJolly go back
S.M. Butler michelleread And the evil eye. And a plate of cookies pleeeeeeease.
MelJolly Welcome. What brought you to the live show? Anything inspire you to show up?
MelJolly Hi! It’s my first time, too!
michelleread I’ll give you cookies for every 500 words you write. The evil eye is at my discretion.
S.M. Butler michelleread Deal
Carl Sinclair Don’t threaten me. 😛
Demelza Carlton How are you macaroons.
michelleread Demelza Carlton Gone 😀 But they were delicious. Should’ve bought some more…maybe I’ll head up to Woolies and see if they have any here in Perth.
michelleread MelJolly Thanks! 🙂
RolandDenzel MelJolly haha
Boo! Hah! I scared you.
TuckerAuthor : ) Hello to you too….
jlward MelJolly I’ve been listening forever. Usually, I listen while I walk my dogs. But, I thought the crowd of people asking questions always seems like so much fun… I wanted to join in the shenanigans.
skfalls MelJolly Yay! We can be buddies.
Okay then… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
Carl Sinclair this is the same soon my son uses when I tell him to clean his room
Carl Sinclair *waits*
Carl Sinclair Wait for iiiiiiiiiiiit…….
Carl Sinclair stop teasing us, Carl.
michelleread Carl Sinclair On the count of Jump…
CateMorgan Carl Sinclair He is a tease, just like his mom.
Carl Sinclair 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… starting NOW!
Carl Sinclair no, NOW!
Carl Sinclair No one told me it was going to be this suspenseful.
MelJolly Carl Sinclair they don’t start until 100 comments
TuckerAuthor CateMorgan Carl Sinclair No wonder he always wants to say hi to all of ours.
RolandDenzel Carl Sinclair Now? No? *sad*
RolandDenzel MelJolly Carl Sinclair I know all the words to Wicked the musical. Shall I start singing?
MelJolly jlward I hope you have fun and enjoy the shenanigans. Try to join the after party if you’re able. They invite the live audience in to speak to the hosts and sometimes the guests if they are able to stay.
CateMorgan RolandDenzel Carl Sinclair I thought EST was Eastern Standard Time not Estimated Starting Time
Yay!!!
skfalls MelJolly Thanks for joining us.
lol
jlward MelJolly Sounds great. Thanks!
Hi PiaSparks !
Oh I’m so going to read it! I’m looking it up on Amazon now. rofl
Spamming? That hurts Carl. lol
QUESTION for later:
Can she talk about the aspects of the genre that grated on her? What was difficult…
Sup everyone.
For reals – I love this format Carl Sinclair
Liam Kingman Liam!!!
michelleread Carl Sinclair hey michelle read
michelleread Hey Michelle.
Carl Sinclair michelleread Carl said my name – win. Howdy friend.
Liam Kingman michelleread Internet service co. treating you well today apparently?
I know she wrote MG/YA beforehand, how long had she been writing before she started with the steamy romance in 2012?
michelleread Liam Kingman I’m at work trying to not fall asleep, but if I was home I’m sure it would be broken.
#2 How big is her beta team?
Also, Mimi’s hair and makeup look amazing tonight. She looks like she’s going on a date 🙂
Jess Michaels used to do a series on her webpage where the readers got to choose the path. She had a lot of reader involvement that way.
LOL Mimi! I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
michelleread She looks great!
Dear ZoeYorkWrites, you look especially cute tonight. 🙂
S.M. Butler ZoeYorkWrites She does indeed. Zoe is the cutest!
S.M. Butler ZoeYorkWrites You guys never tell me I’m cute when I’m on the show. Now, I’m going to go eat a quart of ice cream.
jlward S.M. Butler ZoeYorkWrites John your hair looks really nice tonight 🙂
jlward ZoeYorkWrites Ice cream may not help the cute factor very much…
S.M. Butler jlward ZoeYorkWrites Maybe it’s like beer goggles.
S.M. Butler we got called out. Oooooooh.
Rawr.
michelleread S.M. Butler He’s just jealous. :p
AJ Vale michelleread He’s probably mad because we didn’t say he was cute too.
AJ Vale michelleread S.M. Butler Carl’s headphones are really sexy. Think that will help?
Poor Carl. Surrounded by women and they’re all hitting on each other.
CateMorgan It’s such a hardship.
I have ADD, who wants to live with me?
Liam Kingman Hey Liam
michelleread I just liked this and now I’m thinking that was a little creepy possibly LOL
TuckerAuthor michelleread Nahhh. I’m a good cook. It’ll be fine.
michelleread TuckerAuthor LOL, excellent! I hate to cook
QUESTION #3: When did she start the advertising process.
Hoorah Navy SEALs! 😀
Aaaaaand THERE’S the Mimi we all know and love!
michelleread I do
Carl Sinclair michelleread Okay – but you’re on cooking duty Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other weekend.
Michelle Read reads her bad reviews. And cries into ice cream.
michelleread I used to read them. I still kinda do. But now, I send people to look first.
michelleread I hope you add some chocolate to that ice cream.
Perfect is the enemy of done, Carl.
S.M. Butler michelleread Good idea. I’m sure it’s because I’m new.
Carl is pretty.
michelleread No, I still cry into ice cream sometimes.
MelJolly michelleread Yesssssss ma’am. Extra chocolate when a one or two star one comes in!
S.M. Butler And he has a very nice accent. Also…..he’s living with us now. So we’d better like him. Or he’ll poison our food.
michelleread MelJolly I went to Smart Bitch Sarah’s presentation at RWA about surviving receiving reviews. I think 5 of the strategies involved copious amounts of chocolate.
michelleread S.M. Butler I just want to keep him in my pocket and pull him out to say things in his accent every now and then. Is that creepy? Maaaaybeeee…?
michelleread S.M. Butler You two are shameless.
MelJolly michelleread S.M. Butler Nope. Pocket Carl. Coming to a SPRT store near you.
AJ Vale michelleread Shame is the work of people without self-confidence. 😉
MelJolly michelleread Oh my word yes!
michelleread MelJolly S.M. Butler I LOVE IT. Carl Sinclair make it happen.
michelleread MelJolly I keep Zoe in my pocket. Sometimes, I let her out so she can tell me more awesome smart stuff. And maybe breathe a little.
Did you know there is an app that tells you the best time to go to the bathroom when you’re watching a movie in theatre? Like here ya go this is the most boring part so no need to hold your bladder to exploding.
AJ Vale is there an app like that for this show?
S.M. Butler michelleread MelJolly I feed all of my pocket people tiny treats. Being Mel’s pocket person is an excellent way of life.
RolandDenzel AJ Vale That would suggest there is an agenda for the show…
michelleread MelJolly It coats your fingers so you can touch you computer and be tempted to respond to a review.
RolandDenzel AJ Vale Nope. Everything is exciting on this show. You don’t want to miss when they spill the Best Selling secrets.
MelJolly michelleread My husband said “Who is she. I want to punch her in the face.” To the first one. And I was like “No! Don’t touch the computer!”
AJ Vale S.M. Butler Ok I’m back. What did I miss?
AJ Vale Link to it please!
michelleread MelJolly Ha! You’re going to have to make him eat chocolate, too. It’s in everyone’s best interest.
michelleread AJ Vale http://runpee.com/
MelJolly michelleread S.M. Butler You’ve been hanging out with Suzan too much if you want to put people in your pocket. lol
S.M. Butler thanks you.
AJ Vale MelJolly michelleread I love that there’s someone else that has a pocket army.
MelJolly michelleread S.M. Butler only a wee bit creepy. acceptable.
Carl Sinclair MelJolly michelleread S.M. Butler Oh, thank goodness. A wee bit creepy is exactly the impression I wanted to make on my first time watching the show live.
My Spam Carl… Cassia which book is your best selling book? and what genre is it?
michelleread this was about YA?
Carl Sinclair michelleread Nope.
Cause you know everything else I wrote isn’t spam. lol
michelleread Carl Sinclair I forget. What did she say?
Carl Sinclair michelleread That when she started there were aspects of the romance genre that grated on her.
michelleread 7 (used to be more.)
RolandDenzel AJ Vale S.M. Butler Everything. You’re going to have to get the podcast.
Carl Sinclair michelleread Must’ve missed that, thank you.
AJ Vale RolandDenzel S.M. Butler Nice.
AJ Vale michelleread The example shows that there isn’t really a good pee time during Guardians of the Galaxy. This is a true statement. Pee before.
michelleread AJ Vale Truth.
michelleread AJ Vale lol My hubby found one during an action scene with no talking.
Cassia do you find that your readers follow you through all your books or do you think that you have different types of readers that stick to just the type of series they originally picked up?
This is the best after party yet
RolandDenzel Yes because we all fit in the room. Nobody misses a thing.
michelleread AJ Vale Haven’t seen it.
AJ Vale michelleread No! The action scenes were great! But….acceptable.
Carl Sinclair michelleread AJ Vale Don’t pee.
RolandDenzel !!
With Love is… each of the authors gained facebook likes and newsletter sign ups. I think I gained something like over 200 likes.
AJ Vale Wow, that’s awesome. I didn’t realize that it was getting that much pull. I’ve seen mostly steady growth, so I think I discounted that it was the anthology, but now that I think about it, it probably is.
S.M. Butler AJ Vale Oh yeah. I mean the Facebook page for the book has almost 700 likes. There was one week as an individual author I gained a ridiculous amount of likes and newsletter sign ups. I do think most of the authors if not all talked about the same experience.
S.M. Butler AJ Vale and the book page is still getting likes. I’m an admin on the page. I think we had 5 today.
AJ Vale Cool. That’s awesome. I’m glad it’s been helpful for folks.
Howdy one and all
The show is going to get banned from itunes. lol
David Anson Hi David
AJ Vale If SPP hasn’t been banned, this won’t
michelleread Hi Michelle
Afterparty:
Carl Sinclair Yes please
Carl Sinclair Me!! Please.
Carl Sinclair sure
S.M. Butler Carl Sinclair Woot!
Carl Sinclair yes but give me a moment
michelleread S.M. Butler Carl Sinclair Please ignore the massive hoard of shit behind me. I’m trying to clean out my bedroom… for the last month.
Carl Sinclair me! If I’m allowed after all the pocket Carl business.
S.M. Butler michelleread Carl Sinclair BossyPants Michelle says CLEAN IT. But not yet. Tomorrow.
Carl Sinclair authorrx.mel@gmail.com
Carl Sinclair MEE! My paperback proofs just arrived so I can 😀
michelleread Carl Sinclair Yeah, i’ve been working on it for weeks. It’s just getting bigger at this point. LOL
Demelza Carlton Carl Sinclair Do we get to see them?
S.M. Butler michelleread Carl Sinclair That’s what the donation center is for.
Carl Sinclair Please…?
Demelza Carlton Carl Sinclair invites all out
PiaSparks Carl Sinclair invites out
MelJolly Carl Sinclair
Carl Sinclair hello?
Carl Sinclair Carl Sinclair rdenzel@gmail.com
AFTERPARTY CREW
AJ, Cassia, Demelza, Kevin, Michelle, Mimi, Suzan, Zoe and Carl
skfalls Carl Sinclair : )
Interestingly Carl, your idea of doing spin offs within a sci-fi fantasy setting is one I’ve toyed with. I came at it the opposite way however. I have a group of trilogies (4-5) all epic fantasy but not linked. I figured it was marketing savvy to eventually write them within the same world and thread the new heroes in as bit-parts to the current series. I got this idea from my favourite author Terry Pratchett who pretty much as far as I am aware is the only one at that point who did that (Multiple not only characters but genres of book within his Discworld; police procedural = Guards, Sord and sorcery = rincewind : witches/retellings of classic literature = witches : young adult = tiffany aching etc…) I believe it would encourage fan crossover. I know current YA Dark Fantasy author Leigh Bardugo (Grisha series) is doing this as well, her current series concluded she’s opening a new one within the same world but set elsewhere, she also wrote plenty of short stories within world that had nothing to do with the main character. Another example of this is Cassandra Claire, whos Mortal instrument series spawned a prequel starring the characters ancestors, a soon to come sequel featuring a whole set of new characters, and she also took a popular side character Magnus Bane and wrote several novellas just about his adventures. I really think this is the way forward in fantasy! I also plan on adopting it for my contemporary YA, and thought of it as a sort of ‘MARVEL or DC’ universe, present day, in which i have different series running in different countries/genres; Dystopian/Superhero/Military/Urban Fantasy/Paranormal.
AriLessiers Thats exactly what I had in mind/thought of. Those are great examples.
I’m not sure about the changing genres though. If it’s multiple series with maybe a slight shift in sub genre (Pratchett or Sanderson with his Mistborn world) then it could work. I dunno about going too far out though. The ones you’ve listed definitely have some crossover, i think it would work better having them all say EPIC or UF though.
Carl Sinclair AriLessiers This might be a moot point since its far down the list of books to write, but I don’t agree. the ‘Powers Universe’ as I have called my contemporary YA World, its essentially a contemporary dystopian world, the differing series will be set in different countries featuring different characters, just like Pratchett did in Discworld, his common thread is that they exists in the same society. ie. I have a military series where clearly army people will at some point bump into and loathe the vigilante supeheroes of another series, political tensions will lead to some countries bieng walled off from others creating uber-dystopias, some countries will have regressed into religion and or spiritualism, perfect settings for urban fantasy. but the big political changes in this world (conflicts/wars etc) will effect all the series. its better than having random series just sitting by themselves, it at least encourages cross-over. However I think you’ll find that YA audiences are less rigid on genre than adults. the same people will read Beth Revis sci fi as will read Leigh Bardugo’s fantasy. YA can often be a brand/genre unto itself.
Loved this show! I read about it from some of your regular listeners (BuddyGott & michelleread ) mentioning it on Twitter. I stalked them a bit then found this.
Now I worry I’m going to have to go back and watch like every episode ever!
P.s. Was that a kiwi accent from the host guy? I’m an expat kiwi, and you sir are cute.
Also, Mimi Strong is the coolest!
CarlyLKennedy BuddyGott michelleread Glad you enjoyed the show Carly.
AriLessiers Carl Sinclair It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.