Unhinged Thoughts with Indie Romance Author, Staci Hart

This week, we are bringing the chaos (obviously) with indie romance author Staci Hart and trust us, this episode is just as unhinged as it sounds.

Known for her swoony, snark-filled romances and laugh-out-loud moments, Staci joins us to talk all things writing, tropes, and what really goes on behind the scenes of your favorite romance books. From her “plotter meets feral gremlin” writing style to why second chance romance is basically writing two books in one, nothing is off-limits.

We also dive into:
Her favorite (and hardest) tropes to write
The chaos behind some of her most iconic scenes
The Roseville Ramblers series + what’s coming next
 Audiobooks, narrators, and why we’re all waiting patiently for Teddy Hamilton
What we’re currently reading, watching, and obsessing over

And of course… expect plenty of side tangents, snack talk, and completely unhinged thoughts.

So grab your snacky snack and your beverage of choice, and come hang out with us while we chat with one of our favorite indie romance authors.

You can find Staci Hart on Instagram, Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, and at her Website.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

What's up, Book Nerds? Welcome to What the Smut Are You Talking About podcast. We are a weekly romance book podcast where we talk about books and chaos. So yeah, pretty much anything goes.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Join us as we talk about the books we are reading, what crazy shenanigans are happening in our lives, and who knows, we may have some fun guests drop by.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

So grab your favorite snacky snack and your beverage of choice and come hang out and see what the smut we are talking about this week.

– Meet Staci Hart

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Today we are so excited because we have a special guest for you. She is known for her hot and hilarious HEAs. Swoon with a side of snark. And HEAs that make you kick your feet. Welcome, Indie Author and Graphic Designer Extraordinaire, Stacy Hart. Hi, Stacy.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Hi, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Yes, thank you so much for joining us. I had the pleasure of meeting you last year in Knoxville at a meet and greet queue. And that was just such a great event.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

My gosh, those girls, they're just they're so I knew that they would be good at this, but they're just so good at this. And I'm so happy that they're doing it now. It's just my become my favorite signing.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

It was a lot of fun. And I I met you there as well. And I was the awkward girl who asked you to sign her point shoe.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

I'm here for it. I'm always here for it.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

I love that you took your shoe with you, Mary. I do, and they're new.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

The the listeners should know that they're brand new point shoes, and it goes with my business name and logo and everything. But I go around to signings with point shoes and have the author sign them. And then I'm trying to make a wreath of all of my point shoes from all my signings to hang on my wall in my office. I love

– Signing books (and… boobs?)

SPEAKER_03 2:00

that.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Oh, that's so cool. Well, now I have to know what's the weirdest thing you ever had to sign, Stacy?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

I mean, literally, my first thought was boobs.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

That was my favorite thing to sign.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

So that is hilarious. Oh my gosh, I love that. Well, are you will you be at a meet and greet cute this year?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Yes, I will. Yeah. I'm very excited. I'm secretly hoping for a ticket. They'll probably give some away too. So keep an eye out. They usually have, you know, people do stuff. And also like get into the into the group because I I am.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

I'm on the way. Perfect. And and I already, so I already I'm thinking positive. I already have the hotel room booked. So I'm like in the off chance, in the off chance that they're like a week before and they're like, oh, we have we have a ticket available. I'll be like sold mine. I'm I'm here for it. I can do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Or sometimes people will just be like, I can't make it. I have a ticket like last minute. So they're I think the odds are good. I believe. I have I have a good feeling. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Hopefully, hopefully. That would be that would be exciting.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

A random question. Can I swear? How how swear can you swear? Yes. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

We're explicit.

unknown 3:19

Okay. Okay, good.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Yeah. Yeah. I I'm 42. So the F word just like, you know, that goes right along.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Like 40s and feral and fuck it and well, they know you know that they say that your 30s are the fuck it 30s and the 40s are your fuck you 40s. So that's kind of I'm feeling that. I'm 45. So I can confirm that that's you're just like, ah, no, you know what? Fuck you. I don't care. Yep. Or the perimenopausal, like, I my the whole vibe, I feel like in perimenopause is find your own fucking shoes. Like, I've been finding your shoes for my dollars. Find your own fucking shoes. I'm not finding your shoes anymore. You're on your own. Fix oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

Fix your own fucking food.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

That's where that's where I'm at. I am I am like, you are, you are three years from being legally an adult. Fix your own food.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

It is, and it's very like, you know, I also say that your your like bucket of fucks just keeps getting smaller. Like the bucket's small, you know, only so many things are gonna fit in there, and most of it isn't, so I just don't have the fucks to give on most things anymore. I'm like, you know what? I don't care. Stuff I used to get so mad about. Like, you know how like we used to get so mad about stuff, or we'd be like, God, I would be such like a purist about some fandom or whatever, like that I that I loved, and now I'm like, I just don't care. You know, I'll watch a Star Trek, whatever, and just be like, it's fine, it's totally off script. I don't care anymore.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yep. Yep. Well, Stacy,

– Drinks, snacks & TikTok rabbit holes

SPEAKER_02 5:00

what are you currently drinking and is it strong enough for this conversation?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Uh uh definitely is not. My my current drink of choice. I um I I got on um Chinese Girl TikTok, and so I drink a lot of hot water with goji berries right now. Like that's my thing. I don't know if you're on that side of TikTok, but it's wonderful. Water with ginger over here. Nice. See, you're in you're in it. I love it. Yeah, it's surprisingly comforting and nice. Although now that it's getting a little bit warmer, I have been drinking more cold water, but I feel like I'm betraying all my my Chinese ancestors that I don't really have. My non, my I don't know. Sherry from TikTok said that I'm Chinese now, so I don't know. We're just going by what she says.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Well, I I heard Courtney crack open what she's drinking, so I can give you uh give you ten ten guesses, but you only need one. So is this your first diet Coke of the day, Court, or is it your like fifth?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

It's only my second. So uh I did I I did have coffee this morning though. So if it wasn't for the coffee, I'd probably be on three right now. I do love a Nelani.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

I will say that.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Never tried a Nelani. I hear a lot of people talk about it, but I don't know. I'm just I'm very picky. I don't know. Like I need to try it. I don't spend the money to try it.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

I feel that. I feel that I don't like energy drinks at all, and I love those, so that's whatever that's worth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

I thought that's fine. I bet like one of the million dollar generals around me will probably sell like a one by itself.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

I believe it. You're gonna find it. You're gonna find that one, a little gym.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

I live for my herbal tea, so that's if it's not hot water with ginger, it's herbal, it's herbal, it's herbal tea. So I'm the I'm the weird one. I'm here for it. You're also probably the most healthy one. Well, yes, because I don't force myself to have dairy knowing it's going to make me sick, Courtney. YOLO pizza.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Pizza is is doesn't count, and everyone knows that.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Queso is Courtney's weakness.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yes, yeah, and I I did have my typically on Fridays, I like to go to the amigos by my work and get crunchy taco with a side of queso, and that's like my Friday lunch. I'm definitely paying for it today.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

You know, we call it balance, okay? It just keeps you regular and it's fine. I have my taco and queso, and we're square, like we're good.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

I guess my own brand of fiber. Absolutely. Like you're just you're just keeping things like moving and it's good.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Oh

– Plotter vs Feral Gremlin writing styles

SPEAKER_02 8:00

not how I thought this conversation would take a turn, but I am here for the chaos.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, you can always expect something unexpected with me, um, and probably inappropriate.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

So well, we are here for it. We are, we are, and tell us on a scale of plotter to feral gremlin, which do you fall in?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

You know, I'm kind of in the middle, like I have a weird kind of a process where I'll have an idea, like like bullet points of where I'm going, and then I write it in bits. So I'll write the opening like first five chapters or so, and then stop, and then kind of plot forward, and then write the next section up to the like first 25%, and then stop and then reassess and then write the next 25%. And so I kind of like do it as I go, and I wish that I had all the answers, but the more that I tend to commit, the more like rigid I get about trying to stay in it at all costs. So I have to kind of work in a way for like like built-in flexibility, or else I will get too stuck in the rut and then end up off in the wrong spot.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

So when did you make the jump from you know, this writing thing is a fun thing to do to oh no, this is now my new personality?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Oh, it was immediately like I wrote two pages and I was like pretty sure I'm an author now. So, like that was I messaged my best friend um and was like my like long time sister best friend and was like, I think I'm writing a book. And she was like, send it to me immediately. And I did, and she was like, Oh my god, she called me, oh my god, this doesn't suck, and half this. She was and then she said, You know, this makes so much sense. You're such a good talker.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

So that's that's that is the honest bestie energy, though, that we need in our lives for them to be like, Oh my god, that didn't suck. And you're like, Well, well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yep. Shout out, Parrish. Thanks, girl. Always have my bag. So um, yeah, so it was like as soon as I started it, I was like, but I've always been this kind of person. I've always been a creator, I've always been a maker, I've always been a put it out there girly. Like, as soon as I come up with a thing, I'm like, oh my gosh, I did this thing, everyone look. Like, whether it's good or not, we're gonna share it. And so um, you know, we it's we're gonna do it. Um, we're gonna fake it. So we're just gonna do it and figure it out as we go. And that served me well so far. The chaos of that. I mean, that's I kind of always say that. Like, people are like, oh, well, like how do you how do you do it? Like, how do you publish? And I was like, Audacity. Like, that's the only, that is the primary source of fuel that anyone needs to publish is audacity because past that, you have to believe that. Like, you have to believe that you can do whatever it is, and you have to like want to do it, you know? Like you can't you could you could wanna

– Becoming an author & “audacity”

SPEAKER_01 11:00

write, you could wanna publish, but like you have to have an impulse to do it. Like you know what I mean? Does that make sense? Like you Yes, yeah, yeah. You really just have to be like, oh, I'm gonna push the button and see what happens. Like you if you you can't think about it too much, it's just like like sports or like any, like you're gonna yip, you're gonna get the yips, you're gonna, you know, you're gonna not be able to pull the trigger, you're gonna think too much, gotta think less, think less, just do it.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

My biggest motivator is someone telling me I can't do something. I'm like, oh, challenge accept it.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Literally, I have a little I have a tattoo along my forearm on the outside that says, Oh, yes, I can. I love that. Yeah. So awesome. So if anybody tries to tell me no, I can just, you know, throw a forearm at him, bam. And be like, yes, I can.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Who has been your easiest character to write? Or if it's easier to ask, who has been your hardest to write?

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Well, I mean, I have I would say probably one of my easiest is Bad Penny. Penny from Bad Penny. She was just me on a sassy day all the time. And so it was great. Um, I will say that I feel like this, I don't know. Like, I feel like this series in particular, the first and the third books, I was just like, like, and they were so clear and crisp and easy for me. The second one, less so, but I just don't do second chance very well because I because it's two stories, okay, guys. Like it's two full stories. And I just want to be like, they used to be in love, and people are like, well, I don't understand why. And I'm like, why do you need to know why? They used to date, they were in love. Like, why? What else do you want from me? And so I have to like, it stresses me out, and I can never like I feel like I have to write two books. I feel like I have to write the whole first story and then the whole second story, and they just are always a struggle for me. Like, I fight my way through them every single time, and I'm always like, I'm never writing one again, and then I'll plan a new story, and I'm like, I guess this one's a second chance, and then of course I get there, and it's like a total shit show. So, and that's what happened with Hasha. I like rewrote the I rewrote that opening. So uh I mean I rewrote the first 20,000 words, I think three full times. Oh my gosh. I had to I had to change where I was starting it a bunch of times to try to figure out the right spot, and even at that, people like all of my beta readers were like, ah, you know, like guys, get on my level.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Like, so I thought I thought it was great. I I read it out. And I love, I love second chance. Like that is one of my auto-by tropes. So I I loved how you did it. I didn't feel like it was it was weird or didn't gel with the whole flow of the story. It covered just enough of the backstory to then move us to the present day.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Well, that's because I rewrote it three times. So glad here I fixed it. Uh well, really what worked was because when I finished Wildcard, and I don't want to spoil anything for anybody, but when I finished Wildcard and I wrote the little blip that will lead that leads into the next book, the second book, ha-sha. And then I wrote and I wrote because it's a second chance, so I had to write, I wrote this, I had this idea in my head for their like what what happened when they were together um when they got fake, when they got married in Vegas or whatever, right? And I had it very, very clearly in my head, and I wrote this little uh this little three-chapter thing, and I used it as a magnet. So in the back of it, you could click and read it, and you know, if before the second book came out. What I ended up doing was taking that and then abridging it and kind of collapsing it down to its most important points and then adding that as a prologue. I generally hate a fucking prologue. I just do, I think that they're they

– Hardest tropes to write

SPEAKER_01 15:00

I just I don't love them. I would always prefer to be in the now, but I think for that story, there was no way to throw them into that moment without context. And you see them in love with each other, and that was important, and so I did it, and everyone loved it so but also that bonfire. The other two were great. The oh my god, like I wrote it and I was like, like I was just like a little monster, like giggling, and I was like, this is the best. That's my favorite. Is I'm like sometimes I'll be writing a chapter and I'm like, this is so boring. And I'm like, someone should definitely fall down, and some of their clothes should maybe creep. And and that's how I tend to fix things. Like, how can we accidentally get someone naked here? How can we do that?

SPEAKER_02 15:55

So listen, I grew up in the 2000 era, so I'm all about my rom coms. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I love physical comedy. Like the rom com.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, I mean, like, I I'm I love the physical comedy. I love when somebody falls down, like somebody's tripping and falling, someone turns around and someone's there that shouldn't be there. And like, I mean, there's uh all three, all three of those of the openings so far have had some such shenanigans. Whether it was like wildcard was the dog, the dog running around in her suitcase, and he comes out of the shower and his towel's on, and he can't wrangle the dog, and the towel comes off, and she's just standing there with her jaw hanging open because his he's just running around his cock out. And yeah, and so and totally unashamed, you know? Like he's like, Oh, sorry about the uh, you know, and like gestures to his crotch. He has like a dish towel over it, you know, like sorry. And then, you know, the bonfire. So the bonfire, for those who don't know, is that she is she and her best friend are drunk burning her ex's stuff, and she is very upset, and she's like, He bat me this sweater, and she takes it off, and she's like, This is the laundry I was supposed to wear my head about and takes it off and throws it in the fire, and then turns around on the fire departments there, and the head of the the the captain of the of the crew is her ex-boyfriend, so and she's naked, and then the last one less there was no nakedness, there was no nudity in this one, but she's a virgin, so we have we were the rules were very different. But she does trip and fall multiple times, and once he has to catch her, and it's really cute and hot. It is despite there being like very little. I was surprised at how I wasn't totally surprised because I've been frothing at the mouth for this story since the inception of the series. Like I was like, oh my god, I didn't know I'm gonna write this one. This is gonna be so good. Like, I was just like, just like so, so horny for this book. And so I'm not really super surprised, I guess, but they're just their chemistry is so is so it's just so tangible all the time, partly because he's just an animal, you know, and he's just constantly restraining himself. And so that amount of restraint in someone, I was just feeling really hot because you know when they let that leash go, it's gonna be it's gonna get freaky, man. It's gonna get wild. So it was delicious.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Courtney and I both read it. I'm so glad y'all liked it. I'm obsessed.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

I just I am too, and I love them.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

This is one of my favorite books I've read you so the raccoons had me laughing hysterically. And Courtney texted me. Like, I'm just like, wait, you know, text me whenever because I was ahead of her. And she texted me, and I'm trying, I have to find it because it was so funny. She was like, the raccoons.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

That fucker stole my egg roll. Like, I died, like just the whole the whole thing. Also, her little story about the the shark in the video game is my story. That's me. That's happened. That is my story that happened to me. And Russian, like, I am I wanted to be a marine biologist as a child, and then realized that I'm terrified of sharks as an adult. And so much so that I literally like in a video game, like I was screaming. I was like screaming, you have to jump in the water and punch sharks, and you can't use your weapon, and they're swimming at you with their teeth out, and you have to just punch them, and there's blood in the water, and like it was so stressful. And I was like screaming and just mashing buttons, and my husband's like, Are you okay? And I was like, No, like so true story, true story.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

I

– Writing chaos & rom-com moments

SPEAKER_03 20:00

take it back. So she messaged me at 5:52 in the evening and said the trash pandas, exclamation point, exclamation point, and also that they were getting Chinese food thanks to that uh that little scenario.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Yeah, I know she's like yelling, she's got her cookie panda, cookie sheet, get it, bandicus, get it, like waving him at the door, like, oh my god. So good. Uh just so good. Oh, there are just so many delicious little little nuggets of wonderful in this. But I just love this book so much. I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

But also, I feel like it can be very relatable because you know, I'm I'm from Tennessee. I've always lived in or near like some kind of wooded area. And Crash Paint isn't armadillos, man. They're roofless.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Yeah. I didn't even know there were armadillos here. I'm from Texas, so we we got, I mean, that's a thing there. So I didn't even know they had them here. I thought they were more like desert animals.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah, so they like moved into uh this area. I want to say in like the last 10 years because I randomly like started getting these holes in my yard here. And I'm like, what is like digging up my yard? It's it was like very early one morning, and I hear something scuffling the other side of my deck, and so I sneak up, and sure enough, there's a fucking armadillo. And I'm like, what? But also, fun fact, I didn't know armadillos carry leprosy.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

I was just about to say, leprosy, don't touch it.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Oh my god, I did not know that. How did we get here?

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Our wildlife, it's my fault. Raccoons, this isn't my fault. Here for all detours.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

What's a tiny detail that a reader will never notice, but you completely obsess over?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I don't know. Like I get a different one every time. I give be very, you know, a little spectrum. Uh adjacent to things about like that. Um, I very I very much will get into a zone on something and just go on a deep dive about something like raccoons or whatever. I'm trying to think of a good one. I mean, obviously for hotshot, I did a lot of research and I like to like like incidentally teach people about things. Like one of my books is Friends with Benedicts. The guy in it is the he's the grandson of a woman who I say I propose was uh part of the I think they're called the chili queen. So basically there was this, there were these families who would go to in San Antonio and they would be at the Mercado in the like early 1900s, and they would the women, the men would play music, the women would play their guitars, and the women were cooking carne sauce, like Tex-Meg's carne sauce, and they created what is Tex-Mex carne sauce from their booth at the Mercado in San Antonio. And so I proposed that his grandmother was one of the little girls, you know, the daughters of the families, and she has her own Mexican restaurant. And so that's the kind of stuff that I like to put in there and be like, I'm gonna teach you about the chili queens, San Antonio. You know what I mean? And now you know about Tex Mex origins. I love that because they had access moving from you know, moving up into Texas, they had access to new spices and new, like new herbs and things, and so they were they created new, new, new foods with it. So it's why that taste from that, particularly in that like central and east Texas Tex Mex is very, very specific in how it is. Like, I'm such a brat because I'm like, I'm gonna go get Tex Mex and I eat it, and I'm like, that's that wasn't. No, it wasn't. I'm like, I'm such a brat. I'm like that, and like my I'm like my dad is about barbecue about it, and I'm a real brat, so I have to be careful. But yeah, it's definitely uh, you know, anyway, so I but I love to like I love to accidentally teach people things that I have hyper fixated on, so that's kind of and it happens all the time and in every book, so yeah. I did a lot of like the in in Hotshot. My dad was a firefighter for 35 years, and then a good friend of mine's husband is a firefighter now, and he's a captain of the fire department and love it. And so I had some great resources. I got to talk to my dad so much. We had so many great long conversations, and I learned all of these horrible, terrifying things that I am so glad I did not know when I was a child that he, you know, happened to him, especially when trying to figure out like some of the not just the mystery part of it, and like, you know, I'm like, I'm gonna write a rom-com and a firefighter, also arson. I love anything that's an escape. I mean, let's be honest, even like for me, the rom-coms that I write are also f I mean. Can we also like could you argue that Gray would make a great shapeshifter? Like, he would be great as a fantasy character. Like, literally, I was I was loving, I was enjoying I was I love this book so much, guys. No one ever tell me that you don't like it, okay? Just just lie to me. Um

– Roseville Ramblers deep dive

SPEAKER_01 25:00

because I love this book so much, like you might actually do per like permanent damage, but no, I I was I was loving this book so much and already mourning the end of it. Like I was like somewhere in the middle of it, and I was like, I'm at some point gonna be finished writing this book and it and I'm already sad about it. Like I love it so much. And I was trying to think like, how can I keep this energy going? How can I take this into carry this into the next book and whatever? And I was like, God, this is like the energy between the two of them because she's the little thing and he's the big strong thing, and like and then the the like sweetness of her and the gruffness of him and the roughness of him and the ferleness of him and the innocence of her and like just the whole thing. I was just I was like, this feels like it has a fantasy Bible to it, and I love that like the little like pixie sprite and the big like surly, you know, like I just brincling bear. Yes, like I just like uh it just uh uh like I just can't I love it, and so I was trying to and I and I actually came up with an idea for a fantasy series, like a rom-com standalone fantasy series that I'm planning to write. So I'm already here for it because I was like, I was like, this, I need to do this over and over and over again. How can I do this over again? So um, yeah, so yeah. I'm like so excited, but I am writing the next book of this series first, which I am also so excited about. Like I have had this plotted out and ready to go. Hardballs, the last book of the series, and I've had it plotted out and ready to go for since like fully, fully plotted to the point that like since November, and like I was ready to write it, and then I've had some health issues that I'm fine, everybody. I'm fine. I was supposed to already have this book written, like hardball is supposed to be written, but my point to all this is that I was so ready to write it that I wrote for the for I've never done this before. I was I perimenopause, wake up in the middle of the night, and I couldn't stop right. I couldn't like stop thinking about it. Sometimes I'll do that. I'll be like, oh, what am I writing tomorrow? What am I writing next? Or oh, what's my opening line? That was the question I'd asked myself. And I thought of the opening line, and then I thought of like the next paragraph, and then I thought of some what comes after that, and how that would go that, and then this was it, and then I was like, I was like, okay, we stop, like go back, don't forget this, this, this, because we don't want to get our phone out, right? We don't want to start that. But then I ended up doing it, and I wrote the whole the that last chapter. I don't did you guys have the epilogue in the first chapter of the next book in what you had?

SPEAKER_03 27:34

Um I don't I don't remember that.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

I don't think it was in the arc, but you'll um if you use No, I I bought I bought it, but I don't know if it was in the updated. Oh, it would have been in that, yes, it was in that.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

But I had an update. I have an updated. I know you posted that note to update. I got the epilogue. Epilogue two.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

Yes, epilogue two is the start. And anyway, I wrote that on my phone and then just retyped it up before like before release. Because I was like, I didn't know if I could do all the things, but point being, like, I'm behind, but like I'm so ready to write this book, and I think it's gonna be really good. Oh, I think it's gonna be really, really good, actually. So I'm I'm really excited for the like I just love that tension. Like, I just want them to be like desperately inhaling each other without being able to touch each other. Like, that's the like just yay, just give it to me. All squirmy and twisty and like, oh my god, I'm ready. Do you have a release date set yet? No, not yet. I'm hoping for I'm thinking maybe this fall. I'm thinking this fall, maybe sooner, we're gonna see what happens. Every time I make a plan, it's like, oh, just kidding. Now you're gonna be in bed. Like, oh just kidding. It's hard though, so I totally get it.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

It's we we are here for you whenever it gets published.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Thank you. I'm I'm very excited to write it, and I really hope you guys love it because I think it's gonna be. I mean, it's enemies to lovers, and they're super competitive. And he is living with them. So she lives with her dad and kind of you know takes care of him, but really he doesn't need to be taken care of. She's just like you know what I mean? She's like, Dad needs me to take care of me. He's like, Really I'm not but I will but I will let you think that I need you because you need me to need you, and that's okay. So um and so Kate moves in with them because he's been kicked out of his place and she's like a fucking course he can, he's so irresponsible, like he's he's the worst. But really, she's also like, you know, she's also like has other feelings about him too, and he has lots of other feelings about her. And so, you know, there's this, oh we hate each other, and everybody thinks they hate each other, but there's a lot, there's this deeper than that, and um, but then being each in each other's face, and there's gonna be like it's gonna be a sexy competition. We're gonna have that is like that's the that is the trope is sexy competition. It is anything you can do, I can do better. And if I win, you're gonna owe me a favor, and so it's gonna be so good. Nice! I can't wait.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

I cannot wait.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

That's gonna be so good. Yes, it'll be a great end to the series, I think. This is my best series. Like, this is my best favorite. Like, this is just like the ultimate. I'm so proud of the series. Like, it's just everything. And I feel like if you don't, if you read any, if y'all read any of these books and you don't love them, that's okay, but I'm probably just not for real.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Listeners obviously. But they are really fucking awesome. So we love them.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

If you're enjoying, if if you're enjoying whatever I'm doing right now, then you will love so I'll say that.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

What um what's your uh snack of choice while you write?

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Hmm. You know what they are is Trader Joe's Japanese rice crackers. They're the like, you know, those little the like rice crackers, and they'll have like little wasabi peas and the little crunter, just super crunchy snacky snacks. And Trader Joy, Trader Joe's has the best ones. I don't like sesame, those little sesame sticks. I think they're gross and an abomination. And so this does not have them in it, so I don't have to pick them out, and that's a huge win, also. But like they're such a hot commodity that my husband will buy like three bags at a time and then hide them in the top of the closet so my kids can't find them. And then I hide them like next to my bed so that I could just sit here and like a squirrel.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

I'm just like, so we do not have a Trader Joe's near us, so I am uh I am Trader Joe less over here, so and it's not close enough that like it it would be a day trip.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

So dang, no, that stinks. I mean, even ours is like it's like a half hour away, so we go once every once in a while, and we'll get like two shopping carts worth of shit and then fill up our freezer. It's a huge problem. We're like, let's go to Trader Joe's, and we're like, also we're probably it's like a Costco trip. Like we go, yeah, yeah, we go and we leave there like we left Costco. It's it's problematic.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

I have yet to been to Trader Joe's. I just I hate being around people. That sounds awful. But the one that's in our area, like it's always busy. And I'm like, I'm just I'm just too peopled out.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

No, you gotta go at like you have to go early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Like you gotta go at like nine, ten o'clock on a Saturday, Sunday morning, and if nobody's there. That's good to know.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

But at the time the weekend rolls around, like I do not want to leave my house. Like no, me neither. Enjoy my mortgage.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

No, no, no. This is why, like I said, we go, we go like, you know, quarterly.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

Yeah. I don't, I don't even, I don't even leave my house. So I work from home at my full-time gig. And so I'm like, I never leave my house. My husband's like my husband's like, you're more of a hermit now than you were like three years ago. And I'm like, yep, it's great. I love it. I never leave my house. That's gold.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Like I said, my little my little dot has been in the same spot, even inside of my house. So I doesn't hear it's but this is like my nest, you know. Like I made a charging station here for myself. So this is where I come to recharge, and I just like get in here with my blanket and my all my like snacks and my my 8,000 charging cords for my electronics, and I recharge here, so it works.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Well, recently Ad Habits got a new look. I was stalking you on your website, and I'm obsessed with these covers.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

I know they are amazing.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Thank you. Well, you know that first one's about ballerina.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

I am actually reading it now.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Are you? Yes. Okay, well, I'm sorry if I screwed up any of the details. I worked really hard to find. I I I watched, I actually went on a deep dive. So this is one of my like, you're gonna learn something whether you want to or not, in my stories. I went on this deep dive and watched all of the New York City Ballet, has a bunch of shorts about and so I went through all of those and I follow Sarah Murns, who was a principal at the time. I don't know if she's still dancing, she might be retired, but I follow her and I was like obsessed with her and her YouTube channel was great, and she showed like she had all these videos about all so many different things and like how she did her shoes and how she was very much uh an inspiration, I would say, for Lily. Um if you don't know who she is, I would definitely check her out. She was like the youngest, she was the youngest principal, yeah, to do

– Audiobooks & Teddy Hamilton hype

SPEAKER_01 35:00

uh the black uh or what Swan Lake in New York City ballet. So she I think she was 19. So pretty cool. But um, but yeah, so I um sorry for whatever I screwed up. I'm sure I did not get I did not have a uh dancer sensitivity reader on that.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

So well well now you know in the future if you ever go back into that route. Yes, yeah. Because my resource. Yes, yes, and I have resources. So my dance teacher that I trained under used to perform on Broadway with Fosse. Oh wow, and her son is currently in ABT and um is absolutely phenomenal. And I have a picture when he was really young uh holding my son when he was like my son was maybe three to six months old, and and he's like 10 holding my son. So it's it's really, really fun.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Oh, that's so great.

SPEAKER_03 36:05

And I just mailed off my payment so I can dance with her this summer.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

So oh yay! Oh, that's so cool! Oh wow, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

That is so cool. Like, I could never because I I'm just not graceful and I'm very clumsy, but I love watching people dance ballet, it's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Like, I didn't search that I did. I I watched so much YouTube, like I watched the well, and I watched the whole uh Balanchine Swan Lake. I watched like I I went into deep dive about Balanchine too, and like just the whole the history and like all of it. I just was so fascinated by the whole thing. I really, really enjoyed researching that book for sure.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

So our listeners need to check out bad habits with their brand new covers. And there's three books in the series. It's three bad ideas and three swoony romances that prove love is the very best habit of all. And it starts with with a twist, which is our ballerina and friends to lovers. It moves on to Chaser, which is Brother's Best Friend, and Last Call, which you tackled your second chance again.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Oh my god, it that was my first, oh my god, what have I done moment. Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

Well, and you know, you're setting it up for two books, and you're like I will say, I think that one's my my favorite cover because of the neck tats.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

Yeah, so he's uh well his name is his name's Patrick, but everybody calls him Tricky, and he's uh he's a tattoo artist. So the next series takes place at the tattoo parlor where he works, and so it's that's Tonic's and Tonic and Penny, bad penny, which is what I was I talked about earlier. Um so yeah, so it leads into that, but um I I love forced proximity so much, like like there is nothing that I love more than forced proximity. Um it is so good, and like that was last call is like he has to come move in with her, and they're like they're exes, and she's totally so in love with him, and he's totally like intensely brooding at her, like to like and so it's just like it's so the tension between them is just uh it's so good, it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

I love it. I I love any type of roommate story, just like give it to me and gobble it up every time, every time. Same, yeah, but we have covered a lot of the Roseville Ramblers series, but I will say, like, next up we have the audios that are coming out this fall. I like cannot wait. Like, I'm I'm a huge audiobook nerd, and so when I saw who you had for narrators, I I just kind of the thing is everybody's like, when's the audio?

SPEAKER_01 39:19

And I was like, Well, good news is we got Teddy Hamilton, but bad news is we gotta wait for Teddy Hamilton, so so it's gonna be a little second, but I think listeners will happily wait for that one. I think so too. I I kind of I I kind of wish that they were all coming out at once. Like I wish that they were all just like BAM all four at once. I wish we could coordinate it all and they could all come out like right at the World Series and like right when I'm hopefully putting out because that's the kind of what I'm thinking right now, is to put out the last book right around the world series in October. And um, it would have been so great to just put all of the audio out at the same time. But but alas, we

– What we’re reading

SPEAKER_01 40:00

must wait for Teddy.

SPEAKER_02 40:01

So we wait for Teddy, but it will definitely be worth it. Um because I was just thinking as reading Sweet Spot, I'm like, man, I I just I can't wait.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

Can you wait until Teddy gets a hold of Gray? Oh my god. It's gonna be spinning.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

I know. I'm gonna be sad. I can't even none of us are ready for that. I think I'm gonna need to take the day off from work on that day.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

Turn out all the lights, just lay in the dark.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

I might, I might have to uh to tackle that one on audio as well. I don't courts definitely are audio girly.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

I am more of the uh read with my eyes, but um I might have to I'm very ADHD, so I can't listen unless my eyes are doing something that I don't have to pay attention to. So for me, uh reading is definitely easier. And like I could listen to it in the car, but I'm such a music girly that I'm like, but I wanna like listen to something else like really, really, really loud instead.

SPEAKER_03 41:17

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

My favorite is listening to audiobooks as I rage clean. Um yeah, it just gets me in the zone. I love it, I love it, I love this, I love this. Well, speaking of reading, what are we currently reading, if anything?

SPEAKER_01 41:32

Cue'd up on my Kindle is Love Overboard by Candy Steiner. I have an arc of it and I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

I can't wait for that to come out.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

And that comes out of the end of April. So I am it's yes, ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 41:48

I am a huge below deck fan. So once she really like said that she was writing this, I was like, oh my god, I can't, I can't even.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Yup, yup. So is she. So this is like a dream for her, too. So good. This is so good.

SPEAKER_02 42:06

How about you, Court? What you got? Well, Chaos Courtney is back because I've been, you know, in this kind of slump era. I started an ALC. Uh, it's called What Happens in Vegas by Sabrina Wagner. I'm on Must Love Audios team on Instagram, and they were like, hey, I have some extra codes, and I haven't been doing ALCs here lately. And I was like, you know what? It's Easter weekend. I have time, let's do this. And I don't have anything Vegas related. I I don't care what it is. So once I saw it's Vegas, I was like, oop, gimme, gimme. It's a workplace and a one-night stand, or so they thought. But before, like, so I got that and started listening to that one. But before I was listening to Hunter by Dr. Rebecca Sharp. Um, and it's like loosely inspired by you know the show Criminal Minds. So Hunter's book, it covers basically like Will's story. But then book one is Archer, which is Hotch's story. And then Gunner covers Morgan, and Ranger covers Spencer. So I think after I finished Hunter, I'm gonna go to Ranger because I just I Spencer was my bad character.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

I mean hello.

unknown 43:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

And then the Audible cell got me. You know, Audible's having their huge cell right now. So um I picked up Skate the Line by S. J. Silwis. So I got like three.

SPEAKER_03 43:40

Daddy Rostos. Oh girl, we can talk, we can talk skate the line.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

I'm obsessed with it. I'm so obsessed. I'm like, I think I think the the Russian hockey player, like just yeah, I think it's my favorite in the

SPEAKER_03 44:00

series. I think it's my favorite in that series. It really, really is. It just, uh.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

Well, what about you, Mary? What are you reading?

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Well, first of all, I'm in all of your chaos. Like my brain does not do that many at once ever. So I I did just finish an ARC by Lycan Rhodes. And then I got the email notification for the super secret beta read that I mentioned previously. She uploaded part two. So I am like feral for for that story to finish. And I also started on my Kindle um uh with a twist by Stacy.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

So like I love you over here. Like oh my god I can only do one thing at a time meanwhile.

SPEAKER_03 44:58

Meanwhile but I only have two I only have two so so the super secret beta read is in Google Docs. And so I read that when I'm at my desk. Yeah and then it's a different vibe for sure. It is a totally different and it's a totally different vibe because as a beta reader you're not like I'll read it again when the story releases because what I'm reading for now is not pleasure reading.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

Right yeah right it is yeah definitely.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Well what about TV shows or movies? Are are you watching anything Stacey? Well what am I watching right now?

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Um actually we're watching Queen Charlotte because I started to watch it right like when it came out and I think I was sick or something and my husband logged through he was like well I wanted to watch that. And so I stopped it. Like right in like a good part and I was like well I guess we'll see what happens someday and like we just didn't watch it. So the other thing we're watching is and I must plug because I haven't ever heard anybody talk about it but it's a little not it's not romance but it's uh what with the moon launch and all we uh have been watching for all mankind on Apple and if you guys are at all interested okay so it's an alt history that supposes what happened if the Russians won the space race and it continued space competition. And I will say you have to get through the first like two or three episodes. It's just like men being terrible but it's but I trust trust me like it is so good and like season one is is the early 70s season then they jump to the early 80s and they jump to the early 90s and like like and it and they keep going farther and farther in space and then how like all of the intrigue of like Russia and like their two space bases and like the Russians aren't that far away and like what's going on and like combat in space and like what all of that like the Cold War not ending. It's so interesting it's so fascinating and it's so intense it's very intense it's very good. I 10 out of 10 like cool put it on your list.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

All right Courtney give us our uh give us our uh reality tv check oh yeah I uh I do love my my trash TV so I finally got caught up on Summer House you know I'm still waiting for the big Kyle and Carl drama that they've been teasing all season but then you know they got the drama came out because you know Amanda and Kyle they separated or got divorced early this year and even like through this season like Sierra and Wes kept on like acting like they're gonna get back together and then you know there was at the Super Bowl together and all this stuff but now it's just came out that Amanda and Wes are have been hooking up and are exploring that so crazy time over in the Broadway world for this show. What's the show what's that show about what's the setup so essentially it's uh we're on like season 11 10 or 11 now but it's a share house these New Yorkers got a share house in the Hamptons and so they go every weekend to you know their summer house and just hang out throw crazy ridiculous theme parties and like this last the last two episodes because it ended on a cliffy has been Kyle's I think 43rd or 44th birthday and they all dressed up as like old people like grandmas and grandpa's it's pretty hilarious. Like and production like gets in on it like it's it's amazing. I love to watch the party the parties that they have because you never it's they're so crazy.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

You know I have a I have a book that's like it's the champagne problems and it's about a girl who's throwing these wild like New York parties and nobody knows who's throwing them and like there are these crazy crazy theme parties. It's basic it's like a kind of a Gatsby Gatsby meets uh breakfast attention is it on Audible? Yes it's called some I think I it's called something else though. But if you look at because I have problems and I can't not uh change things the the the the title wasn't working and so we changed the title. But I think it was I think the one that it hasn't listed out is a Star Bright okay I will do that because I am here for it.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

I'm also really excited because Real Housewives of Rhode Island comes on tonight at premieres and um I've been waiting for it from Bachelor Nation you have I think it's Ashley Ancotty if I'm pronouncing her last name right she married Jared who was also from the Bachelor world um and they're gonna be like one of the she's like one of the main like housewives this season or it's their first season but so I'm really excited because the only other housewives that I've watched completely is Salt Lake City and those girls they are insane but I'm here for it. So I'm really excited to see how Rhode Island goes.

SPEAKER_03 50:02

Well what about you Mary? What are you watching? Probably the only reality TV we watch my my husband will deny it if you ask him but he's the one who got into American Idol more than me. So we watched American Idol this week and got left on a cliffhanger they didn't say who got voted off and he's like I stayed up until 10 o'clock for this oh no so we will have to tune in and find out who makes it I also finished my rewatch of Avatar the Lost Airbender which if you have if you haven't watched it you need to because it is just the most well done cartoon but it is for adults it I mean it kids kids too but it covers some seriously hard topics that I think are just phenomenally well done and we also

– Unhinged thoughts of the week

SPEAKER_03 51:00

started watching season two of Shrinking which is on Apple TV. So listeners be sure to chime in on what you're reading and watching this week let us know in the comments we'd love to hear what's binge worthy for you all.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

My unhinged thought of the week so again it's another food one. I don't know why or what that says about me as a person that all my unhinged thoughts go around food. But you know it's it's that time of the month and mama just wants some chocolate and I thought I had one last like we I recently got those like Mickey Mouse like ice cream bars and I thought it was hidden in the freezer and I was like oh one of the crotch goblins found it it's a sad day um I definitely need like a walked freezer box or something. Like I also I'm the type of mom who will sneak into the laundry room to like shove candy in my mouth but it was right before I we came on to record I found and I'm gonna kill him when he gets home I found the little stick on my husband's bedside table.

SPEAKER_03 52:15

No ice those are fighting like that's that's fighting right there's right there in the guest room like no yes yeah so hubby hubby ate my chocolate he better be bringing you home some ice cream yeah maybe you should text him so he can bring you and he can make that up for you I know I know um I think I'm doing a BJ's run here here soon so I think I'm gonna get it like in bulk this time.

SPEAKER_01 52:47

Yeah right well you know I found that with my kids like if we have stuff if we have lots of something then they won't go through it real fast. So like if we have two cases of Coca-Cola in there they won't touch them forever. But if there's like a 12 peck in there they're gonna drink three a day. Like there's something about it that the more that you have like if there's a scarcity thing.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

Yeah yeah so if there are a bunch in there then they're not like oh well I better eat all of them now well my my unhinged thought is that no shade intended to any dentist or hygienist out there but we should be in an era where there is a mouthwash or something that just magically cleans the plaque off your teeth, heals your cavities they don't exist because I I brush and I floss and I do all the good things and I had to have a cavity filled yesterday and the anxiety over dentist visits for me is real. I love my dentist but I hate going absolutely hate it. We're in the age of technology and everything we should never have to go.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

We

– What’s next for Staci Hart

SPEAKER_01 54:00

should just have clean teeth we should it is 2026 where we don't have flying cars but we should at least have that I agree well let's see my unhinged thought is that we need to normalize not leaving the house and that should not be something that anyone is judged for and that should be something that I think everyone should have to do at some point. And I'm here for this I am not hearing any slander on um you know not leaving your bed.

SPEAKER_02 54:36

Well Stacey before we get off of here tell us what is up next for you.

SPEAKER_01 54:41

Writing wise we're gonna do the last book of the Ramblers so we're gonna do Hardball is the last book. And then hopefully starting a new fantasy series so big things good exciting things. I'm so here for already yes definitely do you have any events that readers can find you at this year I will be at I'm in Knoxville at the book besties event. What's the official title? Tell me again a meet and greet meet and greet cute yes so um I will be there I otherwise I don't have much planned I'm I am tentatively oh I'm doing in August I'll be at the good girls bookstore so stay tuned to their website for information on that.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

Well Stacey thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come and yap with us.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

Absolutely thank you so much for having me I'm sorry I'm such a chaos goblin but I appreciate y'all coming on the ride with me here.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

We're uning chaos I mean yeah I'm here for it I love it.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

Thank you so much for having me. It's been so great. Yeah well um I'm gonna link all of your information in our show notes but before you go will you tell the listeners where they can find you at yeah I am on Amazon under Stacey Hart that's H-A-R-T and my website is stacyheartnovels.com so you can find signed paperbacks there and all the good things. My novels are all free in Kindle Unlimited. And I have audio for all I think I have 27 books published and everything but the Ramblers has audio available. So we should be all set to go.

SPEAKER_03 56:26

And as always you can catch us causing chaos over on Instagram at what the smut podcast and me personally at onpoint digital services.

SPEAKER_02 56:36

And I'm over at Instagram at CourtneyLeanne. If you want to join us for a chat there's a form linked in our show notes. So be sure to fill that out because we would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_03 56:47

If you enjoyed today's episode please consider leaving us a review. Reviews help other smut readers find us and honestly they make our chaotic hearts very happy.

SPEAKER_02 56:58

And if you really love this podcast and want to show support we've got a listener support link in our show notes. Supporters get shout outs special giveaways and maybe even exclusive chaos that you can't find anywhere else. We also have sponsorship opportunities as well. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you guys next time