Episode 1: From Recovering to Reformed Booksnob

These are my unedited notes for episode 1. They’re not the full story, but they’ll get you the gist of the conversation. Access the full audio here: Spotify iHeart Stitcher Google Podcast

Hey, y’all!

Welcome to the unrighteous reading rebellion. I am so freaking happy you’re here with me. If you’re brand new to me, hang in there while I bring you up to speed.  And let’s face it, even if you know me really well, you’re about to get my backstory, so we’re all on the same page. I’ll try to keep it brief, but, I’m a talker, so we’ll see how that goes. This entire first episode is gonna be one big get to know you party. Sooo… who brought the snacks?

Ok, first, let’s make sure we’re all in the same book…. This podcast, my blog, my social media, my book reviews- it all revolves around romance novels. And more specifically, the indie romance community. Yes, a lot of what I talk about is relevant to romance novels in general, but the majority of authors’ names and book titles I bring up are from the indie romance community.  Some of the language I use may not be completely safe for work, so make sure you have a good set of headphones or earbuds. And I will talk about all kinds of things- books, playlists, authors, book boyfriends, book bestfriends (real and characters in books), blogs, other podcasts, cover models, events, wow- ummm… that’s a lot of stuff.

But the indie romance community is huge, so there’s a lot to talk about. Anyway, today you’re going to hear a lot about me and my journey to where I am right now, while I’m recording this. So, we’re all, you know, on the same page. 

Oh, and fair warning. I absolutely have a bunch of stuff written down, but I make no promises that my brain squirrels will not derail a topic and take us all on a lovely side journey along the way.

And here we go…

Nearly a year ago, I wrote my first blog post about my delve into romance novels and how it spurred on my booksnob recovery process.  For those not familiar with me or this pretty spectacular journey, let me try to sum up:

I have a degree in English, and for some reason I thought that meant I was only allowed to read literature written by those gilded as “proper” writers.  You know, mostly dead white males who lived and died in a foreign country over a century ago. For “fun” I read Stephen King. And I also really loved historical fiction, so when I wasn’t reading Dickens (yeah, not even kidding there) I immersed myself in WWII fiction (All the Light We Cannot See, Beneath A Scarlet Sky, The Nightingale- all phenomenal books btw).  Romance novels were relegated to backshelves and guilty pleasure bookclubs. Definitely not something I could ever read.  I know, I was so stupid and misguided. So so misguided.

Well, then the pandemic hit, and I started to spiral into some pretty dark places thanks to the, rightfully so, gloom and doom media. And the books I was reading were also pretty gloom and doom, heavily emotional. With lots of deaths. And the depression and sadness was a bit overwhelming. I wanted to turtle from the world. And I stopped reading. 

 A very dear friend of mine, who I had no idea was a romance novelist ( I mean, I knew she was a writer, but I didn’t know she wrote “that”) offered a group of us a free book from her backlist, to help us get out of the spiral. And I figured, what the hell,... now’s as good a time as any to try something out of my comfort zone. I picked her dystopian sci fi romance novel with a really sexy Cyborg on the cover. (Chance by Pearl Foxx) And holy frack, I was slammed full force into book snob recovery.  I read the feck out of her backlist. Then read it all again! Then read more sci-fi romance novels (shifters, aliens, more aliens), and discovered that what I was reading wasn’t so much “guilty pleasure” as it was escaping into a book that had all the things I looked for in every other book I ever loved. 

These books had complex characters dealing with internal and external conflicts. They had beautifully created settings, intense multi-layered plots, and holy crap- happy endings! Every single book ended well! Even if there was some period of angst and uncertainty, these books had what I needed! I needed a space where everything would turn out ok. Because dog knows the real world wasn’t providing that at the moment. 

So, anyway… fast forward a year from reading my first romance novel, and I started blogging. Because the other thing I love even more than reading, is writing. And I have tried my hand at writing a novel. But remember those brain squirrels I alluded to at the top of this episode? Well, they’re more short attention span theater. So as much as I’ve wanted to write a novel, and I’ve tried, it’s just not my thing. 

So I decided to try my hand and mind at blogging instead.  I created an anonymous FB page and IG account for Brayzen Bookwyrm. I started posting reviews and funny memes. But I didn’t identify myself as Brayzen. I wasn’t there yet. I started using the hashtag recoveringbooksnob because it really fit. I felt I was still recovering. And to be honest, until I started this podcast, a little more than 2 years after reading Chance. A little less than one year after becoming Brayzen, I still considered myself recovering.  

But honestly, I think I’m moving more into reformed status now. I have fully and completely embraced my life in the romance novel community.  I know who I am. Ok, wait, let’s not go that far. I know who I want to be. Maybe? Anyway… I have been sharing reviews and books on my personal online profiles, no longer hiding behind my Brayzen persona. I know my friends and family know what I’m reading and writing about. And hell, I found out my mom and sister have been reading romance novels for years. Weird and comforting.  And I recently started freelance editing full-time about two months ago. Because, hey ma! I’m using my degree! And it’s just one more way to immerse myself in the indie romance novel community I love so much.

And now that you know my history, if you’ve made it this far and you’re still hanging out with me… another big Welcome! Friends.

Now that you know my history in the indie romance community, let me bring you up to speed on a few things you should know about the podcast itself.  Well, one- it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing I decided to do after having 4 people tell me I should in the space of a week.  I’ve learned how to read the signs. My blog came about in much the same way. I like to think of it as an organic extension of what I love to do, coupled with the time to do it. I do love to read. And I like to write. And yeah, I like to talk. But only about things I’m really excited about.  I can talk about books, yarn, tea, karate, birds, spiders, movies, dogs, for hours. Ask me about the royal family and I will slow blink at you while crickets play the song of their people. 

Oh, another thing you should know about me- I am really sarcastic. Which doesn’t come across well in writing, but I’m hoping this is going to be the perfect medium to put it all out there. 

So, as far as the podcast- each episode will likely start with a topic, go off the rails at some point, then merge back into some semblance of continuity with what the title is. Or maybe not.  Sometimes you’ll just have my voice to listen to, but other times you’ll be entertained by friends of mine in the romance novel community. I’m hoping to include everyone from readers, to authors, to author assistants/ PAs, other bloggers, reviewers, other podcasters, and who knows, maybe narrators and cover models at some point. Hey, a bookwyrm can dream, right? 

Starting next episode (thanks to my older spawn’s help) I’ll probably have a nifty intro with all my info on it. But for now, just know you can find the blog at brayzensblog.com and you’ll find me on Facebook at Brayzen Bookwyrm’s Unrighteous Reading Rebellion, on Instagram and Tiktok as Brayzen Bookwyrm, and remember it’s B-R-A-Y-Z-E-N B-O-O-K-W-Y-R-M   Yeah, I like the Y’s. I’m wyrd.
And let me know what you’d like to hear me ramble about. You can message me on FB or IG or email me at brayzenbookwyrm@gmailcom .

So that’s it for today. I’m so glad you’ve decided to pop in and join me on my first adventure in podcasting.  Can’t wait to connect with y’all again!