Bonus: Interview with Annabel Monaghan
In this bonus episode of From the Front Porch, Annie talks with Annabel Monaghan about her debut adult novel Nora Goes Off Script.
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Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
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A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
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Transcript:
Annie Jones [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:24] “I'm light while I write it, and as I do so, I understand why I write. To write is to recreate something as you'd like it to be.” - Annabel Monaghan, Nora Goes Off Script.
[00:00:38] I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, I'm bringing you a bonus episode featuring author Annabel Monaghan. Annabelle's debut adult novel, Nora Goes Off Script, is one of my favorites of the year. It's a recipe filled with all the bookish ingredients I love the most. A close knit family, a strong willed protagonist, and a memorable home. Hi, Annabel.
Annabel Monaghan [00:01:03] Hi. What an introduction. Thank you for having me here. Wow.
Annie Jones [00:01:07] I'm so glad you're here. I'm thrilled to get to talk with you. I don't do a ton of author interviews anymore just because it's not really the kind of premise of From the Front Porch, we don't do a lot of interviews. But when your name came up, I was like, I have to talk to her because I loved your book so much. And I really, as a reader, just wanted to get to talk to you. So this is a selfish endeavor.
Annabel Monaghan [00:01:27] I'm so happy.
Annie Jones [00:01:28] Okay. So I want to talk about the book a little bit. I read this kind of going in knowing nothing about you as a writer, knowing really nothing about the book. I got an ARC. I was intrigued. But after doing a little bit of research, you're a writer who seems to have no problem crossing typical genre boundary lines, right? You've written young adult novels. You've written nonfiction columns, and now you've got this adult debut. And so I'm curious, what inspired you to take the leap into this new to you genre?
Annabel Monaghan [00:02:00] Yeah, I'm a little bit like Mr. Magoo, just going through the publishing industry. I did start with young adults, and when I was waiting for those books to come out, I started writing a column and that I really loved writing my column. And maybe this book for adults came out of my column. My column is it's a lot about motherhood. It's a lot about my own life. And maybe after doing that for 10 years, I was ready to tell the story about what it's like inside a home. A home is such a -- it's an organism, right? There's so much happening and so much growth and so much cross-pollination. I think that maybe I was just finally ready to tell that story.
Annie Jones [00:02:43] I really love it. I think it gives writers or aspiring writers a little bit of hope to write. Like, I think now you hear so much advice about writing for a specific audience or growing a brand. I don't know. I just feel like those are the buzz words I kind of here and I just like that this was more an organic, "Hey, I wrote this for a little while. This kind of inspired nonfiction can, in fact, inspire fiction and vice versa." And it's a little more, I don't know, open handed than I feel like [Crosstalk].
Annabel Monaghan [00:03:11] I think it's a little bit more like life. I think we should be very careful even when talking to our children. You know, you started out as an economics major. You got to stick with it and It's not how we are. I mean, I'm a totally different person than I was when I started writing. So it makes sense to me that I'd be writing something different.
Annie Jones [00:03:30] I read somewhere, maybe it was on your website or in another interview you did, but I believe you said that Nora goes off script was the most fun you'd had as a writer. And I'm curious if that's true, if I read that correctly. And why do you think that was?
Annabel Monaghan [00:03:44] It's actually the most fun I've ever had, honestly. It was a really weird time in 2020 when we were first locked down. I'm sure it wasn't just weird for me. And I didn't know if the world was really a going concern or not. And I had all of my teenage and adult children home. My house was packed with people and I started waking up at five in the morning to write this book because it was going to be the only time I was going to be alone all day. And I was very much for a long time used to being alone all day. So I would just steal back that time. And I kept waking up earlier and earlier to see what Nora was going to do. I was really just tickled by her and by Leo. I thought about him pretty much all the time, and I just had so much fun watching the story unfold, almost like I was reading it. So it was just delightful and I hope it comes across on the pages how much fun I had it.
Annie Jones [00:04:39] Certainly, I will tell you as a reader of the book, it really is obvious because I had a blast reading it. I will tell you, and this is not me schmoozing, this is real. I read the ARC and I don't know how authors feel about when people say this, but I read it in one sitting because I know it was so much work for you, but I read it and devoured it. I couldn't put it down. And then I couldn't stop thinking about it. Like I couldn't stop thinking about Nora and Leo, but also Nora's children, like, I couldn't stop thinking about this family. And so probably a month later, I still have the ARC at my house and I thought, I miss those people. And so like I picked up the book and I read it again, which I never do.Because I just thought, gosh, I miss them. I had a good time with them and I just wanted more of them. And so I read it again, which , again, I just never do. But so I love that. I think the fun you had certainly has trickled down to us, the reader, and how lucky are we.
Annabel Monaghan [00:05:38] Oh, that just makes me feel so good. And, you know, I just want to hang on to that. Everything I write, I want to have fun writing. That's the goal.
Annie Jones [00:05:47] Yeah. Well, I mean, otherwise a little bit what's the point, right?
Annabel Monaghan [00:05:52] Yes, exactly.
Annie Jones [00:05:54] So we reference Nora a little bit. She's the protagonist. This protagonist is the writer of romance scripts in the vein of Hallmark style movies. And I'm just curious about your relationship to Hallmark films. I don't particularly have one. I have relatives and friends who love them. And so I was intrigued by Nora, and then I kind of liked that Nora went off script and wrote a different kind of script. But I'm curious about your relationship to these Hallmark movies.
Annabel Monaghan [00:06:20] Well, I'm here to admit I've watched a few. More than a few. I actually was laid up in bed in 2019 and started watching the Hallmark Channel like it was my job. And I was just watching these beautiful small towns with the independently owned hardware store and the bakery. And I'd watch two and three at a time. And by the time I'd watch two or three, I thought, wait, didn't I just see this one? Was this the same story, but last time she had a cupcake shop instead of a ballet studio? And I just started thinking about these stories and how just they're, you know, within 30 seconds, you can actually predict when the guy is going to leave and get back right after the commercial break. And I started waiting until the credits rolled because I wanted to see who was writing these movies.
Annie Jones [00:07:15] Uh-huh.
Annabel Monaghan [00:07:15] I wondered, was it one super romantic person who was writing all these? Or was this happening in a conference room in Manhattan where they just had a formula they were just plugging things into.
Annie Jones [00:07:26] And throwing things on the board. Yeah.
Annabel Monaghan [00:07:28] Exactly. And so then I just started thinking about Nora. I mean, that's sort of where she came from. And she is a woman who supported her family and her horrible husband by writing these movies for a decade. And she does it with a bit of detachment and, you know, a little eye rolling because she's never really been in love. So I just wondered, like, well, what would that be like to put her through just that lightning bolt romance so she could see what it really is.
Annie Jones [00:07:56] And at the same time, one of the things I loved about the romance between Nora and Leo, it certainly has, like, the tropes that some of us who love romantic comedies love. And so I appreciated that. But it also is very much about Nora herself. I told you off air I selected this is my shelf subscription for the month of June, and I always write a little card telling readers why I picked it. And I thought, gosh. I first thought, yeah, this is a romantic comedy. This is a delightful, delicious romantic comedy in the same vein of the romantic comedies I've always loved. And then I thought, well, is it? Is it more a dysfunctional family story? Is it more a motherhood story? Is it more a coming of middle age? I just felt like -- and I hesitate to say it because I love a romantic comedy, but it felt much deeper than that descriptor really gives it credit for. So I'm curious, if you were a bookseller, how would you sell this book? Like, how would you describe it?
Annabel Monaghan [00:08:59] That's a great question because I do think it's all of those things. I would describe it as a love story and a story about motherhood. Those would be the two biggest things. Because for people who haven't read it, every time I had Nora and Leo in a scene together, these children kept walking through the room. Like, they need a ride, they need a sandwich. And that is very much reflective of my own life. And as annoying as that is in real life, it's annoying when you're writing too. And I couldn't get away from the fact that if you're a mother, a single mother falling madly in love and giving yourself over to this relationship, you have more hearts that are at risk of breaking than just your own. And so those were the stakes in the movie. Did I say movie? I did not write a movie. Those were the stakes in the book. It was a little bit higher than just her having her heart broken. It was what was at risk for her children.
Annie Jones [00:09:57] It's interesting that you bring up the children because so often in adult lit especially, I feel like the children can be too precocious or maybe too adorable or too stereotypical. And I feel like they're not particularly realistic. I don't have children myself, but certainly I have children in my life and I often feel like in adult literature they're kind of underserved. And these kids, I just felt like, oh my gosh, I know these kids. I love these kids. The relationship her son develops with Leo, I found to be particularly charming, but I loved both of them and how different they were and how complete they were. And so I was curious how you did that. Is that from your expertise as a young adult novelist? Or is it because you're a mom and you have real life kids? I was blown away by how much I liked these children.
Annabel Monaghan [00:10:43] Oh, thank you. Thank you. I actually really love these children too. And it's funny because I have three sons. They're not anything like these children. I think my sons really appreciated the fact that I didn't write characters that were like them. I don't know. I know a lot of children and my -- I didn't really realize this until after I finished writing the book. But the the arc of Arthur, who's 10 years old, Nora's son, he's sort of trying to make sense of his family falling apart and being very worried about his mother and feeling like he is a person who could maybe fix this with his own craftiness. That was my childhood. I was very much like Arthur when I was a kid, just sort of seeing my family not thriving and thinking that maybe I could do something. I did think a lot when I was writing this about children. Also because it was during the quarantine, everyone was going through so much. How children process loss and grief. And I sort of ran all of that through Arthur. But I'm glad you liked that.
Annie Jones [00:11:49] Yeah. He's very complex. Actually, all of the characters are. When I was thinking about how I wanted to sell this book and how I wanted to describe it to readers and customers, I thought, gosh, almost every person in this book is likable but nuanced. So I liked them all. I wanted to spend time with them. But they're also complicated. These are not perfect people, which I feel like is the flaw, if I may say. It's a flaw in a Hallmark film where I just feel like, oh, these people are either good or evil. There's not a lot of like in-between. There's not a lot of gray. And I prefer a lot of gray. And so I just liked that I wanted to spend time with these people. But they're not perfect. They're not perfect. They felt very realistic. They felt very real. And that's true for the kids, too, where Arthur is trying so hard to be a fixer. And I appreciated his character, but also wanted him to be a kid. And so I liked how complex and interesting these characters were. They felt like people I knew.
Annabel Monaghan [00:12:45] Oh, thank you so much for saying that. I really live in the gray area. Everybody I can't stand I kind of like to. They're really interesting. They're interesting and everybody just got something to offer and something that I would probably change if I could. So I like to write characters that way because it's just how I see people.
Annie Jones [00:13:09] We would be remiss if we did not talk about the house in this book. So I love memorable houses in pop culture, whether it's in books that I'm reading or films that I watch. I think about, of course, Nancy Meyers. I think about the Father of the Bride House, all of these very memorable homes. And one of the things that I especially loved about this book is the book, really, it doesn't start with Nora and Leo. We aren't introduced to Leo until later. It starts with Nora and her house and Nora and her home, and then Nora and the little tea house that's sitting outside her home. And so I'm curious what houses inspired Nora's home and maybe the Tea House, and are there houses in literature or in pop culture that you love and think about?
Annabel Monaghan [00:13:51] That's such a good question. Well, Nora's house it's an old house that's falling apart. It's an old, beautiful house that she's trying to hang on to that she can't afford to fix up. And the tea house, which is a one room structure behind her house, that actually is a real thing. And, unfortunately, it's not at my house. I think it was like 2008, like, in the depth of the financial crisis, I got in the mail, a coffee table book from some sort of a mansion home builder showing me pictures of the mansions that he was building in Connecticut or something. And these mansions had like moats around them. I mean, it's just crazy. I'm like, what is this? So I flipped through it and on one of the pages there was this back house, one room stone structure with a slate roof and a working fireplace and a little table that was set for tea and under it and said, The Tea House.
[00:14:47] And I left that book open to that page and just would walk by and touch it. Like, I just loved that picture so much. It just got stuck in my mind. And then during the days of quarantine, when I had everyone home and I lost my office to my son, I lost my living room to my husband, and I was working in this tiny little chair in the corner of my house, I was daydreaming about that tea house. What if I could walk outside to another little area and that would just be a miracle. So that was sort of the fantasy. That was my fantasy. My fantasy was not the sexiest man alive coming to live in my house, not interested. My fantasy was just having some place where I could go and write. And so I gave that to Nora. But I know what you mean. There are a lot of houses like in Rebecca. I can see that house. I can still feel that house. Wuthering Heights. I can feel that house.
Annie Jones [00:15:43] Yeah. I think about Barbara Kingsolver does a really beautiful job of writing about houses. There's a great book that came out a few years ago called Strangers and Cousins. And somebody kind of gets married at their childhood home. And I just love picturing these homes. I value homes. And so I love the feeling I get when I walk into my home. And so the thought of these kind of -- I don't know, these imagined houses. I really love when houses are a character in books.
Annabel Monaghan [00:16:11] And I do too. And in your real life, your home is such a reflection of who you are and what's going on in your head. Like, it's possible that my house is a bit of a mess right now.
Annie Jones [00:16:24] Leading up to a book release? Yes, I guess it is.
Annabel Monaghan [00:16:26] It really is like a complete disaster. And as you take care of yourself and you get your act together, maybe you also have your house painted. I think there's a lot of character development that goes along with where you're living.
Annie Jones [00:16:40] Well, and there is for Nora too, right? I don't want to spoil anything, but she starts off with this house that she can't really financially afford to fix up in the ways that she wants to. But as she kind of comes into her own as a writer, and as she meets professional success, she's able to do more with her setting, with where she lives and with the home she's building. So one of the things I ask you as a bookseller, how would you sell this book? But one of my favorite parts about owning a bookstore is working in the shop. You know, the paying of the bills stuff isn't as fun, but when I get to be on the floor of the bookshelf and I get to put books in conversation with one another, it's one of my favorite things. And so I'm curious, if you were crafting an end cap or a shelf and it was featuring your book, what other books might you place along with it on display at a library or at a bookstore?
Annabel Monaghan [00:17:33] That's a fun question. I've read a bunch of love stories that I've really loved lately. I just read Book Lovers that everyone loves.
Annie Jones [00:17:44] Oh, yes. So great.
Annabel Monaghan [00:17:45] That was great. Have you read The Summer Job by Lizzie Dent?
Annie Jones [00:17:49] Yes, I have. Yeah.
Annabel Monaghan [00:17:51] I really loved that one.
Annie Jones [00:17:52] It's got a great setting too.
Annabel Monaghan [00:17:54] Yeah, I would try to pull out all the romantic stories that I could think of. Maybe even The Love of My Life. Have you read that?
Annie Jones [00:18:03] Yes. The Rosie Walsh. It's so good. Yeah.
Annabel Monaghan [00:18:06] The language in that book is so beautiful. Yeah. I just love that book.
Annie Jones [00:18:12] Yeah. It is excellent. I really would make a really good book club book. I was thinking I read earlier this year a romantic comedy. A romance called Funny You Should Ask. And I feel like your book is Funny You Should Ask meets Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott. I think those are the two things that make your book.
Annabel Monaghan [00:18:30] You could knock me over with that compliment. I just read Bomb Shelter.
Annie Jones [00:18:35] It's so good.
Annabel Monaghan [00:18:36] I have to say it's like Mary Laura is a genius but with her heart.
Annie Jones [00:18:39] Yes.
Annabel Monaghan [00:18:43] She really speaks and connects with her reader right from there. Please put me on the shelf with Mary Laura.I'll take it.
Annie Jones [00:18:52] Okay, great. We'll do it. Okay. Of course because Nora is this character who is writing scripts and she's writing movies and a movie is being filmed in her home, I immediately cast this book in my head. I was like, who would I cast in this movie or TV adaptation? And I'm curious, if you did the same -- I'm always curious about this with writers -- did you picture anybody while writing this or was it just no, the Nora and Leo are specific in my mind. I don't need a Hollywood star in mind while I'm writing this. I'm just very curious as a reader. Did you also do this or is it just us readers?
Annabel Monaghan [00:19:27] Well, no. So when I was writing, I really didn't. I can picture Leo. If he walked into my house, I'd say, "Leo, there you are." I mean, I can actually see him completely clearly in my mind. But it's been interesting to hear friends of mine will read this book and they'll say, "Oh, Brad Pitt. Right?" And I'm like, no. There's not much of a description of him. So I think people bring whatever it is.
Annie Jones [00:19:51] Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
Annabel Monaghan [00:19:53] That's their own fantasy.
Annie Jones [00:19:55] That's so interesting . So I read this and immediately -- and I'm normally more attracted to the blandly handsome men like the not very attractive, like just normal looking guys, kind of nerdy looking guys. But the whole time I pictured this, I was like, oh, it's Chris Evans. Like, that is who this is. It's Chris Evans. And then a friend of mine read it and she was like, Annie, did you just picture Matthew McConaughey the whole time? And I was like, no, I pictured Chris Evans the whole time. How could you not? So that's very funny because you're like, oh, there wasn't really one of these descriptors. So we're bringing our own fantasies to the table as well.
Annabel Monaghan [00:20:32] It's very funny that you say that, though, because I was taking a walk recently and I was listening to a podcast, I think it was Conan O'Brien interviewing Judd Apatow. And all of a sudden I thought Leslie Mann is the perfect Nora. She's the right amount of funny and quirky and sexy. And I just love her. And then I immediately thought Matthew McConaughey.
Annie Jones [00:20:56] Oh, that's great. My friend will be thrilled.
Annabel Monaghan [00:20:58] Tell your friend. Yeah. I didn't think that when I was writing it, but I thought, yes, I could see that. I could see him being sort of smoldering.
Annie Jones [00:21:05] Oh, that's so funny. I'll have to tell her. She'll be thrilled. Okay, so when I do interviews, I always try to ask the same few questions. So I've got some kind of standard questions that I like to ask. So the first is, what is a classic book you've never read but you wish you had?
Annabel Monaghan [00:21:22] I've never read any Russian novel.
Annie Jones [00:21:25] Oh, okay.
Annabel Monaghan [00:21:26] None.
Annie Jones [00:21:27] None of them.
Annabel Monaghan [00:21:27] None of them. And I feel like I should do that as a person.
Annie Jones [00:21:32] You know, 2020 -- yeah, the years are running together, but 2020 I started Anna Karenina because that was like a bucket list book that I wanted to read. I bought it when I was in high school and never finished it. And so a friend of mine through the podcast started to do Conquer a Classic. So we read Anna Karenina together in 2020. And then last year we did Middlemarch. And this year we're reading Count of Monte Cristo.
Annabel Monaghan [00:22:02] Wow.
Annie Jones [00:22:02] And podcast listeners are kind of joining us and we read a section at the time, but Anna Karenina was quite good. I highly recommend it, actually.
Annabel Monaghan [00:22:12] Yeah. I Get lost in all the names, but maybe I'm older and I'm not in school anymore and I can just get through it.
Annie Jones [00:22:20] Well, and as my friend and I, we're big picture readers. And if you just know a few of the characters, that's really what's most important.
Annabel Monaghan [00:22:27] I like that.
Annie Jones [00:22:30] If you know the main characters, that's really the important part. Okay. So From the Front Porch is a podcast. We're a podcast out of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. But I'm curious if you are a podcast listener, and if so, what are some of your favorite podcasts?
Annabel Monaghan [00:22:44] I listen to every Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend of his. He's very funny. I listen to Smartless. Have you heard of this?
Annie Jones [00:22:53] Yes.
Annabel Monaghan [00:22:55] Jason Bateman. They're so funny. And they have the greatest guests. I also listen to A Certain Age and you may not be old enough. Just because I'm looking at you. But it's a wonderful podcast by Katie Fogarty and she talks about all issues that pertain to women over 50. Your career. Your love life. Your health. Your finances, everything. It's a great podcast.
Annie Jones [00:23:21] Oh, that's good. That's the first time I've heard that one mentioned. I have heard of Smartless and I've listened to some, but I've not tried the Conan O'Brien, so I'm curious about that one.
Annabel Monaghan [00:23:30] He's so funny. And sometimes people will text me during the day and say, "I just saw you walking down the street with tears pouring down your face." And I just laugh. I mean, it just feels like a great break.
Annie Jones [00:23:43] Oh, well, we kind of need that, I think. We need that right now.
Annabel Monaghan [00:23:46] We do.
Annie Jones [00:23:47] I'm curious what you're reading right now.
Annabel Monaghan [00:23:50] I am currently reading On Gin Lane. It came out yesterday by Brooke Lee Foster. It is really fun. Summer book set in the Hamptons. Historical fiction. It's great.
Annie Jones [00:24:03] Oh, I love that for Summer. I frequently say on the podcast that during the summer I only want to read books set in the summer because it's excruciatingly hot here. And I really don't want to read about people like frolicking anywhere. I want to read about people who are sweaty and there's salt air. That's all I want to read. And so I do like books that are kind of set in beach towns.
Annabel Monaghan [00:24:27] Yeah, I do too.
Annie Jones [00:24:28] Okay. I think those are all of my questions. I was just thrilled to get to talk to you today. Thank you so much.
Annabel Monaghan [00:24:36] Oh, Annie, thank you. And thank you for spreading the word about this book. I mean, I can't tell you how many messages I get, "Annie told me to read this book," through Instagram and all over the place. Thanks for being so enthusiastic.
Annie Jones [00:24:49] I am curious. We're recording this a week before the book comes out. Are you doing a book tour and what are kind of your book tour plans now that we're -- I don't know. I don't even know what era of the pandemic we're in anymore. But I am curious what a book tour looks like for you. Is it virtual? Is it in-person? Is it both?
Annabel Monaghan [00:25:05] No, I've had my second booster shot. I am getting on an airplane. I have a lot of things in New York. And then I'm going out to Los Angeles. I'm going to North Carolina, in upstate New York and Rhode Island. And I'm going all over. Just like a regular person in the regular world.
Annie Jones [00:25:22] How delighful.
Annabel Monaghan [00:25:22] I know. It just feels crazy. So hopefully somebody will walk my dog while I'm gone. But, yeah, I'm really excited to just get out and talk about it.
Annie Jones [00:25:35] Yeah, and meet readers. How wonderful. I know one of the things during the pandemic, one of the perks -- I hesitate to use that term, but we were grateful because we're a small bookstore kind of in the middle of nowhere. To put it kindly. And so it was nice because I did get to do some virtual author events and that was new for us. And authors were so gracious and kind. But there isn't anything like the in-person experience of getting to hear an author read their own words. Getting to meet them in person. I just feel like that's so special. And as much as I loved having the opportunity to host virtual events for my store, I'm grateful that authors are getting back into the world and meeting readers. I think there's something about face to face that's so important.
Annabel Monaghan [00:26:16] Me too. And I feel that as a reader and as a writer. You know, on both sides of it, it just feels so much more meaningful.
Annie Jones [00:26:22] Well, good. Thank you, Annabel, so much. Good luck on your book tour. I am so excited for your book to launch next week. I can't wait to put it in people's hands. So thank you very much.
Annabel Monaghan [00:26:30] Thank you so much.
Annie Jones [00:26:35] I hope you enjoyed this bonus episode of From the Front Porch. For more bonus content like our Conquer a Classic episodes and our monthly lunch breaks, you can become a supporter of the bookshelf on Patreon. Just go to Patreon/fromthefrontporch and you'll have access to all sorts of bonus content like this author interview. Special thanks to Annabel Monaghan for her time today and I hope you will consider ordering her beautiful, charming book, Nora Goes Off Script. You can do that at bookshelfhomasville.com.
[00:27:07] This week, I'm reading This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.
[00:27:14] From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf an Independent Bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the bookshelves daily happenings on Instagram @Bookshelftville and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website. BookshelfThomasville.com.
[00:27:30] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at Fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
[00:27:35] Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect, warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
[00:27:44] Our executive producers of today's episode are. Donna Hetchler. Angie Erickson. Cammy Tidwell. Chantelle C.
Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:27:52] Nicole Marsee. Wendi Jenkins. Laurie Johnson. Kate Johnston Tucker.
Annie Jones [00:27:58] Thank you all for your support. From the Front Porch. If you'd like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From the Front Porch. Scroll down until you see, 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think.
[00:28:15] Or, if you're so inclined, you can support us over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits, like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to Patreon.com/fromthefront porch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.