The Bookish Hour

Interview with Author: Ivy Wild

• Jor & Fab • Season 1 • Episode 36

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Join me on the first new segment of The Bookish Hour where it is only me and my guest. 

This one is very special as my guest this week is the incredibly talented Ivy Wild. With over 10 books to her name, Ivy takes us on a journey from her early days of devouring fantasy novels during her school years to her latest release, "Love So Hot." Ivy opens up about the emotional highs of receiving her book copies and the creative intricacies behind choosing the perfect cover that embodies both wholesome and spicy elements. She also candidly shares her recent commitment to daily walks, balancing her bustling writing career with motherhood.

Come join us while I interview Ivy and we talk everything bookish!

IG: @ivywildauthor
TikTok: @ivywildauthor
Website: ivywildromance.com

Cover Art by: Fabienne and Jordan
Contact email: thebookishhourpod@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: Season Two: Ramaramaray by Aiyo via Epidemic Sound Season One: Sweet Psycho via TikTok’s Offical Sound Studio on Capcut
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Podcast: @thebookishhourpod
Fabienne: @oxonheart
Jordan: @sipsoffiction

Jor:

Welcome to the bookish hour with just J. As the first interview for the new segment on the bookish hour, I have a very exciting guest with me today my first author interview, who I can say is also a friend. She has written over 10 books that range from small town contemporary romance to dark mafia romance, so she has a book for everyone. Thank you, Ivy Wild, for letting me interview today. Welcome!

Jor:

hey, I'm excited to be here\

Ivy Wild:

Thank you so much. I didn't know I was your first. I'm excited to be here. Thank you so much. I didn't know I was your first.

Jor:

Yes, I wanted you. As soon as I had this whole like idea of basically Fab and I like went or yeah, have gone bi-monthly, I asked her if I could use the other two weeks to do interviews and like have conversations with like different people in the bookish world. As soon as she was like, oh yeah, go for it, I was like I need to ask Ivy, and so I knew I wanted you to be my first interview.

Ivy Wild:

So I'm so honored. Thank you so much for like having me and doing this. I'm like so excited, seriously, I barely I'm like on social like right now, so with everything going on in my life. So it's just like I'm so happy that I get to do this with you, cause like we know each other in person and it just makes it so much better.

Jor:

It, it, it really does. I'm like so excited, I've been so excited. I've like haven't been able to shut up about it. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, so that usually we start each episode with something that's good, something good that has happened to us. So what is your good thing this week or the past couple weeks? It doesn't need to be something that recent.

Ivy Wild:

Oh my gosh, like book-wise or just like in general.

Jor:

It could be anything. It could be book-wise, it could be general whatever. Book wise, it could be general, whatever. Okay, I'll do one of each.

Ivy Wild:

Oh, perfect, um, okay. So book wise, I finally got my order of um copies for love so hot. So love so hot is like my new small town sort of. It's like a small town billionaire series. So it's like billionaires that like get taken out of their fancy penthouses and sort of like plumped into small town settings and like we just like to watch them squirm, so that the first book in that series releases October 4. And I was really sweating it because with everything going on in my life, I'm just always I feel like I'm always behind the eight ball. But I did order a set of books to like send out to people and things like that, and they came yesterday. So I'm really excited that I actually got them before I released. That never happens to me, I'm always it's always after. So I got them before my release. So there is a chance that I might actually even get copies sent out to people to receive them like on or before my release so that they can actually like post about it. So that's a good bookish thing that's happening.

Jor:

That is a very good bookish thing and I want to say the cover is stunning oh, thank you.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, I really struggled with the cover for that book, um, because like my brand so far well, like, let's just be honest, like, like my brand is a lot like myself and it is all over the place. That's just like who I am. And so I've had like a lot of different types of covers. I've had like the single guy covers, I've done special editions and stuff and but, like, most of it has been single guy covers and I was almost going to do a single guy cover for this book and it just didn't have the right feel to it. So then I just I ended up doing this very like cutesy couple cover Cause the book is like. I got the feedback from like one of my first beta readers and I gave it to them and they were like, oh, this book is so cute, it's wholesome I mean, it is spicy, but they literally used the word wholesome and I was like, oh, my god, nobody's ever said that to me, ever so.

Ivy Wild:

I had to have like a cuter, like cover.

Jor:

I have to say this cover suits the list that you've like given with the small town like. That is like the epitome of a small town. So I I think the cover suits it very well and I'm like so excited the woman looks like you on the cover.

Ivy Wild:

I just realized that, like me staring at you, she kind of looks like you Stop I will.

Jor:

She does, though, she does. I don't see it, but like I'm going to it, but like I'm gonna take it, I'm gonna take it.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, so, and then okay, so then a non-bookish thing. It's like I've literally so I don't know like for your listeners and stuff like that like they may not know me, but like the last two years I've spent the last two years basically having babies. So I've had two babies back to back, which has been a lot, um, and I feel like we're all women here so we can probably like all relate to how much that is, and so I just this past week I really started making like a priority to go on walks every single day, like long walks for myself and I take my baby, like I take him with me and stuff, but like that's been really good just for my health and mental health and stuff like that. So that's like a fun non-book thing.

Jor:

Oh, that's good. I feel like that, like sometimes, when I don't feel good, I need to like go on a walk myself because it's just like sometimes it's just getting out of like the house and fresh air. So I totally feel that I'm going to use my good week as this being the first interview and me just being so excited.

Ivy Wild:

Oh, that's so special.

Jor:

That's so sweet that you said that. Oh, my goodness, yeah, I have to. Okay, so now we're going to dive into the questions. I'm so like and, granted, I know like we have met before like in real life, so I know some of these questions I've definitely asked you and we've talked about before, but technically, of these questions I've definitely asked you and we've talked about before, but technically the people don't know it. So like this is it's good. It's good just like a general. We're on a first date.

Jor:

We'll pretend we're on a first date, exactly okay, we didn't like to talk each other on the internet, but actually, um, so the first set of questions are like writing and being an author. Okay, so question number one when and how did you know that you wanted to be an author?

Ivy Wild:

So I don't think there was like a moment where it was. I think it just kind of like happened for me. So it's so funny. I used to read like religiously when I was a kid, like I just read all the time. I wasn't very popular in school by any means, and so I ended up like taking books with me to school and kind of like reading during when everybody else was like socializing. I would just like sit in homeroom and I would like read, and I read like mostly fantasy novels. That was like what I read.

Ivy Wild:

And then this is so bad, but like I mean kids are kids. Like when I was like what I read and then this is so bad, but like I mean kids are kids. Like when I was like in. So my mom growing up, was like the organist of our church and so I was like at church all the time. Like a lot of the times I would even be there for like double services. So instead of like paying attention in church, I would literally just sit there and like read under, like like underneath the fuse or whatever. And I would also like when you get to a point at least for me, I got to a point where I was reading so much that my brain was kind of like coming up with my own story ideas. So then I started like writing them down and I actually still have somewhere like my little binder from when I was like maybe I think I started it maybe in like fifth grade or something like that of like all these books, ideas and like parts of the book that I've like even started writing when I was like younger and so it's like I mean like it's not like I knew I wanted to be an author.

Ivy Wild:

I just enjoyed writing and then I like went to law school and did that whole thing Casual, yeah right. And so then my like final semester of law school I think I was just like very burned out and I needed like a creative energy outlet and I was literally working on I still remember I was working on um, my historic preservation seminar, final exam, and I was like you know what? I really don't want to write this right now. I was like writing some paper about like some Japanese like legal system or something for like like preserving historic buildings, and I was like this is boring, I don't want to write this. So I literally started writing. This is so embarrassing. I started writing a fan fiction instead. I mean, I finished the final exam.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, I finished the final exam, but I was like I just don't want, I just need a break. And so I just started writing something that I ended up posting on fanfiction instead, and I did that for like two or three years and then I ended up kind of like just switching to like writing more contemporary and putting that on Amazon like ever a time period where it was like, oh, I'm going to become an author. I think it was just something that I enjoyed doing, and then it just kind of like morphed into this situation that I'm in now interesting.

Jor:

So it was almost kind of like a just a progression of like the. These are the steps that you kind of took, which then I guess that kind of like answers the second question. Because it was did you always want to be an author? Which I guess no, like, no. But then because I did you always like want to be a lawyer, because if that's kind of what you went to school for and then you got kind of burnt out so you wrote fan fiction, then you wrote more contemporary, so is being an author more of the outlet for you to be a lawyer over and over?

Ivy Wild:

and over again, with just like slight variations, right. So I did do some litigation when I first started and then I kind of moved into more of a transactional property type of law and so I was just doing a lot of like purchase and sale agreements and lease reviews, like over and over and over again, and after you review like your 100th commercial lease, like it's just it's the same document constantly over and over and over again, and then you're just making like tiny changes here and there and tweaks like specific to the person's situation. And so I think I really struggled because I don't have like I'm a very creative like person. I needed that creative outlet. So I think it just kind of like it was almost a compulsion, Like I I just I just was like I have to write something creative and just let that sort of escape. So, and I don't know that I ever wanted to be a lawyer, Like at some point, obviously I made the decision to like go to law school, but I don't know that it was like a well thought out decision.

Jor:

Okay, fair. But I mean, I think it's kind of cool to like be able to say that you're a lawyer. I think that's cool.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, I mean it's so funny because I don't know. So I don't know if it's me or I don't know if it's just the fact that, like you know, I'm a woman or what. I don't know what it is, but like, when I tell people that I'm a lawyer, the reaction is always surprised A hundred percent. They're like oh really, and I'm like, what about me? Like your listeners cannot see me, but like, right now, I obviously do not screen professionalism, but I don't know, it's funny.

Jor:

Have you ever? Okay, I feel like this is bad because it's going to state that I haven't read all of your books, but I plan on that at some point. But would you ever write like a lawyer book where, like maybe the female main character is a lawyer or the mailman character is a lawyer?

Ivy Wild:

A mailman lawyer. No, I'm just kidding. Like the mailman is a lawyer. Like the mailman is a lawyer, that's like a new trope. Uh, the mailman lawyer, I got you, I got you, thank you.

Ivy Wild:

Um, so prince of vice is okay, hold on, I didn't have it. Um, prince of vice is like I, this book, so this is a dark month. This is like darker mafia, um, and this book, um, I had this idea for a very long time. But the female lead is a lawyer and basically the concept behind it is that she inherits this case from her father and her father was a mob lawyer. So, like her father had a whole bunch of clients that were in the mafia and then her father mysteriously dies and she ends up like taking over his cases. And so then there's this guy that's like um on trial for murder and so she has to defend him, and there's like this whole like suspense aspect in the background of like he can't, like he. He in the beginning thinks he's gonna get himself a different lawyer because he's like he doesn't take her seriously, um, and so he keeps like messing with her and being like basic and she's like, why are you not taking this?

Ivy Wild:

seriously you're on trial for murder and he's just like whatever, because like you're not going to be my lawyer, like I'm going to get a better lawyer, like I'm going to get an old man to defend me, um, and then she kind of like proves herself and then at the same time somebody's conspiring in the background to like so he can't find himself another lawyer. So he ends up like like she ends up being his lawyer and he ends up getting with the program and they end up getting with each other. So that's that book.

Jor:

And they lived happily ever after.

Ivy Wild:

Happily ever after and there's somewhat mob lifestyle. Yes, they lived happily ever after in their somewhat mob lifestyle.

Jor:

Oh yeah, that's true, but then how was it writing while incorporating kind of your real life into it?

Ivy Wild:

So I really struggle with this because a lot of the feedback that I've gotten sometimes is like it's very complicated, like sometimes with my books go, because it's real and because I know these things like I try and put an aspect of realism into it so I have to be careful that I don't make it too real, because lawyer work is very boring so I don't want to bore people, so it's like.

Ivy Wild:

But it is like I do enjoy incorporating it into my stories and I do think that like it makes my stories and I do think that like it makes my stories better and I do think like better for myself, right, like not in comparison to others, but just better in general. And I do think like it adds like for me, like the concept, like things that I've experienced as a lawyer I can kind of turn into books. Like the concept for Love so Hot was actually based on my timeline, my time when I was working on a pipeline project. So I think it kind of like creates like new things that I can write about that maybe other you know what I mean that I otherwise wouldn't have those ideas.

Jor:

Yeah, that's actually pretty cool. Okay, so what advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Ivy Wild:

So the biggest advice that I have not been able to follow myself is to just be consistent.

Ivy Wild:

I just like, with everything going on in my life right now, I have not been able to release on a consistent basis or market on a consistent basis.

Ivy Wild:

But if you're a romance author or just an author in general, I think it's really important in today's market to have a plan to let go like.

Ivy Wild:

I also did not do this. I did not have a plan for how I was going to release things, so I just kind of like wrote what I wanted to write, which is good, but you also need to make a plan for, like, what you want to write. So if I could go back and redo it, I would sit there and I would actually like plot out like maybe three theories and then be like, okay, I'm going to release like this series, you know, in three month increments, and then I'm going'm gonna you know what I mean so that my books would be released, like on more of a consistent basis, that like every three months or every 12 weeks, like people knew that an Ivy Wild book was coming out, um, and I've always endeavored to do that, but I've just never been successful at it um, so that would be like my best piece of advice okay, but then doesn't that put a lot of pressure on you to get these books written and finished in these like 12-week increments, though?

Jor:

Oh, totally.

Ivy Wild:

I mean, like I had discussions with authors, right, and like there is total author burnout sometimes because, like, in order for them to feel like they're staying relevant and they feel like they they have to write on this like very consistent schedule, and then that can cause problems with your creativity, right, because it's sort of like you're forcing this and then that causes problems and stuff. So, yeah, it can. It definitely becomes like a job. Like if you're doing it full time and you want to make money off of it and stuff, it becomes a job. If you're just doing it for fun, then like, don't just do it for fun, right, and don't put the expectations on yourself that you know you're gonna make money off of it or that you know like you're gonna have any specific number of reviews or people sharing your stuff. Like, just do it for fun. And I've basically just been caught in the middle of these two concepts, but like, hopefully life will calm down at some point and then I can adjust one way or the other.

Jor:

Okay, yeah, that, that's. That's fair. Um, how do you process and deal with negative reviews? So?

Ivy Wild:

um, I was really impacted by negative reviews when I first started Because I'm an attorney. We have a very high opinion of ourselves while also having very low self-esteem, so it's a very interesting combination. It's really a weird thing. So I had this expectation when I was going in that like I really wouldn't get negative reviews, which is stupid, because that was just stupid. So the first couple I read I still remember, because the first so my Kings of Capital series starts with the estate. But originally I had released it. I had released what is now infamous first, like that was sort of like my first contemporary release and I did it in three parts.

Ivy Wild:

Um, and I remember sending, I reached out to a ton of people and was like, hey, I'm new, do you want to read this book? And, um, you know, and people responded and said that they would and like generally, generally, I got good feedback. But then I got this like one review where the woman like the first chapter, first couple of chapters of that book, like you know, it's like a story where, like the girl it's actually based on, like Taylor Swift, like it was inspired by her life when, like, people hated her. Yeah, I know, and I have not marketed this book. Well, like remember when people didn't like her and she kind of like fell out of public favor and so like it was kind of like she was going through that at the time that I was writing this book.

Ivy Wild:

So it was kind of inspired by that um, and so it's like the story of this um pop star. She gets discovered in college, she goes off, she makes it really really big, but then everybody turns on her and she basically gets dropped by her record label and so she goes back to college to try and finish her degree because he just kind of wants to pick up with her life and like move on and the guy that she her best friend at the time so the best friends to lovers um, her best friend at the time has become like an adjunct professor at the college.

Ivy Wild:

Like he went, went into business, like he went into real estate and so he became very successful, but he was always like very much in love with her and never really was able to admit this to her before she like went off and he had to like watch her on stage and you know all of this type of stuff from the sidelines.

Ivy Wild:

And then she comes back and she ends up having to intern, like she ends up taking his class and she has to intern for his, his company, so she's his intern scandalous. Um, oh, I love it, yeah, yeah, yeah, so anyways, um, so the first book starts off like, I think, like the first chapter, from his point of view like he has a you know, like if he's like a rich guy, like he has a driver, like you know, it was like the things that we're used to seeing in romance. And I actually think this set me on a very bad path, because I got this woman who gave me a review, or like she wrote back to me and she was like I'm so sorry, I cannot finish your book. I think it is very cliche. I don't like the fact that the main character has a driver and that he lives in a penthouse. So I won't be finishing your book. And I literally cried.

Jor:

Oh my God, that's literally every single billionaire romance.

Ivy Wild:

So it's how I know now that I know that because I never read romance before I started writing it. So I was just like writing these things and, um, you know, and I think like, obviously cliches come from somewhere, right, so like, because everybody writes them and stuff. But I was just writing these things and then I then I was like, oh, like, I can't like write cliches because people are going to give me these reviews and they're not going to read, like, finish, read, finish reading my books if I like write cliches, so like, so my book ended up becoming like non-cliche, um, which might appeal to some people, but yeah, um. So that was like the first really negative review that I ever got and it definitely made me cry.

Ivy Wild:

I have tried to go back into my email and find that review like now, because at a certain point, like now, you just get used to it, right, and sometimes when you read negative review reviews, you can be like, oh, okay, like I mean, if they're not trying to be like mean on purpose, right, but for sometimes you can look at negative reviews and be like, oh, okay, they have a point and maybe for the future, like I'll go back and I'll think about that and adjust, like the way I write characters or this or that. But sometimes people just don't like the book and you just kind of say like whatever, okay, move on, but I still have. I really I need to go back and find that email because I think it would be very healing for me now to kind of look at it like after many years and be like okay, like where you are now.

Jor:

Yeah, yeah, I feel like we kind of talk about this in like the book world a lot, like there's a difference between a mean review and a critical review. Like I totally understand that not every book is for everybody. It just like I mean life. But look, but I that review sounds like it's mean and I don't think she needed to put all of that in a message to you or an email to you to get back to you. I think she could have left it as in. Hey, I'm so sorry, but I just I'm not vibing with the characters. I just I'm sorry. There's just so many other ways that she could have written that review and it kind of peeves me, especially for like a new, like debut author.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, I was super brand new. I had no books out, like there was nothing.

Jor:

Right, it was like I, because I know I got someone at least I it was. There was like a PR company for me to be the go between, so I didn't have to email, I didn't have to like reach out to the author or anything. But I'm not really big on the pregnancy trope. Um, I can, I can do it in some books, like if it that's not like the main trope or anything. But this one book it was just all babies. Like the female main character wanted babies, thought about babies, just was trying to get pregnant and then then she was pregnant. All she could think about was this baby and giving birth to this baby and I could. Only I made it like 40 and I was like yeah, that's good and I.

Jor:

But I and I got back to the, the pr agency and I was like I am so sorry. I don't think I realized how heavily babies were going to be in this book and the pregnancy trope is just not for me and I don't think it would be fair.

Ivy Wild:

I will not give this the fair rating it deserves and I think that's such a better way to handle it right, like if it's just really not for you. And this is just me as an author and so this is probably a very biased thing but I kind of disagree with and again, like I don't know, maybe it's just because I'm a lawyer, like I speak my mind like I maybe book world will cancel me for this.

Ivy Wild:

I invite that. But you're like, oh my God, what are you about to say on my podcast? But you're like, oh my god, what are you about to say on my podcast? But? But no, I think what it is is that, like, I really don't think that people should leave one star dnf reviews, like that's like if you did not finish a book, then you cannot rate it right.

Ivy Wild:

And I will say this and people don't realize, because you're an author, like when you, when you experience it on the other side, the negative reviews pull your rating on your book down so heavily, like you could get like all these five star reviews and then you get one one star review and all of a sudden now your book's like a 4.3 or a 4.2 and it shows up as like missing a star on Amazon and it's and you're, and like a lot of us indie authors, are putting our own money in our own savings into trying to market these books and it really impacts the effect that you have in terms of that marketing.

Ivy Wild:

Now, that's not to say that people aren't entitled to their opinions. Of course they are, and they are, of course, entitled to be able to. You know what I really did not like this book, etc. Etc. But I do think that if you didn't fully finish a product or experience a product, like giving it the worst rating possible, like maybe it turned around for you, like, maybe at like the last page, everything became clear and you were like I love these people.

Jor:

I don't think you're doing the book fair justice if you're DNFing it and then giving it a star rating. I don't think, yeah, and I agree with you and I would really hope. I guess clearly other people don't necessarily have the same like thought, but I think yeah, if if you dnf a book, it should not have a rating.

Jor:

I think like I think, because you know how on goodreads you can just not rate it but you can write something still. I think that's fair, like because I know some people will put like dnf. I know I've definitely, I've dnf all the time and so I would definitely say like dFing either.

Ivy Wild:

For whatever reason. Yeah, and I think that's really funny. It's just hard on the Amazon platform. If I were in charge, you know, if I were in charge, I feel like Amazon, their five-star system is like I really don't know that that's like the best system for books, because I think it's like it was geared towards products when they came out with it. But I feel like for books it should just be like did you, do you recommend? Do you not recommend, or are you just ambivalent? Like it should just be like a three right, like like I would yeah or I don't know.

Ivy Wild:

This book was just okay. I don't like you know what I mean like Like I'm moderate for it, or I would definitely not recommend Like thumbs up, thumbs, sideways, thumbs down. Like I feel like that would be an easier option for people.

Jor:

What I would actually really like is if Amazon and Goodreads did what Storygraph does and how Storygraph you can do like 0.25, 0.5 or 0.75. I wish it would do that, just because I feel like there's so many books that like and I know for myself too giving it like a 4.5 or 4.25, I think that could help bump a book up versus like it just not being that full five star book.

Ivy Wild:

And.

Jor:

I think Amazon and Goodreads are doing a disservice that they're not having that.

Ivy Wild:

Well, there's no like standard yeah, there's no standard Right. So like like, for instance, like I've gotten reviews from people like on Amazon or on Goodreads where they're like 4.5 or 4.75. And then they put four stars on the book and I'm like I went to math in sixth grade. Most of the time I'm pretty sure if it's a 0.5, you round up, but that's just me People, because I'm like it's still a four, it's not quite that five star. Right, are you one of those people? I love that.

Jor:

I am Just because like five stars, like like the coveted five star, but I'm definitely one of those people that I can give a book five stars because of vibes. I give a book five stars because I was in love with like one character. It doesn't have to be this like literary masterpiece there has to be some aspect for me to give it five stars okay, okay, no, but that's good, right.

Ivy Wild:

I mean, like that's the thing is like, and I think that's what that's why I'm kind of like uh, like thumbs up, thumbs down, some sideways would be like system, because then it would be, it very easily just like removes the like, the difference between people, right, like so you might not round up, but like other people do, and then it's just totally inconsistent. I guess, I don't know, maybe it's my personality, like the inconsistency, ironically, I can't handle no, fair.

Jor:

And then it could be like how 87 people thumbs up this or 87 percent of people thumbs up this right like you can see it?

Ivy Wild:

yes's it. I'm like a thumbs up or a thumbs down and you're just like OK, I can see the numbers Right.

Jor:

Oh OK, so what? I guess this kind of like leads into the next question. What have you found to be most challenging in being an author?

Ivy Wild:

for me it goes back to the consistency factor and it's just because I'm like as you can hear my child screaming in the background like it is just because of that, like like I just life is getting the way right now, like and I shouldn't say that way, but like the idea that, like I just have like a lot of other priorities, like my children are my priority right now, and so that is difficult for me to balance along with writing and marketing on a consistent schedule, but I still very much like enjoy writing and releasing books. So it's just one of those things where I'm trying to find the right balance. So I think it's one of those things that's also going to shift right, because right now that's something that I struggle with. But then I was like my babies get older and they go into school, like I might shift in. Something else is going to be. Something else is going to be what stresses me out.

Jor:

Fair. That kind of like makes sense. Um, so then, what is your writing schedule like now, which I've kind of wanted to ask you? Are you a pantser writer or are you a plotter? I think those are the two words.

Ivy Wild:

Yep, so I'm very much a pantser. I have tried plotting things and it just like the book doesn't have an organic feel. When I do that, it feels like it ends up being super short because I never like plotted out correctly. So it'll end up being like 55,000 words and I'm like, okay, that's for me. I'm like that's a pamphlet, like that's just not enough words a pamphlet, so like it just doesn't. It's just like I don't know, it just doesn't work for me.

Ivy Wild:

So I very much just go with it, like I just have an idea of two characters and then I just kind of like watch the word count and see where it takes me and um, and that's what has worked for me now, like we were talking about this before we started the podcast, like so I write romance under Ivy wild, but I'm just starting to use my legal background, I guess, and write legal thrillers and um, and those will be under like a different pending completely. But those I very much had to thought out because that's a completely different style of a story, right, like it follows somebody who you know, like she's a prosecutor and stuff, and so we're trying to. It's all courtroom drama and those sorts of things. So those stories I very much had to get used to like following a script, like following an outline, um. But I think that's great because then my romance becomes more of like my creative release and I think I'm going to try and like protect that space.

Jor:

I like that. I'm kind of I'm excited for this legal journey through books for you. Yeah, it's definitely. You definitely have to let me know when the first book's out and tell me your pen name so then I can read it. Yes, I will. Do you have a favorite place to write?

Ivy Wild:

So I move a lot, my husband's military, so like we move all the time. So I will say my favorite place that I have ever written was randomly. We were living in Missouri for a while and because he was like he was doing some his Navy but he was doing something with the army I don't know.

Ivy Wild:

So, we were randomly living like just over the border in Missouri and there was this like really pretty nature reserve where they it was like this little path and you could walk in and walk with my dog every day. And then there was this little area that was like hidden. It was like this little like, like what do you call it? Like a grove, like a little grove, but it had like this little waterfall and so, yeah, so like I remember when I started writing Brightly Burning Bridges, which is like one of my favorite books, I just really writing. It was like I love writing it.

Ivy Wild:

And then, like when I read, it again I'm like, oh, I love this book, so I actually wrote most of that book I. There was like a little, there's like a little area of rock where, like, the water wouldn't come up that high. So I would like bring a yoga mat and sit on my yoga mat with my laptop, and then the waterfall was like right in front of me and I would just sit there and write um, and so I wrote most of that book there and so that was, yeah, that was like my favorite place to write a book ever. Um, and then most of the time I write um. I write a lot in bed because I have very little free time, so a lot of the time, like now, it's like my I have a five month old and so he's like asleep in his little basket next to my bed.

Ivy Wild:

and then I brought, I bought like a privacy screen for my laptop so that like from the side it doesn't like spew light everywhere and so that I just put that on my screen and then I write next to him so it doesn't wake him up.

Jor:

So, yeah, it's like multitasking at its finest. Yes, that's right. Yeah, so it works. What risks have you taken, if any, with your writing that have paid off, or are there some risks you have taken that haven't paid off?

Ivy Wild:

I have no like. So for the first part of the question, like because I'm not consistent about my releases, I feel like I don't like in terms of risks I've taken, I'm kind of like I don't know I can tell you that risks that I have taken that Well, I guess I don't know. This is maybe like a thumbs middle situation. So I've very much like written a large, like just from, like you said in the beginning, like I've written a lot of different types of books, and I think it's one of those things where I'm like trying I'm still trying to find like my, because a lot of women like trying to find like my, because a lot of women like will write, or women authors, a lot of people will write like one specific genre and now it's gotten like so niche, right, they're like I write multiple sports romance, best friend, one bed, like you're not wrong, you are not wrong, this is what I write and I'm like okay, well, my first series was, you know, billionaire contemporary, and then there was a book in there that was like the last book, beautiful Surrender, which had like BDSM elements.

Ivy Wild:

And then I released a book that was like mafia kind of. And then I released a book that was like High School Academy, and then I released an entire like mafia romance, like darker mafia romance series, and then now I'm doing this like billionaire small town. Um, so those are risks that I just like, because I'm just not consistent with my like branding and my genre, because I'm writing things that I like, want to write. I think that's maybe the difference.

Jor:

But I feel like that's better in the long run, probably also for you, that you're not so like niche, which I know for some authors that probably does work for them, but I feel like they're going to be those authors that get burnt out because they are writing small town.

Ivy Wild:

however you word it, that was really, really specific yeah, I, you know, it's just like because for me to start it as my creative outlet, um, I think it's just one of those things where, like I've really I've struggled to give it up as my creative outlet.

Ivy Wild:

So I have always thought about, like, sitting there and creating, like maybe a new pen name that only writes like you know, something that's like very, very niche, because I think, um, and it's funny, I think I saw a reel of Sophie Lark, who had said this at one point too, where she was like I feel like I'd be, I would have been a lot more successful if I had just stayed like, because she started out like her mafia series did really, really well, and that kind of like put her, you know, into like the top of the Amazon charts and she, like full blown, admitted she was like, oh, if I had continued to just write mafia over and over and over again, I probably would be doing a lot better, but I can't do that Like. It's just one of those things where, like, I want to write other things and I think that's where I'm at Like.

Ivy Wild:

So I'm very much like, well, I wrote Mafia romance so I don't want to write it again, but I probably annoy a lot of readers that way because they're like well, I don't, I come to you for like billionaire, I don't know, like billionaire.

Jor:

Yeah, no, that's. I get it in the sense of like that's what, like, I feel like, especially romance readers they're very much like. This is what I like, this is what I want. Readers they're very much like. This is what I like, this is what I want. And I'm going to tell you if your books are not giving me what I want even though it's you didn't have to read the book in the first place, but they're very, very. I don't want to say judgmental, that's not the word I'm trying to think of but like, they're very outspoken, like they will tell you when they don't like something that you did.

Ivy Wild:

Right and they know what they like Right, and I think, like that's the thing, like for me, I'm still trying to figure out what I like.

Ivy Wild:

I guess I am excited about this series that I'm releasing because it is, I do feel like it kind of combines two aspects of myself. So we'll see, like, if I continue with this sort of theme of like plunking billionaires in like a situation, like in small towns or whatever, where it like makes them like, where they they're taken out of their element and like you know, they're just like we get to mess with them a little bit, like I enjoyed that aspect and then I'm kind of like like this book, the love so hot book, is like an oil tycoon guy who's trying to build a gas pipeline and then an environmentalist and like I'm very much like a tree hugger type person. Um, so it was fun for right, you know, because like that was just kind of fun to like channel that. So we'll see, maybe that's like what I've been looking for, right, but maybe not. Maybe I just start writing like fantasy under a different pen name at some point.

Jor:

I don't know oh, so many like possibilities. Yes, get onto my chaos train please. Oh yes, I'm here, choo choo. So then this kind of is like do you have any writing projects you're working on now and can you give us any hints? So I'm guessing this Love so Hot, the idea is possibly making it a series.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, so so it will be four book series. Yeah, oh, so I already have the second book in the series written, um, so, yeah, so I'm, yeah, see, I'm like working on it.

Ivy Wild:

It's not even out yet and you're like, yeah, book two's done well, you know, I mean I'm trying to like fix my consistency issues, I guess. Um, so I had these characters. I introduced them in my dark mafia romance series. So the second book in that series is the main character is a. So that series is like four brothers, and the second brother in that the second book is the second oldest, I think, brother in the series and anyway.

Ivy Wild:

So he completely did not want anything to do with the mafia side of the family, so like he was a legitimate businessman and so then he had these four people. Like he had all these different companies and he had there were like four people that worked with him and so I created this series. Those are those four people that worked with him and so I created the series. Those are those four people that worked with him and they were all so they call it's called the misfit millionaire series and they were all foster brothers, so they're like misfits, like they're from the foster system, so it's kind of like found family vibe throughout the entire series.

Ivy Wild:

So I love yeah, so like we saw them in in that series, um, and then I kind of like brought them back so I have a book planned out for each one of them and like each of them is kind of different in their own way. So like the first book is with Lawrence and he's like he he's like, you know, an oil tycoon and like his, like his, um, personality matches. So he's like very fiery and he has like a big temper. And then the second book is is Victor and he's very like cold and and you know what I mean, and it just kind of like matches his personality. And that book like takes place more in the fall and it's like colder and like there's there's hockey in it just you know, like that's what everybody wants right now it is, I feel like, everybody's obsessed with hockey.

Ivy Wild:

I know, but I was like I cannot write. I was like I just cannot, for myself, write like a full-blown hockey romance. First of all, I know nothing about playing hockey like nothing, um, and I can't even skate okay, like like I can't either. So it didn't be ridiculous right for for like me or you to like try and write a hockey romance. No, um, so this is.

Ivy Wild:

But I will say that I watched the Mighty Ducks series a lot when I was a kid. That's amazing. I really loved that series and I actually started re-watching it because I got Disney Plus for a couple of months and I started re-watching it and I totally channeled that vibe into the second book. So, basically, he's a developer and he goes into a city that's not a super wealthy, well-to-do city and he's like, oh, I'm going to like build this new shiny development and then, like everybody's like, no, we don't want you here. And his PR company is like, well, you need to do something to like integrate yourself into the community so that they can see how great of a guy you are. And he's like I'm not that great of a guy, um. And so, anyways, they propose that like he coach and sponsor the peewee hockey league and then the female character.

Ivy Wild:

She's a single mom and her daughter decides that she wants to be on the hockey team and so she's very much opposed to the development. Like she's leading the protests against the development and then. But then her daughter's like everyone at school's talking about the hockey team and I want to be on the hockey team. So her mom's like trying to find the balance and then that's like so yeah, that's that story. So it's hockey you know, like he's coaching and stuff, you know but it's like, yeah, he has like a traumatic hockey past from like when he was an orphan.

Jor:

So it's just, it's very angsty oh, we love angsty, or I love angsty. So I mean I want a prior on like those emotional reads, like I want you to like rip my heart apart, but then then put it back together.

Jor:

You can't just rip it out and leave it. We got to put it back together, okay, so now we've got, we've left writing and authors, and now we're in reading. So what is your favorite book and or series? A book you would recommend to anyone and everyone, or series A book you would recommend to anyone and everyone, or series.

Ivy Wild:

Okay, so this is really weird. I don't read a lot of romance but my favorite book I have it brand here somewhere is called Sirens of Titan and it's a book that was written by Kurt Vonnegut in like the 1960s and it's kind of it's just, it's just like a weird. So he was this kind of interesting author and a lot of his stuff was like he incorporated like commentary on the world and politics, like incorporated into a very odd type of story, and I just always really loved that book. I don't know why. I just started reading it one time and I really loved it. So it's always become like it's just been my, my, it's just my favorite book. It's just weird and people don't know what it is, but it is just like my favorite book.

Jor:

So there is romance and there's romance, it's not okay, okay, I mean it doesn't have to be a romance book. Not gonna lie, I've never heard of it, but that's cool today.

Ivy Wild:

Most people today have not Like. He was very, very, very popular when he was writing and when he was publishing, like in the 60s and 70s and things, but most people nowadays don't know of him.

Jor:

So what is one line of writing, poetry, a quote that lives rent. Oh, lives in your head, rent free.

Ivy Wild:

OK, so I want to make sure that I get this right as I say it, because it is from the sirens of titan and I know it's like supposed to um live in my head rent free. But I'm just gonna make sure I say it right. Um, okay, so the line from the book is I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all, um, and that I really love that line. It's just, I don't know like, if you think about it so like the whole concept of the book is that you're gonna edit this out.

Ivy Wild:

You're like no, people are gonna just think you're weird, that's fine, I'm fine with that. Um, that would be factual. Um. So it's just like the concept of the book was like, um, that like there was a society and they thought that like everything was like very much planned out. Like they thought there was like some higher power or something like that that was like planning everything out for them and it actually turned out that like that was not. It was not that um.

Ivy Wild:

And so then the like, the main character, as he becomes like self-aware of all this, he says like I was the victim of a series of accidents. Right, so it was like this idea, like this very freeing concept of like there is no big grand plan for you in life. You kind of like have to make your own lives. The way I interpreted it at the time was like you, there is no like big grand plan. You are in charge of the big grand plan. Things happen to you. There's no like big reason behind it, like it's just a series of accidents and like you're just, I don't know, it's just. I worked this quote into Brightly Moving Bridges um, oh wait, I love that yeah.

Ivy Wild:

so the main character, like her favorite book was sirens of titan, and then she has this like moment, like this back and forth with stylus, who's the main male character, and basically, like um, he takes so she very much like you know that quote, like I'm a victim of a series of accidents, because she has a lot of bad things happen to her in life, and he rewrites it for her and says, like I am the victor of a series of accidents. So, like this idea that, like you can switch it and like your perception of things, you can switch that, and then the idea that, like you, are in charge of your life and what you make of it. This has become a meditation podcast. I hope you all join with us in positive affirmations.

Jor:

Yeah, anyways, you can edit all of this out. No, I love it all. Okay, so then I swear. If you say the same book though, what is a book that had the most significant impact on your life, and why? But you cannot say the same book though what is a book that had the most significant impact on your life, and why? But you cannot say the same book well.

Ivy Wild:

So I would say actually like the estate because so like the book that I wrote, the estate, um, and it's a book that's had a lot of impact on my life because it actually like did fairly well. It was like the first book that I like actually tried to market in romance world. It has, like you know, not like an insignificant number of reviews. It's got like almost 4000 reviews on Amazon. Wow, that's awesome, yeah, so like, and people really like it like I get a lot of reviews from that book which are very encouraging.

Ivy Wild:

Like I don't look at reviews all the time, so I will say that I read every single one of my reviews.

Ivy Wild:

I have read every single one of my reviews, but, as when I first started writing, I would get them like every single day, like religiously, I was constantly like updating to try and see if I got new reviews.

Ivy Wild:

Now I kind of look at things more like I'll look at reviews as they come in for a new release, of course, um, like for my art creators and stuff, but like for my back catalog, it's more of like a like once a month or something I'll like randomly go on and be like, oh, like, have people read this? And like are you reviewing it? Um, and I've gotten like a lot of really encouraging reviews from that book where people are like I've never left a review for a book ever and I felt really compelled to leave a review for this book because it was like really good and I really enjoyed it and like that just makes me happy to read, of course, as an author. So I will say I am. So not the other book, this book, the Estate, I think like is a book that very much like changed and had an impact on my life.

Jor:

Oh, I like that answer and I like that it wasn't the same book.

Ivy Wild:

I just like that book. I just like the Sirens of Titan. It's not like it really was super impactful.

Jor:

Yeah, fair, fair. But I could totally see you being like well, this book, yeah, exactly yeah. If you could have a literary dinner party with three authors, living or dead, who would you invite and why?

Ivy Wild:

Okay, so I did think about this. So, okay, it has to be three plus me, or just three or three total, like me, no, that would be two. Okay, maybe I didn't think about this well enough, yeah three, so four, including you.

Ivy Wild:

Oh man, okay, that changes my answer. Okay, I have an idea. I can add the extra person. It's fine. So the first would be so this is very specific and I don't know how to go in order. I'm just going to tell you all the author names and then I'll tell you why at writes under LT Ryan. And then the third would be LJ Shen, and here's why. So, first of all, so me and LT Ryan are, so LT Ryan writes thrillers and him and I have become like super, super good friends and we're co-writing that legal thriller together. So, like him, so it would be fun to like have a dinner party party with him. Lj Shen is also a very dear friend of mine and she's the one that introduced us Right. So, like, and she says she's like I'm very proud of myself for this introduction, she's like I just you guys are very similar personality types and I'm just like I'm very proud that I made this connection for you two.

Jor:

And honestly that is so cool, because if she never introduced you guys, then you wouldn't be writing this like thriller. Yeah, oh.

Ivy Wild:

I know. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah, I'm very grateful to her for that. So it'd be fun Because, like he knew her and then she knew him and then she introduced us. So it'd be fun for us because we've never all gotten together together. And then he knows and has had conversations with Frida McFadden and I feel like Frida is just like, from what he's told me about her, like she's a neurologist, like I just feel like she's a very interesting person to like be in the room right. So I feel like that would be like a good smattering. So you'd have like Frida as the thriller, Lee LT, like his person's Lee, and then the other Lee. And this is the funny thing, because the two people that are in my life that like I talk about the most right now, like like from the internet, are LT Ryan and his first name is Lee, and then LJ Shunt and her first name is Lee. So literally, when I talk to people, I have to distinguish and I call them male Lee and female Lee.

Jor:

That's amazing. Yeah, so I was talking to Leigh last week and then I was talking to Leigh.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. Like when I first, like when she introduced those, I was like, oh man, like I have a problem now.

Jor:

Yeah, it's fine. I have to say I do like Frida McFadden, but I have to take her books like piece by piece, like I can't just read a bunch of her books because some of those they make me like so anxious.

Ivy Wild:

but that's also thrillers in general for me, so I'm like it's like every now and then, but like parts are different because those are psychological thrillers, so like yeah, yeah, where it's just like the thrill comes from, like action or something like that, versus like a legal thriller where, like you, you know and I know this because I'm like having to write these now like a legal thriller, like a lot of it's coming from you know, is the trial going to go a certain way or this way or that way.

Ivy Wild:

But yeah, the psychological thrillers can really like do a doozy on your mind.

Jor:

So which are usually the ones I like go for. I don't think I've ever read like a legal thriller or anything.

Ivy Wild:

Have you read the Lincoln Lawyer or seen the movie? No, okay, it's a really good movie. It's with Matthew McConaughey, so he's not like terrible to look at. Yeah, it's not a bad view. Younger, that was mean, you can edit that out.

Jor:

I mean, it's not like he's going to listen to this podcast.

Ivy Wild:

He might, you never know.

Jor:

One of the only review for the podcast is going to be like hey.

Ivy Wild:

Matthew Connick says I'm really offended by this person. One star did not finish the podcast.

Jor:

Oh my God, you can't rate it. You can't rate it if you didn't finish.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, oh my god, you can't write it. You can't write it if you didn't finish. Yeah, but that's like I mean, that's a lot of people think about, like when they think legal thrillers, they think the lincoln lawyer, and then netflix just turned it into a series. So there's also like a series. It's not with matthew mcconaughey, but like there's a different actor that plays the main lead and it's actually really good, like it really definitely. I struggle with tv and stuff like that A lot of the times. It just does not hold my interest, but I was actually, like it held my interest.

Jor:

Okay, so now we're in the personal. We only have two more questions. I went by so fast. I should have put more questions on here. Okay. So, looking back on your life, what is one valuable lesson you've learned, and that doesn't have? It could be bookish, but it doesn't have to be bookish either.

Ivy Wild:

I don't feel like I've learned it, though I think it's the lesson of consistency. Like I'm not, I'm learning it. I know I'm like, yeah, I'm in the noticing phase, yeah, but I feel like it's so. This is definitely like coming from my husband would be so proud of me because he this is. So he has the exact opposite personality type as me. So, like, if you've ever done Myers-Briggs the personality test where they give you, like, the four letters, um, have you ever done that? You're giving me a confused look.

Jor:

I. So I know what it is, but I don't know mine and I don't know the letters, but I think I know. When you say the four letters, I think I know what you're talking about.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, like, it's kind of like. Like the first letter is like the main one, like are you extroverted or introverted, right? So like, like extroverted people get an E and then introverted people get an I and um. And then there's a couple other letters so like, are you, are you like, do you have, are you like a planner, or are you more sensing? Like you know, are you someone that, like, dives into things or not?

Ivy Wild:

So like, basically, my husband is the complete opposite of me on every single letter and I'm a hundred percent on every single one of my letters. Mine are ENFP. I'm extremely extroverted, like it's just like, it's'm 100% on that. And then my husband is an ISTJ and he's 100% on every single one of his letters. So it makes for an interesting marriage, um, but like, so he's always telling me he's like you need to be consistent about things, like you need to stop running out into fields of flowers chasing butterflies, and I'm like, but that sounds like so much fun yeah, that sounds like way more fun than not yeah, being consistent about push-ups and stuff.

Ivy Wild:

So he's always telling me that he's like you, just if you want to see results in something, because, like, all of a sudden, like I'll get like very, I'll be like we call it like poo-poos, like I'll get very poo-poo about something and I'll be like I'm upset about this, and he's like, well, if you, you know, put in the work to like do it all the time, then, like those results will add up. So he'll be very proud of me to say that I'm trying to learn the consistency lesson here at the end of my life. Um, I don't know I'm 34.

Ivy Wild:

What's after this? Nothing, 35. No, but yeah, like I mean it's, it's important and it is important for things and it is a lesson that I'm learning. So it's important with books, like we talked about right, Like if you're trying to make a career or like be a success on something, like being consistent about like, and just like being consistent and being intentional. I think that it's like the two relate and so it's like okay, like I really want to succeed in this sphere. So then I'm going to put effort behind it, and I'm going to put effort behind it like each day, and that can be with books, that can be with marketing, that can be with like a personal goal, Like I think it's one of those things where, like, I'm very much trying to learn that lesson and improve on it each day.

Jor:

Okay, I like that. I like it Consistent consistent. Consistency, consistency, consistency yeah.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, that's hard to say.

Jor:

Okay, so the last and final question is what is one future goal that you would like to achieve, either long term or short term, and then again in writing, or bookish or not bookish.

Ivy Wild:

Yeah, I think that's a great question. I think it's one of those things for me, like I very much would love to find my groove right. So, like we talked about, like a lot of my books can, like they are, like it definitely varies, right. Like I've tried a lot of different things, like I've tried like billionaire, contemporary and dark romance, and I've written some fantasy in the past when I was younger and so I would love to just kind of get into a group with something and have and then I can like deliver like a consistent, consistent experience with four people, like over and over and over again. So that would kind of be like a personal goal for my writing. And I don't know, it might not happen under the Ivy Wild pen name and maybe it's. Maybe I chose the wrong pen name, right, because it's wild, it's like whatever wait, no, I like the.

Jor:

Oh, I like. I don't think I've ever made that connection.

Ivy Wild:

Oh, no that was literally like it, like I just chose I remember choosing that pen name um, I just literally like pulled it from the air. I was like like this appeals to me, like I like plants and I really don't. I'm just all over the place. So, wait, that's kind of awesome. Thank you for validating me. Yeah, but that's how that happened.

Ivy Wild:

So maybe maybe the Ivy wild pen name is supposed to be like that, I don't know. But yeah, I mean, I think it would just be really fun to like find a groove and I'm excited to like become like get back into writing, because like the last couple of years in terms of my releases and stuff like that has just been a little bit here and there just because of licensing, here and there just because of licensing, um, but like I think it would be really I'm excited to be able to like take the writing to like the next level, right, and so I have a whole bunch of writing projects in the works under the IVOL pen name and then also doing these legal thrillers. That is really taking up like all of my time, and so things also like career-wise might shift so that I'm focusing more on writing and then not doing like private practice attorney work as much. Um. So we'll see, and I'm excited for that. It's kind of like not something I ever thought would happen. Um, but life is kind of like that. It just throws things.

Jor:

Life is just like a box of chocolates and you never know which one you're going to get.

Ivy Wild:

Okay, so that was the last question, but now I want to give you the floor, so if there's anything you want to say, yeah, so to the extent that your listeners have not become completely turned off to me as a person and as an author through my very honest answering of your question, I am really excited for my upcoming release. So it's Love, so Hot.

Jor:

Which, technically, since this episode is not going to come out until, I think, mid-october, your book would have already come out. So if you're listening to this, then you can read. If you're listening to this and love small town billionaire plopping them in the middle of a small town, then you should definitely read Love so Hot.

Ivy Wild:

Yes, yes, I also low-key, feel like plopping is something that exists in urban dictionary. We should not look that up. It is not about that. Whatever urban dictionary says, that word means, oh, yeah, urban. Oh, no extent that your readers are once again not completely turned off to me as a person, as an author, um, yeah, so love, so hot. By the time you're listening to, this will be out. Um, it is. It was a really fun book for me to write, so I one of the first big projects that I worked on when I was um out of law school and after I finished clerking for a judge, was the Atlantic Coast pipeline.

Ivy Wild:

So it was like a huge, huge natural gas pipeline that they were going to be bringing gas from like all the fracking operations in West Virginia and then they were going to bring it over down to into Norfolk and the East Coast there so that they could ship it out and things like that. And it just got hit with mean, huge, huge, huge environmental protests. Right, it was just people were really up in arms, as they should have been. Um, I was not working for the pipeline to be clear, um, but they were. They just got hit with a lot of environmental protests and it got held up in the court systems. They were trying to cross like protected national forests. They were going to try and like tunnel underneath the appalachian trail, which is like a very sacred thing for our country. So, um it just it, like, I mean, it was really a testament to like what people can do if they don't want something to happen. Right and so and and ultimately, like this pipeline would have. It was one of the first of its kinds. It was huge. It would have been like a 100 foot easement across everything it was. It was a huge, huge pipeline. Um and so, um, it got ultimately held up and then it got canceled and then warren buffett bought the actual pipeline. So, like, warren buffett owns all these easements to be able to build a pipeline on a lot of people's land. But I don don't know, I guess I don't know why he bought it, but he did so anyways.

Ivy Wild:

But I was working on this, I was working around the pipeline and all the pipeline stuff and representing people that were being impacted by the pipeline, and so that's where this novel originated in my head and I just had this idea for a very, very long time. I went to a lot of these like rallies and protests. I saw a lot of these. You got environmentalists of like all types, and so I met this one woman and I really like she's like always stuck in my head, um, and so it's kind of like a conglomerate of like all of my experiences.

Ivy Wild:

So it is very much like this oil tycoon who's trying to build a pipeline and it starts in this very small West Virginia town and then there is like the environmentalist who does not want that to happen, but she gets herself in trouble because she climbs a tree on his property and chains herself to it. So he has her arrested and then it's a fake engagement. So he, like his PR team is basically like you know, she needs to like if she, if the charges stick, she'll have a mandatory minimum sentence for jail time. And you need a way to like turn public perception, and what better way than to sit there and say like hey, look public, like I am marrying this environmentalist and she's going to help make sure that we do everything correctly? Um, so it's very much a.

Ivy Wild:

So he kind of like blackmailed her into like oh, casual, casual blackmail, it's fine he's like you know, if you don't, then I won't drop the charges and you'll go to jail. Oh so sad. Yeah, so you know, and so like, yeah, so it's kind of like them opposites attract. She has a little bit of like a hidden you know backstory too. Um, so it's just a really fun thing for me to write. I channeled a lot of stuff that I learned about um during that time. So, anyways, yeah, hopefully that's something people want to read, um, and if you do, it's in Kindle Unlimited and on Amazon.

Jor:

And aren't all your books in Kindle Unlimited too?

Ivy Wild:

Yes, because there's just no way that I could market enough to go wide. I think I would fail so hard it would be terrible I.

Jor:

I mean, I'm sure there's people like not reading on amazon, but I feel like the most people are reading on amazon and in kindle unlimited.

Ivy Wild:

So yeah, it's definitely for romance because romance readers are so prolific, like we like, I see, I mean I'm always amazed because I barely read anything, you see, but I'm always amazed at, like, people and how much they read and if they had to buy every single one of those books, I mean it would be a serious investment. I mean there are people who are like I read 20 books in a month and I'm like, oh my God, oh my God, like good for you, that's amazing. But yeah, I mean, if you had, to like, buy every, yeah, it's a lot. Five dollars, five dollars a book, times like 20 books in a month, that's like. You know, that's your utility bill. It's like 100 bucks a month.

Jor:

math is hard this is why we're in books.

Ivy Wild:

This is why it's like I'm gonna go public with five times 20 is 100. Is that your final answer?

Jor:

yes, yes yes, um, okay, thank you so much for coming on the podcast that this was awesome.

Ivy Wild:

I know well you you're lying by saying it was awesome. I mean, I had so much fun, but I'm such a weird person.

Jor:

No, it was awesome and my first like interview by myself and I got to do it with you, so exciting. So, thank you, you did such an amazing job. You did such an amazing job. Thank you Stop, but like, please keep going. No, I'm just kidding, don't keep going.

Ivy Wild:

No, this was so fun. So, yeah, if anybody wants to reach out to me or anything, or read any of my books, you can also find me on Instagram Ivy Wild Author. Pretty much all of my handles are Ivy Wild Author, so if you just search Ivy Wild Author or Ivy Wild Romance, I should come up.

Jor:

Perfect. So you hear that people Ivy Wild. Author.

Ivy Wild:

Thank you so much, bye, bye.

Jor:

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please feel free to rate and review us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and if there's any interviews or conversations you would like me to have with someone specific, please reach out either email or through our Instagram, available in the show notes and happy reading.