The Mythic Mic Podcast

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where death is hereditary, gods walk among us, and the greatest battle is deciding who you want to become.
This week, host Bethany Amanda is joined by Mythic Mic Rep Teresa for an unforgettable conversation with bestselling author S.A. Barnes about her addictive dark academia romantasy, Death's Daughter.
Stacey shares her fascinating publishing journey from writing a terrible first novel and landing her first book deal with Disney to becoming one of today's leading voices in science fiction horror before making the leap into romantasy. We also discuss working in a high school library, writing across multiple genres, and what it's like seeing Death's Daughter transformed into one of FairyLoot's most stunning special editions.
Then we dive into Death's Daughter, a fresh urban fantasy where Jocasta is trying to live a normal college life except she's also the daughter of Death. When her estranged father unexpectedly names her his successor, she's thrust into a dangerous supernatural world of rival deities, impossible choices, forbidden attraction, and the terrifying question of whether she can escape the legacy she was born into.
We also discuss morally gray magic, urban fantasy, supernatural romance, messy characters, chosen family, and why Stacey believes readers deserve stories that are both thrilling and deeply human.
💀 What if Death named you his heir?
🖤 Can you outrun the darkness that's part of who you are?
✨ And what happens when choosing your future means defying the gods themselves?
This episode is perfect for readers who love dark academia, urban fantasy, mythology, supernatural romance, morally gray heroines, and stories with Buffy and Supernatural vibes.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Stacey's publishing journey from YA to horror to romantasy.
✨ Working in a high school library and inspiring young readers.
✨ The inspiration behind Death's Daughter.
✨ Building a supernatural world hidden inside our own.
✨ The daughter of Death trying to reject her destiny.
✨ Magic, mythology, and dangerous family legacies.
✨ Why urban fantasy deserves a comeback.
✨ Behind the scenes of FairyLoot's gorgeous special edition.
✨ Writing across horror, fantasy, and romance.
✨ What readers can expect from book two.
✨ The future of the Death's Daughter series.
CONNECT WITH US
🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚S.A. Barnes  – @AuthorStaceyKade
✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Welcome to the first episode of Banter & Books, a new monthly Mythic Mic segment where Amara and a special guest share spoiler-free reviews of the books they cannot stop thinking about!
For the inaugural episode, Amara is joined by fellow Mythic Mic team member Britt to discuss dragon bonds, sassy skeletons, morally questionable angels and demons, magical murder investigations, workplace comedy in a villain’s lair, and the books capable of breaking even the most stubborn reading slump.
They dive into Ashwalker by S.M. Gaither, Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar, The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace, and This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara. They also revisit two unforgettable favorites: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer and Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent.
Along the way, Amara and Britt debate whether Ashwalker delivers what they wanted from Fourth Wing, celebrate golden-retriever angels and Ben Barnes-coded love interests, compare never-ending TBRs, and determine which books earned five stars, five flames, a plethora of feathers, or simply immaculate vibes.
Whether you are deciding which fantasy book to pick up next or just want to listen to two friends enthusiastically add to each other’s TBRs, this spoiler-free episode is for you.
BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
Ashwalker by S.M. Gaither (Check out our interview with S.M. Gaither here)
Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar (Check out our interview with Shiloh Briar here)
The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace (Our interview with Adalyn Grace drops September 16th so stay tuned!) 
This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (Our interview with Carissa Broadbent drops August 5th so stay tuned!) 
CONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM
🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where gardens can become portals, beetles can steal the entire show, and sometimes grief blooms into something magical.
This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with author J.K. Ross to discuss A Throne in Bloom, a whimsical and heartfelt romantasy filled with portal magic, living plants, bee rides, found family, a fallen fae prince, and one very unforgettable bejeweled beetle named Peeble.
J.K. shares how her lifelong love of storytelling began in childhood, continued through journalism, and eventually led her to writing fiction after the loss of her grandmother. She opens up about how A Throne in Bloom was written in honor of her grandmother, whose own magical garden helped inspire the world of the book. What began as a deeply personal story of grief became an unexpected publishing journey, complete with a street team, reader excitement, and a series that grew into something far bigger than she originally imagined.
The conversation also dives into J.K.’s fast and unusual querying experience for her new project, Stygian Academy, a dark gothic fantasy featuring phoenix shifters on a volcanic island academy. J.K. discusses researching agents, writing a bold query letter from the voice of her character, and approaching publishing with confidence, business sense, and a willingness to do things her own way.
🌸 What happens when a girl inherits her grandmother’s house and falls through a portal into a magical garden realm?
🪲 Can a sassy beetle sidekick become the most important person in the room?
🌿 And what if saving the realm from rot means discovering this may not be the first timeline where everything went wrong?
Whether you love portal fantasy, whimsical romantasy, magical companions, found family, fallen fae princes, reader-driven chaos, or books that feel like Thumbelina, Alice in Wonderland, Ferngully, and Epic all collided in the best way, this episode is full of heart, humor, and wildly creative worldbuilding.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Growing up in Arkansas and building a creative life rooted in family, travel, and imagination.
✨ Journalism, TV production, and writing other people’s stories before turning to fiction.
✨ Writing A Throne in Bloom as a tribute to her grandmother, and how grief, memory, and a real-life garden inspired the magical garden realm.
✨ J.K.’s whirlwind querying experience and signing with an agent in three weeks.
✨ Stygian Academy, phoenix shifters, volcanic islands, and writing something completely different.
✨ Why being an author is part writing and part business.
✨ Developing thick skin, handling criticism, and refusing to give away your energy.
✨ J.K.’s visual writing process, world bibles, magic systems, politics, religion, and character planning.
✨ Inviting readers and street team members into the creative process.
✨ Portal fantasy, living foliage, magical bees, rot spreading through the realm, and multiverse timelines.
✨ Found family, grumpy sunshine, morally gray fae, sassy sidekicks, and chaos-making characters.
✨ Dr. Pepper addiction, warm soda memories, and the unexpected details readers latch onto.
✨ J.K.’s next creative obsession, including a pirate mermaid series designed to feel different from everything else.
🪲 Plus: European travel, African safari dreams, character art addiction, Dungeon Crawler Carl inspiration, plants versus zombies, Dr. Pepper memes, Peeble stickers, and why sometimes the sidekick you add on a whim becomes the soul of the story.
CONNECT WITH US
🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
📚 JK Ross – @AuthorJKRoss
✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where rom-com chaos comes with real estate disputes, fake marriages come with health insurance, and sometimes the most ethically flexible person in town is someone’s grandmother.
This week, Mythic Mic officially introduces two new co-hosts to the team, Amara and Britt, who are stepping behind the mic for a hilarious and heartfelt conversation with author Ellie Palmer about her upcoming romantic comedy, Married with Benefits.
Ellie shares her journey from recovering theater kid to romance author, including how playwriting helped shape her love of dialogue, banter, vulnerability, and messy characters who still deserve their happy endings. She also opens up about writing Four Weekends and a Funeral while recovering from her own mastectomy, finding her voice in contemporary romance, and building stories that balance comedy, grief, vulnerability, and hope.
The conversation also dives into Married with Benefits, a small-town marriage-of-convenience rom-com about a scrappy sculpture artist with chronic migraines, bad health insurance, a million jobs, and a cabin she thought she owned. When the land around her house is willed to a handsome architect she immediately clashes with, the two strike a very practical deal: he gets access to the property, and she gets health insurance through marriage. What could possibly go wrong?
💍 What happens when a marriage of convenience is less about scandal and more about surviving the American healthcare system?
🏡 Can two people share a cabin, a property dispute, and a whole lot of tension without falling for each other?
🔥 And what if the kooky grandmother stealing the show is the most ethically flexible person in town?
Whether you love small-town rom-coms, marriage of convenience, chronic illness representation, messy heroines, electric banter, HGTV-worthy renovations, or side characters who deserve their own fan club, this episode is full of heart, humor, and so many reasons to add Married with Benefits to your TBR.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Ellie’s journey from theater kid to romance author.
✨ Why vulnerability, performance, and storytelling are deeply connected.
✨ Writing rom-coms inspired by 90s and 2000s romantic comedy chaos.
✨ Messy characters, hijinks, and why romance promises a happy ending.
✨ Ellie’s path to publication and writing Four Weekends and a Funeral.
✨ Writing breast cancer gene mutation representation and post-mastectomy recovery.
✨ Working with Putnam and finding the right publishing fit.
✨ Married with Benefits and its modern marriage-of-convenience twist.
✨ Chronic migraines, underinsurance, and the reality behind the health insurance plot.
✨ Kooky grandmothers, ethical flexibility, card shark energy, and light kleptomania.
✨ Writing chronic illness representation with care, research, and sensitivity readers.
✨ HGTV inspiration, Tiny House Hunters, cabin renovations, and hidden Easter eggs across Ellie’s books.
✨ What Ellie is working on next, including a travel-inspired rom-com with Before Sunrise vibes.
🏡 Plus: Bravo love, 90 Day Fiancé chaos, crochet fails, audiobook narrator admiration, theater kid energy, Patty LuPone dream casting, and why “ethically flexible” might be the new morally gray.
CONNECT WITH US
🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit
📚 Ellie Palmer  – @ElliePalmerWrites
✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Welcome to the first episode of Off The Shelf, a new biweekly segment where we dive into bookish trends, deep dives, hot takes, and all things fantasy! 
In this first episode, Mythic Mic cohosts Britt, Sara Santillan, and Amara discuss whether all romantasy is starting to blend together and what authors can do to set themselves apart and entice readers to pick up their books. 
CONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM
🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.