#4 Ashley Poston: The Power of Fandoms, Magical Realism, and Negative Reviews
The Everygirl Book ClubShow Notes
#4: The Power of Fandoms, Magical Realism, and Negative Reviews The Everygirl Book Club hosts interview New York Times bestselling author Ashley Poston about her novel The Someday Garden, in which Sophie, the new head gardener at Lilymoor, discovers a secret garden and a mysterious man trapped inside. Poston explains how growing up in fandom and writing fanfic shaped her voice and led to her magical realism romances. She shares her craft process: using fanfic-style scenarios to test character chemistry, then ensuring the magic serves character growth. Poston reflects on The Seven-Year Slip’s personal origins, its reader-driven “long tail” success, coping with grief while writing it, handling reviews (including a harsh Kirkus line as motivation), researching gardens despite having a “brown thumb,” drafting The Someday Garden’s time-based magic through multiple versions, and teases a forthcoming romantasy duology.
0:00 – Introduction 2:03 – The Dead Romantics & Discovering Romance 6:27 – Fandom, Fanfic & Reylo 12:47 – Characters, Magic & Writing Process 15:35 – The Seven-Year Slip's Success 28:20 – On Reviews, Ratings & Reader Taste 35:20 – The Someday Garden & The Secret Garden 41:12 – Sophie, Grief & the Garden's Magic 47:10 – The Challenge of Writing Time Travel 51:52 – About Time & Character Inspirations 57:23 – Easter Eggs & the Ashley Poston Universe 58:20 – The End of an Era & What's Next 1:00:59 – Book Recommendations & Closing
Books mentioned:
The Someday Garden – Ashley Poston The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston The Seven-Year Slip – Ashley Poston Heart of Iron – Ashley Poston Geekerella (Once Upon a Con trilogy) – Ashley Poston Novel Love Story – Ashley Poston Bishop Takes King (Hawkeye) – Ashley Poston Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon Howl's Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros Dearly Departed – Chip Ponds The House of Now and Then – Edward Underhill The Summer Girlfriend – Kristina Forest Romantic Hero – Kirsty Greenwood
Movies/TV shows mentioned:
Star Wars (franchise, plus Ashley's upcoming Star Wars novel) Avatar: The Last Airbender About Time Fairy Tale Dimension 20 / Dropout (TV series)
Enjoy the episode? Like and follow The Everygirl Book Club Podcast, leave a rating and review, and share the episode with a fellow reader. Then, join the conversation on Instagram @theeverygirlbookclub for monthly book picks, book recommendations, reading challenges, and more. Fill out this form to submit your own reader prescriptions or request specific discussion topics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Everygirl Book Club
Lauren and Garri kick off The Everygirl Book Club’s October solo episode by discussing current reads, including the October pick And He Shall Appear, and disappointment with the Fourth Wing short-story collection Threshing Day. They note recent four-star reads, share ambitious October TBRs, then review The Love Hypothesis movie adaptation. They reveal a fall reading challenge with themed categories, debate cozy vs. scary fall tastes, create the perfect fall TBR, and close with LITigation on TBR pressure and whether readers must read other Sarah J. Maas series before the next ACOTAR release.
The Everygirl Book Club interviews best-selling author V.L. Bovalino about The Second Death of Locke and her new novel, The Thief and the Traitor Bride, which follows Nore Gordon, a spy forced onto a mission with her estranged husband. In “Read Receipts,” Bovalino shares her current reads, recent 5-star reads, and upcoming books she's excited for. She discusses formative influences like Kristin Cashore’s Fire, inspirations ranging from Game of Thrones to The Queen’s Thief, and how her PhD on secondary-world worldbuilding shaped her approach to storytelling. Bovalino recounts her publishing journey, explains the “year of the lady knight,” recommends immersive romance-forward fantasy and historical romance, and talks craft choices including Nore’s non-warrior strengths, shifting perspectives on Grey and Keir, and queer-normative worldbuilding.
Lauren and Garri wrap up summer reading for The Everygirl Book Club, share their favorite books, and talk about fall vibes, reading slumps, and why they increasingly prefer Kindles over physical books. They discuss book pop culture, including ACOTAR’s influence on romantasy, evolving genre labels and sexism in categorization, and how fandom theory culture can diminish simple enjoyment. They answer a reader “slump-ender” prompt with fall recommendations spanning cozy rom-coms, witchy/cozy fantasy, and dark academia, then announce upcoming book club picks—It’s Different This Time (Sept), And He Shall Appear (Oct), Conform (Nov), and Understory (Dec).
#10 Kirsten King: Unlikable Heroines, Downward Spirals, and the Perils of Modern Dating
The Everygirl Book Club interviews September pick author Joss Richard about It’s Different This Time, a second-chance romance in which former roommates reconnect after inheriting a New York City brownstone, and her second novel, Let’s Kiss and Tell, about sex columnist Lucy and reporter Marsh entering a fake relationship that turns real. Richard shares recent reads, how she went from childhood fan fiction to drafting her debut in the Notes app during the pandemic, and landing an agent and a fast traditional deal. She discusses imposter syndrome, leaving a TV/marketing job with her husband’s support, writing on deadline, LA dating culture, tropes and miscommunication, answers reader dating dilemmas, and teases a third coastal romance.