Kelton's exhausted from weeks of sleepless nights with a teething toddler, and Krisserin is deep in revision mode—235 pages edited and counting. But the real topic of this episode is one every writer dreads: major editorial feedback that you don't know how to fix.

Krisserin shares her agent's note that her manuscript lacks authorial voice despite having strong character voices and excellent pacing. Is it because it's YA? Is she too afraid to inject her own beliefs into the narrative? Or is her deep-seated fear true—that she's just a good mimic without a distinct style? Kelton offers perspective: maybe the screenplay-like quality of the book means Krisserin needs to think like a director, not just a camera.

The conversation expands into the bigger question: how do you choose the right form for your story? Kelton explains why she chose memoir over research-heavy journalism (spoiler: she hates research and loves writing about herself). They discuss the practicalities of genre constraints, like Kelton's realization that her novel's main character probably needs to be 19, not in her thirties—which might make it YA whether she wants it to be or not.

Plus: manifestation walks where Kelton practices saying "the month I made $100,000," the difference between hard work and good work, why putting down projects might be the right move, and Krisserin's plan to spend her 41st birthday alone in an Airbnb reading her entire manuscript aloud.

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Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios