Pop Fiction Women

Side Bar on pivots, reality TV, and the internet being a scary place

On this episode of Debut Discussions we’re chatting with Sarah Crouch about her debut novel, Middletide, a gripping and intensely atmospheric literary thriller about the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor in a small town and the prime suspect, a reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind.

Sarah shares the challenges of her path to publication and how she and Carinn have personally bonded over it; writing flawed and complex characters; the importance of accurate representation of indigenous culture in fiction; the meta book within a book concept of her novel; how she trusted herself to fight for this title; and how she’s juggling the launch of her debut novel while on submission for her second.

Listen now to Sarah’s story wherever you get your podcasts. Middletide is out now and it’s a Book of the Month and Indie Next Pick -- buy it, read it, and share it (in other words, make a debut author’s dreams come true!).

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Miss Americana & Taylor Swift: cosmically complicated

• Saturn’s Return: Did astrology have a hand in the sometimes muddled arc of Miss Americana? (00:54)
• Good Girl: Taylor tells us at the outset that the moral code she lives by, and has been taught to adhere to, is that of the “good girl.” For Kate, this personally hit close to home. But Carinn hopes that Taylor understands that she's achieved levels of “good” and applause that no one else will ever reach. After all, you’re still Taylor freakin’ Swift! (11:44)
• Work harder or accept the game is rigged?: We watch Taylor take a painful call in which she finds out that she did not receive any major Grammy nominations for her album Reputation. We both agree that this scene is heartbreaking and her disappointment so relatable. Carinn wanted more moments like this of emotional truth. Kate marvels at her immediate response - “I just need to make a better record” - is it avoidance of the pain or an indication of an extreme work ethic? Maybe she just needs to realize the game is sometimes rigged. (19:12)
• Kanye West Feud. The drama with Kanye plays a key role through-out Miss Americana, starting with now infamous 2009 VMA awards when he interrupts Taylor during her acceptance speech for Video of The Year. We are both taken aback about how bad that moment was, and for a 19-year old girl, what a foundational trauma it was to stage on be publicly discounted. All Taylor did that day was win, and yet we discuss how an a woman in the music industry she somehow has to spend years stuck in this narrative trying to make it right. Some great songs and personal growth came out of this feud, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was deeply unfair to her to have ever been enmeshed in it. (24:32)
• Her Lover. Carinn loves the snippets where Taylor’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, is recording her singing “Call It What You Want.” It’s touching and sweet, but it left us both wanting more Joe, more glimpses into their relationship. (32:22)
• Lonely at the Top: After Taylor wins her second Grammy for album of the year, she poignantly asks herself what was it all for if she has no one to call or share it with? It’s lonely at the top of the mountain, but when she then does mention that she has found love we don’t get to see Joe’s face or even any little moments between, leaving us both totally unsatisfied. (33:10)
• Reprogramming shame spirals: Taylor certainly does gets personal about her body image issues and how she used to starve at times after seeing unflattering photos of herself. Kate is impressed with Taylor’s ability to talk herself out of these shame spirals — changing the channel in her brain — and feels like that kind of awareness and reprogramming could be beneficial is so many situations. (39:08)
• Sexual Assault: In this powerful storyline about Taylor’s infamous case against the DJ who groped her, Carinn finally gets the perspective and emotional impact she wanted and needed from Miss Americana. We discuss why the burden is always on the woman — why didn’t you scream, why didn’t you fight him off — to explain why she didn’t act the way society (mistakenly) believes she was supposed to in that situation. Carinn reminds of us of a favorite quote from Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive: “You only scream when you’re finally safe.” (46:48)
• Politics: The sexual assault trial pushed Taylor to find her voice to speak out against a Republican senatorial candidate from her home state even against the vehement objection of her father and other advisors. A nice girl keeps her mouth shut, but Taylor is ripping off the muzzle. We’re both super impressed. (54:20)
• Harnessing the Full Power of Her Voice: That’s part of the tag line for Miss Americana but Carinn thinks the movie is a little light on that, more accurately she is in the process of harnessing her voice. She compares it to Beyoncé’s documentary, Life Is But A Dream, and notes how even a private person like Beyoncé still managed to find a way to give the audience more personal glimpses into herself. Kate feels like if you want to be private, go all in, but if you’re a public figure making a first person documentary then you can’t have it both ways. (59:25)
• Reinvention: Taylor laments that women artists have to constantly reinvent themselves and how after 35 their careers are basically over. Kate questions whether this is a gender issue, but does think there is some truth to the fact that women are expected to do so in a way that still makes them likeable and doesn’t make other people uncomfortable. Carinn thinks Taylor’s assertions about age are patently false, citing JLo, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani and other over 35 pop stars in their prime. She also doesn’t buy that the world still wants or needs a conforming “good girl.” Look at Billie Eilish and Lizzo! We think Taylor needs to realize that even if those thoughts were instilled in her, she n...