The Reading Culture

In this episode, Nicola Yoon tells us why she fell in love with the romance genre, how she found her way to writing as a career after 15 years in finance, and she shares her own love story about how she ended up with her husband and fellow writer, David Yoon. She also tells us about their new company Joy Revolution which aims to bring more diversity to the romance genre.

In this episode, Derrick tells the story of how music inspired him to write, how his idols taught him to never compromise his voice as a black man, and why he considers himself a freedom fighter. 

Brandy Colbert is a true acolyte of the craft of writing. She spent her youth creating stories of her own and occasionally borrowing and reinterpreting tales from TV. After studying journalism in college, she spent the early stages of her career contributing to niche magazines, where she honed her research prowess.

John Schu’s entire life has been shaped by books. As a kid, he fell in love with Shel Silverstein; Emily Dickinson comforted him as he was battling an eating disorder, and “The One and Only Ivan,” well, that book changed his life. In fact, it nearly put him into debt (he tells that story in the episode!)