Debut author Lavanya Lakshmi joins us to talk Leave and Come Back, her Bollywood-loving rom-com about an Indian wedding, family you've been avoiding, and a boyfriend who crashes the party. Plus her wild path from Twilight fanfiction to Penguin Random House.

In this episode, we talk about the emotional whiplash of going from book one to book two—balancing querying, revisions, and marketing while trying to start something new. Joined by Susan Poole, we unpack what it really takes to move forward as a writer, from letting go of perfectionism to figuring out what your next story should be.