Welcome to Plans Are Booked, a podcast for every reader.
I'm Molly Geller.
I'm Stephanie Blackburn.
that on Caitlin.
chapter 30.
We're in our 30s.
Steph's in her 30s again.
It's chapter 30.
It's our 30th episode.
can't believe it that feels like a really big number all of a sudden.
I agree.
I think that we haven't learned a lot in terms of the technology, if I'm being
honest.
We had a big flub dub the other day, which was no one's fault.
And also collectively, none of us could figure it out.
And we just like made do.
But I think we've come a long way in other respects.
would interject that I no longer feel panicked when we do have an issue while
we're recording because now I know how to edit properly.
uses terms like I'll splice it together and we're like, yeah, okay, sounds good.
I feel like I say this a lot, but I just want to say again Stephanie taught herself
how to edit these episodes like just Navigated on her own something she had
never done before if she ever gets sick or like her computer dies Caitlin and I will
just have to apologize to all of you because we don't know what to do so mad
props to Steph the editor extraordinaire of plans are booked
what do we have to catch up on?
I feel like Molly has some stuff, but we just recorded a podcast like a couple of
days ago.
So I feel caught up other than Molly had some kind of work snafu that I'm looking
forward to hearing about.
I am still a little upset at snafu, but I've been coming off it for a while.
I'm sorry.
One, I've got to work for those who care about the person I work for here, and also
for those who check startup companies.
form of open -mindedness and alert.
with another company.
We had a complete plan set for when we would announce this to the public, when
journalists would be able to cover it.
And four days before said day, a journalist from a top tier international
business publication sent an email saying, hey, I heard a rumor that this is
happening.
I'm writing about this today with or without you.
Would you like to make a comment?
it?
Hmm?
No.
I just lost air a little bit for a second.
so my whole day yesterday blew up just like blew up the entire day was taken over
I didn't stand up for hours on end because I was afraid to walk away from my computer
because I needed to deal with a lot of things in real time The company that I
work with as well as the company they're merging with had not told any of their
employees that this was gonna happen So they were literally gonna learn about it
in the press So I can't really say more than that.
I
but it just, it was a really difficult experience.
And I think a lot of times, when people say they work for VR, people think like,
we stand in the front of the bed with a clipboard and we let people in the room,
that's really people who just sort of manage social media.
We are working on the front line.
protecting these business interests of these two companies and trying not to
spoil like the legal terms of this deal.
And.
And it was absolutely insane.
I was on the verge of tears for like hours.
Steph, I didn't walk scout, we literally couldn't walk over the entire year.
And today was a little bit better, but we're still in a few days out of the
actual day that it's supposed to happen.
And I'm just gonna pull our curtain.
have a little bit of an emergency switch.
and then.
We declined to comment.
So the story still went up.
But it's that like you reach out to both companies and they both come to comment.
Prolonged silence.
facial expression, but she's losing her mind right now because she didn't hear
this until right now.
of all, my mouth went completely dry at the beginning of this story.
And now I my brain hasn't like caught up almost.
It's almost like so fun, fun fact, one of my brother's best friends from childhood,
his dad is a lawyer and he specialized in mergers and acquisitions.
So at some point, I think it was TJX bought.
Albits or something.
I mean, it was like a big one.
It was like the merging of like two big brands.
And I just remember Greg's dad was like out straight on it.
And like, we found out about it before he was like, don't tell anybody.
But this is like, my dad basically can't breathe or sleep or like do anything until
this is done.
And then I think he did another one that Nine West got bought by somebody, the shoe
company.
Anyways, that's the kind of thing that he like,
for a living.
And he had to like drop all the contracts and like do all the legalities of that.
And a lot of the times it was like he was dealing with international law, the
company's part.
based in the United States.
It was like a whole thing anyway.
So I know like that angle of it and like how.
bad it is for that to get out and exist in the world and...
do you know anything about like did the did it get a lot of hits like are you able
to like monitor that like
we can see if anyone else could syndicate a story or run stories based off of that
story.
those who maybe don't follow media reporting that closely.
These kinds of stories are only valuable if they actually state the facts, like the
size of the two companies and the financial value of the deal.
because these companies declined to comment.
There's no information.
It's completely specular.
It's like 500 grams long.
It's regurgitating facts that were already out there in the public domain of funding,
as they've raised at the past, or.
or things that were already.
existing.
It would basically be like writing a journalism article based off Wikipedia is
like the level of quality that's going on here right now.
And these reporters are interested in just getting the scoop.
And one of our songs is to put this out there, that they go out into the world
without any confirmation, and without any.
because it's about clicks.
It's not about it being accurate.
We have Trump as a president for four years.
Do you think it's about being accurate?
Absolutely not.
I'm so sorry.
I'm delighted to be here with you after you're talking about the entire incident.
like my hair is on fire and I can't breathe.
And actually, I was really worried I wouldn't sleep at all last night because
I'm a very anxious and busy mind.
And somehow I slept from 1 a to 7 a which I feel like is pretty good.
I keep telling her she needs to have like a supply of melatonin just for like those
nights because that's what I do.
got stuff better than that you can give me a call.
I taught for 10 years.
I would like lose sleep because I'd be thinking about like how I was going to
teach my lesson plan in like four different ways to four different classes
with like varying ability levels and then.
I would be thinking about certain students who like, I mean I had homeless students,
I had students that had unsaged home lives, like I had all sorts of things and
when you're like in a quiet place trying to go to bed at night those are the things
that you think about and so yeah I need to turn that off.
Well.
I have had a boring work week, nothing super eventful has happened and
are all in short sleeves tonight, which feels like we're finally making the
transition to spring for real.
And the windows are open.
which is super nice, although my allergies might, you know, take over, but we'll
just, we'll work with that when we can.
So Steph, do you have anything you want to catch up on or should we just go right at
it?
I just want to say that I am so thankful that I wasn't at home.
to help out because that made me feel like I was at least contributing something to
take a little piece of the stress away from your plate.
You did big time.
And I also just want to say to people who have friends who have dogs, one of the
hardest things during any kind of crisis work or otherwise is how you're going to
make sure that the dog sticks to the schedule.
I've had a lot of grandparents who have had really hard.
most helpful thing that anybody ever did was to say, could I walk a scalp for you
tonight?
Could I walk a scalp for you tonight?
That is an easy, wonderful.
emotionally like heavy and impressive way to help people during a time of need.
So for anyone listening, if you have a friend with a dog and you're like, gosh,
seems like things are really rough for them.
What could I do to help?
Just make me an offer if you can.
particularly nearby if possible, it makes a really big difference.
And scouting out the side just because my work life was upside down and a step in my
mind just right over it made a moral difference and I could stay focused on
what I needed to do.
got to have a beautiful spring walk and become a star of her Instagram story.
I actually just remembered what I did yesterday.
This whole time I've been like I didn't do anything yesterday.
I met with one of my old coworkers for breakfast.
She has been writing a memoir for the past one and a half, two years.
So we had a fantastic conversation just comparing.
you know, writing, editing, working on an arc, ideas for publishing and finding
agents and just hopes and dreams and whatever.
And I cannot wait to read this book when it comes out because she is one of my
favorite people.
She has always been.
positive even when her life is a dumpster fire.
I know her story, but I'm still excited to read about it whenever that day comes.
Yeah.
right.
People are getting the live update right now because I got an email from my realtor
and the condo that I wanted to go see on Thursday.
The agent didn't update the listing and they already accepted an offer.
So I'm not going to see that on Thursday.
And the condo, I canceled tutoring yesterday to go see a condo that I thought
was really promising and it sucked.
Like top to bottom, not good.
And.
I don't know what, I'm gonna roll with it, but I am a little annoyed because I mean
this came on today and apparently already had an offer and they just like should
have never put it on line for me to even look up.
Yeah.
Idiots.
Okay, but let's get into the book.
We're in a great mood today, y 'all.
So.
I read this book.
No, before that because I read it in 2021 and you had already read it before you
gave it to me, I think.
okay.
it's hardcover, so I think I got it right away.
So it's called Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brody.
And she is a longtime publisher, but first time author with this book.
And I...
read maybe a People magazine review.
Somebody like started as like great debut or something like that in a magazine that
I read maybe Entertainment Weekly.
And I was like, this is about kind of like an up and coming singer and she gets to
debut at this like seaside music festival that sounded a lot like Newport Folkfest,
which like I go to every year and I was like, this really sounds up my alley.
Like I love music.
And I think it was gorgeous.
It's got a large cover of a sunset and somebody playing a car.
You can always see their side profile.
But it was like live music, so I had to wear all of my girl pants.
It just had all of them.
So I was like, I gotta do this.
So I read it and I really enjoyed it.
I have to say it's one of those things where it felt like a start of a new bit.
It was like cliche.
like dying going through this whole thing, on stage, like it was like a festival,
like I had recently wrapped D .C.
Talks in 6, so I was like, this ain't gonna happen, I don't know, I feel like
I'm just reckless, I don't know if I've done really well, and
and so I like stuck with it and I was pleasantly surprised by like.
there's like, some, like, some points that are very personal.
it and the connection between the people is really deep and the writing is really
good.
And then fast forward to like a year or two later and the woman that wrote the
book, Emma Brody, was offering an online Zoom class called The Art of the Query and
it's all about like how to get your book noticed and published.
And so I took her class.
and I thought to her, being so much familiar, and reading the bio of the
instructor, I was like,
I've read her book already.
Like, this is hilarious.
So she's like really cool.
She provided a lot of information.
It was a really valuable class.
It's through catapult.
I don't know if you guys have heard of it, but they have all sorts of like online
writers, workshops, different kinds of like things.
If you want to meet other people that are also writers.
At various levels of either being public or public store.
They're working on their first page.
or whatever it happens to be.
And so she's just kind of in the thick of it and she kind of like walks people
through what it's like and kind of like tips and tricks of the trade and how to
get your stuff to stick out.
And she was just like really cool and she gave everybody her email, like her
publishing house email and then also her personal email and was like,
You know, if you come up with something and you think that I'm like, these are the
books that I've been involved with getting published.
And if you think that your stuff kind of fits into what I do, then like shoot me an
email and blah, blah, blah.
And she was really awesome.
So, I feel like I should let other people jump in on this because I did not read it
as recently as other people.
just want to say that I too had read Daisy Jones and the Six recently before this
book came out and also had a similar, no, is this like a copy of it?
And I think...
it has the same feel in that it takes place in a same time period filter, I
believe in the 70s, right?
And the male female characters do feel a little more, you know, strong female
characters, kind of, I don't know if too much away, but troubled, shall we say,
male singer.
But, but, how do we, from the beginning,
is the house, the generation of women who are producing that house.
and live in this
pictured just sort of like the cratial siding like meant to fit houses and just
like winding staircases and kind of like you know kitschy decor I mean who knows
that might not be what she intended that was what I pictured in my mind kind of
like you know obviously not underwater but if you're on a on a island that's just not
Massachusetts, you're kind of always near the water.
them.
That's where we see a lot of difference between the two, because I just love
strong female.
relationships.
And then from there, it definitely deviates completely from Daisy Jones and
the Six.
But if you like that genre of like 70s Arab bands who go from nothing to the low
and not seemingly overnight and then there's tangled, troubled romantic
relationships, then this is a fantastic read for you.
that.
I'm going to complete the trifecta of people who also read Daisy Jones in the
sixth first.
that book came out in 2019.
So two years before Ursa Major, I read all of Daisy Jones while on vacation with
Steph in the Bahamas at a place called Bahamar.
I can picture myself on the exact lounge chair I was on where I like didn't move
for hours except to maybe put my feet in the pool.
I loved that book and I would guess that the success of that story.
helped her sell in Ursa Major because there was already so much interest in that
kind of genre, if you will.
and she could have used it as a comp in her own query.
query letter, speaking of the art of the query.
I liked this book for many of the reasons both of you already said.
Two things I wanted to add.
It felt to me like Jane, the singer, Jesse, the male singer, that they were
kind of fated to be in each other's lives.
And it reminded me of Seven Days in June in the way where you just are like...
Yeah, these people are really meant to be in each other's lives, even if it's not
always perfect, even if it's not what they always dreamed of, even if it doesn't have
the resolution some of us might've been rooting for.
And the other thing is that there's a side character in this story.
Willie, who is Jane and Jesse's manager, he really champions both of them in
different ways at a time in US cultural history where it was not as easy for a
female lead.
she had the same kinds of opportunities as her other men.
And she's very happy about that.
her ability and what the damage is on her and how they use her in the form of spear
timing.
And I think unlike Daisy Jones, who had a very drug fueled existence, Jane is like
very focused and has a very clear vision of what she wants for herself.
And Willie really supports that and kind of goes against the corporate entity that
he works for to really make her dreams come true.
And.
if this were to ever be optioned I hope he gets like proper screening done because I
feel like he was one of my favorite friends at the time and I sent him these
cows right before we started recording the audio so if you could just walk right into
it.
I couldn't like smash that five stars on Goodreads fast enough.
It's pretty rare for me to give five stars.
I struggled to do it unless the writing is like exceptional, but this was really just
based on a feeling.
Like I was.
totally, fully, I just was like, I'm a huge human monster.
I'm just a huge poster figure.
I just was addicted to this book.
And I didn't know what was gonna happen.
I'm gonna have to put it use.
what's gonna happen.
I just like let it go and Even though it doesn't tie up with a bow, which is always
my preference I did still really love it and I feel like it's hard to capture
someone's attention like that and I wanted to reward her for that.
I
I think what I would also like to show is that it was an injured form and it wasn't,
but there were little arm holes, in general little arm holes in the first
person, but I think I liked getting the perspective that we did and also I thought
each one occurred.
romance because you know, I like the ups and downs and this has a lot of downs, but
then that makes
the ups you have the you know the other change feels weird I don't know what the
end of this one is obviously but I also think that in the past two cents there's
nothing really exciting about this because it sees stuff
location that just feels...
I mean, it doesn't take place just in summer, but in my mind, it's summertime,
which has a magical quality to it that just makes the romance bigger and...
the relationship between you and the other person.
And also just a bit bias.
I think that's mostly what we need to see, Joe.
so good is that you kind of got entangled in their like side romances and whatever
and Emma does a really good job of doing side characters in this because you care
about them, you know?
also want to say I love the piano.
I played the piano for many years as a kid.
I was terrible, but I loved it and I wanted to be good.
I have a thing for men who can play the piano, which is a big part of this
storyline.
And again, if it ever comes to screen, I hope they don't cut those parts.
I was like, I'm just sit here and let just
emotional and haunting about the piano, but also really beautiful.
And they do a lot of songwriting at the piano in the studio, in their homes.
It's almost like another character in the book.
Like when they are at the piano, you know something is about to happen.
think the other thing that I liked about this book that Daisy Jones didn't have is
Jean's really close with her family and still lives with a lot of them.
And so that was like a really nice, you kind of saw like,
more of what you were fighting for is what you had to lose where Jasmine actually
also
had some fame at the beginning of the book.
And so there's a have and have not quality that's going on as well, in addition to it
being a tortured romance.
And they're both basically poets, musicians.
They're very passionate and artsy and...
and all of those things and sometimes they get two people that pass together and like
really explore the different care methods.
And...
just thought that it was really impactful that you got to see like James Bond was
like very well established at the beginning of the book and you really get a
real
idea of this is who she would be leaving behind if she did make it.
And like, this is how much she cares about the music and like,
know, that's pretty heated.
You see a lot of people that are...
are pop stars.
They're like, they are very close with their family.
Or they were a child star, so they weren't related that much.
So it's interesting to see somebody who's already had an adult life and has had
adult responsibilities and is still going for it.
And I think that that is really important.
compelling and maybe...
not so much with the Easy Jones kind of a competition, like I have no family and
nobody really likes me and I never had
of.
And she was in a lot of these all the time.
That's just not what's going on in this book.
It's a little pure, I guess.
Yeah, it's possible.
Daisy Jones reminds me of this.
I think we all have to mention her.
this, of the VH1 show Behind the Music.
It talks about the high highs and the low lows and it interviews everybody who was
part of the process and it feels like a...
a literal, greater version of that experience.
And personally, it's like a true, an accurate difference that we've done.
And I think she establishes everything that we're pursuing if she tries to pursue
this in a way that...
you don't really feel with Daisy because she doesn't have much to lose and I also I
said to Steph that
there were parts of her skin that actually looked like a judge.
One of her other ones, Elgar Isaac, which is also really the only one that's said in
the order.
And we're just really looking at how this is a small town.
and everything with each other, trying to build your life into something bigger.
I don't know.
I wonder if these two women, Emma Brody and Taylor Jenkins read, see themselves as
rivals or if they're really like inspired by each other's work.
Because I think there's a lot of similarities in a way that I love.
and really just like appreciate all of the stories even more.
think that they probably don't see each other as rivals.
And the reason that I'm going to say that is because Daisy Jones and the six is
like, Sunset Boulevard.
It's like fast.
It's like,
everybody's partying and everybody's made messes of their lives and they're looking
back on it and Songs of the Earth are Major is more like...
like Laurel Canyon.
It's more like the Joni Mitchell and the Crosby Stills Nash and Young and like what
my mom calls easy listening, you know, like Jackson Brown.
Like it's more that.
So like if.
Jason Jones was supposed to be like a fleet with that, like I feel like this is
about like Joey and Graham Napp for some time, you know, that's more the vibe.
I love it.
Anybody have anything else to say about this lovely little nugget?
I know that it's not like new new, but if it is new to you, I think you should
definitely give this book a chance.
I think it's a great summer read.
It will give you that sort of like wind in your hair feeling.
and I think if you love kind of the, as Steph said, New England seaside vibe, it's
a great one, but it also kind of has the high drama and, I just loved it.
I really, really loved it.
I'm just looking at the quotes on the back of the book.
I don't know what these are called, like the blurbs from other writers.
So Kevin Kwan, who did crazy rotations.
This is what he said.
So he and I were on the same page.
So many of the passages throughout songs in Ursa Major are such pure poetry, I got
chills as I read them.
I could drink a case of this book and I'd still be on my feet.
So he even referenced Joni.
Okay, I feel better about my my analysis now.
in the paper.
I haven't changed what I'm reading right now.
I'm still reading the new Carly Fortune.
What are you guys up to?
So I started, I think last night, We Run the Tides by Vandala Vida.
Caitlin had given this to me many moons ago.
I couldn't even tell you when.
around the same time I think we're solving this together.
Manager.
it could have been in like the same bunch of books.
I'm sorry that I've held on to it this long.
This story takes place in 1984, 1985, and it's about a bunch of 13 year old girls,
although it's mostly from the perspective of Ulibi.
She lives in an affluent neighborhood of San Francisco, and it's about her and her
friends and her family.
And what I love is it reads.
like a memoir, it feels like a 50 year old woman is writing about her childhood.
And what happens in that year is like so many things from her and her best friend
both viewing an incident completely opposite.
And then that best friend goes missing, unrelated, but goes missing after the
fact.
But it's also about like that age where everything is heightened.
Everything is such a drop.
You also don't have to stand up, the adults are saying, everything.
It's beautiful.
I wonder if it is secretly part of her, the author's life, and that's why it reads
like a memoir.
a coming of age book that you should not and will not find in the young adult
section.
That's the best way I can describe it.
Like it's about that time period, but it's very much framed for adults.
And it's not only for adults, the setting is so good about it.
It's really grand to you.
You really can picture what it's like living in San Francisco in the 80s.
What it's like, you know,
spying on all, you know, keeping up with the Joneses basically and what's going on
with all your neighbors.
And that to have this girl go missing, the girl going missing basically like.
gives you permission to like be escorted through the messy line.
all these people that live on the street.
And it's really, I thought it was really good and it's not very long either.
Like it really packs a punch.
finish.
I am about to start The Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarrow.
So for those who don't know, this is the second book in the fourth wing series.
I just say you better text us?
There are certain points that I feel like you'll know when you get to them like
Stephanie probably wants to know my reaction to this.
well, the reason I'm starting it now is because I'm about to go on a big trip and
I have many plane rides ahead of me and this book is 623 pages.
So it should keep me occupied, I think, for at least all of flight one.
And on that note, just so everyone knows, you're listening to us today, May 23rd,
but we will have no new episode next week.
I'm going to be gone for quite a bit.
And the gals will be busy reading all kinds of things while I'm gone so that we
can come back with great episodes for you when I return.
So we hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend and we will be back the first
week of June.
And in the meantime, we will still be sharing all kinds of goodness on our
Instagram account at PlansAreBooked.
You can write to us anytime, plansarebooked at gmail .com to share
ideas for future books we should read.
or episode ideas that you have.
We love hearing from you.
And until next time, our plans are booked.