Reframing Trauma Narratives in Romance with Jack Whitney

Have you ever wondered how romance novels can tackle tough topics like trauma and healing?

Today, we're diving deep into the world of trauma-informed romance with author Jack Whitney. Jack writes romantic suspense with elements of dark romance and paranormal romance, and her books offer a unique perspective on healing and finding love amidst challenging circumstances. We discuss her Rockstar series (Young Decay), where characters navigate past traumas and find solace and strength in each other.

This episode contains the following potential triggers:

• Discussions of parental addiction, emotional neglect, and childhood trauma
• Mentions of suicidal thoughts and struggles with depression
• Brief mentions of stalking and past substance abuse

Jack Whitney is a dark, romantic suspense author from North Carolina, USA. She writes emotionally dark and high-angst stories with a twist. Her books explore themes of trauma, healing, and the power of love.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• Trauma-informed romance: How this subgenre allows for exploration of healing and healthy relationships in the context of past trauma.
• Characters who exist outside their romantic relationships: Jack emphasizes the importance of her characters having independent lives and not being solely defined by their romantic partners.
• The power of music: How music can be a source of comfort and connection for those who have experienced trauma.
• Neurodiversity representation: Jack discusses incorporating her own experiences with ADHD into her characters and the importance of authentic representation.
• Addiction and recovery: The Rockstar series touches on addiction and recovery with sensitivity and nuance, highlighting the importance of support systems and personal choice.
• Romance as a tool for healing: How romance novels can offer hope and empowerment to readers who have experienced trauma.

Jack Whitney's books offer a powerful and insightful look at how love and healing can intertwine. Be sure to check out her Rockstar series and other works on Amazon, and connect with her on Patreon, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook! Let's continue the conversation about the power of romance to help us heal and grow.

CONNECT WITH JACK WHITNEY:

Website

Instagram

Patreon

Amazon

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Dirty Texas Series by JA Low (Amazon)

Built to Fall by Julia Wolf (Amazon)

Captivated by Danger by Endiya Carter (Amazon)

Haunting Adeline by HD Carlton (Amazon)

Running list of books mentioned (Doc)

Thank you for listening to the We Read Smut Podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag @WeReadSmut. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast.

Connect with Alesia:
Storygraph

This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
Proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Jack Whitney and Her Books
• 2:36 Trauma in Jack Whitney's Books
• 9:59 Character Development and Healing
• 10:16 Chaos: Sunshine Rock Star
• 19:17 Representation and Empowerment
• 19:30 Bedlum: Upcoming Release
• 20:50 The Role of Music in Jack Whitney's Books
• 32:32 Final Thoughts and Where to Find Jack Whitney

Transcript

Alesia Galati: 0:00

Ever wondered how romance can tackle tough topics like trauma and healing? Tune in as we chat with Jack Whitney about her books and how they are reframing the narrative around trauma. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. In this episode, we are talking about reframing trauma in romance. So there are going to be some discussions around traumatic things that are happening to the main characters or have happened to them. For a full list of the trigger warnings, be sure to check the podcast show notes or the video description to make sure that you are taking care of yourself and your mental health. Hi, Jack. I am so excited to have you on the podcast. So if you could start by telling everyone who you are and a bit about your books,

Jack Whitney: 0:50

right? I am really excited to be here. My name is Jack Whitney. I write romantic suspense, Stark romance, little bit of paranormal romance in there. I'm from North Carolina. That's you

Alesia Galati: 1:04

love it. So I was trying to explain your books to someone, specifically your rock star romances. I said it's not your typical dark romance, because the characters and their interactions are not dark in any Right, right, there's maybe a little mask play and a little bit of that kind of play, but it's not anything that's like aggressive or assertive or what you typically see in dark romances, but the external situations are dark, and so it's more of like a more suspense type of thing, but that's very different than a lot of, at least the rock star romances that I have read, thinking back in 2021 and actually, to write this down, because I was like, What the heck did I read in 2021 it was the dirty Texas series by Jay a low she's an Australian author, and it covers a rock Star band that travels a lot, and the stories interconnected in that a lot of their stories overlap. So you see the each of the couples throughout each of the books, but there's a lot of overlap in the stories as well. So things that you maybe see in book one you also see happening in book two. And so it can be it's very interesting, but can be a little redundant, just from what I remember of reading it. And then I read a Julia wolf that was built to fall age gap. He's a rock star. Terrible image. She comes in this curvy younger girl who's trying to help him and his PR and make him look better. And they end up falling in love. And everybody's, oh, my god, he could be her dad, and she's, I don't care, like, very different than your stuff. So I, first and foremost, I want to talk about how trauma informed your books are. Because without giving too many spoilers, let's talk first about book one and the characters in there and some of the baggage that they come to the book with. Yeah,

Jack Whitney: 3:06

so Andy and Maddox are the two main characters, and both of them just have really crappy, I don't want to say like really crappy parents, because Mads does, but Andy, it's her, like birth mom, that was really kind of she needed help, and she wouldn't get it, and it just spiraled into affecting Andy. Because I don't want to necessarily say she's a bad person, because if her mom had gotten the help that she needed, then maybe things would have been differently for her, but she didn't get it. But then Maddox, his dad, was just a piece of shit, cut and dry, he was just a piece shit.

Alesia Galati: 3:55

So they're coming to this relationship, right, especially having grown up together, I think, and seeing that happen to each other, I think at that level of intimacy that you don't have to create, when you're like, Oh, we're adults, and we're meeting for the first time. And I hope all this baggage is no I've been there with your baggage, and I understand, and so created this understanding between the characters right out the gate of my darkness, sees your darkness. It's like the opposite of Namaste, but also Namaste, right? Like ICU, yeah, in like, a really intimate way. And I feel like that a lot, as someone who has gone through some really traumatic stuff, but also is ADHD and has these compulsions to just tell people my life story. I don't really care. Sure. I'll tell you, I grew up in a cult. My mom was an addict for the majority of my life. She overdosed in 2019 she passed away like and people are like, wait, wait a minute. Go back

Jack Whitney: 4:55

this up what you're speaking about this very casually, right? No.

Alesia Galati: 5:00

Yeah, and to have to explain all that to someone, right? Especially if you're, like, interested in them romantically, or you're exploring that can be like, like, how are they gonna take it? And are they gonna take it? So they were able to come together in this secretive way, though, because it's her brother's best friend, yeah? Who said, Hey, don't date my sister. Don't look at her. And he's like, can't really help myself. Love that love that trope. Sorry about that, exactly, but kind of like this healing that happens with the characters, and this is something that I that I think you do really well, is that they heal together, but not in a way that's co dependent. They don't need each other for the rest, like, it'd be great to be together for the rest of our lives, but they don't need that in order to be imperfectly perfect, right? Like they don't need that, but they still find healing and understanding together. And I think that's that you do that in such a beautiful way. So as you were creating this experience for these characters, what were some things that you wanted to make sure that you brought into the like creating something that was very trauma focused but also healing?

Jack Whitney: 6:16

One of the big things I always want for my characters is for them to be able to exist outside of their romantic partners. So regardless of how they feel about each other and how much they say, You're mine, I'm yours, that kind of thing, they're still okay. They still don't need that other person to come in and save them from everything. Yes, the other person can help them see things. Andy was in therapy already. And Maddox, I don't know about him with therapy that, but he had really good friends and an outlet and things like that that he was working on himself with Yeah, Andy definitely is part of what helped him keep going. But at the same time, I know that in his past, he's had moments where he had to call Reid and Reed had to talk him down because he was didn't know how to see tomorrow, and that's always been important for me with any of my characters. Yeah, I don't know if that answered. Yeah, no at all it

Alesia Galati: 7:33

does. It does for real. I think that there's just something so beautiful in that, because when you add in darker themes in books, not you specifically, but when authors add in darker themes into books, they can create more of a co dependence than which, I mean is a fantasy of like, I don't have to think about anything, I have to do anything. I can just exist in this relationship, and everything's gonna be fine, and it's great, but there's still so much work to do, and I love that you bring that realness to the characters in creating these relationships that are healthy, but also aren't too fictitious in the way of this is not achievable for someone who has trauma. When you came up with these ideas of the background, what were some things that kind of inspired you, or were like your own experience, or things that you've seen that led you to create these characters in this way?

Jack Whitney: 8:31

With Maddox, I knew that he was going to be mass. I wanted to do a Mass Rock Star romance. So it started with there, and I knew I've always wanted to do brother's best friend, so those two went together, but I needed something like, why is he wearing this mask? I had to figure out, like, why he was wearing it, and why he was still holding on to it, and even, like, in interviews and stuff, and not just on stage as like a stage presence kind of thing. And then with Andy, I knew that her and Reed were step siblings, and so there had to be some kind of catalyst as to why they were step siblings. And I don't know the it just meshed out to where, like Maddox, had seen her in her lowest moments growing up, and had watched her being taken out the door and tried to stop it, and that kind of thing. And it was just, it just showed itself in a way that helped show how much she meant to him, and even, like her strength in in continuing on with stuff while that was happening to her, that helped him keep continuing on, too, because it was, I don't know, I don't want to say, like, if she can do it, I can do it, but kind of like that.

Alesia Galati: 10:00

Yeah, I remember, as I was reading, I was like, oh, man, did this chick watch my child? Because I come from a single parent home, they were constantly fighting over custody, constantly fighting over I was there and I have her this weekend. Or who are you bringing her around? I'm my dad's only child, but I'm the oldest of five on my mom's side, and so it was just always this back and forth that I could never relate to my siblings on because they didn't have the same dad as me, and then being the oldest and having to, like, protect the kids from my mom's addiction and like her issues. And there was just so many different elements of it that I was like, I feel like she wrote my story, that i just i It felt so empowering and to see myself and like my own trauma, like different but same, right, like these feelings are very valid, and that There is healing and there is that raging is okay, like breaking things, or going to one of those, like, whatever they're called, where you go to the room and you, like, just destroy a bunch of stuff, yeah, and like, they're okay. It's okay to leave these emotions out. And so I just, I loved that you brought all of those different elements to the story that even some of them, I was like, Oh, wow, yeah, that reminds me of, nope. Haven't thought of that in a minute. Whoa. It felt so like beautiful to see that reflected. Is like, and I think this is something that I've has encouraged people when they hear my story, is like, you're not alone, right? So, like, I remember when my sister and I started our first podcast, which was of all about cults and growing up in one and what it was like. And we got so many DMS, which you wouldn't think, but we got so many DMS of people saying, me too, I was in a micro cult. Like, I was in a community that was definitely cult ish or whatever, like so many people could relate, and so I love that what you've brought, yes, it's romance and it's fictitious, but there's so many parts of it that I don't think people realize how empowering and powerful romance can be in allowing us to evolve and grow as people. Yeah,

Jack Whitney: 12:22

no, I had probably five other people messaged me like the same thing, like you wrote my childhood, like I was Andy, and I'm just like, oh my god, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I hope this book helped, right?

Alesia Galati: 12:41

I think it does, I really do, and I think it helps in such a beautiful way. So moving on to book two, like, we're not gonna go too much into like, spoilers for book one, go read the book for sure. Yeah, but Book Two, Sunshine rock star, that is, I don't think I've ever read a sunshine rock star before, but yeah, Reed's energy was just off the charts, absolutely, just very golden retriever energy. Loved it, and then having the prickly autistic ADHD,

Unknown: 13:16

you know,

Alesia Galati: 13:17

plant mom on the other side. I think it was just chef's kiss. So how did that all come about?

Jack Whitney: 13:24

So I actually so Nicole, we had talked about having an ADHD FMC, because I was discovering that I was ADHD around the time. I don't want to. I don't know how long Nicole's known that she's had ADHD, but

Alesia Galati: 13:44

for anyone who doesn't know or is new, Nicole is the other part of we read SMUD. But

Jack Whitney: 13:52

like, there was just, like, some things that I was discovering, I was sharing, and then she would be like, that's an ADHD thing, right? Like, the gym boxes and just like, little stuff like that. And so I started realizing all these things. And then my son was actually going through his autistic evaluation at the time, and I was starting to notice more stuff with that that I related to. And so I was like, I guess I'm ADHD too. This explains a lot. So we had talked about doing an ADHD FMC, and it just fit in perfectly with Reed's story, because he is the golden retriever bouncing off the wall, very typical ADHD boy, and then adding in with Rin, her experience with living like that is my experience with living with it. And so a lot of things that she has trouble with or struggles with daily. Those are things that I struggle with daily, and writing that experience out was just so cathartic. They just worked out really well. I knew that she had to be grumpy and kind of like have a chip on her shoulder, and she had to have a big reason for that why she didn't want to get close to people, so that kind of factored into it, but, yeah, they worked out perfectly. I'm

Alesia Galati: 15:26

curious if, for ren's ADHD, and how it showed up for her, you said the things she struggles with, and I'm curious if that opinion changed as you were writing her. I feel like a lot of people see themselves and they're like, Oh, I'm autistic, where I have ADHD or I have these struggles. I also have a son who was diagnosed over the summer, and saw a lot of my own things in him, and was like, Okay, this feels like the beginning of a really crazy journey. There's definitely gonna be dragons on it. It's gonna be an adventure for both of us, but I feel like I have found so many coping mechanisms to manage my day, to manage my time, to get things done, to not hyper fixate on things that I can better support him, and so reframing how these struggles right and the things that I know I'm going to struggle with, or he's going to struggle with, and being able to reframe them. Did writing that character allow you to personally, or even readers, if they read your book and were like I saw those and yes, I feel like so much better empowered that it's okay to have, I don't want to say crutches, because they're not crutches, but structures in place to help us navigate how our brain works. Yeah, so,

Jack Whitney: 16:46

like Reed was telling Ren about the magnets that his mom used to have on the fridge. Yeah, I had seen those somewhere, and so I actually got some of those. It does help me, because I always forget, like the laundry, or, Oh, I was supposed to make something in the crock pot today, little things like that. I don't think people understand how frustrating those little, teeny what seems like little things are just so like, you beat yourself up about it, because it just feels like it's so easy for someone else, and it is a struggle for me every single day. And like the biggest thing that I was actually like telling my sister about one day was like my executive dysfunction on the periods when I really struggle with my depression, it's like, even on a day to day basis, getting into the shower is a struggle for me. But on the days that I'm in my head and I can't it is absolutely debilitating, and that seems like a such a simple thing, but it's not. But I think that writing the character and then realizing these things about myself, that it's okay to have those days helped me accept that I need more time to do X, Y and Z. I need to move the magnets on the fridge, or whatever it might be like, I need those little things to help me cope daily. Sometimes it feels like I shouldn't need those things, but I do need those things because it's like you said. You don't want to call it a crutch, but at the same time, if it helps you get from A to B, then you want to use it? Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 18:44

I couldn't agree more. I have this conversation with my husband quite regularly because I so I'm pretty sure he has ADHD, but his shows up very different in, like, need to switch tasks a lot, yeah, whereas I'm more of the autistic ADHD of like, hyper fixation. Very lovely to have that combination. Yes, he's the kind of person where it's like, oh, it's a commercial on a sports team, and he's on to watching a show. And I'm just like,

Jack Whitney: 19:14

that's exactly how my partner is too. I

Alesia Galati: 19:17

can't there's commercials on, and then he'll go back to the other one. And I'm like, I my brain can't, like, just give me, like, a few hours to sit and read something, and I'll be doing that for hours and hours on end, right? Or give me an audio book and 1000 piece puzzle, and I will do that, whereas he's next and so, like, our calendar that we have up on the wall, he's always trying to do it in like, a light color. And I'm like, I can't see that from far away. You need to change it, yeah? Because I need to be able to see it in passing. Putting the kids, okay, when did the kids have medicine? We put that on the fridge, on the dry erase board, because that way whoever is going by and can going to the medicine cabinet can see when did everybody else have meds? Because

Jack Whitney: 19:58

if I don't see it, it. Does not exist. Yep,

Alesia Galati: 20:03

there's so many different things that we use, right, to make our lives better or easier. And just thinking about that, that one scene that you mentioned where Reid is talking about how his mom uses these different tools to try to manage a house of a ton of kids, right? Like, yeah, totally get that. But also the compassion that he has for Ren in that discussion is just so beautiful and so like, yes, it's okay. Doesn't have to be such a struggle, even though it feels like it is. It is not something that is terrible about us. And so I just, I loved, loved, loved that scene, yeah, and how you created it in a way that was like, No, I understand what you're going through. I have people in my life who feel that way too,

Jack Whitney: 20:53

yeah. Now that was really important to me, was for him to see even with the food that she eats or something. He's seeing these things, and he's, I know how you eat. I got you, I can go get you something. It's okay. And just such simple, tiny stuff. And I wanted to make sure that he saw those things, understood those things, and he was essentially good to her about those things, because I know that's a really important thing in any relationship with a disability or neurodivergency or anything like that. You have to understand those little things.

Alesia Galati: 21:34

So why Rockstar? You could have gone anywhere with the these stories and these people in any way. Why Rockstar? How did that appeal to you and why do you think it is a good backdrop for these kinds of more trauma informed relationships. I

Jack Whitney: 21:50

chose Rockstar just because I love music. When I was 11 years old, like Rocky music essentially saved my life. And again, at 19, like it was just, it's always been a thing that I could listen to and think, Okay, so I'm not the only person having these thoughts, and there's always people out there who are relating to it in the same exact way, and that was always my goal is to write some kind of book that someone could read and go, Wow, this is how so and so's music makes me feel, and just invoking that emotional response and relating to something else, like something that The characters going through like we were talking about, and just feeling seen and heard and you're not alone. That's just been my thing. And I don't know, I just love rock stars. I think that I chose this for such like a more trauma based series, just because music does go into depth with those thoughts and feelings that not everyone gets to hear. You may be struggling with depression or even thinking about suicide, but you may not always voice that, and then you hear something in the music, and it can help. I just figured that was a good backdrop for it. Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 23:28

yeah, I definitely agree. I'm not someone who grew up listening to a lot of music, and it's the cult, but I do feel very strongly in my adulthood that music has played such an impactful role, especially in dealing with big life changes, right? So, like, I remember the few months after my mom passed, there was just like, certain songs that would play on the radio, or certain songs that I would have on repeat just to help me get through right the day, or it'll get to work without breaking down on the side of the road because I'm sobbing Right? Like, exactly, yeah, things that really help us emotionally connect with someone else who understands, hey, you're not alone. I see you. I understand what you're going through. I've been through something similar, and I feel like romances do that too in such a really impactful way. And your books? Yeah, Lee, do that in such an impactful way. Let's talk about book three, which you are currently working on, yes, and we'll probably be out soon after this airs. I've already read chapter one, and I'm like, Oh my God, but Okay, first of all, your rock star main character, because it is an FF romance, correct your rock star, female main character, she is sober for quite some time now, which I think is such a great conversation to have, and also a point of a rock star who's sober, what? Yeah, right. Yes. And being able to show up like really well and have such and then in book one and two, like the support around her and her recovery is just so beautiful, and just their connections as well as just so beautiful. And so how Where'd you come up with that idea, as you were creating these characters with

Jack Whitney: 25:18

Bonnie, there was just something about her that I or something about the band that I knew. I didn't want them completely Sex, drugs and rock and roll. And I feel like that's a stereotype that a lot of rock star romances get into. And I didn't want that for young decay at all. I didn't want the typical other woman drama or they get high on coke every night. They've been through that. They had their freshman year fuck ups. They went through that they messed up, and they're okay with bedlam. We actually get to go back and see some of that, because that was when her stalker started coming to her. We get to come go back and kind of see what drove her to becoming sober and why that was such an important moment for her? Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 26:26

and I think that it's the way you approach that I would say all of these topics, is with such care. And they understand their industry in a way that's yes, we're rock stars, and yes, there's going to be quote, unquote, temptations all around but we have our support system in place. We know how to handle and manage these things in a way that really allows us to do our jobs really well and also have fun doing our jobs right. They take their professions so serious that I think it's it just makes it so much, such a more beautiful and less dramatic approach than I've seen in most of the rock star romances and even just like this stuff. And I think that might actually be why I tend to not like rock star romances, and why. But last rock star romances were in 2021 is because of that, a

Jack Whitney: 27:23

few of the people who are, like my regular readers, whenever I said rock star romance, they were like, it's not really my cup of tea, but I guess we're gonna give this a try. And then they come back and they're like, oh, okay, this is better than I thought it was gonna be. This is different. Fauci story is it's a little darker than the first two. As far as their relationship goes. It's not sunshine and rainbows at all, because she is sober, but she is I feel like you, you never stop fighting that, and she's not just happy everything's fine and have no more trauma. I'm perfect. Blah, blah, blah, no, no, like we're still battling that. She still looks can look at a drink in her hardest times and have to fight that urge. And she has her sponsor that she does call, she has Reid, is one of her huge support systems, and he calls him or something like just she has people around her who can be like, I'm going to support you no matter what. I'm not going to sit here and tell you absolutely not I'm going to throw this drink in your face or anything, but I think you know the choice that you want to make, and that was important to me too, because I never wanted anyone to look at her and say, You're nothing if you take this next drink like it's it's your choice, but think about What's gonna happen if you do go down this road again? You know what I mean?

Alesia Galati: 29:05

Yeah, I can even think about like, conversations that I had with my mom where she would get high and I would be like, Why, I don't understand why. And she would say, I don't just wake up and say, I'm gonna get high today. It's not like a conscious this is what I'm gonna do or this is what I'm gonna wear today. It doesn't feel like that. It's an evolution of the day. It's an evolution of my depression and my pain and my the things that I'm struggling with that lead me to that that is what and I'm like, I don't understand, I hear you and I don't understand. Yeah, I think that the more that I've read in, like getting in the minds of characters who do struggle with addiction, or do struggle with substance abuse of any kind, or any addictions, that it is really allowed me to see. Oh. Oh, okay, I understand this better, and I understand what she was going through, and I wish I would have had that like knowledge at the time. But then I think, okay, I didn't have it, then I have it now. How can I use this now to have more insightful conversations with other people, or to be more compassionate towards someone who's struggling, or to maybe say something to someone who's being less compassionate and expressing this is probably what they're struggling with. And you wouldn't know unless you were them, right? No one else knows unless you're that person struggling. I love that you're approaching it, and I like that you're also approaching it from the way of, hey, you get to make the choice. Either way, it's up to you. You're the one that makes that decision. There's so many one book I was reading recently, and I cannot think of what it was. Oh, nope. I remember captivated by danger, by Oh, man. I cannot remember the name of the author now, ADINA, yeah, I will make sure it's in the show notes. But she was trying to decide if she should talk to her very toxic mother, and if she should have these conversations. And he was a DOM, she was a sub, and so she was looking for him to tell her what to do. And he was like, I'm not gonna do that. Yeah, in the bedroom, sure. Yeah, in this. This is up to you, like, I'm not gonna tell you yay or nay. This is something that you have to decide for yourself. You're looking for me to take that choice away from you, and that's not something I can do, which I think was such a really powerful way to support someone in making a decision right or wrong for themselves. Yeah,

Jack Whitney: 31:39

and I even going back to in madness with Andy's mom I never wanted because she was also an addict, and that was her choice not to go get the help that she needed, that she had a daughter who was yelling at her to get the help, and a ex husband who was yelling at her to get the help, and she never did that for herself. So with Bonnie showing a different side of it, and that she is getting the help, and you know, she's doing that same struggle, but she's doing everything she can to not be that person that she knows she shouldn't be or the person that she was at the end of that first tour. Yeah, no,

Alesia Galati: 32:29

so good. And I love your approach to all this. I think that you're like when I thought about this podcast and how I wanted to take a different approach toward romance and the discussions that I think aren't really being had in either podcasting space about romance novels or even about smut as a whole, and just the power of it to really change our lives, and how we can reframe trauma in such a beautiful way through romance and it helps us heal as human beings and as authors and readers and all of that.

Jack Whitney: 33:05

Yeah, and I feel like romance gets such a bad rap because of these things that people are looking at, people will say, like it, it glorifies like rape or kidnapping or anything like that. That's not what it's doing that is not what it's doing. There are so many, like essay survivors that read the dark romance because it helps them, like control over the situation. There are some who don't because of that reason, and that's why we have trigger warnings. Yep. And I wish that more people gave dark romance a chance to see that it's not glorifying all of these things that we absolutely do not support in real life. Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 33:53

you've got the authors who will have the pre trigger warnings where they're like everything in this book. If it was happening to a real woman in real life, I would tell her to get the hell out out of there. Yes, so this is fictitious guys, not real. This is not healthy at all. It is simply a fantastical story that I created.

Jack Whitney: 34:13

Yes, I don't know. There's just, even if you look at let's just go with the very most popular one, haunting Adeline. And how many people are actually reading that book and realizing that it's more than shock value? I guess you could say yeah,

Alesia Galati: 34:34

but because book talk, yeah, I think it steers too young for me to be, like, interested in like, their opinions. It's like, Oh, baby, you haven't lived.

Jack Whitney: 34:48

Yeah, I know. I just look at some of those comments. I'm like, You four thing, sweet

Alesia Galati: 34:53

summer child. Exactly. I love it. I think the. Romance is such a great way to make a difference in somebody's life, and I hope that through these discussions, people will see that. But for people who are like, Yeah, I need these books. Where can they find you? Get to know you. Where do you hang out on social where can they buy your books?

Jack Whitney: 35:16

All of my books are available on Amazon, and hopefully by the time this airs, I will have a release date for madness on Audible. We shall see. And you can find me on Patreon, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, I think that's all the things,

Alesia Galati: 35:38

yes, and I highly recommend reading them, you also have some other books. So if people want to get, like, a quick synopsis of some of the other series that you have, if they're like, I'm not sure, I want to jump right into the rock star ones, you have some really incredible starter ones that I think are really good too, for either fantasy or the really dark romance, or even the lighter was sweet girl, yeah, with the arrows one, that one is really good too, so he can give us, like a quick rundown of your backlog. So

Jack Whitney: 36:08

I have a arrows and psyche reimagining, and that is called sweet girl. And finding you. Sweet girl is a Valentine's Day novella, and it's probably aside from madness, it's probably my most popular book, and one that I would say to would probably be a good intro, as long as you are into really smutty, spicy things, which

Alesia Galati: 36:37

we are here we Read.

Jack Whitney: 36:40

Yeah, exactly, yeah. Start with that one. And then I have a couple of novellas. I have a fall one. It's like a fall carnival, grumpy sunshine. It's called, anyone in you break the glass is a Bloody Mary inspired demon, demon hunter erotica novella. And then I have Ballad of nightmares, which the second part of it come out next fall. And then that is a paranormal romance, and the main character is death. The character for that one

Alesia Galati: 37:19

is chef's kiss. I have it on my shelf here with all my other dark romance, yeah,

Jack Whitney: 37:24

yeah. The artwork for that one came out amazing. I can't wait to do some special editions for it or something, because, yeah, it's just gonna be so esthetically pleasing. This is my esthetic book, all vibes, all the vibes, yes. And then I have my dark fantasy series, which is actually going to get a huge revamp in 2026, nice, yeah, we are. We're gonna revamp and re edit, and probably recover and all the things you're just gonna relaunch

Alesia Galati: 38:02

that is exciting. Yeah, Jack, thanks so much that this was such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for having it with me and i Everybody just having goes and reads all of these books, because they're wonderful and fantastic. Highly recommend you guys check out the Rock Star Series and thank again, thank you so much,

Jack Whitney: 38:22

of course, thank you for having me. You.