Episode 166: Fish Out of Water Trope

Join Valerie, Narelle, and Elizabeth as they chat about books with the fish out of water trope. This is our final episode for the foreseeable future - thank you so much for listening!
Books discussed include:
Princess in Hiding by Carol Moncado
The Trinity Lakes Romance series
Then There Was You by Kara Isaac
Child of Joy by Kimberly Rae Jordan
Any book by Marion Ueckermann, Autumn MacArthur, and Milla Holt
The Cowboy's Convenient Marriage by Valerie Comer
Amethyst Attraction by Valerie Comer
In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh
Falling on Main Street by Tara Grace Ericson

[@ValerieComer]

Like Beth has been saying, the goodbye is bittersweet. We've known it was coming - had to come - but it's been very difficult, all the same. Not only have we found many good authors and their books for all of you, we've expanded our own horizons, as well. I'll miss the Friday afternoons when we'd get together and record a few episodes, but.... here we are. :'(

[@amycruce8202]

Ladies! I just listened to you final Storychats. I have to tell you how so very much I have enjoyed spending Friday mornings with you. I will miss you! I can't begin to tell you how many TBR books have been added to my kindle, or how many new authors I've begun to follow on Amazon , Bookbub and Chirp. Your witty banter and insight of books have been delightful. God bless you all as you continue in life.

[@StoryChatsInspyRomance]

Thank you so much! It's a very bittersweet goodbye.

[@kavrees5622]

lol love that rumpled Coonie look. She is so not amused. I'm sure she's not going to be one of your fans who will miss these Friday story chats. Maybe she can start her own channel...a snoozing kitty in all her floofy wonderfulness ambient channel. Bwahahaha. I will surely miss these Friday morning story chats, but, as Narelle says, there's an archive of videos that will be fun to revisit. I appreciate all the time and effort you all have put into promoting CCR. Praying blessings on you all (Coonie too) as you follow God's leading in your personal and writing lives. And, I guess I'll meet you next in the pages of your books! My addition to your Fish Out of Water Trope list: First one that came to mind was Love and the Little White Live by Tammy L. Gray -- her heroine ends up taking a temp job at her aunt's church only January is an atheist. Talk about culture shock, and her coming to faith story was quite amazing. It has a dreaded love triangle though. I just finished The Cowboy's Secret Past by Tina Radcliffe (Love Inspired) and it's a city girl out of her comfort zone in a small town and on a ranch. Plus she's used to being in control and suddenly she isn't so that's a whole other 'fish out of trope' angle. And two books you recommended which is probably why you didn't mention them this time round. Pixels and Paint by Kristi Ann Hunter -- Emma is way out of her comfort zone when it comes to the art world. And The Love Script -- Nevaeh has to cope with all the Hollywood glitz and glamour and social media trolls because of her relationship with heart throb star Lamont.

[@StoryChatsInspyRomance]

Great additions! I would watch a Coonie channel. We'll have to see if Valerie is game. (I can guess the answer, but we can hope. :) )

[@jennyblake9177]

Kav did you hear Coonie meowing through out the episode. She did a couple times cos I was looking to see if Libby was ok but she was sleeping rewound a little and it happened again. first time I have heard her meowing in an episode.

[@AuthorLiwenYHo]

Thank you, ladies, for so much good content on this channel! God bless you all as you go on from here to buy groceries, write books, read more, and simplify your lives! 🥰

[@StoryChatsInspyRomance]

Thank you, Liwen!

[@ruthmadre4106]

Sorry to hear this is the final episode. I’ve looked forward to new episodes each Friday. Thank you for all your hard work - I can’t even imagine the time commitment it has taken.

[@StoryChatsInspyRomance]

Thank you! I'm so sad, too, and I know Narelle and Valerie are as well, but sometimes life behind the scenes requires hard decisions.

[@jennyblake9177]

Firstly the comments Beth made about some characters being almost to dumb to be real (paraphrasing) made me laugh and think well actually in real life it happens. I heard some funny things some Americans asked about Hawaii from the one of our tour guides. like if I keep traveling on the interstate will I reach the mainland, What language do you speak in Hawaii. What country are you. Do you use USD currency just to name a few. So while to use some of these people are dumb in reality there are probably many who don't read up on where they are going. I have had people coming to Australia for a visit and going to Sydney and saying she would come and visit a few of us. One lives over 40 hours non stop driving away. I am about 13 hours non stop driving away. neither of us are on a direct flight path so would be a drive from the nearest airport. I hadn't really thought of this trope I am sure I have read many like Toni Shiloh's and Melody Carlson's books her last Christmas Novella was one. But hadn't realized it was a trope. I will miss storychats on Friday nights It fitted in after the news quite well. Its a pity it couldn't been handed on to someone like when you took over Story nerds with Jessica Kate and Hannah. Cos while you have talked mostly contemporary there are so many other genres out there that many of the Inspy readers would enjoy as most readers tend to say they read wide. Even if it was only once a fortnight. I saw Narelle say she had learnt the tools to consider doing something on her own in the future and I hope she will. I think I enjoyed some of the interviews with authors more than just talking about books. That is where I decided to buy or obtain several of the books I read more so than just the general chat. I did feel for Elizabeth as I could see she was really struggling with this decision. and looked like she didn't have a lot of time to come to terms with is as she was very bubbly in the others film on the same day (unless she just loves that new Christmas sweater). I guess I always have my new obsession in Say yes to the dress to watch.

[@StoryChatsInspyRomance]

It was a very hard decision and lots of behind the scenes factors went into it. I am very sad about how things ended up, but from a statistics POV coupled with the behind the scenes issues, it just didn't make sense to keep plugging away for the handful of loyal listeners. And honestly, the lack of following was a big factor in not trying to pass it on, as well. On average, we got about 10 people watching all the way through each week (and maybe only another 15 or so who would watch 7 minutes or less). We weren't getting much more than that from the audio-only folks. Considering all the time before and after that went into each episode, it didn't make sense, particularly when it wasn't growing (if anything, it was waning.)

[@NarelleAtkinsAuthor]

Hi Jenny, I have plans to do *something* when I have the time to get organised with content creating etc. Hopefully in the next few months and what I can tell you is that it will be broader in scope than StoryChats. I read widely within the Christian fiction genres and I also read nonfiction. There’s a lot of work that happens behind the scenes and it’s time consuming to create and distribute the channel content and the podcast. I really appreciated all the work Beth put in behind the scenes to make the weekly StoryChats episodes happen. Many KZbin channels take 4 or 5 years to get discovered, and some channels never really get discovered and don’t gain a large audience. All that to say I agree with Beth’s thoughts on the future viability of the channel. My perspective is that the parameters that were set for the discussion and content of the StoryChats episodes (the focus on CCR-all-the-time) were too niche to successfully build a larger community and audience in the longer term. That said, it doesn’t mean the content we’ve created and discussed over the last 3 years isn’t valuable for the readers who love CCR (contemporary Christian romance) and are looking for CCR books to read. And, good spotting re. Beth’s Christmas sweater. This episode was recorded in advance on January 6, 2024 (Aussie time).

[@jennyblake9177]

@@NarelleAtkinsAuthor looking forward to what you do. For now I will have When Calls the Heart to watch as season 11 starts tonight the time I would be watching Storychats. I actually think I am looking forward to that more right now. on scope I too read wide infact this year I have read more historical romance and fiction than anything else and the next one is another Historical. I think I have read one CCR. I did read Melody and Dani's from storychats. I would call Dani's romantic, suspense and Melody's is more stratight fiction with a slight romatic thread. (Ironic neither really fitted in the Inspy definition of CCR)