<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780686/yesteryear-by-caro-claire-burke/"><strong>Order </strong></a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780686/yesteryear-by-caro-claire-burke/"><strong><em>Yesteryear</em></strong></a> if you like nice things, have good taste, or don’t want Katie to show up in the middle of the night at your house with a strongly worded remonstration.</p><p>What does it feel like to spend 10 years of your life pursuing an uncertain dream when the chances of breakthrough success are one in a million?</p><p>What does it feel like to—finally, at long last—be “the one”?</p><p>Caro Claire Burke, one-half of your favorite podcast, is publishing her debut novel this Tuesday, April 7. <em>Yesteryear</em> is mouthy, thrilling, important, ambitious, and, as one of my favorite reviews said, “moves like a freight train.”</p><p>Sound like anyone else you know?</p><p>Today, I finally get the opportunity to talk to <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/2307185-caro-claire-burke">caro claire burke</a> about:</p><p>* whether publishing your debut novel is <a target="_blank" href="https://garthgreenwell.substack.com/p/some-thoughts-on-hype">a dream come true or a nightmare</a></p><p>* who she was before she wrote <em>Yesteryear</em></p><p>* her seemingly endless years writing clickbait for a paycheck in the content coal mines of various aggregators</p><p>* how she felt when we met 🥰</p><p>* how I felt when we met 👹</p><p>* the psychological experience of feeling like everyone’s looking at you (Professionally™️) and knowing the precise dates and times when your life’s work will be dissected for sport in public lol</p><p>* to what extent it’s fair to infer someone’s politics from their fiction (a la <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vulture.com/article/madeline-cash-lost-lambs-honor-levy-close-reads.html">this piece</a>)</p><p>* her Official Stance on separating the art from the artist (compelling tbh)</p><p>* a spoiler-frenzied discussion of the Next Great American Novel</p><p>* and a very personal, very special update for Caro</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe</a>