Bookcast Episode 143: Two Captains, One Boat

This is a shorter one (and yet still over 20 minutes...), keeping mostly to books, writing, and appearances. I recap what I've read in August, give the full rundown on my new Labor Day novella REGATTA including the blurb and release schedule, talk through my fall and 2027 event lineup, and close out with an update on my NSYNC fanfiction entry for this year's Awesome August challenge. Reading Challenge Update  I'm at 98 of 150 books for the year, 65% of the way there and five books ahead of schedule. I don't think hitting 150 is going to be a problem. Recently Read   Calling All Blessings, Beverly Jenkins Never the Right Time, Reese Ryan One Split Second, Robert Dugoni Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser   Currently Reading: You'll Be Sorry, Lisa Gardner Up Next / On My List: All My Sisters and Me, Sheryl Lister Savvy Summers and the Po' Boy Perils, Sandra Jackson-Opoku The Death Row Club, V.A. Vasquez It Could Have Been Her, Lisa Jewell There's Only One Sin in Hollywood, Rasheed Newsome Trust Me, Alexandria House The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglas, Leslye Penelope 72 Hours, Rae Shawn Writing and Publishing   Main writing on REGATTA is done. It's a steamy standalone Labor Day novella about Des Calloway and Silas Corbin, two racing captains at the same yacht club who end up on the same boat for the Labor Day regatta on the Chesapeake Bay after years of competing against each other. Des is hired to captain Windfall, the boat Silas expected to run himself, and the two of them have to figure out how to work together on the water while everything else builds between them off it. Tropes include forced proximity, he falls first, woman in charge, forced to work together, and close quarters, with explicit sexual content. Two samples posted to Substack: 1. Should I have brought my trophies?  2. Try telling yourself I don't like you Release plan:  August 27: newsletter subscribers get the direct-buy link August 28: live at Booksbydlwhite and Noir Pages  September 4: live on retail sites  Appearances Petersburg Book Festival - September 12, 2026 Atlanta Book Festival - October 17, 2026, Plywood Place Conyers Book Fest - April 2027 (applied, no decision yet) Black Romance Book Festival - June 2027 Kinfolk Lit - July 2027, Indianapolis (link coming before registration opens!) Behind the Ink Book Fest - September 2027, Birmingham Fan Fiction Update:   I Want You Back, my entry for this year's Awesome August challenge over on the NSYNC Fiction Archive, is complete and posted under my pen name Miss M. It's a JC Chasez story, written for his birthday like I do every year.   Links & Resources Shop my books: booksbydlwhite.com/shop Support the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/booksbydlwhite Episode page: booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast/143 Support the show Stay connected: Visit my website–Booksbydlwhite.com Join my newsletter – booksbydlwhite.com/newsletter Follow me on Substack–Main Substack | Short Fiction Substack Buy books & merch – booksbydlwhite.com/shop Support this show with a recurring gift at bookcast.buzzsprout.com or Buymeacoffee.com/booksbydlwhite. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate & review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And if you really liked it, tell a friend.