Why We Keep Climbing Through It

Ted is joined by Angela Montoya, whose debut novel, Sinner’s Isle, received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and trade reviews from Booklist and The Bulletin. Her second novel, A Cruel Thirst, was published last month and has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection and an Editor’s Pick: Best YA of December by Amazon Books. Angela also co-hosts the podcast Of the Publishing Persuasion, which is where she and Ted first talked. He had so much fun that he asked her to come on Working Drafts to celebrate the release of A Cruel Thirst—which she describes as “Zorro meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer”—and dive into what she’s working on now. Titled Carnival Fantástico, that third novel, scheduled for release in spring 2026, is a second-chance romance set amidst a traveling carnival, with a dose of secrets and magic. Here, Angela describes the process of writing a book while you’re actively seeing readers respond to your previous one and how she finds ways to draw on that feedback to make the next novel even better, a skill Ted freely admits to envying. In addition, they discuss the genesis of Angela’s idea for Carnival Fantástico, the collaborative process that has shaped the book into its current form, and the struggle that comes with knowing you have to cut your word count—along with realizing everyone isn’t going to think your first draft is brilliant as is. Episode Links:Angela’s WebsiteOf the Publishing Persuasion Podcast (+ wherever you get your pods)