YA-OK

This week we are doing a Spoiler Filled Deep Dive into Erik's new Thriller "Better The Devil". Make sure you have read the book prior to this episode to avoid spoilers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our 50th Episode we sit down with Ellen Cochrane who took a true story she remembered from her youth and crafted an exciting and informative middle group book out of it. Follow the Water has strong "Hatchet" vibes in all the best ways and we know you're gonna love Ellen as much as we did! ⁠Buy Merch⁠ ⁠Join Our Facebook Group⁠ ⁠Follow us on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back!! Today we sit down with author Cassie Miller to discuss her debut YA Novel "Meet Me Under the Lights"! This book was pitched to us as "Friday Night Lights" meets "The Notebook" which obviously checked all our boxes. Enjoy an hour conversation about baseball, theater and Kenny Ortega! Also at the end Erik gives a life update and how it will affect our release schedule for the next year or so. Buy Merch Join Our Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a mini-Episode Producer Matt sits down with past guest Lance Rubin about his new book Forever 16 and the audiobook he made with his wife and brother! Buy Merch Join Our Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we go through our favorite books we read in 2025! Buy some merch! Follow us on Instagram! Join Our Facebook Group! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our Christmas Episode this year we are very excited to be joined by Kevin Jakubowski, a screenplay writer who wrote the YA novel 8-Bit Christmas which later became a huge hit on HBO Max. We discuss the transition from screenplays to novels as well as what it was like seeing his first book become a film! Buy some merch Follow us on Instagram Join our Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by the author team Fox Starr about their new Fantasy YA novel The Bone Tower! Buy some YA-OK Merch Follow us on Instagram Join our Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Randy Ribay who wrote the critically acclaimed Patron Saints of Nothing as well as well as some Avatar The Last Airbender novels and the more recently released "Everything We Never Had" Buy YA-OK Merch Follow us on IG Join our FB Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Erik and Alyssa are joined by Abigail Hing Wen who talks about her novel "Loveboat, Taipei" which was turned into a Netflix movie as well as her newest novel "The Vale" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in honor of Halloween just around the corner Erik takes the time to educate Alyssa and Producer Matt on all the dark tales we missed out by not reading Christopher Pike in their youth! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 5, 2005 Twilight hit book shelves and immediately became a global phenomenon! Today to celebrate that Alyssa and Erik dive into their history of these books and if they think they hold up still! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Jeff Miller about his middle-grade book Rare Birds. Jeff talks about getting his foot in the door in writing and what lead to this much more adult themed book compared to his previous work! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week instead of our usual interviews Producer Matt talks to host Erik J Brown about why you should pre-order his new book "Better Than Devil" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Alyssa and Erik are joined by author Zachary Sergi to discuss his new book Love & Video Games! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are thrilled to welcome Heir of Storms author Lauryn Hamilton Murray to discuss her debut novel and why she loves fantasy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Rory Power to discuss her newest novel Kill Creatures as well as her award winning novel Wilder Girls! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are thrilled to have this week's guest Kiersten White on! For the last year we've all raved about how much we love the book Mister Magic, but now that Kiersten has released a YA Thriller called "The House of Quiet" we finally were able to invite her on! Unfortunately Alyssa was unavailable for this interview but Erik has more than enough questions for Kiersten! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instead of a guest this week we are breaking down the books we love that gives us Summer Vibes and at least one book we haven't read but look forward to reading this summer to hopefully give us summer vibes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by J.L. Simmonds whose new YA “Run Away With Me” has been described as Thelma & Louise with Lesbians! We discuss how Aerosmith inspired the plot, the perfect naming of Muppet bands and why despite being in Europe J.L. felt like the road trip story only worked in the United States! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are excited to welcome back Jennifer Dugan, our first return guest. Since we dove into Jennifer’s process last time this time we discuss movies, Kristen Stewart, straight men and concussions. We do also find time to discuss Summer Girls, Jennifer’s newest book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are honored to be joined by author Brian Selznick! Brian is a beloved author in the realm of middle grade famously illustrating Andrew Clements "Frindle" and then writing The Invention of Hugo Cabret which later became the Martin Scorsese film "Hugo". Now he's dipping his toe into the world of YA with his new novel "Runaway With Me"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we were joined by Natalie Naudus, Natalie has one of the more unique trajectories of any author we've had on the show. Natalie started her career doing audiobook readings before deciding to write a book of her own. We discuss her debut novel Gay the Pray Away! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author K. Ancrum who you may remember as the author of "icarus" which was Erik's favorite read of last year! She joins us to promote her new book "The Corruption of Hollis Brown" and discuss her early says writing short fiction and her path to critically acclaimed books! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author and literary agent Eric Smith to discuss his books (including his newest novel With or Without You) as well as his career as a literary agent! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by Laura Zimmermann the author of My Eyes Are Up Here as well as Just Do This One Thing For Me. Laura was put on our radar by past guest Lance Rubin and she was an ABSOLUTE DELIGHT! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are down Erik and gained a Producer Matt for our interview with Sara Phoebe Miller. Sara's debut YA Graphic Novel "You Belong Here" is out NOW! Sara goes over her decade at DC, her hesitance to doing her debut novel as a comic and what drew her to Morgan Beem's artwork! Get your copy of You Belong Here anywhere books are sold and follow us on IG @yaokpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Sophie Gonzales to discuss her upcoming book Nothing in Particular (due out in June) as well as her career of killing characters to the horror of her mom! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Valentine's day Erik, Alyssa and Producer Matt go through their personal favorite Literary Couples (in both YA or regular romance). Was your favorite couple represented!? Let us know on our IG @yaokpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by Simina Popescu who wrote and cartooned the YA Graphic Novel LEAP! Make sure you follow them on IG! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Eliot Schrefer who wrote The Darkness Outside Us and The Brightness Between Us. We wanted to avoiding spoiling the book (for not just the listeners but also Alyssa and Producer Matt) so we instead focused on Schrefer's career and inspirations! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since it's New Years Eve instead of a usual podcast we wanted to release the episode of Geekscape when Alyssa and Erik joined Jonathan London to discuss their new podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out Matt's new podcast "Christian Cringe" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode of the year Alyssa, Erik and Producer Matt go over their top 5 books that they read this year. Some are from past guests, some are YA novels from hopefully future guests and some aren't even YA at all! Get a pen and paper we got 15 recommendations coming your way!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by our first non-fiction writer Ashley Spencer. While Disney High is not a YA novel it definitely will be of interest to many YA fans (and tells the tale of some very famous Young Adults from the 90s and 2000s!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by Jason June who beyond being an incredible ball of positive energy, is also the author of the new book Flopping in a Winter Wonderland! We recorded this the day after the election and Jason's optimistic nature was exactly what we needed, we hope our episode brings the same optimism to you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are thrilled by joined by Josh Silver. His booked "HappyHead" has been out in the UK for quite a while but now with the book sequel "Dead Happy" coming out in the UK, along with an upcoming film adaptation, his original book is finally being released in the States. Josh talks about the inspirations for the book as well as what it's like to have one of his novels being courted for a feature film! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Erik and Producer Matt discuss their favorite Goosebumps books while Alyssa reacts because ... she's never read them!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by "Stars, Hide Your Fires" author Jessica Mary Best who talks to us about her debut novel combining YA Romance with Sci-Fi as well as her other career doing narrative based short form podcasts! Jessica is one of the most fascinating people we've ever talked to and she will definitely be back in the future! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are joined by author Lance Rubin. Lance co-wrote a book with Link and Rhett from Good Mythical Morning called "The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek" and co-created The Monster Club book series with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky! We discuss the difference between writing by yourself vs. co-writing and have so much we forget to discuss his new YA novel Crying Laughing! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik is working hard to meet the deadline for his 4th book so we're flashing back to 2021 when Erik appeared on Geekscape's flagship show to promote All That's Left in the World with host Jonathan London and his co-host Katie Hampton! We plan to be back in 2 weeks with more insightful interviews! Thank you for your patience! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a follow up to our previous episode discussing Erik's book "The Only Light Left Burning" we wanted to discuss what it takes to properly Marketing and Promote a book after it's been released! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week instead of a regular interview episode Alyssa and Producer Matt sit down with co-host Erik J. Brown to deep dive into his new book The Only Light Left Burning in this spoiler-filled discussion and answering multiple questions from listeners like yourself!! Make sure to follow us on IG: @yaokpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author James L. Sutter! James started his career writing for RPGs before shifting to Young Adult novels. Be sure to check out some of his amazing novels Darkhearts as well as The Ghost of Us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Producer Matt preparing for Comic Con, Erik promoting his new book The Only Light Left Burning (Buy a copy anywhere books are sold!) and Alyssa's travel schedule we have been a tiny bit swamped this month. So enjoy this throw back to Erik appearing on Alyssa's podcast Alyssa Explains It All where this friendship was first started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author Quinn Diacon-Furtado who tells us about their debut novel The Lilies. We dive into the inspiration behind the book, the insane heatwave of the east coast and how classic literature might not always be right for high school english classes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by author David Fenne who talks to us about his books Overemotional, Overthinking and the upcoming So Over It. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week instead of a guest we discuss some of our favorite summer reading memories from our Middle School and High School days. What books stuck with us, which ones did we hate, which ones did we lie about reading? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by Jennifer Dugan! Jennifer's book Hot Dog Girl is among some of the most banned books in America but that has not kept her from continuing to release a ton more beloved YA novels like Some Girls Do and Love at First Set! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by writer Rex Ogle who's book Road Home comes out this month closing out his memoir trilogy. Rex might be the most prolific writer we've had on so far, so we dive into how he is able to keep up with all his different series and stand alone stories that come out every year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week instead of a normal interview episode Alyssa, Erik and Producer Matt kick around what YA books they would love to see adapted to TV show and Movies. If you have a specific book you want to see adapted contact us on IG @yaokpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices