Two Hearts and One Braincell: Cassidy Carson & JT Hume Amateur Hour

James Raquepaw

James Raquepau shares insights into his writing journey, focusing on his semi-historical fantasy series, the Destiny Cycle. He discusses the challenges and joys of revisiting and expanding his work, the unique appeal of blending history with fantasy, and the intricate process of audiobook production and marketing.His books are inspired by Celtic history and legends, and he pays special attention to incorporating personal family elements into his characters. James also reflects on his own writing philosophy, the importance of character development, and offers valuable advice for aspiring authors.You can learn more about James at his website https://www.destinycycle.com/His books are available on Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Google, Smashwords, and IngramSpark. His social media includes Facebook and Instagram.+++Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers, publishers, and co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our human-authored book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast, “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” has recorded hundreds of episodes, and our mission is to “help writers write.”Two of our books were “Finalists” in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We support the Nevada Author Network with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.Our Website: ⁠www.carsonhume.com⁠Who We are: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/about/⁠Our Books: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/books-2/⁠Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/Our Business: ⁠https://twomoorebooks.com/⁠For those who listen on their way to work, we are on these fine podcast platforms: ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠Apple⁠, ⁠Pocket Casts⁠, and ⁠Radio Public⁠.Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.⁠please buy us coffee!

Farewell to 2025

Before we dive into the meat of today's show, CC and I will be doing a live podcast on YouTube on Wednesday, December 31 at 6:00pm Pacific time (Los Angeles time) just for the heck of it. It'll be our first live podcast, so a thousand things might go wrong (and probably will). We're hoping that you'll join us and ask questions.https://youtu.be/0U56RlxGnZgToday's podcast was the big flashback episode to a very busy 2025. We didn't realize just how busy. It started with the formation of our LLC to creating a second podcast that features Nevada literary artists. If you want to see the details, here's the list.One more important point: we're having a paperback sale over on our bookstore. Four titles for $12.99 (plus S/H/Tax) with a free backpack and bookmark thrown in for good measure. Details are here. Enjoy today's podcast, and as always, thank you for your kind attention. We couldn't do this without you. Happy New Year!+++Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers, publishers, and co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our human-authored book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast, “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” has recorded hundreds of episodes, and our mission is to “help writers write.”Two of our books were “Finalists” in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We support the Nevada Author Network with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.Our Website: ⁠www.carsonhume.com⁠Who We are: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/about/⁠Our Books: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/books-2/⁠Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/Our Business: ⁠https://twomoorebooks.com/⁠For those who listen on their way to work, we are on these fine podcast platforms: ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠Apple⁠, ⁠Pocket Casts⁠, and ⁠Radio Public⁠.Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.⁠please buy us coffee!

Gavin Black Part Deux

Returning to our podcast for a second engagement, Gavin Black discusses his latest book, “Journey Through the Forgotten,” which intertwines personal family stories with themes of Alzheimer's and Irish mythology. The conversation explores the emotional journey of dealing with memory loss, the writing process, and the influences that shape a writer's work.Gavin shares personal anecdotes, the challenges of publishing, and the joy of connecting with readers, especially children. The episode includes his reflections on unexpected life experiences and encouragement for aspiring writers with him noting that Life experiences, both good and bad, influence writing. Gavin encourages aspiring writers to follow their passions.You can learn more about Gavin on his website https://gavinblackwrites.com/His book, “The Friend Exchange,” is available on Amazon.You can also find him on Facebook.This podcast is also available on Spotify.+++Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers, publishers, and co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our human-authored book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast, “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” has recorded hundreds of episodes, and our mission is to “help writers write.”Two of our books were “Finalists” in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We support the Nevada Author Network with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.Our Website: ⁠www.carsonhume.com⁠Who We are: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/about/⁠Our Books: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/books-2/⁠Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/Our Business: ⁠https://twomoorebooks.com/⁠Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.⁠please buy us coffee!

Intimate Writing

Our mission here at the "CC & JT Amateur Hour" is to "help writers write," and part of our madness is to publicly examine our creative motivations. In this episode, we dive into why we write and don't write about graphic sex.This is not then general, ten-thousand-foot view that we've done in previous episodes. We talk about our motivations, challenges, and prejudices about our characters having sex in our books. We go deep and, as always, CC and I learn something new about each other, even after 40+ years of intimate monogamy.We ask our fellows writers to chime in on the subject: how far do your character go, and why or why not do you go there? Add your comments below. +++We send our thanks to Mr. Bill Brown for organizing the writers event at the Reno Public Market on Saturday, December 6. We had a lot of fun and managed to sell books. Win-win!If you want to us catch in person:Saturday, December 13: Nevada State Museum in Carson City.Sunday, December 14: Sierra Arts Foundation, Riverside Gallery, in Reno.CC is writing the sequels to her successful #PassionRestored novel with hopes of both books being released in 2026. The prequels to the “Serving Salvation” series that encompasses three novellas are being edited. Target release date: Valentines Day 2026. (Related: Finding Salvation Part One placed as a finalist in the Nov categories in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards.)We dropped the price of these e-books to 99¢ on Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google, and Kobo:A Sheriff in NevadaFinding Salvation Part OneFrom Tundra to TiaraHope Knocks TwiceLove and Death on I-80 West#PassionrestoredServing Salvation Book OneThe links to these magnificent works of literary art can be found on our Books page. This price change applies to the e-books only. If you’d like an autographed paperback, check out our online bookstore.Enjoy our podcast and, as always, thank you for your support.+++Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers and publishers and are the co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our human-authored book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast, “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” has recorded hundreds of episodes, and our mission is to “help writers write.”Two of our books were “Finalists” in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We support the Nevada Author Network with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.Our Website: ⁠www.carsonhume.com⁠Who We are: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/about/⁠Our Books: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/books-2/⁠Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/Our Business: ⁠https://twomoorebooks.com/⁠For those who listen on their way to work, we are on these fine podcast platforms: ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠Apple⁠, ⁠Pocket Casts⁠, and ⁠Radio Public⁠.Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.⁠please buy us coffee!

Vibes

Happy holidays to all who engage in joy and frivolity at this time of year which, considering the number of celebrations there are, means everyone.We're back from West Sacramento after Thanksgiving with the relations, something we're always happy to do. Added bonus: the trip gave us the topic of this week's podcast: getting outside of our comfort zones.Writers are very much creatures of habits, so sometimes our complacency needs a kick in the pants. For us, that meant two nights in the Embassy Suites where they wait on you hand and foot. We're so used to taking care of ourselves at hotels, so to have someone park our car and carry our luggage was surreal.But busting out of comfort zones gives writers material for their books and maybe, just maybe, fresh energy for their manuscript. Check out our discussion.If you want to us catch in person:Saturday, December 6: Reno Public Market in central Reno.Saturday, December 13: Nevada State Museum in Carson City.Sunday, December 14: Sierra Arts Foundation, Riverside Gallery, in Reno.CC is writing the sequels to her successful #PassionRestored novel with hopes of both books being released in 2026. The prequels to the "Serving Salvation" series that encompasses three novellas are being edited. Target release date: Valentines Day 2026. (Related: Finding Salvation Part One placed as a finalist in the Nov categories in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards.)We dropped the price of these e-books to 99¢ on Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google, and Kobo:A Sheriff in NevadaFinding Salvation Part OneFrom Tundra to TiaraHope Knocks TwiceLove and Death on I-80 West#PassionrestoredServing Salvation Book OneThe links to these magnificent works of literary art (😉) can be found on our Books page. This price change applies to the e-books only. If you’d like an autographed paperback, check out our online bookstore.Enjoy our podcast and, as always, thank you for your support.+++Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers and publishers and are the co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our human-authored book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast, “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” has recorded hundreds of episodes, and our mission is to “help writers write.”Two of our books were "Finalists" in the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We also support the Nevada Author Network with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.Our Website: ⁠www.carsonhume.com⁠Who We are: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/about/⁠Our Books: ⁠https://carsonhume.com/books-2/⁠Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/Our Business: ⁠https://twomoorebooks.com/⁠For those who listen on their way to work, we are on these fine podcast platforms: ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠Apple⁠, ⁠Pocket Casts⁠, and ⁠Radio Public⁠.Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.⁠please buy us coffee!