Talking about sex can be awkward as hell. In the third episode of our tantalising podcast, we discuss ways to ignite your love life, even as a ‘vanilla’ person within a committed, monogamous relationship.
Ruby describes what she does to prepare for her sugar daddy encounters. She also tells us about her sexual renaissance following the birth of her children, and how her new diet (Paleo and Whole30), gives her the energy she needs to satisfy two sugar daddies and FP, as well as running around after her kids.
Plus, Sugar Daddy update: Ruby’s first date with the Brit.
Check it out here or on your favourite podcast platform. Listen to our 30-second taster here.
If you like what we’re doing, please rate, review and subscribe.
Has a song or a poem ever saved your life? Get in touch with us to let us know your story – we’d love to hear it.
We have an exciting new project in the pipeline where we’re talking to writers, artists, poets and other creators to find out what their thoughts are about this burning issue and if their work has ever affected someone so deeply it changed them.
And we’re not just leaving it up to other artists, we’re going to try to save you too – we’ll be writing 14 songs we hope will touch your cold, shrivelled hearts But will we succeed? Here’s our first attempt featuring a video by Amy Baker and starring the fabulous Urte Ugne Juodvirsyte.
Listen to the song on all audio platforms, including Spotify, Apple iTunes and more. New podcast series coming soon – watch this space… Please share and get in touch via fablegazers@gmail.com to share your stories too.’
You can hear the song on any platform if you search for Scarlet Starlings and watch the video here.
She speaks to the night
“Watch the girl walking alone
She’s never been home
Not for days, anyway.
Barefoot she speaks to the night
And she gets it right,
In the twilight it answers her.
She says, “Won’t you come in?
It’s not a sin, to see without looking.”
She stands, drinking it in,
her grin wasted on a sky full of stars.
She was the talk of the town
She’d walk around, looking over her shoulder.
And she never let anyone in,
Dark eyes and lies
kept us at a distance.
But sometimes, she still speaks to the night
The stillness around her
becomes her companion.
She says, “Won’t you come in?
It’s not a sin, to see without looking.”
She stands, drinking it in,
her grin wasted on a sky full of stars.”
She speaks to the night – ScarletStarlings. Sara Mae Tuson (Songwriting/arrangements, vocals, synth), Mike Scott (arrangements, bass, guitar), Scott Fitzgerald (producer/mixing engineer, bass and synths) & Andy Kemp (electric guitar).
Have you heard this episode of Sugar Baby Confessionals? Join us as we explore the idea of love through the eyes of sugar babies. Meet our second sugar baby, Madeleine, as well as more sugar daddies: Big Fish, Octocock and the Brit. Find out how the sugar babies structure their arrangements with their sugar daddies. Do their wives/other halves know? Can you still be loyal to someone and sleep with other people? Check it out here or listen on your favourite podcast platform.
Have you heard this episode yet? Over the next few weeks we’ll be taking a little tour through our award-winning podcast, The Sugar Baby Confessionals – so if you’re a fan keen to revisit, enjoy! And if you’ve yet to discover TSBC, you’re in for a treat!
In Episode 1, you’ll meet Ruby, Sara-Mae’s married BFF – a newbie to the sugar baby lifestyle. So, what exactly IS a sugar baby? Find out how Ruby got involved, as well as what the terms ‘vanilla’ and ‘hot-wiving’ mean. Get Ruby’s relationship and sex tips and enjoy a funny story about role-playing with her husband, FP. And meet our first sugar daddy of the series: Mankini.
Check out the 30-second clip here and have a listen to the full episode here. It’s also available on all podcast platforms. Beware – it’s compulsive listening!
It’s here … our final Heyer Today episode – and it’s packed with Heyer goodies for your delight! Sara-Mae talks to screenwriter Olivia Hetreed about her and hubby’s film version of The Grand Sophy and also talks about other literary adaptations she did (Wuthering Heights and Girl With A Pearl Earring). Peter Buckman chats about his podcast version of The Grand Sophy and Jen Kloester (Heyer’s biographer) discusses the alleged anti semitism in The Grand Sophy, arguing against cancelling Heyer.
We also visit Heyer on her deathbed in a very touching and emotional scene at the hospital with the love of her life, Ronald Rougier. Heyer is played by Sarah Golding and Ronald by the brilliant Karim Kronfli.
Karim Kronfli
There’s also a final book club featuring Beth Keehn’s twin Jane and her friends in Australia.
You can read the Smart Bitches Trashy Books article Jen Kloester mentions here.
Even though this is our last official episode, the Heyer extravaganza doesn’t stop here! We’re looking to collaborate with the Heyer Society and Jen Kloester on future bonus episodes.
Many thanks to everyone who supported us over the years, whether financially or with generous reviews. Beth and Sara-Mae have spent a long time on this podcast and each kind word has meant a great deal.
If you’d like to help us create bonus episodes and new series, please go to our Paypal page here – even small amounts can make a big difference.
The music used in this episode is from Emma Gattril’s luminous album, Chapter I, as well as Jerome Alexander’s cinematic Message to Bears work. Original music was composed especially for the podcast by Sara-Mae and Tom Chadd and their work will shortly be available on Spotify and Bandcamp or on request for people who donate to our Paypal.
Remember to rate and review the pod … it helps small indie companies like us to thrive.
Well, it’s been an epic few years producing Heyer Today…
… over which time, the world has been reshaped by a pandemic, writer & producer Sara-Mae has had a child, and she has met a huge community of Heyer admirers and fans. It’s been a tremendously rewarding process in which she’s gotten to reread the books she’s loved almost all her life and see them with fresh eyes, alongside our Heyer newbies.
Since she began this project, looking for Heyer content that was thin on the ground, new podcasts have sprung up and academic essays and conferences exploring the world Heyer created, as well as TV shows adapting the work of similar authors. All of which has made us hopeful that at long last, Heyer will get the recognition she deserves from critics and movie makers.
At Fable Gazers, we’d like to send out Special Thanks to:
Mike Scott, who helped with production, as well as a little acting here and there.
Rowan Scott for being an adorable addition to the Fable Gazers family.
Cat Warren and Will Dell for their help across the series with production. Michael Mandalis edited and recorded Sara-Mae’s bits throughout the season and he did a marvellous job.
Thanks also to Geraldine Elliot, Talitha Gamaroff and everyone who supported us in creating this work.
We could never have made this without the help of all the guests we’ve had on this season’s episodes. You’re all totally fabulous, even if you didn’t become converts.
We’d like to thank our wonderful cast: Helen Davidge as young Heyer, Beth Crane and Hedley Knight playing multiple roles, including Hedley as Heyer’s son, Richard (please check out their brilliant pod We Fix Space Junk, amongst many others), Fiona Thraille (playing Pat Wallace and others), Thomas and Holly Golding as young Boris and young Richard, John Grayson as Frere, Karen Heimdahl, Sara-Mae’s mother, Cathy Tuson as Sylvia, and Mike Scott, again. And a big shout out to our other amazing voice artists John Grayson and Karen Heimdahl.
You all helped to bring Heyer’s world to life, and we’re profoundly grateful to all of you.
Special thanks to Peter Buckman for all his kind assistance, and for letting us use selections from his adaptation of The Grand Sophy. Do go and find out more about it here.
Let’s stay connected on social media! We’re @fablegazers on Instagram and @fable_gazers on Twitter.
In our penultimate episode, Sara-Mae talks to Amy Street, who runs the @georgettedaily account on Twitter. She’s also a huge fan of Austen – her debut novel ‘Becoming Mary’ explores what happened to Mary Bennet after Pride & Prejudice. Her delightful selections of Georgette Heyer’s quotes are a wonderful, sunny oasis in the somewhat harsh social media landscape.
As well as discussing Heyer, Austen and their favourite novels, Sara-Mae and Amy also dip into the juicy topics of fan fiction and why it’s OK to love problematic heroes.
Plus, Stephen Fry is back with another guest appearance!
Here’s a quote from Amy Street to whet your appetite: “One of the great gifts that Freud has given to our culture is that our sexual fantasies are not to be censored in any way. They are beyond sin, they’re beyond political correctness. That’s the nature of sexual fantasy … We have to accept that our fantasy lives don’t necessarily reflect the person we might want to appear.”
Have a listen here and don’t forget to download, rate & recommend so we can reach more Heyerites & potential future fans!
Our last episode will be a doozy of a finale, with a heartbreaking audio drama scene from Heyer’s deathbed, featuring our fabulous stars Sarah Golding and Karim Kronfli.
On top of this, we’ll finally hear what happened to the film version of The Grand Sophy, as Peter Buckman and screenwriter Olivia Hetreed will update us on developments. We’ll also have one final batch of newbies reading TGS – a real life Aussie book club. And what’s more, it’s run by Jane Keehn, twin to our very own Beth.
And such a lovely Twitter thread from a fan of Heyer Today and @georgetteheyerpodcast (an excellent show, highly recommend). It means so much to hear something like this!
We look forward to seeing you next week for our penultimate episode, an interview with Amy Street of @georgettedaily, a huge Heyer AND Austen fan, which includes a bonus appearance from Stephen Fry!
After the season ends, we plan to bring you some occasional bonus episodes in the future too!
Thank you so much for all your support in listening, rating and reviewing us!
Can we convert two more people who’ve NEVER read Heyer, the underappreciated author of hilarious and charming Regency romances and detective novels?
In our latest book club episode and our last episode of 2021, we talk about ‘Black Sheep’ with Emma Moran, winner of the 2019 Thousand Films award, and Margaret Sutherland, Project Coordinator for Transcribimus living in Vancouver, Canada, who’s been encouraged to read ‘Black Sheep by one of my very first victims, Geraldine – her niece by marriage (see episode 6, Faro’s Daughter).
Emma’s a Northern Irish writer and comedian, based in London. She began writing and performing sketch comedy and stand up while at UCL and took a sketch show, Galpals, to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe. Most excitingly, she’s recently had her first TV show, Extraordinary, greenlit for Disney+. She’s also written and produced comedy sketches for The Hook, as well as Newsjack. We got together in that hallowed time in the distant past before the ‘rona virus turned us all into bitter recluses.
Margaret Sutherland
Margaret Sutherland is a Project Coordinator for Transcribimus living in Vancouver, Canada. She kindly read Black Sheep with me, encouraged by her niece by marriage, Geraldine – one of my very first victims (see episode 6, Faro’s Daughter). We’ll also be travelling back in time to 1966 to take a look at what Heyer was up to when writing the book.
Tune in here and don’t forget to download, rate & recommend so we can reach more Heyer fans & future converts!
Wow! Thanks so much for all your support! Every download and share makes a difference.
If you appreciate our work and would like to make a donation for future projects (like our exciting upcoming ‘This Song May Save You‘), that would be a lovely Xmas pressie for us hardworking bunch here on the team (or maybe keeping us in cups of tea for next year)!
In this week’s literary aural feast, we discuss charming twins-themed romance False Colours with two fabulous ladies who are also Heyer newbies: Jenni Waugh, who has worked on the Jane Austen Centre website and social media channels in Bath, and Rhiannon Shaw, a comedian and writer who’s written for The Daily Mash, BBCs Newsjack, Succubus Magazine and TurtleCanyon.com.
False Colours paints a fascinating picture of family life during the Regency era. We also explore some little-known facts about sex work in the 18th century!
Lots of juicy Jane Austen discussion in this episode too … We’ve also enjoyed exploring Victoire Sanborn’s Jane Austen blog. You can check out this short story of Georgette’s here.
*Please note that we’ve mispronounced ‘Evelyn’ in this podcast episode – it should be ‘Eve-a-lin’ rather than ‘Ev-a-lin’*.
Tune in here and don’t forget to rate, recommend & review us so we can reach more podcast lovers and Heyer fanatics (& future converts!). We’re available on all good podcast players, iTunes, Spotify or Amazon Music.
An interview with author Joanne Harris about all things Heyer
In our latest Heyer Today episode, author Joanne Harris (MBE) explores why Heyer’s books have yet to be made into films, in spite of being utterly delightful.Best known for her delicious and highly successful novel Chocolat, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche, Joanne is very well placed to be able to talk about the difficulties of adapting a book into film.
Not only that, she’s also a huge Heyer fan. Joanne is outspoken about author’s rights, but does so with pith and humour, and lists her hobbies as “mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion of the system”.
Join Sara-Mae and Joanne Harris as they tuck in to a tasty discussion of Georgette Heyer and what makes her work so satisfying to those of us who love her.
“You’re in [her] world all the time and you’re completely immersed, even though you’re aware that there is a certain amount of mockery and subversion going on. But it doesn’t tip the balance too much; it doesn’t stop you from enjoying that immersion.” – Joanne Harris
As well as the difficulties of having a film adapted, we talk about a myriad of other things such as food in books, the trivialisation of romantic and historical fiction when a woman writes, and the importance of appreciating different things at different ages.
We dabble in heroines and talk about ‘These Old Shades’, ‘Faro’s Daughter’, ‘The Grand Sophy’, and ‘April Lady’. Joanne’s appetite for life expresses itself through her work and the appreciation she exhibits for beauty in writing which is lyrical, delicate and yet at the same time earthy.
But her greatest skill is evocation, tugging at the threads and sinews that bind the mind and heart.
“[In Heyer’s novels], There’s this idea that if you are honest and open and kind, then you are never really going to fall foul of the people who matter.”
“A lot of the time even fantasy historical seems to have women in very subservient, very passive, very restricted roles. Whereas Heyer’s heroines don’t seem to have this. They’re always either climbing out of windows or buying monkeys for people without permission, or setting people on fire in cellars…they’re out of control, I love that element of them.” – Joanne Harris
Have a listen here and don’t forget to rate, recommend & review us so we can reach more podcast lovers and Heyer fanatics (& future converts!). We’re available on all good podcast players, iTunes, Spotify or Amazon Music.
But will we succeed? Here’s our first attempt featuring a video by 
Fable Gazers 
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