662. What’s Deeanne Gist Been Up To? With Dakota Lacoy

662. What’s Deeanne Gist Been Up To? With Dakota Lacoy

Author: Sarah Wendell April 11, 2025 Duration: 50:26

What happens when a bestselling and award winning author of historical inspirational romances decides, after a break of a few years, to write spicy contemporary?


If you’re Deeanne Gist, you start over from scratch as Dakota Lacoy.


Amanda and I were just asking recently what had happened to Deeanne Gist, who wrote some SBTB favorites like Tiffany Girl and Fair Play. Well, as Dakota Lacoy, she’s been busy setting up a series of hot contemporary romantic comedies set in Honky Tonk, Texas, a small town with a sordid history and the greatest pun-filled business names.


So my guest today is both Deeanne Gist and Dakota Lacoy, and we’re going to talk about everything – from writing historical inspirationals to figuring out how to introduce her old readers to her new name.


You can find Dakota Lacoy at her website, where you can buy all her books and sign up for her newsletter.


Dakota is also on Instagram, too.


The illustrator for Dakota Lacoy’s website is Axana Zasorina, who is on Instagram.


Music: Purple-planet.com


To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com

Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/smartpodcasttrashybooks


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


If you’ve ever felt a little defensive about loving romance novels, or just want to dive deeper into the books you can’t put down, Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast is your perfect companion. Host Sarah Wendell approaches the genre with a critic’s sharp mind and a fan’s enthusiastic heart, creating conversations that are as thoughtful as they are joyful. This isn’t just author interviews, though you’ll hear brilliant voices like Ilona Andrews, Sarah J. Maas, and the wonderfully unique Chuck Tingle. The scope of the podcast is deliberately wide, bringing in reviewers, librarians, editors, and publishing professionals to examine every facet of the romance world. You’ll get honest talk about tropes and trends, the business behind the books, and why these stories resonate so powerfully with millions of readers. Regular appearances from Amanda Diehl add another layer of camaraderie and insight. Listening feels like being part of a smart, welcoming book club where no opinion is dismissed and passion is a given. It’s a celebration of a genre that dominates fiction, explored with humor, intelligence, and genuine curiosity. Whether you’re a longtime devotee or a curious newcomer, this podcast offers a rich, engaging, and deeply human look at the stories we love.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast
Podcast Episodes
721. Exploring Platform Decay with Martha Wells [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:11
Martha Wells is back, and we are taking a deep spoilery dive into Platform Decay.I want to be clear here: if you haven’t read Platform Decay, we are about to spoil the dickens out of it. Yes, Charles Dickens is in Platfo…
720. RT Rewind: December 2012 Ads & Features [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:50
We’re back in the time machine, heading to December 2012 to look at the ads and features from Romantic Times magazine. This episode features a high amount of extreme zany. We’ve got so many treats for you this week, incl…
719. Tropetails, Books and Drinky Chatting with Amanda [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:12
We’re sampling Tropetails cocktail mixes, discussing what we’re reading and playing, and what books we’re looking forward to in the coming months.We were not paid to promote them, but we did receive free samples and they…
718. RT Rewind: December 2012 Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:22
We’re back in the time machine, heading back to December 2012 to see what new books were reviewed in Romantic Times magazine.We’ve got “multicultural” books, beefy paragraphs, big thorns, Schroedinger’s baby, and “charmi…
717. Archangel’s Finale with Nalini Singh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:35
Nalini Singh is back to talk about Archangel’s Eternity, which I have been calling “Archangel’s Finale.”We’ve got questions from readers and listeners, and some behind the scenes details about how Nalini organizes the ma…
715. Books, Wine & Nachos at Joie de Livres, with Claire Trottier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:40
Thanks for Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon (merci, Geoffrey!) my guest this week is Claire Trottier, owner of Joie de Livres, a romance and speculative fiction bookshop in Montreal, Canada. Hi Neighbors!We’re going to ta…
714. The Edge of Space-Time with Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:01
When you subscribed to this podcast, I bet you thought, “When is Sarah going to interview an expert on theoretical physics ?” Today is your day!My guest is Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein author of the book The Edge of Spac…
713. Enemies to Lovers with Alisha Rai [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:20
My guest this week is podcast community favorite Alisha Rai! We start off catching up on our history of podcasting together, our life changes, and the challenges of making children wear coats.Then it’s enemies to lovers…