Grumpily Ever After Podcast
An uncensored podcast where swoon-worthy meets eye-rolling as I, an avid reader and adventure romance author, chat with my grumpy husband, who has inspired all of my book boyfriends written to date.
Grumpy-Sunshine: a romance trope where two characters with opposite personalities fall in love.
Grumpy: A pessimistic character who is often curmudgeonly
Sunshine: A positive and upbeat character
I’m sure I’ve written a few stories (out of 30 published books) that feature this trope, even if I can’t think of one right now.
Maybe Unbroken? Thea would be the Sunshine and Hunter the Grump?
Maybe Mac and Colton in Nothing But Trouble (written under my romance pen name, Scarlet St. James). Mac would be the snarky sunshine and Colton the broody, grumpy one, at least at first.
But the real story lies in my personal life.
Mr. Grumpy Pants - My husband (more specifically, curmudgeonly)
Mrs. Sunshine Chatter Box - Me (because someone’s gotta do it)
Now, I’m not talking about all facets of my personality, of course. If you ask my sister, I’m the rigid, always serious older sister.
Instead, I’m talking about love stories. About my grumpy husband who gripes like he’s 60 years old but hasn’t even hit 40 yet. Who dies a little inside each time someone uses the word “literally.” Who points out every time something is implausible in a movie.
Don’t get me wrong. My husband is the best person I know. Beneath his grumpy persona, is a man who would give a stranger the shirt off his back. He would step out of a line after waiting an hour in the blazing hot sun so he can help a woman who looks like she’s getting heatstroke. He’d stay with her in the shade until she could drive, and call her throughout the day to check in on her afterward.
He’ll meet his work crew at 5am on a weekend with coffee and donuts just to be nice, even though he HATES coffee with the passion of ten thousand summers.
He’s the guy who would propose to me in Big Sur, on a cliff at the ocean, shocking the shit out of me after eight years together.
He’s also the guy who would propose to me again a year later, and say something like, “Napa sucks, it’s too expensive. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right… Wanna get married in New Zealand instead?”
YES, PLEASE!
But as amazing as he is, he’s still a grumpy-ass curmudgeon, and as Mrs. Sunshine, I try to balance him out. It’s a natural dynamic between us, and it (mostly) works.
You’re likely wondering why the hell I would tell you any of this.
Well…
We had a conversation the other day that went a little bit like this:
ME: “I think it would be really fun if we did a podcast together. We could call it Grumpily Ever After because, you know, I write romance and Happily Ever Afters, and you don’t read, like at all. And you’re grumpy all the time.”
HIM: Glaring, he says, “I’d rather eat a Brazil nut.” *which he’s deathly allergic to*
ME: Chuckles (because he always makes me laugh). But I let it go.
HIM: (Moments later, he steps back into the room) “Do I get my own mic?”
ME LAUGHING SO HARD because clearly he’s interested in the idea. “You can have whatever mic you want.”
Well, he came home days later with his fancy mic he researched weeks to get, and finally found on Let Go. So, it’s official!
The Pogue House has a podcast - Grumpily Ever After.
This hasn’t been like any podcastings I’ve done in the past, but I think it’s going to be the most fun.
Most importantly, it’s a great way to meld the parts of our lives that are separate. Me, an author who is always writing or reading, and him, who never writes or reads anything for pleasure and thinks words like “romantasy” is the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. And, “What the hell is a trope?”
I hope you’ll join us for the ride as we fumble our way through this new chapter with grumbles, rumbles, and a lot of laughter.
You can now listen to Grumpily Ever After across all major platforms!