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FULL TRANSCRIPT: Isabella Kamal Samples The Temple of Persephone
[00:00:00] Katherine Grant: Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast. The place for you to find new historical romance books and authors to fan over. I'm award winning historical romance author Katherine Grant, and each week I'm inviting fellow authors to come on and share a little bit of their work and themselves.
They'll read a sample of one of their books, and then I'm going to ask them a bunch of questions. By the end of the episode, you'll have a sense of what they write and who they are. Hopefully, you and I both will have something new to read. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into this week's episode.
We are here today with the debut author Isabella Kamal. Isabella is an Iraqi Muslim historical romance author, and growing up in the Middle East, she had very little access to romance novels. But once she got hold of one, she never looked back. Now calling Los Angeles home, she can usually be found in independent bookstores after long days spent developing stem cell therapies.
So Isabella, I'm very excited to have you here. Thank you so much for joining the podcast.
[00:01:11] Isabella Kamal: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
[00:01:14] Katherine Grant: Yeah, absolutely. I know you're reading for us from your debut, The Temple of Persephone. Yes. Is there anything about the story or the scene that we should know before you jump into it?
[00:01:26] Isabella Kamal: Yes, so our heroine, Persephone Honeyfield, has just broken into Gallowsgate, which she believes to be abandoned, but is actually the estate of our hero, and he has just caught her there. So that's pretty much all we need to know. Awesome. Okay, this is chapter five for anyone who's curious. Aidan had been sulking in the gallery when a noisy creak resounded through the house, followed by the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway into the library.
He had assumed it was Baker, accidentally bringing the tea tray to the wrong room. That was what he had expected to find, at least. What he hadn't expected was to see a woman at the top of the ladder that leaned against the shelves, reaching for a book. He also hadn't expected said book to be dropped right onto his head, but that was his fault for quietly approaching before announcing himself.
Bending down, he picked the large volume up off the floor. The words "mythology of ancient Greece" were pressed into the dark green leather in intricate silver lettering. He turned to the woman, finally able to get a good look at her. The words that had been ready to leave his mouth were quickly lost as he took in the sight of her, hanging onto the rungs of the ladder and staring at him with brown eyes the size of saucers.
She looked like a little forest nymph, clad in a white dress that appeared a little worse for wear. The hem was muddied and parts of it were torn to pieces. His eyes slid up to her hair, so short that it may as well have been fashioned after a man's. It stuck out haphazardly in every direction, revealing a high forehead.
The light that filtered through the window illuminated her, making her hair shine in shades of golden honey, and her skin glowed with freckles that appeared to be composed entirely of sunlight. She stared down at him, eyes curious. The silence stretched on, an unreadable expression on her face. She remained high above him, knuckles white from her grip on the ladder.
"I'm very sorry," she squeaked, making no move to descend. "Whatever for?" He replied, despite knowing that she was technically trespassing on his property and therefore did owe him an apology. She raised an eyebrow. "For dropping the book on your head?" He looked down at the book and then back at her. "Of course."
She was no conventional beauty, yet he was sure he'd never come across a more bewitching creature. "What does the cover say?" She demanded, squinting at the book he held in his hands. "Mythology of ancient Greece," he replied. She sighed. "That's not right." "It isn't?" She scaled down a few rungs and wedged herself against the land ladder, making a seat out of it.
Up close, he saw that everything about her was small, down to her delicate, slender fingers. She reached for the book with one hand, the back of which was dusted with freckles. Aiden wasn't quite sure how to put a name to the emotion coursing through him. Curiosity? Confusion? Or, and thinking this almost had him wincing outwardly in embarrassment, was it attraction?
How long had it been since he'd been alone with a woman? "My name is Persephone," she said. Of course it was. He was hallucinating the physical embodiment of a goddess staring down at him with large, questioning eyes. He continued to study her small face, her slender neck, the unbearably luscious swell of her bosom, the-- "And yours?"
He lifted his eyes back to her face. "I beg your pardon?" "Your name?" "My apologies," he said quickly. He gave an awkward bow. "Aidan Barrington." "You aren't supposed to be here," she said slowly, a frown marring her delicate features. "Aren't I? Gallowsgate belongs to my family," he said, feeling equal parts dazed and confused.
Her dark eyebrows shot up. "Yes, but you don't live here, do you?" "No," he corrected quickly. "I live in London. I'm just visiting." "Oh," she exhaled, her shoulders relaxing. "I wouldn't have climbed into the window had I known anyone was here. Everyone in the village said this place was abandoned." "It is," he told her.
"Well, partially, but what are you doing here?" This was his house, after all. The idea that any number of people might have climbed through the window over the last decade and gone through what was left of his family's possessions brought a twinge of discomfort and the urge to guard Gallowsgate from prying eyes.
With Baker as its only guardian, Gallowsgate may very well have become an easy target for anyone curious to know what remained within its walls. Granted, the woman before him did not exactly give the impression of a thief, and if she was, she was not a very good one. Persephone gave him a blank stare. "I'm looking for a book."
"I gathered," he said wryly, "why here? It's not often people go looking for books in abandoned houses." "I have reason to believe what I'm looking for is here. I did not choose a random house to search through, I'll have you know." "No, of course not," he murmured, struck by the oddness of the exchange. "What book are you after exactly?
Perhaps I can help." It was a ridiculous thing to say, given that he hadn't been to Gallows Gate in years and had absolutely no clue what books the library even held. "It's called Mythology of the Greeks and Romans," she said. "And Mythology of Ancient Greece won't suffice?" "No, it won't," she paused. "It'll have the same stories, I'm sure, but it isn't what I'm looking for."
He looked up at her. "Do the mortals tell your tale correctly in books, Persephone?" She hesitated, and he wondered if he'd overstepped. God, he was rusty. "No," she replied. "I'm afraid they do not." "Is that so?" "For one, I was not dragged into the underworld kicking and screaming," she said mildly. He gave her a curious look.
Persephone lifted her chin. "I went of my own volition, and I was not tricked into eating those pomegranate seeds. I asked to have them." He chuckled. "You wish to remain in the Underworld?" She nodded. "The Underworld needed a queen, and I needed a change from the monotony of spring." "How fortunate for Hades that he was able to capture your heart."
Color crept across her cheeks and Aiden felt a thrill at having caused her to blush, that she had broken into Gallowsgate, was already forgotten." "I'm not quite sure he has, though I am certain I've captured his," she replied, eyes glittering mischievously before shifting back to the shelves that lined the wall.
"Would you help me? Find the book I need." "Of course," he said, a touch too quickly. "It belongs to my family," she blurted out, pushing mythology of ancient Greece back into its proper place. "I'm not looking to steal anything from you." "You'd be welcome to it either way," he said, hoping he sounded polite instead of desperately foolish.
"I'm not really one for books." "That's a shame," she said, looking down at him. "Perhaps you ought to try something new." It was not what she was referring to, but he had the distinct feeling that his something new was staring right at him. "What would you recommend?" "depends on what you've already read," she said, eyes scanning the room, "and it depends on what you've enjoyed.
You'll have to think on it." He was enjoying this. He hadn't enjoyed something so much in the ten years since he'd taken on his father's business. Who knew that running into a strange wisp of a woman in his library would be just the thing to bring him back to life? Suddenly intent on pleasing her, Aiden began to look through the shelves, hunting for the book she was so desperate to find.
They searched in perfect silence, occasionally checking in with one another, until Persephone let out a long, exasperated sigh from the ladder, which now sat two bookshelves down from where it had originally been propped. "Where is it?" she grumbled. "I doubt I'll get back before Venus and Papa now." "Back?"
"To Honeyfield," she explained. "I live there with my sister and father." Honeyfield. When Ezra first mentioned it, it was as if Aidan had never heard the name at all. It had been so long since he'd thought of Oxbury at large. The only part that had lived on in his mind was Gallowsgate, isolated and oppressive.
Nothing else had existed in his memories, mostly because nothing else had really mattered. His father had not allowed them to mix with the other families beyond going to the village, though a part of him vaguely recalled his mother receiving visitors while Charles had been away, perhaps someone from Honeyfield.
How else would the book have found its way here? The only thing he was certain of was that he and Persephone had never met. He would have remembered her. "The honey," he murmured. "My friend Ezra's at Honeyfield." "Oh," she gasped. "You know Mr. Haskett." "We came here together." "Why aren't you at Honeyfield then?" She asked.
"Surely you've come for the same reason as Mr. Haskett." "Not quite," he said. "Only Ezra's here for honey. I'm here for a change of scenery." She nodded as if all had been clarified. "I see. Well, I really should return. If you don't mind, I'll come back another time to look for the book. Or you could let me know if you come across it.
I doubt you'd want me back here tracking mud on your floors." He frowned. What could he do to keep her from leaving so soon? "Stay for tea," he blurted out. "I shouldn't," she said quietly, making her way down the ladder. He quickly approached her and offered his hand. She hesitated for a moment before slipping her delicate hand in his.
Pure electricity shot through him at the contact, the force of it dizzyingly delicious. She had to have felt it too. What were the odds of their meeting? What were the odds of it being so perfect? Free from the wandering eyes of society, free from propriety, free from the presence of nosy gossips. Perfect didn't even begin to do it justice.
At that moment Persephone's boot caught the torn hem of her muddied white dress. A loud tearing sound cut through the room, and in less than a second she had toppled off the ladder and straight into his arms, a large chunk of white muslin hanging pathetically onto the rest of her dress by a thread. He could feel the warmth of her, one hand against her back, the other having found purchase underneath her now bare knees.
She blinked at him, cheeks crimson, the force of her heart beat apparent even to him. "I am so," she began, voice hoarse. "Are you," he said precisely at the same time. Neither of them could complete their thoughts, because without any warning, Ezra burst into the room. He was accompanied by a tall elderly gentleman, a young woman with blonde curls, and a middle aged couple who looked absolutely stricken.
"Oh. No," Persephone whispered, barely audible. She wiggled in his arms. "Put me down." Aiden snapped out of his daze and slowly lowered her to the ground, clearing his throat. "Ezra, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." "I can see that," Ezra said cheerfully. Aiden shot him a look that made the smile disappear off Ezra's face.
"Everyone was curious to see Gallowsgate," Ezra explained. "I thought we could have tea here before returning to Honeyfield for the rest of the demonstration." "And it seems we arrived at the perfect moment," the middle aged woman said, her horror seemingly forgotten as she began to practically vibrate with glee.
"There was no perfect moment, Mrs. Harding," Persephone corrected sharply. "A lover's rendezvous," Mrs. Harding said in a loud stage whisper to the man next to her. "Persephone," the blonde woman, cried out, hands flying to her mouth. "I was just," Persephone sighed in exasperation. "I came here to look for the book, Venus."
Venus's attention turned to Aiden, eyes widening as she examined him. "Did you, did you find it?" "No," Persephone said. "In fact, I was about to return home." "Such scandal," Mrs. Harden crowed, "and in Oxbury too, and to have Miss Honeyfield in the center of it is simply--" "There is no scandal," Persephone protested. She looked up at Aiden pleadingly.
"Tell them there is no scandal." "Miss Honeyfield is correct," he said stepping forward. "I was only assisting in her search for a book." "Alone, Mr. Barrington?" Mrs. Harding asked. It seemed he could not be free of gossips, not even in Oxbury, so much for the perfection of their encounter. "Mr. Barrington," Venus said slowly, as if testing his name out, "Aidan Barrington, aren't you the lord of the dead?"
"Excuse me," Persephone said, putting her hands on her hips. Aidan let out a long exhale, barreling through him. "So he is," Mrs. Harding exclaimed, "we heard all about it from Mrs. Murphy when she returned from London." "Right," Persephone interrupted, "I think we have taken far too much of Mr. Barrington's time already."
"We have not, however, been given sufficient explanation as to your activities here," Mrs. Harding insisted. "Look at her dress, the poor thing's almost had it torn right off her." "This time," Aiden saw that even Venus was casting a look of utter astonishment at the older woman. Mrs. Harding was hell bent on conjuring a scandal out of this particular misunderstanding, and there was nothing anybody could do to stop her.
"Such an unfortunate situation your daughter has found herself in, Mr. Honeyfield, and with the Lord of the Dead, no less," Mrs. Harding continued with clearly feigned sympathy. "Thank goodness your dear wife is not here to see this. Her eldest daughter ruined. She simply would not have been able to cope." "Mrs.
Harding," Venus chastised. "Do not think you are unaffected by this, my dear," Mrs. Harding said, beady eyes darting to Venus. "What gentleman would willingly marry into a family stained by such impropriety? Oh, what a waste of your beauty. The entire village was quite convinced you'd be the one to marry well.
Surely you did not foresee being forced to remain at Honeyfield for the rest of your days with your ruined sister in tow. I shudder to think what will become of the two of you now." Venus's cheeks flushed crimson. "I think we'll--" "Papa," Persephone interjected desperately, turning toward the thin man who had thus far been silent.
"There is no scandal to speak of, Mrs. Harding," Mr. Honeyfield said, his words measured and slow. "This was not the way we wished to announce the news, but my daughter and Mr. Barrington are," he paused here as the entire room awaited his final word, "engaged." Aiden's mouth dropped open just as Persephone let an entirely unladylike curse slip from her lips.
Ezra, meanwhile, gave Aiden a smug smile, "and you said there was nothing to be found in Oxbury."
[00:14:34] Katherine Grant: Wow, what a delightful scene. Oh my gosh. That was just a joy to hear. Thank you for reading it for us. Thank you. Well, I have a lot of questions for you, but first we're going to take a break for our sponsors.
Hey samplers! It's Katherine Grant. I am interrupting this episode to tell you how to get a free book, the Viscount Without Virtue. First, go to bit.ly/hrs fan, go through the checkout process. This is where you add the promo code, HR SFAN as your last step. Just download your free ebook to your ereader.
Alright, well let's get back to this week's episode.
All right, and we are back with Isabella Kamal who just read a sample from the Temple of Persephone, a very engaging scene that is clearly setting up a lot. One of the things that is clear from both the book description and from that scene is that this is a story inspired by the myth of Persephone and Hades.
So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about where that came from for you and whether you always knew this book would be a retelling and then how you approached it.
[00:15:51] Isabella Kamal: So for me, it came from just like being a Greek myth kid as a child. You know, like you're either like an ancient Egypt kid or a space kid or a dinosaur kid.
I was just a Greek myth kid. Cause I went to like a British primary school and we had something every year that was, they called like topics and I think it was like fifth grade where they were like, we're going to talk to you about ancient Greece and Rome and I was just so hooked. And my mom always used to do this thing where like whatever we were learning at school, she would buy me and my sister's like books to support that.
So she bought us this book called like It's called like the Greek gods. It was just like a very like child friendly Greek mythology thing. And I remember reading it. I still remember getting to Hades and Persephone and being like, that's so cool. Like that is such a cool explanation for the seasons, like genius.
And the thing about me is that when I like love something, it's not lightly. So Greek mythology kid just screw up into Greek mythology adult. Like I'm not really growing out of things. And so every time I used to like sit down and try to write something, it would be like a little Greek mythology inspired.
I think it just felt right and natural to do that as I was like starting out. And then when I was writing Persephone, I like to call it, yeah, I like to call it Greek mythology themed because it's not a one to one directory telling, right? I don't have like a meter figure, for example. As I was writing it I could, I could have probably told the story without the Greek mythology flavoring, but it also didn't feel like that worked as well.
It felt like more fun. And I know that people are so enticed by like Hades and Persephone. The way I am, and I think the appeal of it is kind of probably what it like draws us to like Beauty and the Beast, right? It's like two characters who Are like different from each other, but also weirdly on the same side of the different sides of the same coin.
Yeah, so for me, it just felt like it was always going to be Greek myth inspired. And also because I think your debut should just be like as much of a love letter to yourself as possible. So I was like, well, what would I have wanted to read? Like When I was like really in my Greek myth phase or maybe when I was a teenager.
And so that's why I wrote this book. I love that.
[00:18:09] Katherine Grant: Did you always interpret the Hades Persephone story to be a romance? Or did that come after you got into romance?
[00:18:20] Isabella Kamal: I always interpreted it to be a romance because, well, for one thing, because the first version I read of it was so sanitized because it was so child friendly.
So in my mind, I was like, this is, this is Beauty and the Beast, right? Which I also love. And then as I grew up, obviously I was like, Okay, well, I don't think I had all the details of this, but and I think certainly you could read the myth and take it in a non romantic fashion, but being somebody who loves romance and has always just like lead toward romantic stories, I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna read it, you know, I can read it as romantic and I can there are interpretations that Romantic, and so it's, I guess it's really up to, it's really up to the readers, like, how they want to take that myth because it can definitely go both ways.
But I, I always found it a little bit romantic in, in that, like, Beauty and the Beast type way, right? She may not necessarily want to be there at the start, but then they, like, can slowly fall in love.
[00:19:22] Katherine Grant: Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. And I think one of the great things about writing with this. Greek mythology flavoring, as you said, is that we've had the Greek mythology flavoring in a lot of different media for millennia now.
So there are a lot of, as you're building your illusions, it makes the text really rich. So were you influenced by any of other retellings? Like I'm, the one that jumps to my head is Hadestown, the musical. You know, are there any of those that you were pulling from as well?
[00:19:54] Isabella Kamal: Not really, I love Hadestown by the way, I'm a huge musical nut, like, as soon as I came to LA I like, ran to see it, but not really, honestly, I think I was just very much running, I just was taking from what, like, I like, from, from the myth, and then just like, leaving the rest of it behind, obviously I like, read a lot of retellings, and it's really interesting to me, all the different ways that you can like, work with one story, so this one does feel like very much Isabella's where I was like, I'm going to pick this and do this and leave the rest of this out because I don't want it.
[00:20:29] Katherine Grant: Yeah. Well, I love it. I love what you said about the debut being a love letter to yourself because it sounds like you really got to honor the story that has been resonating with you since you were in fifth grade and started learning about the Greek mythology. And then also about to honor your love of romance and put them together.
So how, how old were you when you first did get to romance?
[00:20:55] Isabella Kamal: So this is gonna be like, really surprising to people because I feel like a lot of romance authors are like, I started reading it at like, 11 or something. But I grew up in a place where like, you, you were not likely to like, go to, especially at the time.
You couldn't go to a bookstore and see like, all the romance novels on the shelf. So, and like, my, my mom didn't have any either. And so, I would like, read other books and I would always like, cling to whatever like, tiny, read of romance there was in them, even if it was not the main plot. So I was definitely always like love romance.
By the time I actually, so two things happened. One, once at the bookstore, something slipped through and I think it's, it went, and it was historical romance and I think It was because the cover was just like a woman in this pretty dress. And so whoever was buying the books for the store was like, what could possibly be in here?
Anyway, there was a lot in there because I bought it. They had like, they had shelved it with Shakespeare. I'm like a big Shakespeare person. So I had been like, I was like in that aisle and I was like, this is not Shakespeare. It was actually historical romance anthology. So certain things did slip through.
I had read a couple of contemporaries. My habit had this like epistolary series back in like the 2000s and so I would read those, but they were all very like fade to black and honestly reading them, I was like, do people live like this? Like, I know that sounds insane, but also you, we have to understand like where I was growing up and how sheltered I was or I was like Is, is that like, like, I knew it was real, but at the same time I was like, is that a thing?
Like, I don't know. So when I got, I bought that anthology of historical romance and and oh my god, I like started reading it and I remember I had started reading it like like on a Friday and then Saturday I stayed until bed until 4 p. m. because I couldn't stop reading it. It definitely drew me in more than any other contemporary one had and I think it's because, I don't know, historical heroines felt like me a little bit.
I know what it's like to be in a community where you're always being watched, maybe potentially judged, like there's that lack of freedom a little bit and I just want to, I, I also should say, like, that was my experience. I also do not consider myself as having been, like, oppressed. I have to say that as an Arab person, because sometimes people will hear me say these things and be like, oh, all of our stereotypes about the Middle East are right.
We're just very sheltered, right? I had a lot of freedoms, I just didn't have access to romance novels, right? So so, yeah, and then, and so I read it, and it was, I, I, to this day I can't find it. I legitimately want to find this so bad, it had like a purple cover. I remember only one story because it had a scarred hero, and I was like, I can get into this plot twist, still into that, obviously.
Oh, half his face is burnt off, like, oh my God, like if only someone would love him. So so yeah, I was just like obsessed with that. And then later a family friend visited actually from, from the States. And she left like a Debbie Macomber book in our, in our apartment and so it just found its way onto the shelf and one day I was like what is this I'm gonna read it and that was probably like my first full length romance novel that actually had like sex on the page and you know was it was, it was like a romance set on a ranch so like very far from like from like historical.
But it was still like so fascinating for me to read because I just hadn't read stories like that. I was probably about 16 at the time, which is like late for people to come to romance, honestly.
[00:24:39] Katherine Grant: Yeah. Yeah. That's very interesting. I also was a late to life romance reader. I really didn't get into it until my 20s.
But I did read Meg Cabot. a lot in high school. Are you thinking of the, like, Boy Meets Girl series?
[00:24:54] Isabella Kamal: Yes, that's exactly the one.
[00:24:56] Katherine Grant: I still have my copies of that. I used to just read it over and over and over again. And I, like, every three years or so, I'm like, it's time for a reread.
[00:25:06] Isabella Kamal: Yes, they're so fun. I was, I had never read, like, an epistolary novel either, and I know that you just wrote one as well, right?
And, like,
[00:25:12] Katherine Grant: Yes, and those were, like, baked in as I was writing this. I was like, I'm living my Meg Cabot dreams.
[00:25:18] Isabella Kamal: I was actually wondering that because I know it's like letters and like menus and like all these little tidbits. I was like, listen, this is very Meg Cabot boy meets girl series. Yes. Yeah, those were the ones that I had, I had been reading as a teenager and I read her like, I read like obviously the princess diaries and also her mediator series.
Which,
[00:25:36] Katherine Grant: oh my god, I loved the Mediator series.
[00:25:38] Isabella Kamal: Yeah, so definitely like a little bit of romance, but if we're talking about like the romance novel as like, you know, there's sex on the page and the romance is the main plot was probably a little later than.
[00:25:50] Katherine Grant: Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. When I was in high school, my family lived in Poland and In terms of English language books, there weren't that many available. There was like, the American bookstore, which had what you might find in an airport. And then there was the school library, which definitely didn't have romance books. And as far as I can remember, the American bookstore really didn't either.
And so, very different circumstances from you. But still, I also just kind of like, didn't have access to the books that I would have been drawn to.
[00:26:22] Isabella Kamal: Yeah. And like, honestly, it's strange because in retrospect, I was like, I don't think it's safe necessarily to not have access to romance novels. Cause if you're living in any kind of like conservative society where nobody really talks to you about anything, right.
Sometimes books are the only place that you can learn things and if someone is going to learn about relationships and sex I would prefer if they did it through romance novels potentially. Right. Like, you know, like obviously early on we had romance novels where there was a lot of dubious consent but then as we moved away from it you have like really good really good framework for what relationships are
can look like, right? Healthy ones. And so, and sometimes I think to myself, like, I don't think that's safe to not even have access to that, right?
[00:27:10] Katherine Grant: Right. Even when romance novels are not didactic or are not you know, not that realistic, they still are saying, hey, When you have a romantic relationship, it can be important to you, and it can also be very positive in your life, and you can be partners.
And so it's not necessarily that people are like, I'm gonna read this romance novel so I know how to have sex, but I'm gonna read this romance novel so I know how I might want to feel about having sex.
[00:27:38] Isabella Kamal: Exactly, and I think that's like the fear some people have, where they're like, oh my god, if my child reads a romance novel, they're gonna be right out the door.
I'm like First of all, no. I would have not left my room for anything. I'm still like, no. I don't think readers are the, are the type to like, want to exit the comfort of their room to go into the world. But yeah, I think that's the fear. But it's like, if I strip everything away from romance novels, it's like, Hey, it's okay that you want to be emotionally fulfilled and also physically fulfilled if that's what you like as well, like, that's all they're telling us, right, because you get a lot of pushback to where it's like, it's so unrealistic.
I'm like, not when I strip it down to bare bones. I don't think I'm going to be whisked away by like some Duke with like a scar on his face. I mean, I would love it at this point in my life. I say that out of sheer exhaustion, like just like being alive. But I, but that's not what, like, we're taking from it, right?
And that's not the expectation that's setting. Yes.
[00:28:43] Katherine Grant: Yeah, I agree completely. And also I think, actually, if you give kids, teenagers, access to romance novels, they might be satisfied by the romance novel and not feel the need to go out and have those experiences themselves yet. At least that was the kind of kid I was.
[00:28:59] Isabella Kamal: Yeah, I, I did not feel any need to do anything, honestly. I was very, like, I mean, I think we discount, like, how, how much it, like, feeds creativity and maybe makes somebody want to, like, write and, and express themselves so there's so much good that can come out of it and I, I honestly don't think there's any bad that can come out of reading a book
in general. So yeah, I think I think it's good to like make them available and let people have access to them.
[00:29:30] Katherine Grant: Yeah, I love that. All right. Well, it is time to find out, Isabella, are you a romantic?
Are you a romantic?
Which do you trust more, your heart, your gut, or your brain?
[00:29:47] Isabella Kamal: Like my knee jerk reaction to this is I'm an anxious person, so none of them.
But probably once I like get over the anxiety, I think I go with my brain more than anything.
[00:29:58] Katherine Grant: That tracks for a scientist. Do you believe in love at first sight?
[00:30:05] Isabella Kamal: I do not and this is just like an Isabella Brain thing, I really have to like, know people before I like, love them. I think you can certainly, like, or I can certainly look at someone and be like, Oh, that person is very attractive, but I don't believe in love at first sight.
[00:30:25] Katherine Grant: So, is there a difference between lust and love?
[00:30:28] Isabella Kamal: Yes, absolutely. I, there are like two separate things, to be honestly. Like, I'm sure, like, one leads into the other. Like, I'm sure for a lot of people and sometimes for others it's like the opposite. Like, love will lead to lust, so. But I do think they're quite different.
Do you believe in soulmates?
I do, but not just romantic ones. So I just believe in soulmates across the board, right? Like I have, like my friends are my soulmates and my sisters are my soulmates. And so I believe in soulmates in like a very wide encompassing way.
[00:31:06] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in true love?
[00:31:09] Isabella Kamal: I do believe in true love, like I'm, I'm a very like, pragmatic person, but there are some parts of me that are like, still so like, caught in that, you know, fairy tale, like, I, I like to believe that it's true, like I do believe in true love, but I also think that you can have, and I know it doesn't make sense, it's an oxymoron, I think you can have multiple true loves.
Because I know true implies like one true love, but I think you can have multiple.
[00:31:39] Katherine Grant: Why is romantic love important?
[00:31:42] Isabella Kamal: I think any type of love that demands vulnerability of us is really important, right? And I think I like to hold all types of love, like on the same level kind of, because I don't think it's great emotionally to like rank them in your mind.
But I think romantic love demands the most vulnerability out of all of the different types of love. So I think it's like very important for that because I think it's, I think it's Especially now, I sometimes feel like vulnerability is so discouraged, right? In a lot of like little different ways.
It's like, like vulnerability has died like through a thousand little cuts a little bit. And so anything that demands it of us or makes us practice it and exercise it. exercise it, I think is really, really important.
[00:32:32] Katherine Grant: That is very well said. I am going to deem you a realistic romantic.
[00:32:40] Isabella Kamal: Okay, that makes sense.
[00:32:42] Katherine Grant: And I suspect that a younger Isabella was a romantic and that it has been whittled down, but you're still in there, a romantic at
[00:32:51] Isabella Kamal: heart. I'm still in there. I think I'm a romantic deep down, but externally I was like, my god, I've been beaten down so much.
[00:33:00] Katherine Grant: Well, it's a good thing you write romance novels so we can honor the romantic in you.
[00:33:04] Isabella Kamal: Exactly. Like, yeah, that comes from like the very depths of my romantic heart. So it's still there.
[00:33:11] Katherine Grant: I love it. So before we finish, where can our readers find you and your books?
[00:33:17] Isabella Kamal: So I can mostly be found on Instagram. I'm at Isabella Kamal author. And then you can also sign up for my newsletter and the links for that are also on my Instagram.
And I also have a website isabellakamal. com where you can see like where you can buy my books.
[00:33:32] Katherine Grant: Awesome. I have really appreciated having you on the podcast. Thank you again for joining me and Temple of Persephone is already out. Is there a sequel with a date that you want to promote?
[00:33:46] Isabella Kamal: There is a sequel no date, but if I have any news, I will put on my Instagram first thing.
[00:33:52] Katherine Grant: Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much.
[00:33:55] Isabella Kamal: Thank you.
[00:33:55] Katherine Grant: That's it for this week. Check out the show notes where I put links for my guests, myself, and the podcast. Until next week, happy reading.