Latest / Reality Writes / Behind the Scents—Crafting Candles and Cozy Mysteries

Transcript

Behind the Scents—Crafting Candles and Cozy Mysteries · Reality Writes

0:06
SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Reality Rights.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk all things writer-ish, bookish, and you know, whatever's on our mind-ish.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: I am author Ellie Alexander, and I'm here with the Tech Guy.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: I am the Tech Guy.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: Hello, hello.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh, before we get started, please, as always, um, thank you for listening and please share this podcast with a friend or family member that you think might be interested in cozy mysteries, writing, reader, bookish topics, and more.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: And more.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Always.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Always.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, today we're gonna talk about some crafts, but um, as promised from the last episode, I believe that you had a few ideas that um you thought might be fun to implement.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And I'm terrified.
0:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: So so yeah, we I I want to make it more interactive.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: I want to get uh the listeners, the darlings out there involved a little bit.
1:07
SPEAKER_02: And so you know, your 20th bake shop mystery just came out um recently, and I you put together that great post of the 20 lessons you've learned over the last 20 books in that series.
1:21
SPEAKER_02: And I thought it'd be funny because I know this, I know this has come up before, and we can talk a little bit about this, but okay, I thought it would be funny if we if we start a new segment that we'll start off every episode with called Stump Ellie.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: Basically, today I came up with some questions that are gonna go way back in bake shop mystery history.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, and these might not be the hardest questions, but it is, you know, you're already writing, you know, you're on book 21, book 22 for the series.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: So remembering stuff that takes place back in the early books might be a little difficult.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: But what I'd like to do is invite the listeners out there to send in questions, detailed questions from any series.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: So this can be from the bake shop mysteries, it can be from the Sloan Krauss mysteries, secret bookcase mystery, you name it.
2:14
SPEAKER_02: And uh send them to tech guy t-e-c-h g y at lexander.co not com dot co.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I will, you know, maybe I'll I'll go through them and we'll pick out a few to ask you each week when uh when we're recording episodes.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: But this way, if you send them in to techguy at lealexander.co, she won't see them ahead of time and won't get to cheat.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: Because this is a little known fact about Ellie Alexander, but she cheats at everything board games, card games, you name it.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: Like you cannot, you gotta watch her like a hawk.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh but the problem is I cheat because I like half listen to the rules.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: It's not even necessarily like intentional cheating.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: That is it's just something that I don't fully pay attention.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm like, oh, I thought I could do that.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, she feigns ignorance.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: No, it it in reality that is very true.
3:12
SPEAKER_02: In a lot of relationships, um, guys get the uh the um stereotype of never reading the directions and just charging head first into things.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: That's you a hundred percent in this.
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Thousand percent.
3:25
SPEAKER_02: Yes, and I get I get bent out of shape if the directions get just recycled with the box automatically.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, wait, did you read the direct where are the directions?
3:33
SPEAKER_02: No, they're just they're gone.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: We don't need them.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: We'll figure it out.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so we're gonna have readers send it in.
3:39
SPEAKER_02: And uh listeners out there, if you if you want to send in the your question as a voice memo, uh send it to me and you'll be able to hear yourself ask it of Ellie, your voice on this podcast, um each week.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: So whoa, darlings, we are leveling up.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: I am really scared though, because I guarantee I am not gonna run for half of what I have written a decade plus ago for sure.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: No, and it's funny because this has come up before.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: We won't name names of authors or anything, but we've we've we've laughed because uh we've there have been authors that you know and love uh who have got had to go to social media to ask, like I I can't remember, like, have I ever mentioned this in the series before?
4:29
SPEAKER_02: And I just I think that's awesome.
4:31
SPEAKER_02: So I do too.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, readers will know, like, readers will know.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: So um, all right.
4:37
SPEAKER_02: So without further ado, let's get uh let's get started on this inaugural um edition of Stump Ellie.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: Uh the first I'm I'm just I picked a one question from each of the first three bake shop mysteries.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: Um we're going way back.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: We're going back to the roots, back to the roots of the series, yeah.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, because now that the 20th book, uh Killing Me Souffle, just came out.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: Let's see what you know from Meet Your Baker.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: Um fabulous.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: What was the first thing, the very first thing that Jules baked at tort after returning home to Ashland in Meet Your Baker?
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh this will be good for a podcast.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: Lots of dead air where I'm like, I know I should have had my should have had my trivia.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: I I probably had it somewhere here.
5:31
SPEAKER_02: It's funny.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Some kind of trivia like background, like I need the Jeopardy.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, I know this.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: I definitely know this because, and this is a fun little backstory.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: Jules and Helen, her mom, um, their relationship is modeled on my relationship with my mom.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: And I got to use one of my favorite recipes of my mom's from childhood in Meet Your Baker.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: It was like the inspiration for the very first thing that Jules is baking when she returns home to Ashland for the first time.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: And it's also involved in the murder scene, which is they are making uh Helen's signature raspberry Danish, and they actually also make homemade raspberry jam.
6:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: All right.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: You got it.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: Actually, yeah, we've I can't remember if we've talked about that on the this podcast or not, but I remember reading an early draft of the first uh the of Meet Your Baker and the the scene where she discovers the body with that raspberry jam.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: It was like, I can't remember exactly, but it was just one big long rhyme that had uh red, head, dead, and dead, yes, all like all within the same sentence.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: And so I remember coming into you and going, Well, no, this is really great.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: Except, did you mean to do this?
6:56
SPEAKER_02: And I read it out loud, and you were just like, Oh no, yeah.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was like if Dr.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Seuss met a cozy mystery, remember being like that definitely, yeah.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: Because it was like she was dead.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: There was a pool of raspberry jam around her head, and like yeah, something else, yeah.
7:13
SPEAKER_02: There was like three or four words, it was hilarious, but um, yeah, all right, you got that one right.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: So congratulations.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: But see, yeah, I'm kind of teeing them up with some pretty easy ones.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: I think the readers are going to dive deep into the the bake shop mystery lore, and you know, maybe even Sloan Krause, you'll get some uh Leavenworth stuff too.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Boy, yeah, I was gonna say that's a little bit of a softball, so thank you.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: Make me feel good right out of the gate.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we're going for uh question number two comes from book number two, A Batter of Life and Death.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: Um what is the name of the baking competition Jules enters in the book, and what unexpected ingredients sabotaged one of the contestants?
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Um I think it's it's take the cake take the cake.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Take the cake, right?
8:08
SPEAKER_02: Yes, that is correct.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I had to I had to go a little deep for that one.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: For a second I thought you were gonna get me.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: And what sabotages one of the contestants.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: Um play a little music here while we're waiting.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: If you're uh if you're not watching Darlings now, we're both in this one head bop, that's great.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: Um I remember I remember the overall theme of of this because this is early on in the series, so I don't want to give away many spoilers, but Jules and Thomas have reconnected after not seeing each other for many years, and there is a vegan chef who is very interested in Thomas, and it makes Jules a little jealous.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so I think the right answer is futter, because she's making vegan butter.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: And at some point, I don't remember how exactly, but I think that we that maybe she's using real butter instead of like she's faking it.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I think that's right.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, which just begs the question like, what the hell is butter?
9:25
SPEAKER_02: Because I I saw this and I'm like, I this is I but maybe it's right, I don't know.
9:31
SPEAKER_02: But I'm assuming it's vegan butter, but why why the F?
9:34
SPEAKER_02: What's it made of?
9:36
SPEAKER_02: It's a little mysterious.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: I think it's just um I think it's called Futter because it's like fake butter.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: So the F is like fake.
9:44
SPEAKER_02: Got it.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, because it's like if I remember right, and there's a recipe for butter, I think, in that book.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Or shoot, now I can't remember if that made the final cut, but um it's like coconut oil, and there's like kind of this mixture that you make that resembles the consistency of butter.
10:04
SPEAKER_02: Okay, that got that that makes me feel much better because I got a little worried for vegans out there when I heard that because I was like, F, like what I couldn't think of like what does the F stand for?
10:14
SPEAKER_02: Like that this I was like, oh man, I don't know.
10:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if this is healthy, but that sounds great.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: All right.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh see this again.
10:23
SPEAKER_02: Once again, reality rights, like it's educational, folks.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: Bringing you're learning something new every day.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, I don't know.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: I maybe I was the only one that didn't know that, but um, okay, moving on.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: Question three, coming from book three in the series on thin icing.
10:42
SPEAKER_02: Where does Jules find the body in this mystery?
10:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know this.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, in the freezer, in the chess freezer.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: Okay, because I was gonna clear, I was gonna make you clarify if you just said that, but that's chess chess freezer.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: This book takes place at Lake of the Woods up in um southern Oregon, which we went to.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: So we're and um they're snowed in.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: And I remember when we went the first time when it was snowy, we like traips down to the little like there's like a little pizza place and like a tackle shop and snack shop, and outside there's a giant chest freezer.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: And of course, I was like, well, that would be a great place to hide a body.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, nice stuck them in the freezer.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, stuck them in the freezer.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh this this question made me think of Lake of the Woods.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: I want to get back there.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: I love that place.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: So great.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: Any time of the year, it's great.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, for for different different reasons.
11:38
SPEAKER_02: But um if anybody ever has a chance in the winter and you're in southern Oregon, go to Lake of the Woods.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, there is a massive uh like what is it?
11:50
SPEAKER_02: Wind well it's kites, but it's like they're on the lake.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: Kites on steroids.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: I mean, these are just like a 50-foot long salamander, uh, you know, inflatable kite.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: And it's all out on the frozen lake, which is amazing.
12:05
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know what?
12:08
SPEAKER_00: I was originally when I was first drafting that uh book, I thought I was gonna have Jules find the body in the lake, but the lake is so frozen in the winter, I couldn't figure out like how that could actually happen.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: And that's why the chest freezer came about.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: Oh, interesting.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
12:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:26
SPEAKER_02: We got uh actually we got in trouble um shooting a little uh promo shot of on thin icing because we we went out we went out on the lake and we it wasn't wasn't frozen enough yet.
12:41
SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, we when I say went out on the lake, we were like six feet off the the shore in the swimming area.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: So had we fallen through the ice, our shins would have gotten wet.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, that like the water was maybe eight to ten inches deep at that point, but this young guy came running out of the out of the lodge there and was like, get off the ice, get off the ice, you know, like and I was like, Okay, okay, sorry, so sorry.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sorry.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I forgot all about that.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, um, I I like this, and I believe that you're right that the darlings are gonna uh not be as kind to me, perhaps as oh, they're gonna murder you.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna, yeah, it's gonna be cozy mystery murder.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: Um because that those were, I mean, the thing is I had to look up stuff that I could easily find the answers to, but yeah, they will know so much more about the the all of your books than than even I do.
13:40
SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, I I would be a little afraid if I were you.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: I feel like maybe uh there should be some kind of prize involved.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Like if you still mean it to you get like something.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, we'll have to work on that.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's do it.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, so darlings out there, if you want to hear your question asked on reality rights, um, please send them to tech guy at alealexander.co and I'll grab a couple um each time and we'll see if we can stumper.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Just a couple.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I I I think it's clear that you will all be able to stump me.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: That's no problem.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: But you're saying they can also send you a voice memo and play its voice memo.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: So that'd be a question via text and email or send a voice memo.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Great.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, love it.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, let's segue a little bit and turn the tables today because we're gonna talk a lot about arts and crafts today and um the cozy craft of candle making.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Because yesterday we had a whole, I don't even know what you would call it, like smelling session.
14:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's good.
14:47
SPEAKER_02: Uh I don't know if there's an official term for it, but that's pretty much what it was.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: Um and I because I have I don't know, hundreds of bottles of fragrances that that I've I don't know, you just you have to smell them, right?
15:08
SPEAKER_02: So I've I've just I've collected a bunch and I have like we've got all the ones for the stuff that we sell, and then all the ones that we need to test.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: And you were finally like, we got to go through these.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: Like it was getting out of control.
15:20
SPEAKER_02: I think it's a problem.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: It's an addiction, darlings.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, I will share some pictures, it's a lot, but I think I think what's fascinating about that, and I hope that um everyone who is listening agrees, is to talk a little bit about the process and like how it came to be.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: We've talked a little bit on reality rights about the Etsy shop and how you are the crafty one in uh this duo.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And what kind of evolved initially was that idea that when I am writing and working on a story, I fully want to immerse myself in that world.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: So in the early days of writing, we would go out, you know, like on a weekend shopping at like a little cute independent shop, and I would find a candle scent that made me feel like, oh, okay, that's capturing what I imagined tort to smell like.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: But then because you're so creative and crafty, you decided to take that on.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: So I thought it would be fun for you to talk a little bit about the process of when I'm like, okay, I want a candle that smells like the bake shop.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: I want a candle that smells like tort.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: How do you even start to figure out what that would be?
16:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, totally.
16:29
SPEAKER_02: It's um, I mean, it's a little bit, it's sometimes it's easier than others, I guess.
16:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, because we have a couple of candles that are that uh um, you know, Etsy shop customers love uh that were pretty easy to come up with formulas for, like um Mocha, she wrote, uh, you know, it we had to come up with the smell of a Mocha uh coffee.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: And so but I did even with that, it it took several tries with to get the chocolate just right, and then the balance between the chocolate and the coffee uh fragrances, because it's not just one, it's a mixture of multiple.
17:09
SPEAKER_02: And so um, so yeah, just like with you and writing, um, there are like really bad first drafts that happen with candles.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, yeah, uh, which is why I've collected so many um fragrances over the you know, the just I'm constantly getting new ones, and you're like, oh, another shipment, great.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh um, but I you it's funny too, because early on, not not so much anymore, because now you have an army of uh of um uh uh early readers, but um, but I was an uh you know one of the first, if not the first, early reader of of your stuff.
17:55
SPEAKER_02: You are my beta tester for this stuff.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: So all everything that's in the Etsy shop is stuff that you personally have been like, yes, this is what tort smells like.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: This is what I imagine tort to smell like.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, and so you'll often give me things like it should be like a hint of this, and with a little bit of that, maybe a dash of this other thing.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay, wow, that's gonna be uh yeah, it's gonna be tough.
18:22
SPEAKER_02: Um go.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: But but basically, yeah.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: They're um there are little test strips that um you know that uh that you dip in the fragrances, and you can dip it if you want just a hint of something, you put just a little bit of that in there, and then if you want more, you put you dip it farther into the fragrance, and then you can hold them together and kind of like wave them around, and you'll get a pretty good representation of what the candle is going to smell like ultimately.
18:49
SPEAKER_02: And um, so you anytime we go to make a new candle, you're like, okay, that's enough.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: Like after three or four tries, you're like, I just can't, like, I can't even like because your your office is just like just sent overload, right?
19:05
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean, it's not usually a bad problem to have.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: In fact, yesterday you were making new batches of muffin, but the truth, which is like blueberry lemon, and I got out of the shower and I had the window open in the shower, and I was like, oh, one of our neighbors is making muffins.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And then I came out and I was like, Oh, you're making candles.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, this is exactly it.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Or um, you've just perfected torque because, and which is not an easy one because it's like a touch of cardamom, and then I wanted to have these vanilla notes.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, it's they're layered.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: It's not just like, oh, you get something that smells like a big shop and it's perfect on the first try at all.
19:41
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, so it's like when it comes to developing those things, it's just it's trial and error.
19:51
SPEAKER_02: Um it's it's a lot like it's funny because it's a lot like uh brewing beer, which I used to do.
19:57
SPEAKER_02: A lot of I don't anymore, but um it, you know, you make small batches of things and test them out.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: And so they're uh, you know, I have like a whole set of candle tins that just get used over and over and over again, the little two-ounce ones.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: And anytime I'm trying out a new uh a new scent, we'll just use like the small candle tins and we'll, you know, test burn some of the candles and see like, does it smell good or could it smell better?
20:28
SPEAKER_02: Is it strong enough?
20:29
SPEAKER_02: Is it too strong?
20:30
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that it's just there's a lot that goes into it.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: There are a lot of variables, a lot of variables.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And then you have um someone like me.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm very particular about my scents.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of, especially the bake shop theme candles can go like really sweet and like flowingly sweet pretty quickly, too.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh, which I'm not a fan of, but then we know that like anything else, they're also like it's subjective too, just like reading, right?
20:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
20:57
SPEAKER_02: It's super subject subjective.
20:59
SPEAKER_02: In fact, we like go back and forth on this all the time because you're like, no, that's too sweet.
21:03
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, no, but that's what like a lot of people really like sweet candles.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: So um, so I I I try to have some creative license with that too.
21:14
SPEAKER_02: Uh and and um and and it's funny because some of our some of the sweeter candles tend to be more popular than than the others that aren't, but but it is that subjectiveness is funny because um your patrons, your patrons over on Patreon, um, we often will you know let them test out new candles or get or get um uh you know free candles um each month or whatever when whenever you're uh giving stuff away to them.
21:45
SPEAKER_02: And uh we uh recently we we tested something with them.
21:49
SPEAKER_02: We tested a new candle fragrance, and it was hilarious.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: The the reaction was, I mean, I think more people liked it than didn't, but the the The spectrum was covered.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there were people that absolutely loved it, and there were people that were like, this is the worst thing I've ever smelled, you know?
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And so then how do you decide?
22:11
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
22:11
SPEAKER_02: And then it's like, oh, I I don't know.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, that's uh I mean, obviously not a uh like a massive sample size, but it it's just um it is funny.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh but I I was thinking about that in relation to like writing and and reading and everything, and and it's true.
22:28
SPEAKER_02: It's like everything that's creative is subjective to the people consuming, you know, whatever that creative product is, whether it's a book or a candle.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: It's it, you know, some people might love the cozy mystery, and other people might be like, this is this is not my not my jam.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, or even I just think about that with like tropes within the mystery, you know, where it's like somebody might absolutely love uh, you know, the trope of like this loose falls in love with the detective or whatever.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: And then there's another batch batch of readers who are like, I if you put that in a book, I will murder you.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely the same thing.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, we're gonna talk a little bit about um some of the um new stuff that we have coming, and we want darlings to be part of this process too.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk about that in a second.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: But um, one thing that came up as we were doing the smell test, there are a lot of scents.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, all it's so many testers.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: It's it's a lot um that I hadn't seen many of them.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: And one you have is something that would be just for a character, and I had never thought of character candle.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, but let's talk a little bit about one specific character scent that you found, which I think is fantastic.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: Well, so I was um because I've got probably, I don't know, eight or so different companies that I buy uh fragranced oils from.
23:55
SPEAKER_02: And um and there's there was one company that had a uh fragrance oil that was called Handyman.
24:04
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what does that smell like?
24:06
SPEAKER_02: You know, and and it's it's funny because um not to keep comparing this to uh craft brewing, but the same thing is true of the fragrance oils.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: Like these all these companies will describe their fragrance oils, and it'll be like, you know, these notes are forward, and then it's you know, the body is this type of fragrance, and then it uh follow, you know, the it follows with whatever.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: And it it is so funny to read through some of the subscriptions, but there's um descriptions, not subscriptions.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, but this particular one is called Handyman, and it I think the description was something like it smells like sawdust and manliness.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like I don't know what that I mean.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: I was a little worried, like what I'm not sure what that would smell like, honestly, but um, but it it actually it it smell it it does, I don't know if it's if it's just the like subliminal messaging, uh you know, to I don't I don't I'm not sure I get sawdust, but I do get like a did you okay, see, and then it's like sawdust and then like uh a cologne that like you would imagine, you know, like a a master woodworker wearing, uh, you know, to to like basically brush himself off, slap on a couple of uh hits of the cologne, and now he's ready for a date, right?
25:37
SPEAKER_02: You know, he's still still covered in sawdust and and everything, but but that's that's how he cleans up for the night.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: And I thought this would be perfect for Hans uh from the Sloan Cross Mysteries.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: So I know.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: And yesterday when I took a little whiff, I was like, oh my gosh, yes, that's it.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: So we could have a whole line of characters, which is a lot because we're gonna talk about some of the new stuff that's coming.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: But um, I did think it would be funny.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you made a candle for somebody that is loathed in my series, the first person that comes to mind is Richard Lorde.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, what would his candle smell like?
26:12
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I don't, I mean, I know what it would smell like.
26:14
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I could find it.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: I'd have to um I would have to see if there was somebody evil enough to make this, but I imagine that I would combine his with something like some like dark, musky, uh like almost like a cheaper cologne version, like this handyman one, and combine that with fish.
26:39
SPEAKER_02: Oh god, just the smell of just a hint of fish.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: You're right, right.
26:52
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
26:52
SPEAKER_02: I think that could be a big seller.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Um you send it to your worst enemy, right?
26:58
SPEAKER_02: Right, totally.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: It's like, you know, it'd be like it'd be that like base of fish, and he's trying to cover it up with this like really cheap but super strong cologne, like the kind that makes your eyes water, but you'd still get that hint of fish in the background.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay, see, this is so great because this is like the reverse.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: While I'm working on the next bake shop, I'm gonna write a scene now where he does just that because they're like making cheap fish in the kitchen, which they would, right?
27:28
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: And uh he's off for a date and he has to cover it up.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is great.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: See, it works both ways.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: We didn't even know this.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm gonna totally swell swap out your the candle on your desk when you're in that book, just to see like just to hear the reaction.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: I'll be at work and I'll get this text like, what is wrong with your candles?
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
27:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the Richard Lorde collection.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: The Richard Lorde Collection.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, that is the candle set that literally no one wants, or maybe you do, darlings.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
28:02
SPEAKER_02: Telling you, it's one of those things that would be so bad.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: Like, I think people would want to get it just to check it out, and then they'd be sorry and mad.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: And yeah.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, well, that's a good segue because one of the things that we realized is that um with the bake shop, most of those scents involve food and like pastries and everything.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: And they've been so popular.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: You you do this as a hobby.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: Like it's let's just be clear to the darlings.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: This is not your full-time job.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: And you love, like, I don't want to speak for you, but I think you enjoy the creative process of this, right?
28:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
28:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:39
SPEAKER_02: It's uh it's like creativity and science mixed together, which is like kind of my sweet spot, I think.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, but every time you put when you'll do like a weekend of candle making, you will like put them up on the Etsy shop and then they're usually sold out like two days later on the shop.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: I know, which is awesome.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, um, we were discussing because you do have a treasure trove of um delicious aromas, not fish, at your disposal that um we're gonna make two different bake shop sets.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: And we thought it might be fun to have one that's like the culinary cozy pack and then one that is more mystery themed.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: And um, we also thought it would be super fun if the darlings weighed in because we we've gone back and forth.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Like some of the candles are just named directly after books, like Mokashi Road and Muffin But the Truth, because they are that smell, but then we have other stuff that's just like tort.
29:38
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: Right?
29:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: Or it's just called Bake Shop, but yes, yeah, it's it's after tort.
29:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, and just to clarify, these would not the mystery theme pack would you would know what the scents are.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: They said that the names, the names would be mystery themed.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: So we want your input in terms of whether they should all just be named after titles, because there are enough books where that theme matches that we could title each one that way.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Or if the mystery pack, like let's say that there's one that's like ginger and spice, which is from a recipe from, I believe, ooh, either a cup of holiday fear or baked bar and steel.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: I think I did ginger in both of those.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, like it could be like suspicion and spice.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, we were brainstorming name ideas, but we would love input on that, right?
30:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, it'd be great.
30:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, it's you know, it goes back to that that um the subjectivity thing and and it the that goes for the names of of things too, not just how they actually smell, but like people, some like titles, but and this is the same with books, like titles resonate with some people and turn other people off, you know.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: If they just if if you read a title and you're like it doesn't sound interesting, but if you actually picked it up and read the inside flap, you might be like, Whoa, this sounds really great.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: Why is the title the way it is?
31:08
SPEAKER_02: But you know, I don't know.
31:09
SPEAKER_02: So I'd love exactly love to get some input.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and then um we're launching a um secret bookcase pack of candles.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: So these will all be bookish themes, and um, we have so many title ideas for these that we have to kill some of them off.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: So we want your help on this too, because we went down a fun um brainstorming rabbit hole yesterday, and then we're like, wait, we have like 27 names, and there are gonna be six candles.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: Right.
31:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
31:40
SPEAKER_02: There, yeah, too many, yeah.
31:42
SPEAKER_02: That one was that one was fun to come up with.
31:44
SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, we just need to we need some help narrowing it down for sure.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna put polls up on my Patreon.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: They are gonna be live today when this episode goes live.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: So come on over to my Patreon page.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: You can join for free um to vote on the polls for the new candle names, um, which should be fun.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: And we'll keep them open for like a week or two, and then that's gonna give you a lot of candle making time in the week.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sorry.
32:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and we'll put the we'll put the uh the link to the to Patreon in the show notes in the description, but you could they could also just search for you on patreon.com, right?
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: So come vote.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Um and if you if you see the polls and you see our our ideas and you have other ideas, like you can totally suggest some alternatives too, because we need more ideas.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it'll spark another candle that you want to make, right?
32:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: Totally.
32:46
SPEAKER_02: I are we gonna talk about the idea for the patriot uh the patron candle now, or is that that after party?
32:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's for the after party.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: All right.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: All right.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: So um something special coming to the patrons.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Something special, yeah, exactly.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: It is special.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: There's a teaser for you.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Um what is like what's your candle advice?
33:16
SPEAKER_00: Because I would also like the darlings to know that uh you take this work seriously in terms of it being that piece of science and um your creative energy coming into something, but you also are so meticulous and you put so much care into how you make the candles and how you want people to burn them, and then um the packaging and recycling and all of that piece.
33:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
33:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's I mean, so it starts with the ingredients, right?
33:48
SPEAKER_02: Um there's a reason that you can go into like um a Target or a Walmart and buy like a giant candle for like nine dollars.
34:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, that if you read the ingredients of that candle, it's not gonna be good.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be a lot of words that you can't pronounce.
34:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, and those are all chemicals that are in the candle.
34:11
SPEAKER_02: And the thing is, you're burning this in your house.
34:14
SPEAKER_02: So those chemicals are then being released into the air, and you're breathing that.
34:19
SPEAKER_02: Your kids are breathing that, your pets are breathing that.
34:21
SPEAKER_02: It's just, you know, why take why why risk it?
34:26
SPEAKER_02: Right.
34:26
SPEAKER_02: So everything, everything that I use is is like as natural as it can get, like it is eco-friendly, it's all like, you know, as much uh natural ingredients as we can.
34:36
SPEAKER_02: The wax is made of soy, it's all it's all good.
34:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's important one, because I'm working around this stuff.
34:45
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be, you know, I'm getting this stuff all over my hands.
34:49
SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's like sometimes accidentally my eye.
34:52
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I don't I don't want to be working with a bunch of hazardous materials all the time.
34:59
SPEAKER_02: So um, so we really do.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's important to us.
35:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, we use a lot of these candles.
35:06
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think I have five, six I know.
35:08
SPEAKER_02: I have like eight or I mean, I've got them everywhere.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they they are everywhere, they're just they're on every surface in my my office.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Um not a bad thing.
35:18
SPEAKER_02: No, and and it's honestly one of the reasons I got into it was just because we were spending a lot of money on candles.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: Um like, yeah, and so we thought, well, if we're gonna be doing this, like we can like let's it I was like, I just want to learn how to do it, and and it turned out that uh I don't know, I think I'm pretty good at it.
35:40
SPEAKER_02: But when it comes to um uh the well, the the other thing is the tins that the candles are in, um, these are totally reusable.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, and the and the reason that we choose these like silver tins is because they can be used for storage containers after you're done burning it.
35:59
SPEAKER_02: You can melt the remaining wax out of there.
36:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you can use some like isopropyl alcohol and and wipe out the residue and it'll be completely clean.
36:08
SPEAKER_02: And then you can use your your empty tin for storing, you know.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: Rubber bands or poison, pencils, you name it, erasers.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
36:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:20
SPEAKER_02: I would recommend um I would not recommend using them for food storage just because it I like I don't want to get into that.
36:28
SPEAKER_02: Like if you you know, your mileage may vary with that, you got because you have to make sure that it's really washed out and sterilized uh very, very well before you're doing anything like that.
36:40
SPEAKER_02: But um, but for storing anything else, like little knick-knacks and stuff around the house, like they work really, really great for that.
36:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that that's really cool.
36:50
SPEAKER_02: And then yeah, I um I all of the packaging that we use, uh like we buy specific boxes to ship the candles in, uh, usually like ones and three packs um to reduce the amount of packing material that's needed uh for them uh from the Etsy shop.
37:10
SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of cool.
37:12
SPEAKER_02: Um I it's it's kind of funny, but I love getting a pack of those boxes and then having to fold all of them and put them together because it's like putting a model together.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: There's like eight folds for every box that you have to do to to uh take it from its flat state to its perfect little candle insert uh state.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Um and like all of the ink um on the packaging and the tape, like it's all recyclable, right?
37:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, totally.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
37:41
SPEAKER_02: The the the mailing labels um and the tape are both like uh from a company called Eco and Close, and all of their materials are either compostable or a hundred percent post uh consumer products.
37:58
SPEAKER_02: So um they've been fully recycled.
38:00
SPEAKER_02: Um so even the paper that we get these massive rolls of newsprint, and I was just looking over there.
38:06
SPEAKER_02: It looks like Sky Guy's burned through that roll soon or another one.
38:11
SPEAKER_02: Um that is fully recycled paper.
38:16
SPEAKER_02: So um, so yeah, trying to spread the joy with as little impact as possible um is always a good thing.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh and yeah, it's good stuff.
38:27
SPEAKER_02: So good.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, so darlings, we have uh well, I would have liked to say you only have one piece of homework, but it sounds like you have two pieces of homework.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: My piece of homework for you is to head over to my Patreon and uh vote for your candle collection favorites and as far as titles go.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the tech guy's homework for you as a reminder is to stump.
38:52
SPEAKER_02: Is to come up with uh questions from any of Ellie's series um that you think will stump her, and send them to me, tech guy at ellexander.co, and I will pick some and read them on the air.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Fabulous.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
39:10
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: All right.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, on that note, till next time.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: Till next time.