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Welcome to Dedicated with Doug Brunt.

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And hear conversations with the world's greatest writers as they discuss their writing lifestyle, creative process, latest work, and behind-the-scenes revelations.

Welcome to Dedicated. I'm your host Doug Brunt. Today we're with Alex Aster. She has

become a powerhouse in the young adult fiction category. One year after her college

graduation, she signed with a literary agent and got her first publication deal soon after

that. And she has not looked back. Inspired in part by the story she heard as a child from her Colombian grandmother. She now has two books out in the Emblem Island series. And now her second book in the Lightlark saga. The latest is called Nightbean, which I was just at the airport at LaGuardia a couple days ago and it was prominently featured. So, Alex,

you're everywhere and we're thrilled to have you here today. Welcome. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me. I wish I could see that because for many, about a year for Lightlark, I went to the airport looking for it. I never found it. And then I found Nightbane once. So I think I would of just like, you know, turn into a puddle of it.

I wish I...

I wish I...

I had this moment.

I was telling my kids, like, oh, I'm going to be with her next week.

It's so nice. And so I think I would have just like, you know, turn into a puddle of I'd seen it prominently featuring.

You know, I had this moment.

I was telling my kids, like, oh, I'm going to be with her next week. It's so nice. Suddenly I have to book a flight out of the corner. Thank you so much for having me. I love the podcast. So it's really going to be fun to see me on there. Oh, and we're just getting. I mean, wait, do we get the martini going here?

So you have picked the espresso martini, which I confess, I've never made one of these before.

I've had them, but I've never made them. Okay, cool. Anything in the martini family I think I can make. Okay, great. So we've got vodka and collua. And we just brewed some fresh espresso here in the Sirius XM kitchen.

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