S5 Lovefest EP215 | Maria Jane Award-Winning Romance Author of The Perfect Series

Bleeped word: Murd3r

Hello My Happy People,

We are down to the final two episodes of the Lovefest for Season 5, and today’s episode brings a little romance and a lot of heart. Romance author Maria Jane joins Book Banter with Dianne Burckhardt — Book Talk Podcast to talk about love, storytelling, and the magic found in imperfect journeys.

Maria Jane, the romance pen name of Tricia Copeland, believes that love is not always clean or easy, but it is always worth the ride. We spoke with Tricia in Season 4 episode 192 about her epic fantasy series the Realm Chronicles. Today we chat with her about her Perfect Romance series. This series delivers sweet moments, unexpected turns, and characters chasing their happily-ever-after or happy-for-now endings, all wrapped in stories that feel both fun and emotionally real.

In this episode, we talk about her transition into romance, how her writing has evolved across genres, and the inspiration behind her Perfect Romance series. If you are looking for a story that reminds you why love is worth the chaos, this is one you will not want to miss.

Maria's Website

Maria/Tricia on Facebook

Maria/Tricia on Instagram

Maria/Tricia on YouTube

Maria/Tricia on TikTok

Maria on Amazon

Finding the Magic Book Podcast

Transcript

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Dianne Burckhardt 0:01

You are listening to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart, your Book Talk podcast. Join me every Wednesday for real conversations with authors and publishing insiders, where you get to connect with the humans behind the books you love. Let's get on with our show today. Well, hello my happy people. Today is March 25th, 2026. And Wow, I really have to thank all of you for showing up last week while I was out sick. The one thing that's a real drawback about being a solo entrepreneur, when you go down, so does your business. We ended up having to run a best of episode to make up for my time off. And you showed up for that one. I cannot thank you enough. That episode absolutely took off. And honestly, it earned it. Barbara Dean is great, and so is her book, The Whistle Stop Canteen. Her episode was already our number one episode from last year's Love Fest. And now it's setting at number one for this season too. So now the challenge is on. Let's see if we can top it. Today we are in the final two episodes of our Love Fest for season five. And this is a good one. If you love closed door romance, sweet moments, and stories that keep you hooked, you're not gonna want to miss this. Go ahead and tell your friends because I would love to see this episode climb right past last week's numbers. So let's not waste any more time and get right to our guest. Please welcome to BookBanter with Diane Burkhardt, award-winning romance author, Maria Jane. Since you've actually been on the show before, you know that the way that we like to start these episodes out is just to have our guests tell everyone who they are and what they do.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Hi, I am Maria Jane, which is a pen name for my other alter ego author named Trisha Copeland. I've been publishing my books indie published for about 10 years now. So super excited to have a new line of romance under Maria Jane and the Perfect Romance series. I started writing, I guess you would call it women's fiction, and that was my first series being me, and then I jumped into fantasy, and then I have to kind of for myself and my own mental health decompress by writing a fun romance. So that's where Maria Jane Perfect Romance series comes in.

Dianne Burckhardt 2:32

You have such a nice selection of genres in your published works. I mean, you cover a great spectrum in this. We actually got to talk to you last season about your Fae series. To be a Fae Rogue is going to be coming soon in that realm.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Right, to be a Fae Rogue audiobooks. The Realm Chronicle series that begins with To Be a Fae Queen is complete now. The finale was released last summer of 2025 with To Be a Fae, but the audiobooks are still coming out. So the fourth audiobook is coming out this month, hopefully within days, fingers crossed, and then the finale audiobook will come out this summer.

Dianne Burckhardt 3:08

In season four, it was episode 192, and we were talking about your magical faith fiction stories and the realm chronicles. So if anybody wants to go back and listen to the discussion that we had about that series, it's going to be available, and I'll put a link to that in the description. But today we're talking about you as a romance author.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Right. It's a lot of fun for me because I get to dive into a world where the worst thing that can happen is the guy breaks up with you.

Dianne Burckhardt 3:39

What was the moment that you decided that you wanted to start writing romance? Because since you have so many different genres that you kind of play in, what was it about romance that made you want to add that to the mix?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I dab my toe into romance. Like I said, my first series was a women's fiction series, and it does have a strong romance element of the characters falling in love, but it was mostly about the main character's recovery from anorexia. But I did have romantic elements to that. And then there was a character that I really liked, Zach, in that series. And he wasn't, well, I won't say anything about Zach, but um I don't want to give too much away, but I did want to spin off and tell more of his story. So I did that in Deepest Scars, Strongest Heart, which is pinned out under Tricia Copeland to keep it with that being me series. So that was my first spin-off romance. And then when I get so entrenched in my characters and my fantasy characters, and hard things have to happen to my fantasy characters. And that always leaves me feeling a little blue and just needing a break from that. So when I thought about wanted to write next a couple of years ago, I thought, well, I could dab my toe into romance again. But of course, I couldn't do the typical romance. And the first book in the perfect romance series is entitled Perfect. And really the premise is that your life, whether it's your success in business or love or your career or any facet of your life, could be perfect at different stages for different reasons, even given different circumstances. And there's no one idea of perfect. So that was a lot of fun to write, the same character, but five different in the past or happily ever after for her life, depending on the choices she made and things that happened in her life.

Dianne Burckhardt 5:26

So now what made you decide to publish your romance books as Maria Jane?

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Originally, I well, I was writing so much in fantasy, and those are YA fantasy books, the most heat level that we have are simple kisses. And I wanted it to really be for that 12 plus age range. I mean, an adult would pick it up and like it too, but I really wanted it to be that clean romance that a 12-plus year old person could pick up. And these romances are definitely adults. I mean, they're a closed door slash fade to black romances. So I just wanted to brand them a little bit differently for more of an adult reader.

Dianne Burckhardt 6:06

Are all of your romance stories either happily ever after or like happy for now tropes? Definitely, yes. I believe that romance always needs a happily ever after. Are there any tropes that you would never want to write in?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Um, if I never want to write in, I shouldn't say that because I've written in so many genres. And I was talking to a mystery writer yesterday, and I think mystery is so hard to write. And she was like, no, you just write it and then you go back in and sprinkle clues that I'm like, yeah, I don't know. I don't like people dying. So I don't know if I could be a I probably couldn't be a mystery writer, but or I could be, but I'm not sure I'd want to be. So that's really the only one. I don't like, and it's funny because my publicist would laugh at me because I write vampire fiction. He's like, that's horror. But um I don't like horror that's I guess real horror. Yeah. So I I probably wouldn't write, you know, axe burger things either.

Dianne Burckhardt 7:04

So well, I think there's there's different levels of horror. I mean, there's there's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind of vampire that, you know, most of the time you still like the bad guy because there's there's redeeming qualities. I mean, so there's there's hardcore and then there's more light horror.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Right. And definitely my romance, I like to stay light in. I mean, you have to have some strife or some not antagonist, but you have to have something that's kind of blocking the way of your love birds at some point. But it's never so heavy that you, you know, I'm a crier, so I cry almost everything. But in most cases in my romance novels, you're not going to be crying on the couch for hours. That's good.

Dianne Burckhardt 7:51

Do you consider reader expectations when you're deciding on your next project? Or do you just go with what you're interested in writing?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Maybe a little bit of both. I mean, I have beta readers, I have arc readers are in my group, and they message me quite frequently, actually. So that's a lot of fun. But really, it maybe it really depends on my mood more than anything else. I had queued up two romance books to release next. I'd actually started one, was like a third of the way through it, and I just wasn't feeling that character. I thought, you know, this is and I and I don't even know for what reason. Well, she kind of had a hard backstory, so that was probably it. But for this one, yeah, I just said, well, I'm gonna do this other different character because she's restarting her life and scenes more as at a positive upspin than where the other character was starting. So this one is about Elle and Tanner, and Elle moves to Denver, and she decides she's going in a different direction with her career and meets Tanner at work. So I think that just sounded a little more fun to me. Maybe I needed something light.

Dianne Burckhardt 8:59

What is a typical writing day for you? Is it different when you're working on a romance novel versus your other genres, or is the process basically the same, no matter which area you're writing in?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Pretty much the same. I don't work with a lot of outlining. I usually have an idea for my main characters, their backstories or personalities, and then I have plot points mapped out, and I know I want to hit, I know the beginning, the end, I know generally what the climax is gonna be and the major problem. And then I like to weave in the story from there because if I know what I'm gonna write, then it's not as fun for me. Like one time I tried outlining a whole chapter and I was like, yeah, I'm just writing what I wrote on my outline. This is not fun for me. So yeah, I'm not like a complete pantster. I know where the story is going. And sometimes it ends up being a little different than I initially envisioned, but for the most part, I know the beginning and end at least, and then can weave in some fun scenes and plot twist in the in between.

Dianne Burckhardt 10:03

Have any of your romances ever surprised you? Like you thought, okay, I've got these characters, they're gonna do this, they're gonna end up there. And in the middle of writing, your characters are just like, no, we're not going there.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yes, this one in particular. So my next release is in June, June 2nd, Perfect Secrets under Maria Jane. And this one I thought the main character, well, first of all, I started writing with only one POV. So I thought I was going to do only the female POV. And I got like 10 chapters in, and I thought, you know, it'd be really good to have the opposing character, the male POV, tell us something in his own words, because the main character doesn't know that he is crushing on her a little bit. And so how would you know that, right? Sometimes more fun in a romance if you can see both characters sort of liking each other and neither of them realize it. How do they come to the middle of realizing it for each other and how do they take those risks? Like 13 chapters in, who was it 13 chapters in? Maybe it was like 10 chapters in. I was like, okay, I'll add in the male POV. And when it went to my editor, she was like, why is he so late? Like, why did why do why do we not get him until chapter 10? I was like, oh, that was because I didn't plan it that way in the beginning. So I had to go back and add in some short extra chapters to show his point of view in the earlier stages.

Dianne Burckhardt 11:27

Whenever you were done with that, did the story feel more fleshed out to you?

SPEAKER_01 11:31

It did, yes. It felt like I had bonus content in my head after getting his point of view of the whole story.

Dianne Burckhardt 11:41

Is there a core idea behind the perfect romance series? I mean, is there like a basic theme that ties them all together?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, so I think it's when I was talking about the first book in the series and it having five parts, but a single character, and you see that single character in different stages of their life, making different decisions based on what happens, choices or things that happen external to them. But in each section or each stage of that, getting a happily ever after, even though they thought at the time, oh, that was a plot twist. I did it like where my life veered off from where it was before. So, and I think in each book, I'm also showing that with the different characters. Like there are things that may seem to throw our life off the path that we thought it was going on, but there still can be good on that path. And we're going to recover, we're going to meet maybe different people that are maybe better for us. I like that theme of just even if your life seems to take a turn, then maybe being able to see the hope in that too. And then it's always, you know, it's not going to be this dark forever when you when you have that turn or that change, but also just different things in life that the characters may experience. My character in Perfect Secrets has a mom who has a psychiatric challenge and grew up with a single mom with this challenge. So she has a lot of preconceived thoughts about sharing with and opening up with people. And it's really hard for her to do that. And she has some things that she's always done in her life. And then how do you break those cycles? So I'd like to have a little bit, each character has a different backstory, has a different way of overcoming the things that have happened in their life, and hopefully like moving towards like a healthier, I guess, emotionally balanced life too, as well as finding your happily ever after person.

Dianne Burckhardt 13:45

From what I can see, in let's see, as Close to Perfect came out in May of 2022, Perfect Office Pact came out in February of 2024. But now this year you've got three books in this series coming out.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Right. So they are re-releases. So the first two books, Perfect and Perfect Always, were released under Trisha Copeland. So those two are just the same book, but it's a second edition, basically, with a new cover and Maria Jane, because I switched mid-series, my pin name, which you know, my publicist was like, Why did you do that? Please go back and fix this. Please go back and fix this. So I'm going back and fixing it. So the whole series has Maria Jane, and that pin name was really special to me because Jane was my grandmother's name and Marie is my sister's name. And both of those people in my life were the romance lovers. So I had fun putting those names together.

Dianne Burckhardt 14:45

And do you think it helps whenever you're writing things like fantasy and you know horror? And then you have romance. Does it help to have it under a different pin name?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

You know, there are people that will tell you either way. I mean, there's certainly the Colleen Hoovers who have written fantasy, supernatural, as well as the romances under the same pin name and very successful at both. But just because this Maria Jane had more adult content, I feel like it needed to be separated as that brand instead of the fantasy Trisha Copeland brand.

Dianne Burckhardt 15:21

So we know me. I'm I'm very fond of pen names.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Right. I mean, I definitely in certain genres I will hear female authors like in sci-fi or even like high fantasy use essay or you know, their initials so that you don't know whether it's a male or a female writing the book, just in case that slants someone's perception of how that book is going to be.

Dianne Burckhardt 15:48

That's one reason why I chose a male pin name to write my westerns under, because it just seemed like people thought that westerns that were not romance came off better with a male name attached to it.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Right. And I guess it's it's typically seen as a more like male genre to read, maybe. I don't know, but the author name definitely gives you a flavor of what may be or the the voice of the story, I think.

Dianne Burckhardt 16:16

So for that reason, maybe pen names can be good. Now, do you find it difficult to publicize your books well with all the different pen names?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

I did have like five different Instagram pages at one point. Oh my gosh, that gave me chest pains thinking about trying to keep up with that. I know, because I had like fantasy by Trisha Copeland, Dystopian by Trisha Copeland, I had Romance by Maria Jane, and and then I said, no, I'm just not doing this. And I do have my like my email newsletter. I have romance, you know, people in the romance newsletter and people in the fantasy newsletter, and then the people that cross over, so I can at least send people, I hope, the content that they wanna that they want, right? So not all romance readers like fantasy, not all fantasy readers like romance. So I do try to do that a little bit, and then I have, you know, mariajanromance.com. We'll just go to a page on my other website, which is easy. I'm glad technology does that for me.

Dianne Burckhardt 17:20

That's one reason why I created Burkhart Books was I can just put everything under that. And then people go find all the pen names under Burkhart Books.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Oh, that's a super good idea.

Dianne Burckhardt 17:31

Yeah, would you ever think about just creating your own imprint?

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I'm like, can I borrow that idea? That's a good idea. Well, see, I have my own publishing company, which is TrueBird Publishing, but I've never like claimed that as my website. I was claiming more like my author name as my website. So if you go to my website, it's definitely a mix. You can get there by Trisha Copeland.com. If you just want to see the romance, you can get there mariajanromance.com. But it goes to a page on my other one, so I didn't have to create two websites.

Dianne Burckhardt 18:03

If you create a website under was it Truebird? Truebird, yeah. TrueBird Publishing, and then go to Trisha Copeland.com and then just forward it so that anytime people go to that website, it automatically forwards to your other publishing house.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Oh, okay. Nice. That's a good idea.

Dianne Burckhardt 18:20

There's all kinds of cool things that you can do for that.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

My brain is working in like a chronological way instead of like a different organizational way.

Dianne Burckhardt 18:31

That way though, too, if you ever decide you want to take on something else and create a new pin name, it all just goes under the same thing and you don't have to keep creating new avenues for your work. Right, right. That's a good idea. How do as Close to Perfect and the Perfect Office Pack connect to your books that are being re-released? Is there like a specific order to read these in, or are they all standalone?

SPEAKER_01 18:56

They're all standalone books. They're different friends within a friend group. So this group of friends all went to University of Kentucky and Lexington, Kentucky together. And I don't even know why I picked that. I just looked at a map and was like, this looks good. Perfect, which is the one that has the five different parts of the different stages of Chloe's life, starts in college. And you meet all the friends then in college, but just a little bit, mostly it's Chloe's life, but you see the different friends come in and out of her life. And then perfect always is Chloe's complete story. So my initial thought was like, I'll write a complete story of happily ever after, which each one of these different love interests, and then that got too overwhelming for me. I thought, no, I just need to pick one for Chloe. And then as close to perfect is Brie's story. So Chloe and Brie were college roommates. And then you see Brie's story and as close to perfect, and then in Perfect Office Pact, you see Mira's story, who's a Hispanic character, and Brie is an African American or Black character. So I did want to do these like culturally diverse characters. Um Chloe is an Asian character, but to skip back to these culturally diverse characters who are all friends and whose lives interconnect. So that's been a lot of fun. And like I said, perfect secrets is L, or she starts off as Ella, and then I wanted to make her a little more grown up. So she goes by L in Perfect Secrets now that she's about 27 years old.

Dianne Burckhardt 20:32

Do you personally believe that there is a perfect kind of love? Or does that only live in your fiction?

SPEAKER_01 20:38

I think there is. I mean, I feel like me and my husband have, I mean, not that we're perfect people, but we're mostly perfect for each other. So our personalities match and vibe, and we have different strengths and different weaknesses, and we can support each other in that, but we're, you know, some people opposites may do well. We are pretty close to the same personality. So we vibe and gel and have been together for a while, 30 years now. So, you know, I I think I mean, not that there's only one perfect person for someone too. So, you know, there are many things, people don't always stay together and things happen. So I think, you know, people can find the next perfect person for them too. And, you know, who knows whether it's circumstance or the time in your life or just like happenstance of who you meet? So yeah, I I was standing on a stool in a lab with a lab coat, huge lab gloves, and huge lab goggles, cleaning glassware when I met my future husband. So it was not a good look at all.

Dianne Burckhardt 21:47

Now, does he remember that moment? Has he ever said what it was that he noticed about you?

SPEAKER_01 21:53

I don't know. I mean, I have definitely told him I was attracted to him, and he just kind of laughs and is like, yeah, you In a lab coat and goggles. So I don't know that, you know, at that moment I wasn't looking my best then, but there must have been something after that.

Dianne Burckhardt 22:11

Do you think your relationship actually feeds a lot of your romance?

SPEAKER_01 22:16

I like to show the healthier points. You know, looking at other friends and how they get along with their partners, I have to say we're more of a like a homogeneous couple. Like if we've I doubt that we have fought five times in our whole like married life. So but then I know couples who licker and fight all the time. And at the end of the day, they're still very happy. So I don't like to like infuse my romances with just one personality, right? Yeah. I like to have different characters with different personalities and you know kind of see how that plays out for different people.

Dianne Burckhardt 22:55

Well, that's one thing is like I'm always telling people, my husband is definitely not perfect, but he is perfect for me. Right. So now seems like a good time to do our five quick questions that never turn out to be quick, but I just love doing it. So are you ready? I'm ready. Question one If your significant other decided to surprise you with a romantic evening, what would you hope they would do for you? What would be your perfect romantic night?

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Um, there has to be red wine. Okay, prefer Lynchy would be pizza. That's my favorite food. There probably be some type of chocolate dessert. Yeah. And I like doing something active. So if it's in the winter time, you know, I don't mind playing Wii or video games in the basement. Wii sports is something that's very old school but popular in our dating life.

Dianne Burckhardt 23:54

So question two. What is your favorite romance book?

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Oh, my favorite romance book. Oh my goodness. I read so many romance books. I love Emily Henry's books. And you want me to name one?

Dianne Burckhardt 24:11

You you can just name your favorites.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Okay. So I love Abby Jimenez. I'm trying to remember the one I just finished. That was good. I can never remember the names because there are so many of them. Um, I didn't really read romance until, I don't know, maybe five years ago or so. Really? I need more fluff and light in my life now.

Dianne Burckhardt 24:38

Question three. As a romance author, what does success look like for you?

SPEAKER_01 24:45

I would love to sell 100,000 books. That would be great. And what success is for me is just having people enjoy my books. And my favorite thing is when somebody will email me and say, Oh, I love this character, I love that character, or you know, what if you did this and offer suggestions? I for this novel, I well, for my previous novel, Perfect Office Pact, I had my newsletter list pick a character name for the male main character. And this one I went a little bit different way. I had them pick like the city and the favorite food and the favorite hobby. And she likes reading urban fantasy, by the way. And so um, that's really fun to me, and that feels like success when readers are engaged in your romance world.

Dianne Burckhardt 25:36

That does sound amazing that they would want to get that involved in helping you build your characters and your stories. Yes, it was a lot of fun. Question four. What is one question in an interview that you always hope somebody will ask you?

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Oh my goodness, what is one question I want them to ask me? I don't know if there's one in particular.

Dianne Burckhardt 26:02

Is there ever a topic that you wish that they would bring up?

SPEAKER_01 26:06

No, I like vampires, but vampires don't go into these romances. These are just straight contemporary romances with no supernatural elements besides love, which is magical to me. So when somebody asked me about magic and why I kind of started that the magic thing, I like that. That's my answer.

Dianne Burckhardt 26:27

Who's your favorite vampire?

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Let's see. It might be Damon Salvatore, I have to say. I'm a big vampire diaries fan.

Dianne Burckhardt 26:36

I still I always have to go back to Spike. I love Spike.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Yeah, that was a good one too.

Dianne Burckhardt 26:43

Question five. We're asking everybody the same question again this year so that we can build the database for our year-in book buying guide. This year, we want your opinion on what is the best book to movie adaptation that you have seen to date. Oh, the best book to movie. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Well, I haven't seen People We Meet on Vacation yet. And but supposedly it's very good. I read the book. I think I'm pretty sure it's Emily Henry. Yes, it's Emily Henry. I mean, Twilight did a great job, I have to say. They did a good job. A lot of people don't like this, but I like the movies maybe better than the books now. I'll go with Twilight, because I I re-watch that movie all the time.

Dianne Burckhardt 27:29

I admit, it's like I never read any of the books, but I have seen the movies a few times. So now what is next for you?

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Well, as I said, I have Perfect Secrets, which comes out in June. So I'm super excited about that book. And then the next romance that I have queued up is Danny's story, who, like all the other friends in this group, went to school at University of Kentucky with them. That one is going to have a little bit different feel, I hope. So getting some more maybe different elements than I than I have written in my previous book. I think I'm gonna go back in time and show their romance over the course of the five years that they've been together. So I'm hoping that seems a little nostalgic to people. So that will be fun. And I have a short fantasy story, hopefully coming out pretty soon that was a spin-off from the Realm Chronicles series. The audiobook version for 2BFA Rogue should come out February of 2026, and then the finale 2BFA audiobook should come out in July 2026.

Dianne Burckhardt 28:37

With all of these different projects that you have coming out around the same time, I mean the same year, how on earth do you keep up with everything?

SPEAKER_01 28:45

I have a detailed calendar and have a I have this in a Word document and then on my Google Calendar. So just go one week, one week at a time.

Dianne Burckhardt 28:55

With you working in so many different genres and having so many projects that are coming out, isn't it hard to keep up with publicity for everything?

SPEAKER_01 29:03

I try not to do anything at the same time. So I'm hoping my audiobook to be a FA Rogue comes out in February, and then my successive re-releases and new release are April, May, and June. And then July should be the fantasy audiobook again. So, you know, space them a little bit. And I don't want my readers to be overwhelmed, like, oh, I haven't even finished the last book that you told me was your new book. So I like to space it out a little bit.

Dianne Burckhardt 29:36

Well, and since you have things coming out in different series, it it should be a little bit easier for the readers who are kind of faithful to either the Faye series or the romance series. It it wouldn't be quite as daunting.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Maybe, yeah. I mean, but like I hope that my readers, I mean, when I like an author, I buy all of their books. Oh, yeah. Because I know I'm gonna like them, right? So I'm hoping, you know, maybe that's part of what success is for me. If if someone finds my book and likes my book, that they'll want to keep reading them.

Dianne Burckhardt 30:12

Now, you still aren't a full-time author, are you? You still work a day job, as they say. I do, yes. I do work a day job. See, and that that makes it even more impressive that you have all of this stuff coming out in all of these different series, and you're still working a full-time job. Do you sleep?

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Um so a few years ago when I mean I was more like halftime work, maybe third time all the parts of some of my kids were younger and they were at home, and I did less out-of-the-home work, um, which meant more writing time for me. So I was releasing two to three books a year for a while. And and now it's kind of trickled down to just one one book a year, I think, for this year. But we'll see. You never know what's gonna happen.

Dianne Burckhardt 31:01

It's just it's very impressive watching everything that you're juggling and still doing such great quality work. I mean, that's impressive all on its own.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Well, thank you.

Dianne Burckhardt 31:11

Yeah, I my my husband would say I'm just obsessed. So sometimes that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

It can be a good thing. I'm obsessed with making my books the best they can be and 5% better than the last one. I heard that so somebody said that, and I was like, I'm gonna like remember that as my mantra.

Dianne Burckhardt 31:31

That is like a good goal. I like that. Now tell everybody again who you are and where they can find your books.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Right. So my romance pin name is Maria Jane, and you can go to Maria JaneRomance.com. If you would like to find all my books, you can go to Trisha Copeland.com, which will take you to my fantasy, my romance, as well as my dystopian series.

Dianne Burckhardt 31:56

And of course, we're going to have all of your information in the description of today's podcast with links where they can just click and go and find all of your work. And they'll also be able to find you at burkhartbooks.com slash podcast. And of course, you're going to be in the year in book buying guide again.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. I I love being on your show, so I really appreciate you having me.

Dianne Burckhardt 32:18

I was really looking forward to this. I'm like, oh, she was so much fun the last time. This will be good. Well, I hope so. I like those conversations that I know is just gonna be an easy, fun conversation about books. That's those are the best ones. Right, definitely. So there you have it, folks. My amazing conversation with the wonderful romance author Trisha Copeland writing as Maria Jane. And I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. She is always a fun guest to chat with. So remember, if you're looking for your next happily ever after or even just a happy for now read, be sure to check out her perfect romance series. And don't forget, we have a final Love Fest episode for season five coming next week, and we're doing something brand new for us. Next week is our first ever podcast takeover. My friend, author Sebastian Duro Russell will be stepping in to host Bookbanter with Diane Burkhart as he interviews paranormal romance author D.S. Stevens about her new series, The Haunted Heart series. Each book in this paranormal romance series is based on true ghost hunting adventures from the author's college years, adding a unique layer of realism to the storyline. And the duo will also be discussing Sebastian's work. They will discuss again his work, Burning with the Blue Flame, which is a multi-award-winning book, and what is coming next in this series. We'll find out what he has planned coming up in the future for his writing career. We also have some behind-the-scenes information. We are currently setting up a brand new storefront at burkhartbooks.com. We will be launching merchandise across our Burkhart Books and Bookband Productions brands and bringing back designs we had originally created for the Into the West saga serial when we first launched our website. We will have clothing, drink wear, and much more available very soon. We're also working on a marketing class series designed to help authors better promote their books. With my 20 plus years in advertising, public relations, and design, I'm building something that will give authors easy, low-cost, practical tools to help them get their work seen in their target markets. So keep an eye on Burkhartbooks.com for everything that is coming up next. And I think that's enough for today, folks. We've got so much planned coming up, and you might want to join our newsletter at burchartbooks.com so that you can keep up to date with everything that's going on behind the scenes as it happens. We've got great things planned, and trust me, you don't want to miss any of it. So you know what time it is, folks? It's time for you all to go forth and be really happy that great things are coming. Thank you for joining us today. Be sure to subscribe to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart on your favorite podcast streaming service. Because if you love books like we do, you do not want to miss a single episode of this podcast.