Jennifer Hilt — USA Today bestselling author and creator of the Trope Thesaurus series — joins Janet to talk about story structure, creative identity, and why understanding tropes is really about understanding what makes us human. They cover how tropes got a bad reputation (and why that's changed), the difference between a trope and a cliché, why motivation is the secret sauce of any story that actually works, and what happens when authors hand over their creative judgment — to AI, to trends, or to anyone else.

If you've ever felt ashamed of writing "commercial" fiction, lost momentum mid-draft, or wondered whether AI tools are helping or quietly hollowing out your voice — this one's for you.

What we talk about: Why Jennifer's students reacted with shame when she mentioned tropes — and what that revealed about the indie author wor ...