Episode Details

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes getting murdered is only the beginning of your villain origin story.

This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Amara sit down with author Matteo Franco to discuss The Undertow of Evelyn Graymore, the first book in the Hearts of the Drown series, a dark paranormal romance Matteo describes as The Little Mermaid in reverse meets Jennifer's Body with the paranormal vibes of Twilight.

After Evelyn Graymore is murdered by a powerful billionaire and thrown into the Puget Sound, her rage summons an ancient ocean entity who offers her another chance at life with a catch. She's transformed into a siren who must feed on the darkness inside corrupt men's hearts while hunting down the man who killed her. There's just one more inconvenient rule: if she falls in love, the person she loves will die.

🌊 What if The Little Mermaid came back from the dead looking for revenge?
🩸 If a siren only kills terrible men, is she really the villain?
🖤 And what happens when falling in love could literally kill the person you love?

If you love sirens, feminine rage, morally gray heroines, revenge stories, forbidden romance, paranormal romance, horror, shadow daddies, golden retriever love interests, forced proximity, deadly bargains, and women who refuse to stay dead, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Matteo's journey from fine art and dreams of filmmaking to writing stories that blend horror, fantasy, and romance.
✨ Why Matteo describes The Undertow of Evelyn Graymore as reverse Little Mermaid meets Jennifer's Body with darker Twilight vibes.
✨ Writing feminine rage, morally complicated women, and a story that asks whether Evelyn is actually the villain at all.
✨ Evelyn's murder, the ocean entity who answers her rage, and the Faustian bargain that transforms her into a siren hungry for the darkness inside corrupt men.
✨ The forbidden romance at the heart of the story and the devastating rule that falling in love could kill the person Evelyn loves.
✨ Siren lore, revenge, visceral horror, and Matteo's cinematic approach to creating an atmospheric world readers can see unfolding like a movie.
✨ Building a massive reader community before publication and why Matteo believes readers connect with authors who feel like people rather than billboards.
✨ The unexpected Instagram connection that led to Matteo signing with his literary agent without ever entering the traditional query trenches.
✨ Why genre blending is opening new doors for readers who love romance and fantasy but might never normally pick up horror.
✨ What's next, including Book Two of Hearts of the Drown, an upcoming gothic botanical horror romance, and even more psychological horror to come.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Matteo Franco – @Matteofrancoauthor

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