This week on the What to Read Next Podcast, I sat down with writer, screenwriter, and first-time novelist Ash Perez to talk about the queer audio rom-com you didn't know you needed — and the unexpected journey that brought it to life.
If you’ve ever wished you could crawl inside a Nancy Meyers movie and live there for a few hours, I have the audiobook for you.
Speak Now by Ash Perez is not your typical audiobook. It’s an audio-first, full-cast production — think sound effects, multiple actors, layered atmosphere — basically a movie that plays out entirely in your ears. And honestly? Romance readers deserve nothing less.
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🎬 How a Hollywood Writers Strike Became a Rom-Com
Ash came to this project through a path that’s equal parts Hollywood drama and happy accident.
As a TV screenwriter, Ash had been sitting on a rom-com screenplay for years — one that just couldn’t find its footing in the traditional Hollywood system. Then the 2023 writers strike hit, and everything stalled. But instead of waiting it out, an editor at Simon & Schuster reached out with a question: do you have any ideas that would work in an audio-first format?
Ash did. That shelved screenplay became Speak Now.
What makes it special is that Ash didn’t just write it — he co-directed the entire production too. Casting became its own creative puzzle, especially for a queer romance where voice tonality had to do the work that visuals usually handle. How do you make sure listeners always know who’s speaking when there’s no narrator saying “she said” or “he laughed”? You cast intentionally — one voice in a lower range, one higher — and you lean hard into the craft of audio storytelling.
The result features a cast that includes Jenna Malone, Arian Moayed, Benjamin Norris, and Kevin R. Free (yes, the beloved narrator of the Murder Bot series). It’s impressive, and you can feel that care in every scene.
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📖 So What’s Speak Now Actually About?
Here’s the setup: Alex is a chef running the restaurant at a boutique hotel. Life is humming along — until her former best friend, Genevieve, from high school shows up. Engaged. And suddenly everything Alex thought she’d left behind comes rushing back.
It’s a queer second-chance romance with all the hallmarks of the rom-coms we grew up loving — the wedding countdown ticking in the background, the tension of unfinished business, the Nancy Meyers kitchen energy, and of course, a happily ever after that’s absolutely earned.
Ash cited My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Wedding Planner as key influences, and once you know that, you’ll hear it everywhere — the structure, the ticking clock of the wedding, the moments where you just know things are about to go sideways in the best possible way.
📚 Reading Tips from Ash (That We All Needed to Hear)
One of my favorite parts of this conversation was when Ash got real about their own reading journey — and honestly, it felt like a lot of us.
Like many millennials, Ash fell off fiction for years, replacing novels with nonfiction self-help in an endless quest to be productive. Sound familiar?
It was a Lemony Snicket novella — Poison for Breakfast — that cracked the door back open. Short, weird, and completely delightful, it reminded Ash that reading doesn’t have to be a chore or a achievement. It can just be fun.
Here are a few things Ash shared that really resonated:
📵 Swap the phone for a book at bedtime. The algorithm is designed to keep you scrolling. A book isn’t. Once you’ve read the same sentence six times, your body takes the hint. Better sleep, less doomscrolling — it’s a genuine win.
🚫 Drop the guilt about DNFs. If a book isn’t working, put it down. Ash loves that both Goodreads and Storygraph now have a Did Not Finish feature — because reading isn’t homework, and your time matters.
📚 Try a novella when you’re in a slump. A short, satisfying read can be the palette cleanser that gets you back in the groove. No shame in going small.
🏛️ Use your library — and request books you love. Even if you’ve already bought Speak Now, requesting it at your library helps other readers discover it. Libraries track those requests and purchase accordingly. Your hold is literally an act of community.
🎧 How to Listen to Speak Now
Spotify Premium — included in your subscription (up to 11 hours free)
Audible / wherever you get audiobooks
Your local library — request it if they don’t have it yet! Reference the Kirkus review to help your librarian make the case.
📚 Books Mentioned in This Episode
Speak Now by Ash Perez — queer audio-first rom-com
Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket — the novella that brought Ash back to reading
Murder Bot Diaries series by Martha Wells — sci-fi series with a legendary audiobook narrator
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston — queer rom-com comfort read
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster — a childhood classic worth revisiting
Read This for Inspiration by Ash Perez — Ash’s nonfiction debut
🔗 Find Ash Online
Visit ashperez.com for links to all of Ash’s work, including Speak Now and Read This for Inspiration.
Loved this episode? Share it with a friend who thinks audiobooks are “just someone reading to them” — this one will change their mind. 😄
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👉 More book recs, library hacks, and KU finds: whattoreadnextpodcast.substack.com
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What to Read Next is an independent podcast and blog. New episodes every week. Find us at whattoreadnextblog.com and on Instagram @whattoreadnextpod.
