Welcome to Episode Two of The Agent Unveiled.

In today’s episode, we talk about the invisible labor behind agenting, the emotional and mental weight of the role, and the behind-the-scenes decisions that shape outcomes long before a book ever reaches readers. This is a deeper dive into the realities of the job, where the questions get sharper and the answers pull back parts of the process that are rarely seen or discussed openly.

This is a dive into this topic where the questions get deeper and the agents share more unknown realities with you.

Join the conversation by leaving comments that will be featured in next week’s written article! Agents are going to also be answering any questions left in the comments. 🫶

Participants include:

* A.J. Van Belle

* Rachel Estep

* Ciara Smith

* Shelly Romero

* Vicky Weber

* Josh Foreman

* Renee Runge

**Rachel McMillan has chosen to participant through written format only. Her answers will be available in next week’s written episode. She will not be in the LIVE roundtable chat April 22nd.

This series is meant to offer clarity, nuance, and humanity in a space where agents are rarely given room to speak openly. Online public discourse, including outrage culture, often oversimplifies or distorts the reality of the job. So, I’m here to work with them and you to remove that veil and bridge the community between agent and author by reducing misinformation and tension between while helping readers and listeners to understand the realities agents navigate.

Thank you for joining us for the beginning of this deeper look into the people who help bring stories into the world.

What to look forward to in this mini-series:

EPISODE 1:

The Human Behind the Agent“This episode explores who agents are outside of publishing. Their identities, passions, grounding rituals, histories, and the human side of their lives that rarely receives space in industry conversations. You’ll also learn something surprising about them you may not know and maybe can’t learn anywhere else.

(Today’s conversation) EPISODE 2:

The Invisible Labor of PublishingPart two digs into the work agents perform that is rarely visible. From emotional load to daily decision-making to behind-the-scenes advocacy, this episode pulls the curtain back on the realities of a job that is often misunderstood. Agenting and the work doesn’t stop once you get the agent or sign the publishing deal.

EPISODE 3:

The Industry Through Their EyesPart three widens the frame. Agents discuss the pressures of modern publishing, how social media shapes their day-to-day experience, and which conversations feel unsafe or underrepresented in public spaces.

EPISODE 4:

The RoundtableA collective LIVE conversation with the participating agents, where where you, the listeners, get to engage live in this conversation before the series ends. This finale brings all three themes together while opening the floor to discuss public responses to the series. You can ask questions, comment on what you’ve heard, and help strengthen this wonderful community of creatives.

- Angelia N. Bailey 🫶🖤

Follow me on X, Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads.

Welcome to episode one of The Agent Unveiled.

In today’s episode, we talk about who the agents are outside of their agent roles, what brought them to agenting, and something surprising about them most people don’t know. This is a soft intro before getting into deeper questions later in the series. Join the conversation by leaving comments that will be featured in next week’s written article! Agents are going to also be answering any questions left in the comments. 🫶

Participants include:

A.J. Van Belle

Rachel Estep

Ciara Smith

Shelly Romero

Vicky Weber

Josh Foreman

Renee Runge

**Rachel McMillan has chosen to participant through written format only. Her answers will be available in next week’s written episode. She will not be in the LIVE roundtable chat April 22nd.

This series is meant to offer clarity, nuance, and humanity in a space where agents are rarely given room to speak openly. Online public discourse, including outrage culture, often oversimplifies or distorts the reality of the job. So, I’m here to work with them and you to remove that veil and bridge the community between agent and author by reducing misinformation and tension between while helping readers and listeners to understand the realities agents navigate.

Thank you for joining us for the beginning of this deeper look into the people who help bring stories into the world.

What to look forward to in this mini-series:

(Today’s conversation) EPISODE 1:

The Human Behind the Agent“This episode explores who agents are outside of publishing. Their identities, passions, grounding rituals, histories, and the human side of their lives that rarely receives space in industry conversations. You’ll also learn something surprising about them you may not know and maybe can’t learn anywhere else.

EPISODE 2:

The Invisible Labor of PublishingPart two digs into the work agents perform that is rarely visible. From emotional load to daily decision-making to behind-the-scenes advocacy, this episode pulls the curtain back on the realities of a job that is often misunderstood. Agenting and the work doesn’t stop once you get the agent or sign the publishing deal.

EPISODE 3:

The Industry Through Their EyesPart three widens the frame. Agents discuss the pressures of modern publishing, how social media shapes their day-to-day experience, and which conversations feel unsafe or underrepresented in public spaces.

EPISODE 4:

The RoundtableA collective LIVE conversation with the participating agents, where where you, the listeners, get to engage live in this conversation before the series ends. This finale brings all three themes together while opening the floor to discuss public responses to the series. You can ask questions, comment on what you’ve heard, and help strengthen this wonderful community of creatives.

- Angelia N. Bailey 🫶🖤

Follow me on X, Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads.

Kink Without the Bullshit is a grounded, honest conversation about the misconceptions surrounding kink and the kink community.

In this episode, we talk about how media narratives and performative behavior can cause real harm, why education matters, and what ethical kink actually looks like in practice.

This isn’t about shock value or controversy. It’s about clarity, consent, responsibility, and creating safer dynamics through knowledge rather than shame.

Joining me in this important conversation is:

* Alexandria Brown - Rising Action Publishing Editor / Switch

* Mistress Bec

* Dom Buddha

The guests joining me bring their own lived experience to the conversation and are open to continuing the discussion in the comments for those who want to ask thoughtful follow-up questions.

Also, if you want to learn a bit about me, who I am in the kink space, and why this topic matters to me personally as someone speaking from lived experience within the community and lifestyle, comment away!

Thanks for stepping into this den with us. Grab a drink, get comfortable, and welcome to the pride.

- Angelia N. Bailey 🫶🖤

Follow me on X, Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads.

Art is often treated like something we consume. Something we scroll past, evaluate, or move on from.

This conversation invites us to slow down.

In this episode of Lioness Ink & Insight, I sit down with painter Michael Sexton to talk about art as a living exchange between artist and viewer. We explore texture, presence, and the quiet magic that happens between the artwork and the viewer.

The Quiet Damage is a conversation about what happens when the people we love diminish our voice, intentional or not, and how that impact reaches further than we often realize.

In this episode, I sit down with author S.C. Field for an honest, unfiltered discussion about how being made smaller affects us as people first, and how that quiet erosion can eventually shape, stall, or silence our creativity.

This isn’t an interview or a how-to. It’s two writers sitting with lived experience, naming the harm that’s not always obvious, and talking about what it takes to find your way back to yourself and your work.

If you’ve ever felt yourself shrinking to keep the peace, editing your voice to be more palatable, or struggling creatively without fully understanding why, this conversation is for you.

Thanks for stepping into this den with us. Grab a drink, get comfortable, and welcome to the pride.

- Angelia N. Bailey 🫶🖤

Follow me on X, Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads.

Welcome to the very first episode of Lioness Ink & Insight, my space for honest conversations about creativity, identity, and the beautifully chaotic experience of being human. This den is open to honest dialogue, curiosity, and the occasional feral moment.

Lioness Ink & Insight is not a niche podcast. It’s a living conversation. Some days we’ll dive into creativity or writing. Other days we’ll talk about identity, survival, joy, burnout, or whatever my brain is fixated on at two in the morning.

All of it matters. All of it belongs here.

Today’s episode introduces the heart of this channel, why it exists, and what’s coming next, including the debut mini-series The Agent Unveiled.

Thanks for stepping into this den with me. Grab a drink, get comfortable, and welcome to the pride.

- Angelia N. Bailey 🫶🖤

Follow me on X, Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads.