The Weink Podcast has officially launched, and for our very first episode, we thought there was no one more fitting to start with than Anais Garnier, the founder of Weink and an author herself!
Hosted by Elsa, this first conversation is a warm introduction to the stories behind Weink: the writing, the readers, the online communities, and the author experience that helped shape the platform.
You can listen (and watch!) the episode here:
What This First Weink Podcast Episode Is About
In the first Weink Podcast episode, Elsa sits down with Anais Garnier to talk about the writing life behind Weink.
Before she became the founder of the platform, Anais was a teenage writer sharing stories online, refreshing for reader comments, and learning what it meant to build confidence chapter by chapter. The conversation moves through fan fiction, pen names, action romance, fantasy worlds, late night research, and the author experience that eventually helped shape Weink.
Anais Started With Fan Fiction
Anais’s writing journey began with fan fiction.
After falling in love with Vampire Academy, she did what many readers do when they are not ready to leave a world behind: she looked for more. That search led her to online fan fiction communities, where readers were continuing the stories they loved in their own ways.
Eventually, Anais started writing too.
At first, it felt safer to write inside a world that already existed. The characters, the magic system, and the emotional foundation were already there. But writing fan fiction also gave her the courage to post her work online, where readers could respond in real time.
Instead of keeping her stories hidden in a private document, she was sharing chapters, receiving comments, and discovering the strange little thrill of someone asking, “When is the next update?”
The Power of Reader Comments
Those early comments mattered.
For Anais, reader feedback was not just nice to have. It became part of the writing process. Every message, every reaction, every person waiting for the next chapter made the story feel alive outside her own head.
“The book community online is so good.”
That feeling stayed with her. The connection between readers and writers became one of the threads running through her author journey, and later through Weink itself.
Weink is built around that same connection: readers discovering stories freely, and authors being supported for the work they share.
From Cloclovilla to Anais Garnier
Before publishing under her real name, Anais wrote as Cloclovilla.
The name started as a childhood username, but over time it became part of her public writing identity. It gave her a place to share her work, grow an audience, and be seen by readers while still keeping a little distance between herself and the stories.
Eventually, that distance started to feel like something she was ready to outgrow.
Publishing as Anais Garnier became a way of stepping forward. Not just changing the name on a profile, but taking ownership of the books, the years of writing, and the author she had become.
Falling for My Bodyguard and Online Writing
One of the stories Elsa and Anais talk about is Falling for My Bodyguard.
The book began with fan fiction roots before becoming an original story of its own. Anais started writing it as a teenager, without imagining how far it would go or how many readers it would eventually reach.
That is one of the beautiful and unpredictable things about online writing. A story can begin casually, almost as an experiment, and still become the one that changes everything.
Why Anais Writes Romance With Danger
Anais has a clear love for stories where romance and danger meet.
Her books often move through action, suspense, survival, mystery, high stakes relationships, and characters who are trying to find love in difficult worlds. Even when she tries to write something more contemporary, suspense tends to find its way in.
“It always has to be love.”
What makes this part of the conversation interesting is how Anais talks about what happens after the danger. She is drawn to the aftermath as much as the action itself. What happens after someone survives something terrifying? How do they trust again? How do they let someone in? How does love grow when safety has not always been guaranteed?
That question sits underneath a lot of her stories.
Moving Into Fantasy and Shifter Romance
The episode also explores Anais’s move into fantasy and dystopian romance.
With books like Running From the Woods and her upcoming Weink exclusive shifter romance, Anais gets to play with magic systems, dangerous trials, pack politics, enemies to lovers tension, and worlds that do not have to follow the rules of our own.
Fantasy gives her freedom, but it also asks more of her as a writer. If anything can happen, the world still needs limits. The magic needs structure. The characters need rules to push against.
“It’s freeing, but it’s harder.”
The Love We Deny and 3am Research
Anais also talks about The Love We Deny, her sports romance about a professional cheerleader and a football player.
Writing that book meant learning a world she did not already know inside out. The story led her into American football research, team rules, cheerleading restrictions, and, at one point, waking up at 3am to watch games because of the time difference.
It is one of those wonderfully specific writer moments. Sometimes research means reading articles. Sometimes it means changing your sleep schedule because your fictional world needs to make sense.
How Anais’s Author Experience Led to Weink
The conversation naturally turns toward Weink, but it begins with Anais’s experience as an author.
She had seen how powerful online writing communities could be. She had also seen the harder side: writers could gain readers and visibility, but that did not always mean they could earn from their work.
At the same time, other creators had models where audiences could access content for free while creators still made money. Video creators had platforms. Musicians had streaming. Writers were still often stuck choosing between reach and income.
That question helped shape Weink:
What if readers could access books for free, while authors still earned from their work?
Weink was built around that idea. Readers can discover stories without a paywall, while authors can publish without exclusivity, keep their rights, and be supported for the work they share.
Advice for Writers
Near the end of the episode, Anais shares advice that many writers need to hear.
“Writing a book and finishing it is an achievement on its own.”
She talks about being kinder to your own work, especially when doubt starts to take over. Writers often judge themselves before a story has even had the chance to breathe.
“Don’t disregard your work too easily, because sometimes it’s better than you think.”
Anais also shares that she does not always write in order. If a later scene is the one she can see clearly, she writes that first. If the ending arrives before the middle, she follows it and connects the pieces later.
“I don’t think I’ve ever written a single chapter in order.”
For anyone trying to force themselves through a draft from beginning to end, it is a gentle reminder that writing does not have to happen in a straight line.
Listen or Watch the Episode
Listen to the full episode on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7y5SgkFgMaMK6UJHo7PUlo?si=UHWw6BOiQpOQtEPJmb2XdQ
Watch the episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/AbmatPkYFLI
And stay tuned for more Weink Podcast episodes, where we will keep talking to authors about their books, their writing journeys, and the stories behind the stories.
The Weink podcast can be find on:
