Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

This month on the podcast, I wanted look more closely at the intersection of romance and reality tv, particular the Bachelor franchise and Real Housewives. There is only one place to start with that inquiry: with Dr. Jodi McAlister. Jodi McAlister is a scholar of romance and an expert on all things The Bachelor, and she’s the author of the  Australia-set Marry Me, Juliet trilogy , which you m...

We’re going back to December 1997 to look at the Ads & Features from Romantic Times. We’ve got a cover with many, many fonts, several memorials for Princess Diana, and we find out what happens when you win an award and find out while you’re on the john. There are profiles of readers and romance reading book clubs, AOL chat rooms about romance for writers and readers, and the price of the Essen...

Christine M. Larson is the author of the new book Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success , published by Princeton University Press. This book is NIFTY - it’s about us! I was interviewed for it, and we are going to talk about ALL The Things, from identity-driven ethics of care to RWA to the need for “a collective unified body for creative p...

The book reviews in 1997 may be fewer in number but they are ample in wtfery. Prizefighter younger sons getting kicked out of brothels on their wedding night! Nicknames that follow you around the globe in the 1880s! Regency cats! We’ve got truly glorious covers, so do not miss the visual aids. They’re incredible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kirsty Greenwood’s book  The Love of My Afterlife  is out now, and it’s bubbly and charming and funny, with a lot of emotion, so we’re going to talk  all  about it. We also talk about making friends as an adult, and how there’s just about every genre inside this book. There’s even a heist. This might be why it’s the  Good Morning America  book club pick this month &nb...

We’re going back in time to look at the ads and features of the September 2002 issue of Romantic Times! This issue left us with many questions, such as: What the hell is Tart Noir? Are reviewers elsewhere too mean? (Not us – we weren’t online yet!) How much lore is there about pesto? Should you jump into a pile of leaves? Should you soak crawfish tails in milk? Why is an author defending polygamy?...

Oriana Leckert is the Head of Publishing at Kickstarter, and works with the many, many authors who are finding community support on Kickstarter. They’re hosting a celebration all this month,  Heartstrings & Hardbacks: Kickstarter and Romance , so we connected to talk about successful romance projects, strategies that work and don’t work on Kickstarter, and the evolution of fandom (a topic...

We asked our Patreon community to vote on this month’s issue, and September 2002 won by a wide margin. So let’s dive into the book reviews, shall we? There are strange subcategories and overlapping genres, and also color-conscious aliens and amnesia, too. Plus, we talk a bit about one of the best lines Avon ever produced. Don’t miss the visual aids, because some of the covers are something. We als...

In June 1989, Kathryn Falk published The Romance Reader’s Handbook, a 354 page spiral bound collection of everything a romance reader would need to know. Steve Ammidown leads us on a brief tour of this artifact of romance history.   There’s a collection of over 2000 pseudonyms, plus a directory of where to contact authors, lists of bookstores that love romance, and recommended reads. And...

In  episode 611, we talked about the ads and features in the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times , and there was an ad on the back cover for Romance Soundtracks. We could not find anything about them, but Malaraa in our Patreon sure did! We’ve got samples! We’ve got MUSIC that you’re meant to read with, and Amanda tries to identify the genre/album the music was from. MASSIVE THANKS to Malaraa...

In a review for  Never Cross a Highlander ,  Shana came up with the ACAB scale, or the Alyssa Cole Anti-Slavery Book Scale, which ranks how central the horror of slavery is to the storyline. I asked her to tell me all about it, and Shana, kindly, said yes. Our conversation grows (of course) to include the field of narrative therapy and bibliotherapy, other evaluative rubrics for reading,...

Amanda and I are traveling back in time to May 1994 and taking a look at the ads and features inside Romantic Times Magazine – oh, it’s a time. We have questions – and answers! Are Eric Braeden and Victor Newman the same guy?  Is Kathryn Falk writing celebrity gossip and outing people?  Are there Lorena Bobbit jokes?  Were Glamour Shots™ very well represented among author headshots?...

Harper St. George joins me to talk about  The Stranger I Wed   (look at that gorgeous cover) and the dollar princesses of the Gilded Age. We talk about transactional marriages, the power dynamics of marriages of convenience – and Harper has a few recommendations of her favorites! You can find Harper St. George at her website,  HarperStGeorge.com , and on  Instagram @HarperStGeo...

Amanda and I are traveling to May 1994 and taking a look at the book reviews in this edition of  RT Rewind! We’re answering many questions, including: Why does five stars mean something is a classic, but one star is acceptable? What do CS, RM, VR, and F stand for inside Contemporary and New Reality? What grade did  Dreaming of You  receive? There’s so much Fabio, a telepathic cat, b...

Len Pennie’s book of Scots poetry  poyums  is out in the US this week, and  you might have seen my post about her book launch earlier this week . Len is my guest today and we’re going to talk about: Poetry! Healing from trauma and abuse The subversive revolution of teaching a word a day in a minoritized language Using humor to overcome the “cultural hangover of linguistic oppression...

Y’all, the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times is a treasure of truly amazing fun. So many of you told me that episode 609, where we looked at the reviews, made you laugh so hard you cried. Well, let me share some highlights of what is about to happen to your eardrums. The Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant was a Six-episode reality tv show on the Oxygen network, and we missed it when it ran. It’s not...

What happens when you write the books you want to read but are having a hard time finding? Many good things. Kimberly Lemming loves fantasy, and started writing her own catnip, which led to the joy that is the Mead Mishaps series. We answer ALL the tough questions, like how many mead mishaps have we personally experienced? How does one make the bananas spin? And why is  Galavant  the gre...

We’re taking a tour through the new releases across many genres from April 2005, nearly 20 (!!!) years ago. Romance has changed a wee little bit. How much cringe shall we find? Plenty! Other oddities? Mainstream includes YA and Chick Lit. Contemporary includes New Reality. Regency in Format includes Corinthians! And we’re trying to understand a character who wants to “dim the pain of turning 30.”...

Mel Blue was  my guest when we discussed  Spare  – which has become one of my most listened-to episodes – so I asked her back to talk about the narratives of PR, why the weird stories around Kate Middleton grabbed attention worldwide, and why so many people were and are paying attention. On one level it’s a story that originated in gossip about rich and powerful people in an archaic...

We’re looking at the ads and features from the March 2016 issue of RT Book Reviews! We’ve got cowboy heads growing out of gravel roads, a dude who looks like he’s on fire, and that one guy who is always ripping his shirt off from romance covers. We decide on an in-house definition of “Castle Bangenschloss.” Oh! And a really angry reader wants self pub authors to stop using the same stock images fo...

Shirley Green and Sharon Spiak are the duo behind many, and I mean many of your favorite romance covers, and are absolutely 100% the duo behind one of mine – For the Love of a Pirate by Edith Layton. The hair. The waves. THE ROCKS. I connected with Shirley and Sharon and got a History Lesson in how cover shoots used to work. We’re talking costume, art direction, photography, and painting skills co...

Amanda and I are diving into the reviews from the March 2016 issue of RT Book Reviews. In this episode you will learn about  A Tale of Two Biddie s. You’ll discover Baby Bothering and God Bothering. And most importantly, are demons really a natural fit for the Regency era? All these questions are more will be answered in this episode! Don’t miss the visual aids for this episode! Music: Purple...

Katee Robert joins me to talk about her many releases this year, about marketing through Kickstarter and direct-to-reader options like Patreon, and about the foundational books in fantasy and romance that got her started. We also talk about current issues, like Findaway Voices and Spotify’s changes to the terms of service for authors. You can find Katee Robert on her website, KateeRobert.com.&nbsp...

We’re traveling back to April 2006 in this month’s RT Rewind! We discuss the evolving cover art for the Immortals After Dark series and style changes in illustrated covers. We also talk about Well water adventures Author photo? MUST be leaning A contest made of author prom photos Many predecessors to GoodReads A book from 1991, promoted in 2006, made into a movie in 2022. And a FULL PAGE of Mr. Ro...

Jennifer L. Armentrout joins me to talk about the books she considers the foundation of her fantasy romance reading, and what classical historical romances she adores. Her newest book,  Visions of Flesh and Blood  is out next week, so we’re looking forward, and back – and way, way back in the past.  We talk about a series she’s paused, and why, and what it means to update a book tha...