Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

Deanna Raybourn is back, and we’re talking about some of the unusual methods used to kill folks in  Killers of a Certain Age  –and there are mild plot spoilers for that book, please be aware. We also talk about the images she receives from fans of her series, and the larger context of why there’s a sense of catharsis reading about terrible people meeting terrible ends. TW/CW: I mention l...

Pop culture critic and former book blogger Kayleigh Donaldson joins me to talk about BookTok, hockey romance, and the Seattle Kraken . We’re locating this conversation in a larger discussion about fandom, fanfiction about real people, and the ways celebrity culture, fan culture, and romance intersect. I want to mention that we do talk very briefly about Johnny Depp and fandom, and larger issues of...

Time for another Heaving Bosoms Crossover! The first part of this recap of Dragon Called is up this week at Heaving Bosoms, and here for your listening pleasure is part II. I do a quick recap at the start, so no worries. This book, and episode, are both very NSFW though - heads up for that. *** Important coupon news! To celebrate 5 years of HEAs, Love’s Sweet Arrow is offering Smart Bitches listen...

Mimi Matthews joins me to talk about self publishing historical romance, and about being one of many lawyers who write romance. We also talk about chronic pain and recovery, disability, and the joys of re-reading. Plus, she shares some of her all time favorite historical romances.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In past years, Amanda and I would be at different romance conferences around this time, and it got me thinking. So we connected to talk about what we miss about romance-focused conferences, and what would our ideal book-focused conference look like? So! Many! Links! To share with you!  I wrote about the RT cling-film signage back in 2013 The episode where we are high: Episode 304. You Have a...

Agatha Andrews from the She Wore Black podcast joins me to share some summer horror recs perfect for romance readers! We also discuss her activism in Texas, how libraries are sanctuaries, and the origins of purse bingo as a charity fundraiser.  Plus, what happens when Taylor Swift fans and Stoker Con share the same hotel.  COUPON! Get 40% off your first order over $30 at http://lumedeodo...

Cathy Yardley joins me this week to talk about her new book, Role Playing , which is a Gen-X romance featuring “an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit” who joins an online gaming guild as Bogwitch and meets a healer named Otter. We talk about writing romance for 20 years and counting, and Cathy shares video game recs and book recs, too! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

In Rachel Lynn Solomon’s newest book Business or Pleasure and in Lana Ferguson’s new book The Nanny , both authors engage directly with sex positivity and honest intimacy through their characters and the plot. I’ll let the authors describe their books, but we’re talking about sex lessons where the heroine is teaching the hero how to be better at sex after a terrible one night stand, about OnlyFans...

Librarian Robin Bradford has a new book: The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Romance! We talk about what reader’s advisory is, and how she teaches libraries to welcome readers looking for romance, and introduce romance to readers who aren’t aware it’s something they like. Robin talks a lot about book covers as marketing devices on Twitter, so of course we talk about the evolution of romance covers, too...

Melanie Hamrick is a former ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre and has just released her debut romance, First Position. So we are talking about ballet, and about balancing - both on your toes, and in career changes. We also cover how much writing and ballet have in common. We are talking about professional ballet, so there is some mention of disordered eating and extreme body consciousness....

Alison Goodman’s new book, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is out this week, and you are definitely going to want to read this book - and listen to this episode! We talk about her book, of course, and about writing female-forward action scenes featuring “old maids.” We also talk about her recently completed doctorate, which was in historical fiction research methodology. So come for...

Recently KJ Charles tweeted about how absolutely devouring the Blessings series by Beverly Jenkins helped “save her sanity during the 2020 lockdown.” So I asked if she’d talk to me about it - and to my surprise this is a popular topic at the moment! She recently did a panel about comfort reading, and I’m really excited to take a look at what makes a comfort read, well, comfy. Plus, we learn what a...

Elissa Sussman has a new book, Once More with Feeling , so of course I could not WAIT to have her back to talk about the story, the pop culture inspirations for this novel, and her research methods. We also talk about the way stardom and pop stardom specifically has changed since the early 2000s, and how we’re now examining the way we talked about young women and young people at that time. TW/CW:...

In September of 2022, we snarked a cover, Planet Oster: Fertility Fusion . The cover designer, who is also one half of the writing team behind the series, reached out to me saying that they were unironically flattered that we’d snarked the cover, and asked if I’d like to talk about the process and the behind the scenes of the design work. Of course I said yes. Music: Purple-planet.com Coupon! Cont...

You asked questions, and we have answers! We talk about paranormal worldbuilding mysteries, choosing recommendations to introduce folks to romance, and our origin stories - plus the enigma that is Amanda’s ability to remember book details. Thank you to Varian, Norette, Rachel, Elizabeth, Sandra, and Sol for the questions! ... Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Amanda and I are back, trying to shock one another, and possibly you, with astonishing covers. We have Easter and bunnies and our latest guess as to what the next monster schtupping romance trend will be!  For extra fun, try to imagine what the cover looks like based on our baffled descriptions, then have a look at the show notes to see the cover in question. How close are you to the stunning...

Meredith Goldstein is the host of the Boston Globe’s Love Letters podcast , and she’s been writing their Love Letters advice column for years. The newest season of Love Letters has arrived, and this season is all about money. We talk about the stories from couples featured in this season, and what she’s learned about love and relationships writing an advice column for so long. And of course, we ta...

Amanda and I are answering listener questions about reading when you’re burnt out, saving the last book of a series, and mood reading. We also talk video games, cozy horror especially, and more. Thank you to Agatha, Malaraa, Clay, Ellen, and Abigail for the questions for this episode!  ... We also mentioned: The Merlin Bird identification app  Shana's review of  The No-Show by Beth...

Jeff Adams, who you may know as one half of  The Big Gay Fiction Podcast,   is also a credentialed expert in web accessibility, and he’s co-written a new book,  Content for Everyone. This book is for creative people to help ensure that all your online content, from websites to social media posts, is accessible to everyone. We’re going to talk about the top four things you can do to...

Chels, who is on TikTok as Chels_Ebooks, has been doing a series debunking the myths of BookTok, and let me tell you, when people say everything old is new again? Myths about the sales power of readers on social media are recycled with every new platform. We’re going to debunk some myths about romance and TikTok, and cover what Chels really loves about TikTok, too. And we have some very special di...

Amanda and I make a startling discovery at the start of this episode! Author Karelia Stetz-Waters collects clitoris images and research and we have so many questions. After we take a side trip into the French Olympic mascot design, and cliteracy, a term coined by Sophia Wallace. Then we talk about Karelia’s latest book,  Behind the Scenes , which was one of Amanda’s favorite books. Music: pur...

Olivia Waite joins me to talk about her New York Times romance column, and her best-of coverage for 2022. We talk about her favorite books of 2022, about writing grief, writing her column, and what’s next.  We take a side trip into discussing the emotionally intense books that are popular now, and the properties that had an emotional wallop on us when we were younger.  … Control Body Odo...

Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, also known as The Fug Girls , have been blogging since 2004, and, like me, have seen a lot of changes in the business world online. We talk about how it seems like there’s yet another media contraction happening, and how that affects us, and about their new Substack, Drinks with Broads. But of course, we also talk about fashion, stylists, and current trends, too....

In February, Tor announced their new romance imprint, Bramble, and we had some questions about it! Fortunately, VP and Executive Editor Monique Patterson sat down with me on her first day in her new position at Bramble to tell us all the things. We also discuss how romance has changed and evolved over her career as an editor, and about being a nerd about many things including sword collecting and...

Kelly Farmer is the author of the Out on the Ice series of hockey romances, including her latest, Calling the Shots, and a former improvisational actor. We talk about cover artist magic, her series, and identify a few reason why hockey is such a popular setting for romances. Then we talk about how improvisational theatre exercises and techniques influence and improve writing. So if you’re stuck in...