Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

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627. RT Rewind: October 1999 Reviews! Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

We have a special guest! Alison, aka Fashionably Evil, won our Romancing the Vote auction to co-host this round of RT Rewind with us! Congratulations!!

Alison picked our issue, October 1999, and wow, it’s just as weird as we’d hoped.

And, as part of the auction, we offered a midroll ad, which we typically don’t run. Alison chose to use her midroll to promote a website we love and admire, Scarleteen.com.

We start with a discussion of Alison’s incredible spreadsheet that she made us (❤️!) and a discussion of historical romance. Along the way: many yikes, many bikes.

I want to offer some heads up for racism, human trafficking, mentions of stillbirth, ableism, Islamophobia in the reviews.

These will be long episodes this month so journey with us back to 1999.

Don't miss the visual aids!

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626. The Bachelor and Romance with Dr. Jodi McAlister Aug 02, 2024

Show notes

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 may remember was available digitally in the US as a surprise after a lot of folks, including and especially Amanda, started talking about the books in the series. Shana reviewed the series and the third book, and loved all of them.

So we are talking all things Bachelor, about writing a similar reality tv show for her series, and why romance readers globally dig this franchise so very, very much.

You can find Dr. Jodi McAlister on TikTok, Instagram, and BlueSky, and on her website, JodiMcAlister.com.au.

We also mentioned:

And thanks to our sponsor for this week’s episode, HelloFresh!

Go to HelloFresh.com/sarahkids to unlock this exclusive offer: one free kids’ meal per box for two months while subscription is active. That’s FREE kids’ meals just by going to HelloFresh.com/sarahkids

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625. RT Rewind: December 1997 Ads & Features! Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

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 Essence of Romance.

It’s a wonderful time capsule, folks.

CW/TW: antifat bias and death

Do not miss the visual aids - the covers alone, my goodness.

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624. Academic Research about Romancelandia with Christine M. Larson Jul 19, 2024

Show notes

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 people.”

Come for the vintage Romancelandia gossip, stay for the labor activism!

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623. RT Rewind: December 1997 Reviews Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

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.

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622. The Love of my Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood Jul 05, 2024

Show notes

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 – congrats Kirsty!

Then I learned she’s a former book blogger so there’s recommendations back and forth, all over the place.

You can find Kirsty Greenwood at her website, KirstyGreenwood.com, and sign up for her newsletter. You can also find her on Instagram and on Facebook at KirstyGreenwoodBooks.

We also mentioned:

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621. RT Rewind: September 2002 Ads & Features Jun 28, 2024

Show notes

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?

What snack is best for reading and why is it not an apple?

We had a lot of fun, even if the feature article was a bit of a let down, so please come join us for assorted silliness, and a Shadow Prince with no neck!

Don’t miss the visual aids – so many screengrabs, so many weird necks!

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620. Romance and Kickstarter with Oriana Leckert Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

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 I’m always curious about).

Oriana has worked in publishing for a long time, and applies her entire employment experience to her current job. She’s also the author of a book called Brooklyn Spaces, and it sounds like it was a really cool project.

You can find Oriana Leckert on her website, and on Instagram.

We also mentioned:

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619. RT Rewind: September 2002 Reviews Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

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 also mentioned:

Avon True Romances
A thread from Ashia Monet on the shift away from story arc to story trope (Twitter)
Carrie’s review for How to Manage a Marquess, where she talks about soap bubble books

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618. The Romance Reader’s Handbook with Steve Ammidown Jun 07, 2024

Show notes

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 of course, advertisements from authors inviting readers to correspond with them.

This is early social media for authors and readers, and it’s a fascinating time capsule.

A PDF scan of the pages we talk about is available for downloads at SBTB.

You can find Steve Ammidown at RomanceHistory.com, and on Instagram @RomanceHistorian.

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