Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

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587. Romantic Times Rewind: June 2014 Reviews Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

We’re heading back to June 2014 to look at the nearly three hundred new books reviewed in RT Book Reviews.

Come on a journey with us through historical, contemporary, thrillers, and inspirational, and learn more about cattle fraud. We are obsessed with boilers.

Also: apologies in advance for the fact that I cannot say "minutiae," which, my bad. It's a word that never comes out of my brain correctly. My apologies.

All the book covers, images, and more are right here at this link.

Music: purple-planet.com

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586. Saying Yes to the Dress with Valerie Bowman Oct 27, 2023

Show notes

In the May 2014 Ads and Features episode of our Romantic Times Rewind series, the cover feature was all about Valerie Bowman, her latest book - and inside was a mention of her appearance on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta in 2014!

So Amanda and I connected with Valerie to hear all the details! We talk about weddings and dresses and reality tv, including a side trip discussion to the real housewives, Scandoval, and $17,000 sunglasses. Then we invent our own reality shows. This is a goofy, silly, very fun episode.

Music: purple-planet.com

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585. May 2014 Ads & Features: Romantic Times Rewind Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

We’re back, traveling in time to May 2014 to take a look at the ads and the features inside RT Book Reviews magazine! Side trips include Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, the immortality of strange stock images on book covers, and the importance of alligator fritters in the marketing budget.

You can find all the ads and images on SBTB!

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584. Queer Pirate Decolonization Fantasy with Maggie Tokuda-Hall Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

THIS is episode 584 (I said in the intro that last week was 584 but I was wrong. Oops - my bad).

Maggie Tokuda-Hall returns as a guest to talk about The Siren, The Song and the Spy, and so much has changed since our last conversation in Episode 406 when the first book, The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea released in May 2020.

We also talk about racism and her experience with Scholastic regarding her book Love in the Library, and we talk about Baldur’s Gate and queer pirate fantasy. Come for the discussion of dismantling facism, and stay for the video game and book recs. You know, as usual.

You can find Maggie Tokuda-Hall at her website, PrettyOKMaggie.com.

We also mentioned:

I also mentioned my appearance on the Rephonic.com list of 12 Best Author Interview Podcasts - thanks, y'all!

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584. Romantic Times Rewind: May 2014 with Amanda Oct 06, 2023

Show notes

It’s our first Romantic Times Rewind episode, starting with May 2014! We are looking at all 298 (!) book reviews in issue 363 of RT Book Reviews Magazine.

Amanda and I are going to pick a book from each of the review collections by genre, from historical to urban fantasy to the Teen Scene. We also discuss the very narrow grading rubric, and the rarity of two- and one-star reviews.

Journey back to May 2014 with us! And come find all the fun visuals and books in the show notes at https://bit.ly/RTRW584 and at Instagram and Tumblr!

You can find all the visual aids, screengrabs, and covers right here at SBTB.

And the entire RT Rewind archive is at RTRewind.com

Music: purple-planet.com

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Bonus: Introducing Romantic Times Rewind Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

Typically on Tuesdays I release bonus episodes for the Patreon community, but this week, everyone gets the bonus because Amanda and I are introducing Romantic Times Rewind, a new series of podcast episodes where we look back at old issues of RT Book Reviews and Romantic Times Magazine. WOO HOO!

Amanda and I are going to re-read old issues of RT, and record two episodes each month. One issue will be looking at all the reviews by genre in a particular issue, and the other will look at the features, ads, and book covers inside.

I’ll be posting images and screengrabs from the issue on Smart Bitches, and on Instagram and Tumblr (for that extra retro flavor!).

Plus, as a member of the Patreon, you’ll have access to the complete issues we’re looking at, so you can read along with us - and tell us which books from back issues you’d most want to read.

Part of the inspiration for this series comes from the absolutely wonderful podcast Listen to Sassy, where Tara Ariano, David T. Cole, and Pamela Ribon re-read old issues of Sassy Magazine, which was a formative part of my teenager-hood.

Romantic Times Magazine and RT Book Reviews isn’t online anywhere that I’ve seen, and the site went dark in May 2018 shortly after the closure of the magazine and the conference was announced.

Most humbly, I ask: if you have back issues of RT Book Reviews or Romantic Times, print or digital, and you’d like to send them to be, PLEASE get in touch with me - sarah AT smart bitches trashy books.com. I’m scouring eBay magazine vendors and trying to gather as many as I can, and right now I have some from 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Links!

Listen to Sassy at ListenToSassy.com
Time Magazine, March 2008: “Crazy and In Charge.”
Delia's Catalog
NewType Magazine

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582. COVID Bereavement and Activism with Lorelei King Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

Lorelei King has been a guest on the show before, and you may recognize her name and her voice from her work in romance audiobook narration. This week, Lorelei joins me to talk about her role as a core participant in the official UK government COVID Inquiry, which begins its second phase on October 3. We also discuss her volunteer work on the COVID Memorial Wall in London.

A content warning: We’re talking about COVID, and about death, as Lorelei’s husband Vince Marzello died from COVID in March 2020. We’re also going to talk about Boris Johnson, so big content warning for buffonery there. So I want to give you a heads up now that this episode may not be what you want, and that’s ok. Please look after yourself.

We’re talking about difficult things in this episode, but it’s fundamentally about living with grief, finding hope and finding purpose after terrible loss.

Music: purple-planet.com

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581. Death, Candy Corn, and Witches with Amanda and Maria Vale Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

Several years ago, Amanda had coffee with Maria Vale at a conference, and Maria mentioned a book she was working on that sounded really cool.

And now, Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death is available to read! So we got together to talk about the book, what it’s like to write something that feels risky, different, and comes with warnings about HEA-expectations.

This becomes a conversation about the HEA, how it works, and how it is interpreted by different readers. What are your expectations for an HEA?

Music: purple-planet.com

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580. Stop and Look at the Stars, with Jennifer L. Armentrout Sep 15, 2023

Show notes

I had a whopping good time talking with Jennifer Armentrout about her new book, Fall of Ruin and Wrath, about ApollyCon - which is now almost 10 years old!

We’re going to talk about the behind the scenes of ApollyCon, her launch title for the new Bramble imprint of fantasy romance, plus she takes questions from some of you about disability advocacy, living with a visual impairment, and what changes she’s seen in publishing.

Music: Purple-planet.com

You can find Jennifer L. Armentrout on her website, on Instagram, and her Facebook Group JLAnders.

We also mentioned:

And, I request a humble favor: If you have a moment and your thumbs are not busy, would you be so kind as to leave a review for the show? I used to have a few on Apple Podcasts and now they are all gone! Apple is a mystery - but reviews help other folks find the show. So if you enjoy the podcast and you want to help me reach more nifty people, please review us. Thank you!

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579. Punk Rock Writing with Chuck Tingle Sep 08, 2023

Show notes

Dr. Chuck Tingle is back!My episode with Chuck Tingle from 2016 remains one of my most popular, and I was very excited to have Chuck back on the show while he was in the middle of his tour for Camp Damascus.

We’re going to talk about eliciting joy, proving love, the three most maligned genres and why they’re denigrated, and Chuck’s ever-evolving trot as an artist and a person.

Thank you to Caroline Perny for coordinating this interview!

Music: purple-planet.com

LINKS!

You can find Chuck Tingle on his website, ChuckTingle.com, and on Tumblr (!!) at DrChuckTingle.Tumblr.com.

It's been a long time since I've linked to Tumblr. Ah, good times.

We also discussed his prior episode, Episode 206. Proving Love: An Interview with Dr. Chuck Tingle.

Finally, a humble request: if you are so inclined, would you please leave a review for the show? I used to have some on Apple Podcasts - and now I have none? I would appreciate your time and comments so very much. Thank you.

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