The Meet Cute BookPod

Latest Episodes:

Writing and Publishing Trans Romance, an Author Panel Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

Today, we have the recording of our panel on Writing and Publishing Trans Romance with Anita Kelly, EE Ottoman, and Emery Lee, moderated by TJ Alexander.

They talk about finding community as a writer and how to deal with the tough parts about the business side of publishing, the books they haven't seen enough of and would really want to read, the first time they saw themselves reflected in a fictional character, reading, writing, and loving fan fiction, what straight media property could use a queer reboot, and money and the financial logistics of being an author.

Then they take some audience questions, recommend a book of their own to check out and shout out another book they’ve loved recently.

Romance for Reproductive Justice, a Pod Interlude Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

Today, we are doing something a little different. You may know that Meet Cute Bookshop has an ongoing Romance for Reproductive Justice initiative, and, as part of that we are running our second annual auction benefitting abortion funds on June 10th and 11th. (You can find it at 32auctions.com/r4rj2023)

So, as part of the run-up to the Romance for Reproductive Justice Auction, this episode won’t be a chat with an author, editor, or artist, but, instead, two lawyers (Alison Tanner and Kimi Chernoby) and one doctor (also Kimi Chernoby!) who are currently in the reproductive rights trenches.

We do also chat about books at the end :)

Author Diana Biller Live! (Recorded) May 31, 2023

Show notes

Today, we have the audio from our in-store event with Diana Biller, the author of The Widow of Rose House, The Brightest Star in Paris, and, most recently, Hotel of Secrets.

Much like the book, Diana is brilliant and funny and gives good banter. She talks about the time a professor called her essay on jury selection “elegant”, taking herself seriously as an artist, the underrated hotness of ethical men, writing historical romances in uncommon settings and the limitations of seeing history exclusively through the lens of Georgette Heyer’s interpretation of Regency England, and Diana’s approach to research and writing. Then Diana takes some really excellent audience questions, and, ends, of course, with some books she’s loved recently.

Author TJ Alexander, a Pod Exclusive May 24, 2023

Show notes

Becca chats with author TJ Alexander, whose next book, Chef’s Choice, comes out May 30th.

TJ talks about their early years as a romance reader, growing up in their family’s restaurant, the glory days of Food Network (particularly Iron Chef), the joys of writing a T4T romance, which of their characters they’re most like and would most like to be friends with, the hardest scene to write in Chef's Choice and their favorite scene, their approach to writing sex scenes, and, of course, some books they’ve loved recently.

Debut Author Sarah Adler, a Pod Exclusive May 17, 2023

Show notes

Becca chats with Sarah Adler, whose debut romance Mrs. Nash’s Ashes comes out May 23rd. Sarah talks about the process of getting her novel from manuscript on her laptop to book on store shelves, finding a community of writers, her favorite tropes to read and write, what’s up next for her, and, of course, some books she’s loved recently.

You can grab a copy of Mrs. Nash's Ashes in our shop or on our website at www.meetcutebookshop.com.

Writing Sex in Romance, an Author Panel May 10, 2023

Show notes

Today, we have the recording of our delightful panel Sugar & Spice: Writing Sex in Romance Novels with Alexandria Bellefleur, Rosie Danan, and Mazey Eddings discussing the joys, doubts, and giggles that come with writing “high heat” rom-coms!

Author Alexis Hall, a Pod Exclusive Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

Becca chats with Alexis Hall, a genrequeer writer of kissing books, who you may know from such hits as Boyfriend Material, Glitterland, A Lady for a Duke, the Winner Bakes All series, and many more.

Alexis talks about the experience of revisiting his first published novel ten years later, why all his historical romances, so far, are set in the Regency, how he managed to write four books releasing *this year*, his approach to tone, point of view, narrative perspective, and humor in his writing, the complicated business of writing characters who speak in a variety of dialects, what he takes into consideration when writing sex, and, of course, some books he’s loved recently.

If this conversation has made you want to pick up one, or several, of his books, you can do that in our shop or on our website, www.meetcutebookshop.com.

Programming Note: This Saturday, April 29th, is Independent Bookstore Day and we at Meet Cute Bookshop are celebrating by taking part in the San Diego Book Crawl, which is going to be a blast. It is also going to be rather all consuming, so this podcast will be taking next week off.

With book bans gaining traction across the country, the existence of independent bookstores is more important than ever, and we can’t wait to celebrate all our indie bookstore friends around San Diego county and across the U.S.

If you live nearby, I hope you join us for the Crawl, and if not, I hope you go visit your favorite local indie on Saturday.

Mel Saavedra of Steamy Lit, a Pod Exclusive Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

Becca chats with Mel Saavedra, the CEO and Founder of Steamy Lit, a company aiming to provide a new way for underrepresented authors to have their work showcased while empowering people to think and talk more about sexuality and self-love. Steamy Lit produces a quarterly book subscription box called The Steam Box, 5% of the profit from which is donated to a rotating non-profit. They’re also gearing up to run this August’s Steamy Lit Con in Anaheim, CA, a romance-specific book convention.

You’ll hear Mel talk about how SteamyLit and the Steam Box got started, how she picks the books she includes in the box, a little behind the scenes on the making of special edition book covers, what possessed her to run an entire romance book convention and what that process has been like, and, of course, some books she’s loved recently.

Author Martha Waters, a Pod Exclusive Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

Today, we have Becca's chat with Martha Waters, author of historical rom-coms including her latest, To Swoon and to Spar. You’ll hear Martha talk about her self-directed crash course in historical romance after reading Julia Quinn for a graduate school assignment, the twists and turns on the road to becoming a published author, building comedy into her story structures, tropes she loves and would love to write, and her strategy for for researching the world of the regency, or, at least, the regency as it appears in historical romance.

Editor Katy Nishimoto, a Pod Exclusive Apr 05, 2023

Show notes

Becca chats with Katy Nishimoto, who is a senior editor at The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, and who, prior to that, worked for ten years as a literary agent at WME. In the world of romance, Katy has edited: Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond and the forthcoming contemporary sapphic Pride & Prejudice retelling Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg, out April 25th. You’ll hear Katy talk about what a literary agent does, what an editor does, how she thinks about categorizing and positioning books in the marketplace, particularly books by queer and BIPOC authors, and how she’s experienced the industry changing since she started working as a literary agent in 2009 (honestly they got on a bit of a tangent here about The Scope of Recent History as it relates to queerness, but hopefully you’ll find it interesting)!

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