It’s been a difficult week and we hope all of you have been taking steps to take care of yourselves. For this edition of Wednesday Links, we’re getting back to what brought us here in the first place: a love of romance.
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Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers posted a spotlight on the ladies of the romance store The Ripped Bodice, whom they interviewed about being ladies entrepreneurs, about kickstarting etc. Bea and Leah also generously put together a box of romance goodies (pics attached) for our Kickstarter – which is in its last few days. Sarah backed it and is cheering them on.
Their Kickstarter has been successfully backed, but they have a pretty sweet stretch goal that they’d like to meet.
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Sarah wrote a great response to the NYT Romance Roundup. Do read it if you missed it. I, however, am less eloquent as I proceeded to have many glasses of white wine and write up a rant over at Book Riot.
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From RWA: Judging sign-up for the 2018 RITA Contest opens Tuesday, October 3, at 9 a.m. (CDT). This year, the RITAs are moving to an all-digital format, meaning judges will receive an electronic packet of books to read. This move benefits the organization and membership in multiple ways, and we hope it will make the contest run much more smoothly and effectively! To find out more about this change, please view our FAQ.
If you’re planning to enter this year’s contest—or if you’re a PAN member—please sign up to judge. A link to the judging sign-up form will be posted on the RWA website on October 3. RITA submissions will open November 1 at 11 a.m. (CDT).
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USB Wall Outlet Adaptors!
What do we want? More USB ports! Where do we want them? EVERYWHERE!
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Bawdy Bookworms – this quarter’s box is available now. Code SMARTB for free US shipping or $6 off international shipping is still live. I really enjoyed the previous box. The book selection was a pleasant surprise and the item quality is top notch.
Add a little kink into your life with Hurts So Good, this quarter’s Bawdy Bookworms Box.
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To keep the respect for romance going, please give “Welcome to the Romance Resistance” a read at Salon. Our lovely Sarah is quoted!
Obviously authors appreciate the fact that their romances are selling well, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy to turn to writing about love at a time when there are so many threats to their health, safety and democratic ideals. All the authors I interviewed for this story said writing romance has been challenging for them post-election but that it’s ultimately been helpful as they forge ahead, as has reading the work of their fellow novelists.
Asked what role romance has played in her life since Trump’s ascendancy, SaFleur said it’s helped counter the real-life drama taking place nearby.
And as always, thank you to the authors, readers, and everyone in between for making the romance community an awesome place!
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Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
John Scalzi wrote the other day about his challenges getting any writing done, too:
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2017/10/02/2017-word-counts-and-writing-process/
It’s mental and emotional work, and the world has been so mentally and emotionally draining, every damn day, that every kind of artist I know is struggling to be productive, and struggling with “What’s the point of doing what I do?” I feel creepy contacting people, but I’ve been making an effort to let people know what they do is important to me because everybody is so demoralized right now and I don’t want anybody to feel like what they create is a trivial thing.
(200 words of bonus gloom and doom redacted)
Anyway, try googling corgi puppies. That’s my secret weapon when I’m alone and in a Mood™ I no longer wish to be in.
Here’s something to give hope to everyone upset by Roy Moore’s Alabama election: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-the-resistance-looks-at-alabamas-only-leather-bar_us_59d27204e4b05f005d35dc72?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
I hope this isn’t a dumb question, but the RWA link you posted is different from the Bitchery’s RITA Reader Review Challenge, correct? I definitely want to sign up for that this year!!
@Rose: Not a dumb question at all! The books that we review as part of the RITA Reader Challenge on the site are the finalists of RWA’s RITA awards. So they essentially pick the books for the RITA awawrds that we let readers review here at SBTB. The RITA Reader Challenge has zero bearing on the RWA’s selections and the award winners, though. It’s just a fun thing we do with the community.
That Salon article is quite good and I’m impressed with the range of authors they quoted or mentioned – a much more diverse range than I’m used to seeing in mainstream coverage.
@Amanda thank you for the explanation! I loved the reviews that were part of this past RITA Reader Challenge and got much more involved with SBTB because of the discussion surrounding them. I just didn’t want to miss my chance to participate in it this year! 🙂
I’m sure reviews are (hopefully) to come, but to all those who may have missed it, the third season of Poldark started in the US last Sunday night. I streamed the first episode online and discovered that PBS has made the whole season available to stream if you sign up to be a PBS Passport member.
For a $5 monthly donation, you can access many of their programs on demand, including the recent Vietnam War documentary. The program is call PBS Passport, but it does look like your local station needs to be a participant. Luckily I live in a state that is. Not only do I get to donate to a good cause, but I get to watch all of the new season of Poldark at once. Plus catch up on other programs I’ve missed, like Mercy Street and Victoria.