Links: Muses, Tom Hiddleston, and More

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Happy Wednesday! The Northeast is due for another snowstorm and I was woken up by my cat biting me this morning. Is anyone else having the same crappy day? Anyway, here are some links to calm you down or to channel your rage!

I was glued to the Twitter mystery of Candace Jean Andersen trying to track down a woman of color who attended the 1971 International Conference on the Biology of Whales. Give it a read! I promise it has a happy ending.

The Guardian has an article on The Ripped Bodice’s recent diversity report and the whiteness of romance:

By far, the best-performing publisher in the report was Simon & Schuster’s imprint Crimson, with 29.3% of titles by authors of colour. But in the same week as the report, S&S announced that the imprint will close, citing “changing consumer reading habits and the continual evolution of the marketplace”. It follows Harlequin’s decision last year to close its African American romance imprint Kimani, citing at the time “changes in the retail landscape and reader preferences”, and “declining support from retailers.”

But The Ripped Bodice’s owners said that their own figures give the lie to the “main argument” publishers give for not publishing authors of colour: “that the sales are not strong enough”. The shop, America’s only bookshop dedicated entirely to romance novels, said that six of its 10 bestselling titles from 2017 were by authors of colour.

What did you think of this year’s diversity report?

Sarah: I was a guest on this week’s episode of Productivity Alchemy, a podcast all about Normal People Being Productive. This awesome conversation was inspired by a tweet from Ulrike and Cyllan, and it was really, really fun to do.

We discuss this here website, and then talk about my work at Organization Academy. We cover using Google Calendar to declutter your schedule, we talk about my online courses on menu planning, and the ways in which I automate a LOT of my life with Google Calendar. There’s a little audio mud midway through, but it’s manageable I think.

I hope you enjoy it – and thank you to Kevin Sonney for having me as a guest!

Thanks to Mari for this next link! As some of you may know, SBTB had a shoutout on the TV show Younger last year, and now the fictional book in the show is being made for real! Check out the brief report here.

I love a good Buzzfeed quiz and I recently took this one: Plan A Romance Novel To Find Out Which Greek Muse You Are.

My results – You got: Calliope

The Muse of Epic Poetry – When it comes to romance novels, you like drama and intensity. Mad schemes, dark secrets, plot twists and moments of high emotion are your personal taste.

Yep, story checks out.

I know Pi Day is over, but I live by my own rules. Plus, I’d hate to deprive all of you from listening to Tom Hiddleston reciting the numbers of pi.

https://twitter.com/bbcr1/status/973941033439514624?s=21

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!

Comments are Closed

  1. Ren Benton says:

    A) If you’re on Twitter, look up @ksonney (of Productivity Alchemy fame) and @UrsulaV (author Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher). I quit social media in December, but I still shadow follow those two for the latest Adventures of Strong Independent Chicken and her new sisters. And their RPG nights (Kevin and Ursula’s, not the chickens — although…). And a multitude of other reasons. They’re fun people.

    B) Happy National Proposal Day! (I learned about this on a jewelry web site, naturally.) I thought maybe the timing was related to a high incidence of missed periods after Valentine’s Day shenanigans, but I looked it up, and it’s SO MUCH WORSE.

    http://proposalday.com/index.html

    Just tossing out ideas here, but if you have to put a stalking/abduction/murder disclaimer on the official web site of your “romantic” holiday, you may want to consider the possibility there are some inherent problems with your message.

  2. Ren Benton says:

    C) On the Buzzfeed quiz, I got “Melpomene, The Muse of Tragedy – When it comes to romance novels, you like high drama and deep emotion. Tortured heroes, tragic backstories, lovers reaching for one another across the wild pain of an empty world… the more drama, the more heartbreak, the more satisfying the eventual happy ending will be.”

    Also accurate!

  3. GraceElizabeth says:

    @RenBenton Oh wow, that website is something else. I assume the quote you’re referring to is “I urge you to avoid any marriage proposal plan that presents the danger of death, injury, or embarrassment to anyone involved….”

  4. Lynnd says:

    The whole video of Hiddleston reciting various mathematical formulae is brilliant. I might have done better in geometry if I had had his voice reciting the Pythagorean Theory AND Pi in my head during exams :-).

  5. Mandy says:

    The 1971 International Conference on the Biology of Whales saga made me tear up at the end! This is what the internet is for.

  6. Teev says:

    @RenBenton: I also got Melpomene, probably because I’m on a Beauty and the Beast retelling binge. Said binge has included a re-read of Bryony and Roses, which lead to a new-read of The Clockwork Boys/Wonder Engine, which got me thinking about re-reading Nine Goblins. So we are brain bunnies today 🙂

  7. Rose says:

    Ooh! Ooh! I got Polyhymnia!

    The Muse of Song – When it comes to romance novels, you like them sweet and pure. The simplicity of the traditional stories, the comfort of a happy ending and the silly but swoon-worthy tropes are what you live for.

    10/10 accurate. Changing my name to Polly.

  8. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    I too am Calliope!

  9. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    One of my daughters (the only one of three who reads much romance) was Urania, muse of astronomy. After taking the test, said daughter commented, “If you ever wanted to write a romance novel, you could use that quiz to get an outline together.” (And, yes, she knows it’s not that easy.)

  10. Lostshadows says:

    I got Clio.

  11. Kira says:

    Because I am a Pooh-loving dork~

    Hiddleston, Hiddleston, Hiddleston Pi,
    A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.
    Ask me a riddle and I reply:
    Hiddleston, Hiddleston, Hiddleston Pi.

  12. LB says:

    That quiz is crazy accurate.

    I got Thalia, The Muse of Comedy – When it comes to romance novels, your taste runs to biting dialogue, witty remarks and ridiculous plots. The more over the top it is, the more cutting the criticisms characters make, the more helplessly everything goes wrong, the better.

    100%. Nick and Nora Charles are my OTP forever.

  13. Karenza says:

    I got
    Erato
    The Music of Lyrics and Love Poetry – When it comes to romance novels, you favour passion and intensity. The classic stories, the high romance, the overwhelming sex scenes, are everything you look for. You like emotions running high and plots running wild.

    Huh … I learnt something about myself today ^.^

  14. Dorothea says:

    I thought of y’all Smart Bitches yesterday when I went to cast my vote in local elections here in Holland: the polling place was in a bookstore! I snapped a cute pic of the book display in the children’s section, stacks of books with a sign on top: “Entrance to Polling Station.”

  15. Anonymous says:

    I got Polyhymnia too, but that’s kind of hilariously wrong.

  16. Ren Benton says:

    @Dorothea: Like Platform 9¾, but instead of wizard school, Polling Station takes you to political engagement!

  17. SB Sarah says:

    @Dorothea: I love this so much! How adorable!

  18. EC Spurlock says:

    @Ren Benton and Teev, it appears to be a Melpominish day. (Always wanted to use that word.) Yeah, I am a drama queen and like my romances Victorianly Gothic and over-the-top!

  19. Ren Benton says:

    @EC Spurlock: I just wrote “no path left to him but the one unlit by the light of heaven” in an email about potato salad, so I am clearly here for the mega-melodrama.

  20. BellaInAus says:

    @Lynnd
    I finally caved and watched Tom Hiddleston recite… something. I have no idea what it was. But I really, really enjoyed it.

  21. ClaireC says:

    Took the quiz and got Polyhymnia – and I definitely plotted my own book as I went along! Now where can I read about the horse-training minor nobleman who hires a new stable lad, not knowing that it’s a country girl in disguise, and how he vows to keep her secret once he finds out, but then is nearly forced to sell his stable until she concocts a brilliant plan to save it? And the story is going to be littered with horse puns, I say.

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