Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Paranormal vs Contemporary Fans

I am not sure what the word is - overheard? read? visually eavesdropped? - but I read a conversation between Shannon Stacey and Angela James about paranormal vs. contemporary romances, and why the fanbase for some paranormal series is more active, involved, and at times rabid than the fans for contemporary series.

This idea made me ponder for a good few weeks now about why that is. 

First, the idea that a paranormal romance series can enjoy a more active and sometimes coordinated fanbase is true, but that doesn't mean there aren't well-coordinated efforts on behalf of contemporary romance series.

A Thank You Note from An Goris

Back in 2008, An Goris wrote to ask for our help in finding copies of Nora Roberts' older novels for her PhD dissertation, which was an author study of Roberts' career and backlist. 

As of last month, Goris is now Dr. An Goris, having successfully defended her dissertation. Mazel tov! 

She sent me the following note and asked that I share with you, the most awesome romance readers on the planet: 

Podcast Recommendations, Please

Since Jane and I began working on the Dear Bitches Smart Authors Podcast (new episode coming this week, I promise!) I've started subscribing to a few podcasts, but I want to expand my subscription list. So I figured I'd ask you, since our tastes align in a few key areas. 

So far, I subscribe to the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast, and the "Notes in Spanish" podcast - which gives me some hope that I haven't entirely lost my ability to understand Spanish (though my ability to understand the accent from Spain is much greater than my ability to understand Spanish speakers from, say, Argentina, alas).

I haven't found any other podcasts that talk specifically about romance, but I am curious what podcasts you love, and which ones you subscribe to.

Care to share links? I'd much appreciate it - and I bet other folks would, too! And of course, if… read more »

Penguin, Amazon, and the Kindle Lending Library

First up: per Publisher's Lunch, Overdrive announced on their blog yesterday:

"‘Get for Kindle’ for all Penguin eBooks in your catalog has been restored as of this morning. Penguin titles are available for check out by Kindle users and the Kindle format will be available for patrons who are currently on a waiting list for a Penguin title. This does not affect new releases, which remain unavailable.

We apologize for the inconvenience this caused for your library and patrons. At this time, no further information is available. We hope to share more details in the near future."

So Kindle lending is back except for new stuff, which is unavailable. This made the Hokey Pokey get stuck in my head like you have NO idea. You put the ebook in, you take the ebook out, you stick ebook in and you shake it all about….

Over at the ALA's Digital Shift blog there's a statement from Penguin that reads:

Two Links Diverged In a Wood. I Clicked Them Both.

Link the First!

Heads up, everyone! The Bad Sex Shortlist (hur hur) has been released. It includes a Jean Auel book, The Land of the Painted Caves.

I think, no matter what it is, nothing shall top "The Weeping Furnace of Her Sheath."

But I would love to do a 2011 edition of Bad Sex in Romance, as we did for 2010. Any suggestions? Perhaps I'll rename it the "Weeping Furnace Award for Bad Sex." Nominations, passages (hur hur) and suggestions of questionably bizarre sex scenes are most welcome. It'll be epic. You, and your furnace, will weep.

And Link the Second!

The Guardian did a pretty intense profile of Nora Roberts, which partially retold anecdotes many of us have heard already, but this one section literally blew my mind:

...she has won 19 Rita awards from the Romance Writers of America, the association's highest accolade, as well as being inducted into its hall of fame; and she's spent more than… read more »

The Power of Julie Garwood and Romance

Last week (which seems so long ago, wow) we began compiling a list of Garwood titles and which one readers who aren't familiar with Garwood's backlist should try first.

I'm still compiling the list and should have it ready this week, but I wanted to share with you this email from an anonymous reader who wanted to tell me how much she loves Garwoods books and why. 

I found this letter to be amazing and moving, and it speaks so clearly about the powerful connection of emotions in the romances we love. 

I was catching up on your site and saw the latest Classic Romance post was about Julie Garwood. I first discovered her books when my older sister moved out after graduating high school and I found a box of books in her closet. Among the misc romance, mystery and thriller books was The Prize. Once I read it,… read more »

The Bitchery Glossary

Every now and again I receive email asking what one of the abbreviations on the site means, so I thought a Bitchery Glossary would be a good idea.

Some of these terms are used all over the place and certainly aren't exclusive to this site. Some are abbreviations we use for categories or features here. But if you've ever wondered what the hell something means, hopefully this list will help.

GS vs STA: Good Shit vs Shit To Avoid - used for developing lists of books by type or characteristic, both of books folks loved and books folks didn't like too much. Or, in some cases, hated with the passion of a thousand burning suns filled with hateration (or, as my computer tried to correct, "hate rations.")

HaBO: Help a Bitch Out - you remember the plot, the character's strange hair color, the fuchsia eyeshadow on the cover, the fact that the villain was gay, abused his horse and ate endangered species. Do you remember the title? Nope. But nearly every time, someone here knows exactly what book you're talking about.

TSTL: Too Stupid to Live (often used to describe heroines who are really freaking… read more »

Heavy D and the Hero

I started this post on 25 October, and put it aside because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. In mid-October, I put Heavy D’s “Now That We’ve Found Love” on my running mix and was thinking about the song and how much I liked it (and Heavy D) while I was out one day. Heavy D died unexpectedly on 8 November at age 44, and the news headline made me remember this post and that I’d never finished it. While I’m still not sure that I made every point I wanted to make (my train of thought while out running moves long the lines of Huh. Heavy D. Romance heroes. Why not heavy D heroes? …. Squirrel! Treebranch… manhole cover. Hi doggy! …. Romance heroes. Huh? ) I am still thinking about this topic, and wanted to ask your opinion.

While listening to Heavy D tell me about how he’s found love, I got to wondering whether we’ll ever see heroes who don’t fit a physical ideal - a super hard muscular one. There are built heroes and slender heroes, but even the slender heroes, once they take their shirts off, are described in such a way that… read more »

Pamela Clare, Romance, State Law, and Women’s Rights

I was having a completely unrelated email conversation with author Pamela Clare this past week when I learned something rather amazing that she did, and I wanted to share this with you. Here’s another answer to anyone who says that romances are all the same, and they are all meaningless fluff.

Romance novels can and have had an impact on the real world, and Ms. Clare’s an example of that. A journalist by profession, she’s the author of the I-Team romantic suspense series. Last year, she wrote a law that passed in Colorado last year banning use of shackles on female inmates giving birth while imprisoned.

This story is amazing. Seriously, my jaw hit my desk. But please be aware, before you click for more, that there are some brutal stories in Clare’s account about women in labor in prisons in the US. Unflinchingly brutal. Be warned. 

Setting Dictating Sub-Genre

Here’s a strange question for you. Does a contemporary romance set in urban parts of England signal Chick Lit to you as a US (or outside-the-US) reader?

One of the conversations I was having this past weekend in Seattle at the Emerald City Writer’s Conference centered on setting and locations, and how some locations signal certain genres. The question about single women finding romance in urban parts of England instantly meaning Chick Lit for US readers made me wonder - I didn’t *think* it was true but outside of Harlequin category romances, I couldn’t think of any single title romances that broke that rule. So many “chick lit” novels here in the US followed that set-up that perhaps the association is inescapable, much like clinch covers and romance novels.

Then I started pondering (it was a long flight and I was awake for a bit of it, until the sleeping aid I took made me start hallucinating that Lisa Kleypas’ hair was waving on the back cover of her book) (true story, not even kidding) (it looked awesome) whether setting dictates sub-genre a bit more now that previously, especially since contemporaries set in small towns are becoming more and… read more »

Snooki Visits Simon & Schuster

Via Jane comes a video that’ll raise your hair: behold the Simon & Schuster promotional videos for Snooki’s new book, which is a nonfiction guide to being a “guidette.”

The Director’s Cut was even more of the same, with shots of S&S employees drinking, drinking, more drinking, or passed out under their desks, with one shot of a male employee dressed in full Jersey Shore style helping a woman get her bag of chips out of the machine. It’s since been removed.

ETA: It’s been uploaded again, if you’d like to watch.

“Stick those boobs out and that ass.” Ah, yes. Nothing like a day at work in publishing, last standing fortress in literary gatekeeping.

I’m presuming that anyone who participated did so voluntarily, but wow. WOW. Who is the audience for this video? I’m going to guess the humor was aimed at other people in publishing. Maybe other people within the industry would find this really funny, but is this really for readers? People who already like Snooki? Who is the audience?

And why demean the female executives of Simon & Schuster to promote a book? As author Tayari Jones said on Twitter, “Is… read more »

Book Rebound

Krista emailed me about a problem she’s having, and oh, I can so relate:

I have a problem. I recently read Karen Marie-Moning’s Fever series, and since finishing it, have lost my will to live. The hero (I use this term loosely) is absolutely my favorite of all time, and I feel like I’ve just been dumped. I’m not looking for someone to replace him, just something to numb the pain. A rebound sorta thing, ya know? Someone to show me that there can be life after Barrons.

I have searched the website for a review, thinking surely one has been done for this series, but I fail to find it if one exists. If you haven’t read the series, I recommend it highly, despite the after affects it had on me (for real.) My only advice is to not throw it out the window during the first few chapters. It gets better.

So, if you have read the series, my question is: Do you have any suggestions on what to pick up next, during this… read more »

Finished Copies vs. ARCs: Do You Have a Preference?

Every now and again I’m asked if I want to host a giveaway of finished copies or ARCs of a book. Postage and book prices being what they are everywhere, especially in Australia, I generally like doing book giveaways because hey, winning some books is a good thing, especially if it’s an author you adore or an author you’d like to try in a no-risk manner.

But here’s my question: sometimes I can get print ARCs and sometimes I can get finished copies. And I’d like to know: which do you prefer?

Since these prizes are for you, not me, I’d like to get a sense of your preference, especially because I try to ship worldwide whenever I possibly can. These are your potential prizes, not mine!

So! Have a handy poll—and if you have comments, please, I’d like to hear them.

Crossing Dress Lines

Cross dressing is an old and familiar plot trope in romance. We’ve talked about it here before, and there’s a pretty thorough list at AAR of all the cross dressing romances they’ve cataloged.

I joke (A LOT) about how oddly easy it is for heroines to easily pass as boys. So many romance heroines years past puberty have grabbed some boys clothing, possibly from a well-hipped stable lad, I presume, and shoved a cap on their heads and presto! Everyone thinks she’s a boy.

Yet there is an amazing history of “passing women,” women who “passed” as men, often marrying other women and living publicly as males, even practicing male professions such as medicine. Cross-dressing was a favorite plot device of many a writer, including Shakespeare.

NB: I may be incorrect in my terminology here. I *thought* “passing women” referred to women who lived outwardly as men, but I’m also finding references to individuals who “passed” as another race. I’m referring here to gender and if I’m using the wrong term, I apologize. 

There are several accounts… read more »

The Ladies in Paris

From Claire comes this awesome photograph of The Ladies in Paris!

While adventuring around Paris I found this shirt in a shop window and knew I had to send you a picture.  I completely blanked and didn’t get the name of the store it was in (so sorry) but I do remember it was somewhere north of Notre Dame.

So somewhere above the cathedral, the Ladies hang out in a Paris store window. HAVE A LOOK AT THAT!

Seriously, if I had seen that, I would have walked straight into the glass in shock. HOW AWESOME.

Have I ever shared the origin of The Ladies? The Ladies are a 1940’s vintage eyeglasses advertisement illustration. Candy found them when she did the original design of the site (I bought the domain, and she did the first design, which is why the first banner read “Smart Bitches who read Trashy Novels” - oops) and we bought a license to use the image from the museum that had created the original high-resolution scan. The illustrators back then were never tracked or credited, so we have no idea who created the image, but whoever it was, s/he was excellent.

And… read more »