Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Art
November 22, 2011 | Tuesday | 29 Comments
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!…
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November 27, 2010 | Saturday | 23 Comments
Linzenberg writes with the following HaBO (Stands for “Help a Bitch Out,” those who are like, HUH?) request. This, to me, sounds like a movie: Back when I was, oh, I’d say 13 or so (so around the late-90s/early 2000s) I managed to get my paws on My First Romance NovelTM. I knew it was a Romance NovelTM, because it had S-E-X. How it ended up in my house, I have no idea, because my mother took it out of the library and my mother is a woman who says “Sugar” as a strong explicative. But somehow it made the…
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August 16, 2010 | Monday | 5 Comments
First, I’m working on updating a lot of the structural elements to the site, which is a big ol’ behemoth on the back end (hur hur back end) so if things look wonky, let me know and I’ll try to undo what I did, if I can remember what I did. Seriously, there is not enough diet Pepsi for work like this. I’m updating the About Us and the FAQ and other stuff, so if you’re looking for info, send up a flare and I’ll look into whatever it is you’re flaring, too. ETA: I’ve added an “edit comment” feature…
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August 09, 2010 | Monday | 35 Comments
Girl From Mars is a story in a story, about a female comic book character who is brave and isolated, honest and ferocious, and about 50+ years old. Philomena Brown, or “Fil” for short, is the artist who has for a few years been drawing her comic idol, the Girl from Mars, as her job. Many people think that “Fil Brown” is a man, and are surprised and often dismissive of a female comic artist when they meet her. Fil has blue hair, is very standoffish and socially awkward, is incredibly and impossibly talented, is a woman in a very…
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May 27, 2010 | Thursday | 45 Comments
I’m always fascinated by what folks do with romance novel covers on Etsy. If you have a giant pile of romances laying about the house (like sloths!) and you don’t know what to do with them (and really, who does know what to do with slothful romances?) here’s some Etsy-approved ideas for craftmaking. Only the best covers can become pendants. But if it’s a woman’s backside, is it really gay? And if a gay tree falls in the woods, is there wood? You can also make greetings cards out of them, though it’s always better if you (ahem) refrain from…
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May 06, 2010 | Thursday | 47 Comments
Elise Logan was kind enough to send me a snapshot collection of some of the finest covers among her library of old skool romance. Among the many, many amazing covers?
Fabio.
According to Elise, this is her secret shame. Well, it’s not so much a secret any more, since I’m telling The Whole Internet.
Behold: the Fabster:
Yeah, yeah, that’s not a big deal. Many people own this book. Heck, *I* own that book.
But you know what they say about romance. And Fabio. It’s what’s inside that counts.
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April 13, 2010 | Tuesday | 29 Comments
We’re back in Wonderland, folks - a trip through Heather Osborn’s romance novel collection. Heather’s old romance and romance author collection is just… wow. This is the second of a three-part tour of her collection. Get some popcorn and have a look at the majesty. Some of these covers are so excellent, we’ve snarked them before - but they’re worth revisiting because… well, LOOK at them!
Name of a Shadow by Ann Maxwell aka Elizabeth Lowell, April, 1980. Look at that crazy art! The crystal gem harp, the flowy hair, the weird spiky plants. Man, I love old books.
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April 06, 2010 | Tuesday | 37 Comments
It’s like a visit to Wonderland, folks: a photographic tour of some of the best of Heather Osborn’s romance collection. Seriously, it’s like a library of awesome up in here. Hi all, I’m Heather Osborn, editor of the Tor Romance line. But I don’t just edit romance – I’m a life-long fan of the genre. As such, I have amassed quite the collection, one that has followed me across the country from Southern California, to Ohio, and now to New York. Sarah asked me to give you a peek into my collection, so I’ve picked some of the…
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March 23, 2010 | Tuesday | 1 Comments
It’s time to announce the winner for the original artwork by Charles Rutledge offered by Laura Kinsale to celebrate the release of Lessons in French.
And the winner by the power of random selection is: appomattoxco
Congratulations on your smug bull! Email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with your mailing address, please!
Thanks to those who entered - I love reading about what books and scenes fascinate you, and why.
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February 14, 2010 | Sunday | 44 Comments
If Sweet Valley High was your gateway drug to romance the way it was mine (I even reviewed one here a long long time ago), I have some news for you. According to EW.com, and some chatty editorial assistant gossip, the Wakefield twins are baaaaaack, this time as part of Sweet Valley Confidential: “a book chronicling their lives as twenty-somethings. Rumors have swirled for years that SVH creator Francine Pascal was working on a book focusing on the twins and their friends several years out of high school.” Say it with me now: Oh, Dear Sister! I usually don’t hop…
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January 29, 2010 | Friday | 59 Comments
One of my college professors passed away this week. Dr. Harris Parker was a professor of religion at my alma mater, but I took a freshman orientation course from him, a course I was so convinced would be a complete waste of time. But because of Dr. Parker, it was the opposite. I applied for college during a blizzard, so I applied to schools where there would be a very small chance of snow, if even a chance at all. I ended up at Columbia College of South Carolina, a women’s college of, at the time, less than 1000 students.…
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January 18, 2010 | Monday | 42 Comments
The wayback machine: land of strange illustrations and cover art that led you to discover amazing writers while questioning the sanity or narcotic habits of certain illustrators. Sarah: So THAT’S where the idea for Burning Man came from. I’ve always wondered. Candy: That is quite possibly the strangest tan-line I’ve ever seen. It’s like reverse-goggles-farmer tan. Sarah: It’s Evanovich’s first paranormal, about a very flexible were-jellyfish woman who masquerades as an 80’s executive while waiting for the chance to stretch her talents and entangle the man of her dreams! Candy: Holy crap! It’s totally that annoying chick from the first…
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January 12, 2010 | Tuesday | 28 Comments
Thanks to Katie Ann, we have a fun zoom-and-seek at the Crate & Barrel website: zoom in on these bookshelves and tell me what you see? Katie says: This just amuses me, especially that I could recognize spines by the author-font-style alone (and of authors I’ve never even read), even if I can’t read the title. Distinctive ones like Judith McNaught and Jude Deveraux, and ones that you can barely read unless you’ve seen them a million times on your own shelves like “The Secret Swan” by Shana Abe. There are some fonts that are hella-overused that I can spot,…
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December 28, 2009 | Monday | 16 Comments
First, from Holly comes this link to Leif Peng’s Today’s Inspiration blog, and an absolutely amazing visual collection of Francis Marshall’s covers for Barbara Cartland’s novels. Holy smoke. “For one thing, all the girls have ‘manga eyes’, which is a signature mark of Barbara Cartland heroines, and makes them more unreal. For another, they´re all period costumes, and his background in fashion really shines through here. He is brilliant with the clothes, I find.” Seriously, take a few minutes and check that out. Holy smoke, is that some fascinating art. I love some of the older covers - not just…
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December 15, 2009 | Tuesday | 47 Comments
First, there was Heartwild Solitaire. Then, there was the announcement of the soon-to-come Nora Roberts downloadable game, and Nora’s awesome quote about how girls like to blow stuff up, too. She’s got a point - the girl gamer is often missed in the peenoriffic marketing and production of games. And alert reader Regina sent me a link to this download game from Big Fish based on a Harlequin Presents novel. But today marks the launch of a new gaming concept, and the release of a new romance-themed casual game. (NB: I admit, I totally had to look up what casual…
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