Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Beyond Heaving Bosoms
November 08, 2009 | Sunday | 20 Comments
Have I mentioned that I really like Texas? I do, it’s true. They have the best beer in America there, and I say that having been raised in close proximity to Iron City, Yuengling, and Rolling Rock - so I know from crap beer. But more than just the Shiner Bock, Texas has many awesome things about it—including San Antonio. On 11 November, I’ll be at the Barshop Jewish Community Center in San Antonio as part of an evening program titled, and I’m so not making this up, Shiksas, Break Ups, Romantics & Hook Ups. I’m on a panel with…
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October 10, 2009 | Saturday | 16 Comments
Jane Sullivan, a syndicated newspaper columnist across Australia, has written a piece about romance fiction. Smart Bitches, Beyond Heaving Bosoms, and Mavis titled Romance fiction deserves respect. Hell, yeah, it does. And it sounds like Sullivan is a fan of the genre herself. o thank Eros for two Americans, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, who dreamed up Mavis for their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. It’s an unashamed celebration of their great passion, and they make no apology for it…. This is the kind of analysis we want: down to earth, cheeky, motivated by…
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October 07, 2009 | Wednesday | 14 Comments
Dear Internet: I miss you. So very, very much. I’ve started a half-dozen posts (Katiebabs, I’m still working on finishing the cri de coeur—though cri de singe fâché might be more accurate—that’s my review of Cry No More) and left them unfinished. I am shaking my tiny, tiny fist against the various timesuck vortices that have spontaneously emerged around me. But if you miss seeing me on-line, you have an opportunity to see me IN REAL LIFE, if you live in the Portland area and you’re free this weekend, because behold, I’ll be taking part in two events at our…
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September 14, 2009 | Monday | 71 Comments
Twilight, you may have noticed, is everywhere, especially now that UK and US editions of Wuthering Heights have been rereleased. This is the UK version: And this is the US version: both, obviously capitalizing on the fact that this is Bella and Edward’s favorite book in the fictional Twilight universe. Never let it be said that the iconic red on black imagery isn’t effective. Those books are gorgeous. But the redesigns got me thinking, especially with the use of other people’s names to market different books and similar marketing hijinks, that it’s time I did Simon & Schuster a favor.…
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September 11, 2009 | Friday | 5 Comments
This Sunday is the Brooklyn Book Festival, which is highly awesome and highly literary. There are events all day focusing on poetry, literary fiction, biography..and hello, what now? Romance! At 3:00pm on the Main Stage at the Borough Hall Plaza, I’m moderating a session all about romance novels: 3:00 p.m. Love: The Unstoppable Bestseller. A panel of romance authors discusses the longevity of the industry and how they keep readers coming back for more: Rochelle Alers (Man of Fate), Anna DePalo (The Billionaire in Penthouse B), Donna Hill (Temptation & Lies) and Sarah Wendell (Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’…
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August 01, 2009 | Saturday | 9 Comments
So didja know Toni Andrews has her own television show about books? True that. And this week, all over wooded parts of Connecticut, I’ve been her guest on “So Many Books.”
We talk bosoms, kitten poop, books, and so many more books. Here’s Part I, with Parts II and III available on You Tube as well (for some reason, embedding was not emworking).
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July 24, 2009 | Friday | 180 Comments
Great day in the morning! We’re in People Magazine. While the article doesn’t appear to be on their website, in the 3 August issue, featuring a very messy-headed Robert Pattinson and “his messy love life” on the cover, on page 46, there’s BOSOMS! And a list of our very favorite romances. Here, a PDF for your viewing pleasure! People magazine, page 46. People (the magazine, not the plural noun) had asked us for a list of our very favorite romances, and that list was, of course, a LOT longer when we sent it in. Five of our choices made the…
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July 17, 2009 | Friday | 6 Comments
- Best Bitches Moment: Our Bootleg Booksigning yesterday raised, in one hour, over $600 for First Book. We had more beer than I knew what to do with, and a crowd of people were streaming in the door to buy a book, have it signed by both Candy and me, and hang out in our room (did we mention the presence of beer? Nothing like it as a social lubricant). - Best Digital Moment: Our Digital Rogue Seminar was standing room only. We had to ask for more chairs twice and over 90 people were in the room. In addition…
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July 13, 2009 | Monday | 23 Comments
Despite my best efforts, we were not permitted to sign Beyond Heaving Bosoms at the Literacy Signing on Wednesday Night at RWA national in DC. I am so incredibly bummed about that decision, not only because it would have been one of the few events that we would both attend but because we know there are a ton of DC Bitches readers who would have come out and thereby raised a pretty good amount of money for literacy. So, we’ll do it anyway. The Smart Bitches Bootleg Booksigning - with Beer - will be at 3:00 pm on Thursday 16…
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July 10, 2009 | Friday | 6 Comments
Jan Oda asked if she could get the Evolution of a Hero illustration from Beyond Heaving Bosoms as a desktop wallpaper.
Behold! Ahoy! And also, WOOT! Artist Carol Main, who drew the original illustration, not only beefed that bad boy up for desktop wallpaper usage, but colored that mofo as well. Enjoy! Right click and download, please!
Thank you Carol!
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June 06, 2009 | Saturday | 7 Comments
First: will the party who informed the bugs that I am in the state please refer back to the Treaty of South Carolina 1993, wherein all bugs that (a) bite and that I am (b) allergic to (which is, for the record, ALL of them) agreed to leave me alone whenever I migrate south of the Mason-Dixon line, and remind said bugs that the treaty is in effect in perpetuity? Kthxbye. (I’m going to need some Benadryl like holy shit.) Once the flying part of my travel was done, I arrived in a cool, windy, NOT raining Durham, where everyone…
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June 04, 2009 | Thursday | 11 Comments
Despite the fact that BookTour insists on informing the world that both Candy and I will be in Durham, NC, this weekend, alas, it is just me. The only appearance where Candy and I will be signing together will be in DC, and details are coming soon, mwaaahahahahaha. This Saturday I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble at New Hope Commons at 2pm, and the event is co-sponsored by the Durham County Public Library. It was organized by Fearless Jennifer, Librarian of Excellent, who was kind enough to show me her successful Bosom hunt at the library - which probably…
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May 24, 2009 | Sunday | 11 Comments
Thing the first: Diana Rowland interviewed me for Magic District. She wanted to examine the issues facing romance, science fiction, and fantasy novels - and I apparently wanted to use the word “element” about sixteen times too many. It’s like an elemental drinking game at this point. Thank you for the interview, Diana! While I was traveling in scenic, windy, and unquestionably awesome Iowa, a segment I taped for Better.tv aired in a whole mess of places across the US. Host Audra Lowe interviewed me about the Bosoms, the power of romance in a recession, and what to do about…
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May 23, 2009 | Saturday | 27 Comments
Joint posted on Bitch Magazine.org and on Flavorwire is an interview about Bosoms, feminism, and defending our love of romance novels. My favorite part: MV: Why should feminists read romance novels? SW: It’s a 50-plus-year-old industry comprised mostly of women writers operating their own businesses and producing a genre about women’s self-actualization, pursuit of autonomy, and acquisition of sexual agency for an audience made mostly of women, who buy over $1.4 billion dollars worth of books a year. No, no, nothing feminist or even subversive about that. But did the word “smut” have to be used? Twice? Woe is me.…
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May 14, 2009 | Thursday | 21 Comments
Back on 3 May, or 2 May if you were me or Candy, we were on the radio with a hilarious dude named Alan Brough in Melbourne, Australia. It was epic fun.
If you missed it, ABC Melbourne was kind enough to get the mp3 online so if you’d like to listen, have at it. It’s too early for me to listen right now - I’d wake everybody up.
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