Links: Fundraising, Pokemon, & More

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Wait, it’s Wednesday again? How did that happen?

I feel like this week is just flying by. Does it feel that way for you?

I had a tattoo consult this week and I’m getting ready for my third beauty in October. I’m so excited for this one to join the ranks of my romance novel tattoo and the tattoo I have of my cat in space.

There’s a new Twitter account that may be of interest to the community called Does It Bang. It’s a crowdsourced resource that will let readers know if there is an on-page orgasm in a romance novel. You’ll have to use Twitter’s advanced search features as a way of searching through the tweets which can be a bit clunky, but it’s a great idea!

I prefer to consume TikTok videos through Twitter or compilations on YouTube and the other night, I cried from laughter at least three times watching this.

Romancelandia for Afghan Women has started an auction fundraiser supporting Women for Afghan Women. Sarah has contributed a podcast episode with pre-production coaching if audio interviews cause anxiety. The donation form is still open, should you wish to contribute an item. The auction will be live soon, and we’ll have links when it does so you can support a good cause, if you’re able. If not, no worries! Just help spread the word!

Don’t forget that I’m hosting two romance panels this Saturday! Hope to see you there!

Saturday, August 21 at 12pm eastern: We’re discussing contemporary romances with foodie flair with authors Sonali Dev, Farah Heron, Anita Kelly, and Suzanne Park. Attendance is free! You can also order books through Belmont Books and they ship throughout the U.S.

Saturday, August 21 at 2pm eastern: This one is for all the fantasy romance readers! We’ll have authors Lana Harper, Chloe Neill, and L. Penelope to talk about world building, magic, and romance. Free to attend! 

Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting 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. Escapeologist says:

    For the Gavin and Stacey fans, here is Rob Brydon chatting with Joanna Page (aka uncle Bryn and Stacey) https://youtu.be/zPbaDCkWk6Y
    Apparently Rob has been posting a bunch of these celebrity chats from home on his YouTube channel. I also enjoyed the ones with Bob Mortimer and Dawn French.

    All this Welsh content reminded me of Catatonia, the Welsh alt rock band from the late 90s. Can confirm their music still sounds fresh and there’s snarky lyrics. Road Rage is a great song to yell along with off-key in the car. It starts off subtle and builds up. The album Equally Cursed and Blessed also contains the immortal lines “London never sleeps, it just sucks…the life out of me, and the money from my pocket”

  2. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    Is it just me or does it seem odd to have to consult a resource to determine if there’s on-page sex/orgasms in romance novel? Unless I see the terms “sweet,” “wholesome,” “clean,” or “closed-door,” when I pick up a romance novel, I’m assuming there will be on-page sex scenes, complete with orgasms. I mean, even my category favorite Harlequin Presents books have plenty of bedroom fireworks (albeit, in rather euphemistic verbiage). Also, if the only reason I’m reading a novel is for the aforementioned on-page sex & orgasm extravaganza, yeah, I might feel a little let down if I read something and only at the end discover it’s actually “closed-door,” but 99.9% of the time I’m looking for the emotional hook of a romance not just the sex (I’m leaving myself .1% for, um, reasons). What about slow-burns? One of the sexiest books I’ve read this year, FORBIDDEN by Karla Sorensen, has exactly one sex scene close to the end of the book, but the amount of unresolved sexual tension is through the roof. TL;DR: the whole concept of “Does It Bang?” seems weird to me.

    /And now I’m going to yell at some kids to get off my lawn!

  3. Floating Lush says:

    Ohhhh, I love Catatonia so much! +! for that alone

  4. Laurel says:

    There is also a Romance fundraiser for Haiti: https://romanceforhaitiauc.wixsite.com/website

  5. Emma says:

    Good video by Abby Cox on the harmful “not like other girls” trope in period dramas, which easily extends to romance and its various subgenres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbflNWDWJF0&ab_channel=AbbyCox

    I mostly read historical romances, and yeah, I see this trope all over the place. It’s always about how they hate sewing, or how they love books, or how they talk about interesting stuff (unlike those OTHER girls *facepalm*)

  6. Emma says:

    Also, for the all Dragon Age fans here that would like to plunk 3 hours into a series restrospective… here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc8Bn8yqPYQ&ab_channel=NeverKnowsBest

    “Who was the urban planner for this f–ing city, Lucifer?” 😀

  7. DeborahT says:

    @Escapeologist, Catatonia still makes it on to most of my playlists. Nice to see I’m not the only one!

  8. DeborahT says:

    And in memory of the hilarious Sean Lock, Carrot in a Box makes me laugh no matter what mood I’m in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UGuPvrsG3E

  9. Ren Benton/Lena Brassard says:

    My impression of watching the “Does It Bang” thing develop was that the initial premise was “Is this cartoon cover a romance novel or women’s fiction?”, which I do think would be a useful service.

    Sometime between then and the submission form going live, it turned into “any kind of cover and the only criterion is an on-page orgasm.” (There were no questions on the form about frequency of sex or timing or type or importance.) People fuck in women’s fiction—and in SF/F and thrillers and horror and litfic and and and, so that’s not at all a metric for determining a book’s romance status, and I’m not sure what other utility “somebody comes in this book” is supposed to serve.

  10. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    I’m probably the last person to see this (I’m never up late enough to watch Stephen Colbert), but a friend who knows my love of Harlequin Presents forwarded it to me:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ihlcyL6CU

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top