Romantic Times Rewind: September 2002 Ads & Features

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the incredible ads and features for the September 2002 issue of RT Magazine.

Thank you to Mari for this issue!

You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind. 

And, most importantly, if you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb all the visual goodness:

Ok, let’s get started!

Cover!

It’s very Mod-Podge. Remember vision boards? Heck, remember magazines? (*sobbing nosies*)

Also, we took a side trip to Rejar. Over a thousand pages. Eleven hours of audiobook.  And three very different covers!

And this was the audiobook, all 11 hours and 23 minutes of it, available on

The cover  was a Mod-Podge journey, is what we’re saying.

This ad was so emblematic of the time period:

Castles! Flowers! Castles and Flowers!

This part of the table of contents made me chortle:

HOW DID TART NOIR NOT TAKE OFF AS A NAME. TART NOIR. I LOVE IT.

AM I THE ONLY ONE who finds she must be careful what she dishes of late? Those angry RWA folks sniping at each other over a few loose lips on their message boards, rabid readers ranting about authors who give romance a bad name, it’s enough to make you want to zip it and throw away the key!

I need to know what was going on in September 2002 that RWA message boards were causing Flavia to be cautious? It was only 22 years ago, so someone remembers, right?

What a coincidence that this season of Bridgerton is based on this book, and we’re reading about its release in September 2002. (Also – don’t miss Shana’s post on why she’s re-watching part 1 of this season over and over).

Apparently reviewers “elsewhere” were being mean and folks were talking about it in the July 2002 issue, which I do not have – and for the record we launched in January 2005, so it wasn’t us!

I’m now low-key hunting the July issue because I want to know about the letter to the editor!

Do you remember rebates?!

You’d get a $2 rebate buying one title one month for another title the next month? Wow, blast from the past!

We had a LOT of questions about this calendar:

September 17 really gave us a lot to talk about:

Harvest summer’s last basil to make Pesto Sauce. Freeze in in ice cube trays, and you’ll taste July in Januory! For recipes and lore, go to www.pesto.net.

BASIL has LORE! I had no idea. I learn so much!

Jayne Ann Krentz was releasing some futuristics from the 80s in 2002, including Sweet Starfire and Crystal Flame, to capture the fantasy and sci-fi trend. Sound familiar?

Did you read any of these?

We also talked about these covers, which I had to find in color because the black and white promised excellence and the promise was fulfilled.

Behold, The Shadow Prince by Jan Zimlich:

That guy has no neck. But we figured out where his neck may have ended up:

Is she dead? Did she steal The Shadow Prince’s neck? Is she okay?!

We loved many things about this ad:

“Judith B. Glad’s provocative historical romance series is now available in print and pixel.”

PRINT and PIXEL! How did THAT not catch on, either?!

This recipe is absolutely unhinged. Cute, fun, but UNHINGED.

If that text is too small, I’ve got you:

WHET YOUR APPETITE for Cajun fare with a savory little dish served up in Toussaint, Louisiana, the setting of Stella Cameron’s new Kensington hardcover,
COLD DAY IN JULY.

About 15 minutes prior to your reading time, get out your skillet and add a half-stick of butter, chopped scallions and a couple of garlic cloves (minced). Saute until garlic is browned. Add a package of frozen crawfish tails (if they smell a little fishy, soak them in milk first for about 10 minutes, then toss the milk). Next add a can of cream of mushroom soup, smother with Tony Chachare’s Creole Seasoning (or Zataran’s brand), a pinch of Cayenne pepper, black pepper, a dash of tabasco. Can add a little sherry or white wine.

Let simmer.

Pour mixture in five-inch pie shells or mini-pastry shells (recommended for reading) and bake at 350 degrees.

Begin chapter one. By the time you discover that Toussaint medical examiner Reb O’Brien and her ex-lover Marc Girard, who just returned home to search for the truth about his missing sister, reunite to prove that a young female singer’s death was not an accident, you can take your mini-pies out of the oven (about 15 to 20 minutes).

Enjoy the flavor of Toussaint as passion heats up between Reb and Marc and the betrayals in the bayou town are about to explode.
To read an excerpt visit www stellacameron.com.

The recipe timing based on reading chapter one is adorable. But I have a lot of questions about soaking crawfish tails in milk if they smell fishy? Is this a thing?

You know, I might not want to know. I definitely don’t want to know.

This article about Two Moms in a Minivan PI Agency:

EVER READ A PI NOVEL and thought, Gee, I wish I could do that…? Well, meet two sisters who’ve made that dream a reality! Valerie Agosta and Jan Cluff, co-owners of Two Moms in a Minivan PI Agency, are both breast cancer survivors; ironically, this life-threatening disease was the catalyst for making their lives more fulfilling. Ian and I both wanted more than to just survive cancer, Valerie says. We wanted to thrive, grow and discover new things that interested us because we’ve had a glimpse of how short life is and how much precious time is wasted….

Like the more usual ex-cop Pls, they’ve handled all sorts of cases – We’ve investigated insurance fraud claims, checked out investors in a large local business, worked for collection agencies, chased unfaithful husbands, got the goods on rich Granny’s new boyfriend and lots more. Unlike their more hard-boiled brethren, however, they’ve been paid in ‘lots of hugs and thank yous and once in chocolate chip cookies (with M&Ms), as well as in cash. Sam Spade they’re not – and that’s a good thing!

Valerie Agosta wrote a memoir called Spy Mom, and while the JBV seems high from the description, I love everything about it. Valerie died in 2009 from complications due to breast cancer. Cheers to you, ma’am.

We were very confused by the weird tone of this article:

It can be very sad when a talented person succumbs to the lure of a dangerous vice But author Christina Dodd has a no compunction about hiding her addiction. In the name of paying homage, the author cheerfully admits to cribbing the plots of some of the most romantic stories of all lime for her novels.

“What I do is honor those stories that deserve to be revisited, drawing on the rich traditions of the storytellers before me. Is not the same story because it has the same TV Guide blurb: it is the author’s voice that tells the tale. Look at the similarities between ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Cinderella, My Fair Lady and Pygmalion, Clueless and Emma, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Pride and Prejudice.”

Hmm. Maybe she isn’t technically a klepto, but even Dodd must admit, the heroine of MY FAVORITE BRIDE, her new historical from Avon, definitely has some sticky fingers.
When the artful Dodd decided to lift the plot from yet another beloved love story, The Sound of Music to be specific, she clearly let her pilfering tendencies transfer to her leading lady in her version, Maria’s a former pickpocket in the latest in her Governess Brides series, Dodd alters just enough details to stay on the right side of the law, so the heroine is really named Samantha not Maria, and she falls in love with Colonel William Gregory, not Captain von Trapp. And the kids are six rebellious daughters not a mixed set of boys and girds. Sill, there’s singing and play clothes and parties on hilltops, so really is al the same. But a pickpocketing governess? Well, really! What would Julie Andrews say?

Was this meant to be snide, or a joke? What on earth?!

This ad for Avid Press had a lot of expectations of us!

Is an apple a good reading snack? Does your cat have to agree or are you tossing the cat in the carrier and heading out? This is quite a to do list!

The cover article was really a big nothingburger, mostly someone’s reading history and a list of books, and it was a big bummer.

We did like this cover, because that cat is PISSED OFF and is NOT COMING WITH YOU TO READ BOOKS AND EAT APPLES.

Look how mad that cat is!

The article was not at all an exploration of female fascination, and it was really confusing.

Then there was the book matching page where they define different kinds of fantasy and make recommendations:

So people who like Judith McNaught should try epic, heroic, or high fantasy, like JRR Tolkien? To quote Amanda, they’re comparing a setting to specific characters with family drama?

We couldn’t figure out who the audience was, or who this was for, and it really didn’t match our expectations based on the cover. (If you’d like to read the article, if you join the Patreon, you’ll get access to the entire issue as a PDF.)

This was one of the worst illustrated covers we have ever seen.

I know we complain about illustrated covers, but honestly, we have it so much better right now, even when they don’t have faces.

As usual, there’s a lot of promotion of the convention, including a mention of what you get if you register:

Indeed you did get a bag of books. A lot of books.

Then there’s a cover model dinner and the talking of flirting and dancing and taking photos with your favorite cover model made my stomach unhappy a little:

“…gorgeous cover models from years past to join this year’s contestants to wine, dine and dance with you for the evening.”

There’s a whole page of all the parties at RT, TWELVE of them, in fact – and Amanda is going to this party:

If you could time travel back to last year’s convention, one of the highlights would undoubtedly be Pam Binder’s Sunday night Pajama Party Pam had so much fun that she’s throwing her “Time is an Illusion, Love is the Only Reality” dancing and karaoke bash again this year. This will be the night to let your hair down, dance and sing into the wee hours with old and new RT friends. Be sure to bring your Memory Book and arrive early The first 150 people to walk through the door will receive one of Pam’s “hot” 2002 sleepshirts! Prizes will go to the person who looks the best in their sleepshirt!

The parties at RT were pretty fun, but pajama party? Amanda’s right – the most casual.

So! Those were our favorites from the Ads and Features from RT’s September 2002 issue!

Next up: SHEIK, aka the December 1997 issue! Just wait until you see this cover.

And remember, if you join the Patreon, you’ll get access to the entire issue as a PDF.

What do you think? Did you read the futuristic Jayne Ann Krentz books? Did you find The Shadow Prince’s neck? Do you remember any of these books?