In June 1989, Kathryn Falk published The Romance Reader’s Handbook, a 354 page spiral bound collection of everything a romance reader would need to know. Steve Ammidown leads us on a brief tour of this artifact of romance history. There’s a collection of over 2000 pseudonyms, plus a directory of where to contact authors, lists of bookstores that love romance, and recommended reads. And of course, advertisements from authors inviting readers to correspond with them. … Continue reading 618. The Romance Reader’s Handbook with Steve Ammidown →
Hey, y’all! We’ve got five print ARCs of Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon to give away today! I know many of you saw “Ruby Dixon” and said “WHERE. DO. I. CLICK,” but in case you’re not familiar, here’s a bit about the book! In order to protect her kingdom from the wrath of a vengeful goddess, Princess Candra must remain locked inside a tower for seven years. Seven long years without a friend—or a lover—by … Continue reading Giveaway: Win an ARC of Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon! →
In episode 611, we talked about the ads and features in the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times, and there was an ad on the back cover for Romance Soundtracks. We could not find anything about them, but Malaraa in our Patreon sure did! We’ve got samples! We’ve got MUSIC that you’re meant to read with, and Amanda tries to identify the genre/album the music was from. MASSIVE THANKS to Malaraa for finding this treasure … Continue reading 617. A Romance Soundtracks Sampler →
Greetings from me, and my blood pressure medication. RWA has filed for bankruptcy, per a Bloomberg story that is behind a paywall. The URL alone is enough to give me a stroke, so I’m sharing that over the headline: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-29/romance-writers-group-goes-bankrupt-after-dei-fight-around-courtney-milan I’m sharing the URL straight because the part after the date, called the “slug,” is the part that made the top of my head blow clean off. So what actually happened? Most likely: With years … Continue reading RWA has Filed for Bankruptcy, And You’ll Never Guess “Why” →
It’s been awhile, but the television and film offerings lately seem to be Very Good! I really, really enjoyed the Black Twitter documentary on Hulu, especially that it was looking at recent history online through the lens of a powerful community and the people within it. Shana and I are going to review/discuss it here soon, but if you haven’t watched it, I recommend! I tried watching this series on the 90s – Dark Side … Continue reading Whatcha Watching? →
In a review for Never Cross a Highlander, Shana came up with the ACAB scale, or the Alyssa Cole Anti-Slavery Book Scale, which ranks how central the horror of slavery is to the storyline. I asked her to tell me all about it, and Shana, kindly, said yes. Our conversation grows (of course) to include the field of narrative therapy and bibliotherapy, other evaluative rubrics for reading, and the subgenres, professions, settings we can, and … Continue reading 616. Reading Rubrics with Shana →
If you like audiobooks and have some long summer travel ahead of you, we’ve put together a recommendation list with the help of the folks at Libro.fm: SBTB’s Summer Travel Audiobook Recs! We’ve got nonfiction, romance (of course) of many subgenres, plus science fiction, fantasy, YA, and mysteries. I particularly liked Marple, the anthology of twelve new mysteries about Miss Marple, all narrated by different experts like Adjoa Andoh, Alex Kingston, and Alison Steadman. But whatever you’re … Continue reading Summer Travel Audiobook Recs at Libro.fm! →
Amanda and I are traveling back in time to May 1994 and taking a look at the ads and features inside Romantic Times Magazine – oh, it’s a time. We have questions – and answers! Are Eric Braeden and Victor Newman the same guy? Is Kathryn Falk writing celebrity gossip and outing people? Are there Lorena Bobbit jokes? Were Glamour Shots™ very well represented among author headshots? We had a great time looking at the … Continue reading 615. RT Rewind: May 1994 Ads & Features →
