Writers: What do you do when you have a hero or heroine with a bazillion years of relevant backstory that must be brought to bear against the present-day romance? Readers: What method of backstory development do you prefer? Do you like the flashback? The dropped comment and the tearful, wrenching confession of what those dropped comments really meant? The prologue that tries to tie up the whole mess? What’s your favorite method of greeting the … Continue reading How do you solve a problem like a flashback?→
OK, all of you who were taking bets on whether I’d love or hate The Demon’s Daughter can now close the books because the results are in: I liked. Liked it quite a bit, actually, but certain issues with the storytelling prevent me from giving it an outright A, though it’s still a keeper. This is the first romantic steampunk novel I’ve ever read. The world is somewhat similar to Victorian England, in that there … Continue reading The Demon’s Daughter By Emma Holly→
Due to a truly bizarre progression of e-mail exchanges between some co-worker friends and me, I found a truly fascinating article about sea cucumbers. The sea cucumber breathes through its anus, entertains visitors in its anus, and if it doesn’t like the look of you it projects its anal plumbing in your face. When it’s really under pressure it disembowels itself. Laura Woodward has been looking into sea cucumbers, literally. (…) When provoked, certain species … Continue reading Supermodels and actresses: eat your fucking hearts out…→
I was reminded of why I avoid visiting the AAR messageboards yesterday. They’re a wonderful avenue of lively discussion, but OY, they’re such a time suck—and not only that, they sometimes contain some of the most jaw-dropping sentiments. Not only do I disagree with them, but I think they’re quite astoundingly silly. For example, from this message on the AAR Reviews board (the thread started out as a discussion about Lisa Valdez’s The Passion): Political … Continue reading Political Incorrectnes is the new Political Correctness→
I carry this big honking leather bag to and from work because it holds the phone, wallet, train tickets, MetroCard, umbrella – and book or magazine with no trouble zipping up over all that junk. The book/magazine part is key. I have a few bags that will hold a paperback, but the slighty-larger sized books (I can never remember which is trade and which is that other thing) or a magazine or catalog? Fuggedabahadit. So … Continue reading Gimme an E!→
Some of our readers wondered if we’d create a special edition of Covers Gone Wild wherein instead of bitching long and hard about covers featuring Lord Mantitte, his immaculate wax-job and his patron saint, Our Lady of the Perpetual Wardrobe Malfunction, we’d discuss the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the covers that actually make us stop and say “Ooooh, pretty!” instead of making us want to claw our eyes out and … Continue reading Quitcher Bitchin’!→
In a five-second IM conversation one night (because we Smart Bitches have yet to actually speak live to one another – ha!) Candy posited the following: what behavior from a heroine will we never, ever see in a romance novel? Being who we are, we came up with a very organized list. Behold: our take on Romance Taboos, Heroine-style. Consider it the romance parallel to the oft-debunked guide on How to Be a Good Wife. … Continue reading Go Ahead, Prove Us Wrong→
You know the drill: hook me up with author, title, and character’s name, and if you’re the first correct answer, you get yourself a Smart Bitch title. Come and Set Me Free, Baby Mild-manned antique-fiend, underwhelmed with herself, though most would kill to be her size, seeks man locked in a box of someone else’s making to unleash her desires and emotions. I will follow the right man through past, future, and parallel worlds.
Some sites have “Water Coolers” where you talk about what you want; other sites have open threads to talk about whatever you want. We have the Open Sesame, because creating an open thread with references to other things that are often “open” in a romance novel would lead to very interesting Google hits, indeed! So- what’s on your mind? Whaddya wanna talk about?
Via Booksquare comes this delicious tidbit from Grumpy Old Bookman about the (British) Romance Novelists’ Association just beating the everloving snot out of the other team (composed of staff members of Wisden, a cricket almanac) during a general knowledge quiz show. Romance novelists are smart people. Whodathunk? Next thing you know, people will start thinking that romance novel readers don’t need to move their lips to sound out the hard words when they read. One … Continue reading In Other News: Romance Novelists Kick Ass at Quiz Shows→
