Welcome to Smart Podcast, Trashy Books! Each Friday, I talk with authors, readers, reviewers, bloggers, publishing professionals, editors, and librarians, or combinations thereof, and share the fun and mayhem with you. Frequent topics include romance fiction, the brilliant and interesting people who read, write, and produce it, and issues common among romance readers, along with a hefty side order of silliness. Plus, we always recommend some books we’re reading and really enjoying.
And speaking of recommendations, are you new to the podcast? Welcome!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, fear not: here are some of our most popular episodes – so far!
We’re back with more Holiday Wishes! This week we’re talking with Rae A., Josephine, and Sneezy! This week we are talking romance bookstores and road trips, luxurious bidets, webtoons, and, of course, books. And some ranting about women artists in history. We are traveling as far as Taiwan in this episode – and this should be the last of my laryngitis – hooray for all of us! Updates? Updates! Thanks to your Patreon pledges, we … Continue reading 696. Holiday Wishes IV with Rae A, Josephine, and Sneezy→
We’re back with more Holiday Wishes! This week we’re talking with Garlic Knitter, Claudia, Christine, and Jo. A few notes: First, my voice is not great. Some of these were recorded when I had a dreadful cold, so I apologize in advance. Second, if you’re a sympathetic crier like I am, please know that when Christine and I are talking, we both get a little choked up while talking about grief and the infuriating unfairness … Continue reading 695. Holiday Wishes III with Garlic Knitter, Claudia, Christine, and Jo→
Ready for more wishes and recs? And bad jokes? I bet you are! This week we’re talking with Agnes, Emily, Sarah Jane, and Jenn – and Min the cat. And in the outro, you’ll hear from ShoesforAll, aka Sarah. And! Important announcement 1: thanks to your Patreon pledges, we have reached our goal with the F’ICE campaign, and all dynamic ads will be turned off permanently for everyone who listens. Thank you so much! Important … Continue reading 694. Holiday Wishes II with Agnés, Emily, Sarah Jane and Jenn→
It’s time for our annual Holiday Wishes episodes! Every year I connect with listeners around the world, where we talk about books, wishes, and bad jokes. So this time of year, my guests are…all of you! In this set of wishes, we’ve got classics, new mysteries, and series romances. And we’ve got Sapphic yearning! I have a record number of people signed up to do holiday wishes conversations with me, and these episodes are so … Continue reading 693. Holiday Wishes I with Susie, Elizabeth, Alanna→
Amye Archer, host of Little Miss Recap, was a guest on a recent paywalled episode of Fixing Famous People talking about soap operas. I was entranced. Amye is a fan of soaps, going way back, and I was very eager to have her as a guest to talk about soaps, the romances within soaps, and some of the overlap between soap fans and romance readers. After we talk about the matrilineal cultural inheritance of soaps … Continue reading 692. Soap Opera Nostalgia with Amye Archer from Little Miss Recap→
After mentioning Heather Graham, one of the Grande Dames of RT, so many times while recapping issues of Romantic Times, I got to sit down with her to talk about her career, the way the industry has changed, and of course, her memories of Romantic Times, both the magazine and the convention. We talk about… Her memories of meeting Kathryn Falk The earliest Romantic Times Conventions Her incredible RT parties The work of hosting conferences. … Continue reading 691. Romantic Times Memories with Heather Graham→
My guest today is Lux Raven, author of the Siren’s duology that starts with Siren’s Mark, which came out – together – in early October. Lux wanted to join me on the podcast to talk about disability portrayals in romance, and about her own journey to diagnosis and how it influenced her writing – and vice versa. We talk a lot about the pernicious ableism in the writing of disabled characters, and about writing your … Continue reading 690. Disability in Romance with Lux Raven→
We’re going back to May 2016 to look at the Ads & Features in Romantic Times magazine. The kilts are kilting and the abs are ab-ing, and we’ve got some questions. How do we feel about the terms “book boyfriend” and “pre-con”? How much of the 2016 conference depended on Twitter to announce pop up signings and special limited time events? And do you remember how important Twitter was to a conference? How many different … Continue reading 689. RT Rewind: May 2016 Ads & Features→
I’m bringing back a classic episode from the archives of the show, and because she has excellent taste, Amanda said it should be this one. When I originally published this episode, I focused on how silly we were – and we are plenty silly. But since then Amanda and I have talked about the fact that when we recorded this, we were, in fact, baked out of our gourds. So it’s a different kind of … Continue reading 688. Rewind Replay: “You have a Type and it Might be Mullet” – June 22, 2018→
Grab your carry on, your snacks, and a blanket, because we’re hopping in the time machine again to go back to the May 2016 issue of Romantic Times to look at the new releases and reviews! This issue caused some big questions. Coke or Pepsi? Backstreet Boys or NSYNC? Did you worry about spontaneous combustion? Should I read the Midnight, Texas trilogy by Charlaine Harris? How many erotic romance titles in this issue contain the … Continue reading 687. RT Rewind: May 2016 Reviews and New Releases→
Alexandra Vasti is back, because her new historical romance Ladies in Hating is out this week! We are going to talk about: Good angsty yearning When a character is their love interest’s bitch eating crackers Lesbians in history! Erotic Victorian fiction Side trips include historical publishing houses, how nothing in romance is new, and how a lot of our current erotica, including that book where someone schtupps a door, is connected to books with the … Continue reading 686. Ladies in Hating and Yearning with Alexandra Vasti→
