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 going back to December 1997 to look at the Ads & Features from Romantic Times. We’ve got a cover with many, many fonts, several memorials for Princess Diana, and we find out what happens when you win an award and find out while you’re on the john. There are profiles of readers and romance reading book clubs, AOL chat rooms about romance for writers and readers, and the price of the Essence of Romance. … Continue reading 625. RT Rewind: December 1997 Ads & Features!→
Christine M. Larson is the author of the new book Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success, published by Princeton University Press. This book is NIFTY – it’s about us! I was interviewed for it, and we are going to talk about ALL The Things, from identity-driven ethics of care to RWA to the need for “a collective unified body for creative people.” Come for the … Continue reading 624. Academic Research about Romancelandia with Christine M. Larson→
The book reviews in 1997 may be fewer in number but they are ample in wtfery. Prizefighter younger sons getting kicked out of brothels on their wedding night! Nicknames that follow you around the globe in the 1880s! Regency cats! We’ve got truly glorious covers, so do not miss the visual aids. They’re incredible.
Kirsty Greenwood’s book The Love of My Afterlife is out now, and it’s bubbly and charming and funny, with a lot of emotion, so we’re going to talk all about it. We also talk about making friends as an adult, and how there’s just about every genre inside this book. There’s even a heist. This might be why it’s the Good Morning America book club pick this month – congrats Kirsty! Then I learned she’s … Continue reading 622. The Love of My Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood→
We’re going back in time to look at the ads and features of the September 2002 issue of Romantic Times! This issue left us with many questions, such as: What the hell is Tart Noir? Are reviewers elsewhere too mean? (Not us – we weren’t online yet!) How much lore is there about pesto? Should you jump into a pile of leaves? Should you soak crawfish tails in milk? Why is an author defending polygamy? … Continue reading 621. RT Rewind: September 2002 Ads & Features→
Oriana Leckert is the Head of Publishing at Kickstarter, and works with the many, many authors who are finding community support on Kickstarter. They’re hosting a celebration all this month, Heartstrings & Hardbacks: Kickstarter and Romance, so we connected to talk about successful romance projects, strategies that work and don’t work on Kickstarter, and the evolution of fandom (a topic I’m always curious about). Oriana has worked in publishing for a long time, and applies … Continue reading 620. Romance and Kickstarter with Oriana Leckert→
We asked our Patreon community to vote on this month’s issue, and September 2002 won by a wide margin. So let’s dive into the book reviews, shall we? There are strange subcategories and overlapping genres, and also color-conscious aliens and amnesia, too. Plus, we talk a bit about one of the best lines Avon ever produced. Don’t miss the visual aids, because some of the covers are something.
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→
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→
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→
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→
