What do Gothics and professional wrestling have in common? A lot – if you’re listening to Rose Lerner. Even if you’re not into professional wrestling, you’ll enjoy listening to her talk about it. A few things we talk about: Was Aaron Burr a troll, and can you fact check Hamilton shitposts on Tumblr? Is it time for a lesbian Jewish Regency Gothic retelling of Jane Eyre? Is there a lot to learn about storytelling inside … Continue reading 350. Rose Does the Research: History and Professional Wrestling With Rose Lerner →

Today I’m talking with Melonie Johnson, whom I first met nearly 10 years ago before she knew what RWA was. Now she’s releasing three books back to back as a debut author. Her first book, Getting Hot with the Scot, released this week – congrats, Melonie! In this interview, we talk about her surprising and familiar path to publication, including being a Golden Heart finalist twice. She discusses the invaluable support from other writers, and … Continue reading 349. Keeping the Audience in Mind Always: An Interview with Melonie Johnson →

This episode was recorded live at East City Books in Washington DC on April 11, 2019. I moderated a panel with Sally Thorne, Tracey Livesay, and Mia Sosa, titled Upbeat Fiction for Unpredictable Times. It was a great panel, and a wonderful audience, too. If you were there, thank you for coming out! We talked about all the things, including comfort reads, and comfort foods. Tracey Livesay talks about how being a romance reader influences … Continue reading 348. Upbeat Fiction for Unpredictable Times: Live at East City Books with Mia Sosa, Tracey Livesay, and Sally Thorne! →

Today I’m chatting with Dahlia Adler, who does so many things, and so we’re going to talk about all of them. We discuss her job history in publishing, and how different areas in publishing are very different from one another. We discuss her career as an author, and her adventures as a book blogger at BN, and her site lgbtqreads.com. The key moment in this podcast: how writing helped her recognize herself and her own … Continue reading 347. Becoming My Own Audience: An Interview with Dahlia Adler →

Today I’m chatting with Kelly Faircloth, senior writer for Jezebel.com, and frequent writer of excellent journalism about romance. I’ve interviewed Kelly before, and this time I wanted to talk to her about her Valentine’s Day feature which examined the artists behind the romance cover art we know and love. (CATNIP AHOY!) She takes a deep dive in that article into the knowledge gap between what we think we know about romance cover art history, and … Continue reading 346: Fuchsia has Followed Us Everywhere: Deep Diving Into Romance Cover Art with Kelly Faircloth →

Today I’m talking with Kristy, known on Twitter as CaffeinatedFae, and Claire Ryan. Kristy is a former bookseller, and Claire is a fantasy writer and programmer, and together, they’ve been taking on the full account of Cristiane Serruya’s alleged plagiarism, which you might have seen being discussed online as #CopyPasteCris. Kristy and other readers, including Jeanna Skinner, have been maintaining lists of the passages from other romance titles discovered inside of Serruya’s books, and that … Continue reading 345. Readers Fighting Plagiarism: An Interview with Kristy Caffeinated Fae and Claire Ryan →

I am so excited to share this conversation with you. Today I am talking with Emily and Amelia Nagoski, authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. I think this might be one of those episodes you re-listen to, because what Emily and Amelia have to say is incredibly wise and kind and so empowering and soothing – at the same time. No kidding. Their own description of this book might be the … Continue reading 344. Burnout – A Feminist Book about Stress: An Interview with Emily and Amelia Nagoski →

It’s our first book club episode! Amanda, Elyse, Carrie, and I discuss a suggestion from Holly in our Patreon: Mercenary Instinct by Ruby Lionsdrake. We have a lot to talk about, and I have a few notes for you before we start. First: TW/CW for discussion of threat of rape and sexual assault off and on throughout the episode. Second: Spoilers ahoy. We can’t really talk about the book in detail without sharing the details, … Continue reading 343. Our Book Club Discussion of Mercenary Instinct by Ruby Lionsdrake →

The suggestion for this guest came from EC Spurlock – thank you, thank you! Today I’m speaking with Arkady Martine, also known as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller. As Arkady Martine, she’s a science fiction and fantasy writer, and as Dr. Weller, she’s a Byzantine scholar, a narratologist, and also a city planner. There was a tense moment where I almost scrapped the whole interview to ask about city planning, but no, we’re going to talk about … Continue reading 342. Stories are Everything: Learning about Narratology with Arkady Martine →

Today I’m chatting with Adriana Herrera, whose debut book American Dreamer is out this week! We talk about so many things, y’all. So many. We discuss the Afro Latinx cultural experience in her life, her work, and in her books, and the unique homesickness that comes when you’re from a Caribbean island and you live in New York City and it’s below freezing. We talk about all the places she’s lived – she and her … Continue reading 341. The Self Care of Unapologetically Massive Happy Endings: An Interview with Adriana Herrera →

Nerd Diving Alert! Wanna take a very deep, very nerdy dive into lesbian-relevant sexuality in history? Grab your pressure-resistant diving pod and some snacks, because here were go! Heather Rose Jones is an author of historical fiction and fantasy, a massive history geek, a blogger and podcaster, and an individual deeply interested in researching lesbian relevant sexuality in history. She’s got a PhD in linguistics and medieval Welsh prepositions, and she loves spreadsheets and databases. … Continue reading 340. Lesbian Relevant Sexuality in History: An Interview with Heather Rose Jones →