Podcasts

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!

Episode 206. Proving Love: An Interview with Dr. Chuck Tingle

Episode 200. The Books That Made Us Romance Readers

Episode 198. Alpha Women, Heroine Friendships, and Paranormal Romance: An Interview with Shelly Laurenston

Episode 229. Romance, Dating, and Very Real Expectations: An Interview with Alisha Rai

And here are our latest episodes so you can join in the fun!

574. Historical Romance with Mimi Matthews

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Mimi Matthews joins me to talk about her latest book, Appointment in Bath, about self publishing historical romance, and about being one of many lawyers who write romance. We also talk about chronic pain and recovery, disability, and the joys of re-reading. Plus, she shares some of her all time favorite historical romances. … Music: Purple-planet.com

571. Geeky Gen-X Romance with Cathy Yardley

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Cathy Yardley joins me this week to talk about her new book, Role Playing, which is a Gen-X romance featuring “an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit” who joins an online gaming guild as Bogwitch and meets a healer named Otter. We talk about writing romance for 20 years and counting, and Cathy shares video game recs and book recs, too! Music: Purple-planet.com

570. Sex Positivity with Lana Ferguson and Rachel Lynn Solomon

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

In Rachel Lynn Solomon’s newest book Business or Pleasure and in Lana Ferguson’s new book The Nanny, both authors engage directly with sex positivity and honest intimacy through their characters and the plot. I’ll let the authors describe their books, but we’re talking about sex lessons where the heroine is teaching the hero how to be better at sex after a terrible one night stand, about “only one bed over and over,” about OnlyFans and … Continue reading 570. Sex Positivity with Lana Ferguson and Rachel Lynn Solomon

569. Romance in Libraries with Robin Bradford

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Librarian Robin Bradford has a new book: The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Romance! We talk about what reader’s advisory is, and how she teaches libraries to welcome readers looking for romance, and introduce romance to readers who aren’t aware it’s something they like. Robin talks a lot about book covers as marketing devices on Twitter, so of course we talk about the evolution of romance covers, too, plus summer book lists from schools and the … Continue reading 569. Romance in Libraries with Robin Bradford

568. Behind the Scenes at the Ballet, with Melanie Hamrick

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Melanie Hamrick is a former ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre and has just released her debut romance, First Position. So we are talking about ballet, and about balancing – both on your toes, and in career changes. We also cover how much writing and ballet have in common. We are talking about professional ballet, so there is some mention of disordered eating and extreme body consciousness. Music: purple-planet.com

567. Historical Research and Ill Mannered Ladies with Alison Goodman

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Alison Goodman’s new book, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is out this week, and you are definitely going to want to read this book – and listen to this episode! We talk about her book, of course, and about writing female-forward action scenes featuring “old maids.” We also talk about her recently completed doctorate, which was in historical fiction research methodology. So come for the Regency spinsters, and stay for the deep dive into … Continue reading 567. Historical Research and Ill Mannered Ladies with Alison Goodman

566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Recently KJ Charles tweeted about how absolutely devouring the Blessings series by Beverly Jenkins helped “save her sanity during the 2020 lockdown.” So I asked if she’d talk to me about it – and to my surprise this is a popular topic at the moment! She recently did a panel about comfort reading, and I’m really excited to take a look at what makes a comfort read, well, comfy. Plus, we learn what a HFY … Continue reading 566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

565. Once More with Feeling, with Elissa Sussman

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

Elissa Sussman has a new book, Once More with Feeling, so of course I could not WAIT to have her back to talk about the story, the pop culture inspirations for this novel, and her research methods. We also talk about the way stardom and pop stardom specifically has changed since the early 2000s, and how we’re now examining the way we talked about young women and young people at that time. TW/CW: I want … Continue reading 565. Once More with Feeling, with Elissa Sussman

564. Bunny Aliens in Space: Cover Design with JL Logosz

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: The Podcast

 In September of 2022, we snarked a cover, Planet Oster: Fertility Fusion. The cover designer, who is also one half of the writing team behind the series, reached out to me saying that they were unironically flattered that we’d snarked the cover, and asked if I’d like to talk about the process and the behind the scenes of the design work. Of course I said yes. Music: Purple-planet.com

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