Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast
Sarah Wendell
Each week on Smart Podcast, Trashy Books, Sarah Wendell interviews authors, readers, reviewers, bloggers, publishing professionals, editors, and librarians about romance novels, which are among the most popular genres in fiction worldwide. Popular guests include: Ilona Andrews, Robin Bradford, NPR's Barrie Hardymon, Chuck Tingle, Sarah J. Maas, and Rachel Aaron. Amanda Diehl, co-pilot of the SS Smart Bitches, makes regular appearances with maximum silliness, especially during our Romantic Times Rewind episodes, where we take a look at old issues of Romantic Times Magazine (1981-2018). Frequent topics include romance novels, the way the genre is changing, and the brilliant and interesting people who read, write, and produce it, and issues common among romance readers. Plus, we always recommend some books we're reading and really enjoying. Learn more at SB-TB.com/Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 14, 2023 • 39min
571. Geeky Gen-X Romance with Cathy Yardley
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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 7, 2023 • 48min
570. Sex Positivity with Lana Ferguson and Rachel Lynn Solomon
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 OnlyFans and autonomous sex work, and most of all, about how romance is encouraging people to own their sexuality and advocate for their pleasure and satisfaction. I had a BALL recording this, and I hope you enjoy listening to it just as much. Thank you to Kristin Cipolla, their publicist at PenguinRandomHouse, for the incredible pitch and for setting up this interview. Coupons! Coupons: Get 20% OFF @honeylove with at honeylove.com/sarah! #honeylovepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 30, 2023 • 1h
569. Romance in Libraries with Robin Bradford
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 media, and different online sources for book discovery. (Yes, I’m still navigating low-grade grief at the loss of Twitter personally and professionally.) Robin also gives library workshops to other librarians (a profession that is eighty-six percent White) about diversifying collections, and we talk a lot about that experience.Most important - how do you support your library? Robin has suggestions!Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 23, 2023 • 38min
568. Behind the Scenes at the Ballet, with Melanie Hamrick
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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 16, 2023 • 34min
567. Historical Research and Ill Mannered Ladies with Alison Goodman
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 research. This is a very fun conversation, which is fitting because it’s about a very fun book.A special thank you to Yazmine Hassan for setting up this interview!Music:Purple-Planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 9, 2023 • 43min
566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles
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 ending is.And brace yourself, we have a LOT of recs....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 2, 2023 • 39min
565. Once More with Feeling, with Elissa Sussman
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 to flag that because we’re talking about pop stars in the early 2000s, there are references to disordered eating, anti fat bias, and staggering misogyny.I have QUESTIONS: Do you have a favorite musical? Did you or do you have a favorite pop star?...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 26, 2023 • 36min
564. Bunny Aliens in Space: Cover Design with LJ Logosz
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.comCoupon! Control Body Odor anywhere with @lumedeodorant and get $5 off off your Starter Pack (that’s over 40% off) with promo code SARAH30 at lumedeodorant.com/SARAH30! #lumepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 19, 2023 • 36min
563. A Bookish Random AMA with Amanda!
You asked questions, and we have answers! We talk about paranormal worldbuilding mysteries, choosing recommendations to introduce folks to romance, and our origin stories - plus the enigma that is Amanda’s ability to remember book details.Thank you to Varian, Norette, Rachel, Elizabeth, Sandra, and Sol for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 12, 2023 • 39min
562. Cover Snark Live: May Bunny Edition
Amanda and I are back, trying to shock one another, and possibly you, with astonishing covers. We have Easter and bunnies and our latest guess as to what the next monster schtupping romance trend will be! For extra fun, try to imagine what the cover looks like based on our baffled descriptions, then have a look at the show notes to see the cover in question. How close are you to the stunning reality? You can see all the covers right here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
