Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

Elissa Sussman joins me to talk about her book, Funny You Should Ask, and all about: Writing a horny heroine’s POVDual timelinesCelebrity profilesLife as a celebrity and managing a fandomThings that do, and do not twitchElissa is an extremely fluent fan of the romance genre, and we talk a lot about romance conventions we love and loathe, and what it means to subvert and undermine some very familiar dynamics, characters, and tropes. If you love celebrity profiles, the narratives that construct fame, and behind the scenes details, you’ll like this book, and you’ll probably really like this conversation. Please join us! Thank you to Melissa Folds and Courtney Mocklow at Penguin RandomHouse for setting up this interview! So - what’s your favorite celebrity profile? Do you follow celebrity gossip narratives? What sites are your faves? Email me - I would love to know. I personally love the DeuxMoi subreddit (not the instagram feed itself). Tell me yours? ...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denise Williams is a contemporary romance author with several books coming out this year including a series of audio-first novellas set in an airport, beginning with The Love Connection. She is also releasing her third novel, Do You Take This Man.Denise is also a wedding officiant! So we are going to talk about the process of uniting people in matrimony, what she loves most, and making the event meaningful for the people who are present. So many happy wedding stories, this episode will make you smile.Thank you to Daché J. Rogers and Erin Galloway for setting up this interview!  Have you officiated a wedding? Been at a memorable wedding event? Tell me everything?...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shana McDavis-Conway is a social change consultant, activist, and a reviewer at this here website! She recently published an article, “Self-conscious, unapologetic, and straight: fat protagonists in romantic fiction” in the journal Fat Studies, and she’s written about fat rep in romance for SBTB a few times, too. We talk about the evolution of fat characters in romance, what’s changing, and then Shana shares the romances that made her a romance reader - and the books that rock her world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Hankin is the author of Happy And You Know It, A Special Place for Women, and the upcoming book The Daydreams. The paperback of A Special Place for Women is out on May 24th, and as I learned is being adapted for film, too! We talk about the book-to-film adaptation process, and then we take a deep dive into secret societies, exclusive clubs, and how they work (or don’t). We also take a side trip into public vs private or hidden narratives, and why people want to belong.Do you know of a secret club or exclusive society? Do you belong to one? Tell me all about it? I’m very nosy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa from Shrewsbury sent us an email and two contenders for Cover Snark - so we did Cover Snark live! Check the show notes for a link to the covers, and tell us what you notice first!Happy belated birthday Lisa! Thank you for the wild thumbs and the shifter bonanza!Are you ready for the covers Lisa sent us? I hope so! Click this link here or head to the website, http://sb-tb.com and click "PODCASTS" https://bit.ly/511CoverSnarkIf you liked this episode, let me know! In the comments, via email - it’s fun to try different things and I would love to know if you laughed along with us today.…Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, my guest is Emily Henry, whose new romance Book Lovers is out this past week!We talk about slow burns, book tour, puppies, the inspiration for the lead character, Nora, and the Icy City Ex Girlfriend Trope.Thank you to Ann_Knee, Clairatrix, and the enthusiastic members of the Culture Study Discord’s romance channel who were very excited about this interview alongside me. And thank you to publicist Heather Mill who set the interview up....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Amanda and I catch up on a whole bunch of things, including college visits, airboats, and dating!We also have listener email, including recommendation requests and compliments galore!I know some of y’all love the episodes where Amanda and I hang out and talk books and everything, so if you like this one, let me know? Email, comment, tweet at me, whatever - if you’re into these episodes, let me know!CW/TW: discussion of needles in the first 10 minutes.Also: my dogs barked a lot. Sorry about that!What about you? What books are you looking forward to? We’d absolutely love to know!...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jess Michaels is celebrating the release of her 100th book, 100 Nights with the Duke! That’s a lot of books, and a long career of close to 20 years! We talk about how she’s celebrating this milestone, and we take a look back at how her experience of the romance industry has evolved over two decades.Along the way we cover:* Commemorative tattoos* The biggest changes she’s experienced in her career* How romance readership has evolved* Finding your own compass to guide your businessCW: Jess’ father passed away earlier this year, and we talk a little about that near the end of the episode....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Authors Lucy Eden and Katee Robert join me to talk about their very successful Kickstarter campaigns!Lucy’s is currently running and is fully funded: https://bit.ly/EdenKSLoveNotesKatee is in the midst of fulfillment of her Kickstarter, which was fully funded in about five minutes. We talk about why they went with Kickstarter, the essential elements of a successful campaign, and what they’ve learned from the experience so far....Music: Purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part two of the special crossover event with Bonkers Romance as we recap of A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon. Part one with me, Melody and Jenny is over at Bonkers Romance, so hello and welcome Bonkers Romance listeners! I’m so happy to have you here today!Be Ye Warned - this episode is extremely nsfw and is a recap of the second half of the book, so spoilers indeed.Also, yes, my brain cannot hold on to "Rooksgrave Hall" vs "Rooksgrave Manor." Apologies. …Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.