Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

Amanda and I are talking with VE Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, a book we both enjoyed tremendously. We talk about the 10-year process of writing it and the power of telling an immortality tale about a person who walks through history as a woman. We touch on queerness, achievement, erasure, representation, and also discuss death, loneliness, grief and immortality. About halfway through we take a deep dive into death rituals and experiences with grief and loss, with some specifics at about 42:00-43:00, so be aware if that’s not a topic you can engage with right now. (Take care of you, ok? Thank you.)Stay tuned to the end for a special surprise when Amanda’s roommate finds out who Amanda’s chatting with....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle Hazen is a romance author and a wildlife tortoise biologist, a semi-nomadic career (the biologist part) (and also the author part) that informs much of her writing. We talk about saving baby animals, writing about trauma, life in the desert doing biologist work, and romance tropes that work really well in the desert....Music: purple-planet.com...Looking for a podcast to try? Have you checked out Tea & Strumpets?Tea & Strumpets is a lively and engaging podcast dedicated entirely to Historical Romance! Join hosts and friends Zoë and Kelsey each episode as they discuss all the steamy (and sometimes tepid) details of the Regency Romance genre. And since the regency technically only lasted 9 years, generally we're talking post-wigs but pre-telephone! Find us wherever you download podcasts, or at RomancePod.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back with more questions from our Patreon community! We have questions about books, romance covers, and of course, food. Strong opinions? Yes! Silliness! Also yes!Thank you again to the Patreon community for providing the very silly, very much needed questions....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the help of the Podcast Patreon community, Amanda and I are answering silly questions to help get us all through Hellweek.If you're like me, and a little stressed/overwhelmed/chin-deep-in-existential-dread, a little silliness goes a long way. So Amanda and I are bringing you a temporary respite with an extremely silly Q&A with half the Patreon’s incredible questions - the other half will be in a future episode. Think The Most Goofy AMA You've Ever Heard. Is there background construction noise AND dog barking? Of course! We’re talking candy, bedside tables, time travel, cheese plate perfection, and more - with extra silliness. We hope it gets you through....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Dr. Hilary Levey Friedman, Brown University professor and author of the new book Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America. I had a chance to read the book and was so eager to discuss it, in particular because of the ways in which public conceptions of beauty pageants overlap substantially with public conceptions of romance. We talk about pageants, history, popular culture, and several surprising elements of the culture of Miss America - for example, the number of former pageant contestants who go into politics and public service....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Amanda and I are talking with Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet and host of the podcast “Lingthusiasm.” If you like listening to a really smart person with intricate knowledge of what’s going on beneath the mundane, this is an episode for you. We start by fangirling about Courtney Milan and creative use of language in some of her favorite novels, and then we talk about internet language. We also talk about how the use of language as a tool for socializing is something we’re all redefining. The words we use, and the spaces in which the words, happen are changing rapidly, and now are even more different.This is a longer episode because we talk about So Many Things. Amanda and I both read and really enjoyed Because Internet, and it was a treat to talk to the author about her book, and about how language and socializing are evolving....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We received an email from Megan, who wanted to know about the possibility of building a rating system for sex in books. TL;DR, we don’t think it’s entirely feasible given how subjective heat levels can be for different readers, but the idea gives us a lot to talk about.We also talk about Prime Day this week, my younger child’s bar mitzvah, which was last weekend, virtually, from our backyard, and different levels of friendship.What about you? What would your sex rating system look like? What elements would you want to highlight? Think it’s doable? Email us! We love hearing from you....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Valentine’s Day!Amanda and I are chatting about everything from bookstores and trade romance to her Reylo fanfic. Our conversation is inspired by a question from Jasmine, who is part of our Patreon. She wanted to ask us about sci-fi and space romances, and ask for recommendations. Amanda’s much more fluent in space romance than I am, but we absolutely have recs, suggestions, theories about required elements, and potential reasons why space is SO appealing right now.This episode is brought to you by Best Women's Erotica of the Year, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, and published by Cleis Press.Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to part four and the final episode in my series on RWA: One Month Later. We’ve heard from C Chilove, Laurel Cremant, and Diana Neal, the officers of CIMRWA, from past RWA president HelenKay Dimon, and from Jessie Edwards, Marketing and PR Manager for RWA.Today, I’m speaking with Courtney Milan.There’s a lot to process, and this is a somewhat emotional interview wherein we talk about what happened, her reactions, and what’s next for her. We also talk intermittently though non-specifically about the physical manifestations of trauma so please be aware going into this episode if that’s something difficult for you to listen to.I’ll be taking this Friday, February 7, off, and I’ll be back on February 14 - Valentine’s Day - with Amanda. See you then!Music: https://www.purple-planet.comYou can subscribe to Smart Podcast, Trashy Books at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you catch your favorite shows! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to part three of my four-episode series, RWA: One Month Later. Today, we’re hearing from RWA.Jessie Edwards, Marketing and PR Manager for Romance Writers of America, joins me to answer questions about loss of trust, steps being taken to address member concerns, filling leadership positions, and what comes next for RWA, for the national conference, and for the membership.Check your podcast feed tomorrow, February 3, for the other episodes in this series, including an episode with the officers of CIMRWA, and a conversation with RWA past president HelenKay Dimon. Tomorrow, February 3, you’ll hear from Courtney Milan.Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.