Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

Remember digital first novellas?

Websites for an entire fictional town?

When Indie publishing was talked about with the same language as MLMs?

We’re going back to peruse at the May 2015 Romantic Times Magazine Ads and Features. It was a time!

We also mentioned:

• Susanna Kearsley’s book page with all the covers 
• The muscular dudes fabric
• The Cover Model bag
• The Jezebel article on writing Bigfoot erotica 

Today brings a vulnerable and honest conversation about the prevalence of penetrative sex in romance, and what happens if a writer decides to create a character with pelvic floor pain, for whom that kind of sex isn’t possible? Let’s find out!

Jane Buehler’s new book, The Fire Apprentice, is out this week, and we’re going to talk about the book, and the series. But we’re also talking about the asexual spectrum, body changes from ...

Amanda and I have loaded the time travel machine with snacks and bubbly beverages. We’re headed back to May 2015. Some major books were released this month along with some we’re very happy to revisit.

We’ve got answers to the following questions:

• Are there Amish Inspirational romances that have too much sex in them?
• How many garage freezers would a crime family need?
• How many stars did A Court of Thorns and Roses get?
...

Once Upon a Time, Princess Mabel van Oranje, founder Vow for Girls, an organization dedicated to ending child marriage, met Stacey Abrams, author and the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives.

They hatched a plan to unite the romance community with Vow for Girls, which led to Every Girl Deserves Happily Ever After. Today, Princess Mabel and Stacey Abrams are here to tell us all about ...

It’s time for the ads and features of the October 2000 Romantic Times magazine, where they’re both talking about new releases AND celebrating their 200th issue.

What did we learn?

We learned about waxing, magazines, and galleys, but not about skin care, gun parts, or boats.

We’ve got Extreme Troy, everyone. Grab a drink and come hang out with us.

And don’t miss the visual aids!

WE HAVE LINKS.

• The Angelfire sit...

Kimberly Lemming’s new book, I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in A Rom-Com is out this week.

What’s inside? A fantasy world with underfunded researchers and mishandled animal restoration caused by fiscal irresponsibility, academic malfeasance and nepotism.

And talking lions and fire breathing aliens powered by garlic bread.

Music: purple-planet.com

You can find Kimberly Lemming at her website,...

RT is celebrating their 200th issue, and we’re celebrating, too!

We’ve got the OG Monster Schtupping book, a guy whose arm appears to end in a ham, and some incredible covers. You know I’m going to tell you not to miss the visual aids, but I mean it.

There’s a series where the focus of every cover illustration is someone's backside? It's wild.

You can find all the visual aids here.

We also mentioned:

• Tazo Glazed Lemo...

My guest today is Candy Tan, who 20 years ago co-founded Smart Bitches Trashy Books with me. Yay!!

We’re looking back at the founding of SBTB, about her reactions to Bridgerton, and her perennial favorite romances. We talk about different ways that romance has changed since 2005. Then I show Candy the casting photos for the Black Dagger Brotherhood adaptation.

You can find Candy @BeautifulDuckweed on Bluesky, on AO3...

Savannah Carlisle is the author of The Library of Second Chances and is a sports business reporter and nonfiction author under the name Kristi Dosh.

Her romance centers on a Little Free Library, so of course we are talking about that. We also discuss the difficult economies of small coastal towns, and the ways that memories can be attached to a place. Then we talk about sports romance – and why she doesn’t want to writ...

Joanna Shupe posted a TikTok on November 11, 2024, in response to angry readers chastising her for writing in her newsletter about her disappointment with the election results. I have included the audio with her permission.She says in her comments that she could teach a whole class about the parallels between the Gilded Age and the current political and cultural climate, which I am calling The Dumpster Age. I reached out and said,&...

One! More! Time! We’ve got one last set of interviews with all of you, and we’re going out with a banger of a book list. We’re talking about Y’all Fest, koalas, how terrifying David Tennant is, bonkbusters, Taylor Swift lyrics as book titles, and pop culture portal fantasies in romance.

TW/CW: As part of my conversation with Carisa, who teaches history, we discuss some historical police violence and discussion of the Triang...

We’re traveling around the world again, with Sarah Jane, Lilisonna, and Martin to gather recs, and wishes, and terrible jokes. We’ve got more joyful recommendations for AJ Sherwood’s books, more cozy games, more pop culture documentaries, and more cats visiting the show.

We’ve got one more episode featuring listeners in various parts of the world. Record number of people signed up this year. Thank you!

We also mentioned:

• A...

We’re traveling all over the world again, from the west coast of the US to Germany to discuss the price of PopTarts, book recommendations, and wishes for 2025 with Megan, Alanna, Sue, and Rhonda.

Thank you for being part of these episodes!

You can find all the books at SBTB!

We also mentioned:

• Lost in Austen (tv show) 
• Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo 
• I Heart Sapphfic
• Gimme the Brain!

My guest this week is Elizabeth Hoyt!! This episode was SO MUCH FUN to record and produce and I am so excited to share it with you.We talk about her latest book, No Ordinary Duchess, writer’s block, emotionally constipated heroes, and the special place for sunshiny heroines. Plus we talk about how genres have changed in popularity over the course of her career.

Side trips include the magic of writing about people who s...

We’re taking a tour around the US with stops in California, Ohio, Maryland, Texas, and Georgia with Carrie, Jenna, Melissa, Lisa, Josephine, and Cara!

We’ve got holiday wishes and a bunch of recommendations. Thank you to everyone who signed up in record numbers to do a holiday recording with me. These are very fun!

We also mentioned: Paint Love- Atlanta GA

Music: purple-planet.com

My guests this week are, in the words of my home vernacular, yinz n’at.

We’re traveling all over the country this week and we’re talking about fanfic, finding an unending treasure trove of books to read from a new favorite author, and taking time for restorative actions.

There is still time to sign up if you’re a member of the Patreon community! Head over to Patreon and you’ll find the link.

We have SO many VERY ...

It’s the first of our holiday episodes, and my guests are…all of you! Members of the podcast Patreon have signed up in record numbers to do interviews, so in the coming weeks, we’ll have recommendations, wishes, and bad jokes galore from folks all over the world.

There is still time to sign up – head over to Patreon and you’ll find the link.

This week, we’re headed to South Africa, Washington DC, Taiwan, and Connect...

Sophie Vershbow is a freelance journalist who writes a lot about books, reading, and the publishing industry. You might have seen her article about celebrity book ghost writers and about DNFing without guilt.

We talk about her experience with social media strategy for authors and publishers, and with writing about publishing. We also discuss how much book publicity has changed, so stay tuned for extremely good advice for ma...

It’s time for the Ads & Features from the November 2015 issue of Romantic Times magazine! Our cover story is…the 10th anniversary of Samhain publishing. We’ve got articles on series bibles and rugby romance – and a lot of ads when YA covers were all White Girls in Giant Dresses.

Come back in time with us – we had a lot of fun chatting about this issue, even though it was a bit of a snooze.

Don't miss the visual aids, especial...