Black Romance Podcast

DL White joins Julie E Moody-Freeman to talk about White's experiences writing, publishing, and marketing romance novels through her self-built online platform. DL White's eBooks, print, and audio books can be purchased at booksbydlwhite.com/books.

Thanks to the Center for Black Diaspora for sponsoring this podcast.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Marketing and Promotions: Jennifer Gardner @jpgm.a

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Black Romance Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

In this episode, Julie E Moody-Freeman and her co-host romance writer Barbara Keaton speak with award-winning romance writer Natalie Dunbar. They discuss Dunbar's experiences publishing with Genesis Press, Parker Publishing, Silhouette, and Kimani Arabesque.

Thanks to the Center for Black Diaspora at DePaul for sponsoring this podcast.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Marketing and Promotions: Jennifer Gardner @jpgm.a

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Black Romance Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

In this episode, Julie E Moody-Freeman speaks with award-winning romance writer Seressia Glass about her experiences publishing with Genesis Press, Parker Publishing, Simon & Schuster, and Berkley. They also discuss Glass's Shadowchasers series and The Love Con.

Thanks to the Center for Black Diaspora at DePaul for sponsoring this podcast and to Jennifer Gardner for media promotion.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Black Romance Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

Join Black Romance authors Katrina Jackson and Elysabeth Grace as they discuss writing Black historical romance. The authors engage the question of readerly and publishing perceptions about the place of African/African diaspora love in historical spaces. For Black romance authors, what does it entail to represent Black love within historical romance? Questions of colorism, sexuality, class, and gender affect perceptions of historical romance fiction. Is historical fiction or women's fiction the only way to write Black love? Can a genealogy and reading practice for Black historical romance emerge? A genealogy that encourages writers and readers (including agents, publishers, reviewers) to consider different frames of reading the idea of authenticity? The conversation attempts to move beyond the Eurocentric/American focus to look at the role of Black subjectivity (not individualism) as integral to Black historical romance. Finally, the authors seek to encourage Black romance authors and readers, and the wider romance community to re-imagine their relationship to historical romance in general, and Black historical romance in particular.

Thanks to @cbddepaul for sponsoring this podcast and to Jennifer Gardner for media promotion.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Black Romance Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

This week historical novelist Patricia Vaughn talks about her experiences writing and publishing her first two historical novels in the 1990's. She discusses how her agent Vivian Stephens helped her to publish her first historical novel Murmur of Rain with Pocket Books in 1996 and talk about her second Shadows on the Bayou.

Thanks to @cbddepaul and @romancewriters for sponsoring this podcast.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

Murmur of Rain: https://www.amazon.com/Murmur-Rain-Patricia-Vaughn/dp/0671520040

Shadows on the Bayou: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671520059/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

In today's episode I talk with Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar Cruz, co-authors of In Case You Forgot and their recent release Busy Ain't The Half Of It. We discuss their co-authored books as well as many other topics, including: the importance of publishing love stories between Black queer characters; how Frederick Smith's romance novels Right Side of the Wrong Bed and Down For Whatever, published by Kensington, were inspirational to Chaz; their path to becoming co-authors; and how Chaz's career as a poet shapes both language and style in their novels.

Besides being co-authors of two novels, Frederick Smith has published three additional novels centering the romantic lives of Black and Latinx queer characters. Chaz L. Cruz is a writer/poet/creative and a lead writer of Handsome the series.

Busy Ain't The Half Of It: https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/books/busy-aint-the-half-of-it-by-frederick-smith-and-chaz-lamar-cruz-3621-b

In Case You Forgot: https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/books/in-case-you-forgot-by-chaz-lamar-cruz-and-frederick-smith-2991-b

Play It Forward: https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/books/play-it-forward-by-frederick-smith-948-b

Right Side of the Wrong Bed: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0758219261/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

Down For Whatever: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0758209797/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

Frederick Smith's website: http://fredericklsmith.com/about-the-author/

Chaz L Cruz's website: https://chazlcruz.com/about

Thanks to @cbddepaul and @romancewriters for sponsoring this podcast.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

Best-selling writer Farrah Rochon and I talk about her new release The Dating Playbook and also deep dive into several topics: how she wrote and published her 2007 debut novel, Deliver Me, the first in her Holmes Brothers Series; we talk about her New York Sabers Football Series; Bayou Dream Series; Moments in Maplesville Series; and The Boyfriend Project.

Rochon was named Shades of Romance Magazine's Best New Author of 2007. She has been a Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award nominee. In 2015, Farrah won the Emma Award for Author of the Year.

Thanks to @cbddepaul and @romancewriters for sponsoring this podcast.

Creator, producer, and host of the Black Romance Podcast: Julie E Moody-Freeman

Sound Editor: Randall Spriggs with @rsvideophoto_media. Website is www.rsvideophoto.media

Artwork: Kyle Gabb @Marciano_arts

Farrah Rochon's website: https://www.farrahrochon.com/

The Dating Playbook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PV5JRHM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The Boyfriend Project: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PV5JRHM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The Holmes Brothers Series https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074BZMHBB?ref_=dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks

Barbara Keaton's first romance novel, All I Ask, was published in 2000. Since then she has gone on to write thirteen romance novels, which celebrate black love. In this episode, we discuss: her experiences publishing with Genesis Press, working with Romance Slam Jam, the mentorship a community of Black writers have provided her, and we deep dive into her novels Nights Over Egypt, Heat at First Sight, and Show Me!.

In addition to her books, Keaton has also written several articles and editorials that have appeared in various publications: Today's Black Woman Magazine; The Chicago Crusader; The Chicago Defender; The Chicago Reader; Bronze Thrills; True Confessions; and, Affaire de Coeur.

Barbara Keaton's website: https://www.barbarakeaton.net/

Nights Over Egypt: https://www.amazon.com/Nights-Over-Egypt-Barbara-Keaton-ebook/dp/B08DZJJDGJ

Show Me!.: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Show+Me+Barbara+Keaton&i=digital-text&ref=nb_sb_noss

Heat at First Sight: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Heat+at+first+sight+Barbara+Keaton&i=digital-text&ref=nb_sb_noss

Chilufiya Safaa is a romance novelist whose books put a fresh twist on African and African American love themes and allow readers to examine what they thought they knew about African and African American people. In this episode, we talk about Safaa's first four novels, A Foreign Affair, Passionate Encounters, The Art of Love, and Stay the Night, which were all published by New York publisher Kensington Publishing, her fifth and sixth books, Stolen Dreams and Bittersweet, that were independently published. Safaa also talks about her relationship with Vivian Stephens, the writing coach for her first three books and about her career publishing traditionally and self-publishing.

Veronica Mixon, my guest today, was an editor at Doubleday for fourteen years from 1974 to 1988. She was hired as assistant to an editor of Romance and Science fiction novels and then promoted to editor when her boss left the press. She recounts her experiences during these years: creating Doubleday's Starlight Romances, working with many writers, including Barbara Stephens, Millie Ragosta, and Rochelle Alers, building relationships with other Black editors at the time like Marie Brown at Anchor and Vivian Stephens at Dell. And in an unexpected turn of conversation, she talks about working with Octavia Butler on an article for Essence magazine and advocating with the editor for higher pay for Butler's books.