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 write one.

CW/TW: At about 18 minutes in, we talk about online harassment Kristi faces and some of the comments fans make about her. If you want to skip that part, move ahead 2 minutes.

You can find Savannah Carlisle at her website, SavannahCarlisle.com. She’s on Instagram and TikTok @SavvyCarlisle.

You can find Kristi Dosh at her website, KristiDosh.com, and on socials @Sportsbizmiss.

We also mentioned:

• The Montgomery Biscuits
• The Jersey Diners
• The Rocket City Trash Pandas
• The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Music: purple-planet.com

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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, I can’t offer a class, but how about a podcast episode?

Joanna was kind enough to walk us through some of the parallels between then and now that give her some despair, and how infuriating it was to have readers scold and chastise her for expressing in her newsletter a perspective that she already thought was pretty clear from, you know, all her books about the Gilded Age.

And, if I can take a moment: this is my 650th episode.

Six. Fifty.

And at the end of the month, on Jan 31, Smart Bitches will celebrate our 20th anniversary.

Thank you. Thank you for valuing my work on the podcast and online, for valuing our perspective on the site when we explore romance and everything surrounding it.

Just…thank you. Thank you so much for being here.

You can find Joanna Shupe on her website, joannashupe.com. Her newsletter is joannashupe.com/newsletter. She’s on Instagram @Joannashupe and on Bluesky.

She also writes dark mafia romance as Mila Finelli.

We also mentioned:

• Schoolhouse Rock: “The Great American Melting Pot”
• Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack
• Joanna Shupe’s original TikTok Video
• The r/RomanceBooks thread about it

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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 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, discussions of depictions of assault. This discussion is about 25 minutes in.

We also mentioned:

• Y’allFest – Charleston, SC
• The International Arthurian Society 
• Reactor: “Every King Arthur Retelling Is Fanfic About Who Gets to Be Legendary“
• VE Schwab on Instagram
• An interview with Dora Maisler about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, from Cornell
• Cornell’s archive of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
• Henry’s Thoughts – he’s a cat and he ‘reads’ books
• PopBitch
• Rivals (TV)
• My Lady Jane (TV)
• The Rest is Entertainment (podcast)
• Addicted to Love (Movie)
• Dad’s Army (TV)

Music: purple-planet.com

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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 Little to the Left Games
• Powerwash Simulator
• Stardew Valley
• Insider-Gaming.com: “Stardew Valley is Officially the Best Game for Reducing Stress”
• Dark Side of the 90s (Hulu)
• Dark Side of the 00s (Hulu)
• This is Pop, Episode 1 (Netflix)

Music: purple-planet.com

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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!

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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 slowly reveal themselves to one another, K dramas, and a tour through some Georgian social history.

But the best part: she takes us through her favorite classic historical romances. I could not have been more delighted and I hope you enjoy it, too.

CW/TW

Discussion of weight stigma and anti-fat bias – it’s about 1 minute long at 29:40

Mention of trauma and death in a fictional work – about 15 seconds at 56:10

You can find Elizabeth Hoyt at her website, ElizabethHoyt.com, and do NOT miss her Pinterest collection! 

Music:puple-planet.com

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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

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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 important links this week.

• Cat Sebastian’s AO3 Bookmarks
• AO3 user youcouldmakealife
• AO3 user thesesameoldstreets
• The GR listing for Star Shipped, Cat Sebastian’s next book
• “The One Where They’re Stars on HGTV”
• “Nature and Nurture”
• Lit Arts Rhode Island
• Library Extension (Chrome)

Thank you to our sponsor for this week's episode: Lume! Use code SARAH15 for 15% off your first purchase at LumeDeodorant.com.

And don't miss Designs on You by Jaci Burton, out now!

Music: purple-planet.com

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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 Connecticut to talk to Dani, Katie, Sneezy, and Lisa.

We also mentioned the following:

• Theme to CyberSix
• A Foxy Affair
• Girls Who Don’t DnD (podcast)
• D&D Stamps from USPS! 
• The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish 
• My interview with author Alison Goodman

Music: purple-planet.com

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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 managing social media for book publicity.

Then, naturally, we turn to reality tv and shopping!

We have SO MANY LINKS. Get ready!

You can find Sophie Vershbow at her website, on Instagram – and don’t forget her dog, Simon!

We also discussed:

• SBTB: When do you DNF a Book and Why, inspired by Sophie’s article below
• Sophie in The Atlantic: When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book?
• Sophie in New York Magazine: Who’s Really Writing Celebrity Novels?
• Sophie in Esquire: The Murky Path To Becoming a New York Times Best Seller
• All of Sophie’s bylines in Esquire
• Sophie in Esquire: Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama’s Reading Lists
• Sophie’s favorite piece that she’s written: The Cousin I Never Knew
• Shopping links!
• Off Fifth
• Nordstrom Rack
• Sezane
• Gap
• Everlane
• Cos
• Marine Layer
• Staud
• Reformation
• Beni – browser extension that searches second hand platforms for items on screen
• Rakuten – cash back for shopping through their platform (Affiliate link gets you $30 bonus when you spend $30)

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