First Dates & Soulmates: A Romance Podcast

Sm*t With Standards: A Conversation About Short Romance Fiction


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Smut has a quality problem and Allison Whaley, founder of Bothered Stories, is fixing it one well-written, high-heat short story at a time.

She joins Nikki and Meg to make the case that erotica deserves the same craft and editorial standards as the romance novels you’re already staying up too late to finish.

* Why passive voice in a sex scene is basically a crime, and the actual editorial rules Bothered Stories enforces (RIP “member” and “Johnson”)

* The argument that a sex scene is exactly like an action set piece and why both get boring fast when they stop moving the story forward

* Why curation is the antidote to “infobesity” and why that matters more than ever now that AI is flooding the market with low-quality fiction

* Nikki’s official description of Bothered Stories as “a very well-written vibrator” and why Allison is here for it

If you’ve ever skipped a cringey sex scene and thought “someone should fix this,” this episode is for you.

Find Allison and Bothered Stories at https://www.botheredstories.com

Our Ships:

* Stick Around: A Punk as Puck Novel (Legends & Fury Book 1) by EM Lindsey

* After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez

How You Can Support The Show

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First Dates & Soulmates: A Romance PodcastBy Meg Casebolt & Nikki McKnight

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