In this episode, we welcome Someplace Generous editors Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame and author/physician Seema Yasmin to discuss Someplace Generous- a vibrantly diverse and inclusive anthology of romantic short stories.

Topics include the rules of writing romance, reading as a tool for empathy, and the power of telling romantic stories that engage new and different dynamics.

Reference & Notes:

Purchase 'Someplace Generous' on CBAW Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/79565/9781955905626

'The neurologist gives us permission' by Seema Reza: https://poets.org/poem/neurologist-gives-us-permission

Correction from Elaina Ellis: "The author of 'A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon' was mistakenly noted in the discussion. It should be "Sarah Hawley." (Find the book here: https://bookshop.org/a/79565/9780593547922 )

About The Book: Someplace Generous--a vibrantly diverse and inclusive anthology of romantic short stories--can be described in one word: yes. Featuring stories by award-winning poets like Richard Siken, Rachel McKibbens, and Brionne Janae; acclaimed fiction writers like Temim Fruchter, Corinne Manning, and Max Delsohn; and popular thinkers like Jessica P. Pryde, Someplace Generous presents voices largely new to the genre of romance, each bringing a fresh take on what it means to tell a love story. This first book from Generous Press, a new imprint committed to changing the face of romance genre-fiction, is a collection of twenty-two never-before-published stories about joy, passion, and generous consent. In these pages, desire is centered and explored through queer, trans, Black, AAPI, Latinx, Jewish, disabled, and neurodivergent lenses, and the ages of authors and characters span generations. The brilliant authors herein have spun lush, poetic tales featuring characters and perspectives historically excluded from romance narratives. Through a variety of styles, lengths, and subgenres--ranging from flash-fiction to short stories, speculative to satire to romcom--there is something here for every kind of reader.

The lovers in Someplace Generous--whether they are sapphic vampires or undercover super-heroes, teenagers, or middle-aged mamas--choose each other, and along the way, they choose themselves, too. Featuring twenty-two stories by twenty-two authors, Someplace Generous presents voices largely new to the genre of romance-fiction, each bringing a fresh take on what it means to tell a love story.

About Our Guests: Elaina Ellis (she/her) is publisher and cofounder at Generous Press. She owns and operates A Trusted Reader, providing literary book editing services for brilliant writers of all stripes. For ten years she worked at the Pulitzer Prize-winning publishing house Copper Canyon Press where she served as editor. She is the author of Write About an Empty Birdcage, and has received support from Artist Trust, Mineral School, Vermont Studio Center, Jack Straw, Tent, 4Culture, and Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Amber Flame (she/her) is deputy publisher and cofounder at Generous Press. She is a multi-genre writer, educator, and arts administrator serving as program director for Hedgebrook, a premier writing residency for women-identified writers. She has served as a copyeditor, development editor, and general "fluffer" for all manner of texts. Her mission is joy. Flame is the author of the poetry collections Ordinary Cruelty and apocrifa; her writing has earned awards from Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, Jack Straw, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and YEFE NOF.

Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, medical doctor, professor, and poet. She attended medical school at Cambridge University and worked as a disease detective for the US federal government's Epidemic Intelligence Service. She currently teaches storytelling at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a regular contributor to CNN, Self, and Scientific American, among others.