Recently KJ Charles tweeted about how absolutely devouring the Blessings series by Beverly Jenkins helped “save her sanity during the 2020 lockdown.”
So I asked if she’d talk to me about it - and to my surprise this is a popular topic at the moment! She recently did a panel about comfort reading, and I’m really excited to take a look at what makes a comfort read, well, comfy. Plus, we learn what a HFY ending is.
And brace yourself, we have a LOT of recs. ... Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

Each week on Smart Podcast, Trashy Books, Sarah Wendell interviews authors, readers, reviewers, bloggers, publishing professionals, editors, and librarians about romance novels, which are among the most popular genres in fiction worldwide. Popular guests include: Ilona Andrews, Robin Bradford, NPR's Barrie Hardymon, Chuck Tingle, Sarah J. Maas, and Rachel Aaron. Amanda Diehl, co-pilot of the SS Smart Bitches, makes regular appearances with maximum silliness, especially during our Romantic Times Rewind episodes, where we take a look at old issues of Romantic Times Magazine (1981-2018). Frequent topics include romance novels, the way the genre is changing, and the brilliant and interesting people who read, write, and produce it, and issues common among romance readers. Plus, we always recommend some books we're reading and really enjoying. Learn more at SB-TB.com/Podcast. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arts

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Fashion & Beauty

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Books

Fiction

Len Pennie’s book of Scots poetry poyums is out in the US this week, and you might have seen my post about her book launch earlier this week. Len is my guest today and we’re going to talk about:Poetry!Healing from trauma and abuseThe subversive revolution of teaching a word a day in a minoritized languageUsing humor to overcome the “cultural hangover of linguistic oppression”More poetry!TW/CW: discussion of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse, depression, stalking.
Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

612. Poetry in Scots with Len Pennie

Y’all, the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times is a treasure of truly amazing fun. So many of you told me that episode 609, where we looked at the reviews, made you laugh so hard you cried. Well, let me share some highlights of what is about to happen to your eardrums.The Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant was a Six-episode reality tv show on the Oxygen network, and we missed it when it ran. It’s not all on YouTube but we have a few links!We have the arrival of what I called the “venti sized” paperbackRomance writers with “dedicated rooms for Star Wars collectibles!”We’ve got some disturbing gimp masks on computer generated Poser people.It’s a glorious time. Come on over.
Did you ever attend Mr Romance at RT? Did you see the Mr Romance Pageant on tv?! And gosh, do you have a Romance SoundTrack CD? Please tell me everything.
Don’t miss the visual aids!
Links! For your browsing pleasure!Jafar’s staff on EbayThe 2005! cover snark featuring The Big Sword and the Naked GuyThe 2006 post about the Venti sized paperbacksThe cover for Running Anonymous – NSFW, NSFL
 And visit the visual aids for a clip from Mr Romance on the Oxygen network! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

611. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2005 Ads & Features

What happens when you write the books you want to read but are having a hard time finding? Many good things. Kimberly Lemming loves fantasy, and started writing her own catnip, which led to the joy that is the Mead Mishaps series.We answer ALL the tough questions, like how many mead mishaps have we personally experienced? How does one make the bananas spin? And why is Galavant the greatest production ever made?
Note: in the middle of the episode, the email Kimberly sent that gave me a peek at the cover for That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human, which was in the final stages of development, so you’ll hear me lose my cool.
For the book and video games we discuss in this episode, please visit our show notes page!
You can find Kimberly Lemming at KimberlyLemming.com, and on Instagram @KimberlyLemming.
We also mentioned cover artist Mike Pape, and the cover art for the Mead Mishaps series is visible on his website, too!
Thank you for supporting our show, and our advertisers! new customers GET $5 OFF a Lume Starter Pack with code SARAH15 at LumeDeodorant.com. That equates to over 40% off your Starter Pack when you visit LumeDeodorant.com and use code SARAH15. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

610.  Writing Super Fun Fantasy with Kimberly Lemming

We’re taking a tour through the new releases across many genres from April 2005, nearly 20 (!!!) years ago. Romance has changed a wee little bit.
How much cringe shall we find? Plenty!
Other oddities? Mainstream includes YA and Chick Lit. Contemporary includes New Reality. Regency in Format includes Corinthians! And we’re trying to understand a character who wants to “dim the pain of turning 30.” It’s a ride, as usual.
Side trips include Sea Breeze, Stridex, and St Ives Medicated Apricot Scrub.
TW: for mention of sexual assault, body horror – we do announce it in the audio so you can skip ahead.
You can find all the Romantic Times Rewind episodes, visual aids posts, and more in one convenient place!
Don't miss the visual aids for this episode!
We also mentioned:Regency in format, not genre: This r/HRNovlesDiscussion post shows a treasure trove of Regency/format books. Did you use St. Ives Medicated Scrub? I sure as heck did.RegRom.com answers the question, ‘What is a Corinthian?’Amanda mentioned author Naomi Hirahara in a recent Get Rec’d with Amanda post Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

609. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2005 Reviews

Mel Blue was my guest when we discussed Spare – which has become one of my most listened-to episodes – so I asked her back to talk about the narratives of PR, why the weird stories around Kate Middleton grabbed attention worldwide, and why so many people were and are paying attention.
On one level it’s a story that originated in gossip about rich and powerful people in an archaic power structure being weird. But it’s also a story of misinformation, propaganda, and a complicit media system, and we deal with that over here in the US, too.
This was recorded on Wednesday, March 20, and we did a follow up this week following the announcement late Friday, March 22, that Kate Middleton is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. So there are two parts to this episode.
A few content warnings: Discussion of self harm, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, and child abuse and exploitation.
Please visit the show page for all the resources used for this episode, including news articles, Instagram live recordings, and Twitter threads. 
Music: Purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

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