Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: Reviews, Interviews, and Discussion About All the Romance Novels You Love to Read

Sarah chats with Fay Wolf, who has a new book titled New Order: Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks and Everyone Else. Organization advice is Sarah’s catnip, but this book in particular might be of interest because it focuses on decluttering specifically for creative people - which described a lot of you! They discuss first steps, tips and ideas, apps and programs that are helpful, better to-do lists, and different types of clutter, such as the physical and digital clutter. Plus, if you go to bit.ly/DBSA177, there's a giveaway through 1/31/2016 to win a copy of Fay's book!

Sarah interviews author Alyssa Cole about her series of articles for Romance Writers of America’s Romance Writers Report which focus on romance authors in different countries around the world. They discuss her upcoming books and her efforts to help readers diversify their reading lists. Plus, she has a movie recommendation for everyone everywhere. Special thanks to the birds of Martinique for making a background guest appearance. Visit http://bit.ly/DBSA176 to download two of Cole's "Romancing the Globe" articles, courtesy of Romance Writers of America.

Sarah, Elyse, Amanda, Carrie and RedHeadedGirl have a supremely silly and NSFW discussion of sex in space, sex in hammocks, and pets who eat weird things. Then we get back to the actual topic of the podcast, the books we’re looking forward to that are coming out in 2016.

Sarah, Elyse, Carrie, Amanda, and RedHeadedGirl from SBTB discuss an email about choosing a favorite (as in one single solitary favorite), and talk about what makes a book or author a favorite for them. We also talk about our favorite books that we read this past year.

This week, Sarah and Elyse discuss chronic pain, conditions that cause it, and self-care through reading. This is a very frank candid discussion of chronic pain, weird things our bodies do, and stuff that affects women. If you get grossed out by discussions like that, you might want to skip this one - though I promise, a lot of it is very funny. If you’re looking for a break from the family togetherness this weekend, well, consider this our holiday gift to you. We talk about fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, pain fatigue, and using reading to combat and comfort yourself when you hurt.

HELLO. THIS ONE IS NSFW! Get your headphones! Amanda had an idea for a podcast to talk about the differences between depictions of heroines with sexual agency and her own experiences of that same agency. We talk about Tinder, romance fiction, the distance between sexual goals and romantic goals, compartmentalizing sex and intimacy, and saying yes to new experiences. Plus, we question whether we do indeed want figgy pudding.

Last year around this time, Jennifer McQuiston did an interview with us after returning from Sierra Leone where she was working to combat ebola as part of her job with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year, she went back, so we sat down again to find out what’s happening with Sierra Leone’s recovery from the Ebola outbreak. Plus we talk about her new historical romance series, squeaky sand beaches, and more.

Sarah chats with Sarah Morgan about the unique differences between American English and English-English, and how that affects her writing. From pissed footballers to rockets full of arugula, we cover a lot of uncommon language. Plus, we discuss what she's reading, and what she's working on right now.

Sarah interviews Rebekah Weatherspoon about writing across multiple genres, starting out in fanfic, reader responses, working in television, and the challenges facing writers of color. We also talk about Rebekah’s latest books, including a May-December novella, and a trilogy about personal trainers in LA.

This podcast is brought to you by InterMix, publisher of New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley’s A MACKENZIE CLAN GATHERING. Return to the tumultuous and passionate world of the Mackenzie clan as a family celebration is shaken by an unexpected danger. Download it November 17th!

Sarah chats with bestselling author Kristan Higgins about having success and not taking it for granted, deciding to write romance, sibling relationships and dog relationships in romance, and about being the kind of person who tells herself stories all the time. Plus, we find out what books she’s reading and loving right now.

Over the summer, RedHeadedGirl, Elyse and I recorded an episode all about the American Midwest, inspired by an email from Kendal. I had some audio editing troubles which I think I’ve been able to fix, so let’s talk Midwest love, shall we? Topics covered include hot dish, the state fair, deep fried everything, supper clubs and cheese curds. And of course, we cover books that they are recommending and reading.

At the 2015 NINC conference, librarian Alene Moroni and her partner in library badassery Brenna Shanks presented a workshop about libraries. I heard from some of the people who attended that it was terrific, so I asked Alene if she’d be willing to talk about it on the podcast. We discuss library market share, some of the misconceptions about libraries, library protection of user privacy, and how readers and authors can help their local library be the best version of itself. Special thanks to Mel Jolly for connecting me with Alene!

Juliette Wells is an associate professor and chair of the English department at Goucher University in Maryland. She’s a scholar of Jane Austen, and the editor of the 200th anniversary annotated edition of Emma, published late last month. In our interview, we discuss the coded language of Austen, and the annotations Wells developed for the anniversary edition. We also talk about all the adaptations of Austen’s work, the common questions Wells frequently receives, and about Austen’s life as a writer who took her work very seriously.

On a recent Pop Culture Happy Hour (NPR’s pop culture podcast which, if you’re not listening to it, you should be because it’s awesome) Barry Hardymon mentioned that she could talk about Outlander for hours. RedHeadedGirl heard that call, and we invited her onto the podcast to talk about Outlander - not for hours, but more than one hour. It’s a giant squee fest, all about Outlander - the television series, the books, and some mention of the musical. We talk about all the things that appeal to us, and about when you love a thing so much, your feelings about that thing are sort of fragile. So if you’re into Outlander, come join us squeeing everywhere.