288. Tweeting About Romance History: An Interview with Elisabeth Lane of Cooking Up Romance

Summary: This is a podcast episode inspired by Twitter. If it’s on Twitter, it’s not quite oral history but it’s close? After a Twitter history thread of hers went viral within the romance community online, I asked Elisabeth Lane, the blogging and cooking genius behind Cooking Up Romance if she’d talk to me on the podcast about it. We start by talking about food and romance, her own recipe development, and her reading, reviewing, cooking, and blogging process. Then we turn to her Twitter thread whic h was about romance generations of writers. It began as her own investigation as to when GLBTQ characters began to appear in published romances, which led to her questioning what the terms “old guard” and “new generation” of writers defined, and where different writers emerged from: category romance then fanfic. The thread turned into a very active conversation online, and branched into Melissa Blue tracing the history of Black romance authors, and Corey Alexander examining trans and queer characters, plus Mina V. Esguerra tracing the evolution of Filipino romance authors. There’s a lot to examine in the history of romance, and I’m always learning from the people who examine it from different perspectives. I hope this is as interesting for you, too.