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PODCAST

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

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

arts books

All Episodes

1:02:56

688. Rewind Replay: June 22, 2018

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/10/10

I’m bringing back a classic episode from the archives of the show, and because she has excellent taste, Amanda said it should be this one. When I originally published this episode, I focused on how silly we were – and we are plenty silly.But since then Amanda and I have talked about the fact that when we recorded this, we were, in fact, baked out of our gourds.So it’s a different kind of time travel: We’re going back to June 22, 2018, when Amanda, Elyse, and I were cruising on the special herbs at

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1:05:48

685. RT Rewind: August 1996 Ads & Features

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/09/19

It’s the 90s so the Ads and Features from the August 1996 issue of Romantic Times are a treasure trove of confusion. We’ve got:A tour of Jude Deveraux’s Grade II Listed Home in SuffolkBarbara Cartland perfumesHow should emoji faces be written? Nose or no nose?What is the appeal of “nursing him back to health” plots?And RT is going to answer the eternal question that has plagued womankind throughout the ages. It’s a doozy.We mentioned:Anne Rice: A Critical Companionby Jennifer Crusie (eBay)

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56:24

683. RT Rewind: August 1996 Reviews

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/09/05

We’re going back to August 1996 – that’s a bit of distance – to take a peek at the new releases and the book reviews in Romantic Times magazine.We’re back in the era of time travel, a scifi imprint named Avonova, and probable worms.NSFW worms.As usual, we learn astonishing amounts of unexpected information from this magazine. For example: we’re both obsessed with the 1996 movieTwisterand we have many thoughts on tornadoes.Content warnings: the following episode contains discussions of large worms,

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58:11

682. Pivoting Between Historical and Contemporary...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/08/29

Valerie Bowman returns to talk about her new book,The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn, out September 9. Valerie has written over 30 historical novels but when asked by her agent if she’d be interested in pivoting to contemporary, Valerie jumped on the opportunity.Please join us as we puzzle through the reasons why historical romance isn’t as popular, and what led to the pivot that so many authors are making. Plus Valerie shares the differences and similarities in writing contemporary and historical romance,

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1:05:04

676. Exploring Atonement Sky with Nalini Singh

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/07/18

When I record with Nalini Singh, since she’s in New Zealand and I’m on the east coast of the US, it’s weird hours for both of us – so thank you to Nalini for speaking to me bright and early in the morning. We talk aboutAtonement Sky, about writing and worldbuilding, and saying goodbye to characters. I also mix up my animal pluralities but I fix it, don’t worry.NOT thanks to Wilbur, my cat, who was vocally put out with my choices, and ends up with Nalini representing him in feline court.Music:

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1:02:39

672. Part III of A Soul to Keep with Heaving Bosoms

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/06/20

Every now and again, I get to do a crossover episode withthe Heaving Bosoms podcast. We pick a truly bonkers sexy book, and recap it across two shows. In this case – it’sthreeshows.Hi Heaving Bosoms listeners! I’m so happy you’re here!This time, Melody asked if I had any suggestions for a title. YES I DID.A Soul to Keep: Duskwalker Brides: Book Oneby Opal Reyne was taking up a LOT of room in my brain and I needed to discuss it with someone. Thank goodness Melody emailed me.So, first, THIS IS SO

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57:43

670. I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This with Chelsea...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/06/06

One of Chelsea Devantez’s listeners connected her to my show aftermy interview with Joanna Shupe.Meanwhile I’d been working up the nerve to ask her onto my show, and then the universe intervened through this lovely person. Thank you!Irecapped Danielle Steel’s dog memoir on her show,and now, she’s in the guest chair on mine.We talk about her memoir,I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I’m Going to Anyway), which was published last summer. Along the way we discuss embracing vulnerability, hating small

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1:02:33

667. RT Rewind - February 2015 Ads & Features Part I

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/05/16

We are back in the time machine with HelenKay Dimon and Darby Kane, who are thankfully one person so we have extra room in the cabin for snacks. And we are headed back to February 2015 to take a look at the ads and features in RT magazine.We talk about writing, RWA history (HelenKay is past president, immediately before the fuckery) and what specifically was lost when RWA’s position in the community was destroyed.This is a Part 1 of 2, and the second half will arrive on May 30 – again, it was so fun

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52:35

666. HelenKay Dimon and Darby Kane are Really...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/05/09

We were supposed to record an episode, but we started talking about romantic suspense instead. We talk about what inspired me to start the RT Rewind series, and start talking about the cover…and then we talked about changes in the mystery and romance genres, writing styles and techniques, the amalgamation of mysteries, coziness, and the vestiges of chick lit - and a whole bunch of other things before we get started on the magazine.So…an extra episode it is! I love talking with people who are fluent

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52:50

663. RT Rewind: July 2000 Ads & Features

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/04/18

The ads and features from the July 2000 issue of Romantic Times are a treasure trove of wtfery! It’s PEAK stepback era.Readers have been introduced to Half.com for selling their old books, and they are very excited about it – to say nothing of People.com and EW.com. We get a peek into the Romantic Times and Lady Barrow BookLover Tours – the prices made me very envious.We also spend some time talking about Monica Jackson, who died in 2012, and is part of the reason why we started addressing the

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50:17

659. RT Rewind: May 2015 Ads & Features

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/03/21

Remember digital first novellas?Websites for an entire fictional town?When Indie publishing was talked about with the same language as MLMs?We’re going back to peruse at the May 2015 Romantic Times Magazine Ads and Features. It was a time!We also mentioned:Susanna Kearsley’s book page with all the coversThe muscular dudes fabricThe Cover Model bagThe Jezebel article on writing Bigfoot eroticaDon't miss the visual aids. You'll need your cogs AND your corsets!To advertise on this podcast please

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1:09:02

658. Romance and Penetrative Sex: A Conversation With...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/03/14

Today brings a vulnerable and honest conversation about the prevalence of penetrative sex in romance, and what happens if a writer decides to create a character with pelvic floor pain, for whom that kind of sex isn’t possible? Let’s find out!Jane Buehler’s new book, The Fire Apprentice, is out this week, and we’re going to talk about the book, and the series. But we’re also talking about the asexual spectrum, body changes from menopause, reactive desire, and kegels!Content Advisory: We are talking

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48:26

656. Every Girl Deserves a Happily Ever After: with...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/02/28

Once Upon a Time, Princess Mabel van Oranje, founderVow for Girls, an organization dedicated to ending child marriage, metStacey Abrams, author and the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives.They hatched a plan to unite the romance community with Vow for Girls, which led toEvery Girl Deserves Happily Ever After.Today, Princess Mabel and Stacey Abrams are here to tell us all about it.Please be aware we are talking about child marriage in the US and around the world, about

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1:04:36

652. Smart Bitches Turns 20 with Candy Tan

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/01/31

My guest today is Candy Tan, who 20 years ago co-founded Smart Bitches Trashy Books with me. Yay!!We’re looking back at the founding of SBTB, about her reactions to Bridgerton, and her perennial favorite romances. We talk about different ways that romance has changed since 2005. Then I show Candy the casting photos for the Black Dagger Brotherhood adaptation.You can find Candy @BeautifulDuckweed onBluesky, onAO3, and onTumblr.We also mentioned:MrsGiggles.comLayla F SaadThe Reddit thread with all the

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1:03:21

649. Kindness Everywhere: New Year’s Recs & Wishes...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/01/10

One! More! Time! We’ve got one last set of interviews with all of you, and we’re going out with a banger of a book list. We’re talking about Y’all Fest, koalas, how terrifying David Tennant is, bonkbusters, Taylor Swift lyrics as book titles, and pop culture portal fantasies in romance.TW/CW:As part of my conversation with Carisa, who teaches history, we discuss some historical police violence and discussion of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, discussions of depictions of assault. This discussion is

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44:30

648. Welcome and Comfort : New Year’s Wishes from...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/01/03

We’re traveling around the world again, with Sarah Jane, Lilisonna, and Martin to gather recs, and wishes, and terrible jokes. We’ve got more joyful recommendations for AJ Sherwood’s books, more cozy games, more pop culture documentaries, and more cats visiting the show.We’ve got one more episode featuring listeners in various parts of the world. Record number of people signed up this year. Thank you!We also mentioned:A Little to the Left GamesPowerwash SimulatorStardew

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46:42

645. Support and Comfort: Holiday Wishes from Carrie,...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/12/13

We’re taking a tour around the US with stops in California, Ohio, Maryland, Texas, and Georgia with Carrie, Jenna, Melissa, Lisa, Josephine, and Cara!We’ve got holiday wishes and a bunch of recommendations. Thank you to everyone who signed up in record numbers to do a holiday recording with me. These are very fun!Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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1:06:40

629. RT Rewind: October 1999 Ads & Features

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/08/23

Alison aka Fashionably Evil is back with us recapping the ads and features from Romantic Times’ October 1999 issue!There were leers, horny men, and nipples with personalities, and we explore effective friction and learn about The Douche Chills.The visual aids are amazing this week – don’t miss the horny covers!We also mentioned:Daniel Craig’s campaign for LoeweThe updated text ofWhitney, My Lovecovered at AAROur conversation about Crusie’s books which capture a specific time periodMusic:

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44:25

624. Academic Research about Romancelandia with...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/07/19

Christine M. Larson is the author of the new book Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success, published by Princeton University Press. This book is NIFTY - it’s about us! I was interviewed for it, and we are going to talk about ALL The Things, from identity-driven ethics of care to RWA to the need for “a collective unified body for creative people.”Come for the vintage Romancelandia gossip, stay for the labor activism! Join our Patreon for

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43:59

622. The Love of my Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/07/05

Kirsty Greenwood’s bookThe Love of My Afterlifeis out now, and it’s bubbly and charming and funny, with a lot of emotion, so we’re going to talkallabout it. We also talk about making friends as an adult, and how there’s just about every genre inside this book. There’s even a heist. This might be why it’s theGood Morning Americabook club pick this month– congrats Kirsty!Then I learned she’s a former book blogger so there’s recommendations back and forth, all over the place.You can find Kirsty

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