The Meet Cute BookPod

Today, we have Becca's chat with author Liana De la Rosa, whose next novel, Isabel and the Rogue, is a Victorian-set historical romp about a Mexican wallflower unofficially spying on the British aristocracy and an actual British spy unofficially spying on her. It's out June 4th.Liana talks about: Her personal history of romance reading; What is so compelling about historical romance; Writing complex family dynamics; How she approaches historical research so that rabbit holes don't derail her writing; How she keeps the plot pacey while making sure readers are up to speed on the important background information; All the ideas she has up her sleeve, including a historical romance about mountain climbers in the Himalayas that she's already written but that hasn't yet been published; And, of course, she shares some books she's loved recently.

Today, we have Becca's chat with author Alexandra Vasti, whose debut novel, Ne'er Duke Well, is a delightfully steamy regency romp in which a rakish Duke with radical politics in need of a respectable wife hires a seemingly proper matchmaker who secretly runs an erotic circulating library. Hijinks ensue. It's out July 23rd.Alexandra talks about: Her long family history of romance reading and her long personal history as a writer; what is so delightful about historical romance; the genesis of her viral newsletter novella series, The Halifax Hellions; her 0-60 journey on social media; feeling like her voice didn't fit in with what was expected of her at her creative writing MFA program; the fun of nerding out about historical English; what's next from her; and, of course, she shares some books she's loved recently.

Today, we have Becca's chat with author Kaliane Bradley, whose debut novel, The Ministry of Time, which she somewhat jokingly describes as “a time-travel romance about empire, bureaucracy, and cigarettes,” just came out May 7th. Kaliane talks about the theatrical production that made her start writing again after university, the experience of being a debut author, how she thinks about this book in relation to genre, how her lockdown obsession with the TV show The Terror became a complicated novel centering on a footnote of a historical figure, the ways in which writing this book influenced her thinking about mixed race identity, a bit about her other job – being an editor with Penguin Classics UK – and how it’s influenced her writing, her writing process itself, the ways in which this book uses time travel a metaphor for migration, a sneak peek at what she’s working on now…and, of course, she shares some books she’s loved recently.

Today, we have the audio recording of our February 13th, 2024 virtual event celebrating Amy Lea’s latest book The Catch, a romcom about an influencer who heads to a rural fishing village in an attempt to rescue her floundering career and ends up in a fake engagement with a burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner slash fisherman. Amy is in conversation with the great Lynn Painter. They chat about the origins of The Catch, Canadian culinary delicacies, which of Amy’s characters she relates to the most, the intensity of hockey (the game, the players, the moms), what Amy is working on now and what’s next from her, a little bit about Lynn’s latest book Happily Never After, the differences between writing YA and adult books, advice for querying authors, drafting versus editing, and, of course, they share some books they’ve loved recently. A quick programming note: This Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day. If you’re local, you should definitely come out and participate in the San Diego Book Crawl which runs April 27-29. Check out @sdbookcrawl on Instagram for more information. If you’re not local, Saturday would be a great day to check out your nearest indie. We will be taking next Wednesday off from the podcast to recover from the excellent chaos of the weekend, but I’ll meet you back here on May 8th for a chat with the wonderful, brilliant, eminently charming Kaliane Bradley.

Today, we have the audio recording of our April 3rd, 2024 virtual event celebrating Alison Cochrun’s latest book Here We Go Again, a sapphic romcom about death in which two childhood friends to enemies to lovers take their beloved, terminally ill former teacher on a cross country roadtrip. Alison is in conversation with the great Mazey Eddings. They chat about Alison’s writing process for this book and what was so challenging about it; The importance of great teachers and the difficulty of being one; The relative merits of Dunkin Donuts and Whataburger; Advice Alison would give her debut author self (and whether she’d listen to it); Who the dream roadtrip buddy, living or dead, would be; The vault tracks on 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and so much more. And, of course, they share some of their favorite romance novels, sapphic and otherwise. You can find copies of Alison's and Mazey's books in out shop or on our website at www.meetcutebookshop.com!

Becca chats with Mazey Eddings, author of A Brush With Love, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, and the forthcoming sapphic rom-com Late Bloomer. Mazey talks about her introduction to genre romance and what is so much fun about historicals; How she drafted her first book during dental school lectures; Why including neurodiversity in her books is important to her and how she approaches writing neurodiverse characters; Which of her characters she’s most like and which one she’d most like to be friends with; What makes the only one bed trope so much fun to play with; What she wants sex scenes in her books to accomplish; And, of course, she shares some books she’s loved recently.

Becca chats with author KT Hoffman whose debut, The Prospects, a queer baseball romcom, is out April 9th!

Today, we have Becca’s chat with audiobook narrator and indie author Natalie Naudus. You may know her voice from such hits as One Last Stop, Starling House, She Who Became the Sun, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess, among many more. Natalie talks about how she got in to audiobook narration, and what the process for narrating an audiobook looks like; she has some advice for people looking to get in to the industry, and for indie authors working with narrators for the first time; she also talks about her debut novel coming out this summer and, of course, she shares some books she’s loved recently.

Today, in celebration of the Trans Rights Readathon which is returning for a second year (running from March 22-29th) we are re-sharing the recording of our panel on Writing and Publishing Trans Romance with Anita Kelly, EE Ottoman, and Emory Lee, moderated by TJ Alexander. You can find out more about the readathon and sign up to participate at https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co/

Today, we’re talking about book bans. What are they? Where are they happening? And, most importantly, what can we do to fight them? Philomena Polefrone from the American Booksellers for Free Expression project is here to break it down.

Today, we have Becca's chat with author C.M. Nascosta, an indie author who writes cozy monster romance. You may know her from her breakout hit Morning Glory Milking Farm. C.M. talks about her introduction to genre romance, what she thinks was behind her first viral book and what going viral felt like from her perspective, how she approaches indie publishing as a business and how she works with her collaborators like artists and editors, her thoughts on having multiple pen names, her writing process and how she keeps track of the extended Cambric Creek Universe, and what’s next for her (and maybe what the next big thing is in the world of fantasy romance). Then there's a little aside about You’ve Got Mail and Late Stage Capitalism, and, of course, C.M. shares some books she’s loved recently. You can follow C.M. Nascosta on Instagram @cmnascosta and on her website www.cmnascosta.com!

Today, we have the audio from our second virtual Mind the Gap panel, focusing on the politics of diversity in writing, reading, and publishing romance with Nisha Sharma, Nana Malone, Kennedy Ryan, and Adriana Herrera. This conversation was recorded in July 2023. They discuss the way that talking about “diversity” broadly masks anti-Blackness specifically, what the subtext is when people say they don’t want “anything political” in a book, the politics of “relatability,” the ways culture, and the culture of publishing, is messaging that books by and about people of color can’t be fun, taking ownership over your own reading choices, and much more. Then they close out with recs for their own backlist and some books they’ve loved recently. If you'd like to pick up copies of these authors' books – and you absolutely should -- you can do that in our shop or on our website, meetcutebookshop.com.

Today, we have Becca's chat with author Kelly Farmer, whose most recent novel, It’s a Fabulous Life, a sapphic retelling of the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, was released last fall from Alcove. In this episode, Kelly talks about her introduction to genre romance and her early attempts at writing a novel, the growth in traditionally published sapphic romance, what about the sports world lends itself so well to genre romance, and why hockey, in particular, is so popular, learning to play hockey as an adult, where to find more romance about women athletes, what her writing process is like, and, of course, she shares some books she’s loved recently.

Becca chats with author Regina Black, whose debut, The Art of Scandal, a sexy drama about a political wife, a young artist, and some very messy (very wealthy) families, was released last year in hardcover and is coming out April 23rd in paperback. Regina talks about her introduction to genre romance, the strange feeling of having your “debut” novel be the 11th book you’ve written, the struggle of writing characters who are visual artists when you, yourself, are not one, her “design principle” for this book and the inspiration she took from soap operas, the way she writes character arcs for her romance protagonists that mirror one another and why it made sense to give the main characters in this book an age gap, her self-described “intense” writing process, and which parts of The Art of Scandal she found trickiest to get right and which parts were the most fun to draft. · Finally, we get a little peek at her next book and, of course, she shares some books she’s loved recently.

Becca chats with author Virginia Heath about the Mills and Boon romances Virginia snuck from her mother’s stack of library borrows, the bumpy start of her writing career, her take on category vs. single title romance in the world of historicals, writing humor and the roots of her particular sense of humor, her writing process and what happens when the characters take control of the narrative, the joy of finding the right title for a book, what draws her to historical romance and what “historical accuracy” in this context means to her, and, critically, who plays her favorite Mr. Darcy?

Today, we have Becca's chat with author Lana Ferguson, whose debut, The Nanny, cam out last spring, and whose second book, The Fake Mate, a paranormal shifter romcom, came out in December. Lana talks about the Harlequin romances she discovered on her grandmother’s bookcase as a teen, why The Nanny is set in San Diego and why she gave her debut main character a background in sex work, what’s so fun about writing in the Omegaverse, her expert use of Reddit for all her social media and research needs, the chaos that is her writing process, her love for writing women of a certain age, and her not so secret desire to write a romantic thriller. · And, of course, before we let her go, Lana shouts out some books she’s loved recently.

Long time no see! We are back! It’s season two! And we are starting off with a bit of romance history because we love context! Today, we have Becca's chat with archivist and romance historian Steve Ammidown. We hope you find this conversation both accessible and fascinating! If you'd like to learn more about romance history, you can follow Steve on Instagram and YouTube @romancehistorian, on BlueSky @stegan, and on his blog www.romancehistory.com.

We just wanted to pop in to let you know that the Meet Cute Book Pod is coming back for Season 2 later this month! Until that drops, you can catch up on Season 1. And, as always, please rate, review, and tell your friends and lovers about us.

Today, we have Becca's chat with author and editor Camille Kellogg, who works as a Middle Grade and YA editor during the day, and whose debut novel, Just As You Are, a queer Pride & Prejudice retelling set in modern day New York City, came out this past April. Camille talks about the romcom movies of her childhood and how she ended up as a Middle Grade and Young Adult book editor. Then she and Becca get into it about their favorite Pride & Prejudice film adaptations. They talk about the particular joys of writing a retelling (and the pain of finding the right title). Camille talks about gender identity as a central theme in this book and discusses her writing process and what it’s been like to be on both the editing and writing side of the publishing industry. Camille and Becca get on a tangent about other genre fiction they love and books that have stuck with them since they were tweens · And, of course, Camille shouts out some books she’s loved recently. ***PROGRAMMING NOTE: This is the final episode of our first season! Thank you all so much for tuning in! We hope to be back in the fall with Season 2!***

Today, we have the recording of our delightful panel celebrating the launch of Uzma Jalaluddin’s latest book, Much Ado About Nada, with Uzma, Sahar Jahani, and Ausma Zehanat Khan! This conversation was wide ranging and a lot of fun. Our panelists talk about writing process, book to film adaptations, growing up with a lack of industry representation, being ambitious Muslim women, and then take audience questions and face a lighting round of tough choices like which is your favorite Jane Austen adaptation? (Becca's is the 1995 BBC Pride & Prejudice.)

Today, we have the recording of our panel on Writing and Publishing Trans Romance with Anita Kelly, EE Ottoman, and Emery Lee, moderated by TJ Alexander. They talk about finding community as a writer and how to deal with the tough parts about the business side of publishing, the books they haven't seen enough of and would really want to read, the first time they saw themselves reflected in a fictional character, reading, writing, and loving fan fiction, what straight media property could use a queer reboot, and money and the financial logistics of being an author. Then they take some audience questions, recommend a book of their own to check out and shout out another book they’ve loved recently.

Today, we are doing something a little different. You may know that Meet Cute Bookshop has an ongoing Romance for Reproductive Justice initiative, and, as part of that we are running our second annual auction benefitting abortion funds on June 10th and 11th. (You can find it at 32auctions.com/r4rj2023) So, as part of the run-up to the Romance for Reproductive Justice Auction, this episode won’t be a chat with an author, editor, or artist, but, instead, two lawyers (Alison Tanner and Kimi Chernoby) and one doctor (also Kimi Chernoby!) who are currently in the reproductive rights trenches. We do also chat about books at the end :)

Today, we have the audio from our in-store event with Diana Biller, the author of The Widow of Rose House, The Brightest Star in Paris, and, most recently, Hotel of Secrets. Much like the book, Diana is brilliant and funny and gives good banter. She talks about the time a professor called her essay on jury selection “elegant”, taking herself seriously as an artist, the underrated hotness of ethical men, writing historical romances in uncommon settings and the limitations of seeing history exclusively through the lens of Georgette Heyer's interpretation of Regency England, and Diana's approach to research and writing. Then Diana takes some really excellent audience questions, and, ends, of course, with some books she's loved recently.

Becca chats with author TJ Alexander, whose next book, Chef's Choice, comes out May 30th. TJ talks about their early years as a romance reader, growing up in their family's restaurant, the glory days of Food Network (particularly Iron Chef), the joys of writing a T4T romance, which of their characters they're most like and would most like to be friends with, the hardest scene to write in Chef's Choice and their favorite scene, their approach to writing sex scenes, and, of course, some books they've loved recently.

Becca chats with Sarah Adler, whose debut romance Mrs. Nash's Ashes comes out May 23rd. Sarah talks about the process of getting her novel from manuscript on her laptop to book on store shelves, finding a community of writers, her favorite tropes to read and write, what's up next for her, and, of course, some books she's loved recently. You can grab a copy of Mrs. Nash's Ashes in our shop or on our website at www.meetcutebookshop.com.

Today, we have the recording of our delightful panel Sugar & Spice: Writing Sex in Romance Novels with Alexandria Bellefleur, Rosie Danan, and Mazey Eddings discussing the joys, doubts, and giggles that come with writing “high heat” rom-coms!

Becca chats with Alexis Hall, a genrequeer writer of kissing books, who you may know from such hits as Boyfriend Material, Glitterland, A Lady for a Duke, the Winner Bakes All series, and many more. Alexis talks about the experience of revisiting his first published novel ten years later, why all his historical romances, so far, are set in the Regency, how he managed to write four books releasing *this year*, his approach to tone, point of view, narrative perspective, and humor in his writing, the complicated business of writing characters who speak in a variety of dialects, what he takes into consideration when writing sex, and, of course, some books he's loved recently. If this conversation has made you want to pick up one, or several, of his books, you can do that in our shop or on our website, www.meetcutebookshop.com. Programming Note: This Saturday, April 29th, is Independent Bookstore Day and we at Meet Cute Bookshop are celebrating by taking part in the San Diego Book Crawl, which is going to be a blast. It is also going to be rather all consuming, so this podcast will be taking next week off. With book bans gaining traction across the country, the existence of independent bookstores is more important than ever, and we can't wait to celebrate all our indie bookstore friends around San Diego county and across the U.S. If you live nearby, I hope you join us for the Crawl, and if not, I hope you go visit your favorite local indie on Saturday.

Becca chats with Mel Saavedra, the CEO and Founder of Steamy Lit, a company aiming to provide a new way for underrepresented authors to have their work showcased while empowering people to think and talk more about sexuality and self-love. Steamy Lit produces a quarterly book subscription box called The Steam Box, 5% of the profit from which is donated to a rotating non-profit. They're also gearing up to run this August's Steamy Lit Con in Anaheim, CA, a romance-specific book convention. You'll hear Mel talk about how SteamyLit and the Steam Box got started, how she picks the books she includes in the box, a little behind the scenes on the making of special edition book covers, what possessed her to run an entire romance book convention and what that process has been like, and, of course, some books she's loved recently.

Today, we have Becca's chat with Martha Waters, author of historical rom-coms including her latest, To Swoon and to Spar. You'll hear Martha talk about her self-directed crash course in historical romance after reading Julia Quinn for a graduate school assignment, the twists and turns on the road to becoming a published author, building comedy into her story structures, tropes she loves and would love to write, and her strategy for for researching the world of the regency, or, at least, the regency as it appears in historical romance.

Becca chats with Katy Nishimoto, who is a senior editor at The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, and who, prior to that, worked for ten years as a literary agent at WME. In the world of romance, Katy has edited: Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond and the forthcoming contemporary sapphic Pride & Prejudice retelling Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg, out April 25th. You'll hear Katy talk about what a literary agent does, what an editor does, how she thinks about categorizing and positioning books in the marketplace, particularly books by queer and BIPOC authors, and how she's experienced the industry changing since she started working as a literary agent in 2009 (honestly they got on a bit of a tangent here about The Scope of Recent History as it relates to queerness, but hopefully you'll find it interesting)!

"But it's very different when it's your own work..." Today, Becca chats with illustrator Myriam Strasbourg, who you may know from the internet as @peaches.obviously. She is a Montreal-based illustrator who designs covers for traditionally published and indie books. She talks about her background as an artist and how she came to be a go-to illustrator for book covers and character art, the process for designing traditionally published and indie book covers, and the difficulties and joys of being her own small business and finding a balance that gives her a space to create.

"I would never in my life want to do this, but I enjoyed reading about it." This is the audio from our in store book launch with Anita Kelly for their latest romance Something Wild & Wonderful which, if you follow us on Instagram, you will already know that Becca cried her way through. In a good way. This is one of our favorite conversations yet. You'll hear Anita talk about their background as a romance reader and writer, the process of getting Something Wild & Wonderful from great idea to final draft, how they approached writing what is a version of a classic queer trauma narrative in a realistic but hopeful way, writing hiking that hard core PCT through-hikers approve of, the trials and tribulations of writing a book where nothing really happens (which we mean as a high compliment), discovering they'd written an autistic main character. You'll also get a sneak peek at book 3 in this series and a discussion of Alanna of Trebond as an underappreciated queer icon.

In The Meet Cute BookPod's second podcast exclusive, Becca chats with Vi-An Nguyen, an Art Director with Penguin Random House. Becca starts with a very technical question: What even is art direction? Then Vi-An explains the many considerations that go into crafting the book covers we see on the shelves, including social media's effect on cover design and who has input about what a cover should look like. Vi-An and Becca debate the pros and cons of the contrasting spine on a trade paperback, then Vi-An attempts to answer Becca's burning question about why the same book has different covers in different countries. Vi-An talks about the trends she's seeing in cover design now, and the interplay between covers for historical and contemporary romance. She shares where she finds inspiration, and she and Becca talk red carpet fashion because why not? Then they give their hot takes on object covers and, finally, Becca asks Vi-An about how she ended up in this very cool job.

"It's sarcasm as a love language." Authors Melonie Johnson, April Asher, and Alexis Daria chat with moderator Tif Marcelo about their latest releases, how they chose their settings, and what kind of research they did once they'd written their characters into unfamiliar career paths. Melonie, it sounds like, has learned a lot about death. They talk about building the worlds of their books and how that work changes at different points in the writing of a series. They get into their recipes, or lack thereof, for writing good banter and Alexis and Melonie share a trick for getting work done and staying focused. Finally each author picks a drink to pair with her book and shouts out a recommendation to topple your TBR.

In our first podcast exclusive episode, Becca chats with Paige Lavoie, the author of the delightfully titled I'm in Love With Mothman. They talk about Paige's background as a romance reader and writer, including her start in web comics and the fanfic she hid in a binder under the bed. Paige talks about her first book, which she indie published, and some of the warnings she got about starting out that way. She also compares her experience as an indie author with her experience at a small to mid-sized press. They try to define Monster Romance and dig into why it might be so popular right now. Then they do the same thing with retellings, which are also popping up all over. Paige talks about her writing process, including writing with a chronic illness, and the origin story of I'm In Love With Mothman's beautiful cover. Finally, they talk about Paige's TikTok presence as a vintage influencer and as an author on BookTok.

"I can make anything sexy." Today, we have the audio from our virtual release party for Katee Robert's fourth Dark Olympus book, Radiant Sin. She's in conversation with the wonderful Xio Axelrod, and, together they chat about the fun of loose retellings and why the worlds of Katee's various series are intertwined. Both authors share their favorite tropes and talk through the differences between traditional and indie publishing and what they do when they hit a wall while writing. Katee considers which character in the series so far surprised her the most and how her sex scenes stay fresh because they're derived from character. She also previews what's coming for some of our Dark Olympus favorites, and even teases a project that she's afraid to attempt, but is attempting nonetheless.

"I am not writing to make other people comfortable." A conversation about “Diversity in the Age of Viral Books” with authors Adriana Herrera, Kennedy Ryan, Nana Malone, and Nisha Sharma, moderated by Nichole Perkins. They cover that and so much more. It's an insightful, incisive, and wide-ranging conversation that covers what inspired each of the authors to start writing romance and what they find to be the hardest thing about it; the pressure they've felt to tone down the authenticity of their books to appeal to audiences who don't share their or their characters' identities and some of the choices they've had to make in terms of content and marketing; their experiences having books traditionally published and publishing them independently; and how TikTok, in particular, has changed publishing, and what that means when the app itself isn't an even playing field for authors of color.

"It's never too late to be yourself." Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail, chats with Taleen Voskuni about writing with a sense of place, interior design inspo, figuring out your sexuality later in life, what a day in her life as a writer and teacher is like, which of her characters she's most like and most likely to befriend, and advice for other writers. Ashley also previews the last book in her Bright Falls series, Iris Kelly Doesn't Date, and teases a holiday romance she hasn't even written yet!

Welcome to the Meet Cute BookPod, the Trailer! Meet Cute Romance Bookshop is a queer-owned, feminist bookshop in San Diego focusing on genre romance, and *this* is its podcast. Catch up on virtual and live events you missed and join us for some exclusive conversations with folks working all over Romancelandia.