Romance Report – Romance Sparks Joy! http://www.romancesparksjoy.com Sun, 24 Nov 2019 20:14:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-rsj-avatar-32x32.png Romance Report – Romance Sparks Joy! http://www.romancesparksjoy.com 32 32 160350578 Romance Report November 11-17, 2019 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/romance-report-november-11-17-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romance-report-november-11-17-2019 Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:12:02 +0000 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/?p=499 One day in Romancelandia lasts approximately 1.3 Earth years. Now imagine a week. To help you keep up, we’ve gone through the tweets about last week’s highs (and lows) of representation in romance to bring you our Weekly Romance Update.

These tweets are from or about issues affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you’re not already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.

We don’t have a whole lot of updates this week, which is both a good and a bad thing. If there’s anything we missed that you think is worth sharing, please let us know! Our DMs are open.

We’ve got a GORGEOUS cover reveal for Alyssa Cole’s upcoming HOW TO CATCH A QUEEN.

And this cover reveal from Adriana Herrera for her upcoming F/F Christmas novella, MANGOES AND MISTLETOE

Just in time for the holidays, @KA_Doore shares a list of queer adult science-fiction/fantasy novels. I know I (ghost) will be adding more than a few of these to my Christmas list!

Woo! WOCinRomance is back with new releases to share!

Saving the best for last, Ripped Bodice is doing their own literary awards this year! We’re all excited to see who’s in the running.

We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things! And if we have missed anything important, please let us know. Our DMs are open. You can also submit anonymous feedback at bit.ly/RSJfeedback.

If you appreciate the work we do, please consider buying us a ko-fi to help fund our giveaways of romances by underrepresented authors bit.ly/RSJkofi. Thank you!

]]> 499 Romance Report November 4-10, 2019 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/romance-report-november-4-10-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romance-report-november-4-10-2019 Mon, 11 Nov 2019 01:30:58 +0000 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/?p=495 One day in Romancelandia lasts approximately 1.3 Earth years. Now imagine a week. To help you keep up, we’ve gone through the tweets about last week’s highs (and lows) of representation in romance to bring you our Weekly Romance Update.

These tweets are from or about issues affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you’re not already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.

We’ve got a beautiful cover reveal from Suleikha Snyder for TIKKA CHANCE ON ME. If the style looks familiar, that’s because @ONeillJones was one of the artists who helped us celebrate our RITA nominees (and winners!) earlier this year.

This thread calls out books featuring good mental illness rep. If you have any recommendations to add, please do!

@hey_alma wrote a fascinating article about the founders of The Ripped Bodice, the first romance-only bookstore in North America.

Looking for fairytale retellings that aren’t white or cishet? So is our own @MelindaEdits! There are some fantastic recommendations in the thread.

The Pink Heart Society talks to multiple romance authors about how heroines have changed and are leading the charge for equality.

Looking for a new F/F historical? Check out this recommendation list from Smart Bitches. If there’s one you think they missed, go ahead and share the wealth!

The Browne Popular Culture Library highlights Native Americans in romance over time and the problems with Native representation. We’ve got a long way to go, Romancelandia!

Sayantani asks writers from privileged groups to think long and hard about what they’re doing when they write marginalized characters. She also included awesome resources that go into more depth on the subject.

Adriana Herrera talks about #ownvoices in Bustle. 

Latinx in Publishing has started a mentoring program for unpubbed or unagented Latinx writers. Applications are due by 11/25!

Corey is asking for Twitter’s favorite 2019 romances featuring trans or non-binary leads. There are some titles on this list that the RSJ Admins will definitely be adding to our TBR lists!

And Wicked Wallflowers is asking for asexual or demisexual leads in romance.

We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things! And if we have missed anything important, please let us know. Our DMs are open. You can also submit anonymous feedback at bit.ly/RSJfeedback.

If you appreciate the work we do, please consider buying us a ko-fi to help fund our giveaways of romances by underrepresented authors bit.ly/RSJkofi. Thank you!

]]> 495 Romance Report October 28 – November 3, 2019 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/romance-report-october-28-november-3-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romance-report-october-28-november-3-2019 Mon, 04 Nov 2019 01:25:35 +0000 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/?p=493 One day in Romancelandia lasts approximately 1.3 Earth years. Now imagine a week. To help you keep up, we’ve gone through the tweets about last week’s highs (and lows) of representation in romance to bring you our Weekly Romance Update.

These tweets are from or about issues affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you’re not already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.

Continuing the discussion about historical romance from last week, May talks about how the “marginalized characters in histrom is unrealistic” argument from some corners is a double-bind.

KJ Charles writes about the distinction between historical inaccuracies and actual harmful misrepresentations.

Tamsen Parker wrote about writing characters with depression while also dealing with her own depression.

Funmi calls for more attention to be paid to Black indie romance authors writing about mental health issues. Those are the kind of romance think pieces we could use more of.

For thoughtful reviews if black indie romance, Katrina says Funmi and Jazmen are doing amazing work.

And a friendly PSA: Google is free; emotional labor shouldn’t be.

Now for something beautiful to put in your eyeballs. We are in love with these covers! Keep them coming, Harlequin!

We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things! And if we have missed anything important, please let us know. Our DMs are open. You can also submit anonymous feedback at bit.ly/RSJfeedback.

If you appreciate the work we do, please consider buying us a ko-fi to help fund our giveaways of romances by underrepresented authors bit.ly/RSJkofi. Thank you!

]]> 493 Romance Report October 21-27, 2019 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/romance-report-october-21-27-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romance-report-october-21-27-2019 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:46:42 +0000 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/?p=487 One day in Romancelandia lasts approximately 1.3 Earth years. Now imagine a week. To help you keep up, we’ve gone through the tweets about last week’s highs (and lows) of representation in romance to bring you our Weekly Romance Update.

These tweets are from or about issues affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you’re not already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.

Last week, the Ripped Bodice held the Pag-Ibig: A Filipino-American Romance Panel, and Ezrah write about the experience of moderating it.

There’s a new book club in Romancelandia! It’s called HEAs All Day: Romance Novels as Social Justice Narratives. It’s “an informal book group dedicated to reading romance novels that celebrate diversity and offer empowering, hopeful narratives for minorities,” and we can’t wait for the first discussion.

Congratulations to the Pink Heart Society for being short-listed for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Inclusion Award!

Miley Cyrus said some words that don’t bear repeating, but here’s a great list of romances with bisexual protaganists!

Get ready for Halloween with this list of LGBTQIAP+ historical romances featuring “ghosts, ghouls, and gothic themes.”

Rosiee Thor wrote about writing romance for ace and aro readers.

Underrepresented characters shouldn’t have to show struggle for their stories to be worthwhile.

Here’s a list queer historical romances. We promise they’re accurate.

And Rebekah crowdsourced recs for historical romances featuring BIPOC characters.

Make sure you check out the new release list from WOC in Romance.

And Girl, Have You Read’s list.

There’s also a new weekly list launching this week to keep your eye on.

Happy Diwali!

We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things! And if we have missed anything important, please let us know. Our DMs are open. You can also submit anonymous feedback at bit.ly/RSJfeedback.

If you appreciate the work we do, please consider buying us a ko-fi to help fund our giveaways of romances by underrepresented authors bit.ly/RSJkofi. Thank you!

]]> 487 Romance Report October 14-20, 2019 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/romance-report-october-14-20-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romance-report-october-14-20-2019 Mon, 21 Oct 2019 00:00:38 +0000 http://www.romancesparksjoy.com/?p=483 One day in Romancelandia lasts approximately 1.3 Earth years. Now imagine a week. To help you keep up, we’ve gone through the tweets about last week’s highs (and lows) of representation in romance to bring you our Weekly Romance Update.

These tweets are from or about issues affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you’re not already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.

If you’ve read Xeni, you know Mason is the gif master.Rebekah put together a thread of every gif Mason sends Xeni in their text exchanges. (If you haven’t read Xeni, what are you doing with your life?)

And if you’ve read Xeni and are inspired to buy some new toys, Bawdy Bookworms has a new monthly box right up your alley. The BAWDY QUICKIE features a diverse romance paired with an erotic toy each month.

If you are eligible to judge the 2020 RITAs, please consider signing up. RWA needs to have a broadly diverse panel of judges if we want to see a truly representative list of semifinalists.

Because it’s still difficult for many people to shed implicit bias when reading.

Really difficult.

Which is why book clubs like WOC in Romance are so important.

And why we need more lists like these.

Here’s one place to start–this anthology of eight Hanukkah-themed romances. If you’re in the DMV, there’s a launch party at One More Page on November 12, and 📎 might actually venture out of her cozy book cave to attend!

Also, that Holidays Anthology we mentioned last week? You can find out more about submitting a story in this thread!

Make sure you check out the new release list from WOC in Romance.

And Girl, Have You Read’s list.

We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things! And if we have missed anything important, please let us know. Our DMs are open. You can also submit anonymous feedback at bit.ly/RSJfeedback.

If you appreciate the work we do, please consider buying us a ko-fi to help fund our giveaways of romances by underrepresented authors bit.ly/RSJkofi. Thank you!

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