15.5: Epistolary Romances
Love letters are the best because they’re personal and honest and raw and beautiful, and this week—by request—we’re talking about all the different ways romance tells epistolary love stories! Leave us your own version of a love note in comments!
BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
James Joyce’s Love Letters
We included some of James Joyce’s love letters at the end of the episode. Here are some more of them, read by Natalie Morales, Dave Foley, Paget Brewster, Martin Star, and Michaela Watkins. Uhhh…..NSFW.
Notes
It was @jenalice1 who requested an epistolary interstitial.
"That INXS song" that played in the universe when Sarah met her husband was Never Tear Us Apart.
Sarah didn't like the movie Mystery Men. (Jen did.)
Text messaging has come a long way since ICQ, but it looks like there are ICQ nostalgia apps in case you miss it.
We muddled through our Kristen Callihan favorites for a while: The one where they fuck in the library, the one with the virgin NFL player with the piercing, and the one with Scottie.
When Sarah said "Mr and Mrs Smith but make it gay," Jen was thinking of The Spies Who Loved Her series by Katrina Jackson but couldn't remember them.
Salt with Angelina Jolie.
Archie was a non-cool name that is experiencing a resurgence.
when Jen said Not if I Save You First was "An RWA book," she meant it was a RITA finalist.
Atonement, fuck that book.
The Crimea? The Napoleonic Wars.
A still funny New Yorker cartoon about Power Point.
The Vixen and the Vet (not that kind of Vet) has extensive heroine-groveling.
The problem of how we should archive our personal electronic communication is soemthing people think about.
Multimedia apps for The Waste Land and Ulysses.
The Cyrano story is well-entrenched that it has become a trope.
A perfect tweet from Kate Clayborn.
Pre-order Brazen and the Beast from Word in Brooklyn, mention Fated Mates at checkout, and you'll get a bunch of cool swag.
Kelly's business is Resistance Buttons, so check that out.
Buy fun stamps, including these that Jen pre-ordered.
Write some postcards to voters.
Sweet Ruin is coming.
1.5: Escort Romances
We know you’re getting excited for No Rest for the Wicked, but before we talk about vampires and Valkyries, let’s talk about escort romances!
The Books
Notes
Sarah and Jen have both loved The Kiss Quotient. Sarah reviewed at for The Washington Post. Jen's been turning her friend Ernie into an occasional romance reader, and live-tweeted his read of TQK.
Escorted by Claire Kent, which is a pen name of Noelle Adams
Romancing the Stone is an 80s movie classic. Kathleen Turner plays a romance writer on an adventure to retreive a missing emerald.
The Smart Bitches made a list of competence porn romances, where all the characters are just really good at their jobs.
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas. Here's the Twitter thread where Jenny Nordbak alerts everyone to the sexiness factor.
Burn Down the Night by Molly O'Keefe
The Duke by Gaelen Foley
Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell
Journalist Melissa Gira Grant writes about sex workers and the politics of sex work. You should follow her on Twitter.
The Master by Kresley Cole
Get ready for No Rest for the Wicked