What We’ve Been Thinking About

Essays & Musings

Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.

My Dark Prince: A Guest Pandora’s Box

September 14, 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to our monthly AAR blog column. The basic idea is we choose a book every month and have a discussion about it. We being Elisabeth Lane…

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When Fiction Gets Work Flat Out Wrong

September 11, 2015

Recently, AAR’s Maggie Boyd reviewed the book Starlight on Willow Lake, and one of the reasons it received a C- from her was the unrealistic depiction of the heroine’s career….

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Midweek Minis: The September 2015 edition, part one

September 9, 2015

Midweek minis! You know you missed them. This is the first one we’ve run since June and we’ve got so many reviews, we’re running half this week and half next…

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Sonali Dev talks Bollywood, Tropes, and Saris: An Author Interview

September 7, 2015

One of the coolest romance related things I’ve done this year is attend a meeting of Lady Jane’s Salon in New York City. Lady Jane’s, founded in 2009, is the…

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Thoughts on the Author Interview

September 3, 2015

One of the things I like best about my work at All About Romance is interviewing authors. Over the years, I’ve gotten to ask questions about books I loved or…

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Jill Sorenson Interviews Victoria Dahl: A Guest Post

September 2, 2015

Today we’ve got an author to author interview. Jill Sorenson interviews Victoria Dahl. Thanks, ladies! Sorenson: Hey Victoria! Or should I call you Vicki? Thanks so much for taking the…

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Jessica Trent: Winsome or Loathsome?

August 30, 2015

Welcome back to Winsome or Loathsome, the column in which AAR staffers lobby for and against controversial heroines. Today’s heroine is the leading lady of Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels,…

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What Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Taught Me About Writing Sex Scenes: A Guest Post by Heather Anastasiu

August 28, 2015

I’m a romance reader (and writer) who loves books of all levels of heat. If it’s got a romance tag on it, I’ll read it, everything from Christian fiction to intense BDSM erotica….

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An Interview (and Giveaway) with Kathleen Gilles Seidel

August 25, 2015

I’m a huge fan of Kathleen Gilles Seidel. Back when we did our reviewer Top Ten posts, I chose her Again as my top romance novel of all time, and…

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Writing Across Cultures: Right or Wrong?

August 23, 2015

Earlier this month I was chided on Twitter for saying this: I’m 70% through A Bollywood Bride by @Sonali_Dev. I now feel bereft that I’ve never been to an Indian wedding….

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Julia Quinn: The #RWA15 Interview

August 21, 2015

My final RWA interview was with Julia Quinn. Ms. Quinn was beyond lovely to take the time to talk to me. She’d just finished giving the Keynote address at the…

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Diversity in Romance: A Guest Post by Audra North

August 16, 2015

I’m guest posting today about diversity in romance, with a focus on race and ethnicity, using the responses from a small, informal survey I conducted last month. The discussion about…

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