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Reading Roundup - Fourth Quarter 2021
January 7, 2022
The final quarter of 2021, I gobbled up a wide variety of things. Here is my top ten, with bookshop links. [A Phoenix First Must Burn](...
Things That Made Me Happy
December 29, 2021
While the calendar year isn't quite over, so my quarterly and annual wrap up will show up next year because more reading to be done. I thought I would list...
Cover Reveal! - Bored By the Billiionaire
November 26, 2021
Lulu Williams is bored with dating billionaires. She has just ditched the latest and is on a late night train back to DC when she encounters a handsome...
Reading Roundup – Third Quarter 2021
October 15, 2021
Hey, I drafted this, and then through a series of unfortunate things, managed to lose the entire thing, so here we are. Technology. (Yes, I had a backup....
My Own Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo Report
August 27, 2021
So, while there’s still a few days to finish if you yourself are playing along, I thought I would share my progress. The post about the suggestions I had...
And the Book Version is Here!
May 13, 2021
Yeah, for those of you who dislike learning via email, and/or who want to have all the info in one place, the newsletter info has been compiled into book...
LTAFS: Question Box
May 11, 2021
In the class I teach, we do what we call a question box. Everyone has to write something down and pass it forward, and then the instructors review, research...
LTAFS: Sex scenes and Character Growth
May 6, 2021
An analogy I use a lot is this. If you go to the movies by yourself, it can be a wonderful and exciting experience. You get to choose the time, the place,...
LTAFS: Sex and Power Dynamics
May 4, 2021
I know we touched on power dynamics a little in the consent topic, but let’s talk in a little more detail. In almost any configuration of a relationship you...
LTAFS: Sex and Mood-Altering Substances
April 29, 2021
Because we are talking about drugs and alcohol today, and how they affect a character’s ability to consent, we are going to brush up against some discussion...
LTAFS: Ableism and Sex
April 27, 2021
Before we dive in, I’m going to note that ableism is an area I am still working on myself. As we are discussing some ableist myths, this may be a tough read...
LTAFS: Sex and Money
April 22, 2021
So let’s talk about something that often goes ignored in some fiction. Money. Sure, it comes up when a character needs money to save the community center, it...
First Quarter 2021 Reading Roundup
April 20, 2021
Some things I read and enjoyed in the first quarter. Bookshop links included. This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey - Jess starts to notice her life is...
LTAFS: To Be or Not to Be a Parent
April 15, 2021
One of the things the middle school version of the sex ed class I teach does is presents the students with a variety of prospective parents and asks them to...
LTAFS: Contraception What?
April 13, 2021
I am going to talk about modern contraception primarily. I do know that there are historical authors who are having their characters use things like sponges,...
LTAFS: Contraception Why?
April 8, 2021
Now, to a certain extent, if you are still reading, I assume you have or are planning to include contraception in your fiction. But let’s talk a little about...
LTAFS: Let's Talk Outercourse
April 6, 2021
One of the things a lot of novels don’t spend a lot of time on is outercourse. Outercourse is a broad term that includes a wide range of sexual behavior that...
LTAFS: Infections, Disease, and Pregnancy are not Morality
April 1, 2021
There is a tendency in our culture to put a lot of parameters around acceptable behavior. Sexual behavior is especially prone to this. As an author the...
LTAFS: Dating – There’s an App for That
March 30, 2021
A couple of caveats before we get into this. I am in my forties. I like to think I keep up to date with such things, but I am generally doing so as a...
LTAFS: Prior History
March 25, 2021
Authors spend a lot of time - whether before, during, or after the first draft (Hi my pantser friends!) - building a character’s backstory. Other than...
LTAFS: Consent, Boundaries, and Other forms of Communication – Part 2
March 23, 2021
While we are primarily going to discuss what positive and enthusiastic consent looks like today, I am aware this can be a difficult topic for some who might...
LTAFS: Consent, Boundaries, and Other forms of Communication – Part 1
March 18, 2021
While we are primarily going to discuss what positive and enthusiastic consent looks like today, I am aware this can be a difficult topic for some who might...
LTAFS: Attraction is a Spectrum
March 17, 2021
There are lots of reasons people find each other attractive, and it can often be a process or it can be immediate. In social psychology, they often talk...
LTAFS: Gender is a Spectrum
March 11, 2021
Gender is not a binary. Even looking purely at the biological expressions found in humans, there are more than two. Equivalents to the variations that humans...
LTAFS: Religion and Sex
March 9, 2021
I suspect some of you are thinking, yawn, we already talked about values. As someone who has taught comprehensive sex ed in a church, I want to note a couple...
LTAFS: Sexuality and Values are Intertwined
March 4, 2021
The choices characters make regarding sex are an expression of their values. For romance authors in particular, this should not be new information, but it’s...
LTAFS: Novels are Not Instruction Manuals
March 2, 2021
Fiction, even contemporary or realistic fiction is not intended to be a replacement for education. I think we all agree on that. But even in genres like sci-...
Drumroll: Let's Talk About Fictional Sex
February 25, 2021
Sex scenes provide authors an opportunity to explore their characters more deeply. (Pun intended!) Fiction is not a how-to manual, but sex scenes are about...
Reading Round Up - Fourth Quarter 2020
January 15, 2021
My big number crunching post is still to come over on the blog. But the last three months of reading with some highlights I read. As per usual, this is based...
Consent and Discussions of Pop Culture
December 30, 2020
Content Warning: I will be discussing fictional violations of consent and disclosure. If this is not the right time for you to engage with such, I completely...
How Flowers Made Me Like Instagram or Vice Versa
December 4, 2020
I am a person who took photography classes in high school. I had - okay still technically have a flickr account. I had shutterfly and a bunch of other things...
Always Have a Book On Your Phone
November 6, 2020
This may sound weirder in these pandemic times when a lot of us are spending more time at home, but I highly recommend this idea. Obviously, a phone has a...
Reading Roundup - Third Quarter 2020
October 16, 2020
Let’s start with disclaimers. I started doing this over on my blog, so the prior quarters can be found there. I am a mood reader, so this will be a mix of...
What About Baking?
October 2, 2020
I have been through more flour and sugar this year than I have before. I've dialed back a bit on pandemic baking, because well, it turns out eating a lot of...
What to Watch?
September 18, 2020
I have reached a funny place in my TV watching. It's not quite as bad as my music acquisition which these days is mostly cast albums of new musicals these...
A Theater-Sized Hole in My Heart
August 28, 2020
I had briefly considered calling this series Bored in the House. I recognize not everyone has the privilege to stay home right now, and that even finding...
What to Read?
August 14, 2020
One thing I didn’t address in part one, is what if time is a factor. I will say that I like anthologies a lot forhttps://fiyahlitmag.com/ this. (And not just...
What to Read?
July 31, 2020
Someone asked me how I decide to what to read these days, and I realized, at this point my process is so layered it is hard to replicate. I wrote a little...
Books, Writing, and Other Interesting Things
July 27, 2020
Welcome to Talkapedia by me, Tara Kennedy. Tara Kennedy is a lifelong Washingtonian. By day she wrangles data and by night she writes tales that involve...