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The ultimate offbeat breakup book: From Sh!tshow To Afterglow

Hey guys! It’s me, Ariel — the publisher of Offbeat Home. My new book, From Sh!tshow To Afterglow is about how to rebound after loss, grief, and the other cruel crises life throws your way — basically, it’s the anti-self-help book.

Dancer’s Flame by Jasmine Silvera

Bad Romance part 3: Demanding greater diversity in who gets a happily ever after in romance

One of the big success stories in self-publishing is romance. According to popular platform Smashwords, the genre dominates the market. With a few clicks any writer can become an author. Which makes it possible that a novel most major publishing houses and quite a few small presses would have turned down, one that hasn’t seen an editor’s red pen, or even a proofreader will wind up on Amazon more than in other genres.

There’s an argument for gatekeepers, right? Not so fast. Here’s part three in this series on romance as a genre…

Dancer’s Flame by Jasmine Silvera

Bad Romance part 2: The romance genre needs better critique, not more gatekeepers

Though romance novels have always centered relationships and women, there’s no argument that issues of consent and coercion abound in the genre's shady past. Consider the conflicted relationships readers have with Kathleen Woodwiss’ The Flame
and the Flower
, a novel that is said to have started the modern “bodice ripper” romance genre. Here’s part two analyzing the romance genre in books…

Bringing Offbeat Home & Life’s voice to Dwell, and overcoming my own impostor syndrome

In March, I got an email from a Columbia classmate who works at Dwell. “I have a Seattle house that will be featured in the July / August Smart Tech issue. Are you interested in writing it? It would have to be a reaaallly quick turnaround though — as in, two weeks from now.”

I immediately said yes, and then was like “Wait, oh my god: what have I done?”

Tina Fey talks about Offbeat Home & Life on Late Night with Seth Meyers!

This is big news. Maybe even the biggest news in my entire life. Okay, maybe in Offbeat Home & Life’s entire life. Move over that time Pee-wee Herman liked our Banana Dogs. Here comes our news: Tina Fucking Fey reads Offbeat Home & Life! And then talked about it on TV! With Seth Meyers!

Data diarrhea: my epic post about reader survey results

Offbeat Home & Life has undergone a lot of changes in 2013, so it felt important to do a little mini-reader survey specific to this site. This post is going to be long, but for those of you who are into data and/or invested in the future of Offbeat Home & Life, it’s going to be fun. We’ve got stuff about Facebook, family-related content, and the kinds of posts y’all hate. Come along!

Offbeat Home & Life: new family, new header, new Tugboat (…wait, what?)

Holy shit, you guys. It’s a big day for site news. We’re welcome another editor (and readers!) to the site, adding a new character to the header, and talking about Tugboat Yards (it’ll make sense in a second…)

Offbeat Families won’t be publishing new posts, but our archive will stay online FOREVER (and we’ll still be on Facebook)

While we are ceasing daily publishing on Offbeat Families, the site and community will live on. Here’s how…