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…
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…
This Seattle home comes with a three-story treehouse built into the deck
It’s not often — wait — it’s usually NEVER that I’d say one of the best selling features of a home is the unfinished treehouse built into the deck that looks like it might fall apart at any minute. Until you see the the unfinished treehouse built into the deck that looks like it might fall apart at any minute in this Seattle real estate listing…
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?”
A tiny, geeky, artsy, punk-y studio in Seattle
There are two big challenges here: storage room and tidiness. It’s not a very big apartment — I think it clocks in at about 425 sq. ft., and it only comes with just the closet and some poorly arranged kitchen cabinets to contain all my stuff. So most of my furniture is for the storing of things because I can’t live without making and surrounding myself with art.
Our one-bedroom condo in Seattle: Home to four people and a kitty living well
We’re a family of four that love living in a pretty small space. Our condo is 730 square feet, one bedroom and one-and-a-half baths. We didn’t intend to stay here, and I certainly never expected to end up loving small space living or a minimalist approach to possessions but this home has taught me the value of both and shaped the expectations I put on myself for how I want to show up as a home maker in the world.
Haunted horror-themed house in Seattle
This week’s home tour is a my special Halloween gift to y’all — a haunted house in a de-commissioned B&B in Seattle. It’s all decked out the way you’d hope a haunted house would be — antique child’s coffin coffee table, antique Halloween goods, metaphysical library, “haunted” ventriloquist dolls, and even snakes abound in this house.
My dream house: a retro waterfront condo in Seattle
The good news is, I found my PERFECT home in Seattle! It’s a waterfront condo right on the Puget Sound with views to die for and some nifty retro touches. The bad news is, once again, it’s a total pipe dream, costing $440,000. But it’s fun to have dreams, right?
Wanna take a virtual tour of my imaginary Seattle home?