Janine: In our April open thread I lamented the omnipresence of fake relationships in contemporary romances so this seems like a good time to have a conversation about the trope. I’ve sometimes seen it discussed along with the marriage of convenience trope (readers compare them or group them under the ... more >
Janine: Every book requires exposition (the conveying of background information) but sometimes it’s handled well and other times clumsily. Multiple techniques can be used and authors often employ more than one in the same book. I thought it might be fun to share our thoughts about them. For the sake ... more >
Our conversation on time travel continues with a question from Sirius about Outlander and our list of book recommendations and books to avoid. -Janine Outlander Sirius: Outlander (because I had to ask) – what are your takes on it and do you like how time travel was implemented ... more >
Sirius had some questions for us—and you—about time travel stories. This discussion will run in two parts, with today’s focusing on the questions below and Monday’s reserved for discussing Outlander and for our book recommendations. -Janine Sirius: So this is one of my favorite topics in SFF. I have been ... more >
Janine: In our last conversation post we discussed anachronisms. Some of the offshoots in our discussion were enjoyable so we hope that you will like them too. Here they are: Author’s Notes Jayne: If you don’t realize something is wrong or you couldn’t care less about it, does ... more >
Jayne: Our next topic for discussion is “anachronisms.” Do anachronisms bother you? Or not? Are any types worse than others? Language, culture, legal stuff, character actions, titles, anything else? Can you tolerate a certain amount or is there a point beyond which you throw up your hands and say “No ... more >