180: Labels and gatekeeping in romance novels

from Author Diary Entries · host Sagan Morrow

Is it rude to refer to a romance novel “smut”? Not to me ;) You can call my books whatever you want! …BUT, there’s a lot of nuance to this (and context matters) — so in this episode, we’re exploring important questions we need to ask around the labels we use, our intentions behind our word choices, and the problems with gatekeeping in the romance novel community. Examples we discuss in this episode include: Smut, enemies to lovers trope, spice levels, smutty vs spicy vs sexy, and “fairy porn” in romantasy.Resources mentioned in this episode: Small Town Stilettos and the Polyamorous Passions series: SaganMorrow.com/books Sagan’s burlesque persona (Babe Maverick) on Instagram: Instagram.com/babemaverick Connect with Sagan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saganlives Connect with Sagan on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@saganlives Send fan mail! Click HERE to leave Sagan a voicemail & share your thoughts about this episode.Support the show

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 15, 2025

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180: Labels and gatekeeping in romance novels

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This episode was published on April 15, 2025.

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