PODCAST · arts
Black Romance Podcast
by Julie Moody-Freeman
The Black Romance Podcast features weekly conversations with Black writers, editors, and scholars of historical and contemporary popular romance fiction. Julie Moody-Freeman and guests talk about a range of experiences: their difficulties trying to publish love stories with Black characters; their favorite books; writing and teaching about black romance fiction; traditional vs self-publishing; publishing queer romance fiction; and their recently released books.
Episodes
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Sarah Dass
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Sarah Dass, award-winning writer of Where the Rhythm Takes You. Sarah Dass Sarah Dass is a young adult fiction author from Tobago that is best known for her debut work of fiction Where the Rhythm Takes You. While she was born in...
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Rufaro Faith Mazarura
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Rufaro Faith Mazarura, award-winning writer of Let the Games Begin. Rufaro Faith Mazarura is a British Zimbabwean writer who grew up in Birmingham and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Surrey. She works as a...
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Vivian Stephens-Part two
In part 2 of the Vivian Stephens birthday special, she discusses the following: her work at Dell; her transition as editor from Dell to Harlequin; Harlequin's release of her; her subsequent work with Black romance writers; marketing an all-Black line of Vivian Stephens romance; and her own...
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Vivian Stephens-Part one
In honor of Vivian Stephen's birthday, we are sharing her podcast episode, which first aired on September 8, 2020. In this podcast, Vivian Stephens discusses her experiences as an editor at Dell Publishing, and she talks about her role in the founding of The Romance Writers of America. Thanks to...
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Vanessa Riley
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Vanessa Riley, award-winning writer of A Duke The Lady and A Baby. Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author of over twenty-five novels like Island Queen (a GMA buzz pick), A Duke The Lady and A Baby, and the Lady Worthing mystery...
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Aminat Sanni-Kamal
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Aminat Sanni-Kamal, best-selling Nigerian writer of Amber Fire. Aminat Sanni-Kamal, our first writer who sets her novel in Lagos, Nigeria, writes contemporary and fantasy romance stories, ranging from clean to sweet to spicy. As an...
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Chencia C. Higgins
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Chencia C. Higgins, best-selling writer of D'Vaughn and Chris Plan a Wedding. Chencia C. Higgins is just a girl from Texas writing about sassy, southern women finding love. In 2019 she won an Emma award for her debut paranormal…
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N.G. Peltier
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview N.G. Peltier, best-selling writer of Sweethand. N.G. Peltier is an anime watching, book reading, video-game playing, story writing kinda girl. A devourer of words and books from a young age, she enjoys writing romance and creeping...
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Rebekah Weatherspoon
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Rebekah Weatherspoon, best-selling writer of Harbor. After years of meddling in her friends' love lives, multi award winning author Rebekah Weatherspoon turned to writing romance to get her fix. Raised in Southern New Hampshire,...
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Kennedy Ryan
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Kennedy Ryan, best-selling writer of Reel. New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of…
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Adriana Herrera
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Adriana Herrera, best-selling writer of A Caribbean Heiress in Paris. Adriana Herrera is a USA Today Best Selling and Audie winning author of over a dozen novels. Adriana was born and raised in the Caribbean and loves writing stories...
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Beverly Jenkins
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Beverly Jenkins, best-selling writer of Vivid. Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for historical...
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Seressia Glass
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Seressia Glass, best-selling writer of Shadow Blade. Seressia Glass is an award-winning author of more than twenty-five contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy stories. Her paranormal series, (Shadowchasers, Sons of...
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Tia Williams
Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Tia Williams, best-selling writer of A Love Song For Ricki Wilde. Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Teen People, and Essence. She's the author of The Accidental Diva, the...
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Season 4 Preview
In season four, I'm joined by Dr. Carole Bell. Carole is a culture writer, a media scholar, and a romance fan. This season's focus is on "Pathbreaking Books and New Directions." We are diving into novels both past and present that have expanded the domain of romance produced by Black writers –...
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Bolu Babalola and Dr. Carole Bell
Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview best-selling writer of Love in Colour and Honey & Spice Bolu Babalola. Bolu Babalola is a British-Nigerian journalist, writer, and lover of love. In 2016, she was shortlisted in 4th Estate's B4ME competition for her short story "Netflix…
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Bette Ford
Julie E Moody-Freeman interviews award winning romance writer Bette Ford. Ford is the author of fourteen books including, For Always, Forever After, All the Love, The Prescott Series, and Mrs. Green Girls Series. Thanks to the Center for Black Diaspora at DePaul University for sponsoring this...
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Francis Ray and Anna Larence with Michelle Ray, Ann Fields and Margo Hendricks (Elysabeth Grace)
Julie E Moody-Freeman is joined by Race and Romance: Coloring the Past writer Margo Hendricks, by Michelle Ray, and by Ann Fields to discuss Black romance writers Francis Ray and Anna Larence. Francis Ray's books can be found at: FrancisRay.com One can find Fields online at: www.annfields.com,...
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Christina C. Jones and Jessica P. Pryde
In this episode, Julie E Moody-Freeman is joined by Black Love Matters writer and When In Romance podcast co-host Jessica P. Pryde to interview Christina C. Jones, a best-selling romance novelist and digital media creator. They discuss Jones' self-published romance novels as well as her…
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Jacquelin Thomas with Rochelle Alers
Julie E Moody-Freeman is joined this episode by two best-selling and award-winning romance writers: Rochelle Alers and Jacquelin Thomas. In Season 1 episode 10 of the Black Romance Podcast, Rochelle Alers joined Julie to talk about Alers' experiences in the romance industry. In this episode…
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DL White
DL White joins Julie E Moody-Freeman to talk about White's experiences writing, publishing, and marketing romance novels through her self-built online platform. DL White's eBooks, print, and audio books can be purchased at booksbydlwhite.com/books. Thanks to the Center for Black Diaspora for...
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Natalie Dunbar with Barbara Keaton
In this episode, Julie E Moody-Freeman and her co-host romance writer Barbara Keaton speak with award-winning romance writer Natalie Dunbar. They discuss Dunbar's experiences publishing with Genesis Press, Parker Publishing, Silhouette, and Kimani Arabesque. Thanks to the Center for Black…
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Seressia Glass
In this episode, Julie E Moody-Freeman speaks with award-winning romance writer Seressia Glass about her experiences publishing with Genesis Press, Parker Publishing, Simon & Schuster, and Berkley. They also discuss Glass's Shadowchasers series and The Love Con. Thanks to the Center for Black...
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Black Romance and Historical Spaces
Join Black Romance authors Katrina Jackson and Elysabeth Grace as they discuss writing Black historical romance. The authors engage the question of readerly and publishing perceptions about the place of African/African diaspora love in historical spaces. For Black romance authors, what does it...
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Patricia Vaughn
This week historical novelist Patricia Vaughn talks about her experiences writing and publishing her first two historical novels in the 1990's. She discusses how her agent Vivian Stephens helped her to publish her first historical novel Murmur of Rain with Pocket Books in 1996 and talk about her...
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Frederick Smith and Chaz L Cruz
In today's episode I talk with Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar Cruz, co-authors of In Case You Forgot and their recent release Busy Ain't The Half Of It. We discuss their co-authored books as well as many other topics, including: the importance of publishing love stories between Black queer...
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Farrah Rochon
Best-selling writer Farrah Rochon and I talk about her new release The Dating Playbook and also deep dive into several topics: how she wrote and published her 2007 debut novel, Deliver Me, the first in her Holmes Brothers Series; we talk about her New York Sabers Football Series; Bayou Dream...
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Barbara Keaton
Barbara Keaton's first romance novel, All I Ask, was published in 2000. Since then she has gone on to write thirteen romance novels, which celebrate black love. In this episode, we discuss: her experiences publishing with Genesis Press, working with Romance Slam Jam, the mentorship a community of...
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Chilufiya Safaa
Chilufiya Safaa is a romance novelist whose books put a fresh twist on African and African American love themes and allow readers to examine what they thought they knew about African and African American people. In this episode, we talk about Safaa's first four novels, A Foreign Affair…
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Veronica Mixon
Veronica Mixon, my guest today, was an editor at Doubleday for fourteen years from 1974 to 1988. She was hired as assistant to an editor of Romance and Science fiction novels and then promoted to editor when her boss left the press. She recounts her experiences during these years: creating...
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Eboni Snoe
Eboni Snoe is the best-selling author of seventeen books. In this episode, we discuss her experiences publishing her first romance novel A Shiek's Spell with Odyssey Books in 1992 as well as her experiences publishing with Arabesque and Avon Book. We deep dive into her novels Beguiled, Tell Me…
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Celeste Norfleet
Celeste Norfleet, a best-selling writer of over twenty-five novels, joins me this week. We talk about her 2002 debut novel Priceless Gift and its curious ending, which became the inspiration for the novels in her well-loved Mama Lou Matchmaker Series. She recounts her experiences at the beginning...
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Adriana Herrera
Adriana Herrera, a USA Today bestselling author, joins me this episode to talk about a converging series of experiences and events that led her to write and publish romance: her experiences as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic; the dissonance she felt between her studies on Black Feminist...
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Katrina Jackson
Today's guest is Katrina Jackson, best-selling writer of over twenty novels. She joins me to discuss her prolific career. Katrina discusses some of her early reading practices, writing her first romance, a self-published book titled Encore, and why she publishes affirming images of Black women.…
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Piper Huguley
Best-selling writer Piper Huguley joins Julie to talks about her experiences writing, publishing, and marketing historical novels with African American Christian characters. She talks about developing her online platform to self-publish her novels, including her first The Lawyer's Luck and the...
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Kennedy Ryan
Best-selling writer Kennedy Ryan joins Julie to talks about how she developed her writing craft, which led to the 2014 publication of her first book, When You Are Mine. She talks about her experiences self-publishing, starting a foundation serving Atlanta families living with Autism, and she...
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LaQuette
Best-selling writer LaQuette joins Julie to discuss her successful writing career, which began with the 2013 publication of her first book, My Beginning. They discuss how she came to write and publish romance, her role as the current President of the Romance Writers of America, her publishing...
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Reese Ryan
Best-selling writer Reese Ryan joins Julie to talk about her successful writing career, which began with the 2013 publication of her first book, Making the First Move. They discuss Ryan's recent nomination for the Vivian Award in the Contemporary Romance Short area as well as her experiences...
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Shirley Hailstock
Best-selling and award-winning novelist Shirley Hailstock joins Julie to talk about her successful writing career, and they deep dive into her novels Whispers of Love (Under the Sheets) and Love in Logan Beach. Shirley Hailstock is the author of over 40 novels and novellas. She writes…
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Donna Hill
Best-selling writer Donna Hill joins Julie for the first episode of Season two of the Black Romance Podcast. They discuss Hill's experiences writing and publishing romance, and they deep dive into three of her novels: Rooms of the Heart, Chances Are, and Confessions in B Flat. Donna Hill is a...
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Elysabeth Grace/Margo Hendricks
Margo Hendricks who writes romance novels as Elysabeth Grace joins me to close out Season one of the Black Romance Podcast. We discuss her contemporary and paranormal romance novels as well as our forthcoming editorial collaboration on a special issue of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies,...
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Rochelle Alers
Rochelle Alers and I talked about a number of topics: her experiences writing and publishing romance in the 1980's; and we talked about books and characters from her Hideaway, Cavanaugh Island, and The Innkeepers series. She also discussed her work with Vivian Stephens on the Women Writers of…
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Gwendolyn Pough/Gwyneth Bolton
This week Gwendolyn Pough (writing as Gwyneth Bolton) and I discuss her popular romance fiction Make It Last Forever and Sweet Sensation. We also discuss whether her academic publications on Black feminism and Hip-Hop culture influence her romance fiction.
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Rebekah Weatherspoon
Rebekah Weatherspoon discusses the importance of depicting Black women in her books, writing inclusive novels that feature queer love stories with Black characters, and her experiences self-publishing and publishing with Dafina, a traditional press.
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Alyssa Cole
This week Alyssa Cole and I discuss how her precocious childhood reading habits may have influenced her current romance publications. Cole also reveals how her historical and contemporary romance like Let it Shine, An Extraordinary Union, An Unconditional Freedom, A Princess in Theory, and A Duke...
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Beverly Jenkins
In this conversation, Beverly Jenkins and I talk about her early experiences as a Black woman writing and trying to publish her historical romance featuring Black characters. We also discuss Night Song, her debut novel, Indigo, Jewel, and Forbidden, her historical novels set in the late 1800's.
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Brenda Jackson-Part two
Having published over one hundred and twenty-five novels, Jackson talks about the importance of how Blackness is represented in media and popular culture and about how this led her into filmmaking.
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Brenda Jackson-Part one
New York Times best-selling writer Brenda Jackson recounts the challenges she faced publishing romance fiction with black characters in the 1980's and why she negotiated her own contract to publish her first novel in 1995.
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Podcast Preview
Welcome! If you love reading Black popular romance fiction, if you love writing and teaching Black Romance fiction, or if you are a budding romance writer wanting to find out how best selling Black writers got into romance writing and publishing, the Black Romance Podcast is for you.
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Sandra Kitt
Best selling writer Sandra Kitt and I talk about publishing romance fiction in the 1980's and the path she took to becoming one of the first published writer for Harlequin and for Kensington's Arabesque series in 1994. We also talk about working with renown Black editors Vivian Stephens and…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Black Romance Podcast features weekly conversations with Black writers, editors, and scholars of historical and contemporary popular romance fiction. Julie Moody-Freeman and guests talk about a range of experiences: their difficulties trying to publish love stories with Black characters; their favorite books; writing and teaching about black romance fiction; traditional vs self-publishing; publishing queer romance fiction; and their recently released books.
HOSTED BY
Julie Moody-Freeman
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