Season One: Writing Romance
July 16, 2019 - December 3, 2019
On Hot & Bothered, we encourage people to write Romance novels as a sacred practice. Vanessa Zoltan, co-host of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, interviews one of her friends who is writing their very first romance novel. We've asked every writer to pick a romance novel trope to center their novel around. Julia Quinn, Vanessa's favorite Romance novelist, gives weekly assignments so listeners can follow along in the process.
We want to demonstrate that anyone can write a Romance novel. We want to encourage people to find joy and stretch their imaginations. We want to find meaning in the mundane, treat the secular as a sacred, and build communities of supportive and creative friends.
Season 1 of Hot and Bothered was co-produced with Spoke Media
The Guidelines
Once the podcast launches on July 16th, every other episode will have instructions for how to write your own romance novel. Everyone is encouraged to write along with us! We'll post the assignments here as we release them. Over 20 weeks, there will be 10 assignments to help you along the way. Ten writers went on this journey with us. Here is what we asked of them. Join us!
Pick a trope. Use one from the Tropes page of our website, or think of your own.
Try a bunch of different sacred writing practices. Will you write 20 minutes a day, every day? Will you journal in the bath with a cocktail? Will you get together with a group of friends and write in silence for an hour, then read aloud?
Write your Romance novel for 3 months. Try to write 1,000 words per week. Bad is good. Don't judge yourself. Don't second guess yourself. Write, and write, and write.
Share the experience with your friends. Call your best friend once a week and tell them how it's going. Update them on what your characters are up to. Read your story to them. Mail them your story by carrier pigeon.
Send us what you wrote! We would love to read whatever you have, even if it just a few sentences or an idea for a first kiss.
The Intention
Through community, rigor, and ritual, we treat traditionally secular things as if they were sacred. In this commitment, we practice empathy, courage, and imagination. We believe that if we are able to encompass these values, we can move closer to treating to each other as sacred.
Romance novels offer us a way to dive into this practice. They are optimistic, sexy, and fun. The process of writing them gives us two opportunities:
The first is the simple act of writing. When you dedicate yourself to writing a Romance novel, you give yourself the space for creativity. You must allow yourself time to reflect and the freedom to build your own world. With writing, you make time to examine your interior life, an opportunity that can be hard to come by in a hectic world. Writing Romance novels further gives you the chance to explore big questions of love, fate, gender, and sexuality. When you commit to write a Romance novel, you allow yourself to imagine a happy ending.
For the second, we look to bring people together through talking about their writing and their writing process. We encourage people to write these novels in community, to seek advice, and to brag about their wonderful ideas. These earnest and exciting conversations forge meaningful, supportive, and emotionally honest relationships. By talking to people about what we love, and listening to people about what they love, we create a more joyful world.
The Resources
Here is some pieces about writing, romance novels, and feminism that have informed our work:
"We Need Bodice-Ripper Sex Ed", Jennifer Weiner, New York Times
"The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing", The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Love Between the Covers, dir. Laurie Kahn-Leavitt, available on Netflix
Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, Janice A. Radway
‘‘She Exploded into a Million Pieces’’: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Orgasms in Contemporary Romance Novels, Christine Cabrera and Amy Dana Menard
Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction, Jayashree Kamble
Listen
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Episode 1: Justice for Dragons
Vansssa Zoltan thinks that happy endings are the best part of romance novels. Bryce Gilfillian is writing his first romance novel and refuses to write a happy ending. This week on Hot and Bothered, we explore the trope of “Updated Fairytale.” Bryce sets out to write the gay fairytale he never had growing up. Meanwhile, Vanessa wrestles with her own princes, witches, and dragons. Along the way we get a little help from Professor of Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University, Maria Tatar, and receive our first writing assignment from our own fairy godmother, #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn.
Episode 2: Dump Him: Alyssa Cole
Haven’t finished the first writing assignment? No problem! We know writing takes time, so you’ll have two weeks for each of Julia Quinn’s assignments. In the meantime, Vanessa and her friend Julia will buy you some time and turn to Reddit romance questions to offer their unsolicited (but solid) dating advice. This week’s advice? Dump him.
As Vanessa and Julia consider how power and money work negatively in real relationships, Vanessa turns to award-winning romance novelist Alyssa Cole to explore why it is she likes the power imbalances in Cole’s love stories - as well as feminism, bailing on dates, and the restorative pleasure of masseuses on planes.
Episode 3: Best Friend Lady Pirates
Ariana Nedelman wants to write a romance novel, no matter how much it hurts. Vanessa Zoltan loves her friend Ariana, and doesn’t want her to do things that hurt! This week on Hot&Bothered we explore the trope “Enemies to Lovers.” Ariana confronts her own enemy, writing, in hopes she may grow to love it again. Vanessa reckons with letting a toxic enemy near her dearest friend. Additionally we get some guidance from Professor Stephanie Paulsell of Harvard Divinity School, and our next writing assignment from writer’s-block-busting, #1 New York Times best-selling author Julia Quinn.
Episode 4: No Such Thing as Too Many Romance Novels: Margaret H. Willison
Another week to work on your next writing assignment? You’re welcome! This week, Vanessa and friend Julia offer more unsolicited advice to a romance-fraught Redditor caught between the love she has in her arms and the love she’s read about in books.
Torn between fantasy and reality, Vanessa turns to librarian, pop culture expert, and America's Next Top Best Friend Margaret H. Willison to discuss the power of fantasy, and how imagining the love we *could* have helps us get the love we deserve.
Episode 5: We All Hate Kokomo
Vanessa has been faithfully holding onto her old love letters. Her friend Sejal, however, has decided to burn her own memorabilia and never look back. Which one is right?
This week on Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope “Reunited Lovers.” Sejal has made peace with her past and seeks a vicarious happy ending for two fictional former flames. Vanessa, on the other hand, is forced to confront the reality of a former toxic lover and what it means to doctor the evidence of her romantic history.
Along the way, Rev. Dr. Matthew Potts weighs-in on how much of forgiveness is forgetting, and we get our next writing assignment from #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn.
Episode 6: Divorce Him: Emily Nagoski
This week, Vanessa and friend Julia offer their support and unsolicited advice to an especially distraught Redditor wondering what to do with a husband who claims he’s no longer sexually attracted to her because of her past trauma.
In addition to the obvious answer (divorce him!), Vanessa turns to sex educator and NYT best-selling author Emily Nagoski to better understand the nuances around attraction, sexual connection, and how to live confidently and joyfully in our bodies.
Episode 7: The Conundrum
It’s no secret Olivia and Molly would love to have a baby. Vanessa thinks she might want a baby, but isn’t so sure. This week on Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope of “Secret Baby.” Olivia and Molly have been patiently hoping and working to bring a baby into their life. In the meantime, they craft their own vicarious happy ending, baby and all. Vanessa considers her ambivalence about having a baby, and invites a chorus of loved ones to weigh the pros and cons of her bringing a child into the world.
Episode 8: A Helpful Scam
Vanessa and her sister-in-law Suzanne agree: love-at-first-sight is questionable at best. Even still, Suzanne wants to explore a love-at-first-sight romance novel while anticipating the birth of her first child.
This week on Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope “Love at First Sight.” Suzanne considers how a parent’s “supposed” to feel upon first sight of their newborn child, and how love grows and evolves over time. Vanessa considers the limitations of love-at-first-sight stories in a world full of bad men. Along the way, Vanessa’s friend Sasha weighs-in with her own high-risk, high-reward experience with love at first sight, and we get our next writing assignment from #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn.
Episode 9: A Questionable Man: Amy Hollywood
This week, Vanessa and friend Julia fight over the appropriate unsolicited advice to give a Redditor who just discovered his girlfriend lied to him about her virginity.
To make sense of their conflict, Vanessa turns to feminist and religious scholar Amy Hollywood. Together, they explore the religious history and origins of virginity, and the implications of how virginity is portrayed today.
Episode 10: In the Next Exam Room
Vanessa and Brigid share everything with each other - their thoughts, their feelings, even their endometriosis diagnosis.
This week on Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope “Friends to Lovers.” In her writing, Brigid reckons with the way love changes in the transition from friendship to partnership. Together, Vanessa and Brigid wrestle with what they share with friends, what they share with their partners, and the intimacy born from shared pain.
Along the way, Rev. Dr. Matthew Potts returns to shed light on how we ask for care from our partners, and we get our next writing assignment from #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn.
Episode 11: It’s Eyeballs: Meredith Goldstein
This week, Vanessa and friend Julia marvel over their favorite Reddit dating advice question yet: a girlfriend curious about her boyfriend’s LOCKED DRAWER containing a secret object he refuses to divulge.
For insight into the most mysterious relational secrets, Vanessa turns to advice columnist, entertainment reporter, and paranormal romance novel reader Meredith Goldstein. Together, they explore the boundaries of privacy, paranormal intimacy, and what we keep in drawers.
Episode 12: Mom, Don’t Listen
Marissa Martinelli is writing a real sex scene. Vanessa is READY. This week on Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope “Mistaken Identity.” As Marissa tries to write a good sex scene for her mistaken characters, she and Vanessa explore the vulnerability of explicit sexuality, and wrestle with the freedom and the oppression of coded sexual language.
Vanessa turns to writer, romance-novel reader, and co-host of Thirst Aid Kit Nichole Perkins to understand what we talk about when we talk about throbbing members. We also get our next (steamy!) writing assignment from #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn.
Episode 13: Monogamy Isn’t Working: Katie and Pam Mingle
This week, Vanessa is joined by Katie Mingle from 99% Invisible. They explore this week’s Reddit question written by a woman in a 10 year relationship who’s experiencing feelings for another man.
To find an answer, Vanessa and Katie call Katie’s mother, romance novelist Pam Mingle. Together, they revisit a question from earlier in this season: whether love at first sight exists. Pam, Katie and Vanessa consider the difference between romantic love and motherly love, the failures of monogamy, and whether Pam will write another romance novel.
Episode 14: A Really Solid 60% Guy
Elizabeth and Vanessa’s parents both got married fast, and fell in love after.
This week on Hot & Bothered, Elizabeth writes about the trope “Marriage of Convenience.” She’s taking this opportunity re-write her parents failing marriage with a happy ending. But the more Elizabeth writes, the more Vanessa wonders if Elizabeth is carrying some of the worst parts of the trope into her own life. She and Vanessa explore: how parents can inform our own idea of love, what it means to settle versus what it means to compromise, and what exactly is a happy marriage?
Episode 15: Stay Safe: Steve Almond
This week, Vanessa and friend Julia tackle one of the most intense Reddit questions yet: a girlfriend considering leaving her boyfriend -- a serial drunk driver.
With the stakes high, Vanessa and Julia struggle with how to give the best advice. For advice on advice giving, Julia turns to advice columnist, podcaster, and writer, Steve Almond. Together, they discuss the patriarchal problem of male rage, and what lies between the lines of love advice questions.
Episode 16: Treat Today Like No One is Watching
Jen wants to write a romance with her daughter as the main character. Vanessa just doesn’t understand why it has to be so...creepy.
This week on Hot & Bothered, Jen uses the trope “Fake Relationship to True Love” to explore what her daughter’s future relationship might look like as a powerful, self-actualized woman in the modern world. When it takes a creepy turn, Vanessa wonders what sort of message Jen is hoping her daughter will hear. With the help of The New York Times’ romance columnist Jamie Green, they explore the line between pretending and lying in the dating world, and how growing up under society’s gaze affects our quest for a happy ending.
This episode uses Good Bones with permission from Tupelo Press.
Episode 17: Delete Your Social Media: JenReadsRomance
This week Vanessa and Julia discuss a boyfriend’s jealousy of his girlfriend’s dream man. Can someone’s fantasy life be threatening to their relationship?
To get answers, Vanessa talks with popular Romance advocate and critic Jen Prokop, of @JenReadsRomance on Twitter, about romance novel covers and why they should (or shouldn’t) change. We also hear a clip from Vanessa’s interview with Nichole Perkins who talks about representation in romance covers, and how they could improve.
Episode 18: Extra-Virgin (Like Olive Oil)
This week, Vanessa’s friend, Liz, writes on the “Widowed Virgin” trope, telling the story of a Jewish widow who finds sexual awakening after her husband’s death. Vanessa reflects on her own Jewish upbringing, and confronts the familial urge to marry within the religion.
Vanessa, whose partner is non-Jewish and German, examines what it means to love someone outside of the community she was raised in. She turns to her brother, who married a wonderful Jewish woman, to discuss how important it really is to marry within your own religion. Vanessa comes to terms with her own happy ending as Liz writes an HEA for the widowed virgin of her story.
Episode 19: Let This Drive a Wedge Between You: Lauren Sandler
Vanessa and Julia deal with a Reddit question from a woman whose boyfriend has recently found religion. Should his attempts to convert her end their relationship?
To explore this question, Vanessa talks with journalist Lauren Sandler about her research on Christian Romance Novels and their writers. At the heart of their discussion lies the question: how religion can affect romance? They discuss how religion can bring some people closer, and can tear others apart.
Episode 20: Epilogue
This week Vanessa talks about how the Friends-to-Lovers trope reflects the love she has for her real life partner, and how writing her own romance novel has allowed her to discover the importance of trust in her relationships.
Meanwhile, Ariana interviews Vanessa about the importance of happy endings, how romance novels have helped her through her own life, and why she and Ariana started this podcast anyway.