TLR Podcast

Sheena and Radclyffe talk about:

• Writing sex without boundaries
• Female weres impregnating female weres and how it works
• Dominance in were society
• Parallels between the exodus of the Midnight Hunters world and coming out as a gay person
• Radclyffe’s new novella
• Is sex in lesfic important?
• Romance vs Erotic Romance
• The evolution of sex in lesfic
• Being a writer from the point of view of considering the audience
• Radclyffe’s most polarising book
• What lesfic looks like going forward

Books we spoke about

This is an interview with Fiona Zedde On Sex In LesFic done by Tara Scott. In this episode Zedde  talks about sex in lesfic, reading it and writing it.

They talk about:

• Writing across genres
• Writing a femme/femme story as a challenge
• Zedde’s approach to writing sex
• Writing heterosexual sex vs wlw sex
• Karin Kallmaker’s writing is sensual

Books Discussed

On this episode Meghan O’Brien on writing sex, representing sex workers in a positive light, the most difficult thing about writing good sex and making consent sexy.

They talk about:

• Sex workers in lesbian fiction
• Why writing sex scenes is difficult
• Similarities between programming and writing
• Venturing out of contemporary erotic romance
• Using sex toys to keep sex varied and exciting
• Spicing up couple’s sex lives
• Consent and making it sexy
• Breaking bad tropes
• Being shy when you are known for your steamy novels
• Angie Williams and what it’s like for Meghan to be married to another author
• How Meghan and Angie wrote stories for one another

Books Discussed

KD Williamson Talks Sex Toys In LesFic in this podcast with Tara Scott.

They talk about:

• KD’s use of sex toys as part of her character expression
• Is the use of strapons really like using a male appendage?
• The legacy of doing lesfic a certain way and the new wave of readers who want more interesting sex
• Sex scenes with strapons can be more raw
• General fingerling over Meghan O’Brien

Books Discussed

Between The Lines by KD Williamson

(graphic sex and use of strap-on)

In this episode:

• Why sex is important in lesbian fiction and what it does to enhance the romance
• Writing butch characters who are all each unique and her perfect femme
• Using strapons in sex
• Creating a futuristic world for royal romances
• Writing books that are like regency romances set in the future
• The little English village
• Vicars who are into power play
• Wolfgang county’s dominant and submissive wolves
• Jenny Frame’s writing influences

This podcast features guest Anne Shade On Sex in Fairytales and Being Your True Self.

Sheena asks Anne:

• How did you come up with the idea for Femme Tales?
• How did you approach your sex scenes?
• What did you do differently in each story when it came to sex?
• Let’s talk about how love and sex are interwoven in all three stories?
• What research did you do before you wrote this book?
• What has the response been to your book?
• You played football for the New York Sharks Women’s Professional Football team. Has that affected your writing at all?
• Your dedication is - This book is dedicated to women who are not afraid to follow their hearts and love freely and open and to the women who are still finding their way. - is that based on your own experiences or simply a statement on the stories you told?
• What’s next for you?

Book we spoke about

Femme Tales by Anne Shade

Beast: Former hip-hop artist Ebony “The Beast” Trent has wrapped her persona around herself like a protective wall of bitterness. Belinda Jansen is confident, intelligent, sexy, and—to Ebony's fascination—not the least bit intimidated by Ebony’s beastly demeanor. Can Beauty truly tame The Beast?

Awaken: Local celebrity chef Chayse Carmichael has achieved a level of success she’d only imagined while learning to cook. But when free-spirited Georgia peach Serena Frasier walks into her restaurant, Chayse realizes that success doesn’t always bring happiness if you don’t have someone special to share it with. Does love at first sight truly exist?

Stiletto: Music mogul Cass Phillips barely has a moment to sleep, let alone build a relationship. But an unexpected encounter with shoe designer Faith Shaw leads her to believe that maybe fairy tales do come true. Can true love really conquer all?

Six women find themselves in their own real-life fairy tales when true love finds them in the most unexpected ways.

Get this book on Amazon

Monica McCallan talks sex in FanFic in this podcast hosted by Sheena. This podcast is part of a sex in lesfic series.

In this episode:

• Where you can find Fanfic
• Why authors like writing fanfic
• Using tags to find how explicit you want
• What is FanFic doing that LesFic (LesbianFiction) is not doing?
• FanFic allows for kinks to be explored where lesfic doesn’t necessarily
• The evolution of fanfic becoming lesfic
• The language choice for sex scenes and how it affects the reader experience

Fanfic Recs

In this episode Sheena, Tara Scott and Jeannie Levig from TLR give us an overview of Sex In LesFic including:

1. The actual difference between a traditional romance, an actual erotic romance novel, and an erotic novel.
2. Why is graphic sex important in lesfic?
3. Why is there an expectation for graphic sex in lesfic?
4. How does it affect the culture of lesfic?
5. How the expectations for sex on the page can hurt reviews for books that don't have it, even if it it wouldn't add anything to the book.
6. What does this mean for folks who are Ace?
7. What kind of expectations do we setup for baby dykes by having graphic sex scenes in lesfic?

Romance Recommendations From Jeannie

Traditional Romance:

In this podcast Sheena chats about her 2 Favourite Fauxmances To Reread. PLUS included at the end of the podcast is the audiobook’s first chapter of both books. These are books that appeared on TLR’s 55 most reread books.

With thanks to Tantor audio and Rachel Spangler for allowing me to add the first chapters to each of the audiobooks at the end of the podcast.

The books we discuss

Breaking Character by Lee Winter

Publisher Ylva Publishing and Tantor Audio

Audio Narrated by Angela Dawe

Get this book on Amazon

In this podcast we hears about Sheena’s 3 Rereads About Women Pretending To Be Men. These are three of the books she selected for TLR’s 55 most reread books.

(All the Amazon links are affiliate links, we get a small commission when you use these links and it costs you nothing extra. We cannot see any information about you when you buy and the money we get goes towards supporting this business)

Crossing The Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun

Publisher Bold Strokes Books

Audio Narrated by Aj Ferraro

Get this book on Amazon

In this episode we look at 4 Dramatic Romances Sheena Loves To Reread. This is part of Sheena’s selection of books from the list TLR’s 55 most reread books

The books we discuss

Courting The Countess by Jenny Frame

Publisher Bold Strokes Books

Audio Narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent

In this episode we hear about 3 Fantasy Novels Sheena Turns To When She Needs To Feel Hope. These are part of Sheena’s selection of rereads from the list on TLR.

The books we discuss

Daughter Of The Sun by Effie Clavin

Publisher NineStar Press

Audio Narrated by Brenda Scott Wlazlo

Sheena is joined by Amy Herman-Pall to discuss the second part of her selection of rereads, this time she talks about 3 Sexy Reads And A Mystery.

Books we discussed

Amy’s Selection of TLR’s 55 Most ReRead Books

Sheena is joined by Amy Herman-Pall to discuss Sci-Fi and Romance Books Amy Recommends from TLR’s 55 Most Reread Books list released in 2019.

Books we discussed

Alternative Titles For This Episode

• Apologies, Maple Syrup and other Canadian things
• The Book Drinking Game!
• Tara’s Big Fighter Feelings - THIS IS THE BEST ONE

In this podcast Sheena is joined by Tara Scott to chat about the 4 books she selected for TLR's 55 Rereads list. But, things got a little out of hand and they ended up talking about an extra 12 books

Books they were supposed to talk about

Kiss The Girl by Melissa Brayden

Publisher Bold Strokes Books

Audio Narrated by Felicity Munroe

Get this book on Amazon

Sheena is joined by Heather Rose Jones to discuss 2 Historical Books Heather Returns To. These are Heather’s section from TLR’s 55 Most Reread Books.

In this episode we talk about

The Covert Captain by Jeannelle M Ferreira

Publisher Indie Author

Audio Narrated by Violet Dixon

Get this book on Amazon

Today Sheena is joined by Michelle to talk about her selection of the 55 most reread books list released on TheLesbianReview.com

Note: This episode originally aired on TLT

Sheena is joined by reviewer Valden Bush to chat about her selection of rereads that appeared on TLR’s 55 most reread list.

Note: This episode was previously aired on TLT

The Lesbian Review just release their list of 55 Most Reread books. Today we are talking to TLR Reviewer April and why she rereads these.

NOTE: This episode was originally aired on TLT. Since it is part of a series we are sharing it here too

Suzie Carr Gets Interviewed

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Suzie Carr today to talk about her novel The Curvy Side Of Life, her work in progress and she recommends 3 Lesbian fiction novels.

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

8 Coming Out Stories We Love pt 2

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Tara Scott today to talk about coming out stories. This two part podcast series takes us through 8 books about different types of coming out but each one special in its own way.

Part 2 of 2 - Oh NO, I think I am gay!

1. It is dangerous to come out - Dystopian, political, historical - physically dangerous and could get killed, imprisoned etc
2. It is not a great idea to come out - Could be disowned, could lose your fanbase and all your money

Why is it important to still tell stories where coming out has really bad consequences?

Sheena’s Picks

Oh wow, I think I am gay! 8 Coming Out Stories We Love pt 1

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Tara Scott today to talk about coming out stories. This two part podcast series takes us through 8 books about different types of coming out but each one special in its own way.

Part 1 of 2 - Oh wow, I think I am gay!

I want to discuss common tropes with coming out stories

1. Young person comes out - YA self discovery thing
2. Older person comes out - Oh wow, as it turns out I think I am gay. Who knew?

Why is it important to still tell coming out stories?

Sheena’s Picks

JS Fields Recommends 5 Lesbian Sci Fi Books

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by author JS Fields today to talk about their 5 Lesbian Sci Fi Books recommendations.

They also talk about:

• Lesbians On Boats
• Killer Mermaids
• Wood Science

Books Recommended

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Vanda today to talk about her historical fiction series.

In this episode:

• How Vanda turned Juliana into a play
• The research she needed to do to get the facts right
• What she learned that shocked her
• What she wants to do now with her books

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Layce Gardner and Saxon Bennett Recommend 4 Books

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by two authors known for their comedy as Layce Gardner and Saxon Bennett Recommend 4 Books.

In this episode:

• Layce Gardner recommends three books she loved
• Saxon Bennett recommends one book she loved
• The duo talk about writing dramady and yanking the rug out from readers
• Their new release Second Chances and the robot character

Books we discussed

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Jea Hawkins recommends 5 Books

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by lesbian fiction author Jea Hawkins today to talk about 5 of her favourite Books.

Books we chatted about

2 Reviewers And The Author Talk About Breaking Character

Sheena is joined by Tara Scott and Lee Winter today to talk about Breaking Character.

In this podcast we talk about

• Summer - is she the nicest girl next door ever?
• Elizabeth - is she an ice queen?
• Grace - misunderstood starlet or meanie?
• The mysterious Rachel Cho - do we ever actually meet her?
• Are there really autograph hunters?
• How much research Winter did about filming and being on set?
• The sex scene being the big turning point for both characters
• Fan-fiction and whether or not Winter has any fan fix written based on her books

PLUS Tara and Lee Winter invent a new way of measuring Ice Queens and dub it The Winter Scale

The book we discussed in this podcast

Sheena is joined by Natalie Miller-Snell today to talk about 4 Lesbian Fiction books she loves.

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

3 Books That Surprised Me

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is all alone today but that’s okay because the topic of this podcast is 3 Books That Surprised Me.

I am rarely surprised by a book.You see, I studied film for four years and what that means is that I studied storytelling and the mechanics of it to the point where I can unpack, repack and shuffle stories like they are playing cards. Couple that with being in the publishing industry for 10 odd years and being a reviewer for close to five years now and you have someone who is hardly ever surprised by a book.

This is why books that are able to give me something truly unique take my breath away. And today I want to share three such books with you.

These are not in any particular order or genre, they are just books that I didn’t see coming.

Books I talk about

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Becoming Cliterate And How Lesfic Can Lead The Way

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Karelia Stetz-Waters today to talk about how important well written sex is for f/f books especially in an age of unhappy and sexually frustrated young people.

In this episode:

• Becoming Cliterate - what it is and where it comes from
• Studies about orgasms and the importance of the clitoris
• Why great sex is important in lesbian fiction
• How Karelia Stetz-Waters wants to educate mainstream romance writers
• One of the worst sex scenes ever
• Fading to grey vs graphic sex
• The struggle for the Gen X
• The vocabulary gap between generations
• Becoming more diverse in our language
• Plus hear Karelia Stetz-Waters read a sex scene from her novel Worth The Wait

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Sports Romance with Rachel Spangler

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Anna is joined by Rachel Spangler today to talk about Sports Romances.

Find out

• what Rachel Spangler feels about being considered sporty
• why sports is a big deal in Spangler’s life
• why sports is such a romantic topic for readers
• writing sports bodies when they are not traditionally beautiful
• how Rachel Spangler did research for their sports romances
• how Spangler balances writing the play by play without boring or confusing the reader

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

10 Reasons Romance Rocks

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Tara today to talk about the many reasons that Romance is an important genre and should be appreciated not laughed at or made fun of.

Their 10 Reasons are:

1. Smart women write them and smart women read them.
2. Romance novels are difficult to write and super competitive.
3. Readers need to believe in love and forever.
4. Romance novels can take you out of the world.
5. They show positive examples of women going after their own pleasure.
6. Romance authors do their research, so we can learn a lot.
7. Romances spread across all genres making them available to any book lover.
8. It gives you a two sides perspective on romance rather than the one sided view we have on life.
9. Just like pop music is the biggest selling music, so romance is the biggest selling genre and there is no reason to listen to people who are naysayers.
10. Romances support the book industry.

K Aten’s 3 Top Books Of 2018

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by author and reviewer K Aten today to talk about her favourite books of 2018. Primary interested in speculative fiction, Aten brings you three great books with fun worlds, great adventures and interesting concepts.

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Sheena and Tara’s 7 Must-Reads for 2018

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Tara and Sheena’s 7 Must-Reads for 2018 it a mix of genres, authors and kinds of leading ladies. But these are 7 books that we highly recommend.

Books we talk about

When you use the links in the reviews and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Victoria Recommends 25 Lesbian Novels For Jae’s Book Bingo

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Victoria today to talk about Victoria’s recommendations for all the categories in Jae’s Book Bingo.

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Anna Interviews Shamim Sarif

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Anna is joined by Shamim Sarif today to talk about her movies, the stories behind them and she talks about her family and coming out.

Books and movies we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

The 5 Best Spooky Lesbian Books

The Lesbian Review

Join Tara as she takes over The Lesbian Review Podcast and interviews Sheena who recommends The 5 Best Spooky Lesbian Books (plus two or three more books).

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

How Technology Changed Lesbian Fiction with Ruth Sternglantz

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Ruth Sternglantz to talk about how technology changed lesbian fiction. Ruth is an editor of LGBT fiction for Bold Strokes Books, academic focused on medieval England, history of drama, lesbian romance and a lawyer focused on IP, torts and queerlaw.

In this episode we talk about:

• How the internet has revolutionised lesbian fiction
• Communities of interest
• How people talk about stories
• On demand
• The responsibility that comes with being global
• Technology changes have also affected plot points
• Why being a professional still matters

About The Lesbian Review

Author and Marketing Guru Anne Hagan Gets Interviewed

The Lesbian Review Podcast

In this episode Sheena is joined today by author Anne Hagan to talk about newsletter marketing and Anne’s books.

Find out:

• Why a mailing list is important for all authors
• Why social media should not replace your mailing list
• How to offer great value in your emails to readers
• How often to send a newsletter

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

In this episode of The Lesbian Review Podcast Sheena is joined today by Mary D Brooks author, ally and founder of AusXip.

Find out

• Why Mary D Brooks thinks that fanfic is a great place for writers to start
• How AUSXIP was born
• Why the questions of being an ally was never a question

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

10 Best Female Leads In A Horror Movie

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by Michelle Blakey, reviewer at The Lesbian Review today to talk about their choices for the 10 Best Female Leads In A Horror Movie.

Sheena’s Choices

1. Annie from The Gift - Played by Cate Blanchett
2. Emily Rose in The Exorcism Of Emily Rose - Played by Jennifer Carpenter
3. Joanna Mills in The Return - Played by Sarah Michelle Gellar
4. Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project - Played by Heather Donahue
5. Dr Susan Tyler in Mimic - Played by Mira Sorvino

Michelle’s choices

1. Alice from Resident Evil Played by Milla Jovovich
2. Ripley from Alien - Played by Sigourney Weaver
3. Entire cast from The Descent - Played by Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Alex Reid
4. Ginger from Ginger Snaps - Played by Katharine Isabelle
5. Sil from Species - Played by Natasha Henstridge

About The Lesbian Review

Anna and Kelly Talk GCLS 2018 on this episode of The Lesbian Review Podcast. They are podcasting live from the 2018 GCLS convention.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Their thoughts on the con overall
• How Kelly sorts out the books she wants signed
• Who Kelly and Anna really wanted to meet
• Fangirling over authors
• What they would love to see in future cons

RG Emanuelle Gets Interviewed

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Sheena is joined by RG Emanuelle today to talk about her writing, food and Dirt Road Books.

Topics Include:

• RG has released a novel this year called The Potion.
• What RG is working on at the moment?
• Dirt Road Books is a cooperative - what does that mean and where does RG fit in? Other than supplying fantastic recipes for the newsletter.
• RG has qualifications in both english literature and food? How do they pair together?
• What goes into good food-focused writing?
• RG shares an old timey food fact about asparagus with us.

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

Robin Alexander Gets Interviewed

The Lesbian Review Podcast

Today Sheena is joined by author of over two dozen books, Robin Alexander. Sheena interviews Robin about her work and some of her favourite books.

Some of the questions include:

• What is your most popular book?
• How have people reacted to your audiobooks?
• What do you love most about writing?
• What do you hate most about writing?
• Who are your favourite lesfic authors
• You write predominantly romantic comedies and then you wrote Devil In Disguise - a tantalising romantic thriller - what make you switch it up?
• What’s your advice to new authors?

Books we talk about

When you use the links in this podcast and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra