“FINDING COMMUNITY”
This week Sarah Jean concludes our series of bonus Pride month episodes exploring Queer Romance and found family with special guest author Constanza Wolf
BONUS EP HOST
> SARAH JEAN (she/her) From the woods of Massachusetts, Sarah Jean has been reading queer romance for 12 years. She runs a queer book club called Rainbow Readers of Massachusetts (https://www.facebook.com/rainbowreadersmass/) that celebrates queer lives, joy, and empowerment through genre fiction. When not reading or listening to books Sarah is plotting her queer historical romances, cuddling with her cats, and planning her next adventure. Follow Sarah on Twitter @queer_reader
BONUS EP GUEST
CONSTANZA WOLF (she/her) Constanza Wolf is a British author of queer romances where people grapple with identinity and deserving whilst living in the leafy Midlands town of Royal Leamington Spa, a Regency town reputed to be the happiest place to live in the UK. It boasts two ice cream parlours, four tea rooms, a central library that used to be a Turkish Bath and one hundred percent no spas. You can find Constanza online at https://www.patreon.com/ConstanzaWolf and follow her on Twitter @StanzaWAuthor
BONUS EP DISCUSSION
NOTE: This episode was recorded in June during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic
> Constanza’s rugby project is Rugby Face, a Beauty and the Beast, team-mates to kink-partners to lovers inter-racial romance. Rugby Face is being released in serial form and all available chapters are currently public (free) on Constanza’s Patreon
Link: www.patreon.com/constanzawolf
> Title: Yes, Roya
Author: C. Spike Trotman
Relation to theme: Black author, Queer Black MC, Found Family
Representation: Black author, Black MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: bdsm, mentions of racism, sexism, and homophobia
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30334051-yes-roya
> To learn more about C. Spike Trotman and her leadership in the comics business here are two great interviews
Link: https://blacknerdproblems.com/interview-with-spike-trotman/
Link: https://blackgirlnerds.com/speaking-spike-look-mastermind-behind-iron-circus-comics/
> Constanza mentions sharing Heartstopper by Alice Oseman with her oldest kid
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40495957-heartstopper
> Title: Our Dining Table
Author: Ori Mita
Relation to theme: Asian author, Queer Asian MC, Found Family
Representation: Asian author, Asian MCs, queer MCs
Content Warnings: death of parent in past, estranged relationship with parents,
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46157017-our-dining-table
> Constanza wishes for The Ripped Bodice in the UK
Link: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/
> And don’t forget Love’s Sweet Arrow outside Chicago
Link: http://lovessweetarrow.com/index.html
> Waterstones is the largest bookstore chain in the UK, while they claim their Piccadilly location is the largest bookstore in Europe
Link: https://www.waterstones.com/bookshops/piccadilly
> W.H. Smith is the UK chain Constanza mentions where you can find some romance
Link: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/
> Title: The Black Flamingo
Author: Dean Atta
Relation to theme: Queer author of color, Greek-Cypriot & Jamaican MC, Queer MCs, Found Family
Representation: Queer author of color, Greek-Cypriot & Jamaican MC, Queer MCs
Content Warnings: racism, homophobia, transphobia, physical abuse, absent father, drug use, bullying
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52187852-the-black-flamingo
> The cover artist for the U.S. edition of The Black Flamingo is Adriana Bellet aka. Jeez Vanilla
Link: https://www.jeezvanilla.com/about
> Sarah Jean praises the audiobook for the memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson which has also been optioned for TV adaptation
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53405868-all-boys-aren-t-blue
> Title: From Scratch (Welcome to Seaport #1)
Author: Katrina Jackson
Relation to theme: Queer Black author, Queer MCs, Found Family
Representation: Queer Black author, queer MCs of color
Content Warnings: past physical child abuse, mention of spousal abuse, mention of abuse leading to death, mention of childhood sexual abuse (not experienced by MC), references to professors sexually exploiting students, mention of past sexual partner’s internalized queer hatred, including that partner physically assaulting and using queer hating language against MC in the past (not detailed), mention of parental addiction, mention of drug use and alcohol use, references to racism and microaggressions, references to enslavement and Reconstruction, newspaper publicly exposing triad’s relationship, triad experiences prejudice for their polyamory, and fight back against it
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37560972-from-scratch
> Don’t miss Katrina Jackson’s excellent recent essay on queer Black love in romance
> Title: Take Me Home
Author: Hudson Lin
Relation to theme: Asian author, Asian MC, Black MC, Queer MCs
Representation: Asian author, Asian MC, Black MC, queer MCs, seasoned MCs
Content Warnings: deceased spouse, references to queer youth homelessness
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43700805-take-me-home
> Title: Tea at the End of the World
Author: Atom Yang
Relation to theme: Queer Asian author, Queer Asian MC
Representation: Asian author, Asian MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: tension around possible meteor strike ending civilization
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45164866-tea-at-the-end-of-the-world
> Title: Red Envelope
Author: Atom Yang
Relation to theme: Queer Asian author, Queer Asian MC, Found Family
Representation: Asian author, queer author, Asian MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: toxic family
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42412988-red-envelope
> Sarah Jean mentions Jackie Lau’s romance A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48761687-a-fake-girlfriend-for-chinese-new-year
> Joyfully Jay’s interview between Heidi Cullinan and Atom Yang
Link: https://joyfullyjay.com/2019/06/interview-by-atom-yang/
> Title: His Cocky Cellist (Undue Arrogance #2)
Author: Cole McCade
Relation to theme: Queer Author of color, Morrocan MC, Queer MCs, Found Family
Representation: Queer author of color, Morrocan MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: see inside cover of ebook for detailed list
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42515043-his-cocky-cellist
> Title: The Pursuit Of…
Author: Courtney Milan
Relation to theme: Asian author, Black MC, Queer MCs, Found Family
Representation: Asian author, Black MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: racism, war, abelism, violence, slavery
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39962903-the-pursuit-of
> Title: That Could Be Enough
Author: Alyssa Cole
Relation to theme: Black author, Black MCs, Queer MCs, Found Family
Representation: Black author, Black MCs, queer MCs
Content Warnings: implied racism/sexism/queerphobia
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40524331-that-could-be-enough
> Sarah Jean’s TBR
>> Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53133786-xeni
>> Idlewild by Jude Sierra, which Constanza recommends
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29963556-idlewild
>> How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42371064-how-to-be-remy-cameron
> Constanza’s TBR
>> Title: Behind These Doors by Jude Lucens
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40190173-behind-these-doors
>>> Constanza recommends Gutter Roses the prequel to Behind These Doors
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39314018-gutter-roses
>> Sarah Jean mentions Be Mine by Savannah J. Frierson
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43790271-be-mine
> Constanza’s correct Patreon and Twitter are listed in her bio at the top of these notes
> Which #QueerRomance favorites did we miss? Let us know on Twitter or Instagram @RomBkPod
Happy Reading!
BONUS EP MUSIC CREDIT
Music: “Lift Off” by Jahzzar
From the Free Music Archive
CC BY-SA 3.0
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