271. On Science Fiction and Romance w/ Andrea Phillips

Subplots, comedies, and scifi relationships, oh my! Andrea Phillips joins us for a discussion about science fiction, romance, and her new novel, Revision. We talk about why romance gets a bad rap, some excellent starting points for the interested reader, and much more!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

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Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Episode 271 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

Andrea’s Website
Andrea’s Twitter
Revision by Andrea Phillips!
Works and Essays:
- “Romance and Science Fiction, Sittin’ in a Tree…” by Heather Massey
- “It’s 2015 and One Publisher is Still Trying to Dumb Down Sci-Fi Romance” by Heather Massey
- Sharon Shinn Angel Series (recommended by Andrea)
- Month of Sundays by Yolanda Wallace (lesbian romance Mike recommends)
- Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan (entertaining and insightful history of romance genre recommended by Julia)
- Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (Action and Romance together in one! Andrea Recommends)
- Romantic comedy vs. Chick lit
  - Bridget Jones’s Diary (Both)
  - Sophie Kinsella (more of chick lit, sometimes clearly romance, but not always)
  - Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes (Recced by Andrea as chick lit, very hard, not romance)
- Maeve Binchy
- Questionable Content (Mike recs as relationship based SF)
- Ferrett Steinmetz writes about his reaction to reading Twilight
- On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (challenges instalove, recommended by Julia)
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein (brought up by Andrea, in the context of group/line marriage)
- “Jump Space” by Mary Anne Mohanraj in How to Live on Other Planets (A story featuring a group marriage recommended by Shaun)
- “I’m Alive, Love you, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan (Nebula-nominated short story about love and FTL travel)
- Mass Effect (Video game series with romantic plot lines and non-straight characters)
- Her (Movie about man falling in love with Siri-style AI)
- Heather Massey
- Sci-Fi Romance Anthologies: Free of the Ghetto at Last (Article on Tor.com by Heather Massey)
- SFR Galaxy Awards (specifically for science fiction romance)
- PJ Schnyder
- Bookriot (A site for reviews, articles, recommendations)
- Promises, Promises by L-J Baker (A comedy fantasy lesbian romance, recommended by Julia)