Black Chick Lit is a bi-monthly podcast that talks books by and about black women.
Episodes
Thursday Apr 04, 2019
Thursday Apr 04, 2019
This is our most scandalous episode yet. We discuss the month's biggest controversies and OMG! moments, including #RITAsSoWhite, #BagelGate and Shangela. Who exactly is RITA and what's her problem? Why aren't authors of color getting the shine they deserve? Why can't the RWA just set fire to the whole award season? We try our best to answer these questions, but tbh, we don't come away satisfied. Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:
- Bronwen Fleetwood's PowerPoint presentation
- 20 Years of RITA Data
- @CherryAdair asking us all to wait to deal with racism so the finalists of this crooked contest can enjoy their day
- Screenshots of @CherryAdair using the term "lynch mob" and pretending not to know what it means
- @CatSebastian's thread summarizing the RWA PAN forum
- @JenReadsRomance plot breakdown of Catherine Bybee's racist book, Not Quite Crazy
Also, earlier this month, we asked y'all to share your unpopular book opinions. And, boy, did you deliver, bringing shade for a whole bunch of tropes, books and authors. Thanks to all who answered this month's chat! Be sure to read up for our next episode, My Sister, The Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
Bring the lemon and sugar, 'cause we got the tea.
This month, we read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and we couldn't help but notice how similar this book is to Avatar: The Last Airbender. A pair of plucky but poor siblings — one magic and one not? Check. A handsome young prince who's tormented by his father and who just wants to do right? Check. An evil regime? A magical summer solstice? A giant fluffy flying thing? Check. Check. Check.
Needless to say, we didn't love it. (But, again, at least we didn't build a website.) If you want an even more in-depth look at the book's plot, you can check out Dani's rage-y notes online via Google Drive. And if you want to learn more about writing fantasy, check out the YouTube videos by Brian Sanderson that Mollie mentioned.
We shared our shade and now it's your turn. And in celebration of our birthday month, we're trying something new! Call and leave us a voicemail at 213-259-3739 with your unpopular book opinions. Whatever book, genre, author you want! They don't have to be about books we've discussed or books by black women. You can also tweet them at us or DM us at @blackchicklit. (You can stay anonymous. Just let us know!) Get your thoughts by Friday, March 29!
Thanks for listening in and be sure to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes. Thanks to Suite45 for our theme song, Jones’n.
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
It's finally here! We got to speak with the Queen of Black Historicals herself, Beverly Jenkins, and it was a blast. It's easy to see where Loreli's feistiness comes from.
We ask her about her place in the romance genre, her writing process and her personal opinions of men with mustaches. (Spoiler alert: She's #TeamStache.) We also learn what she's currently working on and what she hopes to achieve in the future.
(We had a slight technical glitch at 44:10. We apologize for the loss of Ms. Jenkins response! 😭)
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for Ms. Jenkins: @MochaGirlsRead, @EveryWoman98, @unicorninkk, @srmilesauthor, @IamTammiJ and @chandrathompson.
Next month, we're jumping back into the world of YA, so don't be surprised if we get shady. We're reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Happy Valentine’s Day, listeners!
Love is in the air! It’s our annual romance episode, and this year, we’re reading the Slayer of Words herself: Ms. Beverly Jenkins. We read Dani’s favorite Jenkins’ novel, A Chance at Love. (Or as Mollie titled it, The Education of Jake Reed.) There are precocious children, farm animal hijinks and a marriage of convenience that ends up causing more problems than it solves. It’s basically a black historical rom-com, and we loved it.
We dig into it all, as well as sketchy Missouri hospitals, Kansas’ poor taste in mascots and our romance philosophies.
Listen in and get ready for our next episode when we speak to the Slayer herself! We get to chat with Ms. Jenkins about romance, writing and her impressive career. Any questions you want us to ask? Be sure to tweet them to us at @blackchicklit by Feb. 16.
Thanks for coming back and be sure to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes. Thanks to Suite45 for our theme song, Jones’n.
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Happy New Year! Our first episode of 2019 is a chatty one as we share our 2019 reading and writing resolutions, as well as our goals for the podcast.
We also get into the increasing bougieness of the Oscars, our love-hate relationship with the Goodreads Challenge and a number of Instascams (including Fyre Festival). Listen in and share your reading resolutions with us at @blackchicklit.
February is Romance month, and this year, we’re finally reading Beverly Jenkins, a.k.a. the Slayer of Words herself. Listen in next month when we discuss her 2002 book A Chance at Love. (While Indigo is the title mentioned in the episode, we had to do a last-minute switcheroo after the recording. You should still definitely read Indigo. And then tweet Dani about it. She’s up for any and all romance novel talk.)
Shout out to everyone who took part in our poll or responded to our resolution tweets. Do you have a suggestion for a future #BCLChat? Email us at contact@blackchicklit.com. And don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to Black Chick Lit on iTunes.