I think of teen romance as being its own sub sub genre though—certainly there's overlap and some cross-pollination, but it's got its own traditions (such as being heavily invested in R&J). Now we're getting really far into the weeds, though. But yeah, tldr I rag on Twilight because I think it's not great, not because… Read more

Kinda surprised that one hasn't been fast-tracked, between the popularity of 50 Shades and the popularity of GOT. Read more

I really object to the suggestion that because we're skeptical of Fifty Shades, Twilight and Sparks we'd object to the BBD or other romance series. Personally, I don't consider Twilight or Sparks to be genre romance. (Sparks especially pisses me off because he does nothing but shit on the genre and insist he's writing… Read more

In terms of movie adaptations? Yeah. Hollywood is far more likely to adapt straight genre SF than straight genre romance. Now, basically EVERYTHING in Hollywood has romantic elements, but that's not the same thing as a genre romance novel, which means something very specific. Read more

I know Diana Gabaldon doesn't consider it romance, but I think romance readers have been a big part of her success. And a lot of the books I mention don't have quite the mainstream awareness that Fifty Shades and Outlander do, but they've bestsellers and have built-in fanbases that would get the ball rolling. My point… Read more

Blackout!!! Read more

Oh yeah, all this is contingent on proper casting/budgeting/production values. I think that's where the previous efforts have fallen through, generally. Read more

My mother has still not forgiven my dad for the time he let us watch part of the original. Read more

oh that is a good one!! Read more

Probably should've thrown in a screenshot:

What I found particularly shocking was she's pretty much over there begging the Chinese for money. Seems like a particularly bad time to be making any sort of joke! Read more

YUP. Some good-old fashioned childrearing THAT is. Read more

I think his point is that if you actually want to convince people to vaccinate, it's more useful to say, "Look, you're misinformed," and present them with actual statistics, than to say, "You're a fucking dumbass," even though that's extremely tempting. Read more

I was joking around with my in-laws, both of whom had measles as a kid, and I was like, "so it's just a rash, right? No need to vaccinate?" And they gave me the most eloquent look of "omg, bullshit bullshit bullshit." Read more

I know this makes me sound like such a pedant but I think this demonstrates that American schools need to do a better job of teaching research skills. We're just swimming in a sea of garbage misinformation all day every day, and people just aren't getting the tools to sort through all their various sources. Read more

Lockjaw builds character, duh Read more

This is what I've never understood about anti-vaxxers. I mean, Jesus Christ, guys. Read more

The anti-vaxxers don't really map neatly onto liberal or conservative. Finally, Americans coming together across party lines!!!!! (too bad it's for measles) Read more

It is a great-looking cover, though. Read more

I've bought so many of their midi skirts that it's unreal. Read more