Thread by @CaseyLBlair

*emerges from piles of laundry and cat toys and emails*

hello SFF friends, I see that in the midst of the ongoing trashfire, a number of you have expressed an interest in supporting romance writers! I'm delighted to hear it! A THREAD 👇

(If you have somehow missed this ongoing clusterfuck and wish to catch up as the flames keep somehow?? rising higher, here you go: twitter.com/i/events/12103…)

I've seen great support for MRK's invitation to romance writers to consider SFWA. I hope those who can do: at the very least, SFWA to the best of my knowledge has a functioning grievance committee (the ongoing DSP nightmare, ohmygod.) and Writer Beware does fantastic work.

As others have pointed out, though, SFWA doesn't have the same scope as RWA and can't serve the same function for all its members.

Frankly, any romance authors who choose to join would be a gift *to SFWA*, largely BECAUSE they roll ready to fight bullshit.

If you're not familiar with Romancelandia, my first piece of advice to you is to NEVER fuck with them.

My second is that if you don't already read romance, you should really honestly consider doing so.

Especially for you in SFF who've expressed solidarity with romance, and believe romance is valuable in theory but have not actually read any genre romance you can recommend?

If you really want to support romance writers, it will help to, you know, ACTUALLY READ romance.

Also, it'll help you as a writer. Romance genre writers are fucking MASTERS of character and relationship arcs, for one thing, and many SFF writers could stand to learn a lot from them.

There's a lot of romance out there. The genre is vast and varied. I get it. Where to begin?

SFF friends, I'm here for you. Let's talk romance.

aka we now come to the CASEY YELLS ABOUT BOOKS portion of this thread. (You knew it was coming, right? #onbrand 😂)

I'm not going to focus on genre SFF with strong romance arcs. That's already marketed to you, and you've already heard of it.

If that IS where you want to start, though: look up WITCHMARK by @clpolk, EMPIRE OF SAND by @tashasuri, or SWORDHEART by @ursulav. All amazing.

What I'm going to do here, though, is look at some excellent romance genre releases in the last couple years and why each might be relevant to your interests as a SFF reader and a person who has not habitually read romance.

(Why just the last couple years? There's great older romance too, but this may help you enter the current conversation in where romance is now.

Also, frankly, I was raised in SFF, but when I started working as an indie bookseller I saw they didn't have a romance section and raised a goddamn fuss and suddenly landed myself as the romance buyer. So proportionally I've read a lot more romance the last couple years.)

SO. RECENT EXCELLENT ROMANCE BOOKS SFF READERS MIGHT WISH TO START WITH: LET'S GO.

We have to begin with @courtneymilan, and I'm going to expound on her work a bit longer because #IStandWithCourtney.

Her Brothers Sinister series was what turned me from an occasional romance toe-dipper into a 'holy fuck romance is great' reader, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

(Women scientists! Suffragettes! PoC and queer people in regency series!)

But I think a better starting place for her work for SFF readers is the Cyclone series. This is contemporary, centering on a fictional Apple-like enormous, inventive and industry-leading tech company. She deals with realities in the tech world, from ethics to creative pressure.

What I really love is that every time you think she's pushed characters and themes to their limit, she goes even further.

And Courtney Milan's work always interrogates fucking EVERYTHING on the page. Immigrant/diaspora family dynamics. Comparative privilege in educational institutions. Deeply fucked-up expectations in "progressive" tech spaces.

She does not pull punches. It is IMMENSELY satisfying.

I'm not sure you can read Book 2 without Book 1's context, but for my friends who want queer protagonists and relationships: the heroine of HOLD ME is trans, and IMO the book does a fantastic job.

In particular in this context, her gender isn't irrelevant to her character background, but the story also isn't *about* her experience being trans. I recommend this one highly.

In fact I think I'm going to go re-read it when I'm done here. Onwards!

Since I brought up regency, I think it's worth noting that despite the snide remarks I've heard directed this subgenre's way, in many ways it's a natural fit for SFF readers: fundamentally, any regency author is doing tremendous world-building work.

Some assumptions are baked into our cultural zeitgeist, but there's a lot of interesting work to look at.

The regency I have to recommend *screaming* is THE LADY'S GUIDE TO CELESTIAL MECHANICS by @O_Waite. This is a fucking fantastic f/f (one bi protagonist, one lesbian).

If you have any interest in how history remembers people and whom it values, the erasure and persistence of women's work and art (in particular, embroidery), the development of science, queer history--jump on this. It's *so* good.

And on the subject of queer stories, many of you have likely heard of RED, WHITE, & ROYAL BLUE by @casey_mcquiston.

Like GIDEON THE NINTH, this is a book whose hype is entirely justified and possibly still understated even after it won two Goodreads choice awards this year?!

Also my reference to GIDEON THE NINTH isn't an accident: if you love books with strong voice as well as the meme-type references to modern millennial culture, you'll get a particular kick out of this one.

It's contemporary m/m (one bi, one gay), and centers on a relationship between two children of, in essence, different political dynasties. Something SFF does a lot of, but here we have a model for a non-medieval setting!

lol apparently that's how many tweets I'm allowed to do in one go.

stay tuned: I have a bunch more incoming 😎

I did worry RW&RB would be painful given the particular political trashfire of our times, but it was actually cathartic:

this book presents a hopeful look at what we're capable of being *if we put in the goddamn work*, triumphing without pretending that bigots don't exist.

Is negotiating relationships between people from different fantasy political regimes relevant to your interests?

Try RADIANCE by @gracedraven, a fantasy romance full of intrigue, diplomacy, and people trying to make a political alliance work despite extreme cultural disparities.

IIRC it opens with a poignant, hilarious, and honest meet-cute of the bride and groom of different species on the wedding day for their arranged marriage.

It is followed by some of the best politics over feasts scenes I've EVER read, including a trial by potato.

I love it so much. Also Grace Draven also has a more recent series called PHOENIX UNBOUND that's more epic fantasy, and it is also a solid starting place!

Memorable meet-cutes brings me to THE KISS QUOTIENT by @HHoangWrites, in which a brilliant autistic woman attempts to hire a prostitute to teach her about sex, and this does not at all go how either of them expect--nor how the reader might expect, and it's *perfect*.

Readers interested in portrayals of neurodivergence, cultural misunderstandings and relative privilege, or complicated family dynamics should absolutely look this one up.

My other favorite with both neurodivergent and disabled protagonists is CAN'T ESCAPE LOVE, a novella basically about nerd fandom in @AlyssaColeLit's Reluctant Royals series. It's the BEST.

If Black Panther left you wanting fantasy African royalty or you want to look hard at relative power dynamics and boundaries, pick up Book 1, A PRINCESS IN THEORY.

Or, in Book 2 our (ADHD!) heroine meets the blacksmith?! hero by macing him in the face.

In Book 3 our heroine is a shy wallflower who logs a lot of hours on a dating sim.

The other novella is about high fashion overachieving lesbians.

Basically, they're all excellent.

Honestly it's difficult to tell you where to start with Alyssa Cole, because there are no bad answers.

AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION is the first in her Loyal League series. This one's a Civil War spy romance that is both wonderful with power dynamics AND +

+ doubles as a beautiful fuck you to anyone who thinks black characters can't also realistically have healthy romances and be heroes in historical settings.

So, take your pick!

Last but not least, let me veer back toward a couple with more speculative elements.

I recently read THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE by @dcbiller, which is in the Gilded Age romance subgenre and also (spoilers) has ghosts. I *adored* it.

(CW on this one for references to past physical abuse (not depicted on the page) and ongoing emotional abuse.)

This is a book that takes a hard look at systemic sexism and abuses against neurodivergent people and engages with how to even begin to heal from trauma. Relevant to SFF writers, it has a heroine using the structures of her society to find her own power--

--never tell me marginalized people can't have agency in stories in oppressive societies--and a hero from a brilliant nerd inventor family, and his/their approach to science and the world will resonate with resonate with a lot of SFF readers.

Also the hero is so goddamn earnest and respectful and not a horrible alpha jerk, so if that's a thing you need, this book delivers beautifully.

And finally we come to POLARIS RISING by @jessiemihalik, the rogue space princess romance adventure we all need.

This book is a perfect example of giving enough world-building detail that I believe the author has thought through her SFnal tech without bogging me down in how it works or slowing down the plot--this is aggressively paced.

It does have an alpha hero, but this is an example of how to NOT make me hiss at them:

namely, a heroine who holds him accountable for any bullshit and doesn't let him get away with not apologizing or changing.

Also the heroine of this book is incredibly self-aware--including of her limitations--and competent and it's so great.

Okay, I am out of steam, but THERE YOU HAVE IT. *jazz hands*

Romance is great, you--YES YOU--should try reading it even if it's not your genre, those of you who've told me you don't know where to start now have NO EXCUSES, and now I desperately need lunch BYE.

(ETA: sorry friends, my brain is DONE and I'm not going to do any more bespoke romance recommendations today in favor of doing some life *not* on Twitter lol)

(...I appear to be getting to the obligatory promo addendum point??

I also write fantasy books with romance arcs: if magic tea, baby dragons, and helping people are relevant to your story interests, my free serial is up at teaprincesschronicles.com! <3)