You ever notice things you once enjoyed in your youth aren’t as delightful now that you’re older and wiser? With Netflix, I’ve had the opportunity to catch up with a lot of shows I watched as a kid. When I say kid, I’m referring to myself under the age of twenty-one. My first mistake? I decided to watch Queer As Folk again. I couldn’t make it past two episodes. I *loved* the show in college but now? It’s problematic as fuck. Brian Kinney was always an asshole, but now that I view him through a more sophisticated lens, he is INTOLERABLE. And his gaggle of friends? Just. As. Bad. Michael was spineless… ugh. I can’t even. Emmett might’ve been the only one who didn’t irk me, but even he could not redeem that pile of poo. 

I also re-watched Ghostbusters the animated series. You have no idea how much I loved tuning in after school while I did my homework, but sadly it was also a major let down years later. Oddly enough despite being older cartoons, She-Ra and He-Man still managed to kick ass after a re-watch! 

Since I’ve shared what I disliked, how about we even out this post with things I liked TONS and want to recommend to you? It only seems fair. 

Ready?

Love Between the Covers

I think everyone in Romancelandia might’ve already seen this documentary about the romance industry, but I am late to the party. It was so incredibly cool to watch writers whose careers I admire talk about how they got their start. I saw Beverly Jenkins at RT this year (and she even smiled at me), but I didn’t have the nerve to talk to her. At Nationals, IT IS ON!!!! I SEE YOU MS. BEV! Seriously, without her doing her thing, and paving the way for black women romance writers, there would be no place for Harper Miller. I’ll definitely have to take some time out during the con to thank her and Brenda Jackson for sticking with this gig. It is because of these two ladies I am able to forge my path in this industry. 

Twin Peaks (The Original)

I watched the entire first season, and now I’m on episode two of season two. I NEED TO FIND OUT WHO KILLED LAURA PALMER! Also, friends who have seen the show and loved it recommended I watch Fire Walk With Me after I finish season two. It’s sitting on my DVR patiently waiting for me to power through the remainder of the season and play catch up. I also want to get caught up so that I can watch the reboot on Showtime. 

Riverdale

This ain’t the Archie you knew and loved as a kid! I shouldn’t be looking at a high school attendee with a raised brow, but Archie is HAWT. Not even gonna lie. The shot of his abs during the first episode left me a little verklempt. I absolutely adore the modern spin on Archie and the gang. LoL, I think the best departure from the comics IMO is how Moose is introduced. I hope we get more from his character in season two. Oh, oh, ohh! The best part you guys? MOLLY RINGWALD AND LUKE PERRY ARE ARCHIE’S PARENTS. My inner pop culture geek flailed at this revelation. 

The Santa Clarita Diet

Netflix is like the spouse I never had. It gets me. It understands me. It recommends things it knows I will love and it has only steered me wrong once (it said I had a 97% chance of liking Dr. Strange and I loathed that movie). What the hell Netflix? LIES!!! Anyway, when I received an email that said I might like this show I wasn’t very gung ho. The description was meh. BUT THEN I WATCHED THE TRAILER AND HOLY MOLY TIMOTHY OLYPHANT HAD A STARRING ROLE! People, that man is a silver fox personified. The older he gets, the hotter he gets and my girly bits stand at attention. #overshare 

But honestly, Timothy and Drew Barrymore make a great duo.

Last up?

Master of None

I feel ridiculous for once again being late to the party. THIS SHOW WILL LEAVE YOU IN STITCHES. It’s relatable, it’s hip, and it has an Asian male cast as the lead (Aziz Ansari of Parks and Rec fame) which is unheard of on network TV. Look at Netflix setting trends! They don’t need no stinkin’ network to make things happen. I may also be a smidge biased because the show mainly takes place in New York City.** First off, I must mention the realistic portrayal of NYC. You see people of ALL ethnicities featured unlike shows such as Friends and Girls. It’s like come on TV writers, where in the heck in NYC are these people residing where they never come across a person of color on a regular basis?! Where? Huh? Huhhhh?

Sigh. Anywho…

I also love how it focuses on the struggles that accompany dating as a PoC in NYC. Single people know dating is a hard knock life, but if you’re black or Asian, the stats aren’t exactly in our favor when it comes to desirability. Well, at least when it comes to online dating. Sad but true. Mildly depressing even. People reading this are probably thinking, “OMG NYC HAS SO MANY PEOPLE IT MUST BE AN AMAZING PLACE TO DATE!” Uh, no. LOL, not at all. This is exactly why I started writing romance. It’s less of a headache and far more reliable. 

Anyway, I highly recommend you watch this show! Do eeeeet! The Thanksgiving episode of season two made me laugh so hard I cried. 

**I don’t want to be all Spoily McSpoilson but the beginning of season two doesn’t kick off in the Big Apple. No need to fret because it does pick up there!

That’s it for my current Netflix gems. If you have any TV shows or movies you’d like to recommend on NF, feel free to drop em in the comments below!

Hey Folks, 

It’s a super hot 92 degrees in NYC today. What a way to kick off the week! The heck with waiting until the 21st, Summer is officially here. I look forward to posting on Mondays because I get to share obscure facts about people. I cannot express how much fun it is to do these interviews! I honestly laughed out loud when Rebekah provided her responses. The last question, in particular, made me cackle. She was not giving up ANY dirt. It’s not over. Nah uh. I’ll wear her down eventually. THERE WILL BE A ROUND TWO, REBEKAH! 

Get to know a bit about the tight-lipped Rebekah Weatherspoon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

I always find author interviews kind of boring. We only get to see one side of an author, the polite side. If you had an evil doppelganger, what detail would they enjoy revealing about you to the public that people would find surprising and possibly questionable?

NICE TRY, HARPER!! Honestly nothing. I’m so candid and also pretty boring. Like I can fall asleep anywhere? Is that scandalous enough? 

What does art mean to you?

I wish you could see the Eddie Murphy-esque face I’m making right now. I DON’T KNOW! Art bleeds into every aspect of our lives. I would need maybe a lifetime to articulate what it means to me. 

You started Women of Color in Romance. What were your short-term and long-term goals when you decided to create this campaign?

Short term, get people to stop acting like black women weren’t writing books. Long term, give people a centralized place where they can browse for books by WOC.  

What’s your favorite quote? 

“Almost chicken don’t make no soup.” My dad used to say that to us when we were kids and we tried to leave things half done. 

Tell me about your first crush. How old were you? What initially caught your eye?

Jennifer Connelly in Career Opportunities. I just remember realizing that I was really into boobs. 

(I didn’t want to tell Rebekah I’ve actually met Jennifer Connelly twice, and she does indeed have nice boobs. See? If only she answered the bonus question! :-P) 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would your home base be located?

With my family, somewhere sunny.  

I know how horrible this question is but you can only choose one. Feel free to hate me. What’s your favorite book?

Always and Forever by Beverly Jenkins.  

Caveat: You cannot include Beyoncé! If you could create your own girl group, who would be part of the ensemble?

Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo and Jazzie Jones.   

Finish this sentence: Romance should be ___________. 

For everyone. 

How do you define sexy?

Consensual.  

** Bonus Question**

Ever tried BDSM? If not, would you? 

Why you want to be up in everyone’s business for, Harper?

Bio:

Raised in Southern New Hampshire, Rebekah Weatherspoon now lives in Southern California where she finally found her love for writing romance. Her BDSM romance At Her Feet won the Golden Crown Literary Award for erotic lesbian fiction and most recently her novella FIT (#1 in the FIT Trilogy) won the Romance Times Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Erotica Novella. You can find out more about Rebekah and her books at www.rebekahweatherspoon.com

Books:

Need a one-click option? Check out Rebekah’s latest release Haven!

Today, I present my first blogger feature!

Patrice, of Musings of A Romance Junkie, is up at bat. Patrice and I go back a few years. We initially bonded via our shared love of books, indie authors, and snarky commentary. When I first dipped my toe into writing, she cheered me on from the sidelines and offered her services as a beta reader for my debut novel The Sweetest Taboo: An Unconventional Romance.

In this business, you go through ups and downs. You make new friends; you lose old friends. Patrice has always been honest, and consistent with her support and enthusiasm and I’m glad to have her in my corner. Of course, it made sense to introduce her to you all.

Let’s get right to it and kick this interview off, shall we?

You’re my first blogger interview! Since I asked authors this question, I’m going to ask you the same thing. Most author interviews are pretty boring. We only get to see one side of an author, the polite side. I’m sure the same can be said for bloggers. Soooo, if you had an evil doppelganger, what detail would they enjoy revealing about you to the public that people would find surprising and possibly questionable?

Let me just say that the Leo in me approves of being the first blogger that you’ve interviewed. I own my narcissism completely ☺

I do have an evil doppelganger, and she can be a straight beeyotch. I don’t know if people would necessarily find this surprising or questionable (snickers), but Beyotche (as I’ve dubbed her) takes extreme pleasure in watch karma unleash itself on deserving people. I shed nary a tear when someone gets their just desserts.

Why did you decide to take up blogging?

I became a blogger because one, I love to read. I love to read romance, specifically. Beyotche and I are both diehard romantics (Now, that can be considered questionable!), and I needed an unrestricted, unfiltered outlet to talk about my love (and dislike) of what I read. But more importantly, I noticed there was an extreme lack of romance blogs that featured stories where women of color, more specifically, black women were the romantic lead. I’m not talking BFF or mentor or caretaker or whoever the hell she was in the story, but the actual object (Is that sexist?) of someone’s affection. Where she was deemed beautiful and valued and desired. I wanted to blog about female characters who looked like me. And three years later, I still blog to tell the tale…

What is a common misconception you think people have about romance bloggers?

Hmmm…I think overall, there is a misconception about the romance genre period. That it’s not “real” storytelling. That it’s all fluff and no substance. But what if it is? It’s fiction for FFS. I can’t stand a snooty-ass reader (Beyotche is trying to take over this interview. Next question…)

Would you ever pen your own romance novel?

Ha! I actually blogged about this some time ago. I have a three-chapter draft that I keep for posterity, and every now and then, I revisit it, thinking I may try to pick back up where I left off. Not.gonna.happen. At least not anytime soon. Those three chapters have humbled me, and I now have mad respect for published authors.

Sex sells, is there such as thing as too much sex in a book?

Well, that’s a “loaded” (Get it? LOL) question. While I do believe that sex sells, I also believe that there can be too much sex in a book when the main couple is fucking every other paragraph and there’s absolutely zero character or plot development. Now, that’s me speaking.

Beyotche says: Hell no, there’s no such thing as too much sex in a book. I wanna read about dicks and balls every chance I get!

If you could choose to have any superpower, what superpower would you select and why?

Whew! It would be a tie between mind control (That’s Beyotche, by the way) and teleportation. I, I mean Beyotche would rule the world, yet use her powers for good with the power of mind control, while I just wanna go somewhere other than here without having to spend time or money to do it. If I need a quick getaway or wanna visit my sister and her family on the west coast, two snaps of a finger, and I’m there! Ahhh…I’m getting pissed just knowing this is impossible… 

Finish this sentence: The world would be a better place if _________.

People truly respected each others’ right to simply exist. I could write a dissertation on this, but I think this pretty much sums it up nicely.

Do you have any bad habits? If so, what are they?

Gawd, do I…I’m too damn judgmental. Not close-minded because I truly expect everyone’s right to live their truth — even if it is fucked up. I just question why…

Beyotche is a self-sabotager. She can never be happy or content because she’s always waiting for the hammer to drop instead of just living in the moment.

What does diversity mean to you?

Can I just say that I loathe this word?! I mean, I get it, but I’m so over it. But to answer your question, diversity to me means: not white, not straight, not male, not Christian. (Cues butthurt, snowflake backlash in 5, 4, 3, 2…)

You’re having a dinner party. You can invite any three people. Who do you invite and what dish are they bringing?

I’ve never hosted a dinner party in my life, but if I ever did and could invite any three people, they would be Barack and Michelle Obama (That’s one unit, so I get to pick two more people :-P ), God (because I have sooo many questions), and my late mother (Because, again, I have sooo many questions.)

Barry and Chelly would bring the dessert, God would bring the wine ‘cause that’s how She rolls, and my mom would do the cooking (Fried chicken would be the main course. ‘Cause I miss it and nobody could fuck with her cooking.)

**Bonus Question**

Ever tried BDSM? If not, would you?

I’ve never tried BDSM in the traditional sense. You know, the Dom/sub dynamic, but I do like to be dominated — romantically (And romantically only! Don’t get it twisted…) I don’t think I could go public with it though, like wear a collar or call dude Sir or anything like that. My sexual b-i stays in the boudoir.  

About:

Musings of A Romance Junkie is a blog dedicated to showcasing and reviewing romance novels written specifically about black women coupled with men of all races and ethnicities. Here you will find new releases in African American romance, interracial romance, and multicultural romance, along with reviews of new and old books. I also feature interviews and spotlights as well as random musings.

Blog:

http://www.musingsandromance.wordpress.com

Facebook: 

http://www.facebook.com/romanticmusings

Twitter: 

http://www.twitter.com/musingsirj

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http://www.pinterest.com/musingsirj