College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Centers & Institutes > Center for Black Diaspora > Series and Events > Black Romance Podcast Series > Season Four

Season Four

​​​​​​​​​​​
season four
​​​In Season Four, I'm joined by Dr. Carole Bell. Carole is a culture writer, a media scholar, and a romance fan. 

This season's focus is on "Pathbreaking Books and New Directions."

We are diving into n​​ovels both past and present that have expanded the domain of romance produced by Black writers -- works that speak to the complexities of Black experience across difference settings and contexts, time periods, spaces, genres, and sites of production. We will talk to an author about a single outstanding book that has broken ground in some way and forged new directions for writers and readers.

Dr. Julie E. Moody-Freeman is the Director of the Center for Black Diaspora, Co-Director of the Social Transformation Research Collaborative, and an Associate Professor in the Department of African and Black Diaspora Studies at DePaul University. She is the co-editor of The Black Imagination, Science Fiction, and the Speculative and The Black Imagination: Science Fiction, Futurism, and the Speculative. Her work on African American Romance has appeared in Romance Fiction and American CultureThe Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction, and the Journal for Popular Romance Studies. She is also the creator and host of the Black Romance Podcast, which is building an oral history on Black Romance writers. 

Dr. Carole Bell is a Jamaican-born communication researcher, writer, and critic with two decades of experience working at the intersection of media, culture, and politics. A lover of books, TV, film and democracy, her writing has appeared in print and digital media outlets including NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the Grio, and she is a contributor to the Black Love Matters essay anthology. She earned her PhD at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism concentrating in political communication, public opinion, and public policy and communication effects. She also holds an MS in Television and Radio from Brooklyn College, and a BA in English and American Literature from Harvard College. 

​​

​​Episode One: Tia Williams

Tia Williams

A Song for Ricki Wilde

Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Tia Williams, best-selling writer of A Love Song For Ricki Wilde. 

Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Teen People, and Essence. She’s the author of The Accidental Diva, the It Chicks series, and The Perfect Find—now a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union. Her novel, Seven Days in June, was an instant New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick. Her latest bestseller, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, was named one of the year’s best romances by New York Times and Amazon. Tia lives with her family in Brooklyn. ​​​

​​

​​Episode Two: Seressia Glass

Seressia Glass

Shadow Blade book


Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Seressia Glass, best-selling writer of Shadow Blade. 

Seressia Glass is an award-winning author of more than twenty-five contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy stories. Her paranormal series, (Shadowchasers, Sons of Anubis) are steeped in Egyptian mythology. Her follow-up to THE LOVE CON, a story about a Black plus-sized nerd in a cosplaying reality show competition is her latest release GAME ON, about a Black female gamer taking on a game company’s CEO. 
​​


​Episode Three: Beverly Jenkins​

Beverly Jenkins


Vivid book

Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Beverly Jenkins, best-selling writer of Vivid.

Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature, was featured both in the documentary “Love Between the Covers” and on CBS Sunday Morning. Since the publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for inclusive romance, and has been a constant darling of reviewers, fans, and her peers alike, garnering accolades for her work from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and NPR.​
​​

​​

Episode Four: Adriana Herrera


Adriana Herrera 


A Caribbean Heiress in Paris 


​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Adriana Herrera, best-selling writer of A Caribbean Heiress in Paris.

Adriana Herrera is a USA Today Best Selling and Audie winning author of over a dozen novels. Adriana was born and raised in the Caribbean and loves writing stories about people who look and sound like her, getting unapologetic happy endings. When she’s not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, she’s a trauma therapist in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence.​


​​

Episode Five: Kennedy Ryan

Kennedy Ryan

Reel book

​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Kennedy Ryan, best-selling writer of Reel.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in NPR, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Glamour, Cosmo, Ebony, TIME, and many others. The audio edition of her novel Reel received the prestigious Audie® Award, and her Skyland series is currently in development for television at Peacock. The co-founder of LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable book auction, Kennedy has a passion for raising Autism awareness. Dubbed the Queen of Hugs by her readers, she is a wife to her "lifetime lover" and mother to an extraordinary son.​​​

​​

Episode Six: Rebekah Weatherspoon

Rebekah Weatherspoon

Harbor book

​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Rebekah Weatherspoon, best-selling writer of Harbor.

After years of meddling in her friends’ love lives, multi award winning author Rebekah Weatherspoon turned to writing romance to get her fix. Raised in Southern New Hampshire, Rebekah Weatherspoon now lives in Southern California where she will remain forever because she hates moving.

With over twenty titles under her belt, Rebekah has covered sub-genres from suspenseful paranormal romance to steamy romantic comedies, and now young adult romance. With everything going on in the world, she still believes in love, the fluffier the better. Look for her young adult romantic comedy HER GOOD SIDE out now from Penguin Teen and her most recent adult romance, MEEGAN: A Holidate for Hire. You can find Rebekah and her books at rebekahweatherspoon.com​​​​

​​

Episode Seven: N.G. Peltier

NG Peltier

Sweethand book

​ ​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview N.G. Peltier, best-selling writer of Sweethand.

N.G. Peltier is an anime watching, b​​ook reading, video-game playing, story writing kinda girl. A devourer of words and books from a young age, she enjoys writing romance and creeping people out with the Caribbean folklore stories she grew up hearing. A Trinidadian born and raised, she currently lives in Trinidad with her mountain of ideas and characters battling each other for whose story get told next. She is the author of Sweethand, Don’t Go Baking My Heart, and The Dating Countdown, which will be released in September 2024.​


​​

Episode Eight: Chencia C. Higgins

Chencia C. Higgins

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Chencia C. Higgins, best-selling writer of D’Vaughn and Chris Plan a Wedding.

Chencia C. Higgins is just a girl from Texas writing about sassy, southern women finding love. In 2019 she won an Emma award for her debut paranormal romance Janine: His True Alpha, and in 2022 her traditionally published debut D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding  was named one of the best romances of the year by the New York Times. When she isn't daydreaming about imaginary people, Chencia can be found with her nose in a book (or two, or three), saving recipes on Pinterest for things she’ll never make, and dreaming of traveling even further south for the winter.


​​

Episode Nine: Aminat Sanni-Kamal

​​​
Aminat Sanni-Kamal


Amber Fire book

​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Aminat Sanni-Kamal, best-selling Nigerian writer of Amber Fire.

Aminat Sanni-Kamal, our first writer who sets her novel in Lagos, Nigeria, writes contemporary and fantasy romance stories, ranging from clean to sweet to spicy. As an introvert, she finds joy in the quieter moments. When she's not writing, she can be found reading, crocheting, watching dramas, occasionally baking, or taking a nap. Amina​t also enjoys savoring delicious meals. Her publications include Amber Fire, her three book series, The Kingdom of Idia, her Rebound Series, as well as her Smith Women books series.

​​

Episode Ten: Vanessa Riley

Vanessa Riley

A Duke, the Lady and a Baby book cover

​ ​Dr. Julie E Moody-Freeman and co-host Dr. Carole Bell interview Vanessa Riley, award-winning writer of A Duke The Lady and A Baby.

Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author of over twenty-five novels like Island Queen (a GMA buzz pick), A Duke The Lady and A Baby, and the Lady Worthing mystery series (2024 Georgia Author of the Year for Mystery). Her works spotlight hidden narratives of Black women and women of color, emphasizing power, sisterhoods, and family sagas across historical fiction, romance, ​and mystery genres. With a doctorate from Stanford University and other engineering degrees from Penn State, Vanessa brings a research-oriented approach to her inclusive storytelling about Caribbean, Georgian, and Regency eras.

​​

Episode 11 & 12: Vivian Stephens

Vivian Stephens

A Second Act book cover

​In honor of Vivian Stephen’s birthday, we are sharing her podcast episode. ​In part one, Vivian Stephens discusses her experiences as an editor at Dell Publishing, and she talks about her role in the founding of The Romance Writers of America. This episode originally aire​​d on September 8, 2020.

In part two of the Vivian Stephens birthday special, she discusses the following: her work at Dell; her transition as editor from Dell to Harlequin; Harlequin’s release of her; her subsequent work with Black romance writers; marketing an all-Black line of Vivian Stephens romance; and her own publication Second Act. This episode originally aired on September 15, 2020.

​​