The Hopeless Romantic podcast was born out of the idea that everyone in the LGBTQIA acronym deserves to see themselves in happy endings—and a frustration that this often isn't the case. Compounding this frustration is the fact that romance has been long stigmatized as inferior literature, and LGBTQIA romance is even more sidelined. The podcast hopes to illustrate that q***r romance is a growing fo
rce to be reckoned with, and that its community is a dynamic and often hilarious place. Austin Chant—a q***r, trans writer—and Amanda Jean—a q***r editor, writer, and publicist—are two friends and colleagues who care deeply about the longevity of their favorite genre, and tend to have passionate discussions about it in bars, in living rooms, and at conferences. The Hopeless Romantic takes them out of a casual setting and into a short format with weekly episodes. Each episode will feature a different topic, such as social media marketing and etiquette, romance story structure, editing tips, the importance of research, how not to write diversity, or how to make wordcount. Every month, a special guest (everyone from authors to reviewers to cover artists) will add their expertise and unique perspective to the discussion. We will also be including content warnings with individual episodes for the safety and comfort of our listeners. Bios:
Amanda Jean
Co-creator/Co-host
Amanda Jean is an editor, publicist, and occasional writer of q***r romance. She grew up devouring het romance novels and shifted to LGBT romance as a teen when her thirsty q***r nature revealed itself. Amanda has worked with Less Than Three Press, Torquere Press, NineStar Press, Evernight Publishing, Siren-BookStrand, and serves as the LGBT Director for Alternating Current’s The Spark. When not wrangling manuscripts, you can find her watching documentaries, reading too many books on true crime, and caring too much about fictional characters. Find her on twitter () and at amandahjean.weebly.com. Austin Chant
Co-creator/Co-host
Austin Chant is a bitter millennial, avid gamer, and a q***r, trans romance writer. His interests include cooking everything, petting friendly dogs and cats, and writing about all kinds of rad q***r people. He lives in Seattle with his partners in crime, a pleasant collection of game consoles, and an abundance of tea. In the regrettably large amount of time he spends not writing romance novels, he works in interactive media as a game designer and does his best to stay awake through college. You can follow him on Twitter () and his website is austinchant.com. Daria Defore
Audio producer/Pet goat
Daria is a professional by day who moonlights as a writer and The Hopeless Romantic's audio producer. If you hear strange noises in the background of THR episodes, it's definitely Daria. Keezy Young
Artiste extraordinaire
Keezy is the entirely too talented and benevolent friend and professional art person who donated her skills and times to make sure THR has a proper logo. If you want to put your eyes on the gorgeous things Keezy has created, visit: keezyyoung.com.
