iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Had a PhD graduation ceremony today. Told my work colleagues I wanted a sword and they delivered 😂

A white person in black ceremonial robe holding a purple diploma

A tiny golden plastic sword held between a thumb and a forefinger

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Smart Bitches @smartbitches.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Are any of my followers graphic designers? I'm looking for some help with a visual analysis

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Got home from the dissertation defence to find out my cat threw up in my bed in the meantime. More poignant commentary on the whole PhD business could not be uttered.

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TJ Alexander (they/them) @tjalexandernyc.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Cover reveal for my next m/m contemporary romcom, LOVE AND LAKE MONSTERS Featuring: 🧌 Cryptid hunters 😷 COVID conscious 🍂 Upstate vibes 🕰️ Age gap 🏳️‍⚧️ Older trans man Preorder, synopsis, & more at tjalexander.com#books7 Illustration by Liam Eisenberg. Art direction by James Iacobelli.

Love and Lake Monsters. TJ Alexander. Nationally bestselling author of A Gentleman's Gentleman. The illustrated cover shows two men in front of a lake surrounded by orange fall foliage. One man is taller and younger, wearing a blue button up. The other man is wearing a red flannel shirt and has a salt and pepper beard. They are embracing, about to kiss. In the dark background, red glowing eyes peer out at them. Out Feb. 9, 2027.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

If you are interested in queer folklore/popular culture, I recommend Queer As Folklore by @sachacoward.bsky.social, which I cite a lot in my dissertation. It was reissued by Manchester UP so it should be widely available. It’s accessible, informative, funny, and moving.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

My doctoral dissertation (defended today) analyses folkloric liminality in queer popular romance novels by @kjcharleswriter.com, @ardenpowell.bsky.social, @freyamarske.bsky.social, @leewelchwriter.bsky.social, @emilytesh.net, @sebastiannothwell.bsky.social, and Harper Fox. Link ⬇️

is.muni.cz

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Sacha Coward @sachacoward.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

What's going on with Queer As Folklore? *Deep intake of breath* part 1

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KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 28/04/2025

Re my previous skeet, Boundless (publisher previously known as Unbound) are today soliciting for pledges via email, so if you're on their mailing list, read this before giving them your money.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Ok that’s one dream fulfilled. @sachacoward.bsky.social is as kind and funny in person as he is in his online talks 💚 I even put together several somewhat coherent sentences!

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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

going to organize a conference on ‘livid experience’ and see how many of the submissions notice

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John Terry @johntrterry.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

just blurted out in class "yes, you have to cite where you got your info. in a world in which lying loudly is the only thing that seems to get rewarded, citing your sources is an act of resistance" and folks, I really believe that.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

If only scholarly publications came with a short synopsis of the paper right up front, written by the authors to highlight the important and salient points of the study. We could give it a nifty name, like "abstract".

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Jadzia Axelrod 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @planetx.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

The Molly Houses of 18th century London were not just the gay bars of the era, but also were settings of vast assortment of gender play, including weddings and "mock birth" rituals where patrons would be reborn in identities and family units of their choosing.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 28/10/2024

Me before a three-day weekend (Monday is a national holiday here): oh yes, a long weekend, I can catch up with chores, work on dissertation, AND relax Me today:

media.tenor.com

a man in a suit and tie is holding a brown jacket

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is holding a brown jacket

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 28/10/2024

TMW you read a serious folkloristics essay when suddenly

A footnote: "Because of pronunciation difficulties, Prof. Dr. Newbell Niles Puckett has suggested, in mock seriousness, that the phrase esoteric-exoteric factor be glamorized by terming it the Es-Ex or simply the S-X factor. In like vein, the author admits to no objections to such nicknames.

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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Mary Burchell remains one of the most successful romance writers, ever. Over 110 Mills and Boon books to her name. Less well known is that much of her early writing was done for one purpose: Funding her efforts to get Jews out of Nazi Germany, with her sister. Mary is a Righteous Gentile. /1 🧵

An older lady, with a string of pearls round her neck.

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The Journal of Popular Romance Studies is seeking new members for its editorial team! Like all editorial team roles, these are unpaid volunteer positions. Links to both position adverts can be found on our home page: www.jprstudies.org (1/3)

jprstudies.org

Journal of Popular Romance Studies

The Journal of Popular Romance Studies is an interdisciplinary journal exploring popular romance media and other instances of romantic love in global culture.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 29/09/2024

My review of The Folklore of Devon by Mark Norman has been finally published in Marvels & Tales: digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcont... @folklorepod.bsky.social

digitalcommons.wayne.edu

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 27/02/2024

Monika Markéta Šmídová ( @smidovamm.bsky.social ) reviews *1960s Gay Pulp Fiction: The Misplaced Heritage*, ed. by Drewey Wayne Gunn and Jaime Harker and (among lots of other things) finds romance: www.jprstudies.org/2024/02/revi...

For popular romance scholars, mentions of romance elements in gay pulp novels will be of special interest. Romance was one of the (sub)genres of gay pulp and the happily ever after ending was an important and politically charged element in the development of gay fiction in this particular period. Although there had been some individual novels published before the 1960s, “it was the gay paperback writers of the 1960s who first (and not without considerable risk) truly bridged that gap between frustrated love and the possibility of a long-term commitment. No longer did the characters in the novels of these writers have to be separated by the end of the book through tragedy or cure. ‘Happy ever after’ became a possibility they could choose” (Banis qtd. in Gunn and Harker 232). So it is in this period that gay romance novels recognizable under the modern definition of romance (the focus on the MCs’ romantic relationship and the HEA ending) begin to emerge in substantial quantities.

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It's a new book review day! If you want to know more about gay pulp fiction (and you do), click here to read @smidovamm.bsky.social's review of the book 1960s Gay Pulp Fiction: The Misplaced Heritage, edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn and Jaime Harker www.jprstudies.org/2024/02/revi...

jprstudies.org

Review: 1960s Gay Pulp Fiction: The Misplaced Heritage, ed. by Drewey Wayne Gunn and Jaime Harker – Journal of Popular Romance Studies

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Shelf Love Podcast @shelflove.bsky.social · 22/01/2024

The Data Does Not Exist to Support "Romance is a Billion Dollar Industry" And more importantly, we don't need it to Alt title: RWA's final romance market data report was in 2013. Stop citing RWA to demonstrate the current size of the romance market. #romancebks open.substack.com/pub/shelflov...

open.substack.com

The Data Does Not Exist to Support "Romance is a Billion Dollar Industry"

And, more importantly, we don't need it

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

If you want to have a spotless home, apply for a PhD. What I am supposed to do: research and revise my paper What I have done so far: deepcleaned the fridge, did the dishes, cooked, reorganized bookshelves, took the trash out… 😐

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Shelf Love Podcast @shelflove.bsky.social · 16/12/2023

Buy a gift for a fellow romance novel reader who needs help this season. Find all the wishlists and more information. Romancelandia Holiday Fairies in a mutual aid effort for the romance reader community. shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...

Buy a gift for a fellow romance novel reader who needs help this season. Find all the wishlists and more information. Learn more: bit.ly/holidayfairies Romancelandia Holiday Fairies 2023

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KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 05/12/2023

I see the Guardian's best romance books of 2023 include a book published in 2019, a book about a relationship that very specifically isn't a romance novel, and the groundbreaking new voice Jilly Cooper who also doesn't write romance. Well done, lads, prime effort.

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Anomaly @wolfy.club · 01/12/2023

I do not think this will have the same effect, but if you insist

a text editing blurb, showing 'good girl' corrected to 'satisfactory small woman'
"The noun good girl is perhaps a bit too passe and informal for this context. Consider changing the usage to a synonym that can more vividly convey the meaning you are trying to express."

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Rebecca Romney @rebeccaromney.com · 01/12/2023

Excerpt from a contemporary review of Vincent Virga’s GAYWYCK (1980)—known as the first openly gay gothic romance. Found the clipping in a first edition. The critic, Robert Taylor, pans the book. But his argument is having the opposite effect: my response to it is SIGN ME UP

Single graph from newspaper clipping that reads “In order words, Varga’s new male angle on the formula isn’t all that different from the old male-female slant. I imagine that modernity will now condemn us to other sorts of Gothic novel, the black Gothic, the feminist Gothic, the ecological Gothic, the nuclear or antinuclear Gothic, the rock Gothic and the China Gothic — but no matter how many modernist cliches pepper the stew, the result is always a mysterious housekeeper, a strange extravagant manor, rooks cawing through the twilight, muffled sobs, the clank of chains in the attic.”

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

😍 Do I have the old version? Yes. Did I preorder this one immediately? YOU BET.

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Wendy Sparrow @wendysparrow.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

Do any other authors think about the fact that if we're questioned if a single non-celebrity reader can make a difference in selling an author's book, that a lot of us will bring up Bigolas Dickolas? #Writing #Romancelandia I think of it a lot...and then snicker to myself immaturely.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

I just bought a gift for a friend in need <3 Romancelandia Holiday Fairies is a simple gift drive for the romance community. 1. Friends in need submit a wishlist 2. Fairies swoop in to buy what they can. Every gift makes a difference! all the info & wishlists: bit.ly/holidayfairies #romancelandia

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The Journal of Popular Romance Studies is seeking a new editor for our Notes & Queries section! Interested scholars can read more about the position here: www.jprstudies.org/journal-of-p...

jprstudies.org

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Train is delayed for 45 minutes because of course it is but I’ve got entertainment.

A cover of Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys by Lucy Neville

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Natalie @inkylibrarian.bsky.social · 23/08/2023

Ooo, I get to do my soapbox on Bsky for the first time. Books are not inherently sacred objects. It is okay to recycle books. If they're gross, it's okay to throw them away. You are not a bad person for getting rid of books. Do not try to give your disgusting books to libraries.

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 21/08/2023

I got my new header I c/ommissioned from c.e.chant (portaltohades on twitter). It was originally for twitter but now I can use it here too. I can’t get over how cute my cats look here 🥹❤️

An illustration of a nonbinary white person with short hair and glasses, two tabby cats and a library in the background and flowers and plants in the front.

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Anne O'Reilly @anneoreilly.bsky.social · 21/08/2023

Are you a romance reader? Did you find your reading habits changed during the pandemic? I am an academic librarian researching romance readership before, during, and after the pandemic. Please take my survey! Thank you in advance! www.surveymonkey.com/r/RomancingThe… #Romancelandia

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Viola Smart @smartvpants.bsky.social · 20/08/2023

Sharing again for all the newbies at #romancelandia

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Markéta Šmídová @smidovamm.bsky.social · 16/08/2023

Hello! I'm Markéta Šmídová, a PhD student at the Department of English and American Studies at Masaryk University. My dissertation topic is English Folkloric Liminality in Paranormal and Fantasy Queer Romance Novels. I'm looking forward to connecting with other researchers!

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Eric Selinger @emselinger.bsky.social · 16/08/2023

The Journal of Popular Romance Studies now has a page on Wikipedia--and I have to say, we look pretty spiffy there! One small edit I'm going to suggest: we are indeed often referred to by our initials (JPRS), but if you're in the know, you say it aloud as "Jeepers."

en.wikipedia.org

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