Lucynka
@lucynka.bsky.social
Of the blog “Lucynka Reviews Obscure Bullshit.” Girls don’t want boys, girls want feminist analyses of Cornell Woolrich stories. Currently also reviewing stories from the romance pulps.
lucynka.wordpress.com
Books: lucynka.wordpress.com/en-prise-press/
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Books: lucynka.wordpress.com/en-prise-press/
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Lucynka
@lucynka.bsky.social
· 23d
The Best of All-Story Love: 1929
Amazon.com: The Best of All-Story Love: 1929 eBook : Staron, Lucynka: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
It's here!!! THE BEST OF ALL-STORY LOVE: 1929, a first-of-its-kind anthology of #pulp #romance stories from that magazine's first year. It took long enough, but I'm ever so happy I can bring at least a fraction of this forgotten part of romance history to light. 💕 #romancelandia #booksky📚💙
Reposted by Lucynka
Finished my reading (and live-blogging) of Ellen Hogue's SERENADE (1931). It had some flaws (many of them owing to the publishing culture of the time), but overall I really enjoyed it! If I were to give it a rating it would be a solid 4/5, which is pretty high for me. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Official live-blog thread for Ellen Hogue's Western kidnap romance SERENADE, from 1931. Check out the attached thread (it's a small one) for the full premise and some background. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
And away we go!
And away we go!
November 16, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Finished my reading (and live-blogging) of Ellen Hogue's SERENADE (1931). It had some flaws (many of them owing to the publishing culture of the time), but overall I really enjoyed it! If I were to give it a rating it would be a solid 4/5, which is pretty high for me. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Finished my reading (and live-blogging) of Ellen Hogue's SERENADE (1931). It had some flaws (many of them owing to the publishing culture of the time), but overall I really enjoyed it! If I were to give it a rating it would be a solid 4/5, which is pretty high for me. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Official live-blog thread for Ellen Hogue's Western kidnap romance SERENADE, from 1931. Check out the attached thread (it's a small one) for the full premise and some background. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
And away we go!
And away we go!
November 16, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Finished my reading (and live-blogging) of Ellen Hogue's SERENADE (1931). It had some flaws (many of them owing to the publishing culture of the time), but overall I really enjoyed it! If I were to give it a rating it would be a solid 4/5, which is pretty high for me. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Reposted by Lucynka
In case you missed it: My post on LOVE MIRROR, my new fave #romance magazine. Featuring female characters who dare to have premarital sex and yet still get an HEA. 😱 (Also, upper-class heroes/heroines GTFO.) ❤️ #pulp #romancelandia #toogoodforthisworld
Some may remember me posting about the obscure, short-lived (Nov. 1931 - Apr. 1933) LOVE MIRROR a couple months ago—welp, I've now written a whole post about it!
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Love Mirror: The feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted.
Mixing it up with a post less about a specific story and more about a magazine at large (you may notice that my little-used “Author Spotlight” category has now turned into “Author/Magazine Spotligh…
lucynka.wordpress.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
In case you missed it: My post on LOVE MIRROR, my new fave #romance magazine. Featuring female characters who dare to have premarital sex and yet still get an HEA. 😱 (Also, upper-class heroes/heroines GTFO.) ❤️ #pulp #romancelandia #toogoodforthisworld
Still making my way through this, but just gonna say that I'm of the (potentially controversial?) opinion that if you feel you have to mention the size of the hero's dick (inevitably always huge, never even average), you're actually not that good at writing sex.
It's open access (i.e. free) and focuses on the lack of reality/real-world implications of "prioritizing of penetration" in romance sex scenes, assumptions around arousal and 'wetness', and genital size (in the case of MMC)/tightness (of FMCs).
Between the sheets: physiological sex acts in the contemporary romance novel
Sexual pleasure is a fundamental concern of the romance genre, and while romance novels do prioritize ‘women wanting and getting great sex from partners who know how to deliver’, it is important to...
doi.org
November 15, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Still making my way through this, but just gonna say that I'm of the (potentially controversial?) opinion that if you feel you have to mention the size of the hero's dick (inevitably always huge, never even average), you're actually not that good at writing sex.
In case you missed it: My post on LOVE MIRROR, my new fave #romance magazine. Featuring female characters who dare to have premarital sex and yet still get an HEA. 😱 (Also, upper-class heroes/heroines GTFO.) ❤️ #pulp #romancelandia #toogoodforthisworld
Some may remember me posting about the obscure, short-lived (Nov. 1931 - Apr. 1933) LOVE MIRROR a couple months ago—welp, I've now written a whole post about it!
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Love Mirror: The feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted.
Mixing it up with a post less about a specific story and more about a magazine at large (you may notice that my little-used “Author Spotlight” category has now turned into “Author/Magazine Spotligh…
lucynka.wordpress.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
In case you missed it: My post on LOVE MIRROR, my new fave #romance magazine. Featuring female characters who dare to have premarital sex and yet still get an HEA. 😱 (Also, upper-class heroes/heroines GTFO.) ❤️ #pulp #romancelandia #toogoodforthisworld
Some may remember me posting about the obscure, short-lived (Nov. 1931 - Apr. 1933) LOVE MIRROR a couple months ago—welp, I've now written a whole post about it!
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Love Mirror: The feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted.
Mixing it up with a post less about a specific story and more about a magazine at large (you may notice that my little-used “Author Spotlight” category has now turned into “Author/Magazine Spotligh…
lucynka.wordpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Some may remember me posting about the obscure, short-lived (Nov. 1931 - Apr. 1933) LOVE MIRROR a couple months ago—welp, I've now written a whole post about it!
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
In short, it's the feminist, leftist, Depression-era romance magazine you never knew you wanted. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Blog post on LOVE MIRROR coming soon (perhaps today???).
November 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Blog post on LOVE MIRROR coming soon (perhaps today???).
Official live-blog thread for Ellen Hogue's Western kidnap romance SERENADE, from 1931. Check out the attached thread (it's a small one) for the full premise and some background. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
And away we go!
And away we go!
November 13, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Official live-blog thread for Ellen Hogue's Western kidnap romance SERENADE, from 1931. Check out the attached thread (it's a small one) for the full premise and some background. #pulp #romance #romancelandia
And away we go!
And away we go!
Got my eBay purchase! Ellen Hogue's SERENADE (1931), which was maybe 1st serialized in CUPID'S DIARY in '30, as "Painted Skies"? #pulp #romance
It was listed for $65 (insane), but I got it for $41. Which is still probably overpriced, but it was tolerable and shipping was included.
It apparently…
It was listed for $65 (insane), but I got it for $41. Which is still probably overpriced, but it was tolerable and shipping was included.
It apparently…
November 12, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Lucynka
Did you know Ethel M. Dell was a big influence on Georgette Heyer? Did you know that, while a lot of her shorter fiction was collected, 1929's "The Love Master" wasn't? Did you know it unusually features American* protags? You do now! Find it and more here! 👇 #pulp #romance #romancelandia
The Best of All-Story Love: 1929
Amazon.com: The Best of All-Story Love: 1929 eBook : Staron, Lucynka: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Did you know Ethel M. Dell was a big influence on Georgette Heyer? Did you know that, while a lot of her shorter fiction was collected, 1929's "The Love Master" wasn't? Did you know it unusually features American* protags? You do now! Find it and more here! 👇 #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Did you know Ethel M. Dell was a big influence on Georgette Heyer? Did you know that, while a lot of her shorter fiction was collected, 1929's "The Love Master" wasn't? Did you know it unusually features American* protags? You do now! Find it and more here! 👇 #pulp #romance #romancelandia
The Best of All-Story Love: 1929
Amazon.com: The Best of All-Story Love: 1929 eBook : Staron, Lucynka: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Did you know Ethel M. Dell was a big influence on Georgette Heyer? Did you know that, while a lot of her shorter fiction was collected, 1929's "The Love Master" wasn't? Did you know it unusually features American* protags? You do now! Find it and more here! 👇 #pulp #romance #romancelandia
Reposted by Lucynka
The real problem for Bond is also the problem for Batman, Doctor Who, and dozens of similar characters -- the idea that a melodrama hero must also be a dramatic protagonist. The two roles are fundamentally irreconcilable. I blame George Lucas and Joseph Campbell.
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 PM
The real problem for Bond is also the problem for Batman, Doctor Who, and dozens of similar characters -- the idea that a melodrama hero must also be a dramatic protagonist. The two roles are fundamentally irreconcilable. I blame George Lucas and Joseph Campbell.
Sometimes the ability to craft a practical thing you need/want really is something special, though. #iloseperspectivesometimes
November 11, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Sometimes the ability to craft a practical thing you need/want really is something special, though. #iloseperspectivesometimes
Omg, I can't believe I forgot to bring this back for October/Halloween. #vampires #ghosts #furniture
Wake up, babe, turns out our furniture is not only possessed, but possessed by the ghost of a vampire. 🪑👻🧛
(From MYSTERY MAGAZINE, June 15, 1926.) #pulp
(From MYSTERY MAGAZINE, June 15, 1926.) #pulp
November 10, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Omg, I can't believe I forgot to bring this back for October/Halloween. #vampires #ghosts #furniture
Reposted by Lucynka
Something something, short-form romance fiction used to be the norm before paperbacks (in the US, at least), something something, here's the proof? 😂 #pulp #pulpmagazines
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
November 8, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Something something, short-form romance fiction used to be the norm before paperbacks (in the US, at least), something something, here's the proof? 😂 #pulp #pulpmagazines
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
Sometimes I think there's a connection to be made between the confession stories of old (always written in 1st-person, as opposed to the regular romance pulps which were always in 3rd) and the prevalence of 1st-person in certain parts of the romance genre now, but I'm too lazy to actually do it.
November 9, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Sometimes I think there's a connection to be made between the confession stories of old (always written in 1st-person, as opposed to the regular romance pulps which were always in 3rd) and the prevalence of 1st-person in certain parts of the romance genre now, but I'm too lazy to actually do it.
Reposted by Lucynka
Pulp magazines for sale in NYC, Nov. 1932.
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
November 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Pulp magazines for sale in NYC, Nov. 1932.
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
Reposted by Lucynka
Possibly of interest--
A good long biographical write-up on Jane Gallion, a smut/erotica-writer of the Fifties & Sixties:
andrewnette.substack.com/p/jane-galli...
A good long biographical write-up on Jane Gallion, a smut/erotica-writer of the Fifties & Sixties:
andrewnette.substack.com/p/jane-galli...
November 8, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Possibly of interest--
A good long biographical write-up on Jane Gallion, a smut/erotica-writer of the Fifties & Sixties:
andrewnette.substack.com/p/jane-galli...
A good long biographical write-up on Jane Gallion, a smut/erotica-writer of the Fifties & Sixties:
andrewnette.substack.com/p/jane-galli...
Pulp magazines for sale in NYC, Nov. 1932.
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
November 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Pulp magazines for sale in NYC, Nov. 1932.
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
I can make out the romance mags LOVE STORY, RANCH ROMANCES, BREEZY STORIES (a mild "girly," AKA a "spicy" romance), and SWEETHEART STORIES—along with the romance-adjacent confession mags MODERN ROMANCES, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and MY LOVE STORY. #romancelandia
In other news, I should probably be angry about this totally unnecessary AI summary on Amazon, but it's so bad, I can't help but be amused.
Love the idea of "pre-paperback America" being an official historical romance setting, right up there with, like, "Regency England," pfft.
Love the idea of "pre-paperback America" being an official historical romance setting, right up there with, like, "Regency England," pfft.
November 8, 2025 at 2:32 AM
In other news, I should probably be angry about this totally unnecessary AI summary on Amazon, but it's so bad, I can't help but be amused.
Love the idea of "pre-paperback America" being an official historical romance setting, right up there with, like, "Regency England," pfft.
Love the idea of "pre-paperback America" being an official historical romance setting, right up there with, like, "Regency England," pfft.
Something something, short-form romance fiction used to be the norm before paperbacks (in the US, at least), something something, here's the proof? 😂 #pulp #pulpmagazines
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
November 8, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Something something, short-form romance fiction used to be the norm before paperbacks (in the US, at least), something something, here's the proof? 😂 #pulp #pulpmagazines
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
Seriously, though, a fun listen, and a good, refreshing defense of the short story/novelette format in the genre! 💕
This is really good, even if you aren't affiliated with teaching in any way.
Joseph Crawford 's written an open access essay which addresses ethical issues he's considered while teaching a course about romantic fiction.
‘I'm Alright, It's Just so Horrible’: Teaching Romance Fictions, Pre‐ and Post‐#MeToo
This article discusses the author’s experiences of teaching the history of romance fiction to undergraduate students from 2013 to 2024, with a particular emphasis on changing approaches to teaching r...
compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 PM
This is really good, even if you aren't affiliated with teaching in any way.
Nothing like haggling with ebay sellers over an extremely overpriced item.
They seem to be in the midst of deliberating my final offer. 🤞
They seem to be in the midst of deliberating my final offer. 🤞
November 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Nothing like haggling with ebay sellers over an extremely overpriced item.
They seem to be in the midst of deliberating my final offer. 🤞
They seem to be in the midst of deliberating my final offer. 🤞
Reposted by Lucynka
This may be of interest:
"Empowering Voices: The Influence of Old Norse Mythology on Women’s Writing from 1950-2012"
The chosen authors to examine are Sylvia Plath, A.S. Byatt, and Kathleen Jamie.
ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
"Empowering Voices: The Influence of Old Norse Mythology on Women’s Writing from 1950-2012"
The chosen authors to examine are Sylvia Plath, A.S. Byatt, and Kathleen Jamie.
ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
November 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
This may be of interest:
"Empowering Voices: The Influence of Old Norse Mythology on Women’s Writing from 1950-2012"
The chosen authors to examine are Sylvia Plath, A.S. Byatt, and Kathleen Jamie.
ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
"Empowering Voices: The Influence of Old Norse Mythology on Women’s Writing from 1950-2012"
The chosen authors to examine are Sylvia Plath, A.S. Byatt, and Kathleen Jamie.
ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...