Ep 62: Camp NaNoWriMo 2022

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Ep 62: Camp NaNoWriMo 2022
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April is one of the Camp NaNoWriMo months (July being the other). And every year when Liz decides she wants to do this, she totally messes it up.

Join Liz and special guest co-host Sarah Estep as we discuss what we were working on for Camp NaNoWriMo and how quickly we realized it wasn’t working out so great.

We also talk about our sci-fi romance obsession, Ruby Dixon and one of her new releases, The Half-Orc’s Maiden Bride.

You can find Sarah on Twitter and Instagram and all other social media platforms by searching @RemarkablySarah

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

Episode 59: NaNoWriMo 2021

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 59: NaNoWriMo 2021
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Hello friends! We meant to release this episode last week but… life… and NaNoWriMo. Stephanie and Liz both participated in National Novel Writing Month again. For those not familiar, NaNoWriMo is when writers from all over spend the month of November writing 50,000 words.

We recorded this episode about halfway through the month so we discuss what we were working on and how it was going. Join us in our misery and successes!

Since recording this, both of us hit our goal, which is super exciting!

Books Mentioned:

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

If The Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

Dick of the Week is a proud member of CalamityCast Network.

Episode 57: Heat Levels and Banging Books

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 57: Heat Levels and Banging Books
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Hello everyone! Stephanie and Liz are back with a new episode of Dick of the Week! This time we discussed the utterly confusing scale of heat levels for romance novels. No heat, sweet, “clean”, low heat, medium heat, high heat, spicy, steamy, erotic- what does it all mean?!

We… apparently still have no idea and neither does anyone else. So let’s chat about it! We also spent time discussing the new Twitter account HEA_DoesItBang.

Books/authors We Talk About:

Various books by Beverly Jenkins

Ruby Dixon

Dick of the Week is hosted and created by Liz Zerkel and Stephanie Kazowz and is proud to be part of the CalamityCast Network.

Episode 53: Naughty Books

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 53: Naughty Books
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Hello friends and lovers! Stephanie and Liz are back with another episode of Dick of the Week. This week we discussed the 2020 documentary “Naughty Books” directed by Austen Rachlis. It is currently available on Hulu if you want to watch it, also. This documentary follows three successful high heat/erotic romance indie authors. It not only shows the high moments but also the stress and struggled that come with tasting success and trying to keep it.

Books We Talked About:

Dick of the Week is made by Liz Zerkel and Stephanie Kazowz and is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

Episode 52: Author Spotlight- Meika Usher

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 52: Author Spotlight- Meika Usher
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Stephanie and Liz are back with another episode of Dick of the Week. This week we decided to do something a little different. We picked an author we love and have read all of her books and decided to do a deep dive into them. We picked Meika Usher, a very funny contemporary romance author. If you love humor, snark, and sexiness, you will love her. We discuss her four books (The Breakaway series and the How You Get The Girl series) and how the familial relationships in her books are nearly as important as the romantic ones. We look at tropes like best friend’s sibling/sibling’s best friend and how that trope can be done in really fun and interesting ways.

Check out Meika Usher’s website for more information on her books and how to find her on social media.

Books Talked About:

  • Meika Usher’s Breakaway series (Something So Sweet, Goodnight & Go, Ready to Run) and How To Get The Girl series (Make A Move)
  • Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan
  • Her Halloween Candy (Men At Work series) by Tiffany Reisz
  • Daring and the Duke by Sarah Maclean
  • Too Far To Care by Jen Luerssen

Dick of the Week is hosted by Stephanie Kazowz and Liz Zerkel and is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

Episode 51: I Burn For You

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 51: I Burn For You
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Stephanie is back for the first episode of 2021! She and Liz discuss what’s been going on with them recently, their writing plans for the year, and the ever popular Bridgerton. They talk about both the book and Julia Quinn’s first book in the series, The Duke and I.

CW/TW: talk about rape and lack of consent regarding that scene in Bridgerton/The Duke and I.

Books Mentioned:

Not the Marrying Kind by Kathryn Nolan

Crazy, Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network. Click the link to find this and other great shows! Support this show and the rest of the network by becoming a patron on our Patreon. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @lnlsmutcast.

Episode 45.5: Dickin’ Around With Liz: Romance For All

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Dick of the Week
Episode 45.5: Dickin' Around With Liz: Romance For All
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Dick of the Week Episode 45.5–Dickin’ Around With Liz: Romance for All

Hello everyone! In this episode of Dick of the Week, Liz is flying solo, so you know what that means! Time for everyone’s favorite mini dick, Dickin’ Around With Liz! In this episode Liz answers some questions that listeners and fellow podcasters sent her, but the main topic she tackles is do men read romance and what books are good places for men to start with if they want to get into reading romance. 

Thank you to Ben Mooney of the Ring My Bell podcast for his question. A special thank you to Christina Mitchell, Meika Usher, and Erin King for their book recommendations for men wanting to get into the romance genre.

Books & Articles Mentioned:

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Real Fake Love by Pippa Grant

Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

Ready to Run by Meika Usher

Men Reading Romance by Mason Sabre

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

Episode 44: Wonderful Women

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 44: Wonderful Women
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Dick of the Week Episode 44, Wonderful Women

Liz and Stephanie realized in all the times we have discussed what we like in a male hero, we have never discussed what we love about the women main characters. So, we asked fellow writer friends what issues they’ve had with female leads they’ve loved with reader’s speaking out against them. We also asked what do you love to write for your women. We looked into our own likes and preferences.

Enjoy this episode of just female power. 💜

Books and authors mentioned:

Christina C Jones

When Harry Met Harry by Sydney Smyth

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson

Episode 43: Are You Lost Baby Girl?

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 43: Are You Lost Baby Girl?
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Dick of the Week Episode 43: Are You Lost Baby Girl?

If you’ve been on the internet much at all the last few weeks then the title of this episode should give away what we are discussing this week. In case you’ve somehow missed it though, this is an incredibly creepy line from the… hit(?) Netflix movie, 365 Days.

Buckle up, friends. This is going to a wild and angry ride as Stephanie and Liz discuss whatever the hell that movie based on a Polish erotica romance novel was. Let us know if you’ve also watched the movie and what your thoughts on it are, because (spoilers) we did NOT like it at all.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

Cheesy on the Eyes by Teagan Hunter

Getting Schooled by Christina C. Jones

Episode 42: Our Friend Chuck

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Episode 42: Our Friend Chuck
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Hello there dear friends! Liz and Stephanie are back with a full length episode of Dick of the Week! Stephanie shares some exciting life news before the two of us jump into a topic we have been wanting to do for awhile now: the man, the myth, the erotica writer- CHUCK TINGLE!

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Small Town Protector series by Piper Sullivan

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network. Find more content at Calamitycast.com.

DotW: Dickin’ Around with Liz V 4: AMA

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Dickin' Around with Liz V 4: AMA
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Hey there listeners, Liz is coming at you with another episode of our podcast within a podcast, Dickin’ Around With Liz! That’s right, it is time for another mini-dick or micropenis.

This week Liz asked social media to give her questions about really anything romance related (or not) for her to answer.

Thank you to everyone who posted a question for her. A special thank you to Ian McGowan who wrote the song that plays during the sex scene question. For those who are unaware, he wrote all the music for season 1 of Love & Lust and that song was a common sexy time song. You can find him on Twitter at Eazy_breezy_mac.

Books Mentioned:

Liar Liar Heart on Fire by Pippa Grant

Porn Star by Laurelin Paige & Sierra Simone

We are proud members of the CalamityCast Network!

DotW: Dickin’ Around With Liz V. 3: Quarantine Edition

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Dickin' Around With Liz V. 3: Quarantine Edition
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Dick of the Week Episode 40.5

Hello dear friends! It has been a hot minute, and for that we are sorry. Things have been wild. We hope you are holding up.

In this mini episode Liz talks about how she has been handling social distancing and working from home and what that means in terms of creativity.

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

DotW- Love Between the Covers

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW- Love Between the Covers
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Hello listeners!

Stephanie and Liz decided to watch a documentary from 2015 called “Love Between the Covers” by Laurie Kahn-Leavitt. This film offers a glimpse into the world of romance readers and writers and what makes it so different from other book communities.

We had a lot of thoughts and feelings- especially viewing this movie through the lens of 2020 and everything that has been going on in the RWA (see two episodes ago on that)- about the documentary so buckle up, friends, this is a longer than normal episode.

Love Between the Covers is streaming on Amazon Prime and we definitely recommend it to folks who already love the romance genre and from those who want to learn more.

Books We Mention:

The Blue Beech Series by Charity Ferrell (Just a Fling is book 1)

Doughn’t Let Me Go (book 3 of the Slice series) by Teagan Hunter

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network.

DotW: Speaking of C*ck…

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Speaking of C*ck...
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Dick of the Week Episode 35: Speaking of Cock

Y’ALL are you even READY for this!? This episode, Liz travels all the way up to Michigan to meet up with four (well, actually more than that but in this episode there are four) romance writers for a writers’ retreat in a cabin in the woods. Oh, and she had never met these people in real life ever before.

Sounds like the set up for a murder mystery instead of a weekend of romance writing, right?

Thankfully she survived with audio evidence of the shenanigans.

Special Guests-

Meika Usher: Website here, facebook reader group here

Christina Mitchell: Website here, facebook reader group here

Erin King: UnabashedlyErin on IG and Twitter (Stay up-to-date on writing and podcasting)

Victoria Solomon: Victoriamsoloman on IG (oh em gee so much beautiful art!)

DotW: Ponies Don’t Write: NaNoWriMo 2019

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Ponies Don't Write: NaNoWriMo 2019
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It is November dear friends. This means Liz and Stephanie, along with thousands of other writers around the world are participating in National Novel Writing Month- or NaNoWriMo.

In this episode we talk about how it is going ao far, what project(s) we are working on, and what we hope to accomplish this month and beyond.

Are you a NaNo-er? Hit us up on twitter @lnlsmutcast and tell us how it is going for you! Got any questions for us? Throw them our way!

Books/Series in this Episode:

The Smart Jock Series by Rebecca Jenshak

The Wedding Date Bargain by Mira Lyn Kelly

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network!

DotW: Oops, We Broke the Rules

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Oops, We Broke the Rules
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Dick of the Week episode 33: Oops, We Broke the Rules.

Stephanie and Liz did a thing. They got together and watched the movie After, based on the book by Anna Todd by the same name. And drank wine. And then recorded about it.

If you listen to us, you know pretty much the only rule is we don’t talk shit on other romance writers or their books (unless they did something absolutely horrible, see #cocktgate). We just don’t mention the books that we have read that disappointed us in one way or another and move on.

But friends.

We just couldn’t help ourselves on this one. But let it be clear that we are not trash talking Ms. Todd. We are sure she is a lovely human. But we sure has hell will be trash talking these characters and this horrible movie.

If you loved the book or the movie, maybe skip this episode and catch us next time? But otherwise buckle up, yo. This one gets wild.

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network!

DotW Presents: A Choosable Romance (Gold Digger Path part 2)

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW Presents: A Choosable Romance (Gold Digger Path part 2)
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Dick of the Week Episode 31

Hello there listeners!

Today we embark once again on the romance adventure that is My Lady’s Choosing. This is part 2 of this particular timeline, so I suggest listening to part 1 first, if you haven’t. That being said, Liz does a recap of what happened there, so you should be fine either way.

Stephanie and Liz are joined behind the mic by the ever hilarious, utterly talented, local comedian (amongst other things) Amy Milton!

This time we get to decide if we are staying in London to help good ol Benny with his family drama or if we are saying, see ya later sucker! And jetting (or, well, boating) off to Egypt.

My Lady’s Choosing is written by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris.

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network! Check out other great shows at www.calamitycast.com

Dicklaration of Purpose

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
Dicklaration of Purpose
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Dick of the Week Episode 30:

Hello there listeners! Stephanie and Liz had a totally different plan and topic for today’s episode… and then we got behind the mic and something totally different happened.

More or less our own little State of the Union… State of the Dick? Our… Dicklaration of Purpose? Yeah, let’s go with that!

Oops?

We’re not mad about it. This ended up just us chatting about the current state of our books (big news from both of us!) And other books we want to work on and what we are enjoying right now and how both of us are struggling with finding books to read right now.

Books/Authors Mentioned:

Pippa Grant

Fired Up by Riley Hart

DotW: Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater
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Dick of the Week episode 27

Hello! Stephanie and Liz are back to discuss what our breaking point is with books. What makes us give up, put it down, and walk away (most likely angrily)?

Poor writing skills? Unlikable heroes? Story arcs with no redemption? Sure all of that is part of it, but the big no-no is when partners cheat on each other.

Books and Authors Mentioned:

A Pizza My Heart by Teagan Hunter

Level Up by Cathy Yardley

Put a Ring On It series by Maria Luis

Dick of the Week is a proud member of the CalamityCast Network!

DotW: Get Hard, Go Punk

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Get Hard, Go Punk
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Dick of the Week Episode 25

Hey there listeners! This week Stephanie and Liz do their first ever Author Spotlight! We chat for awhile about Christina Mitchell, a Romance author from Michigan who just had her debut book drop. Her book “How to Stay” blew our minds, so we talk about it for awhile. We hope it convinces you to go buy it.

We also discuss our current solo writing projects and where we are with them and what still needs to occur. This leads to discussions of how being an Indie Author is not for the lazy. It is HARD work to be in charge of everything you’re doing.

And finally, we announce what season 2 of Love & Lust will be! YES!

Authors and Books Mentioned:

Heather Novak- Edie’s Automotive Guide Series

Christina Mitchell- How to Stay

DotW: Drunk in Love

Dick of the Week
Dick of the Week
DotW: Drunk in Love







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Episode 12: Drunk in Love

In this week’s episode we mix things up with our very first guest! Unfortunately Stephanie and Duchess were not available to record, so Liz invited her friend Clare to join her. Clare is both an avid romance reader and an experienced local bartender, with a focus in Whisk(e)y.

The two gals sit back and discuss the use of alcohol in romance novels. Alcohol choices are vastly different depending on the time period and genre of romance. They then discuss how drink choice can be utilized to give greater insight into character traits.

Books and Authors Mentioned:

Steampunk London series by Bec McMaster

Laurell K Hamilton

Sinful Brides series Christi Caldwell (books and audiobooks available on Kindle Unlimited!)

Wild Dancer series Iris Johansen

You can find Clare on Instagram @adram_aday

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode! Dick of the Week was created by Stephanie Kazowz, Duchess, and Liz Zerkel. You can find this show and others at calamitycast.com