Category Archives: Extras

Episode 211.5 – BONUS – Inn BoonsBoro

 

Thanks to our wonderful Patreon Patrons, we recently traveled to Nora Roberts’ bed and breakfast in Maryland, Inn BoonsBoro, along with our Resident Nora Roberts Expert, Christine, and Resident Robe Expert, Nicole! Please enjoy this bonus episode where the four of us talk about our luxurious weekend stay, debate the content of a dolphin massage, and fail to accurately describe the size of a pretzel.

Footnotes: Romancing The Shelf: Our Trip to BoonsBoro!

Inn BoonsBoro

Gifts Inn BoonsBoro

Ghost-scented lotion!

Bespoke tea blends!

Dan’s Restaurant and Taproom

Renata’s Instagram Post

Big Pretzel:

Coming up next: The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts.

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Virtual Live Show Announcement 2022

Get Out Of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis

Announcement: On Thursday, April 14th at 8PM Eastern, we’ll be doing a virtual live show presented by Porter Square Books! Our very special guest Margaret H. Willison will join us to discuss Get Out Of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis (aka the man whose divorce was washed by Rachel Hollis). The event is free and will be recorded and archived if you can’t make it on the 14th.

Register here!

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Virtual Live Show Announcement

Didn't See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

Announcement: On Wednesday, March 31st at 8PM Eastern, we’ll be doing a virtual live show presented by Porter Square Books! Our very special guest Margaret H. Willison will join us to discuss Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis (aka Girl, Wash Your Divorce). The event is free and will be recorded and archived if you can’t make it on the 31st.

Register here!

 

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Flashback Summer Featuring…You?

Hi Best Listeners!

We’re coming up on another Flashback Summer, where we revisit the books of our childhood with a (generally) fondly nostalgic eye. We’re also coming up on our 150th episode, which we’d like to mark by inviting all of our lovely listeners to join us for a Flashback Summer party. Here’s how:

  • Record yourself telling us your name, where you’re from, a little something about your favorite book from childhood, whether it’s something ubiquitous like the Babysitters Club or something more obscure. You can give a plot summary or just tell us about a favorite character or moment that stuck with you. Try to keep it short, 1-2 minutes. You can use the voice memo app on your phone, recording software on your computer–whatever you’re comfortable with!
  • For bonus points, please tell us a candy pairing for your book, whether it’s your childhood favorite or something that somehow encapsulates the spirit of your book.
  • Email this audio file to worstbestsellers at gmail dot com with the subject line “Flashback Summer.” If it’s too big to be attached to an email, you can upload it to Dropbox or GoogleDrive and send us that link (just make sure you give us permission to download it!).
  • Try to make your recording as clear as possible–if it’s too hard to hear, we might not be able to include it in the episode. We’d like to include as many as we can!
  • Send these in by Monday, May 4th, 2020.

 

To make this a little more interesting, your Flashback Summer voice memo will also serve as an entry into a prize raffle. We’ll send out some books and candy to a few randomly selected Flashbackers!

If you have any questions also feel free to email us or reach out on social media. 

Thanks for joining us for 145 episodes (so far)!

 

Love,

Kait, Renata, and Duarte

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The Worst Bestsellers LIVE!

In case you missed our many posts on social media, we’re going to be returning to Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boston to record another LIVE episode of The Worst Bestsellers! We’ll be reading Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice, joined by Meredith Goldstein, whom you may know from Boston Globe‘s “Love Letters” column/podcast, her two books, Chemistry Lessons and Can’t Help Myself, or her appearance discussing the Horny Fairies Books here on our show. We’ll be discussing the book, playing games, giving away some prizes, and deciding how Wolverine and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson can improve the story.

The show is one week from today, Thursday, April 18th at 7pm. Trident is located at 338 Newbury St in Boston, easily accessible from the Hynes Convention Center T stop (as much as anything is easily accessible from the T, am I right??). There’s also metered street parking and a smattering of garages in the area if you’d rather attempt Boston traffic.

The event is unticketed and FREE, and there will be full food/drink service during, so make an evening of it and grab dinner or a drink while you’re there! You can RSVP to the Facebook event here (though it’s not required) or check out some more details on Trident’s website. Hope to see you there!

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Bygone Badass Broads Giveaway!

If you were not aware, the greater Boston area is lucky enough to be home to a whole gaggle of awesome independent bookstores. While we try not to play favorites, it’s hard to deny that Trident Booksellers and Cafe on Newbury Street in Boston holds a special place in our hearts–it was the location of our first live show, after all!

Renata, Margaret Willison, and Kait at our Trident live show last March

Last week, a small fire broke out at Trident on Wednesday night. While, luckily, no one was hurt, the store and its inventory suffered a lot of property and water damage. They’re closed until further notice.

Yikes 🙁 (courtesy of the Trident newsletter)

It’s no secret that independent bookstores like Trident are an endangered species in the Amazon Prime economy, so being out of commission like this could be disastrous. Luckily, they’re still taking online orders and selling giftcards (which can be used online!) while their brick and mortar store is temporarily closed. SO, as an incentive for you to spend some $$$ there, we’re holding a giveaway!

Friend of the show Mackenzi Lee (as heard on Episode 86 – The Amorous Intrigues and Adventures of Aaron Burr), who works at Trident, is hitting the road to promote her new book, Bygone Badass Broadsand she’s taking some great swag with her, like enamel pins showcasing some of the awesome ladies of the past. We’ve gotten our hands on one of them and we’re raffling it off in support of Trident!

Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse in WWII who used her position to help save thousands of children from the Warsaw Ghetto (photo by Mackenzi Lee)

All you have to do is buy something from Trident’s online store, including giftcards, and forward us a proof of purchase to worstbestsellers(at)gmail.com. Everyone who does will be entered into a drawing (powered by RandomPicker.com) for this awesome pin AND even if you don’t get chosen for the pin, we’ll send you a Worst Bestsellers-themed postcard! It doesn’t have to be a specific price or item, BUT if you would like to double dip, Mackenzi is also offering an incentive for shopping at Trident right now–if you buy a giftcard for $18 to pre-order The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, she’ll send you an exclusive short story from the world of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue! (Instructions here.)

In short:

  1. Order a book or a giftcard from Trident Books.
  2. Send us proof of your order by Sunday, March 25, including your mailing address. (International addresses are fine!)
  3. We will send you a cool Worst Bestsellers postcard and you’ll be entered to win the Irena Sendler pin!

If you’re one of our Patreon patrons (at any level), be sure to let us know in your email, and we’ll give you double raffle entries!

We’ll announce the winner here on the website on Monday, March 26 when we put up that Monday’s podcast episode.

Not sure what to buy? Here are some of Kait and Renata’s favorite books they read in 2017 (as discussed here and here) for some inspiration:

Continue reading

Filed under Extras

Worst Disaster Relief

As you’re no doubt aware, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the need for aid is dire. Every little bit we can give helps. Team Worst Bestsellers (Renata, Kait, and Becca) gave all of October’s Patreon earnings ($266.22) to the Hispanic Foundation’s Unidos Hurricane Relief Fund. Thanks to our Patreon patrons for making this possible!

Hurricane Relief donationof $266.22

We know many of our listeners have already donated too, or are planning to when they can. So, inspired by works like the Pub for PR auction, we’d like to give back to you all as well.

If you’ve donated any amount to any kind of hurricane relief effort (if you’re not sure where to donate, we recommend Celeste Pewter’s list of organizations), email proof (screencap, forwarded receipt, or whatever) to worstbestsellers at gmail dot com with the subject line “Hurricane Relief”, and we’ll enter you in a raffle (powered by Random Picker) to win a Worst Bestsellers prize package inspired by our upcoming episode about Lizzie Borden by Elizabeth Engstrom including:

Assorted Lizzie Borden postcards and magnets"I slept at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast" magnet

  • an “I Slept at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast” magnet
  • a Lizzie Borden postcard of your choice from Kait & Renata
  • a candy pairing of your choice
  • a $20 Amazon gift certificate (so you can buy yourself a copy of Lizzie Borden…or any other book of your choice)

We’ll also send Lizzie Borden postcards to 5 runners up. This offer is open to international listeners. American listeners can get 2 entries if they also call an elected official to request federal aid for Puerto Rico (we recommend Celeste Pewter’s scripts) and mention that in their email to us.

We’ll accept entries from Monday October 2nd-Monday October 9th, 2017, and will announce our winners on Tuesday, October 10th. (Donations may have been made prior to October 2nd to be eligible for our raffle, but should be after September 20th.)

Our thoughts are with Puerto Rico, as well as everyone else affected by the recent natural disasters. We’re proud to be part of a community that gives back.

 

Update 10/10/17: We’ve drawn our winners! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed, and congratulations to:

Prize Winner
1: Lizzie Borden prize pack Alan Y.
2: Lizzie Borden postcard Ben S.
2: Lizzie Borden postcard Devin M.
2: Lizzie Borden postcard Melinda B.
2: Lizzie Borden postcard Trina M.
2: Lizzie Borden postcard Danielle W.

 

 

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Join Us For A Live Event on June 20th!

Talking Point at the Freepoint Hotel

Please join us for a live event on Tuesday, June 20th at 7pm at the Freepoint Hotel in Cambridge, MA! We’ll be in conversation with Meredith Goldstein from the Boston Globe, recording a special live episode where we’ll discuss our podcast process, play some rounds of our favorite games, share some of our most memorable dramatic readings, and answer questions!

The event is free, but please RSVP on EventBrite or by emailing talkingpoint at freepointhotel.com by June 15th!

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Looking for a Rock, Paper, Snikt! logo artist!

Hello, best listeners!

As you may be aware, one of our Patreon goals is to have someone create a logo for “The Rock, Paper, Snikt!” that we could potentially offer on merchandise, etc. As we’ve recently hit that milestone, we’re starting to put out feelers to find an artist to commission for that logo. The graphic designer we’re working with for some other logo work suggested reaching out to the fan artist community to see if anyone would be interested in working with us on this, as a fan artist might make for a more dynamic logo given the subject matter.

That’s where you come in! If you would be interested in potentially taking on this paying gig, please send a link to your portfolio to worstbestsellers@gmail.com with the subject link “Rock, Paper, Snikt!” We’ll take a look at people’s portfolios in the next week or so and get back to you soon. We’re pretty flexible–we don’t have a solid idea for this logo in mind and we’re definitely interested to hear what you think.

As always, thanks for listening, and feel free to pass this on to your friends!

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Live Show TONIGHT at Trident Booksellers!

Hey, you probably heard about this since we’ve been yelling about it on social media everywhere, but just in case you didn’t…we’re recording a live show TODAY, March 9th, at 7pm at Trident Booksellers & Cafe in Boston! We’ll be discussing The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks with returning guest Margaret H. Willison. It’s a free, unticketed event and we hope you can make it! (If you can’t: don’t fret, we’ll post the recording to our podcast feed.)

The Notebook

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