Harper Panter - Podcast Details

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Salon Confessions PodcastHarper’s [Old and Blue Again] and Retail Therapy is Not Allowed (FFS!)Welcome to the Season 3 Finale of Salon Confessions Podcast! This episode is the last episode in our Season 3 lineup before we take a break for a few weeks to get ready for Season 4. We have explored a lot of ground this season: S3-E1: Jen & Harper share our words of the year S3-E2: A Man's Take on Midlife Dating with special guest Michael S3-E3-4: Perimenopause BS S3-E5: Travel S3-E6: Jen finally teaches us about Nail Care S3-E7: Belly Laughing ab...2024-05-1058 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 26 – A conversation with recent alumni: Alex Aleksandrov, Arman Rahman, & Nick WenzelRecent Harper College alumni join Harper Talks for a conversation on why they chose Harper, their educational experiences as students, and where they landed in their careers. Alex Alexandrov (‘20) talks of the rigor of Harper’s Nursing program, the impact of scholarships, and her job as a registered nursing working with heart patients. Arman Rahman (‘16) talks about his time on the Harper Speech Team, finding his way to broadcast journalism, and his career as Reporter at WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin. Finally, Nick Wenzel (‘17)talks about how chance meetings led to a campus internship that was a launchpad for his career i...2023-02-2832 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#136: Harper and Her Mrs Reveal a Massive Plot Twist The writing of Harper’s current work-in-progress is going very slowly. There will be a lot of drama before it’s done. Harper has revealed her fantasy casting for A Family Affair on her blog. And we’ve received the audio recordings from Abby Craden, so it’ll be available to listen to very soon. We binged The Dropout on Hulu. Amanda Seyfried should get an Emmy for her performance. Caroline’s book is The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper. Harper would like to read it, but is still stuck in Ken Follett. Tune in again next time for a new episode...2022-09-0135 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#135: Harper Guarantees a Happy Ending for the Women A Family Affair has had a great launch, so thank you to everybody who bought it or read it in Kindle Unlimited. We’re doing a lucky draw, and you can win a signed paperback book, or naming rights for a future book. All details can be found HERE >> Harper started on her next book after a two month break, which is her longest hiatus so far. It’s a new age-gap romance in the ever expanding BlissVerse. We’ve been watching too much Premier League football. In between matches, we binged A League of Their Own on Amazon. Harper loved it b...2022-08-2542 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#134: Harper Was Robin WrongHarper’s newest book, A Family Affair is out on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered, bought or borrowed it! And the German translation of This Foreign Affair, Eine Französin zum Küssen is out today as well! Harper is preparing to start writing her next book, but she hasn’t even told Caroline anything about it yet. We finished Better Things and we already miss it so much. We binged Belgian show Pandore, but really hope that the upcoming second season will deliver on the comeuppance of a certain character. Harper doesn’t understand why everybody (m...2022-08-1833 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#132: Harper Thinks the Neighbouring Roosters Suffer from Toxic MasculinityHarper is enjoying once-a-year flow in the writing of her new book and all she wants to do is write. The audio of The Duet is back from Abby Craden, so it will be out soon! Caroline is working on our first foreign language publication, oui oui! We haven’t watched as much television as usual because we’ve been enjoying the nice weather in our garden. And Amazon was late putting on the latest Bosch episodes, which pissed Harper off. Tune in again next time for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch with us with yo...2022-05-1934 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#131: Harper Is Quite Cranky The Duet launched without a glitch and even made it to number one in the Amazon lesbian fiction chart, so thanks to everyone who bought it! Harper has gone back to writing what she calls her most scandalous book yet. But she feels taking a longer break between books is beneficial to her writing. Once in a Lifetime was mentioned in a Masterclass blog post, which means Harper is mainstream. We’re really enjoying Bosch Legacy, even though it’s on a weekly release schedule. We’re also watching The Staircase. This week’s book recommendation is from Harper: Lessons in Chemistry b...2022-05-1137 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#130: Harper Feels Like Her Soul Has Come Home We’re back after our moving-to-the-country hiatus. Turns out, we love living outside the city. Except maybe for the lack of food delivery services. Harper has a new book out! The Duet, a rock-star age-gap romance, is available now HERE. And the audiobook of And The She Kissed Me is out as well. Lots of television was watched during our break. We even had to resubscribe to AppleTv+. Harper was blown away by Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, while Caroline’s book recommendation this week is Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Tune in again next time for a new epis...2022-05-0441 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 18: Shannon PlateHarper Alumna Shannon Plate, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), joins Harper Talks for a discussion about returning to Harper as an adult student and her successes as a practicing clinician and author. Plate graduated from Harper College in 1999 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010. She received the Motorola Award for Excellence and was a medalist in national competitions on the Speech Team during her time at Harper.2022-03-0336 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#127: Harper Has Been Punching Her Bag All Day Today is launch day for And Then She Kissed Me! Not the joyous occasion we were hoping for because of an Amazon sales rank issue, so Harper is on a bit of a rant, but she’s been able to work out her anger on her punching bag. In any case, it’s a feel-good celebrity romance, which you can get HERE. We binged the hilarious Starstruck in one evening. We’re also enjoying The Responder on the BBC, despite our dislike for Martin Freeman. Caroline’s book of the week is, of course, And Then She Kissed Me by Harper Blis...2022-01-2725 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#126: Harper Needs to Be Buttered UpHarper is stressing out this week because of the upcoming launch of And Then She Kissed Me, which is available for pre-order from the Harper Bliss web shop. To get in the mood, you can read Harper’s novella I Still Remember for free for a limited time. Because of the launch stress, she’s had to take a break in the writing of her next book. She has also reunited with her favourite fitness instructor, Robin. Harper greatly enjoyed Land, the movie directed by and starring Robin Wright. We also watched Promising Young Woman and The Lost Daughter and loved...2022-01-2034 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#125: Harper Is Completely Smitten (with a puppy)We’re back for a new year of neither professional nor profound podcasting. Harper is working on a new book, but she’s finding it hard to get into flow because of moving and launch stress. And Then She Kissed Me will be out in two weeks! Over the break we watched some stuff on Netflix: Stay Close (bingeworthy, with impressive houseporn); The Hand of God (beautiful and enjoyable); and Don’t Look Up (entertaining and with a great Meryl Streep). We also watched Love/Life on HBO Max, which we loved. And we’ve rediscovered The Closer. Caroline’s boo...2022-01-1334 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#121: Harper Has a Bliss-mas Surprise! In this (probably) last episode of 2021, Harper has a surprise announcement: she wrote a sequel to In the Distance There Is Light, a novella called The Light Between Us, available here. Its working title was In the Distance There Is Drama. There is also a Deluxe version of In the Distance There Is Light which includes both the original novel and the sequel. Harper’s writing retreat is on hold because our lives are as dramatic as a Harper Bliss novel at the moment. In entertainment news, we discuss And Just Like That, Manhunt and Harlem. Tune in again next time...2021-12-1624 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#120: Harper’s Bandwidth Is Like Dial-up On this episode Harper’s Mrs is a bit loopy because of a painful back. Harper finished writing a short story and is ready to go on her next writing retreat. She watched a LGBTQ romance panel online and was appalled by how they talked about lesbian romance. We saw a great show on BritBox: The Tower, a three-part thriller starring Gemma Whelan. We also enjoyed Netflix’s gay Christmas rom-com Single All the Way. Caroline’s book this week is 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard, a psychological thriller set at the start of the pandemic. Tune in again next time for...2021-12-0934 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#119: Harper Is 10 Months Pregnant With Idea We record this on the first day of snow of the year! The big news of the day is that That Woman Next Door is now available on Audible! And Then She Kissed Me is at the editor’s and with some beta-readers, one of whom already finished it. Harper is ready to start writing her next book, but she has to write a short story first. We have some translation news, both in Portuguese and French. If you’re looking for a Christmas themed read, why not try Life in Bits, which Harper co-wrote with T.B. Markinson. We’ve been...2021-12-0232 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#118: Harper Cracked the Flow Code Happy Thanksgiving to our American listeners! Harper is about to send her editor the manuscript of her next book, And Then She Kissed Me, which will be out at the end of January. Not a lot of publishing news this week, because we’ve been very preoccupied with maybe buying a house. We watched all six episodes of Annika, a Scottish scandi noir with a humorous touch. We enjoyed it very much, especially Nicola Walker. Caroline’s book this week is The Thing About Clare by Imogen Clark, about a family called Bliss! Tune in again next time for a new epi...2021-11-2533 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#117: Harper Has Many ThoughtsWe’re back after an extended break! But we’ve been busy during the break: Harper wrote a book which will be called And Then She Kissed Me; we published the audio of That Woman Next Door; and we published an age-gap boxset, The Power of Love. Of course, we’ve watched a lot of television since our last podcast episode. We enjoyed The L Word Gen Q, but it is not without its issues. We loved Work in Progress. Harper has been rewatching Californication, which she’s enjoying, but in this day and age it is quite problematic. Our tv highli...2021-11-1842 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 13: Genevieve Frey MoylanAssistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton speaks with Genevieve Frey Moylan, who is a graduate of the Harper Nursing Program and is currently the Director of the Cardiac Care Unit of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Illinois. Moylan has a Master of Science in Nursing and is both a Registered Nurse and a Certified Pediatric Nurse. Moylan began her journey at Harper College in 2001 and she graduated as the valedictorian of her nursing class in both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Moylan became a Harper Distinguished Alumni in 2016, recognized for her excellence an...2021-10-0724 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#116: Harper Fancies Herself a Comedian This week’s big news is that That Woman Next Door is out now in ebook and print! The book is a slow-burn opposites attract with lots of lesbian processing. Harper is still not writing so she’s been occupying herself on Instagram. We enjoyed the new season of Sex Education a lot, even though it was a bit more serious than previous seasons. It’s definitely more educational than the Sex Ed we got in school. We also watched the first episode of Alma's Not Normal on the BBC. Caroline’s book this week is The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowle...2021-09-2337 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#115: Harper Had to Choose Between Angelina and Padma There is lots of audio news this week! About That Kiss (narrated by Abby Craden) is now available everywhere, and At Your Most Beautiful (narrated by Angela Dawe) is now out as well. That Woman Next Door is going through the very last proofread before going to the retailers and Harper is enjoying it so much. She’s still not writing so she’s been on Instagram much more, which is not necessarily working out. We rewatched season one of The L Word: Generation Q in preparation for when season two is available to us, and Harper wonders if there are ar...2021-09-1640 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#114: Harper Is Pregnant With IdeaIn this week’s episode, Caroline has tooth ailments. Harper is still on a writing break, but working on the final edits on That Woman Next Door, which will be out in ebook, audio, paperback AND a swanky hardcover. She’s also trying to be social-media-savvy. Harper is with book idea, but she has to wait a few weeks before she can begin writing it. Meanwhile, the Two Hearts Trilogy read along is still happening in the Facebook Group. We’re enjoying Vigil on the BBC, which stars queer lady favourite Suranne Jones. We’ve also been watching old Silent Witness ep...2021-09-1036 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 12: Michael NejmanAssistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton is joined by Michael Nejman, who is a man of many talents all ranging from being an author, agent, music connoisseur, master conflict resolver and notably a 2013 Harper Distinguished Alumni. As the first of his family to go to college, Nejman made the most of his experience at Harper by getting involved at the student newspaper, The Harbinger, and taking advantage of the many on-campus events hosted. This experience combined with his passion for music led him to his role as the campus concert chair where he booked a wide array of...2021-09-0236 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#113: Harper Dies of Embarrassment During the Episode Apologies for skipping last week. Visiting friends and cat sitting duties made it impossible to record an episode. That Woman Next Door is available for pre-order here! Harper reveals the story behind the unfortunate naming choice of one of its characters. Harper's two attempts at writing Pink Bean 11 didn’t work out so she’s taking an extended break from writing. She’s decided to organise another read along in her Facebook group, this time of Two Hearts Trilogy. Join the group to participate. And don’t forget to answer the three questions to gain entry! Tv shows we loved recently: T...2021-09-0237 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#112: Harper Was Followed by One of Her Characters We’re back after a relaxing holiday in Brittany. We’ll be going back soon! About That Kiss, narrated by the great Abby Craden, is out in audio in most places (not Audible or Amazon.) And Harper posted her fantasy casting on her blog. Harper’s next book finally has a title and it’s not Difficult Women. The editor suggested Two Lesbians Processing. It will be available for pre-order here. However, her next next book is proving to be a bit of a struggle. Harper doesn’t like tv shows where the characters are too nice, so she loved The White Lotus. ...2021-08-1945 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 11: Jim GalloOn this month's episode of Harper Talks, Associate Professor of the Arts, Brian Shelton, is joined by Harper’s own distinguished alumni, Jim Gallo. Gallo reflects on his time at Harper, how he stayed detached from the experience and community as a student and how his own educational, professional and personal journey eventually led him back to Harper where he became highly involved in the community years later, acting as a board member and as a distinguished alumni. In this episode, Gallo shares his episodic journey, from suffering an accident his freshman year of college that led him to be...2021-08-0336 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#111: Harper Has Stuck Her Head Even Farther Up Her Own BehindAbout That Kiss is out now everywhere! It could be your feel-good read of the summer :-) Harper is feeling the launch stress. Another new release is the German translation of A Lesson in Love, Die Erfahrung von Liebe. Harper finally typed THE END on Difficult Women, which is set in Brittany, which is where we’re going on holiday. We watched season four of Unforgotten, and loved it, but the end left Caroline reeling. We also started rewatching Homeland, starting at season four, which has Laila Robins. Harper has a rant about Ted Lasso. Caroline’s book this week is Trans...2021-07-2943 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#110: Harper Will Be an Easier Woman TomorrowWe record this episode on our National Holiday and also the 21st anniversary of our first meeting. Harper is feeling the stress of finishing her current first draft and preparing for a launch next week. Thank goodness for her punching bag. The first two chapters of About That Kiss are available to read on the blog. We had a movie night in which we watched two very different films: Gunpowder Milkshake and Let Them All Talk. We enjoyed both in different ways. We’ve also been on a streak of teenage/high school shows: Gossip Girl, Never Have I Ever and...2021-07-2231 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#109: Harper Likes It When Things Are About Her Caroline’s birthday was celebrated profusely which led us to not be able to record a podcast last week, for which we apologise. The Village Romance Series is on sale for a few days, get it now! Harper’s editor loved About That Kiss and gave it the perfect review. It will be out in two weeks! Harper is rereading her Pink Bean books and really loved No Other Love (Book 6). She’s now on Love Without Limits, and thinks she must have been crazy writing that book. We absolutely loved the new season of This Way Up and are now rewat...2021-07-1534 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 10: Laurie Turpin SoderholmOn this months episode of Harper Talks, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts, Brian Shelton, is joined by Harper's own distinguished alumni and community pillar, Laurie Turpin Soderholm. Currently acting as Senior Project Manager of Global Access Meetings, Turpin Soderholm revels about how her time at Harper led to not only her academic success, an alumni of both Georgetown and Northwestern respectively, but also her eventual success in this industry and what led her to it. Join the pair in conversation as they relish in her worldly experiences and how it has all led her back to Harper, where she...2021-07-0629 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#108: Harper Is Toppling the Patriarchy One Punch At a TimeIn this week’s episode, Harper talks about her Difficult Women (working title), but she doesn’t know yet how they’ll get together. This book may also have brought her to take on a new (violent) hobby. About That Kiss is getting its final touches and will be out on 27 July. The editor loved it! And Harper reveals which book she’ll work on when she’s done with the difficult women. Our shout-out of the week is to the Flemish Government for their PSA with two middle-aged lesbians. In between all the football we managed to binge the new and last se...2021-07-0137 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#107: Harper and Her Mrs Are Annoying Middle-Aged LesbiansWe’re back after a short getaway in the countryside, which was so nice. We even went for an outdoor run early in the morning! In other fun news: we booked tickets to go see Celine Dion in 2022! Harper’s next two audiobooks have been cast and lesfic audiobook fans will be happy. This week’s shoutout is an attempted hommage to sexy Scottish accents. We enjoyed the last season of Master of None, which has great houseporn. Harper has started watching Death in Paradise as her go-to-sleep show. This show was compared to Celine Dion, so it makes sense. This YouT...2021-06-2441 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#106: Harper Felt Like Such a Cat Lady Harper celebrated her birthday over lunch with the ladies from Ylva Publishing, which was lots of fun. And thanks to Carrie for the unexpected prezzie! Her next book, About That Kiss, is about to be sent to the editor, before we take a few days off next week. And she’s decided to take up her previously discarded book and try to finish it. Our favourite podcasters Fi and Jane made a hilarious video to announce their upcoming book. We watched season two of Feel Good, which we highly recommend. We’ve also started on the reboot of In Treatment. Caroline...2021-06-1030 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#105: Harper Is Her Own Favourite AuthorWe were absent for two weeks for the best possible reason: Harper wrote a new book! And she had so much fun doing it. She has also discovered the joy of reading her own books, which she’s never done before. This has led to her doing a group readalong of If You Kiss Me Like That in her Facebook Group. During our two weeks absence we watched a lot of TV. We loved It’s a Sin but tears were shed. We also enjoyed the third and final season of Shrill. And our highlight was Mare of Easttown with a stel...2021-06-0337 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#104: Harper Is Smitten With Her New Niece We’re back after our absence last week, brought on by Harper’s current at-home writing retreat. She’s going all-out on writing a Hollywood romance and is making amazing progress, because of not doing anything else or reading any news. After the season finale of Line of Duty, we rewatched the first three seasons of Unforgotten and a desperate to watch the fourth one. We also started on Dexter again, which is very bloody. Caroline's book of the week is Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. A pleasant read that gets 4.5 stars. Harper, on the other hand, is reading a...2021-05-1238 min

Harper TalksHarper Talks Episode 8: Laura Pulio ColbertAssistant professor of communication arts, Brian Shelton joins director of theatre, Laura Pulio Colbert to discuss her own journey from Harper to Harper. Colbert was a Harper College graduate, class of 1983, and eventually made her way back to serve the college as a staff member. Join the pair as they discuss Colbert’s own experience with community college and the transfer process, reflect on Harper then and now, delve into college not only being a place for education but also a place for personal development, the value of arts education and one of her greatest revelations had over a bu...2021-05-0447 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#103: Harper Has Been Overly Sex-Educated This week we talk about our little glamping break in the woods. Before the break, Harper made a difficult choice about her work-in-progress. We’ve been obsessed with Line of Duty and rewatched the previous seasons. We started Mare of Easttown and we wish we hadn’t because there’s only one episode a week! Caroline managed to finish a very long book in the woods: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. It’s a difficult read at times, but a beautiful book that deserves many stars. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touc...2021-04-2933 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#102: Harper Was Discovered Thanks to Drag Queen Fanfic Harper is over the launch stress of At Your Most Beautiful and is very grateful to everyone who bought it. Some unusual events are disrupting her work-in-progress. Next in Line for Love is on sale for a limited time. We binged two shows over the weekend: The One (interesting and suspenseful) and Everything's Gonna Be Okay (very funny and touching.) We also enjoyed the first episode of Rebel as we both have a deep love for Katey Sagal. Caroline’s book tip of the week is her favourite book of all times, which she’s read many times: The Secret History...2021-04-1536 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#101: Harper Had an Easter Bunny That She Used to KnowAt Your Most Beautiful is out and some reviews have been quite amusing! Launches are still stressful, even after so many books. We had a sedate Easter weekend which involved yummy oysters with Harper’s mother-in-law and beer brewed by Harper’s sister. Our entertainment has been very Flemish this past week, with tv shows Déjà Vu and Beau Séjour. We’re also enjoying Line of Duty very much. Caroline’s book of the week is A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone, part of the Skelfs series. A pleasant mystery series with some lesbian interest to it. Tune in again next w...2021-04-0834 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#100: Harper Forgot All Her JokesThis is our 100th episode, hurray! You’d think we would have got better at it by now. Harper has found her groove again in her work-in-progress. Caroline finished her work on our shady lady garden. At Your Most Beautiful is with the Launch Team and the first two chapters are available to read HERE. Launch stress is starting already! We are watching Mrs. America, but Harper is not that hooked. We also started a Flemish show called Déjà Vu. And we rewatched Dead Poets Society, which brought back memories to Caroline. Caroline’s book of the week is The Color P...2021-04-0135 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#99: Harper Is All Loungewear and Long Hair This episode comes with some unplanned ASMR courtesy of the cat. The big news of the week is that Caroline got a haircut! Harper is confused by her work-in-progress and the honeymoon phase is over. At Your Most Beautiful is at the proofreader and all set to be out in 2 weeks. In entertainment news, we discuss a television show about Dutch lesbians and two movies with morally ambiguous and even unlikeable protagonists. Caroline’s book of the week is The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes. Harper has a new Bliss-dom and life motto. Again. Tune in again next wee...2021-03-2536 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#98: Harper Is Her Own Humour Machine With spring on its way, Caroline has developed some green fingers, but is hoping for some listener advice. Harper has been experiencing some existential dread because of a lot of bad news in the past couple of weeks, but this song has helped her get over it. Harper’s in the honeymoon phase of her new book. Meanwhile we got the edits back on At Your Most Beautiful. Two Hearts Alone is discounted to $0.99 until the end of this week! Harper’s been working on her French by listening to some songs on repeat. We’ve also been watching Amazing Hotels: Life...2021-03-1839 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#97: Harper Is Having the Period From HellWe’re back after a short break. Harper has started writing her new book, which features an unexpected but not unknown main character. In audio news: A Breathless Place is finally available on Audible! And At the Water’s Edge is on sale on Chirp (only available in the US and Canada.) We watched a lot of television during our time off, from the PSA for lockdown that is Contagion to the very of-the-times Ginny and Georgia. And watching The Mindy Project has led us to conclude that Harper is Mindy and Caroline is Danny. Caroline’s book tip of the week is...2021-03-1139 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#96: Harper Sometimes Forgets Straight People Exist TooWe record this episode as spring is in the air in Brussels! Harper finished the first draft of At Your Most Beautiful and is almost done with the third draft as well. We published a special Deluxe Edition of fan favourite Once in a Lifetime which exists in ebook and hardcover. The ebook is discounted for the whole of March! We answer two listener questions, one about hardcovers and one about working with your spouse. We finally reached the end of Six Feet Under and loved the last season so much! We’re now watching Behind Her Eyes but...2021-02-2536 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#95: Harper Lost Monday to HormonesHarper is trying to finish the first draft of At Your Most Beautiful, because the notes for her next book are starting to pile up. She’s changed her morning routine to achieve her goal. She’s also planning on running every day. No Strings Attached is still free, get it if you haven’t yet. We’re still watching Six Feet Under, but Caroline’s mother watched it completely in less than a week! This week’s book in Caroline’s Book Club is Milk Fed by Melissa Broder about a woman with a warped relationship to food and family, who falls...2021-02-1832 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#94: Harper Was So Annoyed, She Had to Drink Two Beers Harper is having an excellent writing week. At First Sight is out in audio. We also have an early Valentine’s Day treat: No Strings Attached (ebook) is free everywhere for a limited time. In television news, Celebrity Best Home Cook on the BBC is still such fun. Harper even picked up on some lesbian subtext, but it might just be wishful thinking. We’re trying out a new weekly segment: Caroline’s Book Club. This week’s book is Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters and gets five stars from Mrs Bliss. Let us know your thoughts if you’ve read it. Ha...2021-02-1133 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#93: Harper Hopes She Gets Another Email from Her SpiritThis week’s podcast is a bit cryptic because of projects we can’t talk about yet. Harper does have a Bliss-dom of the week brought on by the nine-year anniversary of the release of her very first novel (which shall never be mentioned again) and the seven-year anniversary of the first episode of French Kissing (available for free on all platforms.) Harper recommends the Bosch books if you have trouble sleeping. She also watched the movie Love, Simon on a sleepless night and had a good sob. We’re enjoying Celebrity Best Home Cook on the BBC, a real feel-go...2021-02-0428 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#92: Harper Wants Good Contemporary Lesbian Movies Harper’s current book is progressing nicely, but she’s already thinking about the next one she’ll write. The audio of At First Sight is available for preorder at Audible. Harper went on a deep Google dive on Naoise Dolan and found an article that perfectly words her thoughts about lockdown. We watched so much television the past week, especially French television with Call My Agent (the episode with Sigourney Weaver is hilarious) and Lupin, both on Netflix. We also started watching Six Feet Under again, a show that is as old as our relationship. Tune in again next week for a...2021-01-2833 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#91: Harper Should Be a Barrel of Raging Hormones In this week’s episode, Harper talks about her new Bliss-dom and her slower pace for life. Work on At Your Most Beautiful is progressing, both the book and the cover. Caroline is thinking of translating one of Harper’s books into French so she’s reading Nos chemins détournés, the French version of The Road to You, and she’s loving it. We binged Bridgerton over the weekend and loved it. So much so that we’ll be attending the online talk with the author of the novels, Julia Quinn. And to fight the black hole we found ourselves i...2021-01-2132 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#90: Harper Is Distracted by Caroline’s MulletThis week’s podcast episode is slightly different from our usual blabbing as it focuses on answering a listener’s questions about starting out in LesFic. But the episode comes with a disclaimer: don’t listen to just one person’s advice, especially Harper’s! We touch on the topics of newsletters, Kindle Unlimited, and advertising, among others. We finished our Bosch binge and have started watching Fran Lebowitz's Pretend It’s a City on Netflix, which is basically a window into Harper's future. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch with u...2021-01-1436 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#89: Harper’s Word of the Day is PointlessThis is first episode of 2021 is slightly longer than usual, but definitely not more professional nor profound. Harper is back to writing after some time off for the holidays. She’s loving her book and practising the art of slow writing. Caroline has been cooking a lot of recipes from Yotam Ottolenghis’s book Flavour, which have all been delicious. She’s also been reading a lot and just finished The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and can not recommend it enough. Harper’s current read, Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price is helping embrace a slow life and her p...2021-01-0839 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#88: Harper Has Not Come Out Publicly as a Celine Dion FanThis last episode of 2020 was recorded at an unusual time: in the evening, after a drink. Harper revealed her fantasy casting for At First Sight on her blog. The audiobook of A Breathless Place is now available at some more retailers, but also to buy direct from us. We’re still watching The Wire, which has had an impact on our vocabulary. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch with us with your questions, comments, or suggested topics at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com. Get some free books by subscribing...2020-12-3029 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#87: Harper Had to Be Scraped Off the FloorThis episode starts with a little excerpt of Harper’s piano playing. She decided to be active on Instagram for a day and it wiped her out. She also sent out her end-of-year newsletter which made her realise there were ten audiobook releases in 2020! Harper melted at the sound of Abby Craden’s voice reading out song lyrics in A Breathless Place. The audio of A Breathless Place is on its way to retailers, but it might already be available to purchase on Authors Direct (unfortunately only for people in the US, EU/UK, Canada, and Australia.) In entertainment news we real...2020-12-2433 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#86: Harper’s Brain Works in Instagram CaptionsPink Bean 10, At First Sight, is out! Luckily Launch Week did not coincide with PMS week this time. Harper has a new-found respect for social media managers after the ‘campaign’ she set up for the new release. Several of our Lockdown 2.0 shows are ending this week. Luckily we just started rewatching The Wire, so that should occupy us for a while. We also enjoyed the second season of Craith, which has an unusual villain. Harper is one of the lesfic authors featured in Clare Lydon’s Lesbian Book Club Festive Special. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bli...2020-12-1732 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#85: Harper Was Never into TiBette This week we’re preparing for the launch of At First Sight, and we have some good news for people who preordered it from the Harper Bliss web shop. Harper is also having fun writing her current book. Life in Bits, Harper’s Christmas co-write with T.B. Markinson, is out in audio now. There are some giveaway codes available on a first-come first-serve basis, try out for one here. We watched another lesbian Christmas movie, A New York Christmas Wedding, which was okay in a low-budget Christmas-movie kind of way. We also very much enjoyed Deadwater Fell, a thriller mini-s...2020-12-1035 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#84: Harper Has Been Preheating the Oven for Three Weeks Harper thought she was having an existential crisis last week, but turns out it was just PMS. She’s back to writing now and all she wants to do is talk about her book, which is almost too Harper Bliss for Harper to handle. We’re putting the final touches on At First Sight (Pink Bean 10), which will be out on 15 December. You still have a few days to preorder it at a dollar cheaper than the release price. We had a pretend restaurant date at home, which was really lovely, and a great way to support one of our local...2020-12-0332 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#83: Harper Looks Forward to the Day She’s Sick of People AgainHarper is struggling a bit this week, and hasn’t been writing, but she’s been taking a trip down the Pink Bean memory lane on her socials. We still have a promo going on all Pink Bean books on the Harper Bliss webshop. It ends on November 30, so be quick! French Kissing: Seasons 1-3 is on sale too for a few days. In other good news: we’ve received the audio recording of A Breathless Place from Abby Craden. To tide people over until that is released, If You Kiss Me Like That came out in audio this week! We watched...2020-11-2635 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#82: Harper Knows Where Her Bread Is Buttered This week, Harper started on her new book, which is a quintessential Harper Bliss age-gap romance. She has also found her walking Bliss by going on long walks, listening to amazing podcasts. At First Sight, Pink Bean 10, is available for pre-order on the Harper Bliss webshop for a dollar off the release day list price! We talk a bit about audiobooks and why we encourage listeners to choose other places than Audible to purchase their audiobooks. In entertainment news, we really enjoyed the new season of The Crown, even though we know to take it with a big grain of salt...2020-11-1932 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#81: Harper Will Do the Small ShopWe’re back from an unexpected hiatus (caused by life being sub-par and too tense) on a special day in our relationship. Pink Bean 10, which will be titled At First Sight, is done and has been sent off to the editor. To celebrate the upcoming release, throughout November, all Pink Bean ebooks and box sets are 30% off on the Harper Bliss web shop (not Amazon or other retailers.) Use the discount code PINKBEAN10 at checkout. We watched the first season of Mr. Mercedes, which is so tense and grim we had to start watching Strictly Come Dancing for some light reli...2020-11-1229 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#80: Harper Is Becoming a CougarWe’re back from a nice holiday, but have some trauma to process in this episode. As a result, Harper is having trouble finding her writing flow. We have some audio news and a title for Pink Bean 10. And In the Distance There Is Light is still on sale for a few days, get it here! While we were in France, we watched Emily in Paris, which is full of clichés and not profound, but very bingeable. What we are enjoying very much is Love Life with Anna Kendrick. Also at the top of our current entertainment is Girl, Woman...2020-10-1534 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#79: Harper Comes With a DisclaimerWe’re recording this episode on the day before we leave on holiday, and the day our country finally gets a government, so things are possibly even less professional than usual. Harper had a massive crisis of writing self-doubt because Jae got in her head. She’s also torn about which book to write next. We watched a couple of enjoyable but somewhat forgettable movies, but Harper really enjoyed rewatching Eat, Pray, Love, despite it being a Ryan Murphy movie. And we’re so happy the Great British Bake Off is back! Tune in again in a couple of weeks...2020-10-0133 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#78: Harper Fancies Herself the Celine Dion of LesficWe’re recording this episode on the launch day of A Breathless Place, and Harper is feeling the stress. The book is out, at last; all info can be found here. We finished Scott & Bailey. The last season was not as good as the rest, but we do have a question for any listeners from the Manchester, UK area (which we can’t write down here for SEO reasons.) Most movies we’ve watched lately have been romcoms, but there aren’t many that can measure up to our all-time favourite: When Harry Met Sally. We’ll also leave squid o...2020-09-2431 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#77: Harper Is a Descendant of the Ginger BruteHarper is slightly hungover in this episode after a weekday date night, so she’s not feeling the writing flow today. This comes after a bad writing week caused by a keyboard snafu. But she’s back on track in Pink Bean 10 now! A Breathless Place is available for pre-order. First reactions from the Launch Team have been great! Harper is a bit obsessed with Glennon Doyle’s book, Untamed. She also has thoughts on man buns. We got completely sucked in to Scott & Bailey and are a bit worried about Sally Wainwright. Tune in again next week for a new episod...2020-09-1729 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#76: Harper Is Allergic to People Who Have Not EvolvedWe’re recording this episode on our 10th wedding anniversary! Harper Bliss did not exist yet at the time. Harper has a theory about lesbians and evolution that involves Sue Perkins, orgasms, and housework. We went to the cinema for the first time in ages, which was quite exciting. And Harper’s football loyalties are changing because she’s watching All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur on Amazon Prime. We’re giving away some download codes for the audio of Two Hearts Trilogy, for audiobooks.com (NOT Audible.) Send us an email at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com with your thoughts on Harper’s new theory of...2020-09-1035 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#75: Harper Is Not Up to BreastIn this episode Caroline does a reading of the blurb for A Breathless Place. Harper’s editor gave the book a rave review! Harper is still having lots of fun writing Pink Bean 10 and her daily word counts have been great. Two Hearts Forever is out in audio, find it here. We went to the movies in our living room and watched A Simple Favor, and let’s just say there are many things we appreciated about it. We’re both reading Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell and are both loving it. Tune in again next week for a new episode of H...2020-09-0331 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#74: Harper Is Medium-Brow This week, Harper is starting on her two-month launch plan for A Breathless Place, with the cover reveal and announcing the narrator of the audiobook. She’s also making progress on Pink Bean 10, which is turning out to have a lot of football in it. Age Is Just a Number is only available for a few more days, get it before it goes forever! We watched some movies this weekend. Lady Bird was great. We enjoyed How to Build a Girl, but it’s hard for the movie to be as good as the book. Harper also watched Cloud Atlas, which was...2020-08-2731 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#73: Harper Forgot About Being Harper BlissWe’re back after our break! Our week of staycation at home during a heatwave was great and Harper managed to zen out completely. So much so that she had trouble getting back into the work groove. But now she’s in her happy place again, since she started writing the tenth book in the Pink Bean series. We did a lot of movie and television watching, with our favourites being Call My Agent, Cheer and Military Wives. Harper has a parting Bliss-dom. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch wi...2020-08-2028 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#72: Harper Mistook the Podcast Notes for Her JournalIn this week’s episode Caroline has to do a walk of shame. Harper finished A Breathless Place and had trouble saying goodbye. We’re also asking for people’s first impression of the cover in Harper’s Facebook group. As an August treat we have put out a temporary age-gap box set called Age Is Just a Number, which is only available for buying until the end of August. We binged season two of The Umbrella Academy, which is not our usual fare, but we loved it. And Caroline highly recommends All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad. We'll be takin...2020-08-0632 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#71: Harper Is the Worst Person to Give AdviceWe’re back in semi-lockdown and have had to cancel our holiday, unfortunately. We will attempt to take time away from working, but are not sure we’ll be able to. Harper is very close to finishing the first draft of A Breathless Place and Caroline thinks it’s very good. Harper announces the next book she’ll be working on: Pink Bean 10, scheduled to come out at the end of the year! This used to be a podcast about the business of publishing, so we have a bit of business talk. We’re still watching Ally McBeal, which has all ki...2020-07-3031 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#70: Harper’s Mrs Is So Middle-ClassHarper is a bit sad because she was not able to do her annual singalong for the 21st of July. We did have a great weekend in Paris where we drank lots of wine and Harper worked on her French. Harper has an idea for European institutions fan fiction. We’re preparing a special deal for August, more on that next week. Harper asked members of her Facebook group how many books they read and couldn’t believe the replies. She herself is loving her current read, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. In television news, we binged a...2020-07-2433 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#69: Harper Has Upgraded HerselfNext week we'll celebrate meeting 20 years ago, so we’re off for a weekend in Paris to celebrate. Our co-write A Swing at Love is on sale for a few more days. In new audio news, the audiobook of Two Hearts Alone came out on Tuesday. And we’ve set things in motion for the audiobooks of both If You Kiss Me Like That and A Breathless Place. Harper is into the third act of this book and it’s going great lately. We binged season three of Marcella, but it left us rolling our eyes more than anything. The best thi...2020-07-1629 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#68: Harper Can Passive-Aggressively Boss Caroline AroundIn this week’s episode, we talk about our little trip to Normandy for Caroline’s birthday. Harper reveals the fantasy casting for If You Kiss Me Like That on her blog. She also wrote a poncey post on Facebook about her process. And she reveals the title of her work in progress and also what it’s about. The audio of Two Hearts Alone will be out next week. We’re almost at the end of Modern Family and we’re ready for it to be done. We also enjoyed the first few episod...2020-07-0930 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#67: Harper Can’t Wait for MenopauseWe record this on the first day of the second half of the year. This is also Caroline’s last podcast as a 44-year-old. Caroline replies to a question we received from a listener regarding her endeavour in the m/m romance world. The conversation takes an unexpected grim turn. The launch of If You Kiss Me Like That went well and the book is getting great reviews. Harper is back to writing mode now and enjoying it very much. Not much tv talk as we’re still on Modern Family, but Harper is definitely a Cam and Caroli...2020-07-0128 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#66: Harper Wants a ThreesomeToday’s episode coincides with release day! Harper’s newest novel If You Kiss Me Like That is out everywhere in ebook and paperback, so we spend some time babbling about it. Harper is taking the week off writing to launch her book and to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Harper Bliss and Ladylit Publishing. Dolly makes an appearance in the episode and is very distracting. Harper is worried about Caroline’s nerding. Harper has figured out why she loves Cameron so much in Modern Family. We also started watching Taste the Nation on Hulu. The food is great and Padma i...2020-06-2526 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#65: Harper Is Her Own Self-Help Book In this week’s episode we briefly talk about Harper’s upcoming release, of which she published the first two chapters on her blog. Harper reflects on the non-mainstream-ness of her books. She also reveals her trick to make herself feel good. Harper has big weekend plans which might worry the neighbours. Caroline worked on her lesbian credentials. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch with us with your questions, comments or suggested topics at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com. Get some free books by subscribing to the Harper Bliss maili...2020-06-1831 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#64: Harper Has Not Used the Lockdown to Improve Her Cooking SkillsHarper had a quiet birthday last weekend which we spent bingeing Baron Noir and all its hot women. She did get a message from someone special. :-) In other exciting news, we went to a pub and a restaurant for the first time in months. Next in Line for Love is now available in audio. Caroline reads out the blurb of If You Kiss Me Like That, which we’re finalising for publication on 25 June. SPECIAL OFFER: We’re giving podcast listeners an exclusive coupon code to get 20% off any book bought from...2020-06-1128 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#63: Harper Feels Judged by Her TelevisionWe took another day off and Harper thought it was horrible. Caroline has started second-drafting Harper’s work in progress. An unsolicited compliment ensued. The release date for If You Kiss Me Like That has been set to 25 June! Good news for audiobook fans: all three Pink Bean Box Sets are now out. And Next in Line for Love will be out next week. In television news, we’ve found we can only watch one or two Battlestar Galactica episodes at a time because it’s just too tense. After that we need some Modern Family to relax, even though it has...2020-06-0428 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#62: Harper Combed the RugThis week we took a day off, but Harper got sucked into the DC controversy in the UK. She's making good progress on her current book, but she still can’t talk about it. She did get some good feedback on her upcoming book If You Kiss Me Like That. We thoroughly enjoyed the new Hannah Gadsby Netflix special, Douglas. We saw it live in London, and it was still great on television. We also binged season four of our favourite French show, Le Bureau des Légendes, in one day! Tune in again next week for a new episode of Har...2020-05-2831 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#61: Harper Has to Plan Her Release Around Her PMS Harper finished her upcoming book, If You Kiss Me Like That and has started writing on her next book already! But she finds herself unable to talk about it yet. She reminisces about her mediocre academic career and how we met twenty years ago. The Pink Bean box set audio is out (almost 18 hours of audio!) so the ebook is still on sale for a few days, and Release the Stars is on sale at $0.99 as well. We rewatched season three of The Good Fight and the first part of season four and it’s great. We also enjoyed the new N...2020-05-2130 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#60: Harper Just Wants a Shout-Out from RobinThe Facebook Live last Saturday went great and may be repeated in future. Harper is trying to finish her book but it’s so hard! It will be her 29th novel, which is quite an achievement. The box set containing the first three Pink Bean books is on sale to celebrate the upcoming release of the audio of this same box set. We’re still in Sopranos withdrawal, so not a lot of television news. Harper has a crush on our Prime Minister, "Céline-Sophie", and has even thought of fan fiction involving her and Robin from Peloton. We saw some family...2020-05-1428 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#59: Harper Needs to Reacquaint Herself with People Harper is in the last part of her work in progress. She’s taking her time with the ending. And we’ve settled on a title. The French Kissing All Seasons box set is available now, until the end of May. Get it here. Exciting news: we’re giving away 5 free copies of the audiobook of A Lesson in Love to podcast listeners. Just send us an email at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com with the subject line “A Lesson in Love audio” and we’ll draw five winners randomly. Other potential exciting news: Harper will probably hold a Facebook Live AMA on Saturday (un...2020-05-0727 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#58: Harper Is Keen to Get Caroline Out of The HouseThis past week, Harper has been in her writing cave, avoiding social media and making progress on her work-in-progress. Caroline revamped the cover for Release the Stars. And we both have been enjoying working out with Robin on Peloton. Harper has set Caroline a very specific task. In between watching The Sopranos we have managed to binge watch Normal People on Hulu, based on the Sally Rooney book, and recommend it wholeheartedly. Someone gave this podcast a one star rating on Apple Podcasts (we assume by error) so if you want to help up our star average, please give us a ra...2020-04-3029 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#57: Harper Was Falling Apart (Not Literally)In this week’s episode we discuss our Facebook Q&A, which was fun, but technically glitched. We’re considering doing a Facebook Live in future. The Two Hearts Trilogy is out now, which made it hard for Harper to focus on her writing this week. If you’ve read the trilogy or the separate novellas, please leave a review on the trilogy page! There are no new releases planned for the next two months, so the writing will go more smoothly (hopefully). We binged the new season of Bosch on Amazon Prime, which was great. And we’re still enjoying T...2020-04-2327 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#52: Harper Was Aglow With Love for The L WordHarper is already stressed with launch energy, even though Next in Line for Love only comes out on Amazon next week. It will be in KU and thus exclusive to Amazon for 3 months, but for people who don’t want to buy from the Zon, it is available now, for a few days only, from Harper’s web store. Contributing to the launch stress is the fact that In the Mood for Love came out in audio this week. If you want some hotness in your ears, here's where to get it! The major entertainment news of the week is that Th...2019-12-1224 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#51: Harper Made Eggy BallsThe big news this week is that Harper cooked! In writing news, Harper’s work in progress will be a novella instead of a novel because of time constraints. We went to Harper’s mother’s birthday party and Harper’s hair was the talk of the village. We loved the cougar romance series Gold Digger and for once we disagree with Fi and Jane, as we think their criticism was unfounded. What we didn’t enjoy so much was the new Tales from the City. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper...2019-12-0528 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#50: Harper's Characters Have Many EmotionsWe’re back from our hiatus for our 50th episode. And it’s Thanksgiving, so happy turkey day to our US listeners! We start by discussing our first world problems, which include Christmas shopping and sore bums, as well as our holiday in London and Hong Kong. Plot twist on the book front: Harper got an idea for a new book while in Hong Kong. So instead of rewriting her Lez Law book, she’s working on an anti-Valentine’s Day book. Harper’s next book, Next in Line for Love, comes out in December, but we don’t know yet w...2019-11-2828 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#49: Harper Had to Journal About a Compliment This is the last episode before our four-week hiatus. We’re approaching the end of Harper's current work-in-progress. Caroline reveals the secret project she’s been working on. Harper is still not over J Lo’s pole dance in Hustlers and we’re loving the Dublin Murders, based on the Tana French books. Harper also shares her newest theory about golf. Tune in again at the end of November for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. Get in touch with us with your questions, comments or suggested topics at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com. For more on...2019-10-2328 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#46: Harper Is the Face of Harper Bliss This episode sounds a bit self-helpy (and self-congratulatory) at times when we talk about how lucky we've been. Apologies! Harper did a survey through her newsletter and is basically none the wiser. We share our thoughts on a tv show we stumbled upon, Naked Attraction, and how nobody seems to have pubic hair anymore. We've also been rewatching Transparent and it's a different experience than before. The audio of Laid Bare, in which Harper has a story, is out. And Harper has reactivated her Harper Bliss Readers Group on F...2019-10-0226 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#45: Harper Was As Close to Radclyffe As She’ll Ever Come We're recording this episode in Paris, France! We came to satisfy Harper's ego, but the weather's pretty bad. Harper's current work-in-progress looks to be shifting from a trilogy to one long stand-alone book. She's also antsy about trying something new. For some reason, this episode also contains a lot of grim talk about death and other childhood traumas. Maybe because of the weather? The third Pink Bean box set, which contains books 7 to 9 is available everywhere. Find the links HERE! And if you read books 7, 8 and 9 in the Pink Bean Series, why...2019-09-2524 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#42: Harper Will Always Be Last in the HierarchyIt's September and that means the end of the summer, which means La fin de l'été is out! Harper gives an update on her work in progress and we reveal the new working title and possible tagline. Meanwhile, Caroline has been proof-listening to the audiobook of Once in a Lifetime, possibly Harper's hottest book. In this episode, we talk about books rather than television. The one we both absolutely loved is The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. Tune in again next week for a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her...2019-09-0421 min

Harper Bliss & Her Mrs#41: Harper's Sister Had a Luke Perry PillowWe're back after more than a month, hurray! Caroline talks about the trip she took to Costa Rica. Harper really enjoyed the solitude. Last week's highlight was the revelation that there are only two degrees of separation between Harper and the actress she fantasy-cast as Helen in her latest book A Lesson in Love (get it HERE!) In other exciting news, Summer's End, a novella Harper wrote about six years ago, will be out in French next week. You can preorder La fin de l'été from the publisher's website. And in an un...2019-08-2822 min

The Harper DecadeImpeding Access to Healthcare: Harper’s Crusade Against Harm Reduction Nazlee Maghsoudi is the Knowledge Translation Manager at the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, a Board Member at Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and an Outreach Volunteer at TRIP! Project, a nightlife harm reduction program in Toronto. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University and a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a poor track record when it comes to protecting the rights of marginalized communities. So it’s no surprise that improving access to healthcare for people who use drugs is at the bo...2015-10-1309 min

The Harper DecadeForeign Posturing: How does Harper’s foreign policy stack up? Paul Heinbecker is a senior advisor to the School of International Policy and Governance at Wilfrid Laurier University and a fellow of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo. A former chief foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, he was appointed ambassador to Germany by Mulroney and ambassador to the United Nations in New York by Jean Chrétien. This essay will appear in the October volume of the Literary Review of Canada.In the current election campaign, the Conservative spin machine is marketing a story of international statesmanship and principled policy, o...2015-09-2824 min

The Harper DecadeUnder Attack: Canada’s Public Service Under Stephen Harper Dave Whitson recently retired after teaching Canadian Politics and Canadian Studies at the University of Alberta for many years. Over decades of talking with students, he came to understand that the career aspirations of intelligent young Canadians were telling indicators of important changes in our society. Michael Harris begins his recent book on Stephen Harper, Party of One, with an anecdote from the Conservative victory party in 2011, when Stephen Harper finally won a majority mandate. An unnamed “senior Conservative” is quoted as offering the following comment on what was a surprisingly muted celebration: “This is still a Libera...2015-09-2408 min

The Harper DecadeThe Harper Decade: Housing First, but affordable housing last/ La décennie Harper: Logement d’abord, mais logement abordable dernier A French translation of this editorial is found below.Carey Doberstein is an assistant professor of political science at UBC on the Okanagan campus, where he researches Canadian politics, public administration and governance. He is a collaborator with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, a SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Stephen Gaetz. His forthcoming book, entitled Governing by Networks: Homelessness Policy-making in Canada is due to be released in 2016. Alison Smith is a PhD Candidate in political science at l’Université de Montréal. She researches Canadian politics, social policy, and homelessness. She was recently involved in dev...2015-09-1010 min

The Harper DecadeThe Harper Record: A Mixed Bag Aaron Wudrick is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and a former political organizer, campaign manager, lobbyist and lawyer. He holds a degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Waterloo and a Law degree from the University of Western Ontario. It’s hard not to wonder what Stephen Harper, circa 2005, would think about the Stephen Harper of 2015. As a study in political longevity, there is no question he can claim great success: three election wins, with a greater share of the vote and more seats each time. But winning and keeping power al...2015-07-2305 min

The Harper DecadeHarper’s 10 Year War on First Nations Illustration by Christy Lundy Pamela Palmater is a Mi’kmaw from Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. She is a lawyer, author, and advocate for First Nations and currently holds the position of Associate Professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University. In ten short years, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set the relationship with First Nations back a hundred years. While all past governments have had a hand in the colonization and oppression of First Nations, the Harper government stands out as one of the most racist and aggressive governments th...2015-07-1607 min

The Harper DecadeEnergy and Climate in the Harper Decade Illustration by Christy Lundy Marc Lee is a Senior Economist in the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Co-Director of the Climate Justice Project. His publications include A Green Industrial Revolution (with Amanda Card) and Enbridge Pipe Dreams and Nightmares, both available at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The costs of climate change are piling up, and can no longer be ignored. 2015 is poised to be a landmark year, with a new global treaty on climate to be signed in Paris. In contrast, the Harper decade succeeded in stalling any...2015-07-0905 min

The Harper DecadeThe Harper Decade: A Miserable Ten Years Peter H. Russell is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Principal of Senior College at the University of Toronto. He has published widely in the fields of constitutional, judicial, parliamentary and aboriginal politics. A decade of Conservative rule in a predominantly left-of-centre society does not for a happy democracy make. Adding to the sourness of the decade’s politics has been the Harper Conservatives’ attack on parliamentary democracy. If Jeffrey Simpson could call Jean Chrétien’s Liberal regime a “friendly dictatorship”, then Harper’s rule might be characterized as a period of lean and mean corporate man...2015-06-1806 min

The Harper DecadeSpin and Stymie: Political Communication in Stephen Harper's Ottawa Illustration by Christy Lundy Tyler Dawson is an Ottawa journalist. His writing has appeared in in the Edmonton Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, the National Post, and Vice News. Any look back on the Stephen Harper years would be incomplete without an attempt to understand his remarkable campaign of information control. In fact, other political parties now looking to emulate the electoral success of the Harper-led Conservatives will find it difficult to ignore the advantages of non-stop spin, tightly controlled messaging, and limited media access.That’s a problem.Each day after wo...2015-06-0905 min

The Harper DecadeThe Harper Decade and the Loss of Civility and Democracy in Canadian Politics and Governance Illustration by Christy Lundy Steve Patten is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on contemporary Canadian politics, with a specific emphasis on the party system, partisan conservatism, and theoretical perspectives on policymaking and democracy. Over the past decade, Stephen Harper has advanced a decidedly conservative policy agenda and engaged in a conscious effort to redefine how Canadians understand their country and its place in the world. His goal has been to transform Canada into a polity defined by a substantially more conservative political culture. But, another important aspect...2015-05-1405 min