We here at Olivia Waite are going to be spending the next week on a boat in tropical waters, drinking rum and eating fish and snorkeling — though not all at once, obviously. (That snorkeling mask really gets in the way of a cocktail.) There will be very few showers, very many cold bottles of beer, and always the soothing wash and slap of the sea.

An accurate forecast of my next eight days.

Lately, I’ve been meaning to write up a post on the state of romance scholarship today. I’m a huge lit-crit nerd and overthinking par excellence, so the new field of popular romance studies is pretty much the greatest gift academia has given me in my lifetime. Since blogging will be tricky in the islands, this seems like a good time to highlight some of the things I’ve been reading in this brave new world of romance geekery. I’ve scheduled posts that link to some of my favorite works of romance scholarship available for public consumption. I hope you enjoy, and I’ll try and post a few photos and stories during the trip if I get the chance!

While I’m gone, of course,  you could always try one of my books, which are short and steamy and rather charming, if I do say so myself.