By Lori Perkins Today, Hannah Gadsby, 43, the lesbian comedian who rose to global prominence with her Netflix special Nanette, revealed that she married her partner Jenney Shamash in January this year on her Instagram account where a photo of the happy couple can be seen joyfully eating ice cream. “I would like to introduce all y’all to Jenney Shamash,” she posted. “She is a producer extraordinaire. She is very funny and is really talented at reciting facts. It is a joy to b

By Lori Perkins Hosted by USA Today best-selling author, Jamie K. Schmitt and Riverdale Avenue Books WHEN: April 28, 2021 at 10pm ET/7pm PT WHERE: https://zoom.us/j/5252430839?pwd=dnNpS3JTSGtPYStoZWY1KzdyQ3hmQT09 As we all start to emerge from lockdown, it’s kind of fitting that the next season of the gut-wretching femnist dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale premiers on Wednesday, April 28th on Hulu. I was riveted by the first three seasons, which I binged (and you can r

By David T. Valentin In an effort to get with the times, Disney has revised their company’s dress code to allow nonbinary haircuts and allow workers to now proudly display their tattoos. In a blog post published April 13th on Disney’s website, chairman Josh D’Amaro, who was named chairman just last year, began his post with, “We will never stop working to make sure Disney is a welcoming place for all.” Within D’Amaro’s blog post are his goals and the steps he has taken to cre

By Dawn M. Barclay, Chapter President When I became president of the Hudson Valley RWA in July of 2019, it was more the result of an order than an election. When you have a small chapter and everyone else has already been president, new members are less candidates than fresh meat. I’d been with the organization more than four years and had opened my big mouth with suggestions more than once. Hence, I was the obvious and unchallenged choice. My predecessor was a hard act to fo

By Lori Perkins I’ve been wondering just what we’re going to do as writers when we chronicle 2020. Are we going to skip the year entirely (as Stephen King decided to do when he released Later) or make it never-ending or use it as some sort of metaphor for all that is wrong with our world? I often wonder what genre fiction will look like after COVID. Will we have romances where seeing someone’s naked lips is as titillating as more intimate body parts? Science fiction witho

By Lori Perkins Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo At Golden Globe Awards in L.A. on Jan 15th, 2012. Chris Pallezo/AP The comedy writing team of Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, fresh off the successful release of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, has announced that they have been signed up by Disney to write the backstory behind Cinderella’s stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella. Though Disney has not yet committed to having the two comedians star in the film (as they did in Barb an

By David T. Valentin They say love finds its way some way or another, and that held especially true during the pandemic. With a few people getting clever, like flirting with their neighbors from their windows across the street or finding love through TikTok, it’s no surprise that people coping with the pandemic found the video game Among Us as a great way to meet their romantic partners. What is Among Us? If you haven’t had the chance to play Among Us, download it on any app

By Lori Perkins With the legalization of marijuana in 17 states (as of today), 4/20 becomes more of national holiday than ever before (especially as we emerge from this depressing pandemic). But 4/20 has never focused on women, and women are changing the way this industry operates from Martha Stewart (she has a line of legal CBD gummies) to women-owned medical dispensaries that cater to breast cancer survivors (The Etienne chain) as well as just female owned and operated dis

By Lori Perkins Do you like bad movies? I mean classic turkeys that you just have to tell everyone about, and maybe even Tweet out a scene or two, because you can’t believe how tone-deaf and abysmal they are. My favorites are ones where an enormous amount of money has been spent like Cats and Showgirls, but I can also watch The Room, Plan 9 from Outer Space and anything by bad movie auteur Neil Breen multiple times. Until now, all these uniquely bad films were made by men,

By Sophie Tanner With hair salons closed for months, women all over the world have taken the opportunity to stop dyeing their hair and embrace their natural gray roots. For some women who’ve been hiding their grey hairs for years, this has been a hugely empowering experience. After all, our hair is a strong part of our identity and, in accepting our natural hair as it is, we are accepting ourselves, just as we are. Aside from breaking the endless circle of dyeing and root to

The Conductors: Murder & Magic #1 by Nicole Glover Reviewed by Laura Fliegel Historical murder mystery ★★★★★ The Conductors is a fantasy murder mystery set in post-Civil War America and also has wonderful elements of chosen family and community, plus a sweet romance between Hetty and Benjy (whose marriage is one of friendship, not romance). From the moment I heard about this book, I was intrigued, and in no way did it disappoint! Hetty is amazing and fierce and a very good e

By Lori Perkins A study came out last week that, once again, revealed that one glass of red wine a day is a good thing for most women. On top of previous studies that report that drinking moderate amounts of red wine may have beneficial side effects, such as lowering cholesterol levels and reducing the risk of heart disease or stroke, and that the pairing red wine with cheese is even associated with greater cognitive activity in older adults, a new study found that drinking

First Down (Sharks Football #1) by Leslie North Reviewed by Cardyn Brooks New Adult contemporary romance Hot ★★★ As Savannah Sharks professional running back Mark Coleridge plays in his first pre-season game he recognizes the combination of luck and hard work that’s taken him from his modest trailer-park beginnings to wealth and opportunities to achieve athletic greatness. When he sees Tessa Black, his high school sweetheart, and a young child who resembles Mark, among a grou

By David T. Valentin Taken from @Coltonunderwood on Instagram Former Bachelor season 23 star, Colton Underwood, has come out as gay, becoming the first bachelor to do so. In an interview with Good Morning America this Wednesday, he told ABC’s Robin Roberts, “I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time. And I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it. And the next step in all of this was sort of letting peopl

By Lori Perkins When I saw Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez and then J-Rod trending on Twitter this morning, my stomach knotted. It was either going to be news that they had tied the knot in some sort of cute and secret way or that they were officially over. As almost everyone knows, released an exclusive statement on Today this morning and announced that their engagement had ended but that they “are better as friends.” It was classy, and certainly the right way to do thing