025. Wattpad - The Love Riots by Noora Zaroon with Tamara Lush

---

Short Description

Tamara Lush (romance writer and AP journalist) and I discuss Wattpad and Radish, where you can find serialized fiction by writers and for readers that are international, young, and diverse. We also talk about pacing yourself as a writer and what’s troubling Tamara about indie publishing.

The text we discuss today is a Wattpad story called The Love Riots by Delhi Belly, aka Noora Zaroon. This cross-genre story reminds us of the bonkbusters novels by Sidney Sheldon or Danielle Steel, and tells a gritty and sometimes uncomfortable story about a toxic inter-religious Romeo + Juliet relationship between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man in India. While this story explores a relationship, it is NOT a romance novel, and the ending is definitely not emotionally satisfying. We also discuss issues of dubious consent within the story.

---

Tags

contemporary romance, romance novel discussion, business of books

---

Show Notes

Today’s podcast is sponsored by Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 5 edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, published by Cleis Press. Find out more at bweoftheyear.com/

Shelf Love:

• Sign up for the email newsletter list
• Website
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Email: [email protected]

Guest: Tamara Lush

• Website: http://tamaralush.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamaraLush
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamlush/
• New releases: All I Desire (Paradise Beach series): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50657498-all-i-desire
• Constant Craving on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/113810867-constant-craving-the-complete-series

We read:

The Love Riots by Delhi Belly/Noora Zaroon

https://www.wattpad.com/story/160642965-the-love-riots

Influences:

• Tiffany Reisz
• Cara McKenna
• Beth Kery
• Charlotte Stein

Books/media mentioned:

• Crush and Burn by Jane Peden - she does not plot and Tamara loves it
• Tiffany Reisz’s The Red - first book Tamara read on Radish
• Velvet (Netflix) - amazing Spanish Telenovela
• Angelina Lopez - Lush Money - Telenovela feel in romance novel form
• Becca Syme https://betterfasteracademy.com/ - Dear Writer, You Need To Quit

Further Reading:

• I mentioned how many middle class Indians have maids. Here’s an article that discusses a bit about how this luxury often comes at the cost of fair wages and working conditions: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/aug/16/i-wont-do-toilets-unvarnished-reality-life-maid-in-india-tripti-lahiri
• After the recording I had a brief conversation with the author of this story, Noora Zaroon, on Instagram about some current issues and protests that helped me understand the context of the political climate. Here’s an article in India Today that gives some insight: https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/violent-protests-over-citizenship-act-how-indian-police-control-riots-1629350-2019-12-18

 

---

Transcript

Intro

Hello and thanks for joining me on episode 25 of Shelf Love: A romance novel book club. Every week we use romance novels as the text to explore identity, relationships, and the society that we live in.

I’m your host Andrea Martucci and this week I’m joined by Tamara Lush, an Associated Press journalist and romance novelist who publishes on multiple platforms, including Wattpad and Radish. 

But first, thank you to Today’s podcast sponsor Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 5 edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, published by Cleis Press. 

This anthology’s theme is “outrageous” and features 21 brand new sexy erotica and erotic romance stories by authors including Sierra Simone, CD Reiss, Sabrina Sol, Caridad Piñeiro, Balli Kaur Jaswal, Justine Elyot, Alexa J. Day, Jayne Renault and more. 

You’ll be swept away by the sexiest business deal ever, break the rules in a future world where skin on skin contact is forbidden, and discover the art of getting off by phone sex. From mermaid sex to historical passion to the first Latina U.S. President finding intimacy again after becoming a widow, this book has something for every reader, from happy endings to pure lust. 

Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 5 is available in print, ebook and audiobook is on sale now wherever books are sold. Find out more at bweoftheyear.com/

Now onto the episode. Tamara and I discuss Wattpad and Radish, where you can find serialized fiction by writers and for readers that are international, young, and diverse. We also talk about pacing yourself as a writer and what’s troubling Tamara about indie publishing. The text we discuss today is a Wattpad story called The Love Riots by Delhi Belly, aka Noora Zaroon. This cross-genre story reminds us of the bonkbusters novels by Sidney Sheldon or Danielle Steel, and tells a gritty and sometimes uncomfortable story about a toxic inter-religious Romeo + Juliet relationship between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man in India. While this story explores a relationship, it is NOT a romance novel, and the ending is definitely not emotionally satisfying. We also discuss issues of dubious consent within the story.

Outro

Thanks for listening to episode 25 of Shelf Love: A Romance Novel Book Club. 

Thank you so much to Tamara Lush for joining me! All the links to find Tamara online can be found in the show notes of this episode.

Next up on the podcast, Denise Williams returns to discuss Teach Me, by Olivia Dade. Stay tuned for a brief clip from our discussion at the end of this episode!

Thank you so much for listening to Shelf Love!

Shelf Love is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts