Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there aren’t any. (Sure, they don’t come up on my random scrolling, but since my quest for romantic stories all about the HEA has made it so my algorithm is full of Korean and Filipino romances and romcoms… :shrug-emoji:) But for the most part, I can find one or two of those things, but not all of them. And they’re definitely not by queer creators. (And look. Sure. Ryan Murphy can basically get anything made. I’ve joked about it before. A lot of his properties have queer Black people in them. But there are definitely blind spots in his ideas, and honestly I just want Black creators involved from the top down when it comes to stories centering Black people. Especially queer Black people.) So Dear Netflix: Please adapt these romance novels by and centering queer Black people. I promise, we’ll all watch the shit out of them.
Standalone Romance Novels to Adapt
Romance Series to Adapt
The Spies Who Loved Her Series by Katrina Jackson
The Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert
The Dreamers Series by Adriana Herrera
The Reluctant Royals Series and the Runaway Royals Series by Alyssa Cole
As a bonus, how would you feel about doing with Meaty etc. what Hulu (and Samantha Irby, actually, lol) did with Shrill? Just a nice, ongoing series about a fat Black queer woman with a chronic illness and some maybe life goals, finding herself and maybe even falling in love (or at least, finding a partner.) Also. Campus romances are what the people want! We’re all marathoning Felicity and reminiscing about the days of dorms and crushes and classmates. This is the perfect time to give us a new college classic. (P.S. once people get their hands on her Cowboys of California series, they’re going to be looking for more Weatherspoon. I know it. You know it. Be ready, or even ahead of the game.) A romance featuring a queer rapper/hip-hop artist? From Houston? I mean, hello? Perfect timing, Netflix. The original music you could come up with would bank you several cents from Spotify and Apple Music. Or something. I know, right? This is another one that would be a great feature-length production. It has whippy, smart dialogue and a story that could use the medium well. They’d have to build out some of the internal conflicts, but you know what? That’s what they get paid to do. While not all of the characters in these books are queer and/or Black, this universe was made to be serialized. And since Katrina is still writing them, we’re set to have something new pop up for a long time. So technically, Dani Brown is the only one who verbally identifies as queer, but I’ll allow it, because these women deserve to be on the screen. This, a British property featuring Black Brits by a Black Brit, would be a great draw for the folks yearning for more British accents on their screens. (And honestly? Adjoa Andoh would be a great Gigi.) And hey, let’s just throw Mangos and Mistletoe in for a treat. We need another cooking competition story up in here. (Helpfully, A Princess in Theory has already been optioned by Frolic, so you just go…deal with them.) And while they’re Older YA, I could really do with the ace rep in two very different books:
A Sound of Stars by Alecia Dow, which would definitely need to have the author on board in order to skate the colonizer/colonized line as well as she does. And a big ass CGI budget. If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann because yes.
This is obviously not an exhaustive list, just a few things I’ve actually read that I’d love to see translated for a whole new audience. So yeah, Netflix. There are people out there making amazing Black queer romantic content. All that we ask, is that you represent them well, with dignity and honor. Don’t be HBO. We want happy stuff. Give it to us. It’ll be worth it. (But I was serious about Ryan Murphy.)
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