Comments on: REVIEW: Her Cattleman Boss by Barbara Hannay

By: Do Author Comments Have a Chilling Effect on Review Discussions? | Racy Romance Reviews

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:29:10 +0000

[...] Tumperkin, to which the author replied in her own defense. Then author Barbara Hannay responded to Jayne’s review of Her Cattleman Boss, prefacing her comment withÂ “As this review was addressed to me, I thought it might be OK [...]

By: Jayne

Jayne — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:34:20 +0000

Well, Noah is land and cattle rich but cash poor – hence the cattle droving to get them to market before the drought makes them lose too much weight. But he’s not a dark gazillionaire, tossing cash around and treating Kate like shit until the end of the book. ;)

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:29:39 +0000

I’m going to have to see if I can find this. I had sworn off Harlequins except for the Intrigue line simply because the hero is always a billionaire. There can’t be that many billionaire’s out there. I’d rather about a regular guy, like a mechanic or even sheep station in Australia. How refreshing. It sounds really good.

By: Book Bizzo #14 The post-petition edition - Book Thingo

Book Bizzo #14 The post-petition edition - Book Thingo — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 05:18:04 +0000

[...] Author recently reviewed Her Cattleman’s Boss by Barbara Hannay —an Aussie romance by an Aussie [...]

By: Barbara Hannay

Barbara Hannay — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:53:09 +0000

I enjoy regional flavours, too, Jayne. Love books set in southern USA, for example.
I’ve had conversations before with American writers about the differences between your cowboys and our ringers.
As the Harlequin Romance books are first edited in London, I think a lot of the regional flavour is retained, which seems to be a good thing all round. Thanks again.
And thanks to Sami. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Adopted:Outback Baby. It’s early morning here and your gush is a great way to start the day.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:16:24 +0000

Barbara, please feel free to comment on any reviews, posts, etc here. I love hearing from the authors I review and have learned much from their responses. From all this, I’m learning a lot about Aussie speech! Which is a good thing as I enjoy seeing regional flavors retained in books published in the US. Thanks for stopping by.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:09:40 +0000

Sami, I was thinking about this last night and it just might be mainly me using these terms automatically. I certainly know the term station as used to describe such an entity and I remember (from the book) graziers to describe cattleman plus ute instead of what we’d term an SUV. There were other, to me, Aussie sounding words, terms, slang which lead me to say what I did about the Aussie flavor of the book.

I hope my review hasn’t negatively affected anyone’s decision to try the book on it’s own merits.

By: Sami

Sami — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:35:39 +0000

Am I right in thinking you used the term ‘ranch’ in your review Jayne, but that it wasn’t used in the book itself? Not a criticism at all, but it might clear up the issue of language internationalisation and whether it actually occured here or if it’s all just a big misunderstanding. Ranch is a term that is never used in Australia, to my knowledge, but I must confess that I couldn’t comment one way or another on the other terms discussed. I’m an urban girl myself, so take these things at face value when I read books with an outback setting. I’ve not had a problem before with Harlequin books set in Australian cities as far as language and terminology is concerned. I don’t know if that’s because there is no de-Aussie-ing (I’ve coined a term) going on or if I just didn’t notice.

None of this, as I said, is a stumbling block for me when it comes to enjoying a good book. I’m glad you stopped to comment Barbara, so I can gush about how much I love your books. Adopted: Outback Baby was one of the best books I read last year, and it so deserves it RITA nomination. I think your characters are always down to earth and the conflicts between them believable.

Alright, gush over.

By: Barbara Hannay

Barbara Hannay — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:44:36 +0000

As this review was addressed to me, I thought it might be OK if I respond. (I hope that’s the case)
Firstly, Jayne, thank you so much for taking the time to post a review of my book. I really appreciate the thought you’ve put into your response and I love that you liked so much about the characters and the setting.

I was surprised that the language issue is such a stumbling block for readers. I haven’t read the US edition, although I’ve skimmed through it and I can’t actually find the words ranch or rancher anywhere. I’ve seen certainly never use them. I’d be surprised if they’re on the page…
I must admit to using cattleman, however, (along with stockman and grazier where appropriate) and I honestly believe cattleman is part of the Oz lingo.

As for droving — I researched the ins and outs of this thoroughly with my grazier cousin, who owns a property in the area where the book’s set, and you can be assured the details are authentic. I’m proud of keeping the Aussie flavour in my books and it’s really great to know that readers (and reviewers) appreciate and expect a dinky-die flavour. Thanks again for discussing this book and this topic.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:59:43 +0000

Well, bummer. And here I thought I was getting authentic speech from an Australian author. Thanks for the language lessons ladies.

By: she reads

she reads — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:58:45 +0000

while disappointing to hear that the language is internationalized vs using proper terms for country it’s in… that wouldn’t prevent me from reading a good book.

Sounds like this is a solid tale – I’m putting it on my think about list.

By: Sami

Sami — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:26:45 +0000

It’s true Harlequin does tend to internationalise the language, which grates on an Aussie. It would be nice if more authentic Australian terms were used, and I certainly think romance readers worldwide are smart enough to figure out what they mean without clunky explanations within the text. But apparently the powers that be don’t agree..?

Having said that Barbara Hannay is a fav author of mine and I overlook that kind of stuff so I can sink into and enjoy her books. She writes interactions between characters that ring true to me, the men are men and the women aren’t simpering idiots. This sounds like another winner, but I’m not in the mood to read about ‘ranchers’ at the moment :).

By: Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:25:48 +0000

Just thinking the same thing, Wendy. That language would drive me insane.
If not cow cocky, grazier or stockman at least. My parents have a cattle property (not a station – it’s not that big) and I have never ever heard anyone who owns cattle use the words ranch, cattle drive or cattleman.

By: wendy

wendy — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:55:43 +0000

Station not ranch. Droving cattle not cattle drive. Cow Cocky not cattleman. I think Harlequin might have internationalised the language. I couldn’t read this.