Nov 29 2011
Anyone who’s spend any length of time on Twitter likely knows about #fridayreads, the hashtag started by Bethanne Patrick, aka The Book Maven, who created, among other things, NPR’s The Book Studio. In fact, I know some people who have actually unfollowed Patrick because of the FridayReads cheerleading, which, admittedly, can get a little intense(…)
Nov 22 2011
Heroines in romance have great latitude. They can be rich and very poor. They can be successful and a failiure. They can be pretty, dumpy, funny, dour. They are not all extracted from the same hard body mold like the hero. The heroine’s own agency can provide a source of conflict for the romance. For(…)
Nov 15 2011
During a past discussion about the lack of representation of non nobles in historical romance, there was one comment that by Darlynne that stuck with me. Maybe it says readers want people of power in their romance novels. You don’t have to worry about the hero being ground under someone’s heel or treated badly, not(…)
Nov 8 2011
Who doesn’t love a small town Romance? Given Jane’s observation in her 2011 RWA wrap-up that small towns remain very popular, apparently a lot of readers do. Given the comments to that post and various lamentations from readers online, there are many readers who absolutely despise the small town Romance. While all genre devices have(…)
Nov 1 2011
Sarah Wendell and I had a lively debate via email on the topic of inclusion or getting it right. The Mahajara’s Mistress by Susan Stephens recently reviewed at Smart Bitches features a heroine who has an eye patch due to the loss of an eye and is scarred in her face. She dresses like a(…)
Oct 25 2011
Like many romance fans, I recently read the newest book by Loretta Chase, Silk Is For Seduction. Like many fans, I too loved it. It is a great example of the qualities I look for in a romance: interesting characters, engaging storyline and witty, sometimes startlingly funny, dialogue. It also seemed refreshingly different. Now, I’ve(…)
Oct 24 2011
When Joan Swan contacted me and asked if I was interested in an author guest post, I replied that I would be as long as it wasn’t promotional in nature. She reached out to author Pamela Palmer and together they have presented this piece on cover art. ***** As with everything in the publishing(…)
Oct 11 2011
I’ve been futzing with this article for a couple of months and it’s not working out. I told myself to finish it and publish it and it accidentally went up last week. I guess that is a sign. I think the problem that I have with the subject is that I don’t have any real(…)
Oct 4 2011
During the Mistorical discussion, some asked why we didn’t point out errors or miscues in contemporary romances.Lynn S even gave us a good name for it: contemporroneous. To the extent that we know them, I think that we do. I’ve been pretty scathing, in fact, about books featuring sports characters where I didn’t agree with(…)
Sep 27 2011
I was reading Cecilia Grant’s blurb for her June 2012 book and the blurb makes it clear that the story is about gambling. Gambling plots have a long history in romance and in popular culture. Card playing is not viewed as a vice but rather an activity at which any decent hero of distinction excels(…)
Sep 13 2011
Dreamspinner Press had five shorts I was interested in this week, so I thought I’d do lightning reviews of them. And then I ended up ranting at the end of the reviews, ending up more like an Opinion Letter than anything else. Russian Roulette by Alex Alder: Jacob teaches martial art fighting in…somewhere in Texas.(…)
Sep 6 2011
First I want to formally introduce our newest tag at Dear Author: mistorical. Now tags don’t generally get such an officious welcome, but this one, in particular, might be a wee bit controversial, as it means, quite literally, “mistaken historical.” In other words, it’s the tag we’re now going to be using to describe(…)
Aug 30 2011
Back in April, I had an exchange with poster Liza Lester in response to Janine’s review of Petals and Thorns. Liza wrote: But it occurred to me that if the forced seduction were presented as (rather mild, actually) BDSM erotica, if it were explicitly a game, or limited to a scene, I would have no(…)
Aug 23 2011
In romance, the main characters are referred to as Hero and Heroine. The terms are formed from the base word, hero. The term “hero” in modern vernacular refers to someone who is “of distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.” In the romance genre, there are often good guys and bad(…)
Aug 16 2011
JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh (and Giveaway)
Mockingjay 13 District Blog Tour: District 5, Our Giveaway
Something is very wrong with us, and it’s not bad reviews
Berkley Fall Giveaway
Author DeborahAnne MacGillivray Harasses Amazon Reader
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