Mar 19 2013
Last week I discussed Edith Hull’s 1919 Romance novel The Sheik, which I would offer as a potential nominee for first modern genre Romance novel. Bringing together themes and devices from captivity narratives, sentimental and sensational fiction, and other literary genres, The Sheik also created an iconic image of the romantic desert hero in the(…)
Mar 12 2013
This week I want to talk about the use of captivity in the Romance genre, but before I do, I want to clarify a couple of points that cropped up in discussion of my last post and in other discussions of the genre. In my last post, commenter Katie raised the issue of slave narratives,(…)
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(…)
Jul 26 2011
Amnesia is one of the most reviled of romance tropes, right up there with secret babies, but it’s also immensely popular. There are few writers with long careers who fail to tackle it at some point. And why not? It delivers plots rich in conflict, deception, forgiveness–and secret babies. I thought I’d read a lot(…)
Jan 11 2011
I guess my title should be why isn’t there any arranged marriage stories? Or maybe it should be why isn’t there any arranged marriage stories portrayed in a positive light? Two young adult books have been released in 2010 that dealt with arranged marriage. One, Passion Play presented the gang rape of the female protagonist(…)
Oct 19 2010
Genre fiction rides a thin line between consistent recognizability and appealing freshness. Often referred to as "a narrative archetype," the form of genre fiction is often denigrated as "formulaic" and derivative (Pam Regis, A Natural History of The Romance Novel, 23). In truth, there has to be something fundamental and formalistic that binds a group(…)
Sep 7 2010
We have a lovely op ed piece by Janine due for tomorrow so this morning we are going to run a poll instead. I recently read a blurb for a story that featured the heroine working for a tabloid and was trying to write a tell all story. It appeared, by the blurb, that she(…)
May 14 2009
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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