Romance Readers and Writers

At Liquid Silver Books:

Fortune’s Return by Jamie Craig

Ryan Putnam has lost everything. Laid off from teaching high school and dumped by his lawyer boyfriend, he has nowhere else to go but his childhood home – the Good Fortune ranch. He plans to take the summer to regroup and start over. He never expects to be smitten with a cowboy. Especially not a cowboy like Teo Mendez, who is everything Ryan’s ex-boyfriend is not.

Four years after his wife’s death, Teo Mendez has returned to what he loves the most – working the land. He believes the Good Fortune ranch is the perfect place to build a new life for his son, Antonio. When his boss’s brother Ryan shows up to work, the other man’s haunted eyes reminds Teo of everything he has lost as well. So he offers the only thing he can—his friendship. But it doesn’t take long for Ryan to reawaken long dormant emotions and desires.

Ryan doesn’t intend to find a relationship. Teo doesn’t want to complicate his life with a fling. What they have between them, however, is too powerful to ignore.

Deer Run Falls by Roscoe James

John O’Bannon, ex-Chicago homicide detective, moved to the sultry riverfront of Vicksburg, Mississippi dreaming of a slow paced life in semi-retirement. He figured his days as a private eye taking pictures of cheating spouses for divorce lawyers and recovering lost family jewels would both pay the bills and allow time to enjoy life in the slow lane of southern country comfort. He thought it was business as usual when he agreed to meet the mysterious Southern belle Jeri Lynn Lee at a local eatery. He was wrong, on all counts.

At the behest of one of the local gentry, Judge Horatio Robert Lee, and with the help of Hushi Humma, a sexy and fascinating half Choctaw Indian woman, John is forced to confront past failures and unlock the secrets of Deer Run Falls. He must choose one, dangerous lust or the promise of love, no matter how deadly the consequences.

From The Wild Rose Press

Hidden Shadows by Lauren Hope

With a failed marriage and bitter betrayal tucked in her suitcase of baggage, Jenna Gregor is admittedly cynical and pessimistic concerning men and the prospect of a lasting relationship. When Bennett Aston sweeps into her life like a sturdy gust of wind, she jumps to defend herself at every angle from his easy confidence, southern charm, and unnerving good looks.

But in the shadows of Jenna’s past lay deep secrets. And there, a mad woman lurks in the darkness, ready to ruin all Jenna holds dear. As life as Jenna knows it begins to unravel, she finds herself in a tangled web of lies, suspicion, and murder. She must look deep inside herself to find the courage for forgiveness, trust, and self-acceptance. Only then will she discover love, redemption, and ultimately, survival.

From Whiskey  Creek Press

In the Arms Of the Enemy by Mary Eason

Everything Kate Bradshaw believed to be real about her marriage to her husband Alex was slowly slipping away as the newspaper reports explained the sordid truth in black and white. Their marriage and Alex’s seduction was nothing more than a lie. A means of accomplishing one thing–Alex’s revenge against the man he believed responsible for killing his one true love…Kate’s own father.

Linden Bay Publishing has re-opened to general submissions. If you aren’t familiar with Linden Bay, they publish strictly romance novels.  If you can work in paranormal, comedy or mystery, that’s great, but the relationship should be front and center and there should be a happily ever after ending. They are looking for light story lines– nothing dark.

I could never write for Linden Bay since I tend to write paranormals or fantasy with the romance woven into the framework of those types of stories– and my stories tend to be dark.  However, they have a great reputation for what they do.  Here’s the link if you want to read their full submission guidelines:

http://www.lindenbayromance.com/submissions.html

There are blogs on all conceiveable topics from politics to green living.  Many romance writers post to their own blog on a regular basis to build readership and stay in touch with their fans.  Some publishers also make use of blogs.  Liquid Silver Books has the SEx Blog where LSB published writers take turns posting daily.  Daisy Dexter Dobbs also makes good use of her blog, as does Emily Veinglory. Do you visit a publisher’s or writer’s blog regularly?  Does a regular blog make you more likely to read a book from that writer or publisher?

Ebooks have been around for awhile, but they have been a small segment of the market for years.  This year has seen the rise of both the Sony eBook reader and Amazon’s Kindle.  Apparently, the neat design and functionality of these two devices has given the ebook a shot in the arm.  Add the increasing popularity of smart phones like the iPhone and the Palm Centro, and it seems like we have a perfect storm that will push ebooks into the mainstream.

Many large NY presses, like Penguin, have started issuing ebooks along with traditional print titles.  Penguin recently reported that sales of ebooks through April of this year were greater than the sales for all of last year.  But it’s not just NY that is reaping the benefits of the resurgent interest in ebooks.  Romance, particularly erotic romance, has always embraced the electronic format.  Many well-established e-presses like Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Liquid Silver and Phaze stand to benefit.  Do you read ebooks?  Do you have a dedicated ebook reader or do you use another device?

When I was cutting my romantic teeth on Harlequins and Lavyrle Spencer, there weren’t many paranormal romances.  There were a few books that may have had a vampire or werewolf as a main character, but by and large, most of the romances were real-world stories that took place in exotic locales.

Of course, now there are tons of paranormals available, with all types of creatures from  fairies to shapeshifters.  Do you like paranormals?  What type of character do you most like to read about?  I tend to be a fan of magical beings likethe fae.  “Tempted by Two,” by Anya Bast is a favorite of mine. Vampires never did a lot for me, although one of my favorite newer releases, “The Rememdiu,” features vampires.

What’s your favorite paranormal character.  Have you read any good paranormals lately?

A new Indiana law would require any bookstore that sells sexually explicit or “adult” material to register or pay a fine. The Secretary of State would determine what material is deemed “adult.” The law is meant to regulate retailers that sell pornography, but the law is written to be very broad. Since many romance novels are becoming more explicit in their sexual descriptions, many authors fear that this could impact major book retailers like Barnes and Noble.  If booksellers must register in order to sell the Harlequin Spice line, writers fear that the stores just won’t stock the books.  With books sales dropping, every sale counts. If you are a fan of romance novels and live in Indiana, write to your local representative and express your opposition to this law.

Some of the most popular novels today, at least from a sales standpoint, are shorter novella-length ebooks and series romances like Harlequins.  I guess its a product of our fast paced up society that more people are digesting their fiction in short, bite sized portions.  Romances that are huge and span multiple decades seem to be a thing of the past.  That’s a shame.

Two of my favorite books from my late teens and early 20s were sprawling, massive books by Leona Blair.  One was called Privilege and the other, my favorite, was called A World of Difference. They both dealt with  characters that started out poor and downtrodden, only to rise up and become wealthy and powerful beyond all reckoning.  they had wounded hearts and had been kept from the one they truly loved, not by their own fault, but because of the manipulations of people close to them.  They were over-the-top and meloldramatic, but I loved them any way. Romance novels are supposed to be a little OTT anyway.

Is there a particular style of romance novel that has fallen out of favor, but that you still adore?  For me, it’s the epic, but I know people that still love a good Regency or gothic novel.  What’s your favorite?

In my last post I brought up fan fiction as it relates to movie and tv show tie-ins.  Fan fiction is an odd beast.  Some writers, like Anne Rice, hate it.  Rice has forbidden fans from appropriating her characters and has even started legal proceedings against some who would ignore her wishes.  At the opposite end of the spectrum is J.K. Rowling, who not only puts up with fan fiction, she actively encourages it, going so far as to read some of the fics. Whether a writer likes fan fiction or not, it has always been around.  When I was in junior high, fan fiction was furiously scribbled in spiral notebooks and passed around the halls between classes. Today, fan fiction is published for a potential world-wide audience on the Internet.  If there is a TV sow, book, movie or celebrity, you can bet someone, somewhere, is writing fiction. Fan fic writers can develop fan bases and many use fan fic and the things they learn to move on to professional original fiction.

If you are a published writer, how would you feel if a fan took your characters and wrote a new story featuring them.  Would you be flattered or would you feel violated?

If you write fan fiction, why?  Would you ever want to write original fiction?

One area of fiction that thrives, especially in the science fiction department, is that of movie and tv show tie ins.  There are whole libraries or books based on “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.” The events in both of these book series become part of the official “canon.” Youth-oriented movies like “High School Musical” have also gotten the tie-in series treatment.

This trend hasn’t crossed over into the romance market, even though there are tv shows and movies that almost beg to be novelized.  You only need to delve into the world of fan fiction to see that popular soaps could be translated to the printed page with very little effort. The popularity of fan fiction should be enough to convince TPTB that money could be made by releasing authorized tie-in fiction.

One show that I would love to see serialized is the vampire drama “Moonlight.”  It was recently canceled by CBS, but there is a chance that it could live on the CW network.  Even if CW doesn’t pick up the show, its legions of devoted fans (the majority of whom are women) would likely flock to the continuing adventures of Mick St. John if the story were handed off to a great romance writer.

What do you think?  Is there a show you would like to see turned into a book?  Would you like to write such a book yourself?

I think all romance fans remember their first novel- I know I remember mine, even if I can’t remember the name.  For the life of me, I can’t even remember the heroine’s name  I do remember it was a Harlequin.  The cover was green and the heroine (Fiona!  I just remembered!) had red hair.  She was 19 and the hero was in his 30s.  She was a nature photographer and he was some sort of independently wealthy gentleman who didn’t mind seducing the help. It was a traditional, set in Ireland, young heroine, older Alpha Male hero series romance.  I was 12 and thought it was the hottest thing I had ever read. I quickly moved on to other romances, some of which were way more explicit.  I remember one called “Morning Glory,” which was not the same book as the very lovely novel by Lavyrle Spencer.  I’ve moved back ad forth between sweet romances and explicit stuff that would make Emma Holly blush.  I’ve devoured them all.  I never get tired of reading romances.

What was your first romance novel?  Do you remember?