My daughter has been drawing contest winners.
From my newsletter contest -- It was Penny W and Pat (Shreky Shrek) Emails have been sent.
With Totebags -- It was Lori Patterson and again an email has been sent.
My sister sent me an article from National Public Radio about Harlequin and romance. I was pleased to see my friend Sarah Mallory's book -- The Wicked Baron getting a mention. US News and World Report lists bodice rippers as its number 3 recession beater. Top was home gardening and Hollywood. I know for some the term Bodice ripper grates like finger nails on a chalk board, but at least it conveys fun escapist reading. And I suspect they wanted to make sure that people did not think it was romance in general but the romance genre in publishing.
Hopefully though people in the media will start taking the genre seriously rather than simply dismissing it.
Personally I never mind bodice ripping as it conveys something that is fun and light. Far too many people treat historical fiction as heavy weighty tomes and are frightened to pick one up. Bodice ripping means that it is accessible. The fact that the history in my books is reasonably accurate and that I hope my books will make non historians interested in history is beside the point. First and foremost, I write good page turning stories. And if the only way to get that across is for some to call them Bodice rippers, then so be it. I suppose Escapist Women's Fiction doesn't have the same ring.
The big question they ask is why, and the answer is obvious. Page turning reads which fulfill the Harlequin promise to its readers. People read these books again and again because they feel emotionally satisfied at the end. There is nothing wrong with escaping for a few hours and at the end feeling like the world is a brighter place.
Still doing my revisions and trying to increase the intensity of characterisation, plus refereeing between stressed out children who are revising for exams...
2 comments:
Hear hear Michelle. I've never been afraid of using the term bodice ripper either. When people ask me what I write I always say "historical romances". There is the inevitable "Huh. Mills and Boon. Never read one myself."
"Why not?" I always counter. "You might be pleasantly surprised! They obviously know the "brand" name. Sometimes I think the ladies doth protest too much! Caroline.
I have to confess to quite liking the term 'bodice ripper'. It conjures up such a great image-- particularly when you insert one of your heroes into the picture...
(Sympathy with the refereeing. At least your children *are* revising...)
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