Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

Last spring, a student in my seminar on romance fiction did her class presentation on Lover Eternal, the second of J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood novels. I’d never read the series–but heck, I’d asked everyone to introduce me to new authors and new books, so I stretched out in my La-Z-Boy to give it a try.

Oy. Or, since everything in Ward’s world seems to boast an extra consonant: Ohy.

I liked Ward’s heroine, Mary, well enough. But the stars of the series, Rhage, Phury, Vishous, Zsadist, and the rest of the Brotherhood? They bugged me. What’s not to like? Let’s see: they’re tall, they’re strong, they wear lots of leather and designer clothes, they drink designer booze (Lagavulin, Grey Goose) and drive Escalades; when they’re not battling the evil lessers who want to wipe out Vampire-Kind they hang out in a fancy compound that’s chock full (nunchuck-full) of weapons and high-tech toys. They watch action movies on plasma TVs; they swear a lot; they brood; they fight; they Have Issues; but deep down, you know that they Love Each Other like Brothers. (Note to self: call brother.)

One shot Frat Boy, one shot Tom of Finland Leatherman, splash of Soldier, dash of bitters: that’s the Black Dagger Cocktail.

My wife, God bless her, assures me that the mix does nothing for her–but then, she swore the same thing about Pierce Brosnan in The Thomas Crown Affair. And I know plenty of women who find these guys awfully tasty. Sarah Frantz loves them; she finds Ward’s books “comfort reads.” Eloisa James recently confessed a “headlong addiction” with these heroes, who remind her of “the restless bad boys, the ones who ranged through high school looking for sex and trouble.”

They remind me of those bad boys, too. S–, who threatened to beat me up if I wouldn’t carry his trombone up to the band room. K–, who tacked me after gym. T–, who made fun of the maintenance men and bragged about his boners. R–, who shouted “Greek!” across the field at girls with cute rear ends. And, above all, C–, smart C–, hot C–, sardonic C–, C– who didn’t give a damn what anyone thought, especially the ladies. C– whom they lusted after, and told me so, because I was the one they could talk to. Oh, yes, I remember them.

It’s those memories, bad memories, mostly, that have made me start to like these books.

The farther I read in the series, the more I realize that Ward gets male adolescence in a startling, moving way. Her description of the transition by which “pretrans” vampire boys turn, overnight, into full-sized fighters rings all too true, however she’s compressed the time frame. Years of shame as they wait for it to happen, followed by wrenching growth, radical estrangement from their own flesh? Yep. Those first days and weeks after the transformation, when all the vampires want to do is Feed and Mate? Been there. Felt that. Everything in these books may be magnified, mythologized, but so was life, for a while. From 13 to 25 or so, when I was afraid, I was Ahfraid. When I felt lust, it was Lhust. And when I put on my first leather jacket, or lit my first hand-rolled cigarette, believe me, I felt like a god.

My son has almost reached those amped up adolescent years. He’s up to three burgers at dinner; he can beat me in a long, slow run, though I still own him in a sprint. He knows what’s coming, and it scares him. It scares me, too, and makes me think of this little exchange between Zsadist and John in the latest Black Dagger novel, Lover Unbound:

Z’s skull-trimmed head came back to level and he glanced over, his yellow eyes piercing the darkness sure as sunlight through a break in the clouds. “Your body is going to own you for a little while.”

Though it shamed him, he [John] signed, I think I’m scared.

“Means you’re smart. This is some serious shit. But like I said…I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Z turned away like he was feeling awkward, and John studied the man’s profile against the backdrop of the trees.

As gratitude welled, Z cut off the thank-you John was gearing up to sign. “We’d better head home.”

We get a little more demonstrative around my house. But I know this scene, from both sides, and it tickles me to find that comforting echo in a romance novel: the books that are written (so goes the cliche) by women, for women, and not for us men.

I’m still not entirely sold on Ward’s series. For one thing, there’s entirely too much slamming down of shots of Lagavulin, which is far too noble a dram receive such careless treatment! But I must say, I’m coming around.

What about you? Are you liking the Black Dagger books more or less now than you did when the series began?

This will be one of my shorter blog posts. You see, I’m working pretty intently on my current work in progress. I finished the first draft in September and am revising it. Right now I’m polishing the synopsis and first chapter for a contest with a deadline of… tomorrow.

Normally, I read pretty voraciously, even when I’m writing, although I’ve had to cut back recently. Still, I pretty much read whatever I can and I’m never not reading.

Except lately, I’ve been having a problem. I pick up books to read—books I previously couldn’t wait to read or books sent to me for book reviews—and I put them back down. Again and again.

If I’m lucky, I might get through the first few sentences before I start feeling slightly ill.

No, it’s not the quality of the books.

I’m finding that I’m in a particular mood right now, related to my wip. It’s a contemporary romance. While I’ve been almost heads down on the contest entry, I’ve been able to read recent releases in the line I’m targeting, which helps me to stay on target in terms of tone and pacing. I’ve also been able to read inspirational romance, which always, well, inspires me.

I haven’t been able, however, to read a word of romantic suspense, although I love the genre. Every time I try, I feel my mood darkening, taking me away from where my head needs to be to focus on my wip. Forget a flat out thriller, one of which is waiting a few weeks to be reviewed. Not gonna happen, at least not before the end of this week. (Don’t worry, I’ll still be within my commitment to the review site.)

I’ve gone through periods of reading more titles in one genre than another but I’ve never before put down a book that I thoroughly expected to enjoy because I thought it might “kill my buzz”, so to speak.

And it’s not only books. I’ve stayed away from movies with darker themes too. Hubby watched The Bourne Supremacy last night–one of my favorite Ludlum titles–and I couldn’t get into it.

So I’m wondering, for the writers in the bunch, what do you read or watch while you’re writing? Do you read within the genre you write or outside of it? Are there genres you can’t or won’t read while you’re feverishly at work on your wip? Movie genres you won’t see?

And for the readers, do your moods affect your reading choices?

Of course we are. Anybody who spends hours locked in an office alone, sitting in front of a glowing screen talking to people who aren’t real is, by definition, a little bit crazy.

But I’m talking about really crazy. As in, requiring medication, detox, weekly therapy and/or an occasional restful stay at The Home. And I think the answer is yes–for many of us.

A connection between creative genius and madness has been observed for thousands of years. Aristotle is quoted as saying, “No great genius was without a mixture of insanity.” Marcel Proust said, “Everything great in the world is created by neurotics.” Edgar Allen Poe certainly believed that creativity and insanity were linked (and he ought to know). Just look at the list of writers with well-documented mood disorders–Byron, Hemingway, Woolf, Ann Sexton, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, Fitzgerald, Faulkner–I’m barely scratching the surface.

But it’s only been in the last hundred years or so that serious research has been conducted on the connection between creative genius and mental illness, if there is one–and some current research suggests that yes, there is. Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has observed that a large number of artists–a much higher percentage than the general population–suffer from major mood disorders. She also observed that many of the conditions associated with creativity–such as acutely tuned senses, restlessness, thought diversity, and the ability to associate divergent ideas and thoughts rapidly–are also associated with mild mania.

Certainly not all creative people have mental health issues. Many writers lead perfectly well adjusted, happy, stable lives. However … I personally became aware of the association between writing and mental illness when I joined my first critique group many years ago. Somehow we got to talking about stress, anxiety and insomnia, and my three friends started whipping out their prescription medicine bottles and comparing them. Among them they had enough pills to open their own pharmacy–anti-depressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety meds, you name it.

But the point was brought home in a much more personal way when, a few years later, I was diagnosed with major depression and was prescribed medication of my own. I realized two important things: First, that I had been at least mildly depressed most of my adult life. And second, that I couldn’t write worth beans while taking Prozac. Although I no longer experienced the crushing lows, those little pills also got rid of my highs. My mood was flat and so was my writing. I had no passion.

Thankfully, I was able to wean myself off anti-depressants (under a doctor’s care!) and the writing came back. I also did a lot of research into depression and found ways to combat it that did not involve medication. I still fight it–especially this time of year, which is why I was moved to tackle this subject today.

So why are many writers depressed, anxious, manic, addicted to something, or all of the above? Is it a genetic link? Is it because we seek out creative means to express our pain or reframe painful pasts? Do we write simply to escape? Does our emotional pain serve our creativity by adding depth and richness to our writing? I would love to hear others’ thoughts and experiences regarding this issue.

Do you think building on your strengths or fixing your weaknesses would help you sell more books? My greatest strength is in writing dialogue. My greatest weakness is in writing description. So, should I concentrate on fixing my descriptions or concentrate on improving and building up my dialogue?

According to a Gallup poll, it seems the majority of us here in the U.S. think that fixing our weaknesses will help us be more successful. But I’m not so sure that’s the case. And neither is Marcus Buckingham, author of Go Put Your Strengths To Work.

According to Buckingham there is this big myth floating around where people believe that over time, they will grow the most in the areas of their greatest weakness when, in fact, we grow the most in the areas of our greatest strengths. When I think of my particular strength and weakness, that certainly makes sense. Because no matter how much time I work on making my descriptive passages more poetic or rich or beautiful, I will never be exceptional at it. But, if I put that same kind of effort into my dialogue, that could definitely be an area I could stand out in.

So, what do you think? Let’s take our on little poll here on RTB.

Which do you think would help you be most successful?
A. Building on strengths
B. Fixing weaknesses

Give your answer, then share with us what your greatest strength and weakness is. And for fun, tell us which you spend the most time on: fixing your weakness or building on your strength.

I know my answer: I believe “A”, yet I spend most of my week trying to ramp up my description.

Wonder what would happen if I spent most of my week ramping up my dialogue?

Halloween is rapidly approaching. A few weeks ago, the first neighborhood decorations came out of the garages and now cobwebs, caskets, and giant inflatable pumpkins and spiders amuse passerby. Some neighborhoods are known for their elaborate Christmas light displays, mine goes wild for Halloween. There will be several haunted houses, much moody music and eerie nature soundtracks, fog machines, and tons and tons of candy. My kids beg to go home before we even make it all the way around the block, because their bags get too heavy. My son is torn every year between the desire to trick or treat and the desire to pass out the candy at our door.

So for me, it’s always a bit disconcerting to see the Christmas books on the shelves in October. Why so early? Well, that’s simple, right? Because they sell well. Look at the USA Today bestseller list and you’ll see a few Christmas romances on there. In October.

But what about Halloween? It’s such a fun holiday. Where are the anthologies with that theme? I wrote a Halloween story to help launch Avon’s e-publishing imprint and I had great fun with it, but there are quite a lot of Halloween-themed e-books. Where are the print ones? And are there any non-erotic, non-paranormal ones?

Tonight, as my kids chatted excitedly about what they wanted to dress up as (my daughter already has two new costumes, but is thinking she might wish to be something else after all, and my son just can’t make up his mind) and whether they could somehow find a way to give out the candy at the same time they’re trick or treating for it, I thought about the dearth of Halloween-themed books in the bookstores. Why is that? I guess they don’t sell, but I’m not sure why.

Is it because the holiday is somewhat naughty and therefore the premises lean toward the more risqué? Not so heartwarming, maybe? Perhaps the character-in-disguise premise is used enough? I have a new book coming out on Tuesday that features a disguised hero and it’s not related to Halloween (o’course not, it’s historical. *g*) I was able to think of only one story I’d read that had a costume in the premise and it was a novella (“Sinderella” by Kimberly Randall — which I enjoyed immensely) in a non-Halloween, non-paranormal anthology (SINFUL).

Am I just missing them? How do you feel about holiday-themed books? Do you like to read them?

I rarely re-read books. I know, it sounds almost sacrilegious . . . but it’s true. I’ve re-read some classics (like Edgar Allan Poe) and some Stephen King novels (like THE STAND) and some books I read in high school I’ve re-read as an adult (like THE PRINCESS BRIDE.) But for the most part, once I’ve finished with a book I’m done with it. I’ll remember it and rave about it to friends if I loved it, but I have so many unread books I want to read that reading a book twice seems . . . wasteful.

But movies? That’s a whole ‘nother ballgame.

I have some all-time favorite movies that I can watch over and over and not get bored or feel like I’m wasting time. It’s hard to narrow them down to a top five or top ten list because I watch them for different reasons.

THE CLASSICS

I’ve always loved classic movies. I hate colorized film–if it was filmed in black-and-white, it should stay in black-and-white. Period. Classic movies are rich, textured and nostalgic in many ways. CASABLANCA is hands down my favorite classic movie. I own it and watch it at least once a year. Others that I’ve seen more than twice: THE THIN MAN, THE MALTESE FALCON, NORTH BY NORTHWEST and CHARADE. You can see the pattern, right?

And every Christmas, like most Americans, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. And yes, I cry each and every time even though I know damn well what happens.

THE NEW CLASSICS

I think we know what modern movies that are classics, or will be. STAR WARS . . . yep, I’m a Star Wars nut. I love all six of the movies (of course, the original trilogy is superior.) It’s a classic story that transcends genre. It came out when I was eight and changed my life. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is a movie that is played on television often, and anytime I’m flipping through channels and it’s on, I stop. Doesn’t matter the scene, beginning middle or end, every scene is necessary and full of life and hope. It’s truly incredible.

Some movies have been created to be classics, like LORD OF THE RINGS. Which is why I think a film like SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is so incredible because it wasn’t specifically created to be a classic, it simply IS one.

FUN

There are some movies I pop in because they are tight, fun, and action-filled. I can’t even count how many times I’ve see DIE HARD, SPEED, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and THE MATRIX. And then . . . I might claim I bought them for the kids, but FINDING NEMO and TOY STORY and MONSTERS are some of the best movies ever made and you might find me sitting down watching them over and over . . . and over.

ROMANTIC

And then there’s the times when a good romance is called for. It’s usually when I’m alone at night, husband is working late, kids are asleep (and, most recently, I’ve been watching my favorite romances with my two older daughters.) I’ve watched WORKING GIRL a hundred times. Sigh. And FRENCH KISS. I use that in my hero’s journey for romance workshop, but that’s just an excuse to watch the movie again . . . in preparation, of course.

I prefer the light, fun romances . . . because I cry easily. I mean, I cried when in TOY STORY II the girl grew up and left Jessie in a box by the side of the road. And I took my kids to see MEET THE ROBINSON’S and cried when Lewis went back in time to watch his mother abandon him at the orphanage. And even in commercials–we saw this preview for AUGUST RUSH with Keri Russell. Two musicians have a brief affair, she gets pregnant and her father forces her to give the baby up for adoption. The story is about the boy, a musical prodigy, searching for his parents. I had TEARS streaming down my face in the preview alone. I’ll watch the sad stuff, because movies like this have happy endings, but I need to go in prepared . . . and I don’t usually watch them more than once.

So tell me, what’s your favorite classic, new classic, fun movie and romantic flick?

I’m chasing heroes.

You heard me right. I’m chasing heroes. (Yes, I’m married, and my husband’s fine with it. )

Who doesn’t love a bad boy, or need a professor now and then. The swashbuckler or the warrior can defend my honor or take me on an adventure any day of the week. And after they have, and then have left for their next battle or adventure, the best friend can step in and offer support. I’ll be bolstered enough to offer my own support to the lost soul, and with any luck, I’ll be on the receiving end of the charmer’s skills.

These men, in all their glory, are a big part of what romance books are all about. An author can tap into their emotions, delve into their complex character, and voila!, a compelling character is born. These heroes are so fascinating, in fact, that two other writers and I are building a web site all about…wait for it…heroes.

Chasingheroes.com is the brainchild of Virna De Paul, criminal prosecutor/romantic suspense writer, Lee Lopez, former Sheriff’s Correctional Officer, and me, Misa Ramirez, teacher and soon-to-be-published (yes, I got the call!!) writer of ’soft-boiled’ mysteries and romantic suspense. The web site will be a study of heroes, in all their complexity.

So here’s what I’m asking of you. Tell me who your very favorite hero is, if you can classify him into one of the eight major archetypes, the book title and author, and why you love this hero. Chasingheroes.com will be compiling information on compelling heroes and looking at what makes them tick, why they fit into certain archetypes, and will introduce readers to many new and fascinating men.

So put on your thinking caps and let’s hear it. What heroes do you love to hate, love to dream about, or just plain love?

Here are the eight main archetypes and a few examples to get you thinking:

Chief (think Nathan Petrelli in the t.v. show Heroes or Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice ~be still my heart!)

Bad Boy (Patrick Swayze’s an easy peg in Dirty Dancing. How about Sawyer on Lost? Perfect.)

Best Friend (Tom Hanks is the quintessential best friend. So is Jimmy Stewart. I had a hard time coming up with an example of the best friend from a book. I know they’re out there, apparently I’m just brain dead right now. Can anyone help?)

Lost Soul (Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. Is there anyone more tragic and lost? What about Edward from Twilight? Of course he’s sort of a blend of Lost Soul and Warrior, but my vote is for Lost Soul.)

Charmer (Titanic fan or not, Leo DiCaprio is quite a charmer. And I think Bruce Willis did a fine job of it in Moonlighting. Again, brain dead in the book realm. Help again!)

Professor (Harry Potter? I think he fits the bill here. And of course there’s Sherlock Holmes.)

Swashbuckler (Captain Jack Sparrow, anyone? Johnny Depp makes swashbuckling, yellow-toothed pirates sexy. And Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone is a swashbuckler if there ever was one. )

Warrior (Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Then there’s Bastien Toussaint from Black Ice, a total hard-a** warrior. And who can forget those dastardly muskateers. They came from a novel before they hit the silver screen.)

Now it’s your turn. Pick your favorite romance hero, tell us why he’s memorable to you, and if you can identify it, tell us his archetype. In a month or so, ChasingHeroes.com will launch. Look for your hero there!

No matter how well rounded a romance reader you are, chances are that there is some well-loved author that you have never read. Don’t feel ashamed! We all have at least one author that we haven’t tried, despite the fact that most readers would swear it is a sin to not have read a book by them. I know that the list of authors I haven’t gotten around to reading would shock many of my friends.

Whenever the name of an author comes up that I must admit to not reading I am always faced with the same question: WHY? Why haven’t I gotten off my butt and read author X, Y, and Z yet? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot here lately – not just as to how it relates to me as a reader, but how it relates to me as a librarian.

One of the excuses I find myself giving for why I haven’t tried a certain author is that they are too prolific. When an author has a backlist a mile long it can be a bit daunting. What book do you start with? Worse yet is the author that writes an ongoing series. Do you really need to start at the beginning of the series, or can you jump right in with the newest one? In the end I usually decide to not try the author out of fear that I might enjoy them. Crazy, I know. But I tell myself that I don’t want to risk adding more books to my already scary TBR pile.

While this excuse seems reasonable and logical for me as a reader, I’ve noticed that this thought has crept into my work life as a rule of thumb for whether or not to buy an author’s latest novel. Each month as I read reviews and write order cards I find myself struggling over authors that have written several books – none of which are in my library’s collection. While I know that some of my patrons would enjoy their work, I worry that the same patrons will be irritated by the fact that the library doesn’t own the author’s other works or worse, their earlier books in a series. And I can’t help but wonder, is there such a thing as an expiration date on introducing an author to readers?

What about you? Do you ever hit a point where you say it is too late to start reading an author?

Months and months ago (sometimes things percolate in my brain for far too long), blogger JMC posted a link to a Washington Post article “Do We Need Libraries Anymore.” I jumped right over to the article because, for me, even posing this question seemed like sacrilege. And as an aspiring librarian, I certainly hope I’m not the only one who feels this way. After reading the article, I was relieved to find that (IMO) most the writer’s arguments are off-base; lots of people still use the library, not all research can be done from your home computer, and libraries still function as an important meeting point in communities.

But this post isn’t actually about libraries — it’s about one point the author of that article made that I thought was interesting and scarily true:

The Internet revolution represents a ratcheting up in the pace of American life, a quickening of everything from work productivity to leisure time choices. The idea of settling into a comfy chair for a long read will of course survive for some people, but will seem archaic to others.

This makes me want to cry, but I think it is a problem. I once attended a lecture by AAP president Pat Schroeder where she talked about the same thing. She said (I’m paraphrasing here) that the book is the last refuge in a world of sound bites. We have information constantly flying at us in tiny snippets: 2-paragraph internet news stories, 30-second TV spots, dozens of short blog posts via RSS feeds. The world’s collective attention span must be shrinking.

Even I, who love books nearly to the point of lunacy, sometimes find it hard to sit down after a busy day of work (phones ringing, my computer with five programs active and 6 tabs of Internet pages open) and just read. For the first few minutes, I feel like I should be multi-tasking. My brain is whirring, my attention fractured. Hey, my brain shouts to me, where’s the rest of my input?

But you just can’t multi-task while reading a book. (Especially true for me — I can’t even listen to music while reading.) I guess some people can watch TV at the same time, but when you get really into a good book, the outside world goes away. Everything around you buzzes on like normal, but you’re not aware of it; your consciousness narrows down to the story you’re immersed in. And that’s one of the greatest things about reading: it forces you to slow down and focus on one thing. My mom likes to say that she doesn’t need to meditate because reading fills the same function for her. It’s true for me too. After a nice long read, I emerge refreshed and relaxed. And happy with my otherwise frenetic world.

After giving birth (to a wonderful 9 lb 12 oz baby boy!) nine days ago, I spent four days writing out our birth story and it ended up being extremely long. And while it is, of course, a unique story and one I cherish, as I cherish the birth story of my first son, it follows a similar trajectory to most other birth stories, because at the end, thankfully, we had our beautiful baby boy safe in our arms. While the exact order of labor starting or being started, water breaking or being broken, epidurals, episiotomies, C-sections, water birth or squatting or flat on your back, vary from woman to woman and birth to birth, if all goes well, we all end up with a beautiful baby in our loving arms.

I have a friend who collects other peoples’ birth stories. She is fascinated with all the twists and turns of the details, even though she knows, before it starts, how it’s going to end. And I have to say that I also love sharing birth stories with other mothers, exclaiming over how much crowning hurt (excruciatingly with this baby), or how much the epidural helped, or what breech position the baby was in. It is in the details, in the infinite possibilities of personal experience, that the interest and the female bonding potential lies.

Margaret Atwood has a fabulous little exploration of narrative endings called “Happy Endings.” I won’t give away the twist at the very end, because it’s just too much fun, but the truly important thing she says is, “So much for endings. Beginnings are always more fun. True connoisseurs, however, are known to favor the stretch in between, since it’s the hardest to do anything with.”

It is “the stretch in between” that we read romances for, as much as birth stories. Precisely because “John and Mary live happily ever after” is generally the only acceptable ending for a romance novel, we read for the stretch in between, with its infinite possibilities.

Each reader has her (or his!) own personal and specific preferences of the narrative trajectory of that stretch in between. I read for a specific type of hero and a specific narrative trajectory to his education into love. I might find that hero in Westerns (Elizabeth Lowell’s Only… series, Penelope Williamson’s Outsider) or in paranormals (JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, of course!) or in Regencies (Georgette Heyer’s Devils’ Cub) or in the classics (Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice), but I hunt them down and devour them. Because even in the smaller “stretch in between” of pigheaded, alpha male heroes, there is infinite variety. Other readers might read only Inspirationals, or only Nora Roberts, or only a specific type of ending, or only (or never!) secret baby plots, but the fact remains that we read to savor the variations on the familiar and comforting narrative trajectory that each one of us, personally, enjoys.

What narrative trajectory do you favor? What MUST a romance novel have to satisfy you? I’m not talking good writing, but rather a setting, a character type, or a plot element.