Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

We want to make sure you find a Halloween romance novel or two in your trick-or-treat bag. Here are some Halloween-themed romances we found. If you know of others, please tell us about them in the comments.

Hallowed

Hallowe’en Husbands

The Last Man on Earth

Miscellaneous List

Strip or Treat

This list is not an endorsement of any site and should be used for informational purposes only.

Confession time…

I’ve already broken into the holiday romances.

I know, I know, it’s still October. Halloween, that too-scary-for-me holiday, hasn’t even passed. But as I watch the stock market plunge, taking my net worth with it, I NEED a hit of holiday joy. I want to hear about first kisses under the mistletoe, romantic (and never too cold) sleigh rides through the snow, brightly colored mystery packages topped with fancy bows just waiting to be opened.

It may be too early to send out my holiday cards (not too early to address and seal them with sparkly stickers though) but I can read about self-confessed cardaholics Dane and Leigh in Robie Madison’s Cats And Dogs. They are my sort of folks. I love opening the mailbox and finding out that loved ones were thinking of me. I often wait to open the distinctive envelopes until I’ve had a bad, bad day and need the extra cheer.

Holiday romances also give me that happy lift. They are special, aren’t they? Many holiday romances, like Margaret Moore’s Comfort And Joy, are deliciously short. That makes them perfect to read at lunchtime in the sterile, politically correct office. Longer novels like Eloisa James’ tale of rekindled love (An Affair Before Christmas) are ideal bedtime reading. Almost all have that holiday glow to them. They are tales of love and family, hope and miracles. All the things that truly matter.

Are you looking for a new holiday romance? There are some sure-to-be superb ones coming out this year. I already sniffed some out while helping to organize the holiday book lovefest at TheWritersVineyard . There’s a new Lisa Kleypas (A Wallflower Christmas), Robyn Carr’s A Virgin River Christmas, Adrienne Basso’s The Christmas Countess and the list grows daily.

I’m glad. I’m always on the hunt for new-to-me holiday romances. So share! What is your favorite holiday romance? What holiday romances are you looking forward to reading? Have you written a holiday romance? Help me add to my TBR pile.

Everyone’s always saying how hard historicals are to write–all that research and stuff. I’ve always found that so baffling. I mean, if my hero is an oil field worker in the 1800s and I don’t get a detail just right, who’s gonna know? I research the field and I do my very best, but what if that hero was an oil field worker in a contemporary setting and I got a detail wrong? Well, lots of people would know. And that’s why contemporaries scare me to death.

Now, I’ve gone and signed a contract to collaborate on a contemporary romantic suspense with a crime fiction novelist. And you know what I found out? I have to research it almost as much as my historicals. I still had to visit the city in which it takes place. I did interviews, tours, library stops, and walked the streets at all times of the day.

I took pictures of local hot spots. I ate at local restaurants. I visited the buildings where our characters work. I bought lots of books about the town. We have the whole crime aspect of it to research and on and on. Even the clothing and the food come into play.

So will someone please explain to me why contemporaries are supposed to be “easier” than historicals, because I’m just not seein’ it!

by Karin Tabke

Can you believe that time of year is here? It will really zip by after Halloween this Friday. And I’ll admit, I’ve never been much of a holiday kind of gal. Something, somewhere got lost along the way. The holidays seem to have lost their sparkle. Maybe it’s because the kids are all grown up, maybe it’s because the reason for the season seems to no longer be the reason for the season. It’s fairly well established around here, Karin isn’t much on Christmas. They call me the Grinch. My husband and kids are the complete opposite. They love the holidays.

It did not become clear to me until last night while out walking with my daughter the real reason I dislike the holidays so. When I blurted out, “I’m really looking forward to the holidays this year!” She stopped in mid-stride and looked at me like I had a second head.

“What?” I asked. (I mean, c’mon, a girl has the right to change her mind about things)

My kid narrowed her eyes and said, “Mom, you never say that. What’s different this year?”

“I don’t have to shop this year!” I gleefully said, then continued our walk. And it’s true, I don’t have to shop! I announced to the family after my daughter’s wedding last weekend that since we blew the wad on her wedding, Christmas was going to be just about being together, and food. Really, really good food. And of course a party here and there, but no prezzies. None. Zero Nada. Not gonna do it. Not gonna get dragged into the fray.

I hate shopping. Hate. It. But more than that, I really detest the expectation of producing stuff. Of spending money because it’s expected. Spending money on things that while thoughtfully purchased will get unthoughtfully set aside. Not gonna do it. And knowing I’m not has lifted my holiday spirit to the heavens! I can’t wait to decorate the house. I can’t wait to throw a party. I can’t wait for Christmas Day and the big prime rib roast and crab cakes. But most of all I can’t wait for all of my kids to be home, a fire burning in the hearth, a football game on the tele, and laughing and loving, and just being together, which for me is the real reason for the season. Sigh. Life is good.

The real meaning for the season theme is what I tried to convey in my holiday release, HAVE YOURSELF A NAUGHTY LITTLE SANTA, which just so happens to release today! I loved writing this emotional story about two people who have completely opposing points of view on Christmas, only to find out in the end what is really important, and that they really aren’t so far apart. It’s fun, it’s sexy, and it made me cry when I wrote it.

So, what’s your POV on the holidays? Love them, hate them, could do without them, or are you like my husband and his family going hog wild on it all?

Happy Holidays, and may you all HAVE A NAUGHTY LITTLE SANTA, tucked in your stocking this year!

Cheers,
Karin*

Lately, I’ve been bothered more and more by something in books, and every time I read it in yet another one, my irritation rises. It’s characters who don’t stay in character during sex scenes. I’m not a huge erotic romance fan, although I do read some. However, the majority of the books I read do have on-screen sex scenes. I’m certainly not against hot sex in books. If it works for the story, then go for it. But make sure it also works for your characters.

Now, I understand that some timid, mild-mannered-by-day women suddenly become tigresses in bed, but most of the time I’m not convinced. If you’ve done your job well the characters become real, I can visualise them, and that means I have some idea of how I expect them to behave in certain situations. So when the very classy lady, a snob about so many things in life, who is timid about her body, or has body issues, has sex, I have assumptions about how that will go. When that same lady thinks or talks about her, er, kitty (not sure I’m allowed to use the other word here) and dripping and all sorts of other things, it takes me right out of the scene. I don’t believe it. Sometimes it even makes me want to laugh.

Again, I’m not saying that this wouldn’t be in character for some, or that I object to these things in all sex scenes. I’m saying make it work for those characters. Also, make sure it fits the time period as well. I’m not a huge historical reader either, but I’ve read some where women and/or men use words or thoughts in their sex scenes, that I’m not even sure were popular then and then I spend the rest of the book wondering if that was right for the time period instead of actually enjoying the book.

Just like in movies, I want my sex scenes to fit with the flow of the story, so that they are just one more element. I don’t want to be able to tell the difference in the tone, I don’t want to be jarred out of what I’m reading, because then it feels like a separate scene, not necessarily part of the plot. As if the author said, “ok stick sex scene 3 in here” and moved on. In my opinion, that’s where porn isn’t arousing, because there is no plot, and, generally, the women aren’t acting/re-acting the way they necessarily would in real life. And most of the time they don’t really look like they are enjoying it, but that’s a whole other issue. It’s a believability thing.

For me, anyway, it is way sexier to have the characters respond “in character”. That is to say, how would they really think or act? I can think of some super hot, super graphic books, where I felt the scenes, language and everything else was in character and I was not jarred out story at all. If your character would really say “f*** me now” then go for it. Make me believe it. I’m betting there are all sorts of sexy ways for your demure, snobby, character to have great sex in character. It might even be fun!

I know, it’s all subjective, but what I’m really trying to say is… don’t stop the suspension of disbelief, just because you want to add a hot sex scene. Make me believe what they are doing and/or saying, throughout the book, clothed or unclothed, making love, shooting at someone, being held against their will or just plain having sex.

Do love scenes ever take you out of a story? Do you ever think, no way? Or do you even care?

Well, it’s the biggest marketing backfire I see as a blogging book reviewer anyway.

Okay, here it is. The biggest marketing backfire I see is *not calling a book what it is in order to snag new readers,* whether by labels or cover art or whatever. Whoever stands to profit from the sale of the book can count themselves lucky if the reader is merely annoyed. Science Fiction Romance is one of the biggest victims of this backfire.

Rosie Reader’s Quest for MOONSTRUCK by Susan Grant

Rosie Reader looooves Science Fiction Romance. Always has. She totally had a thing for Han Solo when she was just a zit-faced teen. Now thirtysomething, she’s married to her own studmuffin pilot and packs little Han, Jr. around on her hip. Susan Grant is an SFR author and a pilot. Her books would be ideal for Rosie, but Rosie has never heard of Susan.

One day, Rosie gets off work at Microsoft and picks up Han, Jr. from daycare. She dashes into the grocery store to get dinner because Han, Sr’s last flight got cancelled and he’s on his way home too, starving. She grabs a frozen pizza and sprints for the cashier, swinging by the book section of course. Although this grocery store costs more, it has an excellent book section and that’s why she patronizes it. She’s got a big project coming up at work and could really use a great SFR novel to recharge the batteries on her lunch break.

Rosie turns the corner and Han, Jr’s whimpering breaks into wailing for dinner. He starts tugging at her blouse and her breasts start dripping milk inside her bra. Horrified, she has to grab a book fast and check out before the whole front of her is drenched and Han, Jr. is screaming.

Rosie quick-scans the Romance novels.

The title MOONSTRUCK grabs Rosie’s attention (the Moon is in space, after all) and her focus goes straight to that book.

Once the cover art registers in her mind, she groans. “Romantic Suspense? I hate Romantic Suspense!” She dashes for the cashier, little Han, Jr screaming. She doesn’t have time to read back blurbs or the first page. Her boobs are about to explode.

But, this is a Romance genre blog and so a happy ending is required.

Although Han, Sr. falls asleep after wolfing down his pizza, so does Han, Jr. Rosie puts them both to bed and gets on the computer. She Googles ‘Science Fiction Romance’ and lands on several sites with Paranormal booklists. “I’m not into blood-sucking dead guys! Where’s the blasters? Where’s the warp engines?” Finally, she beams aboard the Galaxy Express. http://thegalaxyexpress.blogspot.com/ There she finds a great bunch of fellow SFR readers to hang out with and is stunned to learn MOONSTRUCK is Science Fiction Romance!

On her lunch break the next day, Rosie races back to the grocery story to buy the book. After devouring it, she buys Susan Grant’s entire backlist and then starts in on Linnea Sinclair’s books. Linnea’s books are easy to find because they all have similar cover art, which include spaceships.

And Rosie Reader reads happily ever after.

*May the Force be with you.*

This post was submitted by Kimber An.

My apologies to non-US readers, but the election is eating my brain, so that’s what I’m going to write about here.

The Romance blogosphere rippled recently with discussion of whether authors should reveal their political affiliations on their blogs or, even more controversially, in their books. I’ve certainly occasionally been shocked out of some otherwise wonderful books with what seems to be an untoward political statement (most of which I agreed with, so that wasn’t the reason I was pulled out of the story).

But then, I’ve also read some fabulous books that include obviously political messages that seem perfectly natural. Suzanne Brockmann works that way for me, because I am very much in line with her beliefs. I know people have problems with her writing when they don’t agree with all that she advocates. But then I think that she’s a good enough writer that when her characters go on political mini-rants, they fit the character’s personality and affiliations. Rather, it is the silent way in which she constructs her characters (like Jules Cassidy, her gay FBI agent, most obviously), that her true politics lie.

On the other side of the equation, of course, would be Inspirational fiction. I’ve read Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love, and while I could appreciate the artistry of the writing, I am personally areligious and very liberal, so the religious message and my perception of the political message did not work for me. While I can objectively say that it was a very well-written book, I cannot say that I enjoyed it or that I would ever read anything else in that sub-genre again. (Which is not to say that I haven’t recommended it to people–I certainly have–it’s just not my political cup of tea.

I know there’s supposedly a list of taboo professions for romance characters, especially the hero. No rock stars, for some reason, although professional sports is becoming more acceptable. No…hmm…the list is getting shorter. No hairdressers or anything else apparently “emasculating” for the hero. The heroine is less confined, it would seem. But the profession that still dare not speak its name is, it seems to me, that of politician. This is probably for the obvious reason that if you name the party affiliation of the character, you’re automatically alienating half of your potential reading audience.

Except recently I’ve skimmed two novels in the bookstore (one Harlequin, one mainstream) in which the hero is a politician. Not that I can remember their titles right now (election eating my brain, remember?), but I know they’re out there. The plot of the mainstream novel revolves around the hero’s party affiliation–he switches from one to another at the end of the novel, and they are named, seriously ticking off his statesman father. It worked for me, but then, he switched the “correct” way for my tastes.

Any thoughts on whether you’d want to read a romance about a politician? Could you handle it if the character identified with the party in opposition to your feelings and beliefs? Any romance you have read that successfully deal with politics? How and why do they work or not?

And finally, for all you Americans: Please vote. I came from a country (South Africa) where four fifths of the population were not allowed to vote when I lived there. Happily, this is no longer the case, and admittedly, I would have been part of the one fifth, but I definitely took away from my time there and the comparison to voting in the US that voting is one of those inalienable rights we should all be able to exercise. So please, don’t let it go to waste. Don’t throw it away because you can’t be bothered. And if you do, don’t whine if you don’t like the result! Vote early if you can, vote on the day if you can’t, but please, please, vote.

One of the most baffling questions I occasionally get from clients is whether they should add links to their sites. Apparently there’s this rumor going around that authors should not link elsewhere because it encourages visitors to leave their own websites. It seems they mostly get this advice from their writer friends, but I’ve also come across situations where authors have been told by their agents or publishers that linking is Bad, linking is The Devil, and linking is only done at the peril of lost site visitors (and I guess, lost book sales?). I’m not generally in the habit of telling clients that their friends, agents or publishers are wrong, but…their friends, agents or publishers are wrong on this issue.

Imagine an Internet where everyone subscribed to this mentality. How many of your favorite sites would you never have heard of if you only ever found websites through search engines or paid advertisements? Linking is a cornerstone of what the Internet is all about, and without links, there would never have been an Internet Revolution.

A slight twist on this idea, a rumor that I hear just as often, is the concept of never linking to anyone who doesn’t link back to you. At first glance, this seems like a fair compromise, but again, how on earth would this work if everyone did it? No one would want to be the first to link to the other’s site, and so there’d have to be some sort of handshake, mutual back scratching deal. And then you’d have to keep tabs on the sites who’ve agreed to the reciprocal linkage, just in case they ever remove the link to you, because then you’d have to do the same. What are we, five years old? Who has the time—not to mention the childish spitefulness—for that kind of nonsense?

What bothers me the most about the notion of not linking or only doing reciprocal linking is the petty selfishness of it. I’d be willing to bet you that these people who prefer to live on little Internet islands of their own don’t mind at all when other sites link to theirs without asking anything in return. And they don’t consider how on earth anyone would find their websites if everyone adopted the same no-linking policy as they do.

Now, I do understand where all of this is coming from. I understand that when you have a product to promote, on a website that you paid for, then you don’t want that site to just be a short stop on the way to finding a different website or author. If you don’t want to add a bunch of links that take visitors away from your own site, there’s a simple solution, and that’s making your off-site links open in a new browser window. A lot of people know this and do this already, but a lot of people also don’t. You want to make sure that when visitors are done looking at the site you linked to, yours is still sitting there open in a different window. What you absolutely, definitely want to avoid is forcing visitors to use the Back button to return to your site, because chances are, they just won’t bother.

Opening a link in a new window is easy to do:

1. If your site is managed by someone else, ask that person to make sure all off-site links open in a new window.

2. If you have a CMS based blog or website, there should be advanced options when you add a link that’ll let you specify what window to open the link in. The Wordpress link management feature, for example, lets you set the “Target” of a link to “_blank”. This will open a new window.

3. If you have to edit a link code manually to make it open in a new window, the tag you add is target=”blank”. Example:

<a href=”http://www.notmysite.com” target=”_blank”>LINK TEXT</a>

Putting links on your site not only makes you a contributing part of the wonder that is the World Wide Web. It’s also about networking, sharing knowledge and entertainment, and about revealing more of who you are and what you care about.

So please, link often and link fearlessly. You’re not alone out there!

Given the current economic status of my household, one of the first things to go was my book budget.

Several months ago, if I wanted such-and-such book, I bought it. I never went crazy, necessarily, though I did buy a LOT of books. Since that money is now appropriated to, you know, gas, food, utilities, I’m making due with other options, like:

1. The library. My office is across the street from the main branch of my county library. Love it! I’m frequently there, picking up books on hold, returning books and movies, perusing the magazines; last week I even donated some YA books to their collection.

Previously, I’d go to the library for authors I’d never read before or hardcover books. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series is like crack to me, but I’m not forking over $27.99 when, chances are, I’ll heave the book at the wall no less than 10 times. Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe series is an new-to-me author I didn’t want to spend $16 on. Luckily, the library had it, and I’ve been gushing over this series to my friends.

Now, however, I search the library catalog first for almost all the books that catch my eye. If it’s a romance, I won’t find it there. Disappointing, yes, but I expect it. Which is why I also hit:

2. The used bookstore. I can take books I no longer want to read (or have already read) and receive trade credit or cash. Typically, I get the credit because shopping there isn’t a one-time deal. Shelves and shelves of old and new hardbacks, romance, children’s books, literary fiction… It makes me giddy just thinking about it! Two weeks ago, I found Trial by Fire by Jo Davis on the shelves. I saw an ad in Romantic Times, thought the book sounded interesting, meaning I’m a geek who likes to read about my home state in romance novels. Imagine my surprise to discover a great read, one I inhaled in a day. And here I sit, waiting until May 2009 to read the follow-up. A nice segue to:

3. Hoarding my gift cards. My mother-in-law bought a Borders gift card for my birthday. I bought 2 books on Sunday and am going to save the rest for Elizabeth Hoyt’s newest release in a couple of weeks. Looking at my “Gotta Haves” for 2009, March, April and May is going to hit me pretty hard. If only I can save my (hopeful) Christmas gift cards until then…

My To Be Read pile really came to my attention when we moved. That’s when I realized I was packing up and moving books I hadn’t read since before the last move. I needed to do something about this, clearly. But what? Get rid of books I haven’t read? Let them keep gathering dust and causing me guilt over all the good intentions I haven’t lived up to? Find more time to read them? Maybe all of the above.

First of all, I gave myself permission to get rid of some books I had to admit I was never going to read. They sounded good, they looked good, but for whatever reason I couldn’t get into them. Fine. Admit I made a bad purchase and let it go. I made some library donations and removed some dust and guilt from my life.

Some, (okay, most) however long I’d had them unread, I couldn’t bear to let go of. I really wanted to read these…someday. So, moving on to the next step, I realized I needed to set some reading goals and actually make time in my schedule to read.

It’s hard to spend any free time doing anything but writing, or catching up the paperwork, or whatever task is waiting for my undivided attention. Because I only get so much time to be uninterrupted and if I spend it reading…I’m not working. Or am I?

Reading is, indisputably, part of my job. And yet it’s the part that gets shoved to the end of the To Do list. Even if I know it really is work related, in my head I’m slacking off if I pick up a book. It’s fun. It’s frivolous. It’s an indulgence. I should be working!

I’m really trying to work on overcoming this attitude, because it’s very bad for me. It’s bad for my head, bad for my writing. And it leads to Mount To Be Read towering over me in all its dusty glory, so it’s also bad for housekeeping and allergies.

I know I need to read more. It’s easy to read if it’s research. I mean, that’s work. A little easier if I’m reviewing the book. Hey, that’s work, too. But just because I want to? Really, put off writing because I want to read Anna Campbell’s latest? Or delay the start of my writing session a couple of hours because a Harlequin Presents with a Greek Tycoon had to come home with me? Scott Westerfeld arrives in the mail and I want to throw my schedule to the wind. Bad writer!

Except reading begets writing. It always has. My earliest writing exercises were replaying scenes in my head and rewriting them. Coming up with new adventures for a favorite story’s characters after the book ended. Coming up with a different ending if I didn’t like the author’s. Looking at how somebody else pulled something off and saying, “aha, that’s why it worked”.

Without reading, my writing is going to grow impoverished. (And before anybody thinks I don’t read at all, I read a minimum of half an hour a day. I just usually spend that time reading with short people who are into Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.) But do I read the way I used to before I became published as a novelist? No.

So I’m working on overcoming the guilt factor, embracing reading as a legitimate part of my working life, and considering the fact that pure recreation is worthwhile for its own sake, too.

And I set myself a goal: clear the TBR pile by New Year’s Day. I’d be a lot further along towards this goal if I didn’t keep acquiring new books, but I might actually make it if I truly make reading a priority. Even if I don’t make my goal, I’ll have made a lot more progress than if I hadn’t tried to make a change at all.

What about your reading? Do you find yourself neglecting it to keep your publishing schedule, if you’re a writer? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by dust and guilt if you’re a reader? What do you do about Mount TBR as the end of the year approaches?