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Once upon a time, I decided an easy way to make money was to write romance novels. Never mind that I had never written anything closely resembling a novel in my life. I figured, "How hard could it be?" However, I HAD heard that you needed to be familiar with the genre you chose.
So, off I go to the book store and find a rack of series romances (like Harlequin and Silhouette). I grabbed a couple at random and went home to read them.
Oh. My. Word. They were so dreadful (my opinion) that I couldn't get halfway through either. The whole idea of writing romance went out the window.
Fast forward a few years... My sister calls me to recommend a book (Did I mention that we are voracious readers?) She gave me a lengthy description of how wonderful the book was, before finally admitting it was a romance. But, I promised to read it since we usually had the same taste. After reading REMEMBRANCE by Jude Devereaux, I learned an important lesson: Even the romance genre has good authors -- you just have to know who you like!
So, off I go to the book store and find a rack of series romances (like Harlequin and Silhouette). I grabbed a couple at random and went home to read them.
Oh. My. Word. They were so dreadful (my opinion) that I couldn't get halfway through either. The whole idea of writing romance went out the window.
Fast forward a few years... My sister calls me to recommend a book (Did I mention that we are voracious readers?) She gave me a lengthy description of how wonderful the book was, before finally admitting it was a romance. But, I promised to read it since we usually had the same taste. After reading REMEMBRANCE by Jude Devereaux, I learned an important lesson: Even the romance genre has good authors -- you just have to know who you like!
5 comments:
Ohh! I read a book by Devereaux once... I believe it was called "Legend." It was VERY good! It drew on my interests as a history nerd (it's set in nineteenth century wild west)and I must admit it was very well written. It actually wasn't until I had finished reading the book (which belonged to my mom and I found it in a pile of random books one summer) I went online to find more by this author and I was shocked to find it was considered a romance novel! It wasn't smutty or tacky at all. I definitely suggest reading it!
Dara,
Glad to see you've got a blog. And I can recommend a wonderful romance novel--with absolutely no bias whatsoever. :-) I just released a new romantic mystery (probably more mystery than romance), Dream or Destiny. I wouldn't compare it to Jude Devereaux, but it's been getting some great reviews.
I'm subscribing to your blog and hope to read lots more from you.
HINSON!
Great blog. You are sooo creative. Off to Lexington, KY, for yet another Thanksgiving meal...
Love ya, Trish
Okay, I am NOT a romance person, and since I haven't read it in several years, I'm not sure if the writing quality is up to my now incredibly picky standards, butttt...... Destiny by Sally Beauman.
I bought it used for something around a dollar, already beat up and well-worn. But it was a thick book, I was on vacation with my parents, and needed ANYTHING to drown out my dad's awful music in the car. The story drew me in incredibly, and while I'm definitely not a romance person, this is more fully-fleshed out than just the busom-heaving, bodice ripper variety. Although there's lots of naughty bits too. Lots. ^___^
Probably not ideal for a 13-14 year old to read, but let's just say I was ...precocious. And very well informed.
I hope you give it a shot, if it's still even being published. If not, well, I'll just have to send you mine. DOOO EET!
(Will trade for kittehs?)
Janelle, I'll look for it! There are some terrific authors in my town. One that might surprise you is Lynda S. Robinson aka Suzanne Robinson. Lynda has a PhD in Anthropology -- her focus is on all things Egypt. She writes mysteries under Lynda and romances under Suzanne. She accepted an invitation to speak at the Smithsonian a few years ago...
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