Tag Archives: keri arthur

Romancing the Genre

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dc1db2c008a0e700653ca010.LRomance books have changed a lot since I started reading them. I still remember the first one I read. Sandra Brown’s Breath of Scandal. My aunt gave it to me, knowing that I read like a fiend. At the time, my reading was pretty much confined to fantasies and science fiction. She thought I could use a “broadening of my horizons” and gave me something new. So, I read it and was hooked and I mean, hooked quick.

I moved through romance novels like I was drinking water. Sandra Brown, Linda Howard and Nora Roberts. I still read my fantasies and sci-fi’s, but now I was noticing something was lacking from the stories that I would like to see. A sweeping love story somewhere in the stories. Not even necessarily with the main characters, just somewhere. I still wanted those “otherworldly elements” too, but I wanted romance, a love story, and sex. It was rare, at that point in time (the early 90′s) for me to be able to find what I was looking for.

In today’s book market, that’s a different story. Over the past few years, books have taken being classified into a category to an organizational art form. A listmaker’s dream – or nightmare, depending on how you look at it. No longer is there just contemporary romances like those I started out reading where the Alpha male came along and swept the stubborn leading lady off her feet with little protest from her. Today, heroines fight back. They kick ass with a wide smile painted across their perfectly shaped and painted lips. Sure, those contemporary romances are still there. But now they’re cataloged on the shelf next to the likes of Jeaniene Frost, Keri Arthur, and J. R. Ward in sub-genres of romance.

img003No longer is romance, just a romance. There’s paranormal romance, erotic romance, sci-fi romance, fantasy romance, shape-shifter romance, etc. Historical romances aren’t just limited to ones that took place at some point in history that isn’t now. There’s Gothic romance, medieval romance, Scottish romance, Irish romance, Western romance, etc. I’ve even seen horror romance, though I’ve not personally read anything in that sub-genre. There’s even time travel romance and don’t be surprised when you see steampunk romance showing up on your shelves next year.

The basis is all the same – at the most basic, a romance novel tells a story, one with a HEA or HFN. (Happily Ever After or Happy For Now) Be it vampire, cowboy, space alien, dragon or Highland warrior all of these stories have the development of a relationship between the characters.

Of course, then there’s someone like me.

Flash of Dark, my first release, has vampires, the Tuatha Dé Danann (the Fae), humans, a mystery, loud music and rope (after you read the next line, I’ll leave you to figure out the “rope” mention… ;) ).

So, with all of these “sub genres” of romance, is that like a sub (paranormal) sub (fantasy) sub (mystery) sub (erotic) genre romance book?

Someone Stop the Train; I Wanna Get Off

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Have not had as much time as I would have liked lately to write, but that’s the problem that exists when writing is something you have to do in your free time. One has to have the free time open first to make it happen. It’s not from lack of want, trust me. The biggest issue has been sleep. Yes, writing is important to me, but managing to grab at least five hours of sleep a night is a must if I want to be coherent throughout the day. (Though really, being coherent is a bit over-rated, right?) I did manage to plunk myself down at the computer last Saturday and get five hours of uninterrupted writing done. Other things had to be sacrificed for that to happen, but that’s the way of everything. It’s not that what I missed (daughter’s performance) wasn’t important, it was. Her dad was with her and I was in a groove. Something that both of us decided hadn’t been for a while and I should run with it. If there’s one thing that writing teaches you, it’s that there will be times where you feel as if you’re a marathon runner.

Most recently, this past week, I tore apart something I’ve been working on and have been in the process, in the little bits of time I have had, of piecing it back together. Also, I had time to read a post by Keri Arthur, over a the Deadline Dames. If you’re an aspiring author, like I am, you should check it out – wonderful advice.

Do You Follow Patterns or Run Around Willy Nilly?

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Patterns are a funny thing. Looking at my habits and such, I find that I write in patterns. I even read in them.

I’ve always been a reader, even in my youth. Being an only child, I found escapisim in books. They gave me friends that were realiable and would always be there no matter what was going on in my life. I vividly remember reading Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books when I was in 5th grade. When I was sixteen, it was L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series. And so begins the “series pattern”.

I, to this day, still love series books. I enjoy reading beyond just one book about the characters that I’ve grown attached to. Hearing their story and seeing how they handle events as their life unfolds as I turn the pages. Don’t get me wrong, single title books have their allure as well, and I would never turn my nose up to them, however, if I’m well into a series and I’m given a choice between a single title and the latest in a series, I’m going to choose the series book.

For an example, here are some of the series books I follow: The Hollows series (Kim Harrison), the Signs of the Zodiac series (Vicki Pettersson), the Night Huntress series (Jeaniene Frost), the ..In Death series (J. D. Robb), the Weather Warden series (Rachel Caine), the Dragonfire series (Deborah Cooke), the Jax series (Ann Aguirre), the Guardian series (Keri Arthur), the Outlander series (Diana Gabaldon), the Merry Gentry series (Laurell Hamilton), the Fever & the Highlander series (Karen Moning) and the newest series I’ve been reading, the Southern Vampire series (Charlaine Harris).

Now that I’m embarassed myself as to just how many books I read (’cause don’t forget, this is just the series books – that doesn’t even include the single titles I read from other authors) I’ve got stuff around the house to get to and errands to run.

Happy 4th of July to America!