Musing of the Romantics

Ho-Hum Plots

In our reading histories, I'm sure there are some stories that have inspired as much enthusiasm as: blah, meh, huh, yawn.

Without revealing the title of the book or the name of the author, here are the ennui-inducing plots in brief...

1. Courtesan's royal daughter deemed unmarriageable goes to court to wrangle money from king. Meets warrior lord. Instant attraction. Heroine coerces hero into marriage. Hero agrees with a condition. Distrust. H/H make love. Distrust continues. She falls in love with him. He doesn't believe her. He falls for her. She doesn't believe him. Much misunderstanding ensues. They resolve it and live happily ever after (HEA).

2. Puritan American awakens after first night in England naked in bed with an exalted member of the aristocracy. Hero immediately offers marriage despite his rank, his name, his connections, his obligations, and her family's lack of everything. She discovers convoluted relationship to hero's best friend. He and his family are convinced she's the one for him. She deems herself unworthy. Enter wicked villain who claims title for himself. Gunshots, a kidnapping, and a rescue. HEA.

3. Twins, one wants him, the other doesn't, but the one that doesn't want him is engaged to him, so the one who wants him marries him. Shy heroine becomes the belle of society. Hero still has no clue. Spectacles spell disaster. Hero falls for aforementioned impediment. They make love once and often. Re-enter twin. Misunderstanding ensues. HEA.

4. American heiress's proud daddy buys her an English title. Hero doesn't bother to attend engagement party. Heroine dashes off north to have an adventure of her own. Hero is a spy and finds a beautiful attractive woman to protect from harm. Discover she's his fiancée. Quel horreur! They make love once and often. Misunderstanding ensues. HEA.

5. Heroine thinks hero's father is cuddly and cries buckets over his death. Hero thinks he's the very devil and hates him. The death bring h/h together. Heroine's blushes warm hard-hitting financial guru's heart. They make love once and often. Discover compatibility and distrust. Heroine doesn't want hero's wealth, hero doesn't want heart-to-heart chats. Big deal comes down the pike for hero. Heroine cries buckets over hero's childhood. Misunderstanding ensues. HEA.

C'mon, do tell about the plot of a less-than-exciting book you've read recently.

Current Programming Week of September 23rd

It's a new week here at Romance Novel TV. The staff and I are very excited to bring you another amazing week of exclusive video interviews, mysterious guests, authors, games and prizes. 

This week we have Double Features on both Tuesday and Wednesday!

Monday
The J.R. Ward Countdown continues. The Black Dagger Brotherhood has extensive plots and characters – J.R. talks about how she puts it all together.

Tuesday – Double Feature Day
Girl Talk Part 2 with Cathy Maxwell, P.C. Cast and Lori Avocato – join in on the fun as these three authors continue talking about their lives in the military and how it influenced their books.

J.R. Ward – one more day until Lover Unbound is released and J.R. is talking about what happens after Lover Unbound. Can you say Phury?

Wednesday – Double Feature Day
J.R Ward – Exclusive RNTV Lover Unbound trailer.
Gina Bernal – autumn is here and Gina gives us her last 2 picks for September.
Visit "The Good The Bad The Unread" where JR Ward will be a guest author.

Thursday
Jayne Ann Krentz Part 1. We’re thrilled to announce the premier of the first segment of Jayne Ann Krentz’s video interview. Find out all about the Arcane Society and how Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle will be involved in this exciting new series.

Friday
Gemma Halliday is back in part 2 of her video interview. Gemma’s talking about her great High Heels Mystery series – handsome detectives, a fashion impaired mother, a whacky physic, a fabulous heroine and a mystery to solve - what’s not to love?

GUEST AUTHOR
This week let’s give a warm welcome to Carly Phillips. Carly will be joining us this week to talk about her new book Sealed With a Kiss. Drop by our Guest Author Forum and chat with Carly about Ty and Hunter, The Costas Sisters and her Hot Zone Books. Ask her about her writing process, her hobbies, and what’s next for her. If you’ve missed Carly’s video interviews please visit our video page. On the top of the player you’ll find the tab Authors M-Z – scroll to Phillips and you can see all three of Carly’s interview with author Eloisa James.

A big shout out to last week’s Guest Author Jenna Petersen – thanks so much for joining us!

MYSTERY AUTHOR – same game different rules. Join us for a brand new week of Mystery Author. A game of skill, wit, courage, fortitude and well – fun. You never know who’s behind the mask. If you play there’s a big chance you could win a prize from Kim’s Goody Closet. So check it out.

Special thanks to Maya Rodale who was last week’s Mystery Author.

COMING SOON TO RNTV
Squawkers Reunion – join us next week – October 3rd for the premiere of Part 1 of the Squawkers Reunion. In addition – (drum roll please) Lisa Kleypas, Christina Dodd, Eloisa James, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly and Connie Brockway will be visiting the message board all day long to chat and let you know what’s new.

OUT TAKES
What happens when the Squawkers get together and they forget the camera is on? Be on the look out for a special out take video of the Squawkers Reunion. It will be shown one day and one day only – we’ll let you know when.

Starting in October New ‘Scary Story’ Contest – hosted and moderated by author Kathryn Caskie. Stay tuned for details.

Be on the look out for new interviews with Victoria Alexander, Lisa Kleypas, Kathryn Smith, Kerrelyn Sparks, Jeaniene Frost and Sandy Blair – just to name a few. Plus we will continue to premiere brand new, never before seen, video interviews with Jayne Ann Krentz, C.L. Wilson, Gemma Halliday, Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Maya Rodale, Anna Campbell and Rachel Gibson… just to name a few.

Oh – and did I mention we’ll be launching our new web-site in October?

He's Wrong and Stoopid

I stumbled across a website run by a Robert Harris www.virtualsalt.com. The site contains such various articles on different subjects from internet tools to finding a job.  I decided to take a look at one category “Articles relating to literature”.  Under this heading was a glossary of literary terms. Curious, I poked around. It stated that these were definitions for many of the words we find in publishing today. The definitions ran A-Z - allegory to versification. Curious I scrolled down to see his definition of romance. Here’s what it said:

“Romance. An extended fictional prose narrative about improbable events involving characters that are quite different from ordinary people. Knights on a quest for a magic sword and aided by characters like fairies and trolls would be examples of things found in romance fiction. Examples:

• Miguel de Cervantes, Don      Quixote
• Sir Philip Sidney, The

  Arcadia

In popular use, the modern romance novel is a formulaic love story (boy meets girl, obstacles interfere, they overcome obstacles, they live happily ever after). Computer software is available for constructing these stock plots and providing stereotyped characters. Consequently, the books usually lack literary merit. Examples:

• Harlequin Romance series”

 
Who the what now?  Where do I begin? Clearly Robert Harris did NO research before posting this definition.

While this so called definition claims romances lack literary merit, who among us hasn’t read a romance novel and sighed, laughed, cried and remembered a wonderful ‘literary passage’ from one of the books we’ve read ?

Robbie, Robbie, Robbie - you should have never included this in your definitions page - it was just WRONG!

Come on ladies -give me one of your favorite passages.

Different Senses of Place

"Traveling where the page takes you," says author Sue Charnley. Or as other writers call it—evoking a sense of place. It means taking us, the readers, right where the action in the story is occuring.

Every place, be it a beach in Southern France, an overused campsite, a street corner in Manhattan, or the Alaskan wilderness, can be dialed up with a few carefully chosen details. Less is always more in this case, but its pulling certain specifics out of ordinary life and putting them together in special ways that bring a place vividly to life.

By emotionally shading those details, by reprising them as motifs, by painting scenes with a large color pallette, by using word repetition and alliteration and words that sound like their meaning (snap and ding), and by indexing into our memory banks with the essence of one scent or the taste of one food or the texture of one fabric, writers layer in the lusciousness in their stories. This allows us to imagine what we feel of what is being sensed.

As a reader, which of your senses does a story affect the most strongly? Which types of details weave a magic carpet to carry you away right into the heart of the story?

BRIEFS...

Is anyone else saying "What up?"  These ads are on billboards and phone booths and everything else, all over NYC.  Literally, you can't look up, down or sideways without running into one of these billboards. 

Can you just imagine being at a casting call for one of these ads?  Well, Marisa thought it was unusual and that it would take while to get used to the idea of men hanging out all over the place.  After all, he's not the first, and women have been doing it for years.

Ladies - Thoughts?

The Amazing Secrets...

I was driving in the car with my best friend Sandy deciding where we'd grab a bite to eat.  Sandy started the South Beach Diet last week and we had to choose a restaurant that didn’t have carbs screaming at you from the kitchen. It got me to thinking about diets and that lead me to thinking about advertising and promotion. Go figure, my mind works in mysterious ways. Selling, marketing, advertising, and promotion – all ways to get someone to do something or buy something. Marisa and I noticed a few days ago that women’s magazines have a sure fire way of selling every last magazine on the stand and then some. All you have to do is write a descriptive clause in front of the words ‘ loose weight’.  It can be anything from “Amazing new way” to loose weight, to “The Best Kept Secrets On How to” loose weight, to “Celebrities reveal their Secrets on how to” loose weight. Really you can put anything in front of those two words and magazines will fly off the shelves.

You’re at the market, you’re at the checkout line, you see the magazine cover, you try to resist, but no… no… no… weight a minute, let me just give it a glance before they ring me up. You fumble through the pages trying to find the article; you can’t seem to find the page before they’ve scanned your last item, so in exasperation you throw the magazine on the conveyor belt along with your other purchases.

 Once home, in between unpacking and snacking, you open the magazine to find the secrets, nay, the AMAZING secrets on how to loose weight. Hoping, praying, they’ve found some secret that doesn’t involve taking one of those pills that will either kill you or have you acting like a half-crazed, physco lunatic on crack-speed. As you flip through the pages you finally get to the amazing secrets -- eat small meals, don’t snack, drink lots of water and exercise. (Beat.) {{{You mean I still have to freakin’ exercise?}}} Really, you close the magazine feeling duped.

 It’s not just diets; it’s the amazing secrets of more youthful skin, the amazing secrets of rock hard abs and buns of steel? You mean there is no cream that takes 10 years off my life? Oh my gosh, I still have to do sit-ups and butt crunches? I feel duped, duped, duped.

 So ladies, are there really any amazing secrets out there? Are there really any quick fixes?

Current Programming Week of September 16th

It's a brand new week here at Romance Novel TV. Maria, Kim and I have some great new videos, authors, books, games and prizes to delight and amuse you.

Monday
What do Charlie's Angels and Sabrina Jeffries have in common? Find out when we premiere Sabrina Jeffries Part 2


Tuesday
What do the Air Force, Navy and Romance Authors have in common? Find out when we premiere our new Girl Talk Part 1 hosted by our very own Cathy Maxwell. Throughout the months of September and October we'll be airing segments of all new Girl Talks with Cathy Maxwell, P.C. Cast and Lori Avacato


Wednesday
The Countdown Begins join us every week day starting September 19th until September 26th for all new videos with J.R. Ward in celebration of the new release Lover Unbound. Check our message board daily for a chance to win an authographed copy of Lover Unbound.


Previous J.R. Ward segments can be found in Authors M-Z and the tab Off the Page - where we bring you her last book signing and an interview with her Editor.

Thursday
The Countdown continues - with a new J.R. Ward segment - for those of you who are up on the brother's - she's going to be talking about Jane.

Friday
We have two new video premieres. J.R. Ward and Gina Bernal.

We have two more picks from Gina Bernal -- can you say contemporary? Find out which two contemporaries Gina thinks we should be reading this Septmeber.

GUEST AUTHOR If it's a new week - it's a new Guest Author. This week we're pleased to have Jenna Petersen. Jenna also writes under the name Jess Michaels. Stop by and visit to talk about her latest releases, her upcoming releases, her dual writing sytles, her hobbies, her process and everything in between.


Special thanks to the amazing C.L. Wilson who was last week's Guest Author and to the tricky and talented Karen Rose who was last week's Mystery Author.

If you haven't checked out their video segments - take a look. Karen's segments can be found under Author's M-Z
C.L.'s segment can be found in New Releases (We'll have a new segment premiering on October 1st).

Speaking of MYSTERY AUTHOR if you aren't playing, the only quesion is WHY NOT? Spend a week trying to guess who she is - and if you do - well- a fabulous prize awaits you! As well as the glory of unmasking the mysterious woman who will spend the week taunting you, misdirecting you, and generally amusing you.

If you want to let us know what you're reading this week make sure to stop by our forum - we're always looking for something new to read.

They're many forums open for discussion - so stop by the message board often - you never know who's going to be there, or what they'll be talking about.

Have a great week, and I'll see you on the board.

Photos from National

Going with the assumption that two months late is better than never, I'm posting photos with comments about my side of the trip to Dallas. This was my first Romance Writers of America national conference, and I was star-struck, excited, and incandescently happy to be with folks who thought marks on paper is a valuable way of life.

I first started my journey to Dallas by making detailed notes about what I wanted to do during the five days I was there...

Then came the packing

Despite judicious choice of items to take with me, I ended up with too much luggage

Dallas Skyline

Romance Writers of America 2007 Logo

Literacy Autographing

With authors Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly

With authors Nora Roberts, Julia Quinn, Christina Dodd

With Elodie Michels (left) and Romance Novel TV Production Manager Kim Castillo (right)

With Lacey Kaye

In case the photos so far haven't been clear, the conference is [i]all[/i] about the clothes, the shoes, the bags, manis/pedis, etc. (j/k). Author Eloisa James's shoes (left) and author Sophia Nash's shoes (right)...

Author Candice Hern with her National Readers Choice Award and with author Barbara Freethy

Candice Hern with Sophia Nash, with author Sabrina Jeffries, and with authors Kathryn Smith and Jeaniene Frost

Haven Rich, by herself and with author Kalen Hughes

Gift from the Bon Bons to Kim Castillo. Haven Rich collected everyone's contributions, coordinated everything, bought the main items, and drove the gift over to Dallas. Eloisa James presented it to Kim Castillo.

Author Amanda McCabe's Regency gown for the Beau Monde Soiree

Amanda McCabe with author Regina Scot, author Andrea Pickens, and authors Debra Bess and Diane Gaston (right)

Diane Gaston by herself; with author Terri Brisbin; with author Eloisa James, Elodie Michels, Amanda Collins, and Santa

Lifetime TV Interviewer Michelle Buonfiglio with Elodie Michels and Amanda Collins; Santa, Kim Castillo, Julianne Perry Stone

Author La Nora Roberts

Author Anna Campbell

Authors Nalini Singh, Cathy Maxwell, Jo Beverley

Author Janet Mullany

Authors Kathryn Caskie, Sophia Nash, Karen Rose

Authors Lisa Kleypas and Christina Dodd (left) and authors Karen Hawkins and Suzanne Enoch (right)

Squawk Radio (Eloisa James, Christina Dodd, Kim Castillo, Lisa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly)

Authors Victoria Alexander and Stephanie Laurens; author Sabrina Jeffries

Author JR Ward

Author Sherrilyn Kenyon (Kinley MacGregor)

Authors Sara MacKenzie, Kalen Hughes, Victoria Dahl

Authors Sandy Blair and Jules Bennett

Smart Bitches Reviewers Candy (left) and Sarah (right)

At the Red River Cowboy Bar, after the RITA awards and the dessert reception, with Sophia Nash and a mechanical bucking bull

Sophia Nash with Kim Castillo (left) and Kathryn Caskie (right)

Author Kayla Perrin with mechanical bull (left) and a bona fide cowboy (right)

I waited in line for hours to ship home all the free books I'd collected and the ones I'd bought at the author signing using the hotel's ground shipping services

Then I returned home to this...

Can We Live Without Celebrity?

On this day in history, in the year 1981 Entertainment Tonight premiered on TV. I remember the first time I saw the show -- I was fascinated, -- news about movies, TV shows and the latest in Hollywood. Since then, there has been an endless stream of television shows about celebrities and Hollywood. There has also been a steady stream of Entertainment Tonight clones - on television, on the radio, in magazines and on the net. Seems we can’t get enough of celebrity, and celebrity apparently sells.

Whether we like it or not, we get to know who their dating, who they are breaking up with, what color lipstick they are wearing, their latest brawl, their stupidest comment, where they ate, who they slept with and other pieces of priceless information the ‘public’ can’t seem to live without.

What is the fascination with celebrity? Do they really affect our lives, what we say, how we dress and where we eat?

Do We Have Time To Be Romantic?

Besides reading romance - do we have time to be romantic in our own lives? We read romance, in fact we love to read romance, sometimes can’t get enough. We also own businesses, work, take care of the kids, carpool, grocery shop, cook, clean, arrange the family’s social calendar, go to business meetings and anything else we can squeeze into a 24 hour period. There are those days when, I hate to admit it, but I show more kindness to total strangers than to the ones I really love. Why? because I think they’ll understand that I may busy or under pressure. But is that really fair? After all, the ones we love, our family and dearest friends are going to be with us for a very long time. In my case, until I grow so old my eyes can’t read romance novels any more .

For me romance encompasses many things, the warm smile, the tender embrace, the words of encouragement, and of course those intimate moments we share with our spouse or significant other.

So when it comes to romance, are we just reading it, or are we living it?