Picture of an actual, on-sale-now romance novel
It’s Friday, I can’t think of anything to blog about. No thoughtful topics, no celebrity crushes, no products I’d like to endorse. I have two thoughts in mind today: WHY must Moose lick himself so much? The other thought is about all the things I need to do the book I am writing, and the one I will be writing soon.
I’ve had some interesting conversations–just interesting, with no conclusions drawn–with fellow writers about what they are reading, what they are hearing from their agents and editors as the new thing, and what is going to happen with the anti-collusion lawsuit the Department of Justice has filed against several big publishers (basically, it boils down to this: the DOJ suing Apple and NY publishers for ebook price-fixing. You can read it here). And all these conversations have led me to some questions that I am going to toss out on a Friday when you know you are looking for something other to do than work. 
1. What type of romance did you last read? Historical? Contemp? Suspense? Paranormal? Or other?
2. Have you read E.L. James Fifty Shades of Gray? Are you going to?
3. What camp are you in when it comes to sensuality: Do you like your romances super hot and graphic? Are you more interested in the tension leading up to the act? Or do you like a good balance of both?
4. How did you read your last romance novel? On paper? On an ereader? Or did you listen to it? How did you read the last book you consumed?
5. Is there a setting or type of romance novel that you are tired of? Anything you’d like to see more of?
Anything you’d like to add about the state of romantic fiction today? Anything you’d like to say about the state of ebook prices, or ebook readers? Is there anything you’d like to say about anything? We are all ears
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Historical Romance
2. No – (never heard of author.)
3. I’m old fashioned:
* I prefer lots of pre-tension;
* post-marriage, steamy, stirring sensuality (nothing crude, not too “lusty” more a true expression of love, and a basically clean vocabulary (I dislike words like cock, shit, etc and choose to read writers who use word like “hardness, manhood, evidence of his desire, etc)- I don’t know how that translates for “graphic.”
5. I’d like less violence (especially graphic) & more of the story carried the tension between the couple, or between family, social restrictions, etc.
4. I prefer to read paper, but have borrowed a few ebooks from library
4.
Comments on above – My android wouldn’t let me write more at a time.
1. I usually read mostly Historical Romance (plus classis authors like Jane Austen, etc). I’m NOT interested in paranormal, demons, witchcraft, science fiction, etc.
* I prefer the setting to be British Isles, my favorite the Scottish Highlands.
* I prefer to read & watch movies set in the Regency or Victorian (up to the beginning of the industral revaluation; Midieval as long as there ia minimal violence & no graphic violence. (I have experienced a violent unhappy childhood – I read & watch movies to escape – I am looking for sweet, loving, romances. Probably my favorite contemporary historical romance is Lynsay Sands “The Chase” b II laughed so hard through most of that book. favorite contemporary favoritefavorite historical romance is
1. Historical – A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. How have I not read anything by her before?!
2. I read the series. To me, it was just badly written fan fic. I don’t get what made this catch on. Once something catches on, the merit of the title really doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone wants to read whatever the new big book is.
3. I’m ok with a lot or a little. It’s mostly about the emotional connection to the characters beyond the sex. Some good unresolved sexual tension can be hotter than a lot of sex scenes!
4. Paper. I prefer ereaders, but my budget is not equal to my reading habits. It’s usually a mix of egalleys and library books.
5. Nothing in particular.
I am a bit late on this but here is my two pence:
1-Which also leads into 2. I am true to heart historical romance lover. I will on occasion read the paranormal (Sherrilyn Kenyon), the sci fi/adventure (Game of Thrones), and time travel (Outlaw Viking). When in Asda (Walmart) the other day I came across Fifty Shades of Grey. Now, I was in two minds. So many people commented on the ‘oh I never will factor’ and some commented ‘just the first one,’ and I must admit I am intrigued. I am not ashamed to admit I do like the theme of the book. Of which I am not going to go into detail but I really do rather enjoy it. With that said, I bought the book and read it, in its entirety, last night. I actually laughed out during some parts (the emails were really hilarious) and that says a LOT because I rarely make a peep whilst reading. And yes, I am going to now buy the rest of the series. Mark me the naughty one. I do not mind!
3-I can read very innocent sweet books and get just as much enjoyment from them as I do from the Black Lace series. But then I am very open minded and well, we have all done things that would shock our friends. Needless to say some of the things I have done/do would probably shock the under-roos off most of you!
4-I admit to not owning an e-reader. I am however purchasing one in the near future for my daughter who at 13 has discovered wifi on her phone and reads Bleach from the free reading sites. So I am buying her one if only to just save her eyesite for future reading pleasure. I personally am thinking of a tablet. Time will tell!!!
5-Time Travel! I love books that are well written with humour that travel back in time. Hence Outlaw Viking. I have always wanted to visit York because of that book and I have finally been able to cross that off my bucket list. People ask me, since I am American, the best place to go. I tell them forget London. Museums, attractions yeah. But the most interesting and most beautiful to me is York. The Shambles area; (in the heart of York its a medieval area of shops thats buildings are leaning into the street; Google it!) is without doubt a great place to get many inspirations and ideas for time travel since the ground below is super moist and they have found MANY Viking remains including leather shoes, hair and you will never believe this but intact poo! Vikings left their rubbish lieing about hence why there is so much to be found. Below that layer is the Roman layer and there is not really much of that at all. I have read many time travel books, and would love to see something with York Roman or Viking. Sandra Hill did a great job with her books, but I want more!!!!!
You reminded me that I liked The Secretary. It’s not the sex that scares me off that book. It’s the reviews of the writing. If I’m going to read sex, I want it to be done well. Submission isn’t my thing, true, but I could read about it if the writing is solid. But a heroine screaming Holy Crap every few lines seems really jarring to me. But you give me some faith, Ti.
1. Currently reading historical romance and contemporary paranormal (witchcraft) romance – yes, I’m usually reading more than one book at time so I have something to suit whatever mood I’m in at the moment.
2. No interest in 50 Shades at all.
3. How much depends on the story, but it has to be romantic and in connection with a love relationship, not just “scratching an itch.” Some of my favorites have somewhat graphic scenes and others don’t. My favorite of all time is KILGANNON – has the perfect blend of everything.
4. I’m the old-fashioned one. I only read paper, both hardcover and paperback. I work on a computer all day so one more screen is just too much. I think I would read less if I had to do it on a screen. I just bought phone with a full keyboard for texting, but no iPhone or Droid or tablet. Haven’t quite joined the tech revolution completely.
5. Since I read all kinds of books, within and without the romance genre, I’m not really tired of any particular type. I love medieval and I agree with you, Julia, I want plenty of real history in it – and accurate history), especially Scottish and Irish, but also contemporary romance. I love to read history as well . . . and any other genre if a book catches my attention. I just like a good book!
Kilgannon is excellent.
Yes, it is.
This has been enlightening! The great thing to me is that no one said, “I’m not reading, I can’t find anything to read.” Hoooray for a bunch of writers I know!
Currently reading a memoir but previous one was a contemporary. 2. Don’t plan to read it. Three is a crowd. 3. I like a nice balance. 4. Mostly I read on my Kindle since the bookstore is always open. I do read “real” books though. 5. I read many genres so I’m not bored with anything yet.
1. Last romance read was contemporary.
Also, as I have stated before, I am no lemming!
2. No shades of gray for me. Definitely a little too “black and blue”.
3. As for sensuality, I don’t care too much. I don’t like the real in-your-face-gritty sex without a lot of emotion in there, but when the emotion is there, it’s a great read. I love the old school glance across the room romances because a look is never just a look. It’s all about the skill of the romance writer for me…
4. Last gazillion books were all on e-read, although I am currently surrounded by a whole stack of research books, so obviously I have some mental barriers about research on a Kindle.
5. Not too tired of much in the way of setting. Maybe regency. I’m def in with the medieval pack. I think it’s a Game of Thrones holdover…
I would love to read more books like Sharon Kay Penman wrote several years ago, starting with Here be Dragons. I tried to reread one recently, but by today’s standards, they are pretty wordy, and I didn’t have the patience. I may try again tho, because they were excellent books.
1. last/current read – historical read on ereader, paranormal audiobook
2. No. I read a sample and wasn’t engaged.
3. Depends on my mood. Sometimes super-hot, more often more in the middle
4. iPhone & Kindle
5. Tired of vampires. I’d like to see more cowboys!
1: Last read/Currently reading: I have a contemp spec ops book and a historical on the nightstand, a historical in the living room, a comic-book novelization in my purse, and a contemp on the e-reader.
2. No to 50 Shades of Gray. Not interested. Wish it wasn’t taking up so much space on the lists where I have to scroll past it to get to other stuff.
3. I like my sensuality to be justified and the heat to come from the emotions, not the Tab A into Slot B activities. I like the battle of the sexes, both internal and external, to generate the heat. What I detest is the current editorial mode of forcing the events (i.e. kiss by page 40) because they think I won’t read any more if the sex isn’t there. I like a good love scene as much as the next person, but not if I think it’s been put there because it’s expected, versus natural for the story. (I suppose that’s the skill of the author at hand – to make it seem like it HAS to be here NOW!)
4. I wasn’t much into the e-reading camp until recently, even though I’m a girl geek. Mostly because my e-reader is never charged. And because I’d have to go find it. And it takes two hands to read (one to hold, one to tap to turn the page). And there aren’t enough lines on the page. I could go on.
I’m starting to come around, but I prefer paper. Reading is one area where lo-tech is still better. E-reading, however, is very convienent for when I don’t have a book, or can’t carry one. Knowing a book is only a tap away on my phone is great…if I can get past Angry Birds. I have both a Nook Color and an iPad, so I expect my e-reading to go up
And some books are so much better on audio…Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, for example. Lorelei King is an amazing reader!
5. i’m so sick of dark paranormal. If I never see a vampire, shapeshifter or demon hunter book again, I won’t miss it.
I want medieval historicals to come back. I like Regency England as much as the next person, but surely we can include another time period or two in the romance lineup! A good pirates in the Caribbean setting would be good. I’m in for anything, if the story’s good.
I want LESS series books. NYC takes things too far when 80% or more of the books on the new release lists are series-related. And by the time you get to the 15th in the series, well, I’m not interested in even starting them.
I know that I’m starting to hunt outside the romance genre for a good, satisfying read these days. I feel like either NYC editors or today’s authors have lost the art of subtlety in today’s romance. In too many books, conflict is spelled out almost in big, bold letters instead of letting it slip in here and there. The first kiss is often contrived in order to get it in early in the book, because otherwise we might not understand who the hero/heroine really are. I don’t know…I miss the bigger story, the slower pace, in some ways.
Thanks for letting me share!
I’m with you on the fewer series request. Two is usually my limit, although I have read some trilogies. Some of these series just keep going. Energizer Bunny series.
1. Contemporary
2. No, not if I can help it.
3. I’d say I prefer whatever the situation, characters, and story can support. Sometimes that’s uber-sexy, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes there’s a balance, sometimes there isn’t. I have to evaluate it on a book-by-book level.
4. The last Romance I read was in electronic format — the Kindle app on my phone. The last non-Romance I read was on paper. It had been sitting in my office unread for YEARS. (Boy, was THAT ever a stupid oversight on my part!)
5. I am tired of the direction I see contemporary romance taking — too much attraction too soon, and usually for the wrong reasons. But I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of a particular setting or type of romance, so long as authors are able to keep it fresh. I’d like to see some new angles to historical and paranormal, whether that comes in the form of setting or time period or both. Maybe some stuff with more cross-genre appeal. Mix it up a bit.
Cross-genre appeal sounds good. What was the non-romance, if you want to share?
GAME OF THRONES and CLASH OF KINGS. Can you believe it? (Don’t yell at me!)
Why would I yell? I didn’t read them until the series hooked me.
Oh, I don’t know. I guess I just feel like I’m always late to the party. (It happened with Harry Potter, too.) We don’t get HBO, so I still haven’t seen the show. But I remember people started talking about GAME OF THRONES all of a sudden, and I thought, “Hmm…I’m pretty sure I have that somewhere…” And I did have it…since 1997.
I still don’t have an ereader, but I’m loving my Kindle app for my smart phone. I actually haven’t done much reading since finishing my RITA books–I’ve been caught up in household projects while my TBR pile had grown and grown and grown.
1. Historical
2. No interest in Fifty Shades…at all
3. A nice balance. Tension is always good, but don’t wait until page 380 of a 400 page novel for the characters to do the deed.
4. Kindle Fire
5. Sorry, but I am tired of paranormals. As Sherri stated, they seem to have lost their originality. Love medieval and a good pirate story. Actually, I haven’t read a good outlaw romance in a long time. Used to love those set in 1800s Texas, or NM, or Colorado.
Count me in for pirates! And if it’s not cliche–I love southwestern set historicals! And for the record I read historicals too…just currently glomming a lot of Romantic suspense while i’m between books.
1. It was Julia London’s Eberlin book, if you must know. Not quite finished. Then I’m reading Deadly Dance Dee Davis, and then the newer Julia London (Seduction).
2. I am not reading the EL James book. This review was enough for me (not that I go by reviews often). http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/fifty-shades-of-grey-the-thinking-womans-guide.html
3. Sex, as long as it’s well presented, I don’t care how much or how little, but I love good sensual tension.
4. Paper! So weird for me lately. I’ve been almost all ebook but I found some of my favorites in the store lately so I bought them in print. But I am on Dance with Dragons (book 5) of the Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire) series, on iBooks.
5. I’m not tired of any kind of romance, but I would love to see more unusual settings- some pirates, vikings, Edwardian, maybe some roaring 20s, France, Egypt. Something new.
Amendment to five, I’m a little tired of paranormals, and this is coming from someone who writes them. It just seems like there are vampires, and then there are trying-too-hard-to-be-anything-paranormal-but-vampires. There’s a glut of same-sounding voices and I want to see some true originality back out there.
Alma Katsu’s The Taker, more like that in paranormal. It’s an engaging read, not really a romance, but if you want some fresh paranormal- try that.
Thanks to the review link for 50 Shades…it says everything I need to know (or confirm) about it.
I loved that review!
1. contemporary women’s fiction with some romance thrown in (don’t they all have romance thrown in?)
2. I read the first. That’s enough for me
3. The tension!
4. On my kindle. Wow. For the purposes of discussion, the one before that was on paper. I still read both mediums
5. Medieval, yeah! But a meaty medieval with a lot of real history!
yes to the last!!!
1. Romantic Suspense!
2. I haven’t, wasn’t planning to, but now am thinking I might
3. Somewhere in the middle — a nice balance.
4. On my iPad.
5. I love out of the country exoctic romances. But I suspect that won’t surprise a soul. And bring back the medieval!