Lisa Paitz Spindler, Danger Gal

In two separate blog posts today I’ve read attributions of vampire Romance somehow beginning with TWILIGHT’s Edward.

Shattersnipe offers some very good insight in “Why Paranormal Romance Is No Fad,” but also seems to be unaware that vampire Romances existed pre-Edward (emphasis mine):

“Which brings me to the current trend in paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and that particular proliferation of vampires….Urban fantasy, apart from anything else, has always been the gateway drug of make-believe…The fact that Harry Potter and Edward Cullen have helped move this phenomenon from screen to page seems overdue, and not in the least bit faddish…the current boom in paranormal romance feels like the response of a market which has hitherto existed, but remained largely untapped, populated by the kind of intelligent, imaginative women who might shy away from picking up a Harlequin romance novel, but who still – often without realising it – have been hankering for a little bit of literary lust.Ironically, it’s taken a surge in YA fantasy for this to become apparent, assuming the legions of grown women lining up to buy Twilight are anything to go by.”

Then at IO9 Lauren Davis quotes a Publisher’s Weekly article in a post about angels being the new black:

After a seemingly endless run of books trying to capitalize on the success of Twilight, young adult publishers are experiencing a touch of vampire fatigue.

Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series has been at the forefront of the vampire Romance trend as well has been J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. Feehan’s DARK PRINCE and Ward’s DARK LOVER were published in 2005 — the same year as TWILIGHT’s release.

While certainly the TWILIGHT phenomenon has been a boon to Paranormal Romance, it’s worth noting that Linda Lael Miller’s vampire series started with FOREVER AND THE NIGHT in 1995, ten years before Edward Cullen was a glimmer in Stephanie Meyer’s word processor.

Team Tremayne. RAH!

My latest post is up at the Writers At Play blog and today I’m talking about the nature of heroines in Paranormal Romances, specifically how rare they are. Once in a while a blog post or comment takes on a life of its own. A while back I responded to a comment by Diana Peterfreund on the Dear Author post “My Paranormal Malaise”:

Diana Peterfreund said:

The other day, I heard someone refer to the pararom/UF market as the “vampire boyfriend” genre. Which is really interesting and not necessarily inaccurate because so many stories seem to be able to be described as “girl falls in love with [insert paranormal creature here.]”

An apt description, and partly why I’m much more interested these days in SFR rather than Paranormal. Why is it the paranormal character is so often the hero and not the heroine?

Love Romance Passion responded with the a very enlightening post “6 Reasons Why the Paranormal Character is Always Male” and The Galaxy Express responded with “The Romance Heroine is Not a Side Dish.”

Read more…

Over the next few days I hope to post some of the highlights of the workshops I attended at the RWA National Conference last week.

To kick off the highlights posts, here is a photo from Saturday night’s Awards Ceremony of myself and a couple of my pals from Writers at Play.

From left to right, me, author Stacey Kayne and author Leslie Dicken. I’ll try to post some additional photos as time allows, but for now Janice Lynn has a few nice photos up on her blog and Tawny Weber chronicles our “legs” photos from years past.

Some of the sessions I attended include:

• • Successful Rewriting:Paring Down and Fleshing Out by Lisa Gardner
  • Emotion, Emotion, Emotion: Writing Romance with Global Appeal by authors Barbara Hannay, Barbara McMahon, Jessica Hart and Harlequin editor Lucy Brown
  • How to Stay Sane in Publishing by agent Steven Axelrod
  • The Great Agent Hunt by authors Christie Craig and Faye Hughes and agents Jessica Faust and Caren Johnson
  • Writing Crossover Fiction with authors Ann Aguirre, Catherine Asaro, Robin Owens and Ace/Berkley Sensation editor Cindy Hwang
  • Writing in a Hybrid Genre with Dorchester editor Leah Hultenschmidt
  • The Lessons of Firefly: Learning From the Works of Joss Whedon by author Jacqui Jacoby

The Today Show aired a story on the RWA Conference! I was at that book-signing, where you see all those fans in the giant ballroom of the San Francisco Marriott. Sarah Wendell — she’s the one who makes the sex comment — is Sarah from Smart Bitches Who Read Trashy Books. The curly haired blond next to her is Samhain editor Angela James. I also know the quirky brunette laughing toward the end (with the glasses). That’s Esri Rose and I’ll be in her shoe blog in the next day or two.

Tomorrow I’m off to San Fran for the Romance Writers Association National Conference where I’ll be meeting with agents, hooking up with authors I’ve only met online, going to workshops, and just plain hanging out with my writing buddies.

I do plan to keep everyone posted on what’s up at RWA this year and will be periodically blogging from there as well as updating my Twitter page. My tweets should show up momentarily on my blog as well, so don’t be concerned about having two places to check. I’m also on the Blogging National blogroll, where you can find all sorts of RWA Attendees reporting on the events. Some of the events I’m looking forward to: the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing, the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Bitches At The Bear Happy Hour, and RWA’s RITA/Golden Heart Awards Ceremony (where I’m rooting for my gal pal Terri Garey who is nominated for a RITA).

Stay tuned here for the latest on what I’m up to while attending RWA’s National Conference by reading my Twitter feed right here on my blog.

There’s a great post and conversation going on today over at Galaxy Express about the nature of Science Fiction Romance.

Specific topics include heat levels (i.e., how much sexual detail should SFR novels contain?), parenting issues (specifically showing more heroines who are also mothers), how to interest female teen readers with a goal of keeping them as adult SFR readers, and a call for a more varied ethnicity in the subgenre.

As a result, Heather and I have started up a new Shelfari group to discuss these and other issues important to Science Fiction Romance. Please come take a look and even join in the discussion.

The Romance genre is so often judged on 30 year old bodice-ripper books, but I continue to maintain that it’s got Feminist cred. Case in point, SBTB just posted the obituary of Ms. Barbara Lantz, Romance writer and founder of the Tuscon Saguaro Romance Writers RWA chapter. I’m posting the obit here from the July 3 Arizona Daily Star, but you can also see it (and numerous comments) over at SBTB. [Emphasis below, mine]

Barbara Lantz was a romance writer.

Not the bodice-ripping, Fabio-loving, heroine-in-need-of-rescue type of romance writer. Turns out the slender pulp paperbacks with swooning women and muscular men on their covers were more the fantasy of the men who published them than the women who wrote them.

Lantz wrote sweet, believable American tales about capable women who, in the course of their lives’ adventures, met honorable men worthy of their love….

Members of the Saguaro Romance Writers agree the genre has gotten a bad rap over the years, mostly due to silly marketing ploys and cheesy book covers. In reality, they say, romance is a respected, well-read and lucrative genre.

“It’s the most feminist of all literature because it’s the only form of literature where women are guaranteed to win and come out with an emotionally satisfying finish,” [Maureen] Caudill said.

Hat tip: SBTB

A few weeks ago I mentioned the new TV show New Amsterdam starring Nikola Coster-Waldau in my Writers At Play group blog post.

I’ve been following reviews of the show around the internet, and today came across Sarah Stegall’s review of the latest episode “Honor”, where she said:

But I do have a two-fold problem with this romance. First, I see zero chemistry between Coster-Waldau and Alexie Gilmore. Sorry, but it’s just not there. I still see more sizzle between Coster-Waldau and Zuleikha Robinson, even if they’re sparks of antagonism. So far, the doctor comes across as vapid. Not even the use of The Decembrists’ Angels and Angles in a love scene could rescue it.

I agree with Stegall about the lack of chemistry between the romantic leads. I think this was most evident during the first kiss after the carriage ride scene, where it seemed like these two actors kissed because that’s what the script said to do. I didn’t see much emotional or physical awareness build-up between them to lead to that kiss. It just happened all of a sudden.

Second, it would be nice if John were actually showing signs of attraction to Sara as a person, rather than Sara as potential grim reaper. Because that’s what it’s starting to look like to me—John is rushing into a romance because he’s desperate to be mortal again. One feels he would seduce a fencepost if he thought it would grant him relief from immortality. I need to see more actual proof onscreen that this is a love story literally for the ages, rather than another quick roll in the hay by a master seducer.

I think Stegall is onto something here. This would actually be a great source of conflict between these two characters — that John sees Sarah not as a person or a woman, but as a means to an end. That could be a huge roadblock to meet the terms of the enchantment that their “souls are wed,” which implies a deeper connection than just rolling in the hay with a master seducer. In fact, it may be that all the skills he’s learned over the years won’t be enough to woo her, he’ll have even more to learn about love.

It’s an interesting hook that even after 400 years of studying people and love, John will still have more to learn.

The special guest today over at my group blog, Writers At Play, is Christina Hogrebe of the Jane Rotrosen Agency. Hogrebe will be fielding questions on what she looks for before offering literary representation, what may or not be “hot”, or any other questions you may have. This is your chance to Ask An Agent, and as a special added bonus, Christina will be giving away a free copy of “WILL WRITE FOR SHOES: How To Write A Chick-Lit Novel” by Cathy Yardley to one special commenter.