Hey everyone! Well, after four days in the cyber wilderness due to a hard drive crash (no, not me, FRED – the laptop, though it’s almost the same thing…) I’m back and raring to go. My thanks to Jaimi who responded to my Bloghogger Challenge, and posted the first topic…

“It’s apparent the romance genre isn’t going anywhere (take a look at the market). So why doesn’t the entire industry (writers, publishers, etc) get the respect and recognition they deserve as a whole? We all know of at least one friend that will scarf down some romance like the last supper, but will stuff the books into hidden hampers or drawers when company drops by…”

Interestingly enough, it was something that I found going round in my own head while I amused myself during the enforced downtime (you have to do something fun while cleaning out the garage!), so I was intrigued to find it waiting for me. I’m not going to re-invent the wheel by hauling out statistics, but the latest trend is that romance is alive and well and demand is way “up there”, even with the downturn in the economy.

Okay, so assuming that (based on sales figures) the statistics “don’t lie”, there’s an awful lot of people out there who read romance, but how many actually admit to doing so? Even on the loops, readers prefer to “lurk” in the background, and e-books have rapidly gained in popularity (perhaps because they can be purchases anonymously?)

Just to set the parameters here – this is not part of the debate between traditional (sweet or similar) or erotic romance. This is a deeper look into the reasons why romance as a genre seems to be relegated to some dark and shadowy corner and never confessed to in public. I can’t comment on what happens elsewhere, but here in South Africa there seems to be a feeling that romance contradicts the modern, liberated woman, that it is simply an escapist thing for women who are “unenlightened” and that it in some way denigrates today’s woman.

That’s a generalization, sure, but it’s still very real. Mention that you write / read romance and the initial reaction is something along the lines of “that’s all you can manage”, which somehow implies a lack of intelligence, or worse…

Actually, if it wasn’t quite so insulting it would be laughable. I read romance because I enjoy it. I write romance because I enjoy it. And I think that my books are as good (and sometimes better) than some of the other “stuff” out there being peddled as “good reads”. I don’t see why I should have to defend my preference or my intelligence based on that particular choice. I’m an English major student, cut my teeth on the classics, and still have the great poets and authors on my keepers’ shelf. Better than that, I did my degree part time, and cracked distinctions… the defense rests!

So what am I? A frustrated, cheerless, oppressed woman – oh, and let’s not forget mindless, lol – who needs to “lose” herself in the pages of a bodice-ripper because life has no other “jollies” to offer, and ends up worse off because said penny-horrible only reinforces her inferior status because we all know they’re demeaning to woman….
Oy vey! I feel a soapbox moment coming on… Seriously though, maybe it’s time for all of us incurable romantics to climb out of the hamper and make ourselves heard. Fact is, we’re in good company (it’s a recorded, measurable truth that the romance publishing industry is one of the strongest out there) and that’s no small achievement. I for one think we ought to enjoy it.

Oddly enough, no-one seems to have any problem with candlelit dinners and shared bubble baths, or with celebrating engagements, weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day… and believe me, I’ve seen any number of versions of South African dyed-in-the-wool beefcake and brawn not bat an eyelid at wandering through a shopping mall clutching that bunch of roses, or balloons, or the teddy-bear with the slushy neck-tag. Go figure.

As my last post said, part of the Bloghogger Challenge is to pass the topic on to someone else, so I’m now challenging all of you – readers and authors alike. Let the Romance Readers of the World unite! Or something like that, anyway! If you have a blog, pick up the topic and blog on it, add your voice. If you don’t, add links on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Whatever… Send it on to your friends and family… Tell us why you read romance, and what you enjoy about it. Add your comments wherever you can. Share the posts with everyone you know. Then add your name to the “I Read Romance” page here and share that with everyone you know. Let’s see how many names we can collect…

Most of all, let’s have ourselves some fun here!

See you on the Web,
Jude

Hey everyone! I’ve been inspired by Classic Romance Revival’s recent very successful Blog Carnival, and thought I’d introduce a little fun to this particular blogaholic’s life…

So, what’s the plan? Well, I thought I’d offer a prize at the end of it, so read on. The idea is for anyone to challenge me to blog on a particular topic of your choice. Just add your topic as a comment to this post, I’ll pick it up and blog, and will then select another author to pass the challenge onto, then pick up the next topic… At the end of July, the authors will vote for the best topic challenge, and the winner gets their pick of one of my books. The blurb and covers are listed below…

A Thick Black Line

Bo Carmichael has drawn a thick black line around her heart, and with good reason. She has worked hard to overcome the anguish of betrayal and the devastation it wreaked in her family’s lives, and she’s now close to realizing her dreams. There simply isn’t place in this equation for emotional entanglements, especially not with Nic Sinclaire, the only man who has the ability to breach her defenses.

From their first encounter, an impossible chemistry rages between them – a crackling heat that threatens to melt the ice surrounding her.

A bizarre twist makes Nic a constant companion and self-appointed protector. As Bo’s barriers shift and crumble, she can no longer ignore the powerful emotions his proximity evokes…

The Look

With a secret that makes her pretty much a walking time-bomb with the potential to turn her own life and a whole lot of others inside-out, Morgan Slater’s plans definitely don’t include the suspicions of the determined and dynamic Blake Thornton.

She heads out to the back of beyond on a simple Quest for the Truth, but her first meeting with Blake draws the battle lines for a persistent confrontation that makes focusing on her real reason for being there extremely difficult. Worse, he has this uncanny instinct and a way of seeing beyond her sassy, street-wise confidence that makes their ongoing conflict more than simply a battle of wills.

But Morgan has also not anticipated a lot of other complications and, as she struggles to keep her secret and protect herself and others in a world of shifting boundaries and increasingly difficult emotional situations, The Look rapidly becomes…

Still Running

Josie Tate has been running for a long time – from her past, from a tragic secret, and mostly from herself. Then her life is suddenly upended, and she finds herself back in the one place on earth she doesn’t want to be. Worse, she is suddenly caught between an unforgiving past and Cade Harper’s unrelenting pursuit.

As determined as she is desperate, he seems hell-bent on making sure that her running days are over. It doesn’t help that Cade is the most gorgeous man ever. Or that the uncanny attraction between them seems to have a life of its own.

But Josie is determined to keep her distance from Cade. He is equally determined to shatter the walls she is raising up between them. And when her ghosts reappear in the flesh Josie’s life finally implodes. The only way out seems to be to keep on running…

There you go! Post those challenges and let’s see which topic wins!

See you on the blog!
Jude

Guest Author: Danielle Thorne

People are always curious about me when they find out that I write. The first question they always ask is, “What do you write?” Although I still find it difficult to answer, I know in my heart the response should be, “Whatever inspires me.”

Have you noticed those who move through life as if theirs is the most important of missions? I think that is what we envy in people more than we know. Perhaps we think we covet a smile, shoes, a car, or even a home, but what we truly admire in people is the energy with which they live their lives.

Inspiration is what moves us. It gets us out of bed in the morning. It takes us from one day to the next, gives us drive to prepare for what is coming, and courage to deal with what is left behind.

We need the world to inspire us. We need good story tellers, dancers, football players, good food, bad jokes, mountains, and blue skies over water. We need music in our day. We need chocolate and daintily-wrapped gifts. Children need to hang on us. Grandparents must take us in their flabby, funny-smelling embraces.

This thing we call death is already upon us in our sadness, boredom, hatred, and fears. We need to be inspired to have something to live for. Something small, something every day, something that makes us bubble up inside and want to live. A baby through the nursery window. An old woman in the beauty shop. The cat curled up on the sofa. A book waiting on a shelf.

Life without inspiration is not living. It is a monstrous routine of breathing without thinking, without caring, without wondering. It is waiting on death the way people wait at bus stops.


Why do writers write? Readers read?
Why do we sit outside and face the sun with our eyes closed?
So we can be inspired.
So we can dream.
And that is why I write.
Because I want to live.
Forever.

~Danielle Thorne~

Visit the author and her books: www.daniellethorne.jimdo.com

Release Day! What a grand feeling – the first thought I had actually, when my eyes opened in that grey chill just before dawn, and I treated myself to a tiny space of just simply enjoying it before hauling myself out of bed to do life…

A Thick Black Line is now “out there” and, even though this is now book number 3, the excitement of it isn’t diminished by the familiarity of the process. It’s a funny thing – each one is different, each one has it’s own “identity” and it’s own special place, and it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate the “birthday” of my latest with as much enthusiasm as I did the others.

In some ways, A Thick Black Line represents a milestone in my writing life. The book provided the opportunity to explore the suspense genre, with a sinister undertone to the plot that adds an interesting dimension to the relationship between the hero and heroine. I found it a fascinating catalyst, as it raised all kinds of questions that demanded answers, and opened possibilities that might have remained closed had the plot been structured in any other way.


Bo and Nic, the heroine and hero, both recognise this particular issue:

“Would we even be here having this conversation if it weren’t for this whole crazy, stupid situation?”

He considered that. She could see him thinking it through, like he wanted to give an honest answer. “I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s relevant. We are here, and I don’t think going back is an option.”

These two lines are enormously ironic. They speak of the enormous impact the situation – the suspense, the intrigue, the danger – has on their relationship. They also suggest the inevitability of it, and the process that they are drawn into despite having drawn A Thick Black Line around their personal choices…

While fundamentally “classic” romance – real romance with heart – A Thick Black Line has enough of the suspense factor to intrigue and tease, and adds a little sinister something to the traditional…

Here’s the blurb, and a short excerpt. You can find A Thick Black Line at:

http://www.bookstrand.com/product-athickblackline-13953-330.html

Blurb:

Bo Carmichael has drawn a thick black line around her heart, and with good reason. She has worked hard to overcome the anguish of betrayal and the devastation it wreaked in her family’s lives, and she’s now close to realizing her dreams. There simply isn’t place in this equation for emotional entanglements, especially not with Nic Sinclaire, the only man who has the ability to breach her defenses. From their first encounter, an impossible chemistry rages between them – a crackling heat that threatens to melt the ice surrounding her. A bizarre twist makes Nic a constant companion and self-appointed protector. As Bo’s barriers shift and crumble, she can no longer ignore the powerful emotions his proximity evokes…

Excerpt:

“Need a hug?” Now she was surprised, and it showed in the widening of her eyes and the quick look of warning. “Just a hug. You can trust me.”
He stood so close that some of the dampness of him brushed onto her shirt. She imagined being there in his arms. He’d be cool from the water, but still strong, and still enormously tempting.
“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Honesty seemed the only option. It had clearly surprised him, because he stopped rubbing his hair with the towel, and the blue of his eyes deepened a little.
“Because you want more?”
“Yes.” And she did. Much more. The truth of it loomed, suddenly huge, the only reality in the moment, a kind of tense and breathing thing that wouldn’t be denied. “At least right now I do, but it’s just a moment…” She let that trail into silence, conscious that too much had already been said.
“A moment of weakness.” He finished it for her. “You think I don’t know that? And, just for the record, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Isn’t there? Just a month ago I was so sure where the lines were—I drew them myself, remember? Now they’re all over the place. We’re all over the place. It’s…” She took a breath, trying to find the words to voice the impatience and the confusion of it all. “It’s like we’ve gone from zero to a hundred in three seconds. One minute you’re my new business partner, we’ve drawn the lines and set the boundaries. The next you’re living in my house, protector, friend, and who knows what else besides and…and well, I’m not even sure how it happened.”
“Circumstance.” Yet again he made it seem so incredibly simple, except she knew it wasn’t.
“That’s my point. Would we even be here having this conversation if it weren’t for this whole crazy, stupid situation?”
He considered that. She could see him thinking it through, like he wanted to give an honest answer. “I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s relevant. We are here, and I don’t think going back is an option.”
It wasn’t. Bo knew that. She couldn’t even be sure where “back” was. It seemed like some kind of forever ago, beyond memory even. “I don’t want to need you,” she said. And then, because it sounded almost ugly: “I don’t want to need anyone. Needing is what got this whole thing started.”
He looked a little offended. “I don’t think you can lump Dario and I in the same basket.”
“No.” She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. What I’m trying to say is that…” Voicing it felt suddenly hard, like the truth of it suddenly took on the nature of a cake of soap in the bath, slipping beyond her grasping and never being held for long enough to make sense of it. “Well…if I was to ever… if we… Oh hell, this is insane! What I mean is that need isn’t a good reason to start anything. It’s a place of weakness and—”
“Bo, you’re not making any sense.” He smiled down at her, all charm and humour and gentle affection, and she could feel her heartbeat take an erratic leap.
“I know. Not even to myself.” She laughed, a shaky, half-embarrassed thing that said a lot more than it should have.
“Go to bed,” he said gently.
“Yes.” It was the only sensible thing left to do. She could see that the moment had begun to fade, that common sense had clicked in and she felt grateful for that. It was another thing she liked about him. So why on earth should she suddenly feel disappointed?

Just for fun, because I’m in the mood to celebrate, I’m going to add an ARC of A Thick Black Line to the Classic Romance Revival subscriber’s weekly draw for the last week of June (i.e. the short “two-day” week, 29th and 30th June) making it a double prize – A Thick Black Line and The Look.

To enter, simply go to the CRR blog at http://www.classicromancerevival.com/blog/. Enter your email in the Subscribe2 block in the sidebar and click send. You’ll receive a short story free read, and automatically go into the draw.

See you all again soon. I’m off to celebrate!
Jude

I’m thrilled to be able to take part in the Classic Romance Revival Blog Carnival, which runs for a full week, with loads of fun and prizes, and any number of chances to win – see the Classic Romance Revival Link at the bottom of this post for details. The theme for this carnival is: Settings – Simply Scenic or Specially Significant? Here’s my take on it…

I luuurve scenery… Living in South Africa, that’s not surprising – we’re incredibly blessed in that particular department: rugged coastlines, dramatic shorelines, vast sweeping vistas that paint themselves on the imagination in dramatic shades – from soft, rolling hills to bold bushveld, through the near-arid conditions of the Karoo and the panoramic high ranges of our mountains…

They bring out the poet in me, I’m afraid, and it would be incredibly easy to fill my books with the passion and romance that is the African setting. Learning restraint was one of my first (and hardest) lessons! Then I discovered the “S” Factor, the secret of every setting, and it’s one that never ceases to fascinate me.

So, you may ask, just what is the “S” Factor? Simply put, it’s the setting as another “Someone”. In writing my books, I’ve found that setting transcends time and place, that it becomes as much a character, a protagonist, as any of the others in “centre stage”. Setting “speaks” as loudly as any hero or heroine, it has personality, depth, character and breath, and as it comes to life through the eyes of the participants, it forces them to act or react, to interact, and to acknowledge it’s power as a shelter, protector, catalyst or opponent… It’s never a static, easily captured thing.

In Still Running, for example, the scenery of South Africa’s “racing country” represents both the haunting past and the unnerving future for Josie. It is an antagonist that compels her to face her inner demons, a catalyst that forces her to face her fears, and a sheltered haven where she can finally find rest – and love, of course. Thrust into a place that is both frighteningly familiar and unnervingly different, Josie is challenged to dig deep and discover things beautiful…
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-stillrunning-13915-330.html

For Morgan in The Look, the scenery is also a catalyst, but one which is wholly unfamiliar and challenging in a completely different way. Morgan is a sassy, streetwise city girl, and she heads off to the back of beyond in search of truth. She finds herself in a rural world of wide spaces and nothing much in between, where community is king, and the countryside presents a truth she never knew existed – one that runs timeless and deep, and turns her perceptions, her preconceived notions and her personal assumptions inside out. People and what they stand for are inextricably woven into the fabric of the landscape, and as she is drawn into the challenge of it, she finds the one thing she never imagined – a man who can speak into her soul through a single look…
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-thelook-13952-330.html

In my third book, A Thick Black Line (due Tuesday 9th June), the heroine becomes the scenery in a sense. Betrayed, broken and bruised, Bo creates her own universe through hard work and sheer determination. Her dream becomes her purpose, and her purpose becomes herself, so that her world is defined by who she is and what she works for. The old colonial architecture, the sweeping gardens, the growth of her dream, all of these become the foundation of her life and her future. When the sinister shadows of the past intrude, when tragedy strikes, Bo must first rediscover pain and loneliness before she is able to emerge from her frozen cocoon to the promise of love and wholeness.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-athickblackline-13953-330.html

Just as the complexity of a landscape shape and grow the inhabitants, so settings work on and with the characters. They add layers, complexity, a whole different dimension that brings a richness and a realness to every story… It’s the “S” factor, I think, that plays the “wild card”, brings in the unexpected, and ultimately can help to determine the final “equation” of the book.

Simply scenic or Specially Significant? Why don’t you tell me what you think? Every comment stands to win in the Classic Romance Revival Carnival Contest – for details, and more Classic Romance Revival Carnival Fun visit:
http://www.classicromancerevival.com/blog/?p=688

REMEMBER: This is a Classic Romance Revival GROUP event. You MUST have commented on EACH and EVERY blog in order to qualify for a prize!

Thanks for visiting!
Jude

Hi everyone! Okay, I know, I’ve been MIA – the good news is that I survived the edits, a nasty case of chronic sinus and a tummy bug, and though I may not yet be quite as good as new, I’m at least back in the saddle…

And, after another brief altercation with Google Gears (now effectively disabled) I finally get to redo the post I had ready yesterday (I’m afraid it became a victim of the Google Gears war). Let’s hope this time around I’m successful.

It’s heading into mid-winter my end of the globe, and the mornings have that crisp chill that defines the season and has you shivering until the watery early morning sunshine warms up a little. Yesterday being Monday, I headed off to work a little later than usual (thanks to said tummy bug, which had me awake most of the night) and discovered the toasty delight of a little patch of sunshine streaming through the car window, heating it to a very cosy bubble. I slid into it happily and took a minute or two just to enjoy it, even closed my eyes for a moment, and it immediately took me back.

As a kid growing up on the farm, being “that much” younger than my older sisters and “that much” older than my younger brother, I seemed to spend a heck of a lot of time on my own. Of an afternoon, especially in winter, I would head off down to the river to a favorite hideout – the old weeping willow had suffered a bit, but the hollowed out trunk was a perfect place to creep into… my back fitted comfortably into that little space, almost as if it had been carved out just for me, and it made a cosy nook out of the chill wind, with a “doorway” between the foliage just enough to trap a little patch of sunshine.

I would sit there for hours. Sometimes I would write, the word spilling out in time to the burble of the river and the soft whisper of the chill wind in the blue gum trees behind. Stories and characters and kingdoms would take life, imaginary people and worlds that usually felt as real as the world I lived in. Or I would read. That’s when I discovered the joys of the romance – my mother’s M&B or Harlequin, my father’s Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, along with Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Georgette Heyer… the list is endless. And timeless.

The farm is sold now, and the old willow tree long since succumbed to the hollowing out process that took a final toll. I haven’t been back there in a long time. But the memory has somehow remained vivid and warm, and sprang back to life in an instant, transporting me out of the here and now and into a special place untouched by the changes and a life lived since then. I realised a few things in yesterdays sunny moment.

That was when the seeds of romance were first planted. They’ve taken a while to root and burgeon into this writer-life. Watered by experience, fertilised by wisdom learned, pruned by mistakes made… slowly but surely a living thing has emerged, a symbol of becoming and of accepting what seems now like the inevitable.

More than that, though, I realised the significance of that time – not just the experience, but the simplicity of the little patch of sunshine in the growing of it, how the times “apart” were much like putting in the plough, preparing the ground to receive. In and of themselves, those little moments were special but of no real significance. But I realise now, had they never been, the “me” I am today would never have been either.

Most important, I realised how easy it is to miss out on those moments – in a life which usually roars past at the speed of an express train in rush hour, the sunshine moments often go unnoticed. Yet, when all is said and done, a little patch of sunshine goes a really long way…

Take care, everyone, and see you soon!
Jude

Judah Raine
http://www.judahraine.com