Kathryn Kane — Romance Is Closed

As of today, the Kathryn Kane — Romance blog is now closed. There will be no further posts made to this blog in the future. However, KKR will remain online as an archive, for those who find the articles here of value. Since it is now closed, the blog will no longer be actively maintained. Therefore, please accept the articles here as they stand, they will not be edited, updated or changed going forward.

In addition, commenting has now been closed for this blog. If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me via my email address, which you will find posted near the bottom of the navigation panel to the right.

My sincere thanks to all of my readers and those who have been guests here over the years. I hope you will all continue to enjoy reading, and/or writing, tales of romance. Engaging romance novels have always provided me with a respite from the mundane track of my daily life and those happily-ever-after stories lift my spirits as nothing else does. Romance Forever!!!

Calling All Historical Romance Readers and Writers

For all of you who love to read and/or write historical romance, best-selling historical romance author, Jess Michaels, has something new for all of you. She has reinvented her Buy A Historical newsletter as a free electronic publication which will alert romance readers to new historical romance novels. Naturally, in order to provide those new titles, Jess invites all historical romance authors to submit the details on their new releases to her, also at no charge.

Below is the information which Jess has provided about her new newsletter for both readers and writers:

The Buy A Historical newsletter goes out once a week on Wednesday and announces NEW historical romance releases. The service is free. Authors can submit their books at http://www.buyahistorical.com in the Authors section. Readers can subscribe to the newsletter in the Readers section.

The Buy A Historical newsletter is run by me, Jess Michaels. Author of nearly 60 published historical romance novels, USA Today Bestseller, indie pubbed, formerly published by Avon, Pocket, Hachette, Samhain. If anyone has questions they can contact me at jess@authorjessmichaels.com. Please reference Buy A Historical in the email subject line.

If you enjoy reading historical romances and want to be kept up to date on the new releases in that genre, you will want to subscribe to Jess’s newsletter. And, if you are an author of historical romances, but sure to submit the details on your new releases so they can appear in the Buy A Historical newsletter.

BookBub Blogs: For Readers and Authors

Some of you may already know about BookBub. For readers, they offer a free service to provide recommendations for books based on each reader’s preferences. Readers can sign up to get emails with lists of books which fit the criteria they select when they register for the service. Authors and publishers pay to have their books listed in the BookBub recommendations. But did you know that BookBub also has a couple of blogs, one for readers and one for authors?

The BookBub blog for readers offers lots of fun articles about books, authors and a host of book-related topics. For those of you who love writing about books, BookBub is looking for paid contributors to this blog. The details can be found here.

The other blog at BookBub is their Partners blog. This blog is for authors, publishers and even literary agents. The articles posted to this blog offer insights into self-publishing, launching new books, promotion and marketing. Both new and experienced authors will find useful tips here which will help them navigate the modern publishing landscape.

Interview with A.M. Willard, Author of Fading Memories

In my interview with romance author, A. M. Willard, I discovered that I am not alone in having characters who have their own ideas about how their story should be written. She has had similar experiences and it turns out she has handled that in much the same way I ended up doing. As you will discover, she had her hands full with the characters from her most recent novel, the contemporary romance, Fading Memories. Fortunately, she survived the experience, retained her sanity and Fading Memories is now available for everyone to relish watching her two wounded characters find their way to one another.

Please welcome A.M. Willard . . .

My Interview at Romance Debuts

I was very pleased to be invited to be a guest at the new Romance Debuts blog yesterday. This is the new blog about which I posted a notice here last month.

I answered a set of interview questions provided by Cate, the blog’s proprietor. Cate asked some thought-provoking questions, several which were new to me, so I enjoyed my interview. I hope you will enjoy reading it and might be amused a time or two. You can find my guest post here.

A New Blog for New Romance — Romance Debuts

Calling All Debut Romance Authors!

Recently, I leaned that there is a new blog on the romance scene. This new blog, Romance Debuts, is the brain-child of Cate, an avid reader and aspiring writer of romance. Ably assisted by her adorable mascot, Buddy, Cate has created her blog to help romance readers find new romance authors, and vice versa. Along with showcasing new authors for her readers, Cate will also be hosting experienced authors who are willing to share their wise advice with those of us who have just embarked on a career as a romance author.

However, Romance Debuts is not just an author-centric blog. Each week, Cate will also be featuring a review of a romance novel by someone who has just read it. So romance readers looking for new books should make it a point to stop by Romance Debuts each week to check out the latest review. You might find out about a new romance which could be just what you are seeking to escape from the daily grind for a few pleasant hours. Cate makes it very easy to follow her blog via email, so you will not miss any new posts. If you love romance, do stop by Romance Debuts. I think you will be glad you did.

Only Two Weeks Until the RWA/NYC Chapter’s Romance Festival

The date for the Romance Festival sponsored by the New York City Chapter of Romance Writers of America is fast approaching. It will take place on Saturday, 20 June 2015, in New York City. It has been announced that the guest speakers will be romance authors Maya Rodale and Lauren Willig. The Romance Festival will be held at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, an elegant eighteenth-century mansion which is the oldest house in Manhattan. Tables are available to rent by those who have materials to display, but it is free to attend the festival.

For complete details and contact information . . .

Listening to Romance: Harlequin Goes Audio

At the end of this month, Harlequin, now part of HarperCollins Publishers, will debut their new imprint, Harlequin Audio. With the resources of HarperCollins behind them, these new audio books promise to be of a consistently high quality. They will also be able to take advantage of Harper’s distribution channels to get these new audio books to many readers, or is that listeners?

What we know today as audio books, originally known as books on tape, were first introduced decades ago for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired. But at that time, the production of an audio version of a book was very costly and pulp fiction genres were seldom considered candidates for such an effort. Yet today, when blind and visually impaired readers can use assistive technology to read their eBooks to them, one would expect the audio book market to be dwindling. In fact, it is actually steadily growing. Lots of people like to listen to audio books while commuting. I have several crafty friends who enjoy audio books while their hands are engaged in quilting, crocheting, embroidery and other crafts. Now they will be able to enjoy Harlequin romances while they craft.

Harlequin Audio will be releasing their first audio romances on 30 June 2015. You can find more details about this new Harlequin imprint here.

Interview with Amy Quinton, Regency Romance Author, Plus

My guest today is Regency romance author, Amy Quinton, whose most recent release is What the Duke Wants. I discovered during her interview that Amy and I have a great deal in common. We both love the Regency and Regencies, both writing and reading them, even doing so in the same place. We both have faith that the romance genre has a secure future. And, we both love needlework, including sewing, crocheting, and knitting, though Amy’s craft activities extend into jewelry-making as well. Yet she still finds time to write delicious romances set in the Regency.

May I introduce the multi-talented romance author, Amy Quinton . . .

Your Invitation to the RWA/NYC Chapter’s Romance Festival

If you will be in New York City on 20 June 2015, the New York City Chapter of Romance Writers of America cordially invites you to attend their annual romance festival. Not only is the topic of this festival romance, so is the setting. It will be held at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, an elegant eighteenth-century mansion which is the oldest house in Manhattan. Adding to the romantic ambiance, this Georgian mansion is nestled in lovely landscaped grounds. What better place to celebrate romance in all its many forms, while you enjoy live music in the garden? And, did I mention, it is free?

For complete details and contact information . . .

Interview at The Romance Beat

Late last month, romance author A. C. Rose was my guest here, sharing her views on reading and writing hot romance. She has most kindly reciprocated and invited me to guest at her blog, The Romance Beat with A. C. Rose. I enjoyed answering her interview questions and I hope you will enjoy reading my answers to them.

You can find my interview here: http://acroseauthor.com/2015/05/12/kathryn-kane-on-deflowering-daisy/

Porn, Erotica & Romance Novels: Why Deciding For Yourself Is Important

I happened across this article about romance novels and whether or not they can be considered erotica or porn, and by whom. This author points out that it should be the reader who makes that ultimate decision and that all such novels should not be lumped together under one, often pejorative. label.

As the author of a erotic romance myself, I found the points raised in this article, and in the lengthy comment which accompanies it, rich food for thought. I hope you will, too.

Interview with Rachel Leigh Smith, Author of the A’yen’s Legacy Series

I find myself in awe of my guest today, Rachel Leigh Smith, a romance author who has overcome real-life trauma. She affirms my belief that romance is not only a pleasant recreation, it can also be a life-affirming balm to the soul, as it clearly was for Rachel. She is also one of an emerging group of romance authors who write hero-centric romances, which are becoming increasingly popular with romance readers, even if most major publishers have not yet come to grips with that trend. Nor can I resist noting that Rachel is an author after my own heart, since, just as I did in my own debut romance, she has named her heroine after a flower. A natural and delicate name for a woman of strength and courage.

Please welcome romance author, Rachel Leigh Smith . . .

Interview with A. C. Rose, Erotic Romance Author

My guest today, A. C. Rose, is a journalist and the author of several erotic romance novellas, across multiple romance genres. This is the first time a collection of novellas have been featured here. There are times when a shorter story is just what we want in order to get our romance fix when on a tight schedule. And those shorter romances may be just the thing if one takes Rose’s suggestion to share them with your significant other as a way to switch things up in your personal romance. Be generous, don’t keep your romance stories to yourself, share them with your partner and see where they can take you.

Please welcome my guest, A. C. Rose . . .

HarperCollins Publishers Tangle With Amazon

Late last week, news came that HarperCollins Publishers were planning to challenge Amazon over the renewal of their contract with the book-selling monster. This past fall, after a fierce and public battle, the large publishing house, Hachette, won the right to set the prices for their books, rather than surrendering that right to Amazon. Some industry watchers believe that HarperCollins will pull all of their books from the Amazon web site if they are not able to strike a satisfactory deal for the new contract. If that should happen, it would significantly reduce the inventory of books available at Amazon, since HarperCollins is one of the world’s largest publishers. Readers of romance novels may, or may not, recognize the parent company name, but all of them will recognize Avon and Harlequin, both of which are currently owned by HarperCollins.

This could be bad news for Amazon, since HarperCollins is already set up to sell eBooks via their own web site and has made deals with both Scribd and Oyster. It has been suggested by some publishing experts that if HarperCollins does a new deal with Amazon, their terms will include access to the online bookseller’s customer data. Such information would be of tremendous value to the publisher, since it will give them more detailed profiles of those who are buying their books.

Should they gain access to that customer information, will HarperCollins use it not only to sell their books to consumers, but will they also use it to determine which books they will publish? Might they also use that same information to direct how the books they publish should be written? Which begs the question, will inspiration and craft be replaced by data sets provided to authors?

More details about the HarperCollins Publishers deal with Amazon can be found at these sources:

• Marketplace Business
• New York Business Journal
• Good E Reader

A History of Romance and Harlequin

A must-read article for all those interested in the history of the development of the romance novel, and in particular, the category romance, was published earlier this month at Pictorial. The article, by Kelly Faircloth, is entitled How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Faircloth’s style is a wonderful combination of irreverent fan and knowledgeable feminist.

When I was in grade school, my next-door neighbor was a housewife and avid reader of Harlequin romances. She had boxes of them and was happy to share them with me. I was also an avid reader and had devoured most of the fiction in my school’s library. By the summer between seventh and eighth grade, I was out of books and growing increasingly bored. My parents did not own a television at that time and books were my favorite form of entertainment. My neighbor offered me a couple of boxes of her Harlequins that summer and, after my mother scanned a few and determined they were acceptably bland, she allowed me to accept them. I had a great time that summer, thanks to all those Harlequin romances.

Faircloth’s article finally helped me put together all of the various aspects of popular romance history. I lived through that time, but never really understood what was going on in the romance publishing world. Then, I was just looking for another romance to while away a summer evening or Saturday afternoon. But as an historian, by both training and avocation, I enjoyed learning how Harlequin rose to its position of prominence. And, I finally understand the long relationship between Harlequin and Mills and Boon. Even better, Faircloth has included more than a dozen images of Harlequin book covers over the years, as well as a couple of magazine ads they used to run. This article was a wonderful walk down the memory lane of romances for me. If you read category romances yourself, or would just like to know more about their origins, I think you will enjoy this article.

Parting the Velvet Curtain

Earlier this month, the online magazine of the Smithsonian Institution published an article entitled Why Can’t Romance Novels Get Any Love? It is about the growing attention, and, dare I say, respect, which the romance genre has begun to garner in recent years. Sarah Frantz Lyons, outré romance editor, reviewer, consultant, and devoted scholar of the genre was interviewed for this article. It is she who is eager to throw open the velvet curtain which she feels has kept romance novels separate from other popular genres.

I was most intrigued by her comment that the arguments which were made against the romance novels read by young ladies in the eighteenth century are pretty much the same arguments which are still being used against romance novels by those who do not approve of them in modern times. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the old saw goes. Being a life-long lover of Regency romance, I was delighted to see that sub-genre top her list of the romance sub-genres which deserved serious attention from academics. It was also heartening to learn that quite a number of prestigious colleges and universities are offering courses or full programs on romance novels.

Something else which struck me while reading this article is that it is the happily-ever-after ending of romance novels which so many of their critics seem to find especially objectionable. I find that particularly odd, since it is the certainty of the happy ending which most attracts me to romance novels. I can relax and enjoy the character’s interactions knowing that no matter the conflict, they will eventually come together. What a lovely break from my routine, ordinary life those stories are for me. Why would someone want to deny me, or any other reader of romance novels, that pleasurable escape? Well, I, for one, am going to ignore that dog-in-the-manger attitude and continue to enjoy reading romance novels!