PLU

Have you heard the term PLU? It stands for People Like Us. I'm sure this term was originally coined by elitist snobs, but I use it in another sense. I can always tell if someone is PLU by the books they adore.

There is something wonderfully uniting about loving the same book as someone else, discussing it with them as if you're mulling over the problems, loves and triumphs of mutual friends. Nothing beats it--except perhaps when someone talks to you about one of your own books as if they know your characters intimately. Although it's a little disconcerting when they mention some minor character you'd forgotten all about:)

Not very long ago, I was giggling with fellow writer Anna Campbell over the mere concept of receiving fan-mail. To my astonishment, the other day, I received my first letter from someone with whom I had no connection, who said she loved the excerpt on my website and wanted to know why it was taking my book so long to come out.

What a wonderful feeling! I'm guessing she's PLU.

The Anti-Rant...Rant

There's no doubt about it, romance as a genre has a bad name among the uninitiated. Whenever I see a poorly-informed, dismissive article about romance in a newspaper or on the internet, I feel indignant. Or at least I used to. Now it doesn't bother me quite so much.

I've learned that it's almost impossible to change someone else's opinion about something, particularly if it is based on nothing but prejudice. And most particularly if you are working from the inside. Of course a romance writer is going to defend the genre. Why would our words carry weight with someone determined to despise us?

So I think the best way to deal with the critics is to show them what a great time we're having over here. Romance is the definitive popular fiction. That's not to say romances can't have literary merit or social impact, but let's all acknowledge that the intent of romance is to entertain. And in that it succeeds extremely well.

In fact, it makes up 39.3% of all fiction sold.

Can you hear me chortle?

So what about you? Why do you read romance?

Speaking of Covers...

Here is Anna Campbell's cover for Claiming the Courtesan.

The moody, moonlit scene fits her dark, exquisitely written story perfectly, and I absolutely loved the coloured version of the scene, which would have looked great as a step-back (hint, hint! Avon, are you listening?) but is on the back cover instead.

If you want to check out the heroine's beautiful rose-coloured gown and the hero's no less beautiful chest, take a look at Anna's website.

Read the excerpt, and you won't be able to wait until the release date in April, you'll have to order your copy NOW!

I'll be doing an interview with Anna on this blog when her book comes out, so stay tuned!

Alex the Dog: Great News!

Alex has fully recovered her eyesight! The miracle of modern veterinarian science--did you know there are dog opthalmologists? She is still a little sluggish because of her medication, but the vet assures us she will be back and bouncing in no time. What a huge relief!

Under Cover

There are two things writing with a view to publication teaches you: humility and patience. Or at least it should! Not sure I'm qualified to gauge how much humility I have acquired, but I certainly don't seem to have learned patience!

My editor emailed the day before yesterday to say that she had seen the cover for my book, SCANDAL'S DAUGHTER, that it was fabulous (and my editor is not an overly effusive person, so I'm guessing it really IS fabulous) and she would send it to me in jpeg form as soon as she could.

And that was all.

I don't know anything more than that. Not the subject matter, the mood, the colour scheme. Nothing. Nada.

Can everyone hear my tortured scream?

When I sold, I thought the agony of waiting for contest results, requests and rejections would be over. OK, perhaps I wasn't that naive, but unconsciously I did expect more instant gratification. I'm here to tell you, folks, that once you get 'the call' there is even more waiting, the wait is longer in many instances and, because you have more riding on it, the wait is even more excruciating!!

And of course I have no say in what the cover will be and I don't intend to argue about it, no matter what it is. The marketing and art departments at Berkley know a lot more than I do about what sells. When we discussed the cover, I sent my editor a document with a heap of pictures that I had been collecting throughout the editing stage of my book--settings, actors who look like my characters and other authors' covers I love. I knew when I sent this that it would probably be disregarded but that didn't matter. I had done all I could to put my views across. It made ME feel better, and that counts for a lot when you're a neurotic, control-freak like me.

Now, it's out of my hands. Nothing I can do except--you guessed it--wait. ::whimper::

And don't worry, as soon as I get the go ahead, I'll be posting that cover everywhere I can think of! So, er, maybe I haven't quite learned that humility lesson either.

What about you? What covers do you love? Did a cover ever make you buy the book?

Rainy Days and Sundays

I'm at the beach and it's raining. We have had a drought where I live this year, so we are not allowed to water our gardens or wash our cars with hoses, unprecedented restrictions in our water-happy corner of the world. Despite installing tanks and using what water we can collect to keep our garden alive, a once magnificent staghorn on our leopardwood tree is dry and riddled with ants and the rest of the garden is looking sparser and sadder by the week.

I try to remind myself of these things when I sit in our beach-side apartment and PINE for sunny weather. But I am here with a 3 year old with a mania for doors and light switches and a 3 month old baby, and goodness knows what I will find to entertain them for a week of rainy days.

Hm, perhaps I can tell them a story...

Alex the Dog

BC, or before children, my constant companions at the computer were my Great Dane crosses, Alex and Monty. Alex barks at the postman, is scared of thunderstorms, and loves chasing her Kong. She peed on my lap when we took her home from the animal shelter. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

On Christmas Day, we realised that suddenly, Alex couldn't see. My husband rushed her to the emergency vet, who was open on Christmas Day, thank goodness. After a few more visits, the specialist's opinion was that something is pressing on her optic nerve. Steroids may help but the outcome isn't certain. She might never regain her sight.

For such an active dog, we thought this might well be the end of her quality of life. But within 24 hours she was already adapting, mapping out her environment by scent and touch. There have been a couple of setbacks and we are sad to see that she is not her usual mad, ebullient self, but the silver lining seems to be that if the worst happens, she will become accustomed to the loss. Sometimes, life is heart-breaking and wonderful at the same time.

Christmas Morning, or Writers are Officially Nuts

Happy holidays everyone! Belated, I know, but a lot has been going on chez Wells. Still, on Christmas morning, amid agonising over the creme brulee while pacifying a screaming baby and a 3 year old acting like a rat on speed, I did one of my favourite things, and called Anna Campbell. Ostensibly to wish her merry Christmas.

But of course, our chat segued into writing, as it always does with two obsessed individuals like us, and after general gossip, we suddenly found ourselves discussing, of all things, passive voice. After a few minutes, I caught myself. "Do you realise we're talking about...grammar?" I said in a hushed voice. "On Christmas Day?" Anna sucked in a breath. "We are truly sick individuals! Quick, tell me what you're having for Christmas lunch!"

Whatever holiday you celebrated, I wish you the very best!

The Romance Community

On Sunday, I hosted a Christmas get-together for my local romance reading group and it led me to reflect on what a wonderful community romance readers form. It may sound strange, but the fact I didn't feel obliged to go to any trouble to entertain these people is the highest compliment I can pay them. Why? Because it's all about the books.

I freely admit I'm not the most house-proud person in the world, but when I have guests I usually make a huge effort. So huge, that my husband heads for the hills so as not to fall foul of me and my spotless kitchen. Well, okay, it's not spotless, but it's the closest it's going to get. At the moment, I have a 2 month old baby who seems to want to feed every 2 hours as well as a very energetic 3 year old, and for the Sunday celebration it simply was not possible for me to do my usual cleaning and cooking blitz. I admit, I was worried. I didn't know many of these women, and what were they going to think of my less than pristine house, the wreck the dogs had made of the garden that I didn't have a chance to clear away, the mock orange that has overgrown its pot next to the front steps so you have to machete your way to our front door?

But on Sunday, no one was there to provide a critique on my housewifely skills. I had only met three of my guests in the flesh before, but I felt instant kinship with all through our mutual love of romance novels. As soon as everyone arrived, our veranda rang with chatter and laughter. The baby was passed from one enthusiastic cuddler to another and slept peacefully throughout. My 3 year old sat among us and nodded and smiled as if he totally understood the appeal of the alpha male. Kate's peach surprise had to be tasted to be believed. And a good time was had by all!

My Take on Rejection--Harsh but Fair

Recently, I read about a writer who had queried a publisher by email about her book and received a form rejection within a day. She was angry about this because she thought it showed the publisher hadn't given her work fair consideration. Perhaps the publisher even had an automatic reply rejecting every query that came in!

First of all, publishers who don't accept unsolicited queries have no hesitation saying so. I can't believe any publisher would ask for submissions, only to reject them all out of hand.

And while I sympathise with how disappointed writers get when they receive rejections from agents and editors (I've had them too!), I find it difficult to understand this 'you owe me' attitude. Just because we would like things to be a certain way (prompt responses, detailed feedback, etc) doesn't mean that's what agents and editors should do. Frankly, these professionals are running a business, not a charity. They don't owe writers anything, not even their time, unless they have signed the writer or given personal assurances or encouragement to submit. Courtesy is always nice, and prompt responses, whether rejections or otherwise, are great, too. As long as they're not too prompt...

Of course, if the agent/editor doesn't behave with courtesy or respond in a timely manner, the writer is free to submit to someone who will. That's how the market works.

Superstition

I'm not a very superstitious person. I don't believe in astrology or tarot cards, viewing that kind of thing as interesting and a bit of fun, nothing more. But something that no one knows about me (until now) is that I have to say 'rabbits, rabbits, rabbits' on the first day of each month before I say anything else. It's my only good luck charm, a hangover from childhood, when saying 'white rabbit' saved you from a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month.

This month, I forgot to say it. The days tend to slide into one another when you have a newborn, so I didn't quite register that it was the 1st of November when I was crooning nonsense to my screaming 3 week old at 2.30 in the morning.

So...will the events of November prove my superstition worthless nonsense? I suppose I'll know soon enough.

Glomming Anne Stuart

Why did no one tell me about Anne Stuart until now? I've only just discovered her historicals and want to ask where this wonderful writer has been all my (romance reading) life. Brilliant characterisation, heroes to die for and a wonderful sense of humour. I hear her contemporaries are equally fabulous but that treat is still in store for me. I love finding writers with large backlists I can devour--the backlist, not the writers, I mean!

Pregnant Pause

I've been absent from blogging lately due to the birth of my second child, a beautiful boy, last week. I suppose I'll continue to be fairly erratic until I get into some sort of routine. But please, keep checking back for the next exciting instalment!

Ramping up the Tension

For my birthday last week, my husband gave me a DVD box set of The Avengers. Anyone remember this British television series? I wasn't born when it first came to television in the '60s, but I watched the reruns. Emma Peel, played by the beautiful and talented Diana Rigg, is one of my favourite heroines of all time--possessing intelligence, beauty, wit and a mean karate chop. The mystery plots were rather silly and very dated now, but I loved the banter between Mrs Peel and Steed, the mildly flirtatious to and fro--the will they? won't they? wish they would! feeling you get with all great TV couples. But the writers of that show were smart: Peel and Steed never got together at all. In fact, at the end of her stint on the show, Emma Peel is collected by her long-absent husband, who looks suspiciously like Steed from a distance.

In romance novels, the reader knows the destination, that the hero and heroine will be together at the end. What we, as writers, have to do, is make the journey worthwhile. That means stringing the reader along, increasing the tension between the hero and heroine, delaying the happily ever after for as long as we can, making it seem impossible that these two can ever work out their problems and be happy. The more tension we can build throughout the story, the more satisfying the pay-off will be at the end. Have you ever read a story where the hero and heroine resolve their differences too early?

Real Rakes: Not Only the Good Die Young

Richard Barry, 7th Earl Barrymore (1769-1794), was just 24 when he died. Known as 'Hellgate', he was a womaniser and a sportsman, and was said to have squandered 300,000 pounds in his short life. One of the founding members of the famous Four Horse Club, he had a lively wit and founded a number of other clubs with rules like 'if any member has more sense than another he be kicked out of the club'. Even though he had obtained her guardians' consent to the match, he eloped to Gretna Green with Charlotte Goulding, niece of the infamous Lady Lade and daughter of a sedan chairman. The lady shared his interest in bare-knuckled boxing and actually sparred herself, hardly the sort of pastime we expect from a countess!

Despite his reckless way of life, it was while doing his duty that the earl was killed. His regiment was stationed at Sussex during the French revolution with orders to strengthen border defence. In addition, he was responsible for some French prisoners, which obliged him to keep a loaded gun with him at all times. While driving a gig, the gun went off accidentally, shooting him through the eye. He died 40 minutes later.

A bare telling of the facts of Barrymore's life raise the most intriguing questions about this young man. No doubt he was selfish, profligate and insensitive, yet he had a keen wit, displayed qualities of leadership, generosity towards his dependants and considerable physical courage and sporting prowess. I wonder what he would have been like at 40? Raddled with gout and riddled with the pox? Or upon maturing, would he have put his intelligence and talents to good use? Can a rake be redeemed as so many Regency historicals tell us? Perhaps, when there is enough of the good mixed in with the bad, they can.

Should the Artist turn Critic?

At about the same time I sold my first book, I joined a romance readers discussion group called brraddicts. It wasn't until I began particpating in this group that I realised I'm in a different position now from the position I was in as an unpublished writer. I feel I have to be more careful about giving an honest critique of a book.

My opinions remain the same, of course, but if I do criticise, especially books in the same genre as the one I write in, others might think I believe I can do better. That's not the case. I'd find it very difficult to critique my own work the way I do when I read published novels. In fact, when I think about how I approach critiquing other writers' unpublished manuscripts, it is different again from the way I evaluate a published novel. I don't care too much about structure and word choice when I'm reading a published novel, though I appreciate both when done well. I concentrate more on whether I like the main characters, whether their conflicts ring true, whether the ending is satisfying--all the things any reader looks for in a romance.

I don't think a person must be able to do better before they are qualified to criticise someone else's work. Everyone has an opinion on art, that's what it's for, to stimulate thought and reaction. But I still can't help tip-toeing around the subject if anyone asks me what I think of the latest Regency historical I've read. Privately, to my writer friends, I can be candid. In a semi-public forum, I would rather focus on the positive.

Does that make me a wimp? Should writers comment publicly on novels that are in the same genre as their own books?

Wimpy Heroines Need Not Apply

When you write Regency historicals for the modern market, there is a balancing act that goes on. How do we make our heroines appealing to the modern reader, yet avoid the trap of writing about modern women in period costume?

I don't think many bestselling authors in the genre write about the average Regency female. In fact, the extraordinary has become the ordinary in fiction. We always meet the girl who rebels against the feminine ideal, the lady who defies society's rules or at least the accepted norm of the time.

The extraordinary woman has almost become a cliche in historical romance. In fact, it takes a very skilful author to write about a heroine who behaves exactly as women really did in those days and still make her interesting to the modern reader. After all, we modern women almost pride ourselves on our lack of interest in traditional feminine pursuits that were so highly prized at that time. We don't admire a heroine who is only concerned with her needlework.

However, some authors go too far the other way and confuse decorum with dullness, restraint with a lack of passion. I don't think a heroine needs to be wishy-washy or clingy or subservient to be true to her period. Regency heroines can strong and admirable in all sorts of ways that don't involve the physical or indiscriminately flouting society's rules. They can have wit, honour, a strong sense of duty and sacrifice, courage in the face of great adversity.

Having said all that, I can forgive a lot if the heroine has a sense of humour, or at least a sense of irony, coupled with intelligence. Not intelligence that the author and other characters tell me about, but intelligence that is shown in the heroine's speech and actions. My favourite heroine is probably Sophy from Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy, though Loretta Chase's Jessica in Lord of Scoundrels comes very close.

Who is your favourite historical romance heroine, and why?

Update on Recent Posts

Be careful what you blog about

A while back, I rambled a little about unreliable narrators, in response to a post by Nadia Cornier on her blog. Little did I expect that Ms. C would google herself and find said rambling. Even less did I expect her to take offence at my tongue-in-cheek comment about her habit of flying off at tangents from the central discussion. The habit is part of her unique charm and if it was my post that made her resolve to be more 'normal' in future, I sincerely regret it!

Deadlines

I met the first of my deadlines last week. One more to go and then it's full steam ahead on the work in progress. As long as my lovely editor likes it. Fingers crossed!

Snake Burial

Very sad to say that we found a snake the approximate size of the one that invaded my kitchen a couple of weeks ago dead in our swimming pool courtyard the other night. Who knows if it was the same one, but I can't help thinking it is. And I suspect that one of our dogs killed it, too, which makes me feel terrible. But I suppose that's the way the animal kingdom works. It's sad, I feel like the victor of a long, hard-fought duel with a formidable opponent, who wakes up the day after the fight to hear that his challenger has died of a cold.

Deadlines looming in the gloaming

I should be working on book 2 and finalising edits for Scandal's Daughter, but I realized I haven't posted in a while. Still, there are those deadlines, so I'll take the lazy way out and hand you over to the wordwenches. Jo Beverley and Pat Rice have some interesting things to say about deadlines and work patterns. Go and have a look, if you haven't already. Personally, I like deadlines. I've always done my best work under pressure. Famous last words? We'll see.

I recently had a funny misunderstanding with my web designer about dates. I said I was trying to get a few things nailed down before my baby arrived in October, including building a website. She thought I meant my 'book baby', when actually, I meant the real, flesh and blood-type squalling infant. So now, in certain circles, the day this child is due to enter the world is referred to as my 'release date'. I'm grateful to Paula for dropping everything to get the website done in record time, especially since she did it under the false assumption that my book was about to be released!

Oh, and check out the avon fan-lit site author/editor blog, where Anna Campbell posted about the enduring appeal of the Regency era and Sara Bennett has waved the flag for all things Victorian (an era I can't bring myself to like!). It's a light, fun site and it will be interesting to see whether Regency wins over contemporary in the fan-fic stakes.

Finally!

My website is up and running, with thanks to my web designer, Paula Roe.