Real Men

Vanessa Jaye rounded up he vs she discussions recently and has a great example in her post.

Real men and how they’re portrayed in romance is not a new issue, though it’s an interesting one. Good stuff at the recent ATBF and its discussion board. At the end of her column, Laurie asks

And yet, do we really even care about a true male POV or are we more interested in the fantasy of what we wish the male POV to be?

In the comments, Rey-as-reader says

I often find, in fact, that books that supposedly portray Real Men (I feel like I should add a TM after that or something) simply portray male stereotypes. Stereotypes men *in our culture* are comfortable associating themselves with and that women recognize.

and Lucy Blue adds

The point is, I think that, for whatever reason, a lot of men choose to see themselves as less complicated and emotional than they really are, both as individuals and as a gender.

Okay, I thought I had something to say about this issue myself, but I can’t seem to bring anything coherent to mind. But, let’s try. First, Karen Templeton posts

I will say, however, that although I understand there are some hardwired gender differences between men and women, there’s no such thing as a single standard for what constitutes a real man.

And I have to admit that there is an element in some of these discussions that men are not nearly as varied and emotional and complicated as women.

There are many ways in which the portrayal of a hero can fail for the reader. Personally, while I’ve had my share of great reads with uber-alpha heroes (Dark Lover, Linda Howard, Suzanne Brockmann, etc.) I am easily put off by domineering heroes with baggage galore. Here the problem is obviously not that the heroes aren’t ‘real men’, but that they’re not someone I want to spend any time with. The fantasy has failed.

I can also lose interest when the hero acts in a way that seems unrealistic. Sometimes this is the woman-in-pants issue where, I dunno, the hero carefully observes the heroine’s clothing and labels. (Then again, some men may well be interested in clothing! I have zero interest in fashion, so I’m never terribly happy if the heroine is talking about shoes and clothes. That is something for me to get past. Ymmv.)

You know what? Time to look back on the books I’ve read in this year. Hmmm. I’m not having trouble with real men in the books I’m picking up. I wonder if it’s less likely because I don’t prefer alphas.

Okay, this post is petering to an inconclusive end. To summarize, not my issue (as a reader) but fun to read about.

All About Samhain

I’m on September’s Coming soon page!! Too exciting, at least for me!

This week from Samhain:

• Leaving Mama Bobbie Cole. Novel. Women’s Fiction.
• Blackmailed Annmarie McKenna. Novel. Erotic romance, ménage.

Reviews:

• Nicole reviewed Seducing Simon by Maya Banks.
  

  Seeing how these two were going to get together was really what I cared about. It was also nice to see the interactions between Toni, Simon, her brother, and A.J. All in all, this is a really cute contemporary story. And it’s got firemen. Firemen are hot.

Sales:

• Shannon Stacey sold a dark erotic paranormal romance novella to Samhain.
• Sharon Long sold four books.

Bestsellers at My Bookstore and More:
1. The Distressing Damsel by Shelly Laurenston
2. Malachi by Shiloh Walker
3. Border Lair by Bianca D’Arc

This and that

Hey, my blog has 1000 hits! Never mind that some of those hits were (inadvertantly) my own. I’m still excited. Yes, I know I’m small fry but I’ll take my excitement where I can.

Via Alison Kent, Lydia Joyce has a column at Access Romance titled Porno horn-dogs versus repressed fuddy-duddies. Love the title! Good post.

I DO write hot–I write love scenes that I would care about reading. Other readers are simply uncomfortable with the sex on a personal level, and that is just fine, too. No, it doesn’t mean they’re old grandmas or cold fish or boring in bed themselves. It means that it makes them uncomfortable. It’s FINE.

Follow up

Dear Author investigated sales at Ingrams. Now, I don’t quite follow all the numbers and Jane certatinly doesn’t claim to have the whole story, but the results are interesting. Below she compares authors who have been traditionally published to those e-pubbed.

To summarize, it appears that LLG sold approximately 9,510 copies of her book the Marriage Bed. Jaid Black’s Ellora’s Cave publication sold 26,832 and is still selling at a brisk pace. Superleader, Eloisa James sold 17,154 of Kiss Me Annabel while Elizabeth’s Wolf sold 17,280 during approximately the same time period. The midlister’s Jaci Burton and Marianna Jameson had similar numbers with Jaci’s books selling better in the second year (a better long tail), meaning bookstores are more likely to keep the Burton book in stock v. the Jameson book.

In the comments, Shiloh Walker also adds

One thing… this isn’t taking into account the ebooks royalties. You get a decent backlist built up, those ebooks become a very, VERY stead source of income.

And to continue on with the HEA discussion and what is romance, Camille rounds up some links and says, among other things:

Because of the emphasis on the HEA, I feel that the romantic journey in the romance novel has been tailored to the HEA instead of the other way around.

And Alau says

Sometimes I think modern romance writers try too hard for the HEA and as a result it seems forced. I think that’s why I tend to like romance and stories of relationships outside of the romance genre mainly because, well it seems more fitting to me.

I have some sympathy for this point of view. In that, I have read books where the HEA creaked rather alarmingly. Now sometimes that’s just because it’s a bad book. But I recall compulsively reading Kathleen Korbel’s Some Men’s Dreams where the story was very well done and yet at the end I thought the heroine would be better off without the hero, he was such a mess.

Still. When I decide I want a HEA, I want it. And that’s where some romance readers might get ticked off. They’re counting on the hero and heroine being together at the end. Non-romance readers are unlikely to mind. I’ve certainly run into more than a few people who are somewhat amazed that romance (usually) guarantees coupledom. They think romance equals love story a la The Bridges of Madison County.

Historical heroines

Smart Bitches followed up on the AAR discussion about wallpaper historicals. Good stuff. I particularly liked what Candy said in the comments:

I get tired of the stereotype that women back in the Bad Old Days were passive, too. And I do agree that rulebreakers and shit-disturbers are a lot more entertaining to read about than people who lead lives of quiet desperation (though those stories can be very compelling, too), but the problem, I think, is that romance is saturated with rule-breaking types; instead of standing out from the crowd, these sorts of heroines have become kind of ho-hum. She’s a Regency or Victorian heroine who wears breeches, or is a crack shot, or rides a horse like a man, or wants to run Daddy’s business? That’s all well and good, but she better differentiate herself from the 2,395,032 other heroines in Romancelandia…

Yup, writing historicals these days is difficult. I toy with writing historical romances but have yet to do so. Not so much because of the heroines who can’t be too modern, or too weak, or too fiesty to live. For myself, it’s the worldbuilding that daunts me. But I digress.

I think it is tricky to write a heroine who feels historical in today’s market. Not impossible, obviously. I do admire Loretta Chase and Laura Kinsale immensely.

Lora Leigh rec

Okay, I have decided I must try a Lora Leigh book. People feel quite strongly about her writing and I’m curious. So if anyone is interested in suggesting a good place to start, I’d appreciate it.

I do read erotic romance, but I haven’t read a lot and I don’t particularly feel drawn towards storylines with multiple partners. That said, Ménage is my favorite Emma Holly.

Anyway is Elizabeth’s Wolf a good starting point? I saw people raving about it a while ago.

Thursday links

Jordan Summers, who has been published by Kensington and Ellora’s Cave, responds to AAR’s EC discussion linked below.

Contrary to recent AAR list discussions, e-book authors can and do make good money. Some make extremely good money. It all boils down to the backlist.

Miladyinsanity argues against a traditional HEA in romance.

Personally, I don’t think the hero is necessary for the heroine’s HEA, because I don’t think it’s necessary for MY HEA to involve a guy. I’m younger than most of the bloggers I read and link to (see sidebar). My outlook is different.

Wednesday links

There are some interesting discussions about Ellora’s Cave here and here. Posts by Jaid Black, Sylvia Day, Laura Lee Ghurke, and others. It gets a little messy, but if you read through you’ll see there are a number of authors who are making more at EC than in NY. Note that EC does print runs. (Wallpaper historical are also discussed.)

Found via Karen Scott.

Dear Author asks about the changing face of romance.

The HEA has traditionally been the guideposts of romances. What the HEA entails has varied, ie., a couple being together without being married, having kids, etc. But is the HEA changing? I have seen other authors post at blogs and in comments to blogs that their books may not have the “traditional” HEA, that the conclusion may be open-ended (as in a series) but that the story is still considered a romance. The cynic in me says that these books aren’t romances but the author wants to take advantage of the romance market. (54.9% of all popular mass-market fiction sold).

All About Samhain

This week from Samhain Publishing:

• The Last Thing I Expected Heather Rae Scott. Novel. Contemporary Romance. Comedy.
• Border Lair Bianca D’Arc. Category. Fantasy Romance. Erotic. Book 2 of the Dragon Knights series.
• Taste This Leigh Ellwood. Category. M/M romance. Sci-Fi. Book 1 in the Vectra series.

10% off when first released.

Samhain reviews:

• Avid Reader reveiwed Let’s Pretend by Raine Weaver.

  I enjoyed the dialogue, the characters, the overall story was fun. The secondary characters helped round out the story. The suspense was okay. Let’s Pretend gets a recommend from me for sure.

• Alyssa reveiwed Let’s Pretend by Raine Weaver.
  

  My favorite romances are character-driven, and the two main characters of Let’s Pretend shine. Brant, with his various ploys to get Ronnie’s boss to notice her, is hilarious. I ended up feeling the same way Veronica did–anxious to know what he would do next.

Best sellers at My Bookstore and More:
1. The Distressing Damsel by Shelly Laurenston
2. Malachi by Shiloh Walker
3. Willow Bend by Ally Blue

Kate Ross

I just completed reading Kate Ross’s four Julian Kestrel mysteries. I very much enjoyed them. The first, Cut to the Quick, I’ve discussed. I’ll start with the fourth, The Devil in Music, as that is the one I liked least, and hence have the most to say.

The Devil has a lot to offer. Ross does something new, using Italy as its setting, the story is her longest and most complex to date, and Julian reveals more of himself to the reader. Oh, and I thought her opening was fantastic.

But perhaps Ross overextended her reach. Or perhaps I overdosed on Ross. Because the story didn’t hold the magic of the previous books and I skimread quite a bit. A central couple in the book was not as convincing as I could wish and too many of their scenes were problematic and not well-paced. (I ran across a couple of badly paced scenes in earlier books, but they were less important.) Also, I disliked Julian’s love interest and the big revelation scene was a letdown.

Despite that, I couldn’t put the book down and I’m still thinking about it, so it wasn’t much of a failure. Everything is relative, I guess. I certainly admire the way Ross put her mysteries together.

A Broken Vessel and Whom the Gods Love (I do like her titles) were more successful for this reader. While Ross tends to go into explanation overload near the end of Vessel, Whom the Gods Love is well-paced, well-executed, and has the best murder motivation. Vessel on the other hand has an appealing love interest and Julian is at perhaps his most charming. In each book there is a moment or two where I felt some of the characters strained against the plot, but mostly they’re well done.

I haven’t read four books in a mystery series in a row, ever. I see why people save up series books and read them all at once. It’s fun to immerse yourself in that world. I am going to miss Ross and Kestrel’s charm. I found these books extremely readable, I loved Ross’s voice, and while I always wanted to know the ultimate answer of who and why and how, I enjoyed the journeys to the answers immensely.