Setting The Romance Standard

brainstorm77 · Sep 15, 2006

What book(s) do you think are timeless classics that have set the standard for romance novels today?

I adore Gone With the Wind, I have read the book numerous times and the sequel Scarlett which was not bad.

Would love to hear your thoughts on books that inspired you to take a interest in writing romance.

JanDarby · Sep 15, 2006

Except, technically, GWTW is NOT a romance. (No happy ending, although some folks imagine a reunion, so that it has a happy ending, just not spelled out in the actual book.)

Pride & Prejudice is probably most cited by today's authors as the classic romance novel, along with Georgette Heyer's regencies. Woodiwiss was a classic for her time. Also Rosemary Rogers, although I don't know if either of them will stand the test of time (in the sense of 100+ years), since the genre has changed a LOT in the last twenty years.

JD

PattiTheWicked · Sep 15, 2006

Don't laugh -- when I was around eleven, I read "Forever Amber" and informed my mom right then and there that I wanted to write a book like that some day. I haven't ever gotten around to writing an actual Ro-mahnce yet, but I do try to include romance as part of my storylines.

Pride and Prejudice is more than just a romance, it's also a scathing social commentary, which is one of the reasons I happen to love it.

kristie911 · Sep 15, 2006

I'll have to throw Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte out there. What an incredible book. I finally read it just a few years ago and was captivated. Especially since I went into it knowing I wouldn't like it but feeling like I should read a "classic" now and then. Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Sonarbabe · Sep 15, 2006

As silly as this may sound, old time Harlequin books. I remember as a little girl, my mom had them. She subscribed to the book club and each shipment came with a wine glass. I read one of them at the age of 11 and thought it was really good. (It had a princess on the cover, that's why I wanted to read it.) That's just me and we all know I'm a bit off.

brainstorm77 · Sep 16, 2006

Sonarbabe said:
As silly as this may sound, old time Harlequin books. I remember as a little girl, my mom had them. She subscribed to the book club and each shipment came with a wine glass. I read one of them at the age of 11 and thought it was really good. (It had a princess on the cover, that's why I wanted to read it.) That's just me and we all know I'm a bit off.

My mother sent me some vintage Harlequin books once from the fifties........ Interesting to read..... I currently have some now from the seventies and early eighties..

Ralyks · Sep 16, 2006

I would say Pride and Prejudice. Although not a "romance" in the modern sense (it's so much more--and really a satire), the characters have set the standards for many romantic male/female leads to follow today, as well as the popular, overarching "love for a woman reforms a man" theme. I'll agree with Jane Eyre on the list, which is a classic gothic romance (though, again, so much more).

JanDarby · Sep 16, 2006

Oh, yeah. Gothic. Victoria Holt. Mary Stewart. They're classics within the genre. Although, as far as I can tell, gothic is not a viable genre at the moment (much like stereotypical chick lit), which is probably fate's way of sticking its tongue out at me, b/c I have a gothic/chick-lit manuscript that I adore and have no idea how to market. Sigh.

JD

Tracy · Sep 17, 2006

I too adored Gothic. But you're right, they're not fashionable right now. Surely it's time for them to come around again?? (Which would be to your advantage). Having said all that, I read them in my teens. Would I still enjoy them now? hmm.

JanDarby · Sep 17, 2006

About ten (?) years ago, Harlequin tried to bring back gothic, with their "Shadows" line and it bombed within something like six months. They've got something gothic-ish coming out now/soon (I don't follow them closely, and the only reason I know is because they were questioned about why they thought it would work now when Shadows had failed, and I don't recall their answer).

Anne Stuart, I think, has a gothic feel to her books, but they aren't marketed that way.

The world has changed a lot. I'm not sure if gothic fits the current zeitgeist. My manuscript plays with the elements of a classic gothic -- isolated female, brooding hero who may or may not be evil, mansion with secrets, etc. -- but twist them a bit, so the heroine isn't naive and virginal and scared and the mood is less dark, much lighter, except for the brooding hero.

JD

NCwriter · Sep 17, 2006

brainstorm77 said:
I adore Gone With the Wind, I have read the book numerous times

I love this movie, but the book makes my head ache. Here’s why:

“Ain’ you heerd? Us is ter dig de ditches fer de wite gempmums ter hide in w’en de Yankees comes.”

Now, could the book have been written any other way? I doubt it. But it still makes my head ache.

brainstorm77 · Sep 18, 2006

NCwriter said:
I love this movie, but the book makes my head ache. Here’s why:

“Ain’ you heerd? Us is ter dig de ditches fer de wite gempmums ter hide in w’en de Yankees comes.”

Now, could the book have been written any other way? I doubt it. But it still makes my head ache.

Yeah it took me a while to get into that but can you imagine what it must have been like to write it????

brainstorm77 · Sep 18, 2006

JanDarby said:
About ten (?) years ago, Harlequin tried to bring back gothic, with their "Shadows" line and it bombed within something like six months. They've got something gothic-ish coming out now/soon (I don't follow them closely, and the only reason I know is because they were questioned about why they thought it would work now when Shadows had failed, and I don't recall their answer).

Anne Stuart, I think, has a gothic feel to her books, but they aren't marketed that way.

The world has changed a lot. I'm not sure if gothic fits the current zeitgeist. My manuscript plays with the elements of a classic gothic -- isolated female, brooding hero who may or may not be evil, mansion with secrets, etc. -- but twist them a bit, so the heroine isn't naive and virginal and scared and the mood is less dark, much lighter, except for the brooding hero.

JD

I have read a couple books in the Intrigue line that have had those story lines.

Stacia Kane · Sep 18, 2006

I adore gothics--I collect the old 60's ones. I have a few ideas for ones I'd love to write, so one of these days I'm going to, and just hope they'll come back. Sexier and more modern, but with all the fun spookiness and danger too!

PattiTheWicked · Sep 18, 2006

I've been working a "contemporary mystery romance" which could possibly be considered neo-Gothic. The problem with the traditional Gothic romance is that in today's day and age, the idea of an adult woman being a sexual innocent is not only unrealistic, it's laughable. I think readers also tend to want a woman who mirrors themselves -- assertive and fun and intelligent, instead of one who cowers in the shadows waiting for the broody hero to come rescue her and then tell her what a silly little fool she is.

Just my nickel's worth of course. I always enjoyed reading them -- one of my favorites was Rebecca, of course, although I could never figure out what exactly the attraction was between Maximilian and the Second Mrs. DeWinter.

Robin Bayne · Sep 23, 2006

I loved the older Kathleen Woodiweiss titles like "The Flame and the Flower" and "Shanna." I think of them as classics.

Also, "Whitney My Love" by Judith McNaught.

"Thunder and Roses" by MaryJo Putney.

Setting The Romance Standard

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

JanDarby

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

kristie911

Happy to be here

Sonarbabe

Working In A Coal Mine...

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

Ralyks

Untold stories inside

JanDarby

Tracy

JanDarby

NCwriter

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

Robin Bayne

~writes for Him~