"Musings on Romantic Fiction from an Academic Perspective"
Gosh, I'm really not very good at updating this site, am I? November 2008 was my last post and here we are in April 2009. I ought to be ashamed of myself.
Well, I was rooting about on the internet today and found a great blog called Teach Me Tonight: Musings on Romantic Fiction from an Academic Perspective, which last year featured this informative and well-judged article about Charlotte Lamb, and in particular, one of her more boundary-pushing novels, Hot Blood ... where the heroine is 52 years old!
It's an interesting read, and I recommend clicking over there. But don't stop at the post itself, because the comments below the blog post are equally fascinating and informative, especially if you're researching Charlotte Lamb or romance novels of the eighties and nineties.
The article also discusses an unusual topic: the age of heroines compared to the age of romance authors themselves, and asks why so many heroines seem 'older' than their apparent ages in the books. The newer romance line Modern Heat is also mentioned, seen by the blogger as one attempt to draw in a younger readership.
By the way, if you've spotted any other blog or website articles on Lamb, or would like to write one yourself and have it mentioned here, please do comment below. Frankly, I need all the help I can get!
I remember Charlotte Lamb telling a group of authors about some ground breaking books she was writing, Jane. The older heroine, the "vampire" lover, the heroine who'd killed her abusive husband. Fascinating stuff from a true master -- or should that be mistress :) -- of romance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Liz. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, and it's interesting to see how M&B/Harlequin are now encouraging writers to be more issue-based in some of their lines, where once that would have been quite a controversial move and perhaps seen as detracting from the central romance.