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Taste, Bias, and Loving Problematic Books
dog with bad taste in mouth – english bulldog making funny expression Longtime readers of this blog are aware that I am a huge sports fan and specifically a fan of the Green Bay Packers. For those...
View ArticleRepetition and novelty in Twilight and its fan fictions
The idea for this essay started with a question: what is it about Twilight and its derivations, especially Fifty Shades of Grey and Transcendence, that allow these variations to represent “fresh” and...
View ArticleLove and freedom in the Jane Yellowrock series
Recent conversation with a good friend about Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series led to this question: What do you think Jane values above everything else? My answer: independence. My friend’s:...
View ArticleWhat does it mean to be a “good” reader?
Last weekend delivered a hat trick of essays on critical reading, two on KJ Charles’s m/m novel Think of England, and one on Deborah Fletcher Mello’s The Sweetest Thing, in which Liz McCausland also...
View ArticleRomance is not a feminist genre – and that’s okay
As a genre celebrating love and largely written by and for women, I think it’s easy to view Romance as an inherently feminist genre. I have felt this way myself at times, and I’ve seen many other...
View ArticleThursday News: on the contemplation of women, genre fiction, and life in general
Yet More on Female Characters in Fantasy – Rhiannon Thomas responds to Robin Hobb’s Facebook post on female characters in fantasy. Hobbs argues, among other things, that “I do not feel that gender...
View ArticleFriday News: upcoming romance conference, fake memoir pulled, sexist internet...
Library to Host Conference, “What Is Love? Romance Fiction in the Digital Age,” Feb. 10-11 – Next month Harlequin will be sponsoring a conference on Romance at the Library of Congress. Conference...
View ArticleMonday News: RIP Cathie Linz, how to read books via Overdrive, a Romance...
RIP Cathie Linz – Cathie Linz, who was responsible for RWA Librarians’ Day and who advocated for Romance and librarians, in and outside of RWA, passed away yesterday from colon cancer. She wrote more...
View ArticleGenre Exploitation or Unreasonable Reader Expectations?
Last week I linked to an essay by Remittance Girl for the DA news, in which she argued extensively against the Clean Reader application, which replaces so-called “dirty” words with “clean” versions....
View ArticleWhen classic Romance novels don’t remain relevant to readers
This past weekend I was involved in a great email discussion about the question of whether Romance fiction faced a unique challenge that other types of fiction, including other genres don’t. Namely,...
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Taste, Bias, and Loving Problematic Books
dog with bad taste in mouth – english bulldog making funny expression Longtime readers of this blog are aware that I am a huge sports fan and specifically a fan of the Green Bay Packers. For those...
View ArticleRepetition and novelty in Twilight and its fan fictions
The idea for this essay started with a question: what is it about Twilight and its derivations, especially Fifty Shades of Grey and Transcendence, that allow these variations to represent “fresh” and...
View ArticleLove and freedom in the Jane Yellowrock series
Recent conversation with a good friend about Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series led to this question: What do you think Jane values above everything else? My answer: independence. My friend’s:...
View ArticleBeing crazy: An insider’s view on ableist language
[themify_box style=”light-yellow rounded ” ]Kris used to review and blog on book related things before RL intervened in big, scary ways. Now she tends to somewhat vaguely hang out on Twitter, comment...
View ArticleRomance and Emotional Justice
So I recently saw the movie version of Gone Girl, which had some provocative differences from the book, even though both were written by Gillian Flynn. Those differences, which include a reversal in...
View ArticleDeserving love and our own genre expectations
One of my favorite things about blogging here is that I can write about a germ of an idea and see it grow and blossom in many different directions and to places I had not even anticipated. Last week’s...
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CONVERSATION: 2021 in Review
Janine: I’ve noticed that my reading habits change a little from year to year. Some years I read more or fewer books than usual. Some years I discover new favorite authors. At times a genre shifts in a...
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Alpha, Beta, Gamma, or The ABG’s of Romance Heroes
When I wrote my post last week on what I’m calling Extreme Romance, it seemed to translate for some readers into the ballad of the “controlling hero.” In fact, several readers asked for more books in...
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That Sounds Like Something I’d Hate
It is commonly accepted wisdom that controversy sells books. Many people believe that negative reviews can sell books. But what we talk about less is how whether and what the effect might be of this...
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The Vanishing Closed-Door Romance
A while back I was listening to an interview on Hard Talk, the BBC World Service interview show. The host was talking with the director of a new film version of Great Expectations. When pushed, the...
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