Category Archives: genre

Historical and Paranormal: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

For my December 2009 erotic novel for Harlequin Spice, Moonlight Mistress, I combined a historical novel with paranormal elements. The book is set during the early days of World War One, and begins with a romance between Lucilla, an English … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, historical fiction, moonlight mistress, paranormal | Comments Off on Historical and Paranormal: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

Why I Love the Marriage of Convenience Plot

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

The “marriage of convenience” plot in historical romance might focus on an arranged marriage, but more typically, shenanigans are involved; the couple marries to save the heroine from ruin at the hands of a dastardly plotter, or to ensure the … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, historical fiction, reading, romance novels | 3 Comments

Romancing the Beast

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Paranormal romance almost always features the hero as a paranormal being and the heroine as an ordinary human. How does this resonate with gender relations and power relationships in our society? Is it a way of expressing women seeing men … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, paranormal, romance novels | 8 Comments

Paranormal Appropriation

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

There are a lot of paranormal romances and urban fantasies on the market, and certain mythological creatures–vampires and werewolves, for example–tend to be used a lot. For that reason, I can understand why writers look a little farther for inspiration, … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, paranormal | 8 Comments

Normative Heterosexuality and the Alpha Male Fantasy

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Normative(Adjective): of or establishing a norm or standard. Romance novels feature vast numbers of heroes who are so-called “alpha” males – usually taken to mean men who are better-looking and stronger than other men, with more dominant personalities, and usually … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, romance novels | 13 Comments

Defining erotic romance, romance, erotica

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

I’ve now read dozens of definitions and discussions of romance and of erotica and of erotic romance, and after all my reading, I’ve come to the following conclusions, none of which have anything to do with the quality of the … Continue reading →

Posted in erotica, genre, romance novels | 6 Comments

Evangeline Adams Guest Post – Writing African-American Romance

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Please welcome my guest, Evangeline Adams! # A year ago, after thinking I would write only historical romance, that I could never, ever in my life write a contemporary romance, ideas for contemporaries popped into my head like a stack … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, guest, historical fiction, romance novels | 5 Comments

preliminary thoughts on two types of erotic novels

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Happy Friday! I am beginning to have a theory about different types of erotic novels which are meant to appeal to different tastes or moods of their readers. One type privileges the sex scenes over other types of scenes, which … Continue reading →

Posted in erotica, genre | 9 Comments

Elves

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Why do people love elves? Or hate elves? Does it all come down to Tolkien in the end? Did Orlando Bloom in the Lord of the Rings movies give elves a boost? Where did you first learn to love or … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, sf/f | 6 Comments

My Favorite Romance Tropes, and Not-So-Favorite

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

I will always pick up books with plots based on these ideas: *Nice, ordinary heroes (think Carla Kelly, or the so-called “beta hero”) *PTSD, Napoleonic Wars-style; angstful spies from the same period *Marriages of convenience *Virginal males (not that you … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, romance novels | 4 Comments