On 3/20/2016 5:31 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
Exactly. Correctomundo, Your Mooseness. It is an endless repetition. But it is
the bread and butter, the essence, the very naked soul of Romance Writing. When
the first book came out the first time, it was pigeonholed by the publisher as
a Romance. Diana fought long and hard to have it seen as More Than That. It
took her a while to be successful. For years it remained in the pigeonholes.
Ah. Can't say I've ever read a 'real' romance novel. I've started one occasionally, I think, but quickly lost interest.
Mostly, publishers are careful to use cover art and catch phrases in the descriptions to protect me. ;-)
There are a few authors who had successful Romance careers and then transitioned successfully into other forms,
mysteries, mainstream womens' novels, etc. But they did it by changing their writing, not by lobbying and nagging. :-)
Absent knowledge of the genre as a whole, I can't but wonder if Outlander isn't at the far edge in the amount and sort
of violence it contains? I'm sure a couple of women of my acquaintance have commented on their dislike of the violence,
seeing Outlander as more akin to male sword fantasies. It might be interesting to see the demographics of those who love
them.
Problem was, it _was_ a romance. A weighty, complex, time-traveling romance, but a
romance. The bull-headed heroine is de regieur, despite attendant absurdities. At
that time I was hanging out on Compuserve with a gaggle of romance writers whom I
found to be delightful company. Most of them didn't take themselves nearly as
seriously as Diana. Several were best selling writers. Judith McNaught and Katherine
Kingsley come to mind. Katherine (Julia Kendall) once mentioned me in her
acknowledgements. <g>
But Diana, no. You have pegged the series precisely, but be careful where you
say that stuff or you might find yourself being torn limb from limb by modern
furies.
I may be safe. I know quite a number of women, but none that are fans of Outlander, or at least talk about it in my
presence. Are there closeted Outlanderettes?
Out Landish Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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