Bestselling erotic romance author Amanda McIntyre writes about getting hooked by the hot stuff.
I was asked to write a few words on what the allure of erotic romance is. I’ve written it of course, or a version of it that my editors seem to like at any rate. But what I’ve discovered is that between publishers and readers the definition of “erotic romance” is a bit blurred—or so it seems.
There is the term “erotic” which, by Webster’s definition, means, “having to do with sexual love.” Then you have “romance”—interestingly, there are a number of definitions for this one: 1) a medieval tale of knightly adventure; 2) a prose narrative dealing with heroic or mysterious events set in a remote time or place; and, the most popular in fiction writing, I think, 3) a love story or attachment or episode between lovers.
Now I’d like to make clear one thing, erotic romance is not to be confused with “erotica”, which is a horse of a completely different colour!
So, what is its allure? What keeps readers gobbling up romances that feature the sizzling heat between hero and heroine? I say it’s the same thing that has continued to make romance books the leading seller of over half of all book sales (at least in the United States)! Are we really so different as readers, searching for that fantasy hero, getting lost in the trials and obstacles of a story where the passion and emotion radiate off every page? It’s wanting that connection to what makes us feel good, makes us feel alive, makes us feel like anything is possible—if only for a few moments in the often chaotic and not-so-loving world we live in.
Erotic romance, in my opinion, is not about the euphemistic terms, the bondage aspects or other kinky aspects that are added to stories to create varied levels of heat. To me, the label was created to introduce the reading public to a stronger, more candid style of writing romance. These days, you can pick up nearly any book—save maybe YA and Inspirational—that features as much, if not in some cases more, of the sizzling sex between characters as those labelled “erotic romance.”
I think the important thing to do as a reader is to keep an open mind. Sample a wide variety of books, and see what heat level suits your tastes. Certainly, there are enough levels of erotic romance out there!
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Amanda’s passion is in taking the ordinary and creating something extraordinary. Her work is published internationally, in audio, in e-book and in print. She currently writes steamy contemporary and historical romance.
“I don’t find writing romance restrictive. I find it liberating.”
Mills & Boon author Michelle Douglas tells us why she loves being a romance author and reader.
The romance genre speaks to me more than any other genre and I’ve wondered about this a lot. One of the reasons, perhaps, is that at heart romance is about joy and there are so few books out there that deal in joy.
Please don’t think I’m a soft-in-the-head Pollyanna with no grip on reality. I’m educated (I’ve the Master of Philosophy to prove it). I love the classics and I love an angst-ridden literary tale as much as the next person, but romance has become my go-to genre. It has become the genre of my heart.
I love writing romance. I love reading romance. Romances serve to remind me of what’s important—and that’s people and love. By love I’m not just referring to romantic love, but the love people bear for their families and friends too. To be loved and accepted is a basic human need. In that sense romance speaks to an essential and central part of what it means to be human. And when a romance ends with two people I’ve come to care about declaring and celebrating their love for each other within their community, it feels as if all is right with the world. Emotional justice, at least in the pages of this book, has triumphed. It is glorious and life affirming.
I love writing romance. The romances published by Harlequin Mills & Boon are short, intense and emotional, but that doesn’t mean they lack diversity. As a writer, I’ve been free to explore themes as diverse as breast cancer, rape, parenthood, second chances and the meaning of friendship. I’ve explored the effects of domestic violence, the grief of losing a loved one, the importance of fidelity and the impact of betrayal. I don’t find writing romance restrictive. I find it liberating.
I love reading romance. As a reader I can always find a romance to suit my mood, whether I want something sparkling and fun that will make me laugh, something dark and dramatic to get my heart pounding, or something warm and emotional that will confirm my belief in the basic goodness and decency of people. There isn’t another genre that gives me this range of choice.
Don’t believe me? Just have a glance at the variety on offer among Australian Mills & Boon authors. Compare Marion Lennox’s gorgeous modern-day fairy tales that will wrap you in warmth to Annie West’s glamorous and dramatic stories that will have your heart in you mouth. Pick up a Kelly Hunter romance and watch in awe as she pushes the genetic boundaries with stories full of honesty and sass. Read a Sarah Mayberry and marvel at exceptional storytelling. The romance genre has all this and more, and Australian romance authors are at the top of the game.
I love writing romance. I love reading romance. I hope you do too.
Booktopia’s Head of Romance Haylee Nash ponders her vicarious rebellious streak.
When I was small, I was the good girl. My parents love to recount how, even as a baby, I was always content. They would go out to dinner with friends and happily take me along, knowing I would sleep quietly in my carrier (once so quiet that they nearly left me there). When I got to talking age, I would happily sit up and chat with the adults, content in their company. When my sister came along, I looked after her (mostly) without complaint, cleaned up her toys, got her ready for school. I was good.
Even as a teenager, I was well behaved. I went out to parties and, occasionally clubs, and smoked the odd cigarette but, thanks to the open relationship I had with my father, he knew about everything I did and gave me permission. He even drove me to the hospital after I sprained my arm in an incident involving drunken skinny dipping and, bless him, didn’t give me a hard time. All in all, a fairly respectable childhood.
So you can probably imagine that the concept of rebellion is one I am not well-acquainted with, which is why it holds such fascination. How I had dreamed of sneaking out to meet a guy, to steal a new outfit, to have a party at my house while my parents were away. To have a secret. Because that’s what it comes down to. The act of rebellion is not about what you’re doing, but the fact that you shouldn’t be doing it. The thrill doesn’t come so much from the drug taking or the dirty dancing but from the potential for getting found out.
This is why I love New Adult. I am now at the age where I can legally do most of the things that I wanted to do back then, and those that are illegal hold little appeal. But rebellion still glitters darkly at me and I fulfil this urge through reading about those who do what I didn’t, what I couldn’t.
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Haylee Nash has been reading and raving about romance for 15 years. She has previously worked as the Publishing Manager at Harlequin Australia and during her time there launched the Harlequin Teen, Harlequin Spice and local acquisition programmes, as well as Harlequin’s digital-first romance imprint, Escape Publishing. Haylee is now the Romance Specialist at Booktopia.
There’s nothing quite as nostalgia-inducing as first love. Get any random group of female friends and throw in a few bottles of wine and chances are first love will come up. Chances are this discussion will lead to the discussion of other firsts – the first time you had sex, the first time you moved out, first car.
Kate Belle’s The Yearning explores, in a way that is both raw and poetic, a first love that is also a forbidden love, so Booktopia’s Head of Romance Haylee Nash thought she’d quiz Kate on some of her ‘firsts’.
1. Who was your first crush?
Prince Charming. There’s a scene in The Yearning where the little girl begs her grandmother to read Snow White to her again so she can gaze in awe at the “…figure drawn tall and manly, riding a powerful white stallion. He wore a tight red vest over his broad chest and his brown boots reached up to thick thighs barely hidden by a royal blue cape. Square-jawed and raven-haired, his image gave her goosebumps…”. The scene is taken from my own childhood. I still remember the picture very clearly and I used to spend my holidays with my grandparents pretending Prince Charming was my boyfriend.
2. Describe the first place you lived when you moved out of home?
When I was 18 I moved from Geelong into Medley Hall, a Melbourne University student residence. I had the dungeon room, a dark little corner on the ground floor facing out onto the lane. The Drummond Street, Carlton building was very old and gothic, and was reputed to have once been a well-known gaming house and brothel. It was noisy. And fun. And I learnt to eat swede, which was bloody awful.
3. What was your first embarrassing memory?
Ha! Farting while I was learning gymnastics in my country home town, Benalla. I was probably only 8 at the time and the instructor was teaching us rolls and every time I tried I let off a ripper. I was so humiliated I refused to go back.
4. When was the first time you told someone you loved them?
Honestly I can’t recall. I suspect it might have been my first serious boyfriend at the end of high school. Can’t imagine I meant it.
Oh wait, I remember now, it was my best girlfriend in high school. We were inseparable. We had the traditional teenage sleepovers, eating potato chips and watching lame Godzilla movies. I think we exchanged ‘I love you’s one night after we’d talked at length about how hopeless boys were and decided that one of us should be a boy so we could get married. Days of innocence.
5. Describe your first kiss.
Like a threshing machine in my mouth. Muck like the swede, it was also bloody awful. Can’t even remember his name now – go figure.
6. What was the first lie you ever told?
Lie? A lie wouldn’t ever besmirch these lips (smirks).
7. When did you first get drunk?
My 19th birthday. My university friends bought me a bottle of Bailey’s. We drank a couple of mug full’s (yes, student life was pretty classy in those days) in my dorm room over lunch break and came back to our prac lesson (I was doing a chemistry degree) silly as wheels. It was fairly pleasant really. Don’t even recall a hangover.
8. What was the first book that really affected you?
Are you ready? Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I discovered it on my grandmother’s bookshelf when I was ten-ish (I think). There was something in the story that really resonated with me. I remember reading it again and again every time I went there for holidays, until she relented and let me take it home. I still have it. It’s in happy company with a number of other Richard Bach books on my shelf.
9. What was the first thing you bought with your first paycheque?
Do you have any idea how long ago that was? Probably something frivolous. Like a Stevie Nicks LP from JB’s Second Hand record shop. Yes. I am old.
10. Who was your first friend?
This Easter I attended my first friend’s wedding on St Kilda beach. We met at St Joseph’s Primary School in Benalla and have stayed friends our entire lives, in spite of the two of us moving to different places and in very different circles. Other than my family, she’s the person I’ve known the longest. I love the shared history we have. It’s unique.
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Kate Belle lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, juggling her strange, secret affairs with her male characters with her much loved partner and daughter, and a menagerie of neurotic pets. She holds a tertiary qualification in chemistry, half a diploma in naturopathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Kate believes in living a passionate life and has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.
You may find this difficult to believe given the glamorous creature I am today, but once upon a time, I was awkward. Not fairy tale awkward (long-limbed, unusually-featured girl turns into supermodel à la The Ugly Duckling) and not rom-com awkward (girl in overly-matching outfits with quirky sense of humour wins the heart of the secretly smart and soulful school jock), just plain awkward.
No surprise then, as mentioned in my first blog post, that I turned to Mills & Boon romances at an early age. It wasn’t just my lack of male interaction that led to my dirty paperback obsession, it was the chance to read about women who were beautiful, graceful and effortlessly elegant (at least from the hero’s perspective).
These women never burnt their foreheads while using the iron to straighten their hair. They were never confused for being a lesbian due to their lack of boyfriends. They had never felt the cool rush of air on their bare behind after ripping their new sparkly denim skirt in a less than sensual bend-and-snap dance move (on the same day they decided to debut their beige coloured g-string). So you can see the appeal.
As I got older (left high school, learned to tame my hair, speak to boys and apply liquid eyeliner), I found that I was open to different kinds of romance. Books in which the girl doesn’t always get it right in front of her chosen guy. Books with women who didn’t have enough cash, patience or care factor to look awesome all the time, but who could look quite lovely on occasion. Women who weren’t necessarily sexy, but told a helluva dirty joke. Women I could relate to.
Women like Kristan Higgins’ Faith Holland – a jilted, twenty-something year old with a penchant for food, gay men and spanx. Certain episodes of my life would fit perfectly into one of Higgins’ books: that time where I fell up the stairs on a shuttle bus (en route to an evangelical church) and shouted a curse word.
That night when I fell on stage and almost into the arms of my crush, flashing most of my undercarriage to the world. That date when I confidently took the unopened bottle of red wine, only to push the cork into the bottle with such force that I wore most of the contents of said bottle all over my clothes and face.
That’s why I love Kristan Higgins’ books. Not just because she writes a damn sexy hero, or the kinds of romantic situations you can both laugh at/with and swoon over. Mostly, I love her books because I feel like they could have been written about me but with a guarantee happy ending – something we’d all like to have.
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Haylee Nash has been reading and raving about romance for 15 years. She has previously worked as the Publishing Manager at Harlequin Australia and during her time there launched the Harlequin Teen, Harlequin Spice and local acquisition programmes, as well as Harlequin’s digital-first romance imprint, Escape Publishing. Haylee is now the Romance Specialist at Booktopia.
Booktopia’s newly appointed full-time Romance Specialist Haylee Nash tells us about her love of the love of love.
A favourite of Haylee’s
In year five, I was given ‘The Talk’.
At school that day, we’d just had a rather clinical explanation of the wheres, hows and what-fors of the birds and the bees, but I wanted details. My mother sat awkwardly on the end of my bed and asked if I had any questions.
“Just one.”
“And what’s that?”
“What does it feel like?”
Her answer sounded vaguely painful and distinctly undesirable which, looking back, I suppose was the point. And while I continued to like boys with the same ferocity I’d had since pre-school, I had no desire to do IT.
A Haylee recommendation
And then, in Year 9, I read a Mills & Boon. Man, my mum had it wrong! Not only could IT be way more fun than hanging out at the local Westfield or dancing to Christina Aguilera, but the men in these books were so much hotter than any of the boys at the inter-school Catholic dances. And in these books, unlike in the fairytales I’d grown up on, the women weren’t saved by the men, but rather the hero and heroine saved each other. Deep sigh.
My friends were writing about the gaps in meaning in poetry in translation, and performances of gender in evangelical religion. I was stumped. So I took a year out and worked in a shoe shop…and rediscovered Mills & Boon. It felt like coming home. I found my thesis topic. Reading and desire in Mills & Boon. I got first class honours and it felt like I was cheating – no essay had ever been so easily written. But that’s what happens when you write about what you love.
The rest is history.
I now fly the flag for all kinds of romance whenever possible. And I only read for pleasure – life’s too short to read for any other reason.
Oh, and the Mills & Boon authors were right. IT is lots of fun.
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Haylee Nash has been reading and raving about romance for 15 years. She has previously worked as the Publishing Manager at Harlequin Australia and during her time there launched the Harlequin Teen, Harlequin Spice and local acquisition programmes, as well as Harlequin’s digital-first romance imprint, Escape Publishing. Haylee is now the Romance Specialist at Booktopia.
1. I wonder, is a Romance writer born or made? Please tell us little about your life before publication.
Hmm, you know I’m not sure. Maybe it’s both? I think it was reading romance books at a young age that gave me the bug, but then again maybe it was just me, I could have been predestined to love romance.
My life before publication, well it was a simple country one, where my kids and work took up most of my time. Now the computer and my characters are my best friends. (I do have real ones, it’s just hard to see them as much with the distances out here.) I grew up and now live in my tiny five house town, and because it’s so small you find yourself on every volunteer list. Not that I mind but out here you don’t just get to do a secretary job for a few years. Oh no! The last lady I took over from had done it for 17 years, so I expect I’m in for the long haul. And that’s just one position I have. But in such a small community it’s needed and just what you have to do. Being an author doesn’t change that at all either.
2. For all the glitz and the glam associated with the idea of Romance novels, writing about and from the heart is personal and very revealing. Do you think this is why Romance Readers are such devoted fans? And do you ever feel exposed?
Yes, I think so. It’s a real emotional journey, you try to connect with your readers, and that takes a lot of personal stuff. I do get embarrassed when people I know read my work, well I used to. I think now that I’m published and the books are selling well I don’t cringe as much. But I do get emotional. On the outside, I think I come across as strong and impenetrable but on the inside, it’s a whole different story. (I’m rather a softy and can tear up at the simplest things.) Now, I’ve never been good with the spoken word, can’t seem to express how I feel, yet when I write it’s a whole different experience. I can pour my heart out to my computer, or in a letter, yet when it comes to my mouth…nothing comes out. So I wonder if this is why I can fill my books with so much passion and heart as it’s a form of release?
3. Please tell us about your latest novel…
My latest novel is about Jonelle Baxter, a 26-year-old mechanic from the small rural town of Bundara. Her town is struggling through a drought, which affects not only her business but her friends and family around her. And things go from bad to worse when a new city bank manager comes to town. Daniel Tyler has his hands full as he tries to rein in the spiraling debts of Bundara.
Jonelle Baxter is a young woman in a man’s world – a tough, hardworking motor mechanic from an idyllic country family. But lately things in her perfect life have been changing, and her workshop isn’t the only local business that’s struggling.
Daniel Tyler is new in town, posted from the city to manage the community bank. As he tries to rein in the spiralling debts of Bundara, he uncovers all sorts of personal dramas and challenges.
The last thing Jonny and Dan need is an unwanted attraction to each other. She has enough problems just keeping her livelihood going and he’s fighting pressures that stretch all the way to Perth. It’s going to take more than a good drop of rain to break the drought and bring change in love and in life.
A moving and heartwarming story about the beauty that’s found in the bush, especially in the most trying of times.
4. Is the life of a published Romance writer… well… Romantic?
Ha ha, no. Didn’t you know that’s why we write romance? So we can get some in our lives! No actually, I can’t complain. I’ve just come back from a romantic weekend with the hubby. We are coming up to our 12th anniversary and it’s certainly getting better with age. But when you have kids, the romance is hard to find sometimes. That’s why taking time out together or even just for yourself is so important.
5. Of all of the Romantic moments in your life is there one moment, more dear than all the rest, against which you judge all the Romantic elements in your writing? If so can you tell us about that special moment?
Well, when my husband proposed, I got the red roses, the cooked meal, nice set table and a gorgeous ring and that was very special and hard to go past. But I think in my writing I use more of the first sparks of lust/love. Nothing is more electric than that first meeting of eyes or that first kiss you’ve been hanging out to plant on someone. For me, the tension and lead up is just as important and sometimes much more exciting. I can still remember the moment when I went to work and saw my hubby across the road. I still remember what he was wearing, what he looked like. It’s those moments that tend to stay.
6. Sex in Romance writing today ranges from ‘I can’t believe they’re allowed to publish this stuff’ explicit to ‘turn the light back on I can’t see a thing’ mild. How important do you think sex is in a Romance novel?
I think it depends on the author and what they feel comfortable doing. I enjoy reading it because you are with the characters for the whole lead up and then its like, wham, they shut the door on you and you’re missing the bit they have been building up to. It’s like someone steeling your cappuccino you’ve just watched being made to frothy perfection and hiding around the corner and drinking it. You’ve got to at least be able to enjoy it with them. I don’t like to go overboard, and I have my parents who read my work and they soon tell me if I have. They are like my censors. “Darling that part was far too vulgar.”
7. Romance writers are often Romance readers – please tell us your five favourite (read and re-read) Romance Novels or five novels that influenced your work most?
Oh gosh. I guess I would have to start with the first romance book I read, Summer’s End by Danielle Steele when I was in primary school. Julie Garwood’s Ransom was another that I picked up early and every few years I re-read. And Rachael Treasure’s Jillaroo was the first rural book I had read. I had just written my first draft so her book gave me the confidence to get mine out there also. I also love YA, I think it’s young love and that first attraction that hooks me in (also I still think I’m 17 – in my mind at least.) I just finished Storm by Brigid Kemmerer and loved it. And my publisher put me onto Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver, brilliant book on writing (and the only one I have).
8. Paranormal Romance writing is ‘so hot right now’, do you have any thoughts on why?
Oh I am a big fan of this genre. Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy is one of my favourites. One, because her lead character is a strong, determined, gutsy girl. My kind of reading, and so much like my own characters; and because they are so fast-paced. In addition, there is that magic component, or super powers side of it. They are all beautiful and love fiercely.
9. Lastly, what advice do you give aspiring writers?
Write what you love, what you know and just keep writing. I get Dory’s line from Nemo stuck in my head all the time, but change it to ‘just keep writing, just keep writing…’
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we’ve declared February our month of love, with huge discounts on some of the greatest titles ever written.
This week we need your help to decide which love story is top of the tree. All this week we’ll have the poll up, closing it at midday on Sunday.
Then next week we’ll be counting down the top 50 in order, culminating in the top 10, as voted by you, being announced to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
You can vote for as many authors as you like as many times as you like, so have your say on The Greatest Love Story Ever Told today at Booktopia, Australia’s Local Bookstore.
February is a huge month for all Booktopians, here’s a few hints of what it’s about….
Aristotle described it as “composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies”.
Plato said when touched by it “everyone becomes a poet”.
Charles Dickens described it as “the truest wisdom”.
Yes, you guessed it – February at Booktopia is the month of LOVE.
All this month we’ll have huge discounts on all that is LOVE IN PRINT. We’ll also have some love related polls going on, culminating in the big question…..
WHAT IS THE GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD?
We’ll put our heads together and from next week we’ll have heats for you to vote on, followed by the short list.
Then once you vote on that, the Greatest Love Story Ever Told will be announced on Valentine’s Day.
But for now, we want to know what form of love you most like to read about.
Remember, this is just what you like to read about. I enjoyed reading 1984, it doesn’t mean I want it to happen. Well, apart from the cushy public service jobs.
Here are some options… And scroll down to vote on your favourite in the poll below.
True Love – The Princess Bride
TRUE LOVE
An undeniable, unquenchable thirst for each other. Usually with a couple of twists and turns but without any turbulence from the two protagonists. Stories of true love knowing no bounds has captured us for thousands of years.
Some of us are still searching for that one true love, others may never find it. It’s a complicated world, and the existence of a true love waiting for your embrace can shed light on the darkest of places.
Often full of fun and fantasy, books such as The Princess Bride have proved timeless, the strength of their message so powerful against the backdrop of true love.
Unrequited Love – Love in the Time of Cholera
UNREQUITED LOVE
In its own way a kind of tragic love (for one person anyway), a love not reciprocated or returned in kind has been the subject for millions of works.
Sometimes gut-wrenching, sometimes whimsically funny, so many classics of literature owe their long-lasting appeal to the terrible feeling of having your love being reciprocated float away in the breeze.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ haunting epic Love In The Time Of Cholera still manages to get everybody who reads it a little emotional, such is the powerful story of unrequited love.
Lustful Love – Secret Lives of Emma: Beginnings
LUSTFUL LOVE
While the subject of lust over love has always had a strong presence in writing, the sheer number of books that have sashayed into the mainstream and onto our bookshelves in the last few months has been unprecedented.
With International Bestsellers E.L. James or Sylvia Day, or Australia’s own Natasha Walker or Indigo Bloome, the raunchy aspect of love has never been more popular in contemporary fiction.
Destined Love – One Day
DESTINED LOVE
Whether two parties realise it or not, it’s exciting to watch cupid pull the strings in the background as two kindred spirits are slowly, and often unknowingly, pulled together.
A love that is destined from the start, in many ways the truest of love, is riveting. Where everything in the protagonists’ minds tells them to get away from each other, yet serendipity takes hold.
Books like One Day have sold squillions, the story of a love that slowly emerges, despite the best efforts of the couple involved, will always entertain and enthral.
Tragic Love – Romeo and Juliet
TRAGIC LOVE
Often you can see it coming. Two souls collide and, while the picture may be muddled or clear, you sense their fate will be grim to say the least.
Through history the most beautiful love stories have always been tinged with tragedy – the thought of what could have been haunting us forever.
The tragic tale of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet continues to gather an audience – every generation transfixed by the classic story of a love that could not be.
Forbidden Love – Ernest Hemingway
FORBIDDEN LOVE
As long as there is a love, there will be others who doubt its measure, question its intent and forbid its existence. Tales of forbidden love can scratch away at you like a errant tack in the shoe for days, such is the emotional story of the most powerful thing in the world, love, being taken away.
Whether it’s through class, family, race or religion, the forbidden love has been one of the most popular form of love story for many years and will undoubtedly remain that way for many years to come.
The tale of forbidden love across all borders is just one of the brilliant aspects of one of the greatest works of the last century, Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell To Arms.
Wrong Love – Les Liaisons Dangereuses
WRONG (BUT I CAN’T LOOK AWAY) LOVE
The ultimate guilty pleasure. Wrong love can be unrequited, it can be lustful, characters can find their true destiny in spite of it, it can certainly end in tragedy and to be truly wrong it must be a teensy bit forbidden.
Whether it’s the way of the love, or the motives for that unlikely love, wrong love is far more common in literature than we think. Some of the greatest works, such as the deliciously conniving Les Liaisons Dangereuses, explores a love that is the product of many many wrong roads taken. And of course, wrong love can be a bit icky (I’m looking at you Lolita)
And you can vote on them right here….
Voting closes at midday tomorrow, when we’ll be discussing the winner and the books that fall into its branches. We’ll also be asking the same question on Facebook and Twitter tomorrow and over the weekend, so let us know your thoughts or nominate the Greatest Love Story Ever Told to go into the poll next week.
Remember, February is the month of love at Booktopia, Australia’s Local Bookstore.
Nick Earls’ popularity was undeniable in the Heats
The people have spoken. We are very excited to present the 75 Favourite Australian Novelists, as voted on over the past week.
This is not in order, for the order will only be decided once you cast your final vote. Next week we’ll announce the Top 50 day by day, culminating in the Top 10 being announced on Friday the 25th of January.
A huge thanks must go to all the authors, without your gifts to us there simply wouldn’t be a poll to vote on. Don’t forget, if you see any novelists here you love don’t just vote, get in contact with them to let them know they’re here, and with some noise could be a big player next week when we announce the top 50.
Australia’s only winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Patrick White.
This poll will be up all week and will close at midday on Sunday. As before, you can vote for as many novelists as you like, but you can only vote once. Unlike the last polls, for the suspense, you won’t be able to see the results immediately. That will all be unveiled next week.
We also had feedback that some people didn’t vote for the big names in the heats, knowing that they’d go through without their vote. Well, this is the time the big names need your vote, this is the big one, the final, and every vote counts towards deciding who is Australia’s Favourite Novelist!
Andrew Cattanach
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John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru
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Haylee Nash
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I was asked to write a few words on what the allure of erotic romance is. I’ve written it of course, or a version of it that my editors seem to like at any rate. But what I’ve discovered is that between publishers and readers the definition of “erotic romance” is a bit blurred—or so it seems.
There is the term “erotic” which, by Webster’s definition, means, “having to do with sexual love.” Then you have “romance”—interestingly, there are a number of definitions for this one: 1) a medieval tale of knightly adventure; 2) a prose narrative dealing with heroic or mysterious events set in a remote time or place; and, the most popular in fiction writing, I think, 3) a love story or attachment or episode between lovers.
So, what is its allure? What keeps readers gobbling up romances that feature the sizzling heat between hero and heroine? I say it’s the same thing that has continued to make romance books the leading seller of over half of all book sales (at least in the United States)! Are we really so different as readers, searching for that fantasy hero, getting lost in the trials and obstacles of a story where the passion and emotion radiate off every page? It’s wanting that connection to what makes us feel good, makes us feel alive, makes us feel like anything is possible—if only for a few moments in the often chaotic and not-so-loving world we live in.
