Archive for March, 2010

Are modern heroes ‘as sexy as socks’?

March 30, 2010 | 4 Comments

There’s an article on modern romantic heroes (and heroines) by Danuta Kean in the Daily Mail.

It opens:

Something’s gone wrong with romance writing.

Where once manly Rhett Butler battled the flames of Atlanta to rescue Scarlett O’Hara or a rugged Heathcliff tore the earth from Catherine Earnshaw’s grave, readers now find New Men so wet you could wring them out and about as heart-thumpingly sexy as socks.

As for the heroines, they are invariably so exhausted by disease, divorce or family dysfunction that their hearts can’t skip a beat, let alone thud with passion.

My own comment is that the romantic novels I read generally have anything but wimpy heroines. My own novels certainly don’t and as for strong (yet tender) blokes, they DO exist in fiction and real life. I think most women can tell the difference between a fictional hero and a real one.

And surely it’s possible to be a ‘new man’ and still very strong and sexy. One of my favourite romantic movie moments is in ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ - when Ben Affleck’s character turns up after Jennifer Aniston’s dad has had a heart attack. All the other son-in-laws are sitting around drinking beer and slobbing yet Ben’s done all the washing up.

That sounds wimpy but I almost cry when I see the scene because it seems more like a living breathing relationship. When the chips are down, though he hasn’t offered to marry Jen (yet), he turns up and offers support (I know the washing-up thing is just a symbol) and doesn’t wimp out of the true nitty gritty of loving someone.

What do you think?

Ultimate Farce

March 24, 2010 | 1 Comment

I’m supposed to be busy so I’ll keep this brief but I’m still recovering from ‘accidentally’ watching an old episode of Ultimate Farce Force last night.

”

There was no Richard Armitage (I think this was series one before Ross Kemp had shot RA and dumped him in an ice cream freezer) but Red Troop did comprise Laurence Fox (Lewis), Eliot Cowan (Mr Darcy from Lost in Austen), Jamie Bamber (Hornblower) and Jamie Draven (Billy Elliot.)

So far, so oddly-but-hunkily cast… you can watch reruns on ITV4 if you really want to.

And in a Richard update, thanks to RichardArmitageOnline.com for news that the man himself is due to appear in Strike Back, an adaptation of the Chris Ryan novel. The DVD of Strike Back will be released on 7th June. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon UK and the series is due to be broadcast on Sky later in the spring, probably in April.

Filming for series 9 of Spooks has also been confirmed, with the series is due to be broadcast in the autumn on BBC One. I hope they don’t kill him off but I suspect this is the final series…

Video review and more

March 23, 2010 | 3 Comments

I’ve reposted the You Tube review of Wish You Were Here because I was having a few embedding probs with it – now I find it’s been removed. Oh,well. But also, I wanted to add to the post as a few things happened last week!

First, congrats to Nell Dixon on winning Love Story of the Year. Yay, Nell!

Last week, I also went to London on business then met up with Leah from C19 who was over from Texas leading a party of students on a British Literature tour. We met at the Charles Dickens Museum but I have to admit, we spent most of our time getting to know one another in person – as opposed to virtually via the web.

I’ve suddenly got very busy with work so It’s back to the pc for me this week.

‘It Should Have Been Me’ goes large

March 11, 2010 | 9 Comments

Three copies of my Large Print version of It Should Have Been Me arrived yesterday. They’re mainly for libraries but you can also order copies from Ulverscroft – a great idea for anyone who struggles to see normal small print.

Yesterday, I bunked off writing to visit one of my favourite places ever: Moseley Old Hall in Staffordshire. (One of) the houses where King Charles II hid while on the run from Cromwell’s men, it has a really exciting and romantic story. If you’re in the area, go visit!

Monster mash and pithy pitches

March 9, 2010 | Comments

Just have to flag up two fascinating links today:

The author, Anita Burgh, has a very useful piece of preparing a quick pitch for your novel – that’s the sentence you trot out when an agent or editor asks you ‘what’s the book about?” – and hopefully makes them want to snap it up!

If you’re a reader or writer, Book Slut has an excellent in-depth article on monster lit – covering the craze for vampire/monster/classic lit mash ups such as Mr Darcy, Vampyre and Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter.