My day to blog on Romance Gems is the 18th
of each month. The reason I chose that is because it’s the date of my birthday.
Precisely, June 18. Which is TODAY! I
knew I wouldn’t forget it.
As we get another year older, we often reflect on
our life and what we’ve done. Today, I’m taking a peek at my relationship with
romance. Or maybe I should say romance
novels.
As a young child, I loved reading Trixie Belden books.
Looking back, I realized that was the beginning of my fascination with
relationships and romance. I wanted Trixie and Jim to be together in all the
scenes. And when I read Nancy Drew, I loved when Ned showed up. Same with the
Hardy Boys. I always wanted Callie and Iola to be around, so I could see the
interaction between these couples.
Now my mom was a Harlequin fanatic. Every month, on
release day, she would go down the street to the department store and take one
of every new release Harlequin had. My mom was a voracious reader (thus passing that
gene on to me) and would have two piles next to her chair. To Be Read. And Done. I got to pick through the done
pile.
At this time, these romance books were all sweet or
closed-door sex. Which was good, since I was only twelve. They also only had the heroine’s point of
view. We’d only see what the hero was thinking on the last few pages, when he
started his soliloquy as to why he’d been so surly to the heroine all along. I
was thrilled when the heroes started getting their point of view added to romance
as well.
As the years went by, romances changed, and some grew
sexier, some had danger added, and some told stories of paranormal creatures
and beings. But through it all, the heart of a romance is about the couple in
love.
It's sad that people often put romance down as being smutty, dirty, silly,
or just plain not as worthy of people to read. And while there may be some romance
books that could fit in those categories, most romances are all about love.
As author Damon Suede says, “Romance is the genre of
hope.” And isn’t that a great reason to read it? This world has so many
horrible things that go on every day. So many people who do nothing but hate,
or people who are brutalized and hurt. With all that surrounding us, why wouldn’t
we want to pick up a book that lets us escape from the real world for a bit? A book that shows two characters, conflicted for some reason
so they can’t be together, who push past all the hurt and anger, and find a way
to love each other. To show us that if we want it bad enough, and work for it,
we can have something good in our lives. Hope.
All romances have one thing in common. A Happily Ever
After. That’s my favorite part. Even
though all may seem lost, and you think your couple couldn’t possibly find a
way to be together, they do! And the best writers have you absolutely certain
this couple will be together, forever.
Maybe the world would be a much better, more accepting
place, if more people read romance!
~~~
In celebration of my birthday, I’m giving YOU a
present! That’s right. My birthday, but you get the gift. I am giving away five
(5) digital copies of my book, RUNNING TARGET, and five (5) digital copies of
Fatal Evidence. The contest is open to everyone.
What do you need to do? Simple.
Send an e-mail to: karilemorauthor@gmail.com stating you’d like one of my books. If you already have one of these and would
prefer the other, make sure you let me know.
Please use the email address you’d
like me to respond to if you win.
That’s it! Just send me an e-mail.
I will pick (10) random winners one week from today,
Tuesday, June 25. Winners will be notified by e-mail and receive a code for downloading the book.
**If you’d like to sign up for my mailing list or follow
me on social media, here’s where you can:
(FYI - signing up for my mailing list gives you links
to some freebies from me)
Don't forget our
MONTHLY GIVEAWAY
June Giveaway
Starts at 12:01am CDT, June 3, Monday. Ends at 12:01am CDT, June 27, Thursday.
Check out details and prizes here: June Giveaway
The happiest of days, my darling friend!!! i've always said we are sistahs from other misters and now I know we were separated at birth - I read every single Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew, too!!!! Enjoy your day and I hope it is filled with love, laughter, light and a little writing, too!!! Love you lots!
ReplyDeleteThanks, sweetie!! Hub is standing by to whisk me away to the meal of my choice. I'm sure there'll be some writing (or more likely editing) involved in today's activities, also.
DeleteHappy Birthday, Kari. In keeping with romance, I hope you are surrounded by love while you celebrate.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nora! Already have multiple texts from family and friends, even this early in the morning. Love all around!
DeleteHappy birthday. A great post. I wonder how many of us started with Trixie Belden. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Trixie was great!! I devoured those books as quickly as my mom could buy them! I'm sure I got plenty as birthday gifts!
DeleteI never read Trixie and only one of the Hardy Boys. But I learned early the curious world of relationships by reading Dear Abby and her sister, Ann Landers. People's problems and the suggested solutions got me thinking about why people act the way they do and how they might change to get the relationship they want. I think that's why I'm still so fascinated with romance. Great topic, Kari and have a happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, I loved reading Dear Abby also. Seemed to me the questions were always silly and her answers so sensible.
ReplyDeleteI loved, loved, loved this post! You are so right about why people should read romance. I wish this genre wasn't spoken of with such disdain by others. I loved Nancy Drew and it was always better when Ned was around. I was just telling my husband about Ned the other day, and how I always thought he was the perfect match for Nancy. (My husband just nodded and smiled at me.) Anyway, thanks for the post! I'm going to email you now.
ReplyDeleteYup, more romance would certainly make the world a better place!!
DeleteWELL SAID, Kari! You echo my sentiments exactly. Wishing you a wonderful birthday with many more "happily ever afters" to come!
ReplyDeleteThanks, hon! Viva romance!
DeleteHope you have a wonderful birthday, Kari! I love the hope that romance brings, too. Love is worth celebrating.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Having the hub and all the kids and grandkids out to dinner tonight. Nothing better than family to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy your birthday with your wonderful family. I already have both books on my nook and I am enjoying reading them. Now the school down for the summer I hope to read more.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you have my books!! Thank you for your support!! Hope you enjoy them.
DeleteHappy Birthday, Kari. Hear-hear to everything you said!
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more!
Thanks! Romance is a wonderful thing!
DeleteHappy birthday, Kari!!! Wish you lots of new readers and inspiration to write more books! I am a sucker for romance because it's a way to escape my dull reality! I wish I had my real-life HEA too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Iris! That's how I see romance too. Escaping for a short time into someone else's world!
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful post, Kari, and a compelling argument for reading our beloved genre of romance. Everyone should see Romance as the genre of hope and optimism in a troubled world too often filled with discord.
ReplyDeleteOh, forgot to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARI!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a lovely family filled day!
DeleteI loved this post! I don't understand why some people talk about romance as being fantasy then love Ian Fleming. Romance is the center of the universe. I read every Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Judy Bolton book I could find. If I weren't writing, I'd be reading all the time. So sorry I missed your birthday.
ReplyDeleteThanks!! Yeah, as a kid I read constantly, and would still do that if adult stuff didn't get in the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog post, Kari. I, too, "feel" the positivity from reading good love stories. I started pretty early, sneaking books from my mother's hidden stash and got hooked because of having to listen to Mom and Dad's arguing and fighting every single day. Those books took me away to another place...a happier place. And because I and my two siblings grew up in a small dusty farming community in SoCal we made the trek every Saturday too town for the weekly shopping and the local library where we devoured stacks of books we took home every week. Thank goodness for developing a reading habit so young as it has entertained me for many years and many more to come.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that so many people talk about the library. Because my mother was such a voracious reader, and she always bought books, I rarely went to the library. We may not have had much money but books were something we could always buy. As an adult I find myself buying books instead of using the library. But then often the romances I want are not in there, anyway!
DeleteThanks for your blog post, Kari. I, too, "feel" the positivity from reading good love stories. I started pretty early, sneaking books from my mother's hidden stash and got hooked because of having to listen to Mom and Dad's arguing and fighting every single day. Those books took me away to another place...a happier place. And because I and my two siblings grew up in a small dusty farming community in SoCal we made the trek every Saturday too town for the weekly shopping and the local library where we devoured stacks of books we took home every week. Thank goodness for developing a reading habit so young as it has entertained me for many years and many more to come.
ReplyDeleteKari, I'd love to win one of your books. Joan @ JoanReeves dot com in case you don't have enough entries to meet your quota. I'll share your giveaway again on FB.
ReplyDeleteHi, I find reading this article a joy. It is extremely helpful and interesting and very much looking forward to reading more of your work.. find this
ReplyDelete