Thea Harrison's Blog, page 36
March 16, 2012
The Store at Cafe Press is now open!
You can look at the products that are currently available now at Cafe Press !! Stop by and have a look around.
This is only a beginning store, so things will change and evolve over time. And it WILL be added to the website, so you will be able to access it from here soon! This is for you, the readers, to have fun with, so do let me know what you think, and if you want more products added.
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Setting up merchandise at Cafe Press
I have started setting up merchandise on the Elder Races at Cafe Press!!! So far I'm creating t-shirts and mugs/water bottles. TrishPickyme has very kindly agreed for her downloadable art to be used! This is fun, and I hope readers think so too.
This is totally a work in progress. The "store" needs a design, and I haven't figured out yet how to put quotes on t-shirts and mugs… would you like to help me out? Which quotes from the books/novellas so far would you like to buy on a t-shirt or mug? Please comment so that I can get a feeling for what you might enjoy.
So far, I think I'm going to do:
"I used to eat people, you know." ~ Dragos, Dragon Bound
"I'm sorry I had to take your penny. Here's another to replace it." ~ Pia, Dragon Bound
At some point soon I'm hoping to add the Cafe Press information on the website.
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Men Reading Romance: Meet John Jacobson
Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
I'm a student, actually, and am working on graduating from high school. My eventual goal is to go to a good college for English and/or Creative Writing. I plan on working towards becoming a fiction editor in publishing – preferably for young-adult novels or romance novels. Other than reading voraciously, I participate in my school's theater department, its marching band and concert band (mallet percussion – vibraphone and marimba specifically), and try to find time to play the occasional video game or watch a movie on television when I have downtime. (That never happens anymore).
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
My first romance? Hm. My first romance novel that I recall reading was Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey. One of my best friends lent it to me in middle school – 7th grade – and told me that I had to read it because I would love it. So, I read it, giggled at the cover, and fell in love. So much love. The book and the author are still considered amongst my favorites, and it gave me a great appreciation for historical romances. Soon after I read a copy of Diana Palmer's Rogue Stallion, which was a category romance with cowboys. I snuck that one out of my mother's closet when she still actively read romantic suspense novels (and ones with cowboys – she still appreciates a good cowboy).
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
I am a romantic, plain and simple. I've watched Disney movies since I was younger and fawned over the happy endings. A beautiful princesses getting the amazing guy she truly deserves. I swear, my VHS tapes of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Anastasia were most likely played to the point of destruction. (I know Anastasia isn't technically a Disney princess, but she was pretty darn awesome). As I evolved as a person (and grew up), I retained my love for these films, but also a love for the romanticism that they represent. Yes, it didn't escape my attention that a lot of the older ones were especially traditional and had heroines that could be perceived as vapid and dull, but I loved that the ultimate message (to my childhood brain) was always, "Love can be beautiful and result in knowing someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with". Among other things.
These movies morphed into something else entirely as I grew up into that awkward 13-and-Up stage where you start to actually know yourself. I discovered I was gay and had to go through a host of personal issues on top of that. Those movies became a comforting memory to me and reminded me that love was still possible. That's why I read romance now. I read romance because the heroines are increasingly stronger, braver, smarter, and ultimately worthy of finding their true love. The heroes are often flawed but loving, and at the end of the day they treat the heroine the way she has deserved to be treated all of her life. This may not be accurate for every romance, but that's how I perceive them as a reader. Their core, if you will, as a genre. I can imagine myself being that heroine and eventually going from where I am now – which isn't a very open and accepting place – to going beyond the wickedness into a place of love with my hero.
As for complaints, I just wish that people would write the heroes and heroines with more equality and reality strewn in with the fantasy. There is room in this world for majorly flawed members of both parties – be it physical "flaws" like weight differences or psychological/personality flaws. There is also room for the realization that women can be smart, that women can be dominate, and that women can be just as flexible and unique in what they need in a relationship as a man. That means a bigger awareness of feminine sexuality and need. It often feels like that the heroes of romance novels are allowed to be fully aware of their sexual desires, but the heroines aren't. This parallels similar views in our current society, and I'd like to see that switched up because it's healthy for women to be just as aware of that need as men are.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood, Sarah Morgan, Jayne Ann Krentz (and her various incarnations), Nora Roberts, Jeannie Lin, Elizabeth Hoyt, K.A.Mitchell, and various others.
Non-romance authors include Libba Bray, Claudia Gray, Suzanne Young, Lauren DeStefano, Stephanie Perkins, Lauren Oliver, Hayden Thorne, and David Levithan.
Off the top of my head, I would say that 20-25% of my reading is romance novels. That may be high. However, almost all of the young-adult novels I read have a heavy romantic arc in them. I'd say that they are close to romance novels enough that I'm never really NOT reading something romantic.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
- The heroine (or hero, if it is an m/m romance) is a prostitute
- The book is a historical and takes place in an exotic/unusual setting (Ie: the islands, somewhere in Asia. Even a setting like France, which I would love to see a lot more of in historical romances).
- The hero has a strong respect for the heroine that is central throughout the novel
- The heroine is never degraded by the hero for being a sex worker and accepts it about herself (an internal struggle about said acceptance would be allowed)
- The romance would be sweeping and involve a lot of travel and excitement that the historical of the 70's and 80's incorporated (though sans most of the cracktastic WTF of authors like Beatrice Small)
- The romance would introduce gay side-characters that could easily lead into sequels
- The sequel-bait characters, if they exist, are not painfully obvious, and the novel does not revolve around anyone having an extremely large family of eligible singles that is unusually close.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
Sure. What do you think of guys reading your work? Have you gotten any response from male readers about it?
ME: I have received some emails from men who are enjoying the Elder Races series, and I love hearing from then. Those letters actually started my thinking about this very quiet demographic of readership, which led to my asking questions and posting this series on my blog.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Nothing at this time, but I never stop talking, so I will inevitably have something else to talk about in the comments or somewhere else.
Wait. I thought of something.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. The romance community is like a second home to me. So many of the readers inspire me to be a better person. They challenge me to think critically and I constantly garner new insights from them. It's truly helped me grow as a person, a reader, and a student. I couldn't be happier knowing that.
Thank YOU, for taking the time to write such a thoughtful post, and for sharing it with us!
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Oracle's Moon blog tour cont'd: Under the Covers Interview and giveaway!
Please join me over at Under the Covers as I talk about writing, WTF moments, and which of my heroes I would keep for myself. Plus a giveaway!
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March 15, 2012
Oracle's Moon blog tour cont'd at All Things Urban Fantasy
Join me over at All Things Urban Fantasy where we talk about Khalil and Grace's single parenthood, plus revisiting Dragos and Pia.
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Men Reading Romance: Meet Daniel and Rogier
While to the best of my knowledge, Daniel and Rogier have never met, they have two things in common: they are both students and they both read romance. I'm sharing their words and view here now, in two very special interviews.
First, meet Daniel. Thanks so much for getting in touch and answering my questions! Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
Currently a full time Student. For fun I like playing Video games with my friends, also playing outside sports.
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
About Five years ago, my sister and mother kept talking about the Dark Hunter Series Sherrilyn Kenyon writes. Its a sub-genre Romance/Paranormal, I enjoyed the action and comedy that the characters displayed.
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
Most of the ones I read have an interesting story line and lots of different characters that come in and change things up a bit. I do not see any improvement needed at this time.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
Favorite Romance Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon, and of course you Thea Harrison. Non-Romance authors would be: James Patterson, Rick Riordan. Its about 50/50, for both. I tend to switch from reading Romance, then a non-romance book and back again depending on who's book is out.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
The Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan, The League Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, both of those Series are ones I'd like too get into as well.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
No, not at this time, thank you.
ME: You're welcome. Is there anything you would like to add?
No.
I appreciate you adding your voice to the conversation—thanks again!
~~~
Next I'd like to introduce you to Rogier. Rogier reached out to me when I first posted my request on Twitter, and I'm so glad he did.
Hi Rogier, thanks for getting in touch and answering my questions! Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
hi all. i'm rogier aka roro ^_^. i'm a 19 year old male dude, ok almost an adult. my 20th birthday is in may. [yaay]
Rogier with friends
A student in high school in tropical suriname. besides reading, i love watching tv and going to the movies.
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
found a tattered copy of dayhunter by jocelynn drake two years ago at a garage sale. i devoured it. so far fantasy ,PNR and urban fantasy are my favorite
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
i think romance "clicks' for me cause i love to find real relationships in fictionalized stories and i see how my parents love each other.hoping to find that some day as well. i'm a hopeless romantic
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
my favorite romance authors? mmmmm….. jennifer estep, cl wilson , jocelyn drake, jen wylie and gena showalter
i don't have a favorite non romance book but i love non romance books at times
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
a high fantasy like c .l wilson 's lord of the fading lands mixed with lord of the rings with high futuristic sci fy. a lot of romance. lot of action. War and politics. yep i would totally dig that.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
what inspired you to write the elder races ? who was the funnest to write about and what are the perfect playlist for the books?
ME: My most recent favorites might be Claudia and Luis, from my e-novella Natural Evil (out March 20th). I loved how they were so different from the other characters I've written about so far. And I don't have a perfect play list for the books, but if I made one it would be a strong mix of classic rock, blues, and alternative music, with a touch of Lady Gaga and hip-hop thrown in—along with how you would classify The Black Keys—to switch things up a bit.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Thanks for having me madam thea. i'm international book blogger who reviews Young adult and adult at http://roroisreading.blogspot.com
Thank you, Rogier! It was a pleasure to visit with you!
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March 14, 2012
Men Reading Romance: Meet the Romance Man
Hey Thea! Congratulations on your new website. If it's half as good as your books it will be a huge success. I can't wait to follow it and see what kind of crazy shit comes out of that head of yours, it should be very entertaining. So, you want a man's perspective on romance novels do you. Ok, I will do my best to answer your questions.
Hi, Romance Man, thanks for coming to visit! Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
First, I am a small business owner and live in Florida with my wife and three daughters, ages 20, 10 and 8. Actually the 20 year is in college but she comes home every weekend to mooch food. My hobbies are rugby and mixed martial arts and I'm not very good at either but they keep me active and in shape, plus it sounds macho to say you play rugby and do mixed martial arts. And of course, my favorite new hobby is romance novels, which I regret I did not start earlier in life.
Romance Man has his own blog. You can find him at http://www.theromanceman.net
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
The first romance novel I read was Because of You, a military romance by Jessica Scott, and I read it about 6 weeks ago. I am prior military and spend a lot of time reading about military issues. She is an Army officer and I stumbled across her website and noticed she also wrote romance novels. So I bought the book for my wife thinking maybe it would get her horny and I would get laid. Well, it was an e-book so I downloaded it and since work was slow that day I decided to read it. It was a quick read and I finished in a couple of hours and when I was done I needed sex. So when my wife got home I gave her the book and told her to read it before the kids got home. When she finished a sex marathon ensued and I knew I found my new hobby.
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
I can't believe more men don't read these books, it's like a blueprint for what women like, both sexually and emotionally. It's a fuckin' "how to" manual and men have been ignoring them for years. I read these books with my wife and I make her read me the sex scenes and it has had a dramatic effect on our love life. As cheesy as these books can be they have really spiced things up. I've gotten laid more the past month then the previous year.
Of course there's room for improvement. There are so many cliches that are done to death. I wish the authors would come up with better names for vagina because they are all using the same ones. I would like to see plots expanded to cover more than just a love story. The women who write these books are very talented and could easily write books of any genre and be successful so I would like to see more complex plots. But overall, these are good books for the most part, not just as romance novels but as books.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
It's too soon to say who my top romance authors are as I am just getting into this. I am currently reading my first Vampire one, Dark Lover and I like it so far. I loved DB which is very different, which I like. But I've liked most of what I have read so I'll need more time to decide what my favorite is. There are so many different genres and I haven't even touched the surface yet. As for non-romance, the only thing I read is non-fiction, biographies, history, etc. I'm not big into non-romance fiction.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
I would like to read a story about a hero who is overweight and has little dick, it would make me feel better about myself.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
Yes, you've written a million books what took you so long to launch a fuckin' website?
On a more serious note, what do you think can be done to get more men interested in reading romance novels. I think they are missing a huge opportunity to learn more about women and I think if most of them were to read one they would like it. I think one thing that could be done is change the book covers. I understand these books are geared toward women but the covers are a complete turnoff for men. Most have pictures of half naked men. I think by simply adding a woman along with the man would have the effect of not making the book look so feminine and more men might be willing to at least pick it up.
What first got you interested in romance and what is YOUR favorite authors and genre?
ME: We've actually launched my second website now. While the first was lovely, it was only intended as a temporary site. We knew we would go bigger, with extras and a blog page, and things have been progressing so quickly I needed to have the ability to make updates on my own. It's taken a while to create the content and pull it all together, but I believe it's been worth it!
And I agree with you—I think it's possible to get more men interested in reading romance novels but it would take a change in marketing. I'd like to see that happen. Actually, what I would like to see is an entire line of romance books targeted toward men and featuring BOTH male and female authors.
I started reading romance novels when I was a teenager and we would go to visit my aunt and uncle in the country. My aunt had romance novels, and my uncle had Zane Grey westerns, and I read both. Today, my favorite genre is a cross over between romance and another genre—mystery, science fiction and fantasy, thriller, that sort of thing.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Good luck, I will be reading, your books and your blog.
Thanks, Romance Man, and I intend on stopping by from time to time to read your blog too!
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March 13, 2012
Men Reading Romance: Meet Douglas
Hi, Douglas, thanks for taking the time to answer my Q&A. Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
I am recently retired, made enough good decisions that I retired at 57. I have 4 kids 3 daughters and 1 son (in Kuwait). I was in Logistics/Field Support for the US Army and spend most of my days just taking care of day to day things, solving problems for my kids (still) and taking care of a few things for my son since he can't do it from Kuwait. I am involved in doing a bit of political blogging and expanding my weapons collection (I am a bit concerned with the way bits of the 2nd Amendment get chipped away).
Douglas
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
Been reading fantasy since mid 70s when I read Lord of the Rings, the first "romance" was PNR and it was probably Anita Blake or if you consider that to UF then maybe it was Lynsay Sands Argeneau vampires at least 6+ years ago.since I was looking for something that attracted me like Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling with the Dead both by Barbara Hambly.
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
I like good endings, if I want to be depressed I can watch the news. It is nice to see something out of the norm on occasion since many of the plots are very similar.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
Nalani Singh, Lynsay Sands, Ilona Andrews depends on my mood. You are not accounting for UF which can overlap since I read the Cal Leandros novels also but the only mainstream writers I read anymore is Dean Koontz. About 80-90% of my reading is in the PNR/UF genre.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
I have a stack of TBR books here and a ton in my Kindle, throw a rock and hit one 
Right now I am about to start the Walker Papers series and waiting for the release of the last 2 books in the Elemental Mysteries by Elizabeth Hunter.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
After writing a ton of reviews on Amazon and several on Goodreads I have begun to receive ARCs from a few authors and would be honored if you would consider me for inclusion. I and most of the members of the forums I contribute to have read all your books and while we loved them most of us had numerous reservations about Serpent's Kiss and the pacing (or lack thereof) . I and others are hoping for a return to the amazing story that hooked us into your series, I hope Oracle's Moon will be a bit more action paced.
ME: I must say, I'm honored that the Elder Races series has generated so much discussion, and I appreciate your interest in receiving an ARC for review. I do have an agreement with Penguin that the publicist they assigned to me, Erin Galloway, handles this sort of thing. Her email address is posted on my website if you would like to contact her. She's very nice, and I know she'll help you if she can!
Is there anything you would like to add?
Think I have groveled and shared enough If you need any additional info just drop a line. I read this PNR/UF because it entertains me, I don't worry too much about losing beloved characters (although it does occasionally happen) and I look forward to each book. I read tons of history and murder mystery for years before I started fantasy which led me to this genre which I find what I consider better "story tellers" than writers (great writers spend pages on pages describing the scenery, nice touch but boring), good story tellers give you enough to make your own picture and get right into the story which is why you bought the book.
Thanks for the visit and for sharing your views, Douglas. I wish you many hours of happy reading!
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March 12, 2012
A present from a dear friend
Look what a dear friend made for me. It's a wall hanging for my new place, a home-made quilt piece. It's even more lush in real life. I LOVE it!
Thank you so much, Anne. It's gorgeous!
Love,
Thea
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Oracle's Moon blog tour cont'd at I'm Loving Books
Join me over at I'm Loving Books for a Q&A, and they're giving away a review copy of Oracle's Moon!
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