Liz Everly's Blog, page 123

Don’t Neglect the Back End

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

I love festivals. Book festivals. Music festivals. Comic Cons. Renaissance festivals. I dig ‘em hard. Few things are as fun has hanging with like-minded people and dishing about favorite things. It’s just candy.

Behold the wonder of the Interwebs where now we can enjoy such marvels from the comfy chair in our living room. We at Lady Smut are pleased to promote HarperCollins Publishers’ virtual Romance Festival on June 7-8. Glance to your right to see the festival’s nifty retro logo. There’s an amazing line up of authors scheduled for events including Bella Andre, Barbara Freethy, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sarah Morgan, and Darynda Jones. Join them on Saturday the 7th for Author’s Day, which will include tips from agents, editor Q&A, and my personal favorite, social media tips. Sunday’s Reader’s Day will include giveaways, cover reveals, and peaks behind the scenes with favorite authors.

Yesterday, our own Alexa Day wrote about the many appeals of a good book cover and how much value the right image has in promoting a book. The first thing I notice about a book is definitely its cover. We’re fortunate in Romancelandia to enjoy a mighty surplus of gorgeous covers. Sure, there are times when themes take over, like the headless, legless, sculpted bare chest of a man (and thank you so much for that, book designers) and there have been epic fails of covers that yet live in infamy (yes, I’m talking about you, Christina Dodd’s infamous three-armed lady cover.) Almost every romance writer I know has a story of a cover war had with their publisher at one time or another. But we’ve come a long way from the Fabio monopoly of the 80s and 90s, almost as far as romance novels themselves have traveled.

Count ‘em: one…two…three

My affinity for romance covers comes from a more personal bent. My first job in book publishing was as a publisher’s assistant at Avon Books, which at the time was like the mothership calling me home. A large part of my duties was sitting in on the cover conferences and keeping track of what had been decided for which book. An editor would come in and pitch the book to the publisher and the heads of the design studio. Together they’d brainstorm ideas. I loved those meetings. They were a treasure trove of insight into the internal workings of a publisher and how to visually position a book for sale. They could get quite heated too—I still remember the great kudzu argument of 1998. I learned about step backs and gloss and foil and matte treatments. I also learned there’ s more than just marketing and positioning to the process, but always politics too both internal and external. This was back when Amazon was just making its presence felt and Barnes and Noble held enormous influence to the point that once we redid a gorgeous cover into a cut paper eyesore because B&N wouldn’t take the book otherwise.

I also started writing back cover copy as an assistant and continued writing it for years after. If a cover grabs a reader’s eye, the next move they make usually is to turn it over and read the description on the back. That’s the moment when the hook can sink deep or be dislodged completely. It’s true for ebooks too; I can’t be the only reader who scrolls down to read the description before buying.

Typically, back-end materials are pages in the back of the book that promote the publishers other books in the genre or of the author. But the real back-end is the actual back of the book and the copy that lives there. Breaking down a 400-plus page novel into 130 words or less is no mean feat even if it seems a no-brainer in a world of clever soundbites wrapped in 140 characters. Back cover copy is a delicate dance of teasing enticing aspects of a book’s plot and characters without giving away the goods altogether.

Be sure to check out the Romance Festival this weekend where you’ll have cover reveals galore along with many other romance goodies. Use the hashtag #Romance14 on social media to keep up with the conversation.

And follow Lady Smut. Our back end is quite spectacular.

That First Thousand Words: Hot Romance Covers

Just Justin being Justin.

By Alexa Day

Have you heard? The good people at HarperImpulse are putting on an online romance conference at the end of the week. There’s a day for readers and a day for authors, and I’m looking forward to checking out both of them. You should totally register for it right now. This will still be here in a second.

But I’m really looking forward to hearing about covers on Saturday. I have no idea why covers and cover reveals and

So I wonder what these two are going to do later?

cover trends are so exciting to me. Maybe it’s because I make the stuff that goes on the pages, but I have no inclination toward visual arts at all. Maybe I’m just into pretty pictures. I hate to overthink things like this.

Now, I’m no cover expert. But I see the fabulous world of book covers divided, like Gaul, into three parts, where a great deal of good is being done by art departments everywhere.

1. The couple. I dated a guy some time ago who was very curious about what I wrote, and in an intelligent way one does not always encounter among my dates. After asking about Fabio (so many guys don’t realize just how long it’s been since Fabio has been on a cover), he observed that one could divine the level of sexual content in the book by looking at how much the characters were wearing. It’s not a perfect rule, of course, but it’s not a bad start.

Seeing our lovebirds on the cover tells you a lot more than what they’ll be doing in private, though. Is there a baby between them? Are they running, hand in hand? Does he have wings? Is she armed?

Inclusion of heroines who look like me (or as much of me as you can see in that picture in the sidebar) is a huge part of the reason I got into writing interracial

I feel less inhibited already.

romance. So there’s a special place in my heart for a cover with a heroine of color on it. I remember my delight at seeing my heroine, Grace Foley, on the cover of my own book, Illicit Impulse. It frustrates me to think that her presence there might be keeping potential readers from picking my book up, but it will pain me to remove future heroines from my covers. Such a conundrum. I bet Megan Hart’s Naked cover will make me feel better, but if that doesn’t work out, I can check out Zenobia Renquist’s cover for Pliable Inhibitions as I move on to the next point.

2. Half of the couple. If you’ve been hanging out with me for very long, especially on Facebook, you know how little I mind objectifying the fine menfolk. Show me a shirtless

Sometimes the picture on the package shows you what’s inside.

dude on a book cover, and I’m all smiles. Show me a naked dude on a book cover, and I’m ready to sit down and talk a while. As always, there are other clues on the cover to help me figure out what’s going on inside. Dogtags on a dude say one thing, while a cowboy hat says something else. You have a pretty good idea who’s waiting for you in Koko Brown’s Jezebel, right? On the other hand, for a hero who would not be judged by his appearance, Jane Lark’s cover for Just You works just fine — it’s just Justin.

I’m also into the heroine-only covers, especially those historicals. I’m just shallow enough to admit that I love the fashion show on the cover of so many Regency romances. I’ve seen lots of gorgeous dresses and lots of bare skin out there lately, with nary a dude in sight. That’s just my speed, bearing in mind the rule of thumb I shared with my date.

The still life says, “It’s complicated.”

3. Provocative objects. Megan Hart’s Tear You Apart, which just won the RT Seal of Excellence Book of the Year award, presents a simple cover: A bowl containing three shiny red apples (durable representatives of temptation) and a single wedding band on a black background. That’s really all you need to get a pretty good idea of what the book is about, right?

I wonder if you can still get one of these covers on an English edition. Or as a poster.

Sometimes the most provocative object on the cover is the title. Naked won’t turn up in a Google SafeSearch because of the title. Who knows what else the Google prudes are keeping from us?

So are you into the pretty pictures? Follow Lady Smut. I’ve got a new cover coming up soon for my short story, “Turnabout Day,” and the crew is getting all ready for Lady Smut’s Book of Dark Desires. You’ll want to be here for all that.

Sexy Saturday Round Up

Hey Sexy,

We’ve got links this week to all the interesting sha-shizzle.  So sit back with that morning cuppa joe and laze away the day.  xo,

 

From Madeline:

No soap–no problem! This researcher tried a bacteria rich hygiene experience.

Lady Smut has an anthology coming out in August –it’s called LADY SMUT’S BOOK OF DARK DESIRES.  By coincidence on Pinterest is another Book of Dark Desires.

Want to go to a romance festival without leaving home? Here’s an online romance fest.

From Alexa:

I hope it’s not insensitive that I laughed at these male strippers getting measured for their costumes.

Which came first (ha ha, heyo!), the erotica writer or her sex life?

And here’s a list of heroes pure as the driven snow.

From Elizabeth:

Stop surfing redtube.com! Researchers find potential link between viewing porn and shrinking your brain.

Wondering how this whole sex thing is going to work in the future? Here are the predictions.

June is National Men’s Health Month. Here’s a handy checklist to help your honey stay well.

Summer dress time! 25 fab maxi dresses you’ll long to wear.

From C. Margery Kempe:

Novelist Eloisa James on Anti-Romance Bias

The 14 Craziest Places Where Erotica Writers Have Boned

Teach Me Tonight: Hell Hath No Inventiveness Like a Romance-Reader Scorned

The Thriller in Erotica: Guest Author Troy Lambert

by C. Margery Kempe This week I’m happy to welcome another of my Tirgearr Publishing colleagues, Troy Lambert, who’s got the first book in the new City Nights series, One Night in Boise. Troy admits that this is all a bit new for him. Here’s the blurb:

Detective Derek Marshek and his wife Cheri like to play games. It’s not that they don’t have a great sex life, but Cheri came up with the idea to keep things even spicier. Suddenly, events at the Seven Bells Motel reveal she may have had other motives.

Their son Alex, now in college and seeking to escape the shadow of his father, has a new girlfriend. In their efforts to find privacy, he is drawn back into his parents’ lives, and sees a new side of Susie. Could she be the one?

On this night in Boise, will lives be ruined, hearts be broken? One thing is certain. It’s a dangerous game they all play.

Take it away, Troy! I’m not an erotica reader, editor, or author. Or am I? When first presented with these questions eight months ago, I would have answered with a resounding “no.” But there they were, staring me in the face. Two of my favorite words: challenge and opportunity. They were knocking at my door, and I had no choice but open up. I discovered some interesting things: I’d already written erotica. Not full length pieces, mind you, but graphic sex scenes in my novels and short stories. Sex plays a part in many of them, some an integral one. So could I write a more detailed, emotionally charged sex scene? Sure I could. I’ve dreamed about sex since my early teens, talked about sex with my kids, and had plenty of sex over the years. In fact, applying the “write what you know” principle, perhaps I should have started writing about sex sooner. Sex is thrilling and suspenseful. If you don’t think it is, you might not be doing it right. As a suspense/thriller author one of the things I try to do in my work is create drama right away, drag the reader into the story, and don’t let them go until it is over, leaving them breathless and spent. Sound like the last time you had sex? If not, refer to sentence one. Whether emotionally, physically, or both, sex is filled with climaxes that allow us to transcend reality, if only for a short time. Mixing it up makes something good. The thriller is a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat (or bed), whether through the threat of death, world domination by evil, a clown stalking the inhabitants of a small town, or the threat of imminent heartbreak. Blending the drama of life crisis with the drama of relationships and sex makes for not only a good story, but one we all can connect with. After all, how many times in your life was sex the cause of the drama you went through. Fiction allows us to escape, and to learn something about ourselves in a world not our own. The more we branch out, step out of our comfort zones, the more likely we are to learn. I loved writing this story. So will I write more erotica? You’ll just have to wait and see. Visit Troy’s website or find him on Facebook. Get One Night in Boise in any format here.

Online Romance Fest & My British Summer of Love

 

By Madeline Iva

They’ve got the love? No, we’ve got the love – for this new online Romance Festival put on by Harper Impulse (and Harlequin, Avon, Carina Press).  First of all, I adore their Logo:

BUT HOW IS IT ORGANIZED?

So glad you asked. If you go here you can register and find out all about it.

Basically, it’s a two day event –

Saturday 7th June, 2014: Author spotlight

Creating great romance covers
Meet the editors
Get the chance to get one-on-one feedback with a romance editor
How to connect with bloggers
Meet the retailers
Book marketing advice
Plus loads of tips for writing and authors sharing their experience!

AND

Sunday 8th June, 2014: Reader spotlight

Live author interviews on Twitter
Join Google hangouts of your favourite authors ‘in conversation’ with each other
Join discussions on romcom, erotica and women’s fiction
Learn how to plan your perfect wedding
Find out how to become a romance blogger
Meet the men of romance
Competitions and giveaways throughout the day

SO HOW DOES AN ONLINE FESTIVAL WORK ANYWAY?

Did somebody say hot men?

I like what they promise readers so far:

Exclusive Cover Reveals
Amazing give-aways
Reader’s Corner – Find out about up & coming books
Hot men!
Whatever your favourite genre – from Historical to Erotica – we’ll have the lowdown.
FREE BOOKS!

But of course there’s more than that —

GOOGLE HANG OUTS & TWITTER CHATS, OH MY! It’s a brave new world out there, mah romance friends. One where you can sit back in your jammie-jams and get yer ever-lovin’ romance fix right at home.

Here are just a few of the big names/romance faces that shall be tweeting away or doing google chats at Romance Festival ’14:

Barbara Freethy 

Darynda Jones

Bella Andre

Lindsey Kelk

Here are more (but not all!) romance names involved: Mhairi McFarlane,Carole Matthews, Tilly Bagshawe, Ali McNamara, Tess Stimson, Katy Regan, Liliana Hart, Hazel Gaynor, J.Kenner, AL Jackson, Darynda Jones, Beth Kery, Stephanie Wahlstrom, Eloisa James,Samantha Young, Elizabeth Jane Holloway, Marie Force, Phillipa Ashley, Jessica Blair,Anouska Knight, Sarah Morgan, Annie Lyons, Holly Martin, Alexia Adams, Rachel Cross.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR LADYSMUT? Well, we’re having a Romance Festival theme week!

In fact, the organizers for the fest are Harper Impulse — who just so happen to be our publisher.  So as an online blog devoted to all things sexy, steamy, and romance oriented, we are going to blog all week long about what’s cool and sexy at Romance Fest.

Right off the bat, I think it’s cool that Harper Impulse is really digging into this new generation of online ways to connect.  It’s fun, it’s cheap, it’s…perfect for us introverted types.  I don’t know about you, but one only has to say the words ‘giant, noisy convention room packed with people’ to make me break into a cold sweat.

BRITISH SUMMER INVASION:

HarperImpulse is a part of HarperUK, and I adore the fact that they’re British and so their little british-isms are all charming and delightful in emails and on twitter.  “So glad everyone is embracing the festival,” says the organizer.  Cheerio!

Hope you pop in.  I’ll be kicking around – say hi to me and I’ll greet you back like the long lost blog-friend you are.

Speaking of the wonderment that I have for All Things British…

NOW THAT IT”S SUMMER, Don’t you think you ought to watch AUSTENLAND?

Best Rom-Com evah! (Well, or at least of 2013).

Why is nobody talking about this movie? I lurved it — Okay, if you do love Austen and geek out on history – will you enjoy the satire? Perhaps not. Perhaps you’ll be offended that it revels in British tacky tourism. (But it’s truuuuuuuue. There is British tacky tourism. And it’s painful. And expensive. Yet we suck it up like the anglophile whores we are.)

Perhaps you’ll wince at the characters in the film who ‘don’t get it’ but think they do. Fine. I’d argue that enduring painful, crass characters is a hallmark of Austen fiction. We endure these moments of torture only to revel in the sweet pay off of all the romantic bits later.

This film makes us do the same thing! Because it’s good. And more sophisticated than it seems at the outset. It’s very layered people.

Now if you don’t love Austen you’ll want to run screaming from the whole shebang…but if you don’t love Austen…what’s wrong with you? Why are you here reading this? Go away.

Anyway, check it out. I, meanwhile, have some belated spring cleaning to do—and nothing puts me in a better mood to clean out, de-clutter & purge like a happy romance movie. No doubt I’ll be watching Austenland while I organize my life.

MY ELOISA JAMES SUMMER BINGE:

But when I’m done purging…in another plug for summer fun with all things anglo-funky – lookee what I’ve got: a honking big stack of ELOISA JAMES books, seven to be exact, and they’re all mine, mine, mine. So I’m settling down to a nice Eloisa James binge when my spring cleaning is done.

Eloisa James is going to be at the online romance fest as well. I’m considering addressing her from now on as Her Supreme Lightness. Her books make me feel so good. So good. So fine….(Okay, I’ll spare you the rest of my James Brown imitation.)

Oh, you’ve already read her?

Well then, Miss Smarty Pants, check out this Jane Lark person at Harper Impulse – her covers are to DIE.

And don’t forget to follow us at LadySmut–Look for our anthology LADY SMUT’S BOOK OF DARK DESIRES in August, published by Harper Impulse.

Women With Balls

Ballsy – and beautiful.

By Elizabeth Shore

This past Memorial Day weekend a local radio station I sometimes listen to had one of those “80′s weekend” marathons. So, OK, I can put up with a little Flock of Seagulls or Simple Minds once in awhile. But as I was listening I suddenly heard a familiar strain. I cranked up the volume. Oh yeah, baby, it’s Love Is A Battlefield by none other than the awesome Pat Benatar. She and I belt out the lyrics together.

We are strong!

No one call tell us we’re wrong

Searching our hearts for so long

No one can tell us

Love is a battlefield …

“Why the heck do I like Pat Benatar so much,” I mused aloud to my DH. “That’s easy,” he replied. “You always like women with balls.”

In romance novels, self-assured strong woman are alternately described as fierce, independent, headstrong, strong-willed, or plucky. Yeah, I’m not a fan of that last one, either. But for this post, I’m going with balls. It’s an all-in-one kinda word that sums up so much of what I love in women like Pat. Women who don’t take any shit, who can kick ass when needed, who have courage and confidence and heart but whose feminine side and kind side remain front and center. They are sexy femme fatales, these ballsy women, and I’d sure love to be in the club.

No doubt I’m a fan because these women posses a lot of what I wish I had. On the surface, I can at times project a confidence I don’t actually feel. Or at least not as much as I appear to have. But dang, more often than not I feel like I have as much balls as a powder puff. I’m more plagued with doubt than I’d like to be, I let my confidence get eroded by stupid things, and the only ass I’m kicking is my own, trying to get it off the couch. But hey, a gal can dream.  So in my effort to be a ballsy woman, I present just a few of the ones who already are.

Love may be a battlefield, but Pat’s a warrior.

Pat Benatar. She belts out those tunes in her bad-ass rocker way but then adds in the glam with hair and make-up and cool clothes. I remember hearing once from a guy who had worked as a bodyguard that Pat was always a mess right before concerts with almost debilitating stage fright. I don’t want to hear that, and who knows whether it’s even true or if the guy was just blowing smoke. I prefer to think it’s the latter. Rock on, Pat.

Do not; repeat, DO NOT mess with Judith

We get a two-fer with my next selection. First I’ll mention the artist, then the subject. The painting on the right is by Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. An extremely talented Baroque painter, she’s considered by some to be among the most accomplished of her era. It’s an even more amazing feat when one realizes what she went through. First, female artists at that time were virtually non-existent, so to say she was a groundbreaker is putting is mildly. Second, she was raped by the guy who was supposed to be her tutor. Not one to simply accept her fate, Artemisia had the balls to put her rapist on trial, a trial in which she was subjected to a gynecological examination and tortured by thumbscrews to “verify her testimony.”

The subject of her painting, Judith, was a Hebrew widow living in a village invaded by douchebag general Holofernes. Knowing her village was on the verge of being sacked, Judith snuck into Holofernes’s tent, used her wiles to get him drunk and then, once he passed out, chopped off his head and thus saved her village. If that’s not balls I don’t know what is. Interesting note: in the painting I’ve shown, the face of Judith is said to be Artemisia’s own; the head of the invading general is that of Artemisia’s rapist. Gotta love payback.

Lucy Lawless – definition of “no fear.”

New Zealand actress, singer, and activist Lucy Lawless easily makes my list. From her amazing portrayal of Xena: Warrior Princess to her boldly climbing aboard an oil tanker to protest Arctic drilling, Lucy’s got balls to spare. I was a big fan of her portrayal of Lucretia in the Spartacus series on Showtime. She’s a wonderful actress and hot hot hot. I feared my TV might combust during some of her scenes in Spartacus.

There are literally millions of ballsy women who could be on this list. Who’s on your list and why? Let us know whom you admire and be sure to follow us at Lady Smut. We know you’ve got the balls to do it. 

 

 

 

 

Embracing Love, Past and Present

By Liz Everly

I think about the complexities and textures of love. A lot. Maybe it’s because that’s ultimately what I’m writing about. I think that love is love. You can totally love someone and yet move on because it’s just not working. But you still carry that person with you in your heart and think of them often. Maybe still even chat with them.

I’m a romantic. I believe in love at first sight. But I also believe you can love more than one person at a time. Things in real life are often gray—not black or white or completely right or wrong. Some situations love can not overcome. But that doesn’t mean you stop loving the person, completely.

So I tend to write like this in my books. It’s one thing a few reviewers have pointed out about LIKE HONEY, as something they didn’t really like about my characters. Hmmm. Jennifer is a young widow. I definitely think her husband would be on her mind A lot. Part of her arc is trying to move past his death. She has sweet memories, maddening memories, and sexy ones, too.

Then there’s Gray, who is a man who’s only been in love once. The woman who he loved is his current boss. So, of course he thinks about her. Whether he wants to or not. The other women he thinks about are past lovers with wild sex experiences. And I know guys (and some women, frankly) enough to know they think about these things. They think about other lovers while they are involved with someone else. They do. Even if they are quite happy in another relationship.

I think our current selves owe a lot to our past. Our past experiences with love and lust serve to show us what we want, what we don’t want, and it becomes a part of us and a part of the way we function in other relationships. So why would this not show up in romance writing?

So I’m wondering if this another one of those “romance writing” rules that I never caught onto?

What do you think? Leave the past alone in our characters? Or, embrace the murkiness of having past loves swimming around in their memories?

Memorial Day

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

Happy Memorial Day, lovely people.

Like most of the rest of the nation, we’re taking the day off here at Lady Smut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easy among the barbecues and beaches and beers (or margaritas if you’re me) to forget why we’re all on holiday today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s never that we don’t care or can’t be bothered, only that we get caught up in the pleasure of having a day in our busy lives to decompress and relax. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But there are many who live with the loss of a loved one in the service of our nation on a second by second basis. There’s never “one” day of remembrance, but a constant ache that is a part of all their moments. Perhaps that’s why the rest of us need the reminder, so that we might, at least for one day, acknowledge not only those who went before, but those whom they left behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My eyes burn as I write this post and I keep having to choke back tears while I upload these images. Nothing impacts me more than sacrifice on behalf of another person or in service of a belief or a faith in something larger than oneself, up to an including such an immeasurable cost. It’s an act of courage and commitment that defies description and sometimes even comprehension. So we pause today in our busy, shallow lives to write, to nap, to eat, drink, and be merry, and to above all remember…and give thanks.

 

 

Strictly Business: My Theory About Harlequin’s Interracial Romances

By Alexa Day

A few days ago, I read an article on Time magazine’s website about interracial romance novels. The article describes an increase in popularity, and it mentions the names of some popular authors, but that isn’t what got my attention.

Right up top, big as life, was a Harlequin Romantic Suspense cover featuring an interracial couple, a white woman with a black man. (It’s Elle Kennedy’s COLTON’S DEEP COVER.) I could tell from the design that it was a fairly recent cover. Until I saw it, I would have told you that Harlequin didn’t publish all that many interracial romances.

Brenda Jackson has written several interracial romances for Harlequin.

I want to be absolutely clear about this at the outset: it is not the intention of this post to bash Harlequin. I started my romance writing journey by reading Harlequins. While other little girls envied their mother’s dresses or shoes or jewelry, I longed to inherit my mom’s tremendous stash of Harlequins. It’s possible that the problem I’m about to describe exists at publishers other than Harlequin. If I’m focusing my little personal theories on Harlequin, it’s because my little personal research has been directed at Harlequin.

Once I started writing, my career plan didn’t include Harlequin. I was perfectly content to send my manuscripts to houses that I thought were used to seeing interracial romances. There’s nothing wrong with opening doors, but my hope was to join a party already in progress.

The cover piqued my curiosity. Was I wrong? Did Harlequin publish more interracials than I thought? I went to the Web to find out.

If you go to Harlequin’s website, you’ll find that there is no drop-down or button that pulls up all the interracial romances. That’s annoying, but it isn’t uncommon. My current publisher, Ellora’s Cave, has two search options for interracial romances. There’s one for books where the couple just happens to be of different races (like mine, ILLICIT IMPULSE) and another option where the difference in races is important to the story (like Afton Locke’s PLUCKING THE PEARL). Phaze has two separate landings: one for black woman/white man romances, and one for other combinations. In fairness to Harlequin, though, lots of other publishers don’t have ready-made interracial searches.

If you go to the search box on Harlequin’s website and type in the word ‘interracial,’ you’ll pull up four results, not

Take a second to be distracted by this gorgeous cover. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

including the one featured in Time. I know Harlequin has more than four interracial romances because my mother sent me a box of five the last time I complained about this. Only one of the books in my box is among the search results.

If you Google ‘Harlequin interracial romance novels,’ the top result is actually a Goodreads list. That list has 41 novels on it, and it’s a great start. This only raised more questions. If Goodreads identified 41 interracial Harlequins, and I myself had more than four, why did Harlequin’s own website identify so few? Why would Harlequin make it so difficult to find these books when they were becoming more popular?

I think the answer can be summed up in three words.

Harlequin Reader Service.

Some of you might not know about or remember the Reader Service. In a nutshell, one subscribed to a Harlequin line (I actually started with Silhouette Shadows), and then every month, the Reader Service sent you four books, or maybe six, from that line. You don’t pick the specific titles in the box. Whatever you got was what you got. Sometimes you’d get something you might not have chosen in the store, but because it was part of the line you picked, you could be sure you’d be interested in the unfamiliar book’s themes or plotlines. I discovered lots of new authors through the Reader Service.

My thought is that these interracial romances that turn up on the Goodreads list, these books scattered throughout the various Harlequin lines, all of them would have gone out through the Reader Service. Some readers probably found their first interracial romances in those monthly packages, tried them out and then wanted to find more. If that’s true, then the Harlequin Reader Service was — and may still be — responsible for helping the readership for interracial romance grow.

This is actually a Silhouette Special Edition from 2005, but I like the sweetness of it.

I’m not sure how much of Harlequin’s business is covered by the Reader Service, although I think it’s telling that I had to look hard for the Reader Service website. If the Reader Service is doing a brisk business, then Harlequin’s existing system probably doesn’t look broken to them. Indeed, the readership for interracial romances might even appear to be growing. Sure, the rest of us can’t find the interracial Harlequins, but from a business perspective, that might not look like a huge problem.

But it is a problem, both for Reader Service subscribers and for the rest of us. For subscribers who may be discovering interracials for the first time, Harlequin itself offers no way to identify additional selections. Those readers will find other sources to supply them with the stories they now know they want. The rest of us Harlequin readers continue to labor under the belief that Harlequin doesn’t publish that many interracials, for whatever reason, because we cannot find any. We occasionally run across them by chance or gather them up in Goodreads lists or the like, but I’m certain there are books we aren’t seeing there.

Harlequin can help itself now by making its interracials easier to find. I think readers would take notice immediately, and writers would follow up by sending in the stories that would otherwise go to other publishers. The future would be brighter for everyone.

I’ll be interested to see what, if anything, happens in this arena now that Harlequin has changed hands. Real opportunity for growth exists here. Hopefully, someone’s ready to take that one extra step and act on it.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a list of interracial romance authors, try this roll call for last year’s Loving Day Blog Hop. All those folks — myself included — are down with the swirl.

And be sure to follow Lady Smut. You won’t have to wait a whole month to get that good stuff from us.

Sexy Saturday Round-Up

By Liz Everly and the Lady Smut bloggers

Hello, Sexy! We’ve got a highly entertaining round-up of blog posts for you on this lovely Saturday. Where else are you going to get a wall of penises, 1920′s fetish wear, and eye-tattooing all in one place? Hmmm?

From Liz:

Male lesbians?

http://www.sarahmaclean.net/blog/diversity-romance

A fun wall of penises. Yes, you read that right.

 

From C. Margery Kempe:

1920`s Fetish Wear [Pics]

Men, stop lecturing women about reading romance novels!

Why men have to take up so much room on public transportation: Saving Room for Cats

From Elizabeth:

Can cheating make your marriage stronger? One woman says yes.

Whoo-hoo, get out the fan and cool me down! LeBare, about a male strip club in Dallas with the same name, hits theaters next month, but you can get the sizzling preview here.

Feel like telling the world about your one-night stand but don’t know where to go? Introducing The Casual Sex Project.

Was this year’s Eurovision song contest drag queen winner a help or a hindrance for gender diversity?

From Alexa:

Try this five times fast: six sex studies supply semi-scholarly sustenance.

I know it when I see it, and these 28 things are not “porn for women.”

Is honesty the best policy? Here’s what one mother told her child about having sex for pleasure.

From Madeline:

All about eye-tattooing. I dare you to read this without your eyes watering.

Stay Hungry,

Liz

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe. You know you want to.