By Romance Bandits Suzanne Welsh and Kate Carlisle
Suz: Hey, Kate!
Kate: Hey, Suz! Wassup?
Suz: With all this talk about Willies and Heroes, I was wondering, do you remember your FIRST time?
Kate: Uh, Suz, I’m not sure that’s an appropriate topic, even though we’re here at RNTV where it’s all about romance. Because first of all, it wasn’t all that romantic, I’m sorry to say. I mean yeah, it was at the beach, and there was a full moon, but seriously, all that sand can really get in your—
Suz: Whoa, Kate! Not THAT first time! I’m talking about the first time you ever read a romance novel. And by the way, ewww, sand. Please spare me the details.
Kate (blushes prettily): Ah. First romance novel. Right.
Suz (shivers): Sand. Eww.
Kate (coughs lightly): Ahem. Never mind. Anyway, I’m thrilled to report that the first romance novel I ever read was THE LION’S LADY by Julie Garwood, and—
Suz: Ah! Funny you should mention Julie Garwood. I happen to be a huge fan and I’ve even—oh, but I interrupted you. Please tell us how you happened upon the wonderful Ms. Garwood’s book.
Kate: Wait, I’m intrigued. Just how huge a fan of Ms. Garwood’s are you?
Suz (folds arms tightly across her lushly ample bosom): You first.
Kate: Hmph. Okay, first of all, I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but this only happened a few years ago. Before that, I lived in the dark, never knowing there was a whole wonderful world of romance novels just waiting for me to discover. I was naïve, sheltered, clueless really, and—
Suz (rolls her eyes): Can we cut to the chase?
Kate (blinks): Where was I? Oh yeah. I was on my lunch hour, sitting outside my office building reading Jane Austen’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE, when a friend walked by and stopped to talk. She asked me what I was reading and when I told her, she shrugged, said she’d never heard of Jane Austen, but that whole regency period thing sounded familiar to her. Then she pulled a book out of her purse, said she’d just finished it, handed it to me and said, “You might like this.” It was Julie Garwood’s THE LION’S LADY. Can I just say, OMG!? It’s like the blinders were removed from my eyes. I saw the light! It was fabulous! I still love THE LION’S LADY best of all and have worn out several copies, reading and re-reading it.
Suz (dabs her eyes): That’s a touching story.
Kate (sniffles): I know. So Suz, tell me about your first time.
Suz (pulls out some chocolate to nibble): I can’t truly remember my first romance novel. I’d been stealing my aunt and mother’s mild Barbara Cartland’s for years. But I do remember the first romance that started my addiction. Kathleen Woodiwiss’ THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER. (Fans self.) OMG!
Kate (grabs fan and uses it herself): I hear that! What a great book.
Suz: It was the fall of my junior year. I must say I read that book over, and over, and over … until I’d worn out three copies by Graduation!
Kate: Wow, three copies? You must’ve been a very good reader.
Suz (rolls her eyes again): Uh, yeah. Something like that. And as for Ms. Garwood’s books, the first was THE GIFT. I’d stolen it from my mother before she ever read it.
Kate: I’ve noticed a kleptomaniac theme running through your life …
Suz (shoots Kate a scathing look): As I was saying … I read that book in one evening. Laughed at the hero’s reactions to the crazy thing his new wife was doing and the heroine’s ability to blithely do what she wanted despite the big bad alpha hero telling her no. As you said, I was hooked. Had to go buy every one of Julie’s books at the bookstore.
Kate: Me, too! I swooped up everything Garwood book I could find and loved them all. After that, I was unstoppable. Can’t get enough romance!
Suz (dreamy sigh): Me neither. But Julie Garwood’s still my fave. She’s fabulous.
Kate: It’s always nice to hang out with a fellow Julie Garwood fan.
Suz (leans in closer to Kate): You know I’ve met her.
Kate: You—what???
Suz (checks watch): Oh, look. Our time is up.
Kate: Whoa! You met her? La Garwood? How? What happened? What did you do? What did you say? What did she say?
Suz (turns to the audience, ignoring Kate completely): And now, dear reader, it’s your turn to share! Tell us about your First time—reading a romance novel, that is. Let’s be clear. There is to be no sand.
Kate (shakes head and mutters): You can’t just drop the Garwood bomb and not—
Suz (smiling as she elbows Kate in the stomach): Tell the people what they could win, Kate.
Kate (clutching stomach with one hand while shaking fist): Oof. I’ll get you for that—oh, ah … hey! RNTV friends and fellow Banditas, check it out! One lucky commenter, chosen at random, who shares about her First time will win her very own copy of Julie Garwood’s latest hardcover historical, SHADOW MUSIC! I have it on the best authority (Suz!) that this book is fantabulous!! So let us know, what was that special First Book that brought you into the wonderful world of romance?
Suzanne Welsh is a 2006 Golden Heart double finalist in romantic suspense and long contemporary. Look for Kate Carlisle’s first book in a new mystery series from NAL, HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER: A BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY, in Spring 2009.
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Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 12:56 am:
Oh, man! I’ve spluttered tea all over my keyboard. It’s not fair to make me laugh when I’m drinking! Suz, yes, do tell us about meeting JG!!! Interested parties want to know. And hey, are Banditas eligible for the giveaway??? Pretty please!!! Looking back I was always a romance reader waiting to happen. I mean, what are all those fairytales but romances? And that was the bit that always got me in – the relationship between the hero and heroine. Even in my formative years. Then when I was eight, my mother was desperate to shut me up and I’d read everything age-appropriate in the house, including the corn flake packet, so she shoved a Mills & Boon at me. Mills & Boon is what Harlequins go under in Australia. It was called A Touch of Silk. It was by an Aussie author Joyce Dingwall. And it was about an Australian nurse who nannied for a grumpy Portuguese aristocrat in Macao. I don’t think I have to tell you the rest of the story
You can imagine how glamorous and amazing and exotic and romantic this was to a girl from dull old Redland Bay (although I have it on good authority that people who haven’t grown up on an avocado farm find the whole idea fascinating – different strokes, I guess). I was hooked. I spent most of the rest of my teenage years (including maths and French class) reading romance. Now I look at that as dilligently researching the market – which is what I wish I could tell all those teachers who confiscated my books just as I got to the good (i.e. naughty!) bits. So Joyce and her arrogant senhor started something big in my life! Thank you! And yeah, Kathleen Woodiwiss sure opened my eyes to a whole new world too, Suz! Snork!
Donna MacMeans
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:00 am:
Thank God you aren’t talking about THAT first time *g*. I’d be in so much trouble…. I can handle the first time I discovered romance, though. Actually, I think I’d been reading it for some time and never realized it was (gasp) romance. You see – I was a business executive in the 70s and scathing covers just wouldn’t do with the image. I recall reading and loving Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER. I’d picked it up by accident, got hooked, and then noticed all those awards given to it by romance magazines and organizations. So I cautiously ventured into the romance dept of the bookstore. The next book I picked up wasn’t quite as good – I figured I could do better. So I bought a how-to book – can’t remember the title – but it had a recommended reading list of romance titles that I read my way through. So many fabulous books – what a fool I was for avoiding the genre!
I LOVED Lyon’s Lady. And the Flame and the Flower? Major Sigh. Also loved Judith McNaught’s Whitney, My Love. My idea of a perfect life would have to be lying around, nibbling chocolate, petting the dog and reading romance.
Jennifer Y.
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:37 am:
Great post!!! You guys make me smile!
My first romance was actually a Julie Garwood book!!! How funny! I had seen the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Rose Hill (with Jennifer Garner…in fact, she is on the cover of my copy) and noticed that they had the book the film was based on, For the Roses, for sale at WalMart. I was all of 13 or 14 and begged my mother to get it…I loved books and reading. She remembered the sweet film about 4 boys finding a baby and raising it together so bought it without hesitation for me to read…neither of us realizing it was a romance novel (she and my sister read romances at the time, but I had never tried them). Boy, was I in for a shock!?!?! The book was nothing…I repeat NOTHING…like the movie! The characters’ names may be the only similarity really. Based on the film I was definitely not expecting a romance with *shock* love scenes…but I loved the book (although after reading her others I must say it is not my fave)…and I was hooked…the doors to the world of romance had been opened and I eagerly ran through them and have not looked back.
Prior to that book I had read some YA romances, the Classics, and other books with touches of romance…but that book was my first “grown-up romance.” LOL Little did my mother know what she was starting by buying me that book…LOL.
I don’t know what I would do if I ever met Julie Garwood…she remains one of my favorite authors. Psst…I have heard Suz’s story of meeting her!
Gillian
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:39 am:
I’ve blathered about this over at the Bandita’s lair, but happy to do so again!
I was big into science fiction (anyone remember the Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster? A very drawn out romance in it’s own right) and somehow stumbled across Anne Gracie. Had no clue what the Rita Award Finalist banner meant. Thought the couple on the cover was cute. And then I read the book!! OMG–I signed up for the Harlequin club the next day. I was over the moon for this book, and so in love with Jack I couldn’t see straight. It’s still at the very top of my keeper list for romances.
Ok, I’m done letting the dog in and out, I’m headed back to bed….
Denise Rossetti
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:42 am:
Suz and Kate, you’re a riot. If the writing doesn’t pay, there’s always stand-up comedy…
Ah, the first time. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was twelve. (Just as well we’re talking books.) Okay, but to me it is only a minute ago. I dunno what happens to the years. *shakes head sorrowfully* Ahem, I digress.
I’d spent my childhood with my nose stuck in a book, so when we were given a reading list in my first year of high school, I simply started at one end and worked my way through. Eventually, I reached H and a book called “Regency Buck”. Holy moly, I was ENTHRALLED! Riveted, gone. My eyes were the size of saucers by the time I finished. Oooh…
So I then devoured the entire Georgette Heyer canon, book by book. I finished them all about the time I left school. *grin* And I distinctly remember having tremendous trouble getting hold of “The Talisman Ring”. It wasn’t one of her biggies. Well, I finally got me a copy and I simply couldn’t control my craving. I was in Year Nine and reading it under the desk in Assembly (half an hour of stodgy prayers and moral homilies every morning. Sooo relevant for thirteen year old girls) – and I got SPRUNG!!! Aaaargh! My precious copy was whipped from my shaking hands and confiscated by the Deputy Headmistress.
And to add insult to injury, the old bat wouldn’t give it back! Not even at the end of term! She’s long since gone to her reward, but I will never forgive her. Never! When I fronted at the staff room door (which took a bit of courage, believe me – she was scary!), she came over all bland and shifty and said it was “school policy”. HAH! I know what she was doing! She was READING MY BOOK!
It took me years to track down another copy and find out what happened in the end. I was only half way through that day in Assembly. Poor Sarah, poor Sir Tristram! Poor me!
Goodness, sorry about all the exclamation marks, but it’s still a wound in my soul, you know? I’m off now, ventre a terre, to give my copy of “The Talisman Ring” a quick cuddle. Just to be sure it’s still there.
helen
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:45 am:
You guys are so great.
My first time ah I mean romance novel was back in the 70’s and my Mother gave me a book by Rosemary Rogers called Sweet Savage Love and boy was it savage in parts but I loved Ginny and Steve and read all 3 books in the series. That really got mum and I started and we never looked back I have read and loved all of Julie Garwoods historicals Johanna Lindsey’s Kathleen Woodiwiss. My mum had 5 bookshelves and all of the books were in alphabetical order and she had them written in a book so she new exactly what she had I used to buy them for her and she would buy them but I let her keep them. When I lost mum 5 years ago I got most of the books my sister took some as well but we still have them. I know that she would have loved reading the authors that I have found in the last few years and eveytime I pick up a book I know that I am reading for myself and mum.
I am really looking forward to the new Julie Garwood I will wait till it comes out in paperback then get it.
Thanks Guys for the fun
Have Fun
Helen
Christine Wells
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:21 am:
I can’t believe Suz mentioned the ‘W’ word again! My goodness, young lady, have I taught you nothing as Madame of the Banditas? Ah, that’s Madame not madam, thank you! Hilarious post, girls!
As for my first, I think that like many of us, I was always looking for the romance in novels from an early age. The earliest I recall was loving Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables. Then after seeing the play version of Pride & Prejudice as a 9 year old and reading Austen, my mother introduced me to Georgette Heyer, whom I adore to this day. My mother wouldn’t have been seen dead reading a genre romance in those days and Georgette Heyer was only marginally acceptable. I used to hide my well-thumbed copies of Heyer in a towel and take a bath when I was supposed to be studying. My parents used to joke about what long baths I took. Oops.
They had Heyers in the school library, too, so I’d always read one rather than study in my spare lessons. Goodness knows how I managed to go OK in school. I think I spent most of my time mooning over Vidal and Damerel & co. I…tried…a…couple…of Barbara Cartlands but couldn’t…abide her (gasp!) breathless…heroines. It was much later (after I started writing) that I discovered Mary Balogh, Liz Carlyle, Julia Quinn and the wonderful Loretta Chase (Anna Campbell introduced me to Lord of Scoundrels and I was hooked!)–to name just a few. And Suz, you have to tell the story about meeting Julie Garwood. Please???
Marisa
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:11 am:
Well my first time, ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree’ was playing on the radio, oops, wait, not that first time. “The Bride” was sitting on my mom’s bookshelf and I picked it up and my love affair with romance began. After that I couldn’t get enough of Julie Garwood. She introduced me to world of romance novels, and I haven’t looked back.
Christie Kelley
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:12 am:
My first time…sigh…oh wait, you’re talking romance books. I
‘m just going to say my first romance book was long before my first time. I honestly can’t remember my first romance book but I know I was in Junior High at the time. Our public library was in an annex of the Jr. High so every day after school I could pop in an pick up more books. I’m sure my first romance was probably a Barbara Cartland. And I’m with Christine on this one, I don’t think I read more than one or two of Ms. Cartland’s books. I did love Victoria Holt. Yummy Gothics.
But the first romance that really hooked me for good had to be The Flame and the Flower. I loved that book.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:06 am:
Anna,
So sorry about the keyboard. You might think of getting a plastic cover for all the tea spewing! I’ve sporadically read Harlequin/Silhouettes over the last 40 years. I’m pretty sure I read quite a few in the “borrowed” books my aunts gave me. But one of my favorites was called “The Over Mountain Man”. The story is written about a place in the Blue Ridge section of the Appalacia mountains where my parents both grew up. This is a small town of about 7,000 people. The author named the town, the rivers, the creeks, the county…all places I visited once or twice a year to see my grandparents!
Then “The Flame And The Flower” came along and my affair with big, thick….books started! Oh mama! (Goes to see where her keeper copy went to…deftly avoiding the whole meeting JG topic)
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:13 am:
Oh Donna, Outlander! I devouered that book. My critique partner credits it with starting her journey to romance, too! You just had to root for Jaime and Claire. After that I think I bought every book with a Highlander in it in the bookstore!
And Lion’s Lady, yummo! I did start my Julie Garwood books out of order, I read The Gift, then Guardian Angel, and the Lion’s Lady. Luckily for me, I never mind reading a series out of order. If I stumble upon an author who really thrills me, I just buy everything I can and dig in. Does anyone else read like this? Or are you like my friend Linda, a person who MUST read a series in the exact order it was written?
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:15 am:
Jennifer, hopefully someday you’ll meet Ms. Garwood and she’ll be as gracious and welcoming to you as she was to me. (Hopefully you’ll handle it all much better than I did!) Anyways….I bet you were VERY surprised by the For The Roses book, since it was very, very different from the movie and in my opinion leagues better!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:20 am:
Gillian, do you know I just bought two Anne Gracie books for the first time? The Perfect Waltz and The Stolen Princess. I “met” Anne over on the Romance Bandits Blog…(er I’ve also got a blog going on over there today)…and her books sounded so good I had to go get a couple. Would’ve bought more, but they only had those two titles. Since blogging with the Bandits, I’ve picked up quite a few new authors I’d never tried before! As for Sci-fi, I really don’t read much of that, but my daughters have combined their love of fantasy books and romance with all the new romance authors who have both elements in their books.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:25 am:
Denise, stand-up comedy, huh? Okay, Kate…I get to be Dean Martin to your Jerry Lewis…or Abbot to your Costello, Geroge Burns to your Gracie! oh wait, we’re talking books here…I hear you on the reading in class thing, Denise. I worked in the school library and that’s where I read my first Jane Austen. Luckily for me I could pass if off as required reading for English class…hehehe. Now my friend Amy, she sat next to me in History…she was a bit more sophisticated than me and was often reading a big, thick…romance behind her history text. The teacher would call on her to answer a question and dang if she didn’t alway know the answer! Me, I’d be lost in the book and get caught for sure!!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:29 am:
Helen, my mom is one of my biggest enablers! LOL She used to bribe me through nursing school. I kid you not!
The year Shanna came out I was in my third semester, freshman year. I lived at the nursing school dorms, and she knew I often went shopping with friends. She called and told me, “Do not go to the bookstore this week. I bought you a copy of Shanna and you can have it when you’re done with finals.” I studied real hard, passed my tests, came home and dumped my belongings in the living room floor. She handed me the book, I went to my room and didn’t come out until I finished. My dad said, “I knew you were home, because your stuff was here. What were you doing up there, sleeping?” “Nope, I was reading!”
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:37 am:
Christine…(mums the word on my meeting with Ms. Garwood! We try not to talk about “the Incident” remember?) My sister and I used to read in the bathtub, too. We called it pruning. You stayed in the tub so long your skin looked like a prune when you came out! Georgette Heyer was one of those authors who hooked me on the Regency period. As much as I liked Jane Austen, Heyer really was the choice for me. I’d love to see some of her books made into movies.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:38 am:
Marissa, The Bride was fantastic! It is amazing how many people have been hooked on reading romances by Julie Garwood. Before I understood the need to encourage readers to buy my favorite authors I’d use Saving Grace to hook a non-romance reader on romances and Ms. Garwood’s works. One book, that’s all it takes, especially if it’s a good one!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:41 am:
hey Ms. Christie Kelley! The Flame and The Flower did open up new….experiences for me as well!
And believe me when I say I wore out three copies! Woodiwiss was an automatic buy for me for years. Oh another automatic buy for years was LaVyrle Spencer. Her heroines were just the best, nothing super-model perfect about them at all! I guess I like heroines that have either spunk or inner strength to get them their HEA!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:42 am:
By the way, my partner in crime, Kate is on the West Coast, so she’ll be here after she finishes her beauty sleep!
Buffie
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:58 am:
I remember pretty clearly my first romance novel — The Wedding by Julie Garwood. It was 1996 and I was in a new job and trying to get to know by co-workers better. It was the time when Oprah’s book club was all the rage and several of the ladies in the office were talking about. I’m not sure who suggested it, but it was suggested that we try holding a book club in the office. So while the ladies were standing in my office, I got online and printed off a best seller list for the week. We all decided that The Wedding had an interesting title and that would be our book. I went right out and bought the book and devoured it. I could not believe this wonderful world that Julie Garwood had opened up for me. I believe I was the only one at work who really took the book club seriously as we never met about the book. But The Wedding drew me in and made me a romance fan for life. I still read it every year. After reading that book, I can remember spending several days in the book store buying every JG book I could get my hands on. And thus began my obession. Oh, and as PS — the hero in The Wedding is named Connor, and my first born is named Connor.
Beth Andrews
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:03 am:
Hey Suz and Kate – wonderful post *g*
I’ve been reading romances for as long as I can remember and while I don’t remember the title of the first romance book I read, the first romance author I fell for in a big way was Johanna Lindsey. I picked up a copy of The Magic of You and was instantly hooked! Of course I had to read the other Malory books (love them!) along with as many other Lindsey books that I could find
Shortly after discovering Ms Lindsey, I was lucky enough to read Julie Garwood and then Nora Roberts – all three ladies are still some of my favorites
Gannon
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:41 am:
My love of romance began in the 7th grade, when my English teacher, Mrs. Parker, recommended Victoria Holt’s THE PRIDE OF THE PEACOCK for my book report. I was hooked from the first page and never looked back! THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER was a favorite of mine in high school. So many wonderful books and more fantastic ones to discover every day! I love romance!
Diana Gabaldon is a real fave of mine, and I’ve even convinced my husband to start reading OUTLANDER. Since he’s a history buff, I told him he’d like it.
Maureen
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:02 am:
I don’t remember the name or author but it was a Harlequin romance from the huge pile in my mother’s room. After college I didn’t read romance for some years and then started again once I read several of Lavryle Spencer’s books.
Susan Seyfarth
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:11 am:
Oh, ladies, you’re too funny!
As for romances, I’ve been reading them so long I don’t even remember what the first one was. But I do remember having a serious addiction to Iris Johanssen when she was writing for Loveswept. The Trustworthy Redhead & The Desert Blooms come to mind. By the time I’d worn those out I was desperate, absolutely desperate, for a love-addled shiek to sweep me off my feet . I was in eighth grade, btw.
Shieks aren’t really thick on the ground in jr. high, much to my disappointment…
ps–have we heard the i-met-julie-garwood story yet?
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:26 am:
Buffie, I loved The Wedding. I was reading it on the airplane from Orlando to Ohio to visit my parents. My kids had their CD players on, so I sat back and enjoyed my book. At one point I was laughing so hard, the stewardess stopped and asked me what I was reading. When I showed her, she said she was going to have to get a copy because I was having such a good time reading it! I wonder if she’s a JG fan now, too?
Eva S
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:33 am:
I’ve been reading romances for so long time I really don’t remember my first, but perhaps it was Mistrss of Mellyn by Victoria Holt, sometimes in the late 60’s. You can guess how many romances there have been since then…
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:43 am:
I just checked the mirror and I clearly need more *beauty* sleep … hmph … I’ll just take a quick nap on my lunch hour. *g*
Anna, sorry we didn’t issue a Spew Alert, LOL. I love your “first time” story. May I say, we’re all very grateful to your mum for introducing Joyce Dingwall to you at that impressionable age. Otherwise, we might all be reading your timeless prose on the backs of our cereal boxes. Think of it. “Claiming the Cheerios.” “Untouched … by Milk.” And coming soon, “Sweet Savage Sugar Pops.” *g*
Donna, Judith MacNaught was also part of my formative years! I found her right after Julie Garwood and raced through her historicals, then went back and read them again and again. Sigh.
Hi Jennifer! I remember thinking that the TV version of For The Roses was so different from the book, it made me wonder why they bothered to call it For The Roses in the first place. On the other hand, I imagine it brought Julie Garwood to the attention of thousands of readers and that can’t be a bad thing, right?
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:50 am:
Maureen, somehow I managed to read while in nursing school, but when I had children I stopped reading until the youngest was about 4 or at least reading as much as I used to and do now. I probably read one book a week then. It was a very busy 7 years. But once I started reading again, LaVyrle was one of the new authors I picked up and devouered!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:53 am:
Susan, did you read Iris’ gothic books? OMG…I couldn’t get enough of those Alpha Males. When she switched to Romantic Suspense, the big strong males was one of the things she took with her. And like a little sheep I followed her to her new genre. Have hooked many a reader on her, too!
(and yes the Bandits have all heard the JG story!)
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:54 am:
Eva…I imagine you’ve seen the swings in genres over the years and how great the romance industry has become. Isn’t it great to be in on the beginning of something so fantastic?
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 9:59 am:
Gillian, I love Anne Gracie! I discovered her during a dearth I was experiencing about two years ago when I couldn’t find any new historical writers. I was starting to panic. Then I happened to find ‘The Perfect Rake’ in a book store and let out a heavy sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to recommend her to my boss at the time (another Aussie, as it happens!) and we both glommed her back list. I love the Merridew sisters!
Denise, what a traumatic childhood you suffered! Reminds me of Sister Mary Cletus and her scissors back in eighth grade–oops, it’s not about me…but oh, the flashbacks! Ack! Don’t cut my hair! Whoa. Whew. Sorry, gang. Anyway, we all know that old bat kept ‘The Talisman Ring’ for her very own and drooled over every page late into the night … and that’s so wrong. But I’m glad you were able finally to find your own copy and keep it all these years. I do love a happy ending!
jo robertson
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:08 am:
Clever post, Kate and Suz! I’ll have to ask my husband about the First Time; it was hilarious and . . . wait, he wasn’t there!
My very first romance read was Gone with the Wind. I read it the summer before my freshman year in high school. Literally spent the entire summer lying on my bed reading. Every time my dad walked by my room, he’d shake his head and say, “Nose in a book,” as if it were a BAD thing! I decided right then I’d NEVER EVER complain about my own children reading. From there I went to every historical piece of fiction I could find, romance or not. Then the classics, Austen, the Brontes, even men writers who wrote about women.
Many of the romances of my youth weren’t as well written as those today. Romance writers have become very excellent at their craft and I gobble them up far faster now than then. As an adult I picked up Kathleen Woodiwiss’s Flower and the Flame and it rocked my world. I adored that book!
Caren Crane
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:08 am:
I recall it quite well. It was Christmas Day, 1976. Santa had brought me and the four siblings the usual amount of ruckus for Christmas. Since the piles of goods were laid out and not marked with names, we had to figure out by process of elimination whose stuff was whose. My brother and younger sister were easy enough. But I was 11 and had 14 and 16 year-old sisters. Hm. The pile identified as mine included three Harlequin romances. Sweet romances, with couples on the cover, clearly meant for someone older than I.
I was confused. However, I was into books so I gave them a chance after a few months. I loved them! I have no idea what the titles were or even the plots, anymore. Except one was about a girl who rode show horses, which I found dead boring! I looked for more like them at the library (much to the librarian’s dismay) and found not only Harlequins but Barbara Cartlands as well. Now, it didn’t take too many months to get tired of Barbara’s heroines, oh-so-vulnerable with their heart-shaped faces and quivering chins, but they were my first intro to the Regency era.
Heresy: I have never read Georgette Heyer! I wouldn’t know where to start.
I quickly moved on to Harlequin Presents, which were exotic and racy. I did think the men were big jerks, though. Then my next older sister brought home Sweet Savage Love. Oh, my!! Rosemary Rogers paved the road leading into single title romance for me!
Caren Crane
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:15 am:
Susan, my adoration for all those sheikhs made for some very interesting dates in college, when I finally met some exotic middle-Eastern types. Admittedly, many are just as dull and predictable as any American men, but there were a few who really swept me off my feet! It’s quite popular these days to villify middle-Easterners of all stripes, but I have fond memories of some wonderful, funny, intelligent ex-boyfriends (and friends) from Iran, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Ended up marrying an American, though. But they were fun!
Fedora
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:15 am:
Suzanne and Kate, you are TOO funny!
Well, I actually don’t remember too much about the first romance I read–I think it was my freshman year in high school, and one of my friends was reading something in between classes. (She’d put a binder paper cover on it, if I recall.) When I asked her about it, she promised to lend it to me when she was done. It was some historical that involved a vaguely Asian setting (I remember some scene involving a silk robe of some kind). I zipped through that and was hooked. After that I read through the racks at the local library. My parents initially raised their eyebrows at the titles and covers, but ultimately decided that it was probably just as well that I was reading about this and not just going out and trying them–as if!
Caren Crane
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:18 am:
Kate, you about killed me with the “Sweet Savage Sugar Pops”! Really, though, I even read the liner notes of CDs. Which is why, as I have told you guys before, I know what “Turning Japanese” means…
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:20 am:
Hi Helen — I still have Johanna Lindsay’s books on my keeper shelf. Her Malory series was a real favorite of mine. Tender Rebel? Loved it!
Christine, when you say the ‘W’ word, I presume you’re referring to Woodiwiss, right? Because I know you’d never mention ‘Willie’ in polite society, right? Okay, just so we’re clear.
Marisa, another Julie Garwood fan! I think it’s her humor more than anything else that helped bring so many readers to romance. I remember some of the scenes in ‘The Lion’s Lady’ were laugh-out-loud funny and her characters were so charming, I simply couldn’t put the book down. It was completely different than anything else I was used to reading and I wanted more!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:30 am:
Good morning, Kate! Glad you’re up and about…finally! hehehe
Actually, I’m going to have to pop out and take a nap. My check book insists I work to earn the money to feed it on a regular basis. So I’m working tonight. But I’ll be back later this afternoon to chat.
By the way, I have to agree with y’all about JG’s charachter being laugh-out-loud funny! It’s such a pleasure to see how they interact. And the heroe’s just don’t get the “little woman” not doing what they tell them to. It’s like. I put you here to stay out of trouble, now why didn’t you stay there? LOLOL Cracks me up every time!
jo robertson
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:31 am:
Uh, that would be FLAME AND THE FLOWER. Sheesh! A little brain freeze there.
Like so many of you mentioned, I love to read in the bath too. In fact, I’ve passed the trait on to my daughters whose children refer to the ritual not as bathing, but as “Don’t bother Mom; she’s reading!”
Don’t you think discovering a particular author is a timing thing? For example, if you read Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent, you probably STILL love it as one of your favorites, but if you read it later (as I did), not so much. I think romances are similar. I started Anne Perry’s Thomas Monk series as an adult and loved them, but if I’d read them as a teenager, I probably wouldn’t have.
That’s why blogs such as RNTV and Romance Bandits (cough, shameless promotion) are so great. They provide us with suggestions of writers we may have overlooked and those who are new to the genre.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:44 am:
Oh yeah, Kate, you want to tell them about your First Time theory?
Maered
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:54 am:
Well, I don’t remember much about my first romance but I do remember reading loads and loads of mills and boon books. I think my first was probably a Susan Napier. I loved her books! And Lynne Graham, but the heroes were usually arrogant d*cks who really needed a kick in the head.
Aunty Cindy
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 12:46 pm:
GREAT post, Suz and Kate!
Yes, I’m very glad we are NOT talking about THAT first time. Like Kate, I don’t remember it as being particularly romantic. I do recall a lot of sweating and heavy breathing… No wait! That was my first time reading “Sweet Savage Love”…
Actually I don’t remember the first romance I read, but I’m sure it was one of the great old Gothics by Victoria Hold or Phyllis Whitney. My mom read those and I used to sneak them off her nightstand.
Buffie, I named my son after a character in a romance novel too, the hero’s younger brother in Mary Stewart’s “The Moonspinners”. That was the first time I’d ever heard the name Colin.
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 12:51 pm:
Christie, I was forced to read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in school and I think that caused me to avoid the whole genre for years! Now I’m finally starting to enjoy some of the old gothics I passed up for years.
Stand-up comedy, Suz? Oh sure, I get to be the goofball. No fair typecasting!!
Oh Buffie, I love that out of all the Oprah books out there, you chose ‘The Wedding’ for your book club. That’s the only kind of book club I would join! And I do love your son’s name!
Hi Beth — funny you should mention Nora Roberts. She’s my absolute fave! ‘Born In Fire’ was the first contemporary romance I ever read. I saw it advertised in the back of a historical romance and I thought since it took place in Ireland, it would be similar to a historical. Wrong!! And can you believe I’d never heard of Nora Roberts before that? (blushing!) I was so clueless!!
Jo Davis
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:25 pm:
Hey, Suz and Kate!
Sorry I’m late to the party! Just got my copy edits on Trial by Fire off to my editor–woohoo!!
Kate, I know Suz’s Julie Garwood story! Trust me, it’s good. And it involves too many drinks and a box of tissue. >:)
I remember my first– romance novel, that is! I read Victoria Holt’s Lord of Far Island, and I was hooked for life! Pretty light stuff compared to the romances I read now, but I’ll never forget that it opened a whole new world for me!
Jo
Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:40 pm:
I quite like my next opus, Kate – Tempt the Devilled Egg! You and Suz really should go on the road – yes, as comedians!!! Hey, Julie Garwood and Victoria Holt have MUCH to answer for, don’t they? So many of us started out with their books. I was a VH fan from late primary school. Still think she influences my writing! Actually my grandmother was a huge romance reading fan – she had a lot of old hardcovers from a book club she belonged to when she lived way out west in Cunnamulla and post was the only way to get books. Discovered Barbara Cartland through her. And she subscribed to English Women’s Weekly and never threw one out because they had great knitting patterns. But the beauty of EWW was that they used to serialise two Harlequin-style romances over a couple of weeks and have a great short story every week. I can remember really long, hot summer holidays lying in my grandmother’s back room which smelt of dust (she wasn’t the world’s greatest housekeeper) and sweaty teenager (me – I told you it was hot!) and just read those things all day. No wonder I grew up to be a romance writer – those days were my definition of Nirvana!
Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:44 pm:
Caren, with Georgette, my particular favourites are Venetia and The Unknown Ajax and probably Devil’s Cub (which is a sequel to These Old Shades which is a lovely read but set slightly earlier than her most typical work, well worth a read, though). Christine is an absolute fanat…expert, so she’s perhaps better to make recommendations. And they did make a movie of at least one of her books – The Reluctant Widow. It’s a suspensy thing about spies on the Sussex coast and of course the story is more about the suspense than the romance so it’s nothing out of the box, but interesting.
Tracy Garrett
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:48 pm:
“Suzanne Welsh says:
I never mind reading a series out of order. If I stumble upon an author who really thrills me, I just buy everything I can and dig in. Does anyone else read like this? Or are you like my friend Linda, a person who MUST read a series in the exact order it was written?”
Hi Suz & Kate!!! I have stumbled into several series by reading the second or third book first. My first K. Woodiwiss was Rose in Winter – still my fav of hers. I read “Valley of Horses” by Jean Auel before “Clan” and “Only Love”, the fourth of the “Only” series by Elizabeth Lowell, to name a few. Doesn’t bother me in the least to start in the middle.
My ‘first’ was probably a Barbara Cartland. I then wandered off to SciFi and Woodiwiss brought me back with “Rose.”
Tracy G. – who also knows Suz’ JG story.
http://www.tracygarrett.com
TOUCH OF TEXAS, Available Now!
Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 1:48 pm:
Maered, I still love Susan Napier and Lynne Graham! And I love it when the arrogant hero comes all unstuck because he falls in lurve! Great stuff. When I was growing up in Oz, M&B were really easy to get and the American stuff not so easy although the Flame and the Flower opened the doors to some wonderful books hitting our bookshelves. So as a young teenager, most of my reading was short category books. I absolutely adored Anne Mather – had a box of her books under the bed that my mother threw out in a clean-up years later. I don’t think I ever forgave her
Loved Violet Winspear too!
Tawny Weber
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 2:30 pm:
ROFLMAO
GREAT post (and ick on the sand *g*)
Lesseee… my first. Well, I can’t remember it LOL. I graduated from making up romances between my Barbie and Ken and reading all the YAs the school library had somewhere around 6th grade I was home with the flu. A neighbor dropped off a grocery sack filled with books to entertain me (or more likely, give my mom some relief… I’d imagine I was quite the dramatic little sick thing). That week of misery was relieved by the brand new world of ‘big girl’ romance I’d found. Many were Harlequins, but I really don’t remember a title or which story was ‘first’. Once I’d dove in, I discovered Julie Garwood *g*, Jude Devaroux and Nora Roberts. I read all the classics (Kathleen Woodiwiss, et al) and spent my every penny on books.
jo robertson
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 2:45 pm:
I agree, Anna C. I love when the alpha male doesn’t think he needs a permanent woman in his life and then he’s all undone by the heroine. Many men are polygamous by nature; they like lots of different women, but find it hard to commit to one. We women know about THE ONE.
At my latest chapter meeting, a woman said it best. Why is that we love alpha males and marry betas? ‘Cause betas make good husbands! I married a true alpha but after all these years I think he’s come around quite nicely!
Donna MacMeans
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:12 pm:
Hey Suz -
I don’t think your story of meeting Julie Garwood is half as embarrassing as mine of meeting Nora Roberts .
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:22 pm:
Gannon, your Mrs. Parker sounds like the perfect teacher for a teenage girl! Unlike SOME meanies I could mention. Which brings me to one of my favorite rants (hehe) which goes like this — Why don’t school systems let kids read books they’ll enjoy instead of stuffing Silas Marner down their throats?? Sorry, Silas, but seriously, you’d put your own self to sleep if you were forced to read You. How is any kid supposed to develop a love of reading when they’re forced to read such unrelatable old stuff. It’s different if you’re in graduate school studying the history of Western Literature but otherwise, give kids an interesting mystery or something contemporary and fun to read. Okay, rant over. Thanks for letting me share.
Maureen, it’s my turn to hang my head in shame. I’ve never read LaVyrle! Go ahead and throw tomatoes at me. I’m not sure why I haven’t picked up one of her books. Some day.
Hey Susan, I’m right there with you on the shiek front! ‘The Kadin’ by Bertrice Small? Pass the fan, please!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 3:47 pm:
Caren, thank you for showing me how to spell sheikh. I wasn’t even close! LOL. I love the more contemporary sheikh books with those clueless but manly alpha men who think they’re in charge but really, well, let’s just say, they truly grovel in the end and it’s so fun to watch. Susan Mallery does them better than almost anyone.
Turning Japanese? Ce qui?
Fedora, I remember back in high school, covering my books in brown paper so nobody would know what I was reading. Now that I think about it, the books probably weren’t scandalous at all. I just didn’t want anyone knowing what I was up to!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:03 pm:
Jo, you’re theory about timing determining our favorite writers is interesting. I think it’s true. It’s probably true about music, too, but that’s a whole different blog subject!
I have a theory–my First Time theory–that has to do with finding a new author you love. I believe that 9 times out of 10, the first book you read of an author will remain your favorite book of that author’s. For me, it’s been true across the board, but I’m sure there are plenty of you who have had different experiences. Share!
Maered – ROTFLOL!
Aunty Cindy, I LOVED The Moonspinners!! Thank you for reminding me of Mary Stewart. She was someone I loved early on.
cassondra
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:04 pm:
Okay, spewing orange juice was NOT in the plan ladies.
Wonderful blog.
Ahem…I KNOW the Suz meets JG story–and it’s a good one too. Suz, you have to tell…
As I’ve read over these comments, it’s amazing to me to see how many people were introduced to the genre by Julie Garwood. What a legacy!
Well, I started with Grace Livingston Hill because that’s the only romancy stuff I was allowed to read–then somehow, somewhere, I came upon one of the old Harlequin–probably a Presents–the ones with the jerky, European alpha heroes? This guy was Greek if I remember right. I don’t remember much of the story, but I remember how it hooked me.
I had to hide it. It was like contraband. Any book with sex in it–or even sexual tension–was contraband at my house. (heavy sigh). So I missed out on a lot…so much catching up to do…so many books..so many authors…so little time. Egads…I’ve got to get to reading…NOW.
cassondra
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:06 pm:
Oh, and can I just add–the first time Romance novel was a LOT better than the..uh…OTHER first time..ya know?
Ew. No sand involved but just the same…ew.
And the books were a lot more addictive until I found a guy who cared about me and not just himself.
Well…nuff said.
Buffie
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:11 pm:
Hey Tracy! Great to see you here at RNTV!!! I must say that Touch of Texas was my first western historical, and girl you have pulled me in. I can’t wait to start reading more from this genre. Last week I read Jodi Thomas’ Texas Princess — another great western historical. Thanks for opening my eyes to a whole new set of authors!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:16 pm:
Hi, Jo – congrats on getting those copy edits out. You must be relieved. No pressure, but all the Banditas and Friends are anxiously awaiting Trial by Fire!
Anna, Tempted by the Devilled Egg is a favorite of mine. In fact, I’ve loved the entire Devilled series! I can’t wait for the latest, Ravaged by Devilled Ham. Yummy!
Hi Tracy! Hey, ‘Rose in Winter’ was my first Woodiwiss, too, and still my favorite of hers (there’s my theory in action!). Okay, don’t tell anyone, but I now know Suz’s JG story, too. It’s a juicy one! Hehehe
Jeanne AKA The Duchesse
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:18 pm:
Kate I was LOL about Silas Marner. I feel that way too. And the list? Oh, House of 7 Gables, anything by Thomas Hardy, The Scarlet Letter, Lord of the Flies…well, some people like that last one but it left me feeling ill. :> I SO wish the “approved reading list” had a bit more variety and modern authors – like some that hadn’t been dead for 50+ years.
I think my first time was…oh, first romance read, was a Barbara Cartland. Didn’t hook me. As someone said, all the quivering lips and tear-filled eyes and…oh, the desperation! Irked the crap out of me. Ha! I worked for a bookstores (yep, came to it late) and got assigned the romance section because I was “the new kid.” Boy, did I grumble. Figured I’d better read a few so I could actually sell them, since it was my section. Read the Cartland and didn’t get it. Read a Janet Dailey and she wasn’t my cuppa either. I’d read Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt, but didn’t consider them “romance.” I think it was a Rosemary Rogers that turned the key for me. Then I read a ton in the section, but can’t tell you what, now.
Mostly I read Sci-fi and fantasy. I still do. Oh, and thrillers, espionage, true crime…hey, I can’t help it, I’m a Romantic Suspense author! Grins. Then I hit Romance and burned through a lot of them while I worked for the bookstore. I could “borrow” a copy and read it on my lunch or dinner hour. I read really quickly so it would only be a couple of days of lunches/dinners for me to finish. What a great place to work.
I was totally laughing about the book snatch by the headmistress, Kate. I never got caught, thank goodness, but I still did this even when I was working. I once read most of Nora Robert’s Dance on Air in an incredibly boring meeting and still managed to participate in a somewhat functional way. Never got caught that time either, but I dont’ recommend it. The boring meeting was SO distracting! Ha!
Great post, gals!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:29 pm:
Hi Tawny!! I can’t imagine you were the dramatic little sick thing you say you were! But how delicious to get a bag full of big girl romances at that age. I would have to pretend to be sick for much longer than necessary, just to savor them all.
Ooh, I believe Donna’s thrown down the gauntlet, Suz. Hmmm … The Battle of the Fanatical–Frenzied? Fastidious?–Fangirls … coming to a blog near you … soon.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:39 pm:
Oh Aunty Cindy, I’m so glad someone else used to pilfer books from their mother! And I did read Sweet Savage Love, too!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:40 pm:
Kate, who said I was *coughtypecastingcough*? You do know the goofballs were really the brains behind those duos, don’t you? Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:43 pm:
Slapping my hand over Jo Davis’ lips. Hush, you were sworn to secrecy about my condition during the JG meeting!! Oh and congratulations on getting the copy edits off. Can’t wait for Trial to come out!! Y’all, it is literally soooooooo hot. I’m thinking the flames on the cover will ignite when I open it.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:46 pm:
Anna, we’re soul mates, I swear! The two aunts I “borrowed” books from lived with my grandparents. When we visited in the summer, I used to be sent into the pantry to get jars of vegetables to cook for dinner and I always found these Harlequins laying open, half read in the pantry. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why my aunts were reading in the pantry. Turns out my grandmother would “borrow” them and read them in the kitchen, hiding them from her daughters and my grandfather! (See I come by it honestly!)
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:50 pm:
Tracy G is in da house! hehehe…love saying that. Glad someone else always stumbles into a series in the middle. To me, if a writer can make me fall in love with their characters in one book, then I’ll go back and read the books leading up to where I started. One author who did that to me this past year was Lisa Kleypas. I read the wall flower series completely out of order, but loved all four of them. Have since bought some of her back list to read, too!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:53 pm:
Hello Tawny! and I have to agree, ick on the sand, thing, despite how glorious Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster looked rolling in it in From Here To Eternity. You were reading JG in the sixth grade….let me see your driver’s license! Just how old are you?
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:55 pm:
Donna, yours was pretty embarrassing, but trust me, if the floor could’ve opened up and swallowed me, I gladly would’ve let it!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 4:58 pm:
Kate, I agree with your rant! (holds fist in air like military rebel) I hooked my son on reading Robert Ludlum because of a schoo assignment. The thing was, I got a call from the head of the school’s English department. She wanted to know what I did to get a table full of highschool boys to sit and read books at lunch? (Apparently she saw my son and his ROTC buddies all reading ludlum books, they “borrowed” from me.) I told her, “I gave them something they’d enjoy reading.” DUH
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:01 pm:
Okay, I have a confession, I wasn’t into sheikh books much. Not because of a prejudice, it’s the whole, sand and hot sun thing for me. But after watching the Mummy movies, the guy that plays the bedoin leader………..ohhhhhhhhh mama! I can now picture him everytime I read a sheikh book!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:11 pm:
LOL Cassondra — I agree, my first romance novel was wa-a-a-ay better than that “Other” first time. And no sand involved! A win-win!
Jeanne, I’ve been in some of those meetings and I only wish I’d had the nerve to read a good book instead of sitting there, pinching myself to stay awake the whole time!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:17 pm:
Okay, since I’m going to work in an hour…This is the story: (again my apologies to Ms. Garwood!)
It all started when I got off the plane in Reno (a much higher altitude than Dallas), for the National conference. Our rooms weren’t ready, so my CP, Sandy Blair and I headed with our friends to the bar and some frozen margaritas. Later that night, we had wine with our dinner. The next day at the mega author signing I had some wine, and chocolate martinis at a cocktail party afterwards. Champagne the next day, (several glasses), wine with dinner. Friday, Sandy won a Reader’s Choice award, so more champagne, and I think some mojitos….uh you get the picture…
So, by Saturday afternoon, I had a certain level of alchohol in my system, but really hadn’t processed it…okay..enough excuses.
It was about 3 hours before the RITA/GH ceremony, and I was trying to distract my very nervous, RITA nominated CP in the jewelry store, when who do I spy walk in, but JG herself! OMGOMGOMG…(I’d been wanting to meet her ever since joingin RWA, since she was not only my favorite author, but the woman who inspired me to take up romance writing, and even encouraged me in a letter to join RWA!!! OMG!!)
So I elbow Sandy and tell her, “JG is right back there talking to the jeweler.”
We maneuvered ourselves so she couldn’t leave without coming right by us.
Here she comes, looking so chic!
Gulp! I gird my loins and muster my courage, and step in front of her, hand extended. She smiled and took my hand.
“Hello Ms. Garwood, my name is Suzanne Welsh…I’m a big fan of yours…and….I want to thank you for telling me to join RWA….” then the tears start flowing. Were they gentle tears that flow silently off my cheeks? NOOOO I start sobbing like a baby. And I know that I turn ugly red and splotchy when I cry, so I am now drunk, sobbing and mortified! My head kept saying, “shut up shut up, shut up!” but my mouth kept talking. DEAR GOD LET THE FLOOR OPEN UP AND SWALLOW ME!
Ms. Garwood was so gracious, she patted my hand and smiled the whole time.
I looked at my good friend Sandy to help me stop. What is she doing? Laughing and crying, (very daintily, I might add).
I manage to stem the tears while Julie tells me she’s glad I enjoy her work.
I should’ve just nodded. but ohhhhhhhhhhh no….I smile and say…”I have to tell you……..(sob…..tears)……….I’ve read Saving Grace 27 times!” More sobbing by me.
Luckily, I finally got myself together and let the poor woman escape. But later in the bar, I saw her again. I kept my distance!! And I learned my lesson. Watch how much I drink at conference and never expect my CP to rescue me when I’m making an ass out of myself!
I also learned just how wonderful and gracious a person Julie Garwood is in person!
Jo Davis
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:18 pm:
Kate,
I hope Howard and the boys of Station Five can live up to Suz’s awesome recommendations!
Thanks so much! It’s a relief to get those copy edits out, for sure! That was, by far, much harder than writing the darned book! I’m so glad the Banditas are looking forward to Trial by Fire! No pressure indeed.
Suz, mum’s the word! I didn’t *actually* tell about the infamous JG Incident! Just a teensy hint. he he
Jo Davis
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:21 pm:
Well, Suz has outted herself! Is that a great story, or what?
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:24 pm:
Jeanne, I read Action/Adventure like Clive Cussler, Ludlum or now Steve Berry to cleanse my pallate every so often. Iris Johansen and Allison Brennand and Karen Rose, while romantic suspense, still feels different to me than traditional romances. And I never read in class, because no way could I pay attention to the teacher if I had a good book!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:34 pm:
Cassondra, I KNOW my first romance novel was better than the first….well at least it didn’t involve sand…(lifting an eyebrow at Kate…maybe you need to tell me THAT story over drinks at National this year?)
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:35 pm:
While we’re on the subject of First times…….Kate has her very first book coming out next year: HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER: A BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY, in Spring 2009. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about it, Kate? I’m having a feeling it’s going to be a comedy/mystery. Am I right?
Aunty Cindy
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 5:52 pm:
See Suz? That wasn’t so painful now, was it? ROFLOL!
I’m so happy to see how many of us grew up on the Gothics. As for ‘borrowing’ from my Mom, it wasn’t like I was getting away with anything. Not much ever went unnoticed by my mother, and I’m happy to say that I inherited this wonderful quality. Just ask my son.
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:11 pm:
Awww, Suz! I got all choked up reading your story! I’m sure JG was honored by your reaction to meeting her. I mean, really, can you imagine writing a story so wonderful, a reader bursts into tears when they meet you? NO, not because you’re stepping on their foot! Sheesh! Because you touched their hearts with your writing. That’s so sweet.
And how great that you gave your son a Ludlum book to read. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. The goal is to get kids to love reading, not to turn them off it for life!! What a good mom you are.
Trish Milburn
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:29 pm:
You two cracked me up today. Funny back and forth. I can’t exactly remember what was the first romance novel I read, but I’m pretty sure it was a Kathleen Woodiwiss. A friend and her mom introduced me to them, and I raided their bookshelf.
Christine Wells
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:50 pm:
Suz, I LOVE that story!! And if I were JG I’d be immensely flattered.
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 6:59 pm:
Hi Trish, it’s good to see you here! Ya know, I wonder if we should’ve kept score today, because here’s one more point for Kathleen Woodiwiss. But then, I guess it doesn’t matter how we all got here, just that we were lucky enough to find our way.
jo robertson
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:07 pm:
Oh my gosh, Suz, that is the funniest celebrity sighting story I’ve ever heard. Aren’t romance writers just the best? Can you imagine how another kind of writer might’ve reacted? Airport security! Come lock this woman up!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:13 pm:
Oh, right. I guess I should tell you about my “first” book! (Thanks for the plug, Suz!) First I should explain that despite all this talk of romance novels, my first book will be a Mystery. I know … ironic, isn’t it? I spent years trying to sell a mystery series, then I discovered romance and was never going to look back–and then I went and sold a cozy mystery series! My protagonist is an expert in rare book restoration and conservation. The first book is titled HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER: A Bibliophile Mystery, and I guess the best way to describe it is with this Publishers Marketplace announcement my agents wrote …
“A cursed copy of Goethe’s ‘Faust’ leads a rare book restorer into a murder investigation that only she can solve — with the help of clues she uncovers in a valuable first edition.”
And yes, it sounds very intellectual, doesn’t it? But as Suz hinted, there will be plenty of lighter moments. I can’t help myself.
Keira Soleore
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:34 pm:
Suz and Kate. What a great topic. Loved watching the ping-pong match. KW would never have thought she’d inspire you this much. And Banditas, you need someone to lead you back to real romances. “Faust”?!?!
I came to romance in my tween years via Barbara Cartland. And to those of you who’re cringing reading this, let me remind you The Pink Diva was exotic and oh-so-forbidden, we kids surreptitiously passed the books to each other under cover of school books and lunch boxes. Then when I was a grown teenager (hah!), Georgette Heyer brought me to Regency and Anne Mather to adult contemps. Then when I was really old (early twenties), I came to medievals via Julie Garwood. Then I was truly, truly in love with romance. That love has stayed with through my real-life love, marriage, and kids. It never grows old, or stale, or tired. It never has a headache either!!
Can Faust compete with Garwood? Eh? Eh? I doubt it!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:47 pm:
LOL Keira, I’ve read Faust and I’ve read Garwood and I’m sooooooooo with you on this one!!
“It never has a headache.” – Snork!!
Anna Sugden
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:52 pm:
Great post, Suz and Kate … but then we know this isn’t your first time *grin*.
My first was a Mills and Boon by Robyn Donald called Bride at Whangatapu. That was followed by a couple of Barbara Cartlands (Yes, I got bored of violet eyed wimps!), loads of Denise Robins, Betty Neels, Charlotte Lambs, Anya Setons and Georgette Heyers (plus a few Catherine Cookson’s).
(shhh I’ve never read Woodiwiss, Rogers or Julie Garwood)
Then I got introduced to Special Editions and Nora, Debbie Macomber, Lindsay McKenna and co. Then Intimate Moments and Linda Howard, Dallas Schulze, Merline Lovelace and co, Temptations with Jayne Anne Krentz and Vicki Lewis Thompson (Mingled Hearts is still a favourite!) and co.
I never really got into the single titles until I came across RT … then it was Leigh Greenwood, Geralyn Dawson and Kathleen Kane.
And then into contemps!
Good job hubby is into books and reading as much as I am. Can you see why we have over 25 bookshelves in our house and boxes and boxes of keeper books.
Keira Soleore
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 7:55 pm:
Oops, my comment got cut-off there.
Kate, only you could take Goethe on. Can you please oh please tell us a teensy weensy bit more about your fearless heroine?
Isn’t it amazing what Garwood has inspired? I hope some day I get a chance to meet her. And as confessions go, Suz, I blubbered over Nora ROberts at Dallas in much the same fashion, without the excuse of alcohol or post-lunch coma for an excuse. I’m so so looking forward to seeing Nora Roberts again. Hopefully, I’ll be on my best behavior this time around.
Kirsten Scott
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:00 pm:
Jumping in late to say that ya’ll rock! And someday, we’re going to address the whole SAND issue. Ahem. Maybe we’ll save that for the Bandita blog.
I don’t know my first. My memory doesn’t stretch back that far. But I do remember loving Charlotte Lamb and her Harlequin Presents. Anyone remember a story about a big executive who crashes his car and ends up in beautiful little village, where he goes about being the “first time” for a very YOUNG lady who he then has to ditch to go back to the big city. She almost kills herself, it’s all very dramatic. And then she sees said executive again when she’s dating his son. And he’s got a picture of her over his bed. I can’t remember the name of the book.
Wish I hadn’t had to run to work so early this morning I didn’t get a chance to log on! Love the blog!
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:02 pm:
Wow, Anna, you’re a contemporary girl, aren’t you! But I’m right there with you. I love all those old Silhouette Special Editions and Intimate Moments, especially Nora’s and Linda Howard’s and Debby Macomber’s early ones. I know Susan Mallery’s another favorite of both of ours, too. You’re lucky your hubby is a reader so he can relate to your need for books. Sadly, my DH was traumatized early on by Silas Marner! LOL
Jeanne AKA The Duchesse
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:16 pm:
Poor hubby, Kate. Silas Marner REALLY needs to be retired, you know? I really think the worst one I read of that ilk was A Seperate Peace. And horrors, I had to read it twice because I moved in the middle of my 9th grade year. I had to read the Illiad twice too, but that wasn’t nearly as hard as Seperate Peace. Now JoMama, being that English mavin that she is, may find some redeeming value in it, but….Ugh. Right up there with crusty raunchy old Silas.
Anna, my DH is quite patient w/ my book addiction. I usually use the excuse that “my father was a librarian,” but it doesn’t explain the BUYING of so many! Ha! BTW, great blog on the Romance Bandits too, today, Suz. (you may be at work by now)
Joanie T
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:28 pm:
Suz, I want to be that kind of author! One that people sob over in abject adoration. I will enjoy it immensely and then…
I’ll call Security to take them away
I remember Sweet Savage Love and the distinct impression of it being “naughty”. May be because I was still in Catholic school LOL
Woodiwess, Lindsey, Heather Graham….so many historicals. Kate, I too did not read contempary until 2001 and then it was all Nora, all the time. And….get ready…..
I didn’t read Julie Garwood until last year (ducks)
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:34 pm:
Keira, I’m sure you would never behave badly around Ms. Nora! Good grief, can you imagine what’s she’s put up with all these years? I once drove 125 miles to meet her at a book signing and practiced my speech the whole way in the car. Afterwords I went running shrieking into the street because I didn’t say a word, just stood there with my mouth open, breathing heavily. Classy, huh? LOL
And having impressed you with that story *g* I’ll be glad to tell you a little more about my mystery heroine. She lives and works in San Francisco but was raised in a commune in Sonoma where her parents still live and run a vineyard and winery (along with their spiritual advisor and a few hundred close personal commune friends). In this first book, she discovers the body of a friend who died clutching the priceless “Faust.” As she tries to solve the crime, she must match wits with a dashing former British intelligence agent who’s trying to get close to her for all the wrong reasons.
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 8:43 pm:
Hey, Kirsten – glad you made it. And wow, that’s quite a plot. Some of those old ones were a little out there, huh? But you remembered the whole story so it definitely made an impression!
Jeanne, I never had the pleasure of A Separate Peace, thank goodness. It does sound dreary. I’ll take the Iliad any day. And Suz did great double duty, didn’t she? And then she had to go to work?? So unfair!
LOL Joanie! You’ll need your own private security team once you unleash those Romans on an unsuspecting romance reading public!
Christine Wells
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:19 pm:
Hey, Foanna, did you call me a fanatic? Well, when it comes to Heyer, I probably am:) although I haven’t read one in years because her voice is so strong, it interferes with my own writing too much. Very sad! And yes they made an AWFUL movie version of The Reluctant Widow, which I gather made Heyer vow never again. I wonder if her estate has the power to sell movie rights because with the proliferation of Austen movies around now, surely someone could do the novels justice. But I suppose the AUsten name is what sells. Heyer is less well known. I do think many of her novels would make better movies than the Austens because there’s more action.
Hmm, recommendations… Caren I think you would like The Grand Sophy. Venetia is a favourite with many and Sylvester is one of my favourites. Devil’s Cub has the most to-die-for hero. Loved Frederica, too. There are very few I don’t like, actually. Hmm, maybe I should do a post on Georgette Heyer on Bandits one day.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:51 pm:
Kate, I think your book and the whole series sounds just fantastic! (whispers…would love to read it before anyone esle, ya know, is you need like an extra beta reader, hint, hint!)
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:54 pm:
OMG, Someone quick check Anna S.’s pulse. How have you lived this long without reading the great Romance novelests of our times? We’ll have to do an intervention, I’m sure of it! You don’t know what you’ve been missin….hmmm I may have to send you a copy of Saving Grace!!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:57 pm:
Joanie, which JG did you start with? I’ll bet you loved it. My favoites are The Bride, The Wedding, Saving Grace and Prince Charming.
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:58 pm:
Keira, thank you, thank you! So glad someone else blubbered all over a famous author. And I’ll let you use the alcohol excuse if you want!
Suzanne Welsh
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 10:58 pm:
Jeanne, Thanks so much for the compliment. No housework got done, and only the laundry with my uniforms in it! Thank goodness dh and kids all are capable of taking care of themselves!
Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 11:06 pm:
Christine, there’s a couple I don’t particularly like – Regency Buck springs to mind. But taken as a whole, they’re wonderful. And I’d love you to do a GH tribute on Bandits one day. I did Jane Austen and people seemed to respond.
Christine Wells
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 11:28 pm:
Great, Anna, I have my next blog topic! Actually, I can understand why you don’t like Regency Buck. Neither hero nor heroine are very sympathetic. And when they appeared again in An Infamous Army, they hadn’t changed, either:)
Christine Wells
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 11:34 pm:
Thanks for a great discussion, Suz and Kate! I will certainly look for more Julie Garwood titles now.
Madame
Anna Campbell
on Jan 28th, 2008
@ 11:35 pm:
Christine, you’re right! I loved an Infamous Army – amazing descriptions of the Battle of Waterloo. But those two characters were JUST as irritating as ever! At least GH gets points for consistency of characterisation.
Suz and Kate, what a fantastic day! Thanks for giving us so much fun!
Anna x
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 29th, 2008
@ 8:30 am:
Just popping in to thank everyone for visiting! And thanks to RNTV – we’re having a blast!! Suz and I will announce the winner of Julie Garwood’s SHADOW MUSIC later today!!
Phyllis Lamken
on Jan 30th, 2008
@ 11:31 am:
I was 11 years old. I picked up my aunt’s copy of Georgette Heyer’s The Convenient Marriage. I loved it. I have been an avid romance reader ever since. I bought my 17 year old a copy of Cotillion by G. Heyer for Christmas. She loved it.
jeanne s.
on Jan 30th, 2008
@ 4:46 pm:
I remember my older sister gave me my first romance when I was in 6th or 7th grade – ok I’m sure it was a very tame romance – I can remember the title but not the author (we’re talking a lot of years here lol) – A kiss, is a kiss, is a kiss! Then my next memorable romance was Kathleen Woodiweiss like so many others!
Dina
on Jan 30th, 2008
@ 5:23 pm:
Suz & Kate,
I wanted to hay hi.
I know I’m late, but 1st chance I got.
linda bass
on Jan 30th, 2008
@ 9:21 pm:
wow!
with so many comments i stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning! lol