19 Sunday Feb 2012
Posted in Reflections
Set to the backdrop of classic romantic films, Hanover, Pa., romance writer Heidi Hormel reflects on the fantasy of the literary genre and how to bring it to life. Bill Kalina, a reporter/photographer at the York Dispatch newspaper, did a terrific job of catching the essence of romance writing today — and what woman really want! (Hint: Handsome is as handsome does. And disclaimer: Heidi is a fellow member of the Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers chapter of RWA.)
31 Tuesday Jan 2012
Posted in Reflections
I just finishing reading Daphne Du Maurier’s masterpiece of psychological misdirection, “My Cousin Rachel,” for the second time. The first was many years ago, when I found my mother’s Book of the Month Club edition on the living room bookshelf, so I must have been about 14.
What a difference point of view makes! Then, I was in the grip of the romance and wanted Philip and Rachel to live happily ever after in their Cornwall mansion-by-the-sea. Isn’t that how romance is supposed to go? Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl resolve their differences and find true love. The end.
Now, a writer myself, I was enthralled by the deft way Du Maurier builds her portrait of the immature, jealous Philip and by the fact that Rachel is only ever seen from the outside. Everything the reader knows about her comes from the reports of others, which are then filtered through Philip’s POV. Even the climactic letter Philip finds was written not by Rachel but by a person Philip mistrusts.
Contrast that to a recent novel by a popular and much-loved author. In the opening chapters, we see, through the hero’s eyes, an alluring, mysterious woman as she crosses the ballroom of his stately home. We share his speculations and his determination to meet her. Then we suddenly shift to her POV and in the many pages that follow, we are handed her name, her family history, her motivation for crashing the ball and more. Way too much more.
How disappointing! I put the book down days ago and haven’t picked it up since.
(Incidentally, that old copy of “My Cousin Rachel” (1951) went off to the library book sale a long time ago. The new edition I picked up this month is part of a reissue of Du Maurier’s works from publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, which includes popular titles like “Rebecca” and “Frenchman’s Creek” as well as lesser known works, including “Mary Ann,” “The Flight of the Falcon” and her first novel, “The Loving Spirit,” published in 1931.)
So what about you? Have you had that experience of re-reading a favorite novel, only to discover how much you’ve changed?
18 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in Reflections
What is romance, really? Is it a dramatic gesture, an accumulation of small acts, a mindset that consistently sees the world as a magical place or just a fantasy of unrealistic expectations that no one outside a novel can live up to?
When I was a girl, I used to make lists of words that, to me, were the essence of romance. I liked them as much for their sound and rhythm as I did for the things they represented.
Emerald made the list, but not diamond. Sea, but not ocean. Mustang, but not horse. You probably have your own list, and if you skim through a favorite romance novel, you’ll probably see certain words jump out. Skillfully employed, they tell you right up front that you are reading a romance, not a shoot-em-up thriller.
Silk, rose, lace, midnight, tawny, velvet, willowy, mist.
Genres have their own lexicons that help readers enter the world of their choice quickly and seamlessly.
Names create the same effect. Why is a hero more romantic if his name is Jeremy or Heathcliff, as opposed to Ralph or Harold? How memorable would “Gone With the Wind” have been if author Margaret Mitchell had persisted in calling her heroine Pansy, as she did in her first draft?
Words set the tone. The sound of the words, and the feelings they evoke, do as much to create the atmosphere of romance as do the characters and the story that ultimately brings them together.
What words summon the spell of romance for you?
