My love affair with romance novels started
when I was around nine or ten when I discovered the Sweet Valley High books by
Francine Pascal. In fact, as a Brit living in South West England my entire
life, I can honestly say that’s when my love affair with all things American
started!
I was the dreamy-eyed bookworm of the early
1980s – yes, the big glasses, the big hair and the big clothes, that was me (the picture above was circa '85 - never wore my glasses for a photo!) :) The adventures of twins, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield and their
endless boy and friendship problems drew me in and steadfastly kept me there for a couple of
years until I discovered the books that inspired me to put pen to paper…the
Sweet Dreams books.
Please tell me you remember these books and it wasn’t just sad little me who devoured them one after another. I already had my favorite librarian at our local public library but with these books, I specifically remember her keeping back the new ones for me whenever they arrived. She was my first heroine!
I wrote my first book around the age of
twelve and remember punching holes in its “spine” and holding it together with
pink ribbon, lol! How I wish I’d kept it – the hero was Brad and the heroine,
Claire. That’s all I remember J
After that, it was a few years of sneaking
my mum’s Mills & Boon novels (Harlequin) into my bedroom and reading way
past the light being turned off. There was one story in particular that moved
me enough to make me decide I wanted to write when I grew up. Snippets of that
book still linger in my memory but I have no idea of the author or the book. I
can’t even really remember the plot but what I do remember is the emotion, the
way it made me feel. For me, as romance writers our job is to do equally that,
evoke emotion.
To make the reader really feel – make them
laugh, make them cry, make them feel.
If my readers tell me I have moved them in any way, I am a happy, happy lady.
My job is done J
Nowadays, my favourite romance or women’s
fictions authors are Nora Roberts, Jean Fullerton, Tami Hoag, Jodi Picoult (pic above is a book signing in 2010),
Robyn Carr & Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Big shoes to fill, huh? Of course, what
would be the point of writing, of all that blood, sweat and tears if we didn’t
reach for the stars? I want to deliver bigger and better books with each novel
I write :)
10 comments:
I was already an adult when those books came out. I did read some of the Sweet Valley High books (like maybe 2 or 3), but only because I didn't have anything else to read and the neighbor had some. In the '80s I was reading harlequins and Mills and Boon :). When I was in my early teens (mid to late '60s) and prior I was reading Anne of Green Gables, books about pioneers, trixi beldon and nancy drew.
Hi Rachel ~ I haven't read either a Sweet Valley High or a Sweet Dreams book. I'm 64 so I wasn't a youngster in the 80's.
However I'm so relieved to know that you can't remember your first M&B/Harlequin. I started sneaking my mom's books when I was eleven and used to read them by flashlight. These books were some of the first that Harlequin brought out in Canada. My mom got them from the library and they were considered adult only literature. I go back every once and a while and read one and find that the hero and heroine usually share a kiss in the last scene.
Hi Rachel, the Sweet Valley High books weren't around when I was a pre-teen/teenager, so I read Victoria Holt and Daphne DuMaurier and Phyllis A. Whitney, all of whom were excellent and a great basis for writing romance later!
I'm not of the Sweet Valley High generation, either, but I remember the girl students in my classes devouring them. I remember the old Harlequins in which there would be two guys--a good guy and a bad boy. By the end, the roles would be reversed and the bad boy would be a true, sigh-worthy hero:-) Good memories!
Rachel, you will be pleased to know that I named my volleyball team Sweet Volley High. We just finished our summer season!
I loved the Sweet Valley books, but Sweet Dreams were even better. They felt even more emotional and romantic, and they offered different types of heroines, not just popular cheerleaders.
You're not alone, Rachel! I read the Sweet Valley High books and loved them *g* I think I still have some in my basement along with a few 'teen' romances from the 80s (they were like category books but for teens. Loved them!) Then, of course I moved on to Harlequins and I've never looked back :-)
MY love of reading romance novels started with my reading of Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwess in the late 70's if I can remember that far back. Sincve then I've read some great stories along with some just so-so ones. I think I would enjoy your books as well.
JFWisherd(at)aol(dot)com
I'm pretty much like the others - never read one of those books. By the time they became big, I'd moved on to real romance. You know, the kind with sex in it. I use to sneak and read a Rosemary Rogers I found in the laundry room/storage room, along with some raunchier books my dad had thought he hid well enough. Not porn, but nearly. There were also some gangster books I loved, along with Chicago Nurse Murders. Anything that had sex and violence. I wouldn't DARE let my kids near anything like that, but precocious child I was, I was knowledgable about ALL KINDS of things by age 13.
My parents should have kept better watch. LOL.
But I loved the romances best. Harlequin, torrid historicals, and more. Loved them. Yeah, I had big glasses and big hair, too, until I got contact lenses.
Nice stroll down memory lane :)
So sorry I didn't stop by yesterday - what a day!! All sorts of things going on at home and then I got an email from my agent saying I've sold another book to Harlequin, YAY!!!!
So celebrations took place last night and I completely forgot to come and say hi...hope i'm forgiven under the circumstances, lol!
Great to read your memories of where it all began!
Rachel x
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