A busy blogger!

Hi, this is Jo. I've been goofing off down in the West Country -- Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset -- and so I'm scrabbling together this blog at the last moment. My organizational skills aren't helped by doing a number of other blogs just now.

Romantic Times Blog. Romantic Times  has a new web site and they're celebrating with a number ofg author blogs. They wanted one from me on my favourite heroes from my books. Click here to visit that one. There's supposed to be a poll attached so people can vote for their own favourites, but I can't see it yet.

RomCon Blog. I've also just written one for a blog on the RomCon site, which will appear on the 29th. I wrote about the magical appeal of romance novels.  RomCon is the big romance reader conference to be held in Denver in July. There's more about that here.

Adventures in travel.  As a sidetrack distraction, I've just booked the main leg of my trip over there. Even without volcanic dust shutting everything down, it's not easy getting anywhere from Whitby, but there is a small airport not that far away, Durham-Tees. It doesn't have many flights, but it does have a connector to KLM in Amsterdam, so that'll be a whole new flying adventure for me. I hear great things about the Amsterdam airport.

I'll actually be flying into Memphis because later in the month I'll be in Nashville for the Romance Writers of America annual conference and Memphis is the closest direct flight with KLM. You can find out about the RWA conference here, and if you live around there, note the Literacy signing on Wednesday. A great event for a great cause.

The New York Times Bestseller List. And in addition to all that, I'm celebrating two weeks on the NYT list for The Secret Duke, and hoping for another. You can see last Sunday's list here.

That explains the photo op above, taken in Westward Ho! (which yes, is actually a place.) From the linked article above, I quote, "The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! (1855). The exclamation mark is therefore an intentional part of the village's name. It is the only such place name in the British Isles, although Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, shares the distinction of having an exclamation mark in its name." I've passed signs to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!. You can go to the article above and follow a link to an explanation for that name. It seems to link to ha-ha as a French term for a barrier, which is why a ha-ha is a concealed trough in landscaped garden to keep deer and such out of the ornamentals. There's one at Rothgar Abbey.

Being on the NYT top 20 wasn't really a miracle as the other two Secrets books were, too, but it was too good an opportunity to miss. Excuse the windblown look -- Westward Ho! is that sort of place. That's Billy, all cosy in his winter jacket still, but with his whirlygig, which certainly got a work out that day. We were joking that the world could be saved by Cabbage Patch power!

The Eden Project. That's actually an ad for the Eden Project, which is wonderful. We visited there the next day and I snapped this pic of Ken, Charlie, and the domes.

So I'll spread the questions here as well. What do you think is the core magic of a romance novel? What makes them one of your favourite forms of fiction? And what 3 qualities make the best heroes for a romance novel?

Or you can comment on some other aspect of this hurried blog.

A copy of The Secret Wedding (the previous book) to a randomly picked commenter.

Cheers,

Jo

Comments

[Anne]

Hi, Jo! You do sound busy these days! :)

Just hours ago, I finished The Secret Duke. Wonderful! I love Thorn and Bella almost as much as I loved Christian and Caro! I love that your characters develop real relationships with humor, etc. as well as the physical attraction.

Here are 3 essentials for a convincing, compelling romantic hero:
1. Principles/morals/something worth dying for
2. Self-control
3. A little vulnerability amidst a lot of strength.

I'm sure there's more, but those are what came to mind right away.

[Ann Stephens]

You have been busy indeed. I enjoyed reading about your favorite heroes at RT. And congratulations on another best seller!

[Anne]

Oh, and, I do love Rothgar...a lot...but I have to go with Dare as my favorite of your heroes. Although, Race DeVere was wonderful, too. And...and...and...:)

[Keira Soleore]

Jo, when we fly into Europe or to Asia, we always take the flight into Amsterdam from Seattle. It goes via the polar route up and over and is the fastest way to get to Europe for us. And the changeover in Amsterdam is super efficient, usually an hour or two--for an international flight, that's rare. Also KLM tends to have fairly low-price tickets. The only downside is that any flights coming into and going out of the U.S. are operated by Northwest Airlines, the rudest flight attendants to fly the skies. It can be so bad that you just have to laugh and shrug it off.

I've heard the word "ha-ha" used even in English prose without the italics to mean a narrow channel. However, in terms of the name Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! for the town, the Quebeçois were clearly having a chuckle. Heh.

Three qualities for the core magic of a romance novel: hope, redemption, even playing field i.e. everyone has a chance at love.

Many congrats again for a second week on The List. Here's to more staying power and upward mobility.

[Jo Beverley]

Jo here. Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Keira, my flights are operated by Delta. Probably yours are NW because of Seattle. When I was in Victoria, I often ended up flying NW.

I've rarely flown Delta, so that'll be another part of the adventure.

Jo

[Deb H.]

Hi, Jo. I think 3 qualities for the core magic of romance are: give and take/respect, passionate love, a little bit of humor.

I like a hero who is Alpha, without being over-the-top-Alpha; one who is a bit of a rogue; and one who sees his heroine as perfect the way she is.

[Kim in Hawaii]

Jo, you are in my favorite part of England! Please post more the places you are visiting!

I ditto Deb H's three elements. I also enjoy a bit of God, Country, and King.

[donna ann]

Congrats on the new release. Sounds like a great read. You're having an amazing week, appreciate your taking time to spend with us. :)

What I'm looking for in a hero varies depending on mood. I like the straight laced as well as the fun-loving rogue, the gruff/quiet type to the ladie's man, the "pirate" or the "queen's man", city gent to country boy. What counts most in the end is the love he feels for the heroine and how he shows that to her (and the reader).

[ValerieL.]

I took Delta from Philadelphia to Paris last fall (tough job but someone has to do it). Since they merged? with Air France, the flight was up to very high standards, much better than either trip taken previously on United and US Air (the worst of the 3).
As to romance novels, the essential part for me is the happy ending. I love historical fiction, but often turn away from it to a well written historical romance because I KNOW I'll see a happy resolution for the hero and heroine in a romance novel. I love them dark, but they have to come right in the end. That's what keeps me reading historical romance.

[misskallie2000]

Hi Jo, I think the core of a romance novel is the man and woman and their ability to mesh together. They may have different views or feelings but they learn to get along by both giving and receiving their love. Love is not a one way street. You have to give and take and compromise.

Would love to read your novel so pls enter me. Thanks

[TxDee]

What's the core magic of romance novels? Oh, it has to be the promise of love rewarded even if it seems impossible at first glance. Who doesn't want a HEA?

I have read a library copy of The Secret Wedding and enjoyed it very much. I would love to have a copy of my own. Pls enter me. Thank you

[runner10]

You are one busy lady!!
I love the electricity I feel between the man and woman.
I like a strong hero with high intergrity and will stop at nothing to protect his lady.
I would love to read your book.

[Jo Beverley]

Interesting comments. Clearly we all have strong opinions about our romance novels.

Sorry for not being around too much today. Been at the dentist, and as we go to York for that, we also wandered around a bit. Certainly a compensation. It's a lovely and very historic city.

Forgot to take my camera this time, but we'll be back!

Jo

[Helene Dion]

To me, the core magic of a romance novel is a love relationship whose development, however bumpy, is understandable. Not understandable in that the relationship is smooth but understandable in that you can see the characters evolve towards love - evolve even though it might have been "love at first sight" for one or even both. I hate to feel that they are kissing on p. 45 because p. 45 is about the right time for the first kiss. I hate artificial quarrels. I like passion and humor. A Happy end is of course an absolute necessity, it's what define a romance novel. And I absolutely hate superfluous fashion details that don't do a bit for characterization.

[Sue]

I like my hero to be a gentleman and of good moral character. My favourite hero of yours is Fort from Something Wicked. A true gentleman fighting his attraction to a member of the enemy camp! A close second is DeVere then Hawkinvale from the Rogues. I love all your books and have them all so I don't need to be in the draw for The Secret Wedding.
Oh and I have to have a happy ending too!

[Ranurgis]

I'm still reading my way through Jo's books. I read the Regency Romances in the late 80s, early 90s when I was sort of trying to get through the most books possible. Currently I'm reading the Rogues; I'm up to FORBIDDEN, Francis and Serena's story. So I can't really comment yet on the heroes in the books.

I general, I prefer heroes who achieve more with intelligence and kindness than using force. High morals are also important; I don't like wishy-washy characters. I guess I prefer being at least somewhat uplifted to being drawn into dubious circumstances. After all, I read novels to relax not get upset.

[Anne Roller]

Sorry, Jo - my favorite hero isn't yours, but Lois Bujold's. Miles is brilliant, self-deprecatingly witty, resilient in adversity, and lives every minute of precious life as though it were his last. Who even cares that he's only five feet tall?

[Jo Beverley]

Anne, I like Miles Vorkosigan, too. He reminds me a lot of Dunnett's Lymond, (though he's different in a whole lot of ways, too) who is my favourite hero written by another.

Often a lot about a hero is the background that forms him, and Miles has an extraordinary one, as does Lymond. So, I suppose, does Rothgar.

However, I have reluctance to constantly be giving my heroes traumas to survive! Wimpy author is me,

Jo :)

[Jo Beverley]

The randomly picked winner of A Secret Wedding is Anne Roller. Congratulations, Anne. I'll be contacting you directly.

Best wishes,

Jo

[Kristina Watson]

Jo - I'm a little late to the game with my post ... but I've been a little behind on reading my favorite blogs, lol. I just wanted to leave a quick message to say that we're doing a lot of the same activites, as i'll be in Cornwall later this month for a two-week vacation (my favorite spot) and in July, pending the flood's LT impact on our conference hotel, I'll be at RWA. It's my first RWA, and a gift to myself for finishing my first novel.

-Kristina