Wench Tenth Anniversary Guests

 
The Word Wenches are presenting comments from readers, authors, and other industry professionals on the last ten years of romance, history, and the world in general. Welcome our guests, please!

Christina Courtenay

I’ve been in love with romance ever since I first read a fairy tale – in fact, I was probably born a romantic!  The princesses in peril, the dashing princes to the rescue, the treasures and magic; I just didn’t want any other stories.  After discovering Georgette Heyer in my teens, I was totally sold on historical romance and I’ve never found anything else as satisfying.  There’s just something about immersing yourself in a fictional past, with strong heroes, lords and ladies, beautiful clothing and endless adventures that will never cease to pull me in, and I think historicals remain a favourite with readers for a reason – it’s just such fun!  The Word Wenches produce some of the very best in this sub-genre and, as well as the lovely books, I’ve enjoyed each and every post on this blog over the years – such diversity and I always learn something new.  Congratulations on this wonderful anniversary and I hope you’ll continue for a long time to come!

Christina

 

Eileen Dreyer

I was a historical romance reader before I was a historical writer. In fact, through the first 20 years of my career, I wrote contemporary category romance as Kathleen Korbel and medical/forensic suspense as Eileen Dreyer. And then one day the wonderful RT reviewer Melinda Helfer and I were talking Regency Romance, and she sealed my fate. “You should write Regencies.”

I laughed at the time. Six regencies later, I'm not laughing. Why do I love writing them? First, I love history, especially in the times when the world was in upheaval. And if there's one thing you can say about the Napoleonic Era, it's that the world was in upheaval. I love to see how it played out in the lives of normal people. The soldier, the debutante, the companion. I especially like to write a strong woman hemmed in by the mores and expectation of the society and time in which she lives. And of course I love to give her a man who's worthy of her. And clothes. Beautiful clothes. And humor. And suspense(which is easy then, since they were at war and we can imagine all the nefarious spies we want, even if it isn't entirely correct). And so was born DRAKE'S RAKES, who are all gentleman spies in service of the crown, who run afoul of a nefarious plot and strong heroines.  Just the kind I like to write. To learn more(you know you want to), stop by my website www.eileendreyer.com www.facebook.com/eileendreyer @eileendreyer 

 

Nina Paules, ePublishing Works:

Ten-ish years ago, while on an extended business trip, I bought my first romance novel, Mary Jo's A Kiss of Fate. I was embarrassingly (because "good girls" didn't read romance) hooked, and unknowingly fated.

As a wanna-be author, I emailed Mary Jo to say how much I enjoyed her book, and for reasons I still can't pinpoint, we became fast friends. That was Fate's first move.

Many fun and educational conversations on the Word Wenches' blog led me to create three Regency gowns (with all the underpinnings), and ultimately a two-part guest post about a modern-girl trying to live in a Regency Corset. The rewarding effort convinced me I could write.

A few years later, Mary Jo asked if I could use my computer "expertise" to make an eBook (when eBooks were a novelty), which opened the door for ePublishing Works. Today, ePW proudly publishes and promotes books for five of the eight current Wenches, plus nearly 100 other authors. Funny what a little romance novel and a blog can do.

Much has changed in how we read romance: paper giving way (mostly) to digital, and perusing physical bookstores exchanged for curated reading recommendations received via email. But the thrill of a good story with a powerful hook, that's peopled with engaging characters who grab the heart and mind, remains unchanged. Even better, a well-written Historical Romance is timeless in its ability to entertain, even as the delivery mechanisms change at lightning speed.

Thank you, Word Wenches, for all you have given me, for your faith in me, and for all you continue to do for the author and reader communities. It excites me to know that digital publishing assures the great stories that captured my heart a decade ago will be equally available to new readers for the next decade and beyond. Congratulations on the first 10 years!

 

Thank you to our dear friends and colleagues for celebrating a remarkable milestone with us! And dear readers, we would love to shower all of you with champagne and cake. But instead, at the end of the week, we'll be handing out gifts to random commenters. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Comments

[Kareni]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. And happy anniversary to the Word Wenches.

[Mary T]

I too, like Christina Courtenay, believe I was born a romantic, even if I didn't have a great appreciation of romance novels until my mid thirties.

I have a theory (based on nothing but my own observations) that we like the same things as adults that we did as children. As a child I loved fairy tales, loved to read and preferred make believe games to action games like cops and robbers. When I saw a movie, I would come home and "act out" the entire movie for the kids in the neighborhood who had not seen it.

[bn100]

interesting covers

[Mary Jo Putney]

Thanks to all our guests for contributing your varied experiences to our anniversary celebration! The last ten years of publishing have been interesting indeed, have they not? *G*

[NinaP]

Happy Anniversary Word Wenches! Thank you for the many hours spent in worlds I could never hope to visit otherwise. There is no better place to come for tea, cakes, and stories of romance. :-)

[Shannon]

Happy Anniversary, and many joyous returns of the day.

[Patricia Franzino]

I am grateful to the Word Wenches for giving all of us so many hours of joy! Congratulations on your anniversary!

[Margaret]

One of the things I love best about the Word Wenches' posts is always finding new authors. I was one who started out with Kathleen Woodiwiss and Victoria Holt, but then I took a l-o-n-g hiatus while I went to college, started a career and family, and read "grown-up" books. Now I am blissfully proud to immerse myself again in the wonderful works being produced by talented women and men in the romance field, but I have holes in my repertoire that your columns help fill on a regular basis. As of today, I am now familiar with Christina Courtenay and Eileen Dreyer. Thank you, Word Wenches, and Happy Anniversary!

[Patricia Rice]

perhaps we have built-in needs that our books fill? I used to read anything I could get my hands on, but books with love stories were always my favorites, even Zane Grey!

[Patricia Rice]

readers also help tremendously! Just think of us as a book exchange.

[bn100]

Fun milestone

[Anne Gracie]

Margaret, we also learn about new authors from each other and from readers — it's a very special part of this community.

[Virginia Campbell]

Thank you, Word Wenches, for a wealth of wonderful reading! Happy 10th--looking forward to many more years of being swept away by your wordsmithing!!!

[Glenda]

Nina, it is funny how one event can be life changing! Thanks for sharing yours, and thanks for helping publish so many ebooks!

Eileen, I'm very glad you decided to write Regencies! I didn't discover you as an author until then. :-)

Christina, you are a new to me author. I'll be adding your books to my wish list. :-)