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Joined: 3/3/2011
Posts: 15
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I was having a discussion in fantasy about the author Guy Gavriel Kay, whose writing somehow "sings" to me. I'm trying to work out what exactly that means, and realized that I am rereading (for the 3rd time on this book) an author whose writing does that for me. Eva Ibbotson is usually loosely classified in the romance genre, although lately they've been moving her romantic books over to YA because her children's books were in the Harry Potter style so did well. Anyway, I am rereading SONG FOR SUMMER and I love every word and I don't want to read too fast because then it will end. What romance authors do that for you? Mary Jo Putney can do it for me sometimes. Jo Beverley somewhat although not as much. And what makes that happen? That might be a technique question.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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For me, it was Barbara Michaels, who also writes as Elizabeth Peters. But I have to admit, the reason her romances worked for me are probably not what romance readers expect to hear. I didn't read romance growing up. My mother read mystery novels. My uncle worked for NASA and had a fantastic collection of classic science fiction. So I grew up on mystery novels, SF, and eventually Tolkien and fantasy novels. My experience with romance was hearing that they were formulaic. I read Mary Stewart and some romantic suspense, but never could get into writing romance.
Until I read a Barbara Michaels book and realized that she often toyed with the conventions of romance. This cast the traditional elements of a romance novel in a new light for me and I started to realize that to write a romance, I had to stop taking it so seriously. The end result is that I'm not very traditional as a romance writer or even as a romance reader.
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Joined: 3/15/2011
Posts: 10
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I think I devoured all the Michaels books in my later teens and early 20s.Lost track of the Peters Amelia Peabody books but totally love the mix of mystery & romance and touches of paranormal or suspicion of paranormal that so many boos had back then.
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 214
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Easy response: Angela Carter
:::Sigh::
She and Italo Calvino can craft a sentence so poetically, it'll really make you hurt. I had the opportunity to study under Carter shortly before she died, but at the time, my course schedule was filled and I couldn't squeak in anything else. So I ended up studying with other authors instead. I regret that to this day.
Angela Carter, BTW, is the writer who takes children's fairy tales and rewrites them in haunting, sensual adult versions. A movie, "The Company of Wolves," was based on one of her novellas.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 7
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Writing that sings to me always has a strong emotional element and is smart. Susan Wiggs historicals are that way (and so are the best of her women's fiction titles), Barbara Samuel/O'Neal makes me wish I could do what she does, and for great old school sighs, Penelope Williamson.
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Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 2
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I love the classics from Julie Garwood from when she wrote historic romance. It might be part nostalgia, but just the fact that she could get ADHD me to sit still through an entire book meant a lot. I still keep a stack of her old paperbacks in a place of honor on my bookshelf.
More recently I've found Courtney Milan has caught my attention. She writes incredible stories that are sexy, intelligent, and just fun to read.
I think the willingness of the author to add a dose of playfulness to their writing really hooks me-- even in romantic suspense when things can get a little hairy.
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Joined: 4/2/2011
Posts: 6
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In my experience as a writer, the writing that "sings" comes from a combination of things. Author voice: is it just perfect for the project? Vocabulary: are the words you're using the most appropriate words for the job? Rhythm: As you're writing, do you sense a cadence?
As a reader, I feel like I'm experiencing all those elements in perfect combination - whether they've come to pass in a first draft or through diligent revisions for style. The first book I noticed "singing" was Orson Scott Card's HART'S HOPE, which is not romance. I read it when I was 19 and felt like I'd discovered something amazing in terms of author voice.
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