mariaslozak:

caitlynlynch:

thebibliosphere:

caitlynlynch:

An excellent article in the Sydney Morning Herald today about #MeToo and why romance authors need to pay attention. Sadly, I missed it, but many attendees at the RWAus conference this year told me Kate Cuthbert’s keynote speech was INCREDIBLE.

“But Cuthbert is talking about more than just entertainment. In her
speech she nails the powerful element of romance writing that has made
it such a huge and perennial phenomenon: the hope it offers for women’s
lives to be well-lived.”

*air punch*

Incidentally, for those who might not know who Kate Cuthbert is, she’s FUCKING AWESOME. She’s the managing editor at Escape Publishing, a digital-first imprint owned by Harlequin/Mills and Boon here in Australia. Escape give a LOT of people rejected from the main HQN lines a place to publish. I pitched to her last year at the RWAus conference (my first ever pitch!) and she was SO NICE. That book is currently on submission to a main HQN line but if it doesn’t get in, Kate is my next port of call.

She has her finger absolutely on the pulse of what readers want and enjoy, possibly more so than any other mainstream romance publisher at any given moment because Escape are much faster to publishing than most trads. Kate KNOWS. Listen to her, people.

“It won’t be easy, Cuthbert adds. ‘But the alternative is to continue
normalising coercion and domination and disrespect and powerlessness in
our romantic relationships.’

She’s right about it not being easy.
The alpha male of traditional romantic fiction teeters right on the
brink of toxicity: it’s a short step from gorgeous bad boy to
domineering brute, and much of the appeal lies in flirting with danger.”

One good reason for writers to give particularly careful consideration to what type of heroine is partnered with an alpha hero. Almost invariably, the answer seems to be a heroine who is herself alpha. She won’t be browbeaten, she is decisive, knows how to take care of herself, and takes the lead and goes for what she wants without apologies. If you want the adrenaline rush of “flirting with danger”, then make the heroine a proactive, capable protagonist, not a subject.

Turning Pages: Romance and the influence of #MeToo