What’s the difference between a romance and real life? The tears. There are tears in real life, over many things. They often are about life’s common tragedies—the loss of a relative, the death of a pet, a divorce, a maiming injury, a dread disease, etc. Sometimes the tears are over petty issues that nonetheless mean  … Read more

I just saw a classic opera (Orfeo ed Euridice, by Gluck) that reminded me of many, many romances I’ve read in which the female character—our heroine, mind you—is an irrational, demanding, needy person who spoils everything. In this case, Orpheus is so brokenhearted over the death of his beloved wife, Eurydice, that he braves hell  … Read more

Romances are always being accused of purple prose. But all fiction used to be purple prose. I just checked out an antique novel that is an excellent example of purple prose, and it’s not strictly speaking a romance although there is a romance a the core of it. A Heart of Flame, by Charles Fleming  … Read more

Someone I know just completed viewing all of the movies on acclaimed critic Roger Ebert’s list of the best movies ever. At my library book club, each year the librarian gives us copies of nationally compiled lists of the best books to read. And at this time of the year, most magazines, newspapers, e-zines, blogs,  … Read more

Romance comics were invented in the 1940s and hit their peak in the early 1950s. They continued to sell well into the 1960s but died a miserable death in the early 1970s when the majority of young women in America simply did not want to think of themselves as anguishing over a date, or a  … Read more

Costumes are a big part of Halloween, which is a favorite American autumn pseudo holiday. I say pseudo because it’s not a legal holiday and no one gets the day off from their job. Well, wait. I know of at least one exception. I once worked with a woman who called herself a witch. The  … Read more

Minx, a line of graphic novels aimed at teenage girls and introduced with much fanfare and a large budget by DC Comics in 2006, has been canceled. Much discussion about DC’s decision to throw in the towel after the line has been out a bare two years has centered on Minx’s dearth of female creators,  … Read more

I have memorized the Jonas Brothers’ names. I know that Nick Carter was in the Backstreet Boys, not in ‘N Sync. I have more trouble with Mark Wahlberg. Was he from the New Kids on the Block? But then who is Donny Wahlberg? And I am struggling to recall the names of the boys in  … Read more

Have you ever seen the romantic movie, “How to Marry a Millionaire”? It’s got Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable sharing a fancy apartment, hoping to land monied husbands. In an excellent 2004 article in Vanity Fair, Laura Jacobs describes this common subgenre of women’s movies, usually three girls looking for husbands. She cites  … Read more

When we think of Gothic novels, we think of dark, brooding, handsome Gothic heroes. But they must have an equally dark, brooding setting for all that misery and intrigue. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the glamour locales of Gothics before. Most classic Gothic novels are centered in a mansion or a castle, or  … Read more