Today's guest for our month-long feature of introducing you to men who write romance novels is Gordon Aalborg . I first met Gordon as an associate at Five Star Cengage/Gale and was intrigued by the fact that he wrote a number of romances. Hello Gordon, and welcome to The Blood-Red Pencil Blog. Our theme this month is love and romance, and we are happy that you could join us for an interview. First I have to say that I enjoyed your book Wolf in Tiger's Stripes . I found it very well written and you were able to get into the viewpoint of a woman quite well. My first question to you is the obvious one, why did you choose to write romance novels? A - I got into Romance writing on a sort of bet, prompted by Alan Boon, then head of Mills & Boon, saying that no man could write category romance to the standard required by Harlequin/M&B.Three of us male journalists—upon hearing this—insisted (during a grog-laden dinner party) that men (if romantic at all) were even more ...

Welcome Scott Eagan , and thank you for participating in “romance month”. We’ve been talking to and about male romance authors, but you have a little different perspective in that you are a male agent who specializes in romance. How did you come to the decision to be a romance agent? When I first opened Greyhaus Literary Agency , I looked at representing a lot of different genres. After looking at the market, I realized there were a lot of benefits of focusing in on just this genre. At that time, there were few agents who were this focused. With this market always shifting, I felt that trying to keep track of trends, editors and lines of just the romance and women’s fiction market was going to be tough enough. I also believed that focusing my attention this much allowed me a chance to better work with my authors. I was able to really study the genre and know all the angles of it. On a personal level, I just love this genre. I like the fact that we get the chance to explore human...

Though I only occasionally read novels in the romance genre, I often enjoy novels that include romance.  Andrew Sean Greer is the author of four novels that explore themes of love and time. I briefly met Andrew when he visited the Denver Woman's Press Club to talk about  The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells , released in paperback last year . He impressed me with the unapologetic way he embraces sentimentality, so I read the novel, which I found luminous on the subject of love. For Greer, sentiment is not saccharine, but a nourishing sweetness. It so happens that Greer is gay, but his novels highlight many types of relationships: from heterosexual to homosexual, from family to friendship. Whatever bonds he explores, Greer admits he’s a sucker for love. Many thanks to Andrew for graciously giving me the opportunity to interview him for The Blood-Red Pencil's February exploration of men and romance. Here's our conversation:  Cara:  Andrew, although you...

Photo courtesy of Joshua Tan Happy February, duckies! Though Valentine’s Day is now past, love is still in the air. Unless you happen to be watching a caucus, which yours truly steadfastly refuses to do on the grounds that there are certain limits to which one should not go. At any rate … When one is in love, one tends to lean toward poetic speech, whether it’s the classic lines of Shakespeare or something a bit more original, such as the hastily scrawled note that appeared on my counter. Roses are red, Sometimes they’re orange. I love you a lot, And I’m sorry this doesn’t rhyme. While the above lines can (and probably should) be attributed to Anonymous, the conscientious writer will always take pains to cite sources wherever possible. The CMOS offers two rather straightforward methods of documentation: notes and bibliography or author-date. In brief: “The notes and bibliography style is preferred by many in the humanities, including those in literature, his...

If you’ve been following The Blood Red Pencil blog this month, you know that our theme is men and the romance novel. Leigh Greenwood , aka Harold Lowry, is one of the earliest and most successful male romance novelists to break through the glass ceiling, in reverse, and I’m honored he consented to an interview. Polly : So delighted to have you here, Leigh. I’m going to veer from the usual questions because many of the answers are on your website , but first give us a little history of how you became a romance novelist. Leigh : I guess I’ve always been a romantic. I like happy endings, and I insist that the bad guys get it in the neck or I won’t read your next book. (Tweet) When I was growing up, I used to read romance comic books (yes, they used to have such things) along with Donald Duck and various cowboys. My introduction to romance (though I didn’t realize it at the time) was Georgette Heyer’s These Old Shades . It’s still one of my favorite books and a perfect example of the ...

Jason Evans joins us today at the Blood-Red Pencil: First off I want to thank Jason (Henry) for giving me this opportunity. I write historical fiction primarily. I do have to say, though, that tackling a romantic subplot was one of the best things I did. Learning how to write romance made me a better writer. How I organize and write a scene, how I approach a plot, and how I create a character arc, have forever changed because of what I learned about romance. So let me explain what I learned working on a romantic subplot for my upcoming historical fiction, The Gallowglass. (pronounced “Gallowglaw”) 1.     Romance does not mean erotica. (Tweet:) I had never read romance before so in my first attempt I actually wrote erotica : two beautiful people with out of control libidos humping like rabbits. The way I described sex was clinical and boring. This wasn’t romance, it was a bad play-by-play by a sports announcer. Romance isn’t strictly about hopping...

Image by 白士 李 via Flickr When a man reaches for a book, its genre is not usually romance. This is a fact. However, some men do. Brave men. Confident men. Men who have moved beyond being a MR to being a MRR: a Man Reading Romance. (Tweet) An MRR is difficult to spot in the wild as they have developed excellent camouflage skills. Further study is needed. Some might say (correctly) that the following are yoga positions. But I suggest they are also positions formed by the illusive MRR.  Downward Facing Dog - While walking the dog, the man has his head down reading a romance on a mobile device.  Warrior Pose - The most confident MRR pose. He will fight for his right to read his romance.  Boat Pose - A pose often adopted by a new MRR. He will be found alone on a boat in the middle of a lake. There may be fishing gear for further camouflage.   Half Lord of the Fishes Pose - A pose for the bolder MRR. He has now progressed to reading the romance on a river...

Pino Daeni I have been a long-time fan of Pino Daeni (November 8, 1939 – May 25, 2010). Thanks to my darling husband, I am also the proud owner of several of his paintings. I would stare at his work every time we entered an art store. I loved his portraiture, but what I really wanted was to be able to paint like that. Alas, portrait painting is one of those dreams that got away, but I get to admire his technique on a daily basis. Long ago in the publishing world, artists were commissioned to create original paintings. Pino’s impressionist romantic style graced over 3,000 book covers, movie posters, and magazine illustrations. Pino began illustrating books for Italian publishers. When he moved to New York, his work caught the attention of Dell, Zebra, Bantam, Simon & Schuster, Penguin USA, Dell, and Harlequin. His romance novel covers graced works by Danielle Steel, Sylvie Summerfield, and Amanda Ashley and featured the famous model Fabio. Alas, Pino left the boo...

In 2000, Entertainment Weekly made note of the growing trend of African American male authors who write “sexy, sensitive novels.” Back then, over 15 years ago if you can believe that, some of the hottest African American male authors in the market were the late great E. Lynn Harris, Eric Jerome Dickey, Colin Channer, Omar Tyree, and Marcus Major. These men, most of them at the time being in their 30s, wrote stories with strong female characters; these stories focused on the tangled web of relationships and love. These men were our male equivalents to Terry McMillan, who had women all over the country Waiting to Exhale  -- with her book and eventually, the movie. I will admit, I LIVED for Eric Jerome Dickey and every book he released almost two decades ago. Sister, Sister ; Friends and Lovers ; Cheaters ; and Milk in My Coffee were my first forays into his writing, and I loved how much I could relate to the women portrayed within the pages and the struggles they lived...