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Gone with the Wind. It's sexist, it's racist, it's far too long, the prose is overblown, and I really like it, which suggests it must be doing something right.
Lesbian: well, Sarah Wa(l)ters is great (and a biggish seller), and I recently read Patience & Sarah, which is a work of genius and another one you should read (at least if you're thinking of writing f/f). Professionally written m/m: no idea, I only read Dennis Cooper, which can only very loosely be termed 'romance'.
Tara (Tania?) Modleski is the person that immediately springs to mind as an authority on romances, but her book is about women's reading of romances rather than a How To.
If you write to Mills & Boon (or Harlequin, or... don't know the Australian one, sorry) they'll send you a style guide telling you, you know, on what page to introduce the hero, what sorts of locations sell, etc. I've heard it's difficult to write convincing romance if you're only in it for the money, though: if you're pastiching, it usually comes across in the writing somehow.
Teen romance: Katherine Applegate. |
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