I don't have cable right now so I'm rewatching old shows and movies. A lot of them are animated. Such is my way. I'd like to have a nobler reason for rewatching them--something like when James 
Let's say you're the newly-sentient internet. How would you decipher
the meaning of all the bits and bytes whizzing past you? And what about
the real world outside your electronic realm?
Former Comics Editor, Guy Leshinski
has very kindly given us permission to reprint a prophetic interview
with Bryan Lee O'Malley in 2005. Will Bryan Lee O'Malley attain the
Holy Grail of cartoonists? As Bryan says, "We'll see..."
Results tagged “Regency” from The Cultural Gutter
"One Never Mentions Fight Club"
"The first rule of Fight Club is that one never mentions Fight Club." Jane Austen's Fight Club.
But What I Really Want to do is Direct
There are lots of great modern romance novels out there. And there are plenty of wonderfully romantic movies. Oddly enough, the latter aren’t usually based on the former (modern romance novels; in this one instance, Jane Austen doesn’t count). Which is not to say there aren’t any at all, but Twilight aside, most of them appear on cable television. And those I’ve seen, well... let’s just say they weren’t entirely successful
Continue reading...
It's Fun to Go to the R.W.A
The
internet allows writers to do the impossible: write in isolation
while in company. A writer might still face off single-handedly
against blank screen, but behind the accusing blink of the cursor
there are thousands of minds ready to offer information, support and
catwaxing options.
On the other hand, it’s not as if, pre-internet, every writer was
locked in a Proustian cork-lined room. Despite the solitary nature
of their work - or possibly because of it - writers have always
sought one another out. For encouragment, professional development,
and sometimes for the sheer relief of being around other people who
get it. That’s pretty much the unofficial definition of the RWA.
Continue reading...
Vive La Difference!
Britain and France have a long history together. Okay, much of that history consists of having wars with one another. But if you look at the past as a whole, having wars is pretty much what Britain did. First, it fought at home, its various tribes jockeying for position, struggling with invaders, taking over other tribes. Then later, after it discovered sailing as a disciplined science, Britain took that fight around the world. An international hello, so to speak, but with a punch in the face, rather than a civil greeting.
Continue reading...
Lord Byron joins us in the Gutter
Lord Byron talks trash about his literary rivals: "Southey and Turdsworth such renegado rascals." (Thanks, Jen!)
Tentacles! Jane Austen!
Jane Austen, co-author of the popular, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has a new novel that details more than love or manners in the Regency Era. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters reveals shocking and tentacled attacks on respectable society. Click through to the book trailer.
Canadian Content
Most major genre fiction publishers are located in either New York or London. Romance is a bit of an exception: Harlequin Books, the world's largest publisher of romance, is headquartered in Toronto. Nor is the Canadian flag absent on the authorial side. There are Canadian romance writers from coast to coast, many of whom have huge international followings. One of my favourites is Mary Balogh. Her story, like that of so many other Canadians, starts elsewhere.
Continue reading...
Now vs. Then
Generally speaking, Romances are divided into two broad groups: contemporary and historical. Those distinctions are somewhat fluid. For instance, although it used to refer to anything set after 1900, ‘contemporary’ now encompasses anything set after World War II. ‘Historical’, meanwhile, covers everything else.
Continue reading...
Wolf In The Door
I think the adage about not judging a book by its cover was probably invented by publishers’ marketing departments. They spend a surprising amount of time and effort on covers, and don’t want that time to be wasted, so you're told to judge a book its prose. I can get behind that. As a bookseller, I always recommend that people searching for new authors should try a page or two. Nine times out of ten, you can tell if you’re going to like a book after only a few pages.
Of course, that tenth time is a humdinger.
Continue reading...
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Oh, to live in the era of the Regency Romance or the epic medieval adventure! Oh, except that life would suck: "No painless dentistry, eccentric provision for sewage, no penicillin
and no concept of asepsis, and the condition of most women was not one
that I aspire to."
It Takes Two
If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that writing is a lonely profession I would (to misquote Stephen Colbert) have a hell of a lot of hypothetical money. But phrases don’t become cliches without reason, and the truth is that many writers spend a great deal of their time inside their own heads. Too much time? Maybe for some. But what it all comes down to is the battle between the writer and the empty page. Writing is not a team sport*. Except, of course, when it is.
Continue reading...
Mysterious Lady
We have saying in our bookstore: Frontlist may bring customers through the door, but it's the backlist that brings them back. Book lovers are completists. Bookstores that can fill the gaps in their ever-increasing collections quickly become favourite stops. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of putting it all together, of finally finally owning all the books by a much-loved author. Of course, neither is there any pleasure to equal the joy in the discovery of a new favourite. Like, say, one of the recent additions to my pantheon of must-haves: Tamara Lejeune.
Continue reading...
Ten To Read
I always enjoy the 'Best Of' lists that come out this time of year. Seems to me that kind of potted commentary, however limited, offers a great starting place. So in the spirit of year-end helpfulness, here's a list of ten romances worth reading. Historical and modern; sexy and mild: they run the gamut. I'm not claiming these are the best of any particular sub-genre, just that they're worth reading.
Continue reading...
A Fine Pursuit: Loretta Chase
Some months back I wrote a column about Georgette Heyer, who re-imagined Jane Austen’s Regency era and popularized it for modern audiences. The Regency period, 1811-1820, refers to the years of King George III's insanity, when his son, the Prince of Wales, was Regent of England in his father’s stead. Given the similarity of style and tastes (and the continuing figure of the former Prince as King) the period is often extended to mean the years between 1800-1830.
Continue reading...
She's The One
Like authors in every genre, romance writers cover a broad spectrum of imaginative ground. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and write to any number of inner aesthetics. Each one has a preferred archetype. From the bewilderingly naive traditional to the often bloody thriller, and every permutation in between, romance authors write to their personal tastes in in terms of pace, mood and degree of modernity. But if you were to get a group of romance writers together and ask them about their formative influences, the vast majority will mention one name: Georgette Heyer.
Continue reading...
"One Never Mentions Fight Club"
"The first rule of Fight Club is that one never mentions Fight Club." Jane Austen's Fight Club.But What I Really Want to do is Direct
There are lots of great modern romance novels out there. And there are plenty of wonderfully romantic movies. Oddly enough, the latter aren’t usually based on the former (modern romance novels; in this one instance, Jane Austen doesn’t count). Which is not to say there aren’t any at all, but Twilight aside, most of them appear on cable television. And those I’ve seen, well... let’s just say they weren’t entirely successful
It's Fun to Go to the R.W.A
The
internet allows writers to do the impossible: write in isolation
while in company. A writer might still face off single-handedly
against blank screen, but behind the accusing blink of the cursor
there are thousands of minds ready to offer information, support and
catwaxing options.
On the other hand, it’s not as if, pre-internet, every writer was locked in a Proustian cork-lined room. Despite the solitary nature of their work - or possibly because of it - writers have always sought one another out. For encouragment, professional development, and sometimes for the sheer relief of being around other people who get it. That’s pretty much the unofficial definition of the RWA.
Continue reading...Vive La Difference!
Britain and France have a long history together. Okay, much of that history consists of having wars with one another. But if you look at the past as a whole, having wars is pretty much what Britain did. First, it fought at home, its various tribes jockeying for position, struggling with invaders, taking over other tribes. Then later, after it discovered sailing as a disciplined science, Britain took that fight around the world. An international hello, so to speak, but with a punch in the face, rather than a civil greeting.
Continue reading...
Lord Byron joins us in the Gutter
Lord Byron talks trash about his literary rivals: "Southey and Turdsworth such renegado rascals." (Thanks, Jen!)Tentacles! Jane Austen!
Jane Austen, co-author of the popular, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has a new novel that details more than love or manners in the Regency Era. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters reveals shocking and tentacled attacks on respectable society. Click through to the book trailer.Canadian Content
Most major genre fiction publishers are located in either New York or London. Romance is a bit of an exception: Harlequin Books, the world's largest publisher of romance, is headquartered in Toronto. Nor is the Canadian flag absent on the authorial side. There are Canadian romance writers from coast to coast, many of whom have huge international followings. One of my favourites is Mary Balogh. Her story, like that of so many other Canadians, starts elsewhere.
Now vs. Then
Generally speaking, Romances are divided into two broad groups: contemporary and historical. Those distinctions are somewhat fluid. For instance, although it used to refer to anything set after 1900, ‘contemporary’ now encompasses anything set after World War II. ‘Historical’, meanwhile, covers everything else.
Wolf In The Door
I think the adage about not judging a book by its cover was probably invented by publishers’ marketing departments. They spend a surprising amount of time and effort on covers, and don’t want that time to be wasted, so you're told to judge a book its prose. I can get behind that. As a bookseller, I always recommend that people searching for new authors should try a page or two. Nine times out of ten, you can tell if you’re going to like a book after only a few pages.
Of course, that tenth time is a humdinger.
Continue reading...Wouldn't It Be Nice
Oh, to live in the era of the Regency Romance or the epic medieval adventure! Oh, except that life would suck: "No painless dentistry, eccentric provision for sewage, no penicillin and no concept of asepsis, and the condition of most women was not one that I aspire to."It Takes Two
If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that writing is a lonely profession I would (to misquote Stephen Colbert) have a hell of a lot of hypothetical money. But phrases don’t become cliches without reason, and the truth is that many writers spend a great deal of their time inside their own heads. Too much time? Maybe for some. But what it all comes down to is the battle between the writer and the empty page. Writing is not a team sport*. Except, of course, when it is. Mysterious Lady
We have saying in our bookstore: Frontlist may bring customers through the door, but it's the backlist that brings them back. Book lovers are completists. Bookstores that can fill the gaps in their ever-increasing collections quickly become favourite stops. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of putting it all together, of finally finally owning all the books by a much-loved author. Of course, neither is there any pleasure to equal the joy in the discovery of a new favourite. Like, say, one of the recent additions to my pantheon of must-haves: Tamara Lejeune.
Ten To Read
I always enjoy the 'Best Of' lists that come out this time of year. Seems to me that kind of potted commentary, however limited, offers a great starting place. So in the spirit of year-end helpfulness, here's a list of ten romances worth reading. Historical and modern; sexy and mild: they run the gamut. I'm not claiming these are the best of any particular sub-genre, just that they're worth reading. A Fine Pursuit: Loretta Chase
Some months back I wrote a column about Georgette Heyer, who re-imagined Jane Austen’s Regency era and popularized it for modern audiences. The Regency period, 1811-1820, refers to the years of King George III's insanity, when his son, the Prince of Wales, was Regent of England in his father’s stead. Given the similarity of style and tastes (and the continuing figure of the former Prince as King) the period is often extended to mean the years between 1800-1830. Continue reading...
She's The One
Like authors in every genre, romance writers cover a broad spectrum of imaginative ground. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and write to any number of inner aesthetics. Each one has a preferred archetype. From the bewilderingly naive traditional to the often bloody thriller, and every permutation in between, romance authors write to their personal tastes in in terms of pace, mood and degree of modernity. But if you were to get a group of romance writers together and ask them about their formative influences, the vast majority will mention one name: Georgette Heyer.
