I hope this is true because I still havent forgiven her for that cliffhanger ending in 2010! I tend to become disenchanted with authors long before they stop writing. A lot of authors also wont read fanfiction of their work for fear of being accused of plagiarism. Kris, you are spot on in your assessment regarding some of the major problems in mainstream publishing today. if (hash === 'blog' && showBlogFormLink) { Servios. Jacquie DAlessandro (8 years) I miss Lynn Viehl, too. I think that some authors no longer write romance because their Muse has abandoned them or now speaks to them in a different voice/different genre, but I also think some of them simply could no longer get their books published. And what a waste of narrators! Bourne has definitely been working on a new book because she had posted a few things about it over the years its a Medieval setting, which is quite a departure from her Regency spy works. 2 yr. ago. I hav to say that Im generally wary of claims about trends until I see evidence. One more: Eve Dangerfield. I thought her earlier books especially (Ride with Me and About Last Night) were very romantic and also original in their approach. I hear I am quite popular., I deserve better such a dangerous, mad thought for a woman to entertain., Words are not the only way we communicate, you and I. Another pet peeve of mine is when an author feels the need to make a historical story more relevant by employing that wonky dual perspectives trope between old person reflecting on life and young person reporting about it. T.Dare.L.Kleypas. I will try it again, however. So many series would abruptly stop or authors would just disappear off of the shelves with no explanation. Profile. It had been optioned by BBC as a series, but I dont think that ever happened. Sometimes 20-30 hours or even more, for the same price. IVE READ EVERY COMMENT I love her Darkyn series (among others) and long for the featured stories of some of the characters appearing in the series. I havent been reading romance long enough to miss a particular author, but I can definitely understand why a number of them disappear. I cant speak for audiobook sellers and producers since Im not in that game, but you definitely see something similar with erotica e-book pricing scales. Im sure there are studies about the falling word count somewhere, but I, like others here, have definitely seen it without having to read a bunch of dissertations on the subject. meredith duran hiatus? - kasheshchhabbria.com Its self-published? People are finally realizing that self-published books and indie presses are not only respectable but often put out superior content to the Big 5. I know we will never agree on this point before Doomsday, but art can definitely exist for arts sake without an inherent agenda beyond pleasure. I believe I recall reading some years ago that Edith Layton and Barbara Metzger were very good friends. Im also a huge fan of Cecilia Grant and Joanna Bourne, who Id group in the same category. She hasnt stopped writing, but in the Afterword to her last published romance (NOT YOUR SHOE SIZE), she announced she was no longer going to be writing romance; she plans to write in a different genre and publish under a different name (Dangerfield provided neither her new name nor the new genre). or. Theres damn lies. I believe if I read the interview right she was all but forced by her editor to write contemporary and I understand if the voice does not sound right because the voice fits a historical not going make the contemporary sound right. I do like the Veronica Speedwell books but the Lady Julia series seems unfinished to me. intelligent, complex, sexy, smart and really goodwho even remotely writes like her? Thankfully, self-publishing doesnt bear the stigma that it once did. Weve been internet friends for several years, so I send her emails once in a while, but havent had a reply since last autumn. Its just hard to see them go and take their unfinished stories with them. Before Amazon separated Top 100 sales lists from Top 100 free books, the system was even crazier. shelved 97,149 times Showing 24 distinct works. I have reservations I wont go into here, and quite honestly, think LB is simply jumping on a band wagon. I miss Linnea Sinclair as well. I obviously dont object to the audio first titles, but as someone who grew up listening to actual audio drama (thank you BBC Radio 4!) Still love them, but esp THATC. Julia Spencer-Fleming is whom I miss. It's possible that no one writes him better than Meredith Duran, whose books are as dark and dangerous as the heroes they feature." The Washington Post "Meredith Duran unceasingly delights . Years ago, when I first started reading romance, I read a lot of books in the Signet Regency line, and among my favorites there were Nancy Butler and Diane Farr. A few are able to work at that pace while retaining quality, but most arent. BTW, I dont know what happened to the site, but its not rendering properly any more. As I pointed out above, Meredith Duran is younger than I am but her work reminds me and others of authors who were publishing at least 10 years earlier or more. Hmmmm, I dont know. I really wish she would return to writing historical romances, I adore her books in that genre, and have re-read them so many times. Then if I keep trying and getting disappointed, I get angry at myself for wasting my own time. An example of a well-written opening line I liked was, Some parties who disliked him much buried Maury in quicklime. Anne Mallory, Liz Carlyle, Julie James, Courtney Milan, and Joanna Bourne all havent published anything recently much to their fans dismay. Also Julie James . Yes, I follow Stuart on social media. Plus, they have some queer romances which the Harlequin category romances do not. It wasnt about Torie, and that makes me sad. Ive seen most authors write much older or younger than themselves very successfully. There is one author, Ruby Dixon who has a very funny and original style who appears to have kicked it all off with her Ice Planet Barbarian books and about 5000 imitators who have copied her poorly yet Amazon keeps recommending them. She had an amazing original voice and a wealth of scholarship behind her books. But they arent facts. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Writing snarky humor that is actually funny is a gift and a lot of the copycats think that merely making the heroine swear a lot or be sarcastic in situations that might get them killed substitutes for clever writing. img.scaleToMaxWidth(385); But when I tried one of her contemporaries, it just didnt work for me. One writer I miss is Lauren Blakely. But I want to listen to novels, not plays. Perhaps not always to be taken seriously but good always for a smile. Wayback on Wednesday: an interview with Meredith Duran The Perennial Question of the Bad Boy Hero. (Torie was a genealogist, and she had an entertaining supporting cast.). I think the great talent Barbara Metzger has/had is that she can make me laugh. Holy Roman Empire which is modern day Germany which can be tiggering to some people and the last thing I want to do is spend sereval hours day on social media defending myself because someone is pissed off I would rather have the marketing department of a publsiher deal with it. The Disappearance of a Fave Author - any info? : r/RomanceBooks - Reddit Then again, if we exclusively bucked the trends in favor of our own fantasies, wed be even poorer as a profession than we already are. Grey's Anatomy Will Return To ABC After A Break, With Meredith Sharing I wonder, am I too old for the current style or do I have older sensibilities? So detailed and slow. QUITTING WHEN A PERSON HAS SUCH, I so miss Duran. It was not a bad book (I really dont think Kati is capable of writing a bad book), but there were certain word choices and the way dialogue was presented that I felt were definitely driven by the fact that the book would be HEARD before it would be READ. They left more, however, a sense that Id not just skimmed a time period-or even a mental, sexual, or political one, but delved into and EXPERIENCED something that usually wasnt even on my radar.and then it was! Log In. Ive never listened to them. Sherlock clones have been done to death, and Im surprised that she chose that character to base her series on. She is the author of twelve novels, all published by Pocket Books. I found it too slow moving. as a wordsmith and a master at understanding the elements that connect complex, genuine, and lovable characters." Buried Under Romance Thats my take on it, anyway. Judith A Lansdowne; Marjorie Farrell; Barbara Metzger; Emma Drummond; Paul Detmer Riggs. ', Okay, so you have to take that advice with a heavy handful of salt, but I get the point he was making. And yet, when I first returned to romances over a decade ago after a long break, I found the genre at large teeming with light-hearted books with fairly one-dimensional characters. See Photos. Simple Jess for example would probably spark an outcry. Every time I search I only can find polls or best books lists which arent the same thing. I meant it more in the sense of trends. But publishing eventually wore her down, as it does a lot of people. And another fan of Zemindar! meredith duran hiatus?dyslipidemia guidelines 2021 pdf. I worry that the reason I find less and less of the type of historical romance that I like is because I have aged out of the the current style. Her phrasing and word choices are amazing. First, I think skepticism and concrete data seeking are healthy behaviors, but I dont discount the power of observation. Its just something I noticed perusing shelves and websites. Alas, Lydia Boyce has no interest in being charmed. At thirteen years old, she made a list of life goals that included writing romance novels, trying sushi, and going to London to see Holbein's portrait of Anne Boleyn. I'm wondering if anyone has any information on Meredith Duran, and especially if she's writing under another pen name these days? I couldnt agree more. And thats a whole other can of worms Im not going to open right now. I loved her humor. Self-publishing isnt for everyone, but I think its a great option when the alternative is to leave a fantastic story rotting on a hard drive. ( No one I knew could or would buy a cotton bikini or two piece swimsuit for love or money at that time.) I know we will never agree on this point before Doomsday, but art can definitely exist for arts sake without an inherent agenda beyond pleasure. The only worry is that Harper Collins bought them out a couple of years ago and they own publish AVON the line that started the endless Regency trend in historical romance. I still have that one on the old keeper shelf. Harlequin Historicals submission page on Submittable says this: Regency, Highlanders, Vikings, Medieval are most popular amongst our readers globally. I may have come across as a bit harsh, but I actually do like the Harlequin Historical line. A Lady's Code of Misconduct | Book by Meredith Duran | Official I also miss Sherry Thomas writing historical romance. Crazy for publishers to expect and crazy for the authors who manage it. ?? When I read comments like this, Im immediately thinking of how different my own reading experiences must be to others. Ho-hum. https://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html, https://justpublishingadvice.com/kindle-scams-are-still-making-easy-money/. Retreating into patented Internet-Free Cave for remainder of week. Yes, the husband/wife from the trilogy. The same with books for many a reader. Im curious. MEREDITH DURAN grew up enamored of British history. I loved her books. She is the author of eleven novels, all published by Pocket Books. I reread The Roselynde Chronicles occasionally. I reread The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown a few years ago and was, again, agog at their greatness. Im happy to keep trying out newish authors who are still full of creativity and whose style hasnt worn out its welcome for me. Sigh. Theyd be impossible to keep up with. I dont know why I have to go through so much tsuris (I think thats the right word meaning a whole lot of shit) but after throwing out the last third of the book and rewriting it I finally got it to a state thats actually quite delightful. Im not on Twitter, but I understand Stein has tweeted that she is still writing but went through a bad case of writers block. I didnt post often but I read a lot of the posts, and I clicked on your Amazon links whenever I bought a book to show my support. The blog entries she posted at the time were heart-wrenching. Error rating book. She is not a fast writer but her books are well worth waiting for! Its not that I think Joanna Bourne, Anne Stuart, Loretta Chase, etc. They are probably the ones who get loads of meaningless 5* reviews of 10 words or less. Now a doctoral student in anthropology, she is happy to report that all three goals have become her favorite things to do. Heath Durrans, 55 - Philadelphia, PA - Has Court or Arrest Records Its just generally not what I want. Ive seen a lot of trends and authors come and go and my personal opinion is that lighter books- in historical romance, not necessarily in other genres like paranormal etc. But that doesnt mean those authors have the same chance of being picked up by the casual Walmart shopper who still reads paperbacks and likes to grab a couple when they do their big grocery haul. While Im sure there are some scammers in the bunch, a number of these authors are legit powerhouses who can work at a punishing pace while chasing after dollars and cents. Val Roberts (sfr, only a year since a new release) I miss HR author Adele Ashworth. But those are just some personal observations. Will Meredith Duran publish again? : r/RomanceBooks - Reddit As I said (before I read your comments here) Im basing my observations on big publishers and the books getting the PR money and push. It seems the stories have gotten simpler and a lot less complex and interesting. Thanks for giving me some insight into how Audible works. (Granted, your average erotica short is 5,000 words, but KDP still considers a short story a book.). I like Anne Calhouns books and often wonder if shell return. If there is one thing I have learned about publishing, if one person does something successfully you can guarantee the market will be flooded with knock offs. However, I would like to know if she is on a permanent hiatus in relation to the IAD series or if she plans on actually release more books. But it does provide a general depiction of current trends on a roughly hourly basis. I dislike her Charlotte Holmes series very much and I wish shed at least alternate between that and HR novels. And there are some authors who have lost the spark for me, I think their previous books were better than what theyre publishing now, and I do try their new stories but they end up always as bad to ok books. :). It takes me out of the story. Of course not. While I have found some newer historical romance authors like Julia Bennet who write engaging and unique stories and have a voice I enjoy- I also find them harder to come by. I think people are getting more skeptical of mainstream publishing somehow signifying a benchmark for quality. I also dont necessarily agree that compared to the past, heroines today are sarcastic and fluff. I miss Lynn Viehl. Thankfully, when I looked this up, I discovered there was one last Morsi historical I hadnt read, so Im checking that out right now. And I so want Stellas story. Meredith Flores Duran (La toxica) See Photos. I was definitely aware of some of the chances Harlequin takes, like the conquistador and native romance you mentioned. Now, the problem with this rule is that you will find a huge range of $2.99 stories anywhere between about 3,000 and 20,000 words. The flooding of the best seller lists has more to do with Amazons wonky algorithms than scam authors. She does still write essays and things at Word Wenches that I like to read for a taste of her writing. Meanwhile, we have to have alternative chapters that focus on Miss Bubbly-Wannabe-Journalist because shes in the 21st century and therefore the young reader can. Among self-published erotica authors, the standard is $2.99 for a short up to novella length. In her B+ review, Blythe said: Fool Me Twice is easily my favorite Duran book of the last few years. Martyns FB page says shes going to write childrens books next! Anne Calhoun and Jill Sorensonneither of whom has published anything new in several years and both of whom left secondary characters (who seemed to be getting set up for their own stories) hanging at the end of their last published books. Her website had an under construction notice the last time I tried to access it. Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. the ask@AAR: What era had the best clothes? My miss list includes names already mentioned Meredith Duran (who I hope is merely on hiatus) Cecilia Grant, Laura Kinsale I miss Sherry Thomas historical romances ,(although Im enjoying Lady Sherlock) and I miss the days when Courtney Milans romances were actual romances rather than exercises in didactics. I think in some novels the age of the author slips in somewhat even if they are writing someone younger. Someone above said literary sensibility which is probably the better descriptor. Laura Florand, especially since she took a hiatus (which I understand, life happens and is complicated, but I want to maaaaybe have a tentative year for that book) before the final book in her La vie en Roses series, which also has a twist Ive been wanting to read about for a while,now. I miss Anne Stuart and even though she is revising old classics, I still miss new original books from her. Also, I have noticed a larger range of heat levels between different Avon books than with Harlequin HR and some of their other categories. She is the author of eleven novels, all published by Pocket Books. I also miss authors like Nonnie St. George and Nita Abrams who seemed to come and go in a flash of brilliance. }); Mia Vincys books would fit well today, and perhaps Evie Dunmore, though Ive only read one of her books to date. Ugh I really hope this story structure goes out of style And while I dont have a distaste for time travel per se, I dont like when its clearly used as a way to make what should be a straight-up historical story relevant for a younger reader by throwing in a 21st century protagonist who doesnt really need to be there. I love her writing and have bought the Spymaster series on audio. Im audio only now, so I have no objection to the audio experience, obviously. Now I just have to get the perfect cover and its off to the races. I have always loved books with a military setting and Emma Drummond was excellent and she set them in places many of us know little about. Also, their blog, So You Think You Can Write, occasionally posts wish lists for submissions, which tend to skew in the direction you mentioned. Oh yes, I can imagine the criticisms that would be leveled at Mrs. Morsi for writing that. Many of my favorite and much missed authors have already been mentioned (Laura Kinsale, Jennifer Crusie, Cecilia Grant, Connie Brockway). Pamela Morsi is a good example. Heath Durrans is 55 years old today because Heath's birthday is on 01/14/1967. This seemed both a sad and very intriguing comment. are being marketed more and given more of a PR push. Plus I was really bummed that shes not going to finish her Silver Daughters trilogy (about three sisters who run a tattoo shop); she had published the first two books and there was a big cliffhanger at the end of book twobut instead of using her final book to complete the series, she published a coda for an existing couple (from ACT YOUR AGE). I miss Joanna Bourne the most. Im a massive Drummond fan too. Do contemporary-in-corset authors have a younger audience? @ Lynne Connolly: I just cant cope with the romance community as it is right now, and historical romance sales have gone right down since the Amazon scam authors moved in. This seemed both a sad and very intriguing comment. Its my personal observation that the books publishers are choosing and pushing are more generic titles with lighter themes set in mostly 19th century England or Europe. Wednesdays column featured a 2009 interview with historical romance author Meredith Duran. No one is forcing them to read your book, and the fact they can sit around all day just itching to be offended by something tells you something about their characters. I used to look more at e-publisher but many of largest romance geared ones have gone out of bussiness and what is in the bookstores are a sea of ballgowns and simple plots that I can predict what is going to happen before I even open the book and it drives me crazy because I want to read a book and it seems that I can not get one that I can sink my teeth into. Ill add them to my TBLtL! by Meredith Duran | Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc | Jul 28, 2009. Id love to ask a publisher about your theory. For the Charlotte Holmes series, I find that I enjoy the audiobooks so much better than actually reading them myself. Devastated by the idea that Meredith Duran is done writing. Im curious to know more about why light fiction focusing on light-weighted female characters is a trend., Arent we all? Every year I discover at least 2-3 new favorites. Judith James reissued expanded version of her Restoration trilogy on Kindle and theyre great but her website is now defunct. var hash = window.location.hash.substring(1); I would be surprised to learn that Im the only one who has been seeing those books there for years. is meredith duran still writing - storiiu.com so maybe I have missed something somewhere. Why not create her own heroine, or choose a character from another famous book or series that hasnt been copied so often. Following a short hiatus, Grey's Anatomy will return with a new episode on May 5 to reveal the fallout of two huge revelations from the previous episode, "Put It to the Test," and a certain . We have a national election headed our way in months. Gosh, that seems crazy to me. I suppose like all of us, writers too sometimes feel theyre in a rut and want to break out, go in a different direction, shake things up, etc. Shes on Twitter and never mentions writing. Not the authors fault. I keep hoping against hope shell start writing again. Her last novel, Shadows, was published in 2013. Ugh I really hope this story structure goes out of style And while I dont have a distaste for time travel per se, I dont like when its clearly used as a way to make what should be a straight-up historical story relevant for a younger reader by throwing in a 21st century protagonist who doesnt really need to be there. What romance author do you miss the most? This is fine and Im certain other readers have enjoyed it. Of course, another possibility is that theres something in her personal life thats taking precedence right now, and if thats the case, I really hope its a good something and not a bad something! I believe that publishers must think peoples attention spans are shorter and also that they can get as much money for a book thats thousands of words less than they used to be. how to pass the achiever test; macavity: the mystery cat analysis Sarah Addison Allens latest book was released five years ago, I know its not as much as other authors but. Kindle Edition. Total immersion, fascinating experiences and interesting points of view from our heroes and heroines, even amazing and difficult and heartrending Redemption of thorough villians-dang, may have to go start re-reading.. Id like to see Deanna Rayburn continue the Lady Julia Gray series! But having been brought up with older parents I enjoyed the more traditional aspects of the heroine and still enjoyed many books originally published in the 60s or 70s where the heroines were pursuing adventures in their stockings and skirt suits when any modern heroine would be grubbing around in jeans. And I miss authors who may be an image of my youth, they might not work for me anymore, maybe: Iris Johansson (I do not like her crime books, same for others that come up), Judith mcNaught, Catherine Coulter, Tami Hoag, Elizabeth Lowell, Suzanne Brockmann, I just remember my enchantment when a new book came out . However theres also room for variety were happy to publish stories from ancient Greece all the way through to World War II, though we have ceased publication of Westerns as of January 2019..