Forum: Author Hangout

Similarly, I've written many stories with romance as an element, yet have never even attempted to write a "Romance" story, as has been noted, those are mainly women-oriented tales, which I was never personally fond of reading.

Again, each genre has its own genre expectation by their typical readers, so you can't dive into those genres without know what their reader exceptions are without shooting yourself in the feet.

And since I ain't a woman, it ultimately feels disingenuous to try it. Though female protagonists who find romance is another story entirely.

Amy Sumida's Twilight Court series is a reverse harem fantasy (elves and all.)

Thanks for this. Maybe I'll give them a look.

I started but have abandoned A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas at the point where the heroine was forced to accompany one of the of apparently human-eating elves back to his home. Clearly she is going to be won over by him and into his bed, but I decided a couple of chapters was enough.

I'm not knocking the genre, only concluding it isn't for me, ditto most romance. I respect the art, even if in this case it opened as a mish-mash of "Hunger Games" (young female provider for her impoverished family who hunts successfully with bow and arrow) and "Game of Thrones" (world that looks a lot like the British Isles with---wait for it---a Wall that divides the world and a young woman who must compete with a Direwolf for game). Spoiler: the Direwolf isn't really a wolf. Uh oh.

(Mild edits for hoped-for clarity)

~ JBB

I'm not knocking the genre, only concluding it isn't for me, ditto most romance.

Same here. I get so tired of 'hate to love', 'misunderstanding that goes on and on and on', 'cheating/being thought to be cheating', etc...

The Arizona Tape books are nice that way. Yes, some of the standard plots show up, but mostly they're softened or their duration shortened (yes, there was a misunderstanding, but if it lasts more than 15 pages, I'm closing the book.) Her worlds are mostly fun take-offs on the mythology we learned in school.

Her worlds are mostly fun take-offs on the mythology we learned in school.

I'm having a good time with her "Caught with Zeus," which is exactly what you describe. She does it well.

Similarly, Fan Service, a romance I read a while ago was well – described by one blurb: "Goth heroine, check, conflicted himbo [sic], check, Bonkers premise, double check."

Classic romcom, well done, double twist at the end, both parties have something to overcome that may take them apart. And it was funny.

~ JBB

Actually, I have a couple of books on "Romance from a woman's perspectives" which I've found useful for erotic stories, as women and men simply see things from different perspectives. So they can often use the same words to say entirely different things.

So knowing how women typically convey erotica makes conveying the women's perspective much more accurate, where even the lesbian-only stories are mainly aimed at male readers.

I've always loved a decent lesbian relationship story, yet only when it seems authentic and not merely a strictly male fantasy.

So even with the popularity of lesbian stories, there's a major difference between women's perspectives and mens, not enough touching the separate issue of "Romance" vs. "romantic" erotic scenes.

As most often, we write from the perspective we're most accustomed to, just as gays write from a gay perspective rather than a straight one.

Amy Sumida's Twilight Court series is a reverse harem fantasy (elves and all.)

Elves is the plural of Elvis, isn't it?

AJ

Elves is the plural of Elvis, isn't it?

Yes

~ JBB

I'm being picky here, but Sauron was the LOTR. J. R. R. Tolkien, The creator of the story, was a master linguist as you point out (and philologist), who created whole cultures behind the languages. He didn't just pick funny names.

I stand by my answer to the question of the plural of Elvis, offered in the same spirit as the question (ETA: but "fantasies" is pretty good, too).

~ J BB

As always, there are honest answers, then there are 'witticisms' and plays-on-words, which keep readers entertained while also relieving the often unrelenting story tensions, just a tad.

After all, if authors can't have fun with their posts, then they lost interest in posting the 'same old sh*t' chapters, time after time. Sometimes we authors have to amuse ourselves when it's our third or fifth revision of the chapter/story! ;)

My pocket Latin dictionary doesn't list it, but clearly it is third declension masculine (-is stem), so the forms are:

Nominative: elvis, elves
Vocative: elvis, elves
Accusative: elvem, elves
Genitive: elvis, elvium
Dative: elvi, elvibus
Ablative: elve, elvibus

Sorry, but they don't speak Latin in Las Vegas, where you often run across multiple Elvises in a single outing, often at the same time in the same venue. In that case, "Elvises" is the common usage.