Romance is King
Young Bill Young here.
Love makes the world go around. No one knows that better than the authors and readers of Romance, one of the most popular genres of fiction. In fact, Romance is the king of the publishing world right now, outstripping sales of most other categories of books in this uncertain economy.
Many Oklahoma writers are riding this wave of success in the Romance field, and librarians and readers enjoyed a chance to meet nine of these authors at Romance in the Stacks last Thursday at Hardesty Regional Library. The event was sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Tulsa authors participating were Laura Marie Altom, Margaret Daley, Peggy Fielding, Jackie King, Vickie McDonough and Susan Shay. Jaci Burton of Claremore, and Jordan Dane and Malena Lott of Edmond were also on hand.
These are just a handful of the many Romance writers who call Oklahoma home. We’re lucky to have so many talented Romance scribes in the state, and Oklahoma and the rest of the nation is also blessed to have so many Romance readers. According to a New York Times article: Nielsen Bookscan, which tracks retail sales, says Romance sales were up seven percent in 2008, while most of adult fiction remained flat. Barnes and Noble, the country’s largest book chain, expects book sales to fall between four to six percent this year, but Romance sales are up.
InfoTrends, Inc. reports that 74.8 million people read at least one Romance novel in 2008, and that there is a core market of 29 million regular readers of the genre. In addition, the percent of Americans who read Romance has increased from 21.8 percent in 2005 to 24.6 percent in 2008.
The continuing and growing popularity of Romance plays out everyday in libraries according to Hardesty Regional Manager Louix Escobar-Matute. “I would estimate that one out of every three fiction books checked out at this library is a Romance novel,” Escobar-Matute said.
The fact that there are so many writers, and so many different types of Romance stories, means there are always plenty of titles to recommend to people who like a particular style or setting, Escobar-Matute said. That keeps readers coming back for more.
The genre ranges from inspirational Christian Romance, to steamy tomes, and everything in between. Settings range from the Wild West, to modern day suburbia, to historical scenes, to science fiction and fantasy worlds.
But the cental element of all of these books is the universal story of romantic love. Afterall, who doesn’t love a happy ending?
Short story from Carolyn Hart in new anthology
On the Okie bookshelf, we just received a copy of Two of the Deadliest, edited by Elizabeth George. One of Oklahoma’s best known and read mystery/cozy writers, Carolyn Hart has a short story, Your Turn, in this new volume of “Outstanding Women of Mystery”. You’ll also find some more of your favorites, including Nancy Pickard, Laura Lippman, Elizabeth George and many others. Carolyn’s story has a little of everything; greed, infidelity, twists & turns, and a keep you guessing ending.
If you want to find out more about Carolyn Hart, please go to her website, or check out the above link at Oklahoma Crossroads Oklahoma Author Database.
Giddiup to Metropolitan Downtown June 15th
Western Authors at Metropolitan Library System
Eight Months with Young Ari
Young Bill Young here. I’ll be your guest blogger for the next couple of days while Kitty is out of town. First up: Oklahoma author CJ Cherryh’s latest sci-fi triumph, Regenesis. (Yes, I know CJ has moved to cooler climes, but she was raised here, taught school here, and wrote here for many years. We still claim her. Who wouldn’t?)
Regenesis is the long-awaited sequal to the Hugo Award-winning Cyteen—and yes, you do need to read Cyteen before tackling Regenesis, despite what some reviewers say. It took more than two decades for the sequel to see light, and Cherryh dedicates the book to Daw Books publisher Betsy Woolheim’s “determination.”
Cherryh’s Union/Aliance universe, the setting for Regenesis, is rich and complex, and I’ll let you follow this link to find out more about it.
When Regenesis opens, Arianne (Ari) Emory is 18 years old, and heir to the Reseune company which operates on the planet Cyteen, headquarters for the Union government. She is the clone of the original Arianne—a brilliant, but morally suspect, scientist whose genius has allowed Union’s population to grow (through cloning), giving it an advantage over its Earth and Alliance foes. Following the murder of the original Ari, Emory is cloned. Much of Cyteen focuses on the effort by Reseune personnel to make sure young Ari turns out as brilliant as her predecessor. This leads to cruel familial separations so that young Ari has the same traumatic experiences as her “parent,” but it ultimately makes Young Ari very different from the original: Old Ari doesn’t trust. Young Ari wants desperately to trust. Old Ari has no friends. Young Ari has several friends. Old Ari doesn’t (or can’t) love. Young Ari *does* love.
Where Cyteen was epic in scope, Regenesis is more intimate, taking place in the space of only eight months. But it is an eight-month period filled with political and psychological suspense as the young genius works to keep herself alive, solve her parent’s murder, protect Reseune and Union interests, and protect those she loves.
While telling the story, Cherryh weaves in the big issues that humans deal with: the need for development versus the need to respect nature; the meaning of identity; the need for self preservation versus the need to trust; and (especially in a post 911 world) the rights of the individual versus the need to stay alive and protect a way of life.
Cherryh doesn’t shy away from the big issues. (Why would you write science fiction if you were timid?) But she knows how to tell a story, too, and how to make you care about the characters (both born and cloned) that populate Regenesis.
Cup of crime with a tea cozy
I was looking through a recent issue of Publishers Weekly, selecting titles to order at work and was pleasantly surprised by an interview with Oklahoma’s own Carolyn Hart. It followed an article on Cozies, the Bud Light of crime fiction, with drinkability. You can see the article for yourself at http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6655706.html?
Carolyn is always promoting her Okie roots. Much appreciated. Her newest Annie and Max Darling is Dare to Die. 
After you have finished it go back and get the other 40 Carolyn Hart mysteries. Find the bibliography of her works at the Oklahoma Author Database.
For an interview with Carolyn Hart, check out the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers interview with Emrys Moreau.
I like the whole Cozy genre. I particularly like M.C. Beaton writing about Hamish MacBeth, small town Scottish bobby. A great read for a Highland getaway. Agatha Raisin is her other cozy character. Of course anything by Charlotte MacLeod.
On May 2nd Malice Domestic Awards were handed out. See the Mystery Scene blog for highlights and winners. Try out the Malice Domestic newsletter. Want a step back from too much sex and violence in your crime books, try out one of these, it just may be your cup of tea.
National Poetry Month in Oklahoma
“I know Durant’s way down here on the Red, but if anyone’s straying this
far south Ron Wallace (That’s me) will be reading some new poems at the
Market Square stage off First and Main Street in Durant at 3:00 PM this
Saturday the 25th.”
Ken Hada at Full Circle Book Store in Oklahoma City at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and Carol Hamilton and lots of others are reading in 15-minute sessions at a Readathon and celebration at the Ralph Ellison Library in Oklahoma City also on Saturday the 25th. Wherever you are, lots to do for Poetry Month.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
National Poetry Month Read-a-thon
Time:
Location: Ralph Ellison
All Ages
Celebrate National Poetry Month at the library with an entire day of poetry reading. The poetry begins early at 9:00am and continues until midnight. Come for children’s readings from 9:00am to noon, refreshments and music from 12:00 to 1:00pm, an open mic poetry session at 6:00pm and keynote speaker Deborah Hunter at 7:00pm. Make sure to stay for the finale starting at 9:00pm where you could get a chance to win some awesome prizes. All ages are invited to attend. After 5:00pm, children 16 and under must be accompanied by a parent or have a permission slip. Call 606-3459 with questions, or to sign up as a poetry reader (spots are limited).
Oklahoma’s Bounty of Talent
Lunch with Tim was very nice. What do I know about him you might not after our lunch…. He worked in a university library Special Collection, working with sheet music and magic. He attended a writing program at Brown University. Grew up in Midwest City, teaches at Rose State. Found out about being a finalist for the National Book Awards from a Tulsa World reporter (his agent left a voice mail but the reporter beat her to the news). Journalism is still alive. Can Rap but should probably not give up his day job for a music career. Changed to writing young adult novels because he was inspired by the immediate emotion of the younger readers to his first novel Falling Dark, which was written for an adult audience . He writes to explore characterization, language and themes. And brings literary fiction to the young adult reader in a way that doesn’t talk down or dumb down.
Then later in the afternoon I went to the panel discussion with the authors I mentioned in the previous post. Tim Tharp, Bob Burke, Nathan Brown, Anna Myers and illustrator, Mike Wimmer.
Tidbits from them… Burke has written 88 nonfiction books and is working on five more for next year! Myers has won FOUR Oklahoma Book Awards in the Children/ Young Adult category. She’s got a new one coming out in the fall called Time of the Witches, about the Salem witch trials.
Coming out in September
And a new first adult novel that sounds like a lot of fun with some serious on the side. Tharp likes revising. Wimmer is happiest with his first pencil drawing, because the beginning is the best and the ending will always disappoint. And Nathan Brown wants us to escape all the previous scarring of bad poetry teaching and find out it can be understandable and enjoyable. He’s got a new one in the works called My Sideways Heart.
My final comment is something Mike Wimmer said when talking about wanting to inspire and in the course of meeting and talking with people, he discovered two important concepts from successful people. They are the choices they made about what they want to do with their lives and that they picked something they love to do. Something to think about this spring afternoon, choice and passion, and I’m glad I got to visit with people who’s choice and passion bring us art and literature.
Howard Starks comment
I thought everyone would like to see this comment about Oklahoma poet Howard Starks,
Howard Starks was the embodiment of genius. I write poetry and teach English primarily thanks to his influence. This book was a finalist in the 1997 Oklahoma Book Awards. It should have won hands down, no way a book of translations could even be close. Robinson Jeffers, James Dickey, Walt Whitman, Howard Starks: his name is on their level. I use this book in the classes I teach at Southeastern. It has been reprinted and can be purchased at the Campus Bookstore at Southeastern or from my website http://www.RonWallacePoetry.com Don’t miss the chance to read this work. It is the pinnacle of Oklahoma Poetry.
Celebrating Oklahoma and Margaret Manuel Larason
To honor Margaret Manuel Larason, mother of Linda Edmondson (Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s wife), a collection of photographs from well-known Oklahoma Centennial photographer Mike Klemme were given to Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Mrs. Larason was a western Oklahoma reporter, history teacher, school librarian and penned several works of county and local history. She also wrote with her daughter, “Kate Barnard: The Story of a Woman Politician,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, 78 (Summer 2000), 160–81.
Quoted from the Alva Review-Courier:
“This gift of artwork is a truly wonderful addition to our new campus and is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Margaret Larason,” Janet Cunningham, university president, said. “We are grateful to all of the donors who chose to honor Mrs. Larason and Northwestern with these beautiful photographs.”
If you haven’t had a chance, you need to stop and view the pictorial work of Mike Klemme, “Celebrating Oklahoma! The Oklahoma Centennial Photographic Survey.” Also take a peek at the scumptious art work on his website. You can also find information for purchasing the book and his art. 
John Hope Franklin, Oklahoma’s renown historian and author
It is with great sadness we recognize the passing of one of Oklahoma’s greatest historians, authors and teachers, John Hope Franklin. During his lifetime he received many honors; many from his native state, including, the Oklahoma Center for the Book Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award and election to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
A chronicler of Black history, he authored numerous books, including his major work, “From Slavery to Freedom: The History of African-Americans.” He taught at Duke University, and graduated from Fisk and Harvard. He co-edited with his son the autobiography of his father, Buck Colbert Franklin’s life. John Hope Franklin also authored his own autobiography, Mirror to America.
Born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma in 1915, Dr. Franklin became a well respected historian and scholar. He fought for civil rights with determination and dignity. In his passing we will all have lost an important and treasured voice.
