Howard and Heyer

Fiorella has been concentrating so much on her writing lately that she hasn't done much reading, which she decided was as a mistake, so she revisited at couple of her old favorites--Linda Howard and Georgette Heyer.  Linda Howard wrote contemporary and Georgette Heyer wrote historical--in fact, she was the mother of the historical romance genre. But Fio digresses.  What she wants to tell you is that, now that she reads more analytically, she realized how much her own writing style has been influenced by Howard's use of inner dialogue and Heyer's subtle humor.

For a a good read, pick up a copy of these ladies' romances.  They've stood the test of time.

Posing a Question

Why are American historical romance writers so hung up on the British nobility?  Every book seems to feature a member of the House of Lords--and their titled ladies. In fact, enough dukes and earls and counts and viscounts lounge around in romances to people a small--maybe a large--nation.

Why?  Is it faithfulness to the Georgette Heyer tradition? Is it the long dresses and swash-buckling heroes?  Is it the the long-ago and far-away princess movie aspect?

Fio doesn't know the answer. After, all she writes dark contemporaries.