Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

And Now For Something Completely Different

First things first, part two of my joint Romancing The Blog column is up. Go forth! Read! Leave comments!

Good news on the historical sub genre front thanks to those zany folks over at Harlequin. I practically leapt off my sofa when I read the following on page 10 of the January issue of Romantic Times:

"The struggling Harlequin Historical line seemed to be on a deathwatch in mid-2005. Harlequin even issued a release stating it would stop acquiring for the line. But the company changed its mind in early fall, and thankfully for fans, the line will continue with some improvements, according to Senior Editor Linda Fildew. 'When we took the decision to keep faith with what still remains a popular genre in North America, we realized we would need to refocus Harlequin Historical.' For 2006, that means new locales and time periods, like 19th-century Nova Scotia, Regency Malta and ancient Rome." (emphasis mine).

The HH line continues to be one of my favorites, so I was hugely relieved when Harlequin reconsidered their original plan to discontinue the line in retail markets. Now I learn that they plan to publish some different locales! Hooray!

What I've always loved about the line is that it continues to publish a variety. Every month you don't see just one setting. They regularly publish medievals, Regencies, westerns and other American settings. Unlike other historical publishers (cough, cough Avon), you won't find one setting for all their books coming out on any given month.

And now they're broadening their horizons even more. I'm so happy I could squeal.

Squeeeeeeee!

7 comments:

Caro said...

That's great news -- I do enjoy Regency settings but not as the only thing to read.

Nicole said...

Yay! I think Deborah Hale is doing something with Nova Scotia in February.

I might just have to read more HHs.

ReneeW said...

Thanks for posting the good news! I'm a huge fan of Cheryl St. John's HH and want them to continue. And the new locales and time periods sound good.

Megan Frampton said...

Hey, thanks for the info...and which HH authors do you recommend? I think Deborah Simmons is one (love her, did not like the latest two books), and I like the idea of expanding into other genres, too.

Wendy said...

Megan:
My two favorite HH authors are Cheryl St. John and Cheryl Reavis. I've also enjoyed books by Kate Bridges and Victoria Bylin.

I've also heard really good things about Carolyn Davidson's earlier work with HH - but alas, they're in my TBR.

These are all American/western writers. I'm fairly out of the loop on HH authors who write in other locales.

Tara Marie said...

Excellent news, thanks for the update.

TaraGel said...

Yay! That's my article you read! Hee.