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Comment by Francine Howarth on September 25, 2011 at 17:59

Hi,

What about obsessive male love, which can be construed as madness in like manner to female bunny-boiler? Would not such a story of a young knight obsessed with the unobtainable lend itself to a young male readership, airing Lancelot though a little more racy. Modernised or Historical version, maybe even vampire related. He's so in love (obsessed) he cannot bear to render her to eternal life such as he endures, yet cannot bear to lose her to old age and death... What a dilemma?   

 

I've written a contemporary romantic (thriller) male bunny-boiler, and it's more than a mere stalker theme: it's in a family setting, and very disturbing, yet involves a parallel love story! Two men, one woman.  Quite creepy in places, yet I could not help but fall in love with the rogue as much as the hero! The anti-hero's love is boundless, and ...  I've never sent it to a publisher because it doesn't fit with romance and it's not a straight thriller: it's cross genre and who in hell publishes cross genre.      ;)

 

As for the Tudors: what a load of tossing rubbish. :o

 

best

F 

Comment by Justin Nash on September 24, 2011 at 22:09

Thanks Francine, I don't disagree with anything you have said, I think it means that rather like learning in a classroom, romance for men has to be mixed with something else (or called a literary classic, Austin, Bronte etc). I also enjoyed the Tudors, but I wonder if that personified the male version of romance, at least in fictional terms, with lots of emphasis on the physical relationship and the actual relationship bit then complicating things (as it went wrong). I think most humans (let alone just men or women) know how important relationships are, but perhaps male culture (or certainly young male culture) is less receptive to the idea of reading about relationships whereas it cannot be said that that is the case for the other side of the coin (I know that this is not true for all women). I still challenge anyone to come up with a book that would sell based on the idea of young male in adversity sees unobtainable women and eventually triumphs over adversity to win her (without the following). Unlike the classic romance it would surely involve the young male/male being screwed up or socially opressed or going through a rite of passage, which connects up again with your idea that males do do romance but simply in other forms.

Comment by Francine Howarth on September 24, 2011 at 20:31

Hi,

As you say, you're the bloke. You tell us! Though I must say H.E.Bates wrote some stunning romances into a lot of his novels. The novella "Love for Lydia" readily comes to mind, then the comic romances within "The Darling Buds of May" not to mention many others. And, one cannot ignore R.F. Delderfield novels that had romance in them, including the Green Gauntlet/A Horseman Riding By.  Then there was Lady Chatterley's Lover, which I'm guessing probably read by as many men as women,  :o  Then of course, there are the chaps who write for Mills & Boon.

 

Hee hee, love it, quote: "even if romance novels were written from a male point of view for males (not by a female author for female audience e.g. Mr Darcy's Diary) it still wouldn't work". Perhaps not in terms of books in today's world of visual delights, to which I can tell you my hubby has every DVD version of Jane Austen's novels that have been adapted to TV series and movies. I guess all those plumped bosoms have appeal same as tight breeches on men for the gals. I have one or two favourites and haven't sat through the whole collection. Hubby does have Rome, The Tudors, Dickens, and numerous heroic epics etc. But, the various Sharpe series are mine, so too anything swashbuckling in like to Master & Commander, Hornblower, The Three Musketeers, or Pirate orentated movies/series. So where does that place me in the run of men Vs females in the love stakes? I tend to write raunchy sex in some of my historical novels, and a few of the men have been gross in treatment of ladies, some plain reckless and others perfect gentlemen. I do write male POV (not female orientated, I hope) and I try to avoid the hero or anti hero from coming across as any thing but realistic. I did have a go at writing for Mills & Boon a few times, but because I can't stand reading about stereotypical heroes and I hated writing them even more, I figured that kind of novel just wasn't my thing.         

 

Interesting subject. Thanks

 

best

F 

 

 

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