USA TODAY的<Strong, sexy women save the day, get their man>

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USA TODAY的<Strong, sexy women save the day, get their man>

<b> 今天不離題的離題大王 </b>  發表時間: 2004/10/28 1:08:24 AM<br>今天讀到這篇文章
討論這一兩年ROMANCE作品的女性角色轉變
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Strong, sexy women save the day, get their man
By Dinah Eng, Special for USA TODAY

Readers of 21st-century romance novels aren't just looking for alpha males to save the day, then marry the helpless damsel. Strong, sexy heroines who save the day and then pick their own man are seducing the romance genre.

Though romance novels remain the top-selling genre of paperback fiction, a dip in sales in the past couple of years - market share was 48.8% in 2003 compared with 54.1% in 1999 - has publishers and authors rethinking the romance-novel protagonist. Enter the kick-butt heroines.

Like the female stars of Charlie's Angels and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the women in these novels have the physical moves and mental savvy to take down anyone who gets in their way. Stories are plot- and heroine-driven rather than romance-driven, and they are set in contemporary or futuristic settings rather than the Victorian or Regency periods, for example.

&#8226; Harlequin, the world's largest publisher of romance novels - nearly 110 titles a month - has launched Silhouette Bombshell, a line that features tough women. Recently published Body Double by Vicki Hinze, the 12th book in the series, is the story of a Special Forces captain who must figure out who is cloning government agents.

The Bombshell series grew out of company brainstorming sessions on how to expand the romance genre. After the series launched, "we had a wonderful response from readers who wrote in to our Web site, but it'll take a year to really judge it," says Natashya Wilson, associate senior editor of the Bombshell series.

&#8226; Dorchester Publishing, the fourth-largest publisher of romance novels, came out with its 2176 action-adventure romance series in April. Targeting a younger, hipper audience, the books, including The Shadow Runners by Liz Maverick, feature heroines embroiled in a futuristic revolution for freedom.

"Sales are going very well for 2176, " says Christopher Keeslar, senior editor with Dorchester. "Distribution increased every time for the first three books and has plateaued out with the last two books as we approach the Christmas buying season. But we're very pleased. We're launching another series, called Crimson City, next July, which will be a paranormal action series, and will definitely do more if they do as well as we expect them to."

&#8226; Avon Books, which offers historical and contemporary romances, does not have lines with specific themes, but it does publish authors who feature physically fit, tough-as-nails women in their stories. "The kick-butt heroine is another incarnation of earlier heroines who have existed in books for a long time," says Carrie Feron, vice president and executive editor of William Morrow and Avon Books. "We don't have lines where we develop a theme. But these heroines exist in our novels, even in historical times."

Says author Suzanne Brockmann, whose latest heroine works with former Navy SEALS to find a terrorist's laptop in Flashback )Ballantine, $6.99), out in paperback today: "I love that the heroines are such fabulous role models for women. They have the soul of the warrior, which is what modern women have to have in order to do what we do.

"The heroines I write about have an unwillingness to quit. When they're in danger, they're going to fight hard."

Heroines such as those in Brockmann's books "are really multi-dimensional and more layered than some in the past," says Linda Marrow, vice president and editorial director for Ballantine Books, another large American publisher of romance novels. "They may be single mothers or divorced, and tremendously accomplished. Their goal is not to be in a couple, but to catch the serial killer.

"They also happen to find love and happiness, possibly kicking and screaming, along the way," Marrow says. "It's a terribly powerful and appealing fantasy, to be very feminine and accomplished, and also very strong."
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<b> NINIANE </b>  發表時間: 2004/10/28 12:37:29 PM<br>Thanks for posting this interesting articles. It is interesting.
It had been a while for me not to visit the romance fiction section in Barnes&Nobles. I will drop by to find some new typed fictions next time. I was also quite surprised HQ had already published the particular romance stoiesy, and the sales went well. I am not sure that I could accept them? Guess what, I could be the one who is old and conservative???
Anyway, it is goods that the romance genre can expand and reach to more readers, as assumed. Or, one day, we could find the some romance fictions been named as comtempary must-read books. Who knows? <hr>
<b> dingdong </b>  發表時間: 2004/10/29 12:49:27 AM<br>謝謝離題大王轉貼的這份近年來羅曼史的女主角流行的個性的研究報告, 不過, 這位Dinah Eng 對 SB 的作品似乎不太熟, 她把 Flashpoint 的書名敲成 Flashback 了......... 而且她也只針對比較有教養的女主角加以介紹, 而同樣很厲害很強捍, 對付那些壞蛋很有一套, 可是卻老說F字眼的 Eve 給捨掉了...........身為 in death 系列的書迷, 真是有些不太甘心柳........... ^_^

倒是她提到的二部電影都是自己的最愛, 霹靂嬌娃和古墓奇兵真是給她們崇拜到不行啦............. 呵呵呵.

不過, 可惜的是 Dinah Eng 提到的禾林的Bombshell Series, 台灣沒法出中文版, 要不然...哇.... 女主角是特種部隊的 captain , 想必一定酷斃了............. ^+++^