This
baffles me so much that I wanted to write a blog about it. I just scored a
major find at a local book thrift deal. I wouldn’t exactly call it a store,
since its run out of a warehouse, but anyway. For the bargain price of a buck,
I got my hands on Karen Marie Moning’s Into
the Dreaming, which is a collection containing the short story “Into the
Dreaming” and some fun bonus material. I already own and have read the story. I
have the original anthology it was published in, which is apparently hard to
find.
Apparently,
in 1998 no one wanted to read paranormal romance. Urban fantasy did not exist
yet. Publishers wanted straight up romances, historical with a focus on
regency. Moning had trouble finding her voice because she had to attempt to
bend to what the market wanted, what her publishers were willing to take a
chance on. I think Sherrilyn Kenyon had similar problems with her Greek
flavored vampire series, the Dark-Hunters.
Traditional
publishers are incredibly short sighted. Both of these women are incredibly
successful now and it is because they put a unique spin on old ideas and they
are fantastic writers, so they can pull it off. I have a hard time
understanding how publishers could be so timid that they wouldn’t touch their
work.
In 1998,
highlanders were too “primitive” to sell. With all the highlander romances on
the shelves now, that blows my mind. Horny women like primitive. Female readers
looking for some hot material generally want dominance. I’ll take that over a
simpering lord any day, personally.
It occurs
to me how much the publishing landscape has changed in the last fifteen years.
What was once too much of a risk is the hottest thing on the shelves and it’s
becoming more mainstream by the day. And
if publishers are still too timid, there’s self-publishing. Readers shape the
landscape, writers give them the tools.
Getting my
hands on this book, and having everything Moning has published, makes me
remember that I’ve been reading her for close to ten years. And what a ride
it’s been. I devoured her Highlander novels quickly, picking up The Immortal Highlander in 2004 and
having read all the others by the time Spell
of the Highlander came out in 2005. I was 14 at the time and
incredibly embarrassed buying that book
with my parents around, but I did it anyway. When Darkfever hit the scene, I wasn’t interested and didn’t pick it up
until my freshman year of college. I devoured it and waited impatiently for Shadowfever, the fifth book in the Fever
series, to hit shelves. And now we move forward with Iced and Burned, due out
sometime next year.
Through the
anthology “Into the Dreaming” was in, I discovered Sherrilyn Kenyon. From one
of her anthologies, I discovered J. R. Ward. It’s a vicious cycle and as a
reader, I love it. Lady powerhouses of the genre I hope to join one day and I
know at least that Karen Marie Moning and J. R. Ward have mad respect for each
other, which makes the fangirl in me completely lose her mind.
It’s a good
day to be a reader. It’s a good day to be a writer. Peace out from the
Kelswitch, I hope everyone has a good weekend!
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