A Bit of ROMANCE NOVEL History

If there is a romance gene, I’ve got it. I know romance novels haven’t always had the best reputation, but they are the hottest selling genre, with sales of over a billion dollars annually. So when did this love of romance novels begin?

Before Gutenberg invented the printing press, making romance novels more accessible to the masses, romance stories existed. The ancient Greeks had them as well as many other cultures. The ones that weren’t copied over and over by hand were told by word of mouth and acted out as plays, as were other types of stories. There is a list of over twenty ancient Greek romance novel titles, most are but mere fragments of the original stories. Only five of them have survived in a nearly completed state.

The Native Americans of Mackinac Island, Michigan have a tale about Arch Rock on the Island. 

An Indian maiden was tied to the rock by her father when he forbid her to marry the brave she was in love with. Her tears melted away the gigantic hole in the limestone rock, leaving the arch we see today. Her warrior rescued her and took her with him to his people. Though this story is used to explain a geological formation, it’s interesting that the Native Americans chose to use a romance theme to explain it.

The first recognized modern romance novel is considered to be Pamela or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson in 1740. 

. . . and the first from the woman’s point of view. (Interesting that romance novels before this were from the man’s point of view or probably omniscient point of view.) It was one of the first best-sellers. Go romance!

Then in the early 1800s came Jane Austen and then Charlotte Brontë in the middle of the century. Romance novels became more popular after World War I. Walter Scott developed the popular mass-market version of the historical romance novels which is said to have begun in 1921 with the publication of The Black Moth.

Mills and Boon, British publishers, began publishing hardback romance novels in the 1930s, which were popular across England. In 1957, Harlequin Enterprises, a Canadian company, began releasing Mills and Boon’s category romances in North America. In the 1970s, Harlequin bought Mills and Boon and other companies published romance novels as well that were now being sold in mass-market stores and other places where women shopped like supermarkets.

I think of Grace Livingston Hill (1865-1847) as the forerunner to the current modern-day Inspirational romances, both category and stand-alone. She wrote over 100 novels and short stories. Her published works span from the 1870s until after her death in 1947. Her last novel, Mary Arden, was finished by her daughter Ruth and published in 1948.

Romance novels continued to change and adapt to the market and have continued to sell more and more copies. Romance novels have many, many sub-genres that contribute to the large number of sales. These vast sub-genres enable romance readers to find just the right fit for them.

This reader (and author) is happy romance novels are still going strong.

HAPPY READING!

NEW!

The MISSADVENTURE BRIDES Collection

Love Is One of Life’s Greatest AdventuresSeven daring damsels don’t let the norms of their eras hold them back. Along the way these women attract the attention of men who admire their bravery and determination, but will they let love grow out of the adventures?
Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure, a 1904 road-tripZola Calkin sets out on an adventure to be the first woman to drive across the country. Will the journalist tasked to report her presumed failure sabotage her efforts? Or will he steal her heart?

MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection (January), Courting Her Amish Heart (March), The Widow’s Plight (July), Courting Her Secret Heart (September), “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection (December), and Courting Her Prodigal Heart (January 2019). She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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History of Smuggling in the American San Juan Islands

History of Smuggling in the American
San Juan Islands

The San Juan Islands, a remote island paradise in the Pacific Northwest seem serene but have a turbulent history.
Image by Janalyn Voigt (all rights reserved).

Mists often shroud the San Juan Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Washington state. Add to this an intricate network of waterways, hidden harbors, secluded coves, and an international border, and it's easy to see why smuggling became an important industry in the San Juan Islands.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Washington between the United States and Britain in 1871, the San Juan Islands became an American territory. Shortly thereafter, the United States imposed import duties on woolens, silks and other goods entering the San Juan Islands. Many local residents didn't take well to having to pay for something they'd long received for free, so they simply ignored the law.

In response to popular sentiment that the immigrants from China were robbing American nationals of jobs, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese workers from entering the United States for the next ten years. This gave rise to the smuggling of Chinese laborers to build railroads and work in the mines. Thousands of illegal immigrants were willing to pay $100 a head for transport from China.

Illustration, "Central Pacific Railroad–Chinese Laborers at Work." Public domain image.

Lawrence "Pirate" Kelly and Ben Ure, both notorious smugglers, operated from a base on Ben Ure Island just off Washington state's Deception Pass. Ure is said to have tied illegal Chinese immigrants into burlap bags, to be thrown overboard when customs agents approached. Dead Man's Bay off San Juan Island, came by its name because the tide often washed the bodies ashore at that location.

In 1890, high tariffs were placed on the importation of opium, which led to this drug becoming a profitable item for smugglers.And in 1919, the Volstead Act ushered in Prohibition, creating a market for bootlegged alcohol until 1933, when Prohibition was repealed and "rum running" ended. Cigars and wool were also smuggled to avoid tariffs and turn a profit.

Drug smuggling continues in the San Juan Islands, today. One of the most recent incidents occurred in August 2015, when a Coast Guard crew confiscated 24 kilograms of the drug, MDMA (known as ecstasy or molly), from a boat near San Juan Island in August 2015.

As long as there are taxes, laws, and a profit to be made from circumnavigating them, smuggling will go on, and the seclusion of the San Juan Islands makes them one of its favorite locations.


Deceptive Tide

When murder comes to a peaceful island paradise, what you don’t know could just kill you.

Piper Harrington, struggling to build a new life after her husband’s plane crash leaves her widowed, travels to a remote island in the Pacific Northwest to research a novel. She checks into a resort condominium near the Moran mansion on Orcas Island and soon encounters a wounded teenage girl who seems followed by trouble. Piper wants to help Lindy, but a series of unsettling events lead her to believe she has, herself, become the target of a stalker.

A spectral figure resembling the ghost said to haunt the historic mansion has her questioning her sanity. She has never felt more alone, even while two men vie for her attention. One has an air of charm, while mystery surrounds the other. Remaining heart-whole seems the only way to protect herself, but both become increasingly impossible.

Learn more about this series

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. Look for her upcoming romantic mystery and western historical fiction releases. This multi-faceted author also writes in the fantasy genre. Beginning with DawnSinger, Janalyn's epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams.

Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary Agency. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

A Real Life Reformed Rake--The Earl of Rochester

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647-1680), probably never dreamed he'd be an example of the type of hero so many romance writers would later invent for their novels: The bad boy who truly turns good--all, of course, for love. But he is.

The love that reformed him was not woman's love, neither man's, but God's. Sound boring? His story is anything but.

"John Wilmot2" by Jacob Huysmans (circa 1630–circa 1696)

The arrogant facial expression suits Wilmot perfectly 

To begin with, rest assured that Wilmot was a really, truly bad boy.

He was a scholar at an early age, and a wit (an attribute much lost in today's world, but which was highly prized in the past). To have a wit among one's circle meant amusement, entertainment. Today, we look for such among the shows we watch on television, in movies and other venues. The stand up comic, for instance, is a modern manifestation of the medieval "fool,"a jester, or wit. Wilmot was so effective at inserting bon mots into conversation, at being amusing, that he was a court favorite of King Charles II.

But he used his sharp brain and talents for unfortunate endeavors. For instance, as a talented poet he might have written many beautiful poems. Instead, he chose to write dark, bawdy scenes and lewd rhymes which were so wicked that before he died he went on a rampage of righteous anger and tried to burn them all up. He didn't want his legacy to reveal what he'd spent his short, tragic life on: Sin, primarily sexual sin.

(In fairness, he is today considered one of the best English satirists of his day, but his works were largely censored up through the Victorian era. Much of what was burned were drawings.)

He was known during his life as a famous libertine, much given to debauchery. When not at court, he frequented London brothels and taverns, spending some little time with his lovely wife at their country estate.   He lived for pleasure, primarily of the fleshly sort. He drank excessively. ( The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp, shows this well. It includes, however, a mostly fabricated romance with an actress--a detraction, in my opinion. Also, the director, striving to portray the dark existence Wilmot led, gives the flick an unfortunately gloomy atmosphere.)


He lived only to the age of  33, dying, not remarkably, of venereal disease and alcoholism. But he lay abed for some time before he died, which is where his story takes a stark twist.

His mother's friend, Gilbert Burnet, later Bishop of Salisbury, visited Lord Rochester during his last days. Wilmot apparently then renounced libertinism and ordered the burning of much of his work. By some accounts, he was quite distraught at what he was leaving behind. Others have questioned the conversion, since it was Burnet's own writings that first made it public.

Elizabeth Malet

One of Wilmot's exploits was that he actually abducted Elizabeth Malet, the woman he wanted to marry. She was a young and beautiful heiress, far wealthier than he, and her family had forbidden the marriage. Conspiring with his mother, he arranged an abduction--and thereby eventually won his bride. (He spent a stint in the Tower of London for the abduction, but later Miss Malet eloped with him, defying her parents.) It is, certainly, the stuff of a romance novel.

Despite his many failings in life, I cannot but be attracted to the character of this intelligent but doomed Earl. I put him, in fact, into a short story, almost a novelette,  "Coach and Four," (under the guise of "Earl of Dorchester").  The story is fiction, but the character of Rochester fit well into the scheme, and if the title "Coach and Four" hints at that abduction story...well, the romantic possibilities were too tempting to pass up as story fodder for this romance author! (I hope eventually to complete a full novel of this story, which at present is about 1/3 complete.)



Coach and Four: Allisandra's Tale 
Can conspiracy and betrayal lead to unexpected love?  
Nineteen year-old Lady Allisandra is a ward of King Charles II.  Mysteriously ordered from court to stay with her old friend the Duchess of Langley, Allisandra finds herself trapped inside a coach-and-four with the notorious rake Lord Dorchester. Has the duchess betrayed her? Perhaps, but things are not as they appear, and whether it is Her Grace, the infamous Earl of Dorchester or the king himself bent on evil, only time will tell. In the meantime, how does a virtuous young woman handle first a highwayman, then a debauched earl? Find out in this rousing tale of the late 1600s in England!

Available for only .99 cents!

 

Linore Rose Burkard is best known for historical romance novels with Harvest House Publishers, and now writes YA/Suspense as L.R.Burkard. Linore teaches workshops for writers with Greater Harvest Workshops in Ohio, is a mother of five, and still homeschools her youngest daughter—preferably with coffee in one hand,  iPad in the other, and her feet up. Keep up with Linore by subscribing at either of her websites. (Click on her name, above.)