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TT was JM's first contemporary and I would say it is very "1980-ish". I don't think I can tell exactly why it is different but I thought you might enjoy reading Judith's take on this subject (see below).

Sari

quote:

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Post Number: 43851 of 43925
Subject: RAMON GALVERRA/TENDER TRIUMPH

On 08/01/99 at 5:24PM JUDITH McNAUGHT said...

You're right, Jacynthe, there was something quite different about this hero and this book. The reason is because it was written to be (and originally published) as a Harlequin Superromance. When I couldn't sell the manuscript for WML by 1981, I lost faith in my ability to write a saleable historical. I noticed that Harlequin Superromances were always #1, 2, 3, and 4 on the best seller lists in the stores, so I started reading them. They were the first Harlequin romance I'd ever read in my life. I liked them; some of them were really very good, so I decided to try my hand at writing a contemporary with an eye toward perhaps selling it to Harlequin.

I was blissfully unaware that Harlequin had guidelines for these novels that writers were required to follow. There was no RWA, I didn't know any other writers, I didn't even know where Harlequin was. I had no idea that the guidelines at that time required that the book be opened with the heroine, not the hero, or that only the heroine's point of view was allowed, or that humor was not desirable. I noticed those things weren't done in the Harlequin Superromances I read, but I thought it was because the writers either didn't like to do it, or else didn't feel they could write that way.

So in my blissful ignorance, I deliberately opened the book with the hero, included his point of view, and packed the book with as much wit as I could. When TT was finished, I managed to get an agent--a terrific agent.

He sold TT to Harlequin in a week or two after he received the manuscript. The acceptance letter said they were buying the manuscript "despite" the fact that I'd done those things. I was flabbergasted. I thought those were the strongest points of the novel. And I was right. After TT was released, Harlequin dropped their blanket ban on multiple points of view, humor, and opening with the heroine.

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Thanks for sharing! No wonder I could never get into Harlequin Romances! Without humor and the hero's point of view, what's the Point??!! Thank goodness for JM, changing the rules. I always knew she was a "Rebel" at heart! I just love Rebels!

Sharon

Thanks for posting that, it was really interesting, I had no idea, though I'd always thought that TT seemed a bit like a Harlequin or Silhouette.

I was just wondering has anyone got one of the originals. Over here our USBs are useless, but we do have really good bookstalls in markets and I have picked up loads of orginal copies of old Silhouettes, like the original Sandra Brown's written under the name Erin St. Claire. I wondered if any of you had the orginal Harlequin Superromance.

lol

Marion

Marion, I guess several ladies on this BB have the original version of TT. I have one too (at least I have a Harlequin Superromance version of it; if there are several editions of those then I am not sure if it is the original version or not).

Sari

[This message has been edited by Sari (edited 04-15-2001).]

Posts: 2921 | From: The Rutherford ballroom | Registered: May 2000  |  IP: Logged | 

Now, if I can just find somebody out there to tell me what's wrong with my car...ha!

Thanks so much for posting that from Judith! I love reading her posts from the pasts as they are always so insightful. :)

Annetta,

TT has always seemed to be a little different to me also, so I loved reading that post from Judith. I do think it is a very good book and really enjoy it, but it's just hard to compare with some of the other ones. :)

Question: Does that mean that TT was her first published book and not W,ML as I thought?

Thank you so much Sari!