For the Love of a Good Anthology

I am an unabashed fan of anthologies. Why do I love them? Let me count the ways...

First - Discoverability

I love sitting down with one, stomach all aflutter with anticipation. The promise of a cozy, quick immersion in the talent of one of my favorite authors makes me grin. But it's the prospect of finding a new-to-me-and-just-waiting-to-be-discovered writer that has me sinking into my reading chair, squirming into that just-right spot, ready to dive for a few hours of reading bliss.

I've "discovered" some amazing talent by taking a chance on an anthology. Linda Howard - "Lake of Dreams," anyone? Anne Stuart, Carla Kelly, Eileen Wilks, Cait London, Katherine Stone, Mary Blayney, Lori Foster, MaryJanice Davidson, Cherise Sinclair, Stacia Kane. By taking a chance - and knowing I might have to kiss some frogs along the way - I opened myself up to wonderful new worlds.

Second - Re-readability

I love to re-read stories that have touched my heart. And the absolute best thing about a story from an anthology is you can have that emotional catharsis in relatively short order.

When I want to laugh, I'll go to Cait London's "The Nine-Month Knight" in Maternity Leave.

When I want to sweet and funny and lovely, I'll head for Eileen Wilks' "The Proper Love" in All I Want for Christmas.

For flat out emotion, you just can't beat Linda Howard's "The Way Home," in A Bouquet of Babies. Tears my heart out each time I crack that story open.

Third - Craftsmanship

Okay, so this reason is less about a love of reading and more about a love of writing. Creating a world, believable characters, a strong central conflict and a happily ever after is challenging enough in a regular length story. Cutting the word count means you really need to up your game and make every word matter. Reading a tight, well-honed short story is likely immersing myself in a master class of craft. Yum.

Fourth - Themes!

The last reason I'm drawn to anthologies is that I'm a sucker for theme - and how each of us interprets a given them in our own unique ways. Chocolate (check out Lisa Cache's "Eliza's Gateau"). Christmas. Father's Day. Halloween. Kink. Bad Boys. Valentine's Day (duh!). DIY for the paranormal set.  The Rockville 8 is planning our own anthology with a moon theme tying us all together. There's no end to the themes that can tie otherwise seemingly disparate stories into one happy gift for readers.

And speaking of gifts, consider giving one of these to your nearest and dearest romance reader (and that person just may be you!).

A Spirited Season - with The Rockville 8's own Misha Crews!

If Regency Christmas is your go to theme, try this collection of Carla Kelly tales.

For folks with a sweet tooth AND a jones for Christmas, try The Sugar Cook Sweetheart Swap with three delicious stories from Donna Kaufmann, Kate Angell and Kimberly Kincaid.

And while there's no Christmas in this rich collection, it's still a fantastic read and a perfect gift of the heart: Once and Forever - a new release that introduces the R8's Evie Owens to the world!

 Friends - what about you? Fan or foe of the anthology? Do you have a favorite? One lucky commenter will receive a copy of Once and Forever!

Voice and the Valentine

On Saturday, I had lunch with some chapter mates from the Washington Romance Writers. The subject of “author’s voice” came up – what elements go into crafting a story so that a reader knows who the author is after reading a single page. We agreed it was in part a series of choices an author makes from vocabulary to core story to setting to how a hero and heroine relate to one another.

Over lunch, I mentioned I was thinking of writing a vignette about two teens and their high school Valentine’s Day dance for my blog post today. As I sat down to write it, I started to wonder how some of my favorite authors might take this situation and make it their own. What elements would they combine to infuse the story with their voice?

Betty Neels would have made our heroine a bit of a wallflower, possibly bullied by her beautiful step-sister, and resigned to the prospect of staying home the night of the dance. The afternoon of the dance, our plucky heroine, in her practical anorak, would have rescued a starving kitten or a drowning puppy. The hero would have arrived just in time to help and later would make it clear to the evil step-sister (and the harpy step-mother) that our true-blue heroine was his intended and they’d just have to lump it.

In Jayne Ann Krentz’s hands, our intrepid and determined heroine would have pestered her reluctant hero into taking her to the dance so they could break into the office of the crooked high school principal. She’d be certain that the principal used his psychic talents against her cousin who went missing at the beginning of the school year. Our trusty heroine would know on a deep metaphysical level that, with the help of our brooding hero, their combined psychic talents would save the day, the dance, and her cousin.

Linda Howard’s bad-boy hero would make a point of coming to the dance in his torn jeans, maybe even roaring into the gym on his motorcycle. He’d lay a hot, sexy kiss on our smart-mouthed heroine and ride out, leaving her to get on with her life (and occasionally to wonder what-if) for the next decade before he comes rumbling back into town as an ex-Special Forces officer on the same Ducati bike, looking to rekindle their relationship. The make-up sex will be hot, hot, hot, but our heroine won’t make a permanent reunion easy for him as they race to stop the bad guys from winning.

Each of these authors has an extensive body of work that makes this exercise relatively easy to do. Betty Neels wrote over 90 books, mostly capable and compassionate heroes who recognized the true worth of often overlooked, overworked and underappreciated heroines. Jayne Ann Krentz (also writing as Amanda Quick) has developed a successful paranormal romantic suspense series in which her protagonists must work together as equal partners in order to overcome the bad guy. A Linda Howard hero is always the alpha in the room, if not always Special Forces, and her heroine does her damnedest not only to hold her own against him but to forge a link between them that is more than just passion. In the end, I still don’t have a great definition of voice. But I definitely know it when I read it.

I never did get to writing my vignette. But I’m pretty sure my heroine’s heart flutters whenever he’s around. She watches him when he’s not looking so her crush is not completely obvious. My hero’s hands sweat just a little when he’s in the same room with her. He teases her relentlessly so she’ll notice him but not guess just how into her he is. What, besides the standard teenage approach-avoidance tango, keeps them apart? A centuries-old blood curse.

Yeah. My voice tends toward the paranormal. Also often the quirky, the sentimental, the flowery, the obvious, the comic and the visceral. This is, in turns, deliberate, instinctive and subconscious. But always distinctly mine.

So, given this set-up – teenaged not-quite-lovers and the Valentine’s Day dance – how would you or your favorite author spin it? A happy ending? A dose of the macabre? A mystery to unravel? A peril to escape and defeat? Curious minds want to know!