Southern Gothic: 'The Night the Hogs Ate Willie"

I'm a sucker for Southern Gothic writing--works by authors such as William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers and Cormac McCarthy. So I was curious to read the recently published The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young, described as a "Southern Gothic mystery debut." While a well-plotted mystery with Gothic elements--dream visions, an old mansion and family secrets--the book is more a paranormal mystery/romance with a Southern setting than a "Southern Gothic."  So what is Southern Gothic writing? It is regional literature using dark humor, religiosity or the supernatural, generational decay, violence and grotesque characters and events "not solely for the sake of suspense but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South," per a combination of definitions. Young's Louisiana locale is a sketched frame for her psychic East Coast protagonist's sleuthing and romancing of a manly Texan in boots. A Southern Gothic novel's powerful and authentic sense of place is its dark, inspirational core: decayed grandeur side by side with poverty and ambition; violence and hypocrisy embraced or defied; religious piety sitting on the same bench with perversion and corruption; family trees bearing love and poison; God and the Devil in daily discourse. This macabre and fantastical South is peopled by uniquely grotesque characters with crippled bodies, broken hearts or twisted souls. Or as Southern author Pat Conroy commented in this amusing quote: "My mother, Southern to the bone, once told me, 'All Southern literature can be summed up in these words: On the night the hogs ate Willie, Mama died when she heard what Daddy did to Sister.'" See this Publishers Weekly listing of the top Southern Gothic books: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/66013-10-best-southern-gothic-books.html

Taking Romance From Staid to Steamy

With the rise of "erotic romance," the romance genre has come a long way since I first discovered it in my early teens, when most of the piles of love stories I brought home from the library ended with a kiss, and only a kiss (plus a proposal of marriage). Some things about romance fiction haven't changed, of course: It still claims the largest share of U.S. consumer book sales, still is an almost completely female pleasure (91% of readers are women), and still appeals to an audience that has graduated young adult but is still far from senior (mean age 49 for print and 42 for e-books). But the popularity of erotic romance (exemplified by the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon) definitely has added new heat, in terms of sales and content, to an old formula. One reason for the growth of the erotic subgenre is doubtless the advent of the e-book, which allows women to download and read a sexy story privately, without the embarrassment of publicly purchasing and carrying the telltale cover. (I used to wish paperbacks would do away with half-naked Fabio back in the day.) And because of the success of erotica, I've noticed that other romance subgenres, including contemporary, historical, paranormal and even Regency romances, are being spiced up with steamy sex scenes. (The inspirational romances remain chaste, of course.) Adding "romance" to mystery or sci-fi probably requires penning a few sex scenes in today's market, too. For an amusing PBS/POV infographic on the evolution of the romance novel, see http://www.pbs.org/pov/guiltypleasures/infographic-evolution-of-romance-novels-fifty-shades-of-grey-ebook.php#.U7M6pJRdWSo

Why Are We Seduced by the Bad Boy Hero?

There was a time when I was a sucker for the "bad boy" hero. You know the type: the volatile, wrong-side-of-the tracks rebel who's handsome, charismatic, street-smart, and who has a sexual prowess that thrills the primmest good girl. In the movies, he's James Dean; in romance novels, he's the hero of Teresa Medeiros' Nobody's Darling; in the mystery/action genre, he's got Jack Reacher's vibe. The bad-boy allure for women is more than fantasy, however: Scientific studies have found that men with a "dark triad" of traits -- the self-obsession of the narcissist, the impulsive thrill-seeking of the psychopath, and the deceitful exploitation of Machiavelli -- really do score more sexual conquests than the average. How could such negative traits win hearts? Well, research proves that the dark-triad personalities are better than most at making themselves attractive, charming, exciting and sexually appealing. Female biology also seems to prefer these high-testosterone types; studies show ovulating women are more apt to choose "bad boys" as mates. Of course, selfish, manipulative seducers tend to have short-term relationships, by their own choice and because most women eventually reject the cad behind the sexy mask. Maybe that's why the bad-boy archetype lost his appeal for me in my reading and my writing. He's just got no staying power romantically. But that doesn't mean there aren't other sexy options! Romance Author Tami Cowden offers a fun discussion of various romantic hero archetypes. Besides The Bad Boy, her list still includes The Chief, The Charmer, The Professor, The Swashbuckler, The Best Friend, The Warrior and The Lost Soul (oh, those sexy vampires). For Cowden's article, go to http://www.likesbooks.com/eight.html