Let me tell you about my first encounter with romance. It was
way back when I was a reading snob. I was—and generally still
am—never without a book, but... Romance? You've got to be
kidding! I read 'real' books. It's true. I call it my Green Eggs
and Ham Period. I refused to try something before deciding
if I liked it or not.
Then my friend asked me to babysit for her. No problem.
Until I realized that I had forgotten my book. Left with no
choice but to read something of hers which, of course,
consisted of strictly romance, I picked up THE WOLF AND THE DOVE by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I tore through that book
and picked up SHANNA next. I was hooked. From there, I
went on to discover many other authors and styles of
romance, but KATHLEEN WOODIWISS was the author that began
my addiction to reading them.
Sadly, Ms. Woodiwiss passed away on July 7, 2007 at the
age of 68. It's quite a loss for the world of romance.
She not only opened up new worlds for myself and other
readers, but also for other authors of the genre.
We can thank her for the modern historical romance novels
being published today. When submitting her first book, THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER to publishers, she was constantly
rejected because of its length—600 pages. Avon
Publishing decided to take a chance and agreed to a limited
publication. It went on to become a huge bestseller with
numerous reprints. It also encouraged other authors to let
their imaginations run wild, lengthening the story and
prolonging our reading enjoyment. It was the birth of a new
age in popular novels.
One has to wonder—Had Kathleen never persisted in
submitting her book to publishers all those years ago until
Avon decided to take a chance, would we have the pleasure
of the diverse books available to us today? Maybe. But I
don't think the variety we see today would be quite so wide.
The initial success of THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER and
Kathleen's subsequent books, gave publishers a reason to
seriously consider taking a chance on new authors offering
something a little different, creating the sub-genres of
romance we know and love today.
Kathleen's career spanned an incredible 35 years. In addition
to anthology contributions, she published 13 novels. Each
was a New York Times Best Seller. Her last release and
contribution to the world of romance has yet to hit the
shelves. EVERLASTING will be released in October,
2007.
New readers and old alike can find out more about KATHLEEN WOODIWISS at:
http://www.kathleenewoodiwiss.com/obit.html#jump
