Mind Spill: What Kind of Heroine Are You?

What Kind of Heroine Are You?

Here comes a time in every girl’s life when she must ask herself the eternal question: What kind of heroine are you?

Would you be the dreaded Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) kind of gal? The type that rushes needlessly into danger when SHE KNOWS she shouldn’t! You know the sort; she runs up the stairs and traps herself in a horror film or rushes to face the bad vampires armed only with her cute new dress and her favourite shade of damsel-in-distress-pink lipstick. Will anyone admit to this if they are?

Or are you the Bad Ass Heroine, do you parade around with only your leather jacket and your wicked-sharp sarcastic wit as protection? Throw pithy come backs in the face of danger and generally just kick ass in you tight tight jeans?

There are others like the Plain Jane, she may possess decidedly average looks, but she is guaranteed to have healthy hair and teeth, an agile mind and fabulous sense of humour, with just a pinch of an inferiority complex thrown in for good measure.

However, before you can even put yourself into one of these and all other heroine categories you can think of, there are a couple of requirement that you must fulfil to be worthy of heroine status. The most important one is your skin, it doesn’t matter what you look like but you must have blindingly clear and soft skin, you can have a few freckles, or in romance-novel speak “golden flake sprinkled on her soft skin by mischievous pixies.” Next we come to smell. You have GOT to have naturally exude some kind off fruity or spicy scent, the saying “sugar and spice and all things nice,” has got to be taken very seriously, if you don’t naturally bear the scent of cinnamon and apples of vanilla and strawberries without the aid of Chanel then I am afraid you are going to get the boot.

Have you gotten past these hurdles? Is your skin as soft as a cashmere? Do you smell as enticing as warm apple pie? If you have then well done! You can now practice heaving your bosom, your witty repartee and chewing your lips sexily (I know, I don’t get it either! You just look like a cow munching grass!) and wait for your hero to come and more importantly make you come, over and over and over and over again!

Of course these are all flagrantly generalized statement and stereotypes of heroines but we all recognize them in one form or another, and I have come to love each one of them. At times they may make me want to pull my hair out, or more satisfyingly their hair out, but what would any kind of romance be without them?

So tell us, what kind of heroine would you be?

Mind Spill: A Romantic Note

A Romantic Note

Here’s the scenario: I was standing in the romance section of my local Chapters/Indigo store, pinning over all the sexy titles I want to read when two ladies walked by asking if I “read that stuff?” Holding up my copy of Nalini Singh’s  Play of Passion I said, “Yes, I read this stuff.” My response was obviously not what they were expecting because they responded with a scoff and a roll of their eyes. To which I answered with an unladylike gesture behind their backs.

Yes, that was rude of me but it’s also not very sporting to mock someone else’s taste in books. I AM A ROMANCE READER AND I’M PROUD OF IT! I shouldn’t be ashamed of the type of books I read. And I will not allow others to make prejudice remarks about them when they haven’t read a single book from the genre. It’s an unfair judgement.

What they don’t know is that romance novels are really just a celebration of the one thing that every person seeks out: Love. It’s a natural predisposition in humans. We seek out touch. We explore that little spark of interest when meet someone new. It’s what most songs are written about. It’s why couples get married and start a family. It’s what makes our lives full. So why the hate?

I can’t speak for others, but I read romance novels because there is always a happily ever after. True love prevails and there’s always that sense of contentment when you flip that last page. Some books are more emotional than others, hitting you in the most vulnerable places and settling in your heart. Others are suspenseful, keeping you on the edge of your seat until you can’t take any more. And there are many that are downright sexy and passionate, mimicking real life relationships! Whatever book or series you choose, romance novels are addictive and I knew the moment I picked up my first romance novel, I would be in trouble.

I’m not saying that the romance genre is better than another. I’m not saying that I only read romance novels either. I’m just hoping that non-romance readers understand that a romance novel isn’t just a bunch of fluffy love words put together with a bare-chested man stamped over it. It’s so much more. It’s still literature.

Let’s be open to new and different genres, or at least appreciate the hard work that goes into one of these little bound books. Romance may not be part of your reading preference, but it is to a lot of others.

Now on a much more romantic note, tell us why you read romance?

Mind Spill: Battle of the Books

eReaders vs  Paperbacks

With all the new release of various eReaders such as Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader and others it seems there is a whole new generation of technology aimed at your reading pleasure.

But how do we feel about this invasion of technology into our reading time? Is it practical, books take up a lot of space, but with one relatively small device we can store 100s and 1000s of books. Is it cheaper? It is rare that book shops give away books for free (if you know some shops that do TELL ME!) but if you search there are plenty of free ebooks out there for the taking. Books can be more easily accessible as well, how often have you gone into a bookshop and it either doesn't stock or has run out of stock on your latest book craving? Buying ebooks and that problem vanishes. So it all looks as though eReaders are set to take over our reading practices, or maybe not...

Although I am a proud owner of a Kindle (Kendra as she is affectionately known!) I find that having a paperback in my hands is much more comforting.  The solid weight of the book in my hands, the smell of the pages, the sounds it makes as you turn the page, admiring a particularly fine cover (Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole, you know I am talking about you!) for me these are all the very comforting sensations of the reading experience.  Something an eReader doesn't emulate.  And I must confess having the spectacle of a bookcase full of my precious books all placed in alphabetical order and everything grouped together does give an immense sense of satisfaction and pleasure (*sigh* sad, I know!) where as looking at poor Kendra doesn't evoke that reaction even though she holds 100s more books!

So I think this battle has reached an impasse, although I love my Kindle and it never leaves my side, I don't think I could ever give up on the paperback. When I pre-order the new J R Ward or Kresley Cole, I always order in paperback there is nothing more satisfying as holding the hot new release in your hands and diving into the sea of pages. The paperback has burrowed its way into my heart and it is here to stay!