In memory of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Kathleen Erin Woodiwiss (June 3, 1939 – July 6, 2007) pioneered the historical romance genre with the 1972 publication of her novel The Flame and the Flower.

Her debut novel, The Flame and the Flower, was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers as being too long at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, Woodiwiss instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel and arranged an initial 500,000 print run. The Flame and the Flower was revolutionary, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and actual sex scenes. This novel, published in 1972, sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication and is credited with spawning the modern romance genre, becoming the first romance novel "to [follow] the principals into the bedroom."

Many modern romance novelists cite Woodiwiss as their inspiration. Julia Quinn remarked that "Woodiwiss made women want to read. She gave them an alternative to Westerns and hard-boiled police procedurals. When I was growing up, I saw my mother and grandmother reading and enjoying romances, and when I was old enough to read them myself, I felt as if I had been admitted into a special sisterhood of reading women."

Woodiwiss published twelve best-selling romance novels, with over thirty-six million copies in print. Woodiwiss was known for the quality of her novels rather than the quantity of works she published. She often took four to five years to write a single novel. In some cases, Woodiwiss attributed the lag in publication time to personal and health issues, while in others she confessed to having suffered burnout and needing a rest to recover her interest in writing. 

To read more:

http://rosaromance.splinder.com/post/17713000/

Comments

[4everinblujeans.livejournal.com]

The Flame and the Flower was one of the first english novel that I read and it was a chanllange to read such a long novel and english is not my first language ^^ but I really enjoy her books.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Mine was The Wolfe and The Dove, the first historical romance I read. I think Kathleen E. Woodiwiss was a first time for a lot of people. Elisa

[pfodge.livejournal.com]

The Flame And The Flower was one of the first Romance Novels I ever read. My favorite book that she ever wrote was A Rose In Winter.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I spent years to find the Italian version of A Rose in Winter, I think it was the third I read by her. Elisa

[snowmore.livejournal.com]

Kathleen E. Woodiwiss is one of my favourite romance novelists, if not the favourite.
Her "Shanna" is one of my favourite novels of all time, with many of her others following close behind.

I think I stopped reading m/f romance novels before she was done writing, because I don't recognize a few of her stories listed on the site.

A great writer to pay homage to, Elisa.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

She wrote more or less a book every 3 year till the end. The last, Everlasting, was out after her death. But in the last 10/15 years, probably due to the death of her son, her books lost something. Voices said that editors put a heavy hand on her books. But yes, she remains the very Queen of Historical Romance. Elisa