I'm at 28K words or so into my NaNo book and on target to finish somewhere around November 22 according to my online report card. Whew. It's true that slow and steady wins the race. Not that I've won yet. There's still Thanksgiving to get through and Joy is getting tubes put back in her ears this week. So many more struggles here at home to compete with my time.

Remember when I wrote about the details of the Romance Publishing industry this summer. Where here are some new numbers to grapple with:

· Romance novels currently comprise the largest share
of the consumer book market as reported this fall in Time Magazine. More
than one out of four books sold is a romance and romance novels earned nearly
$1.4 billion in sales last year. The happy ending feature of romance
novels seems to be the uplifting aspect that appeals to people even more in a
recession.

· Some of the challenges the publishing industry
struggled with in 2008 and is continuing to in 2009 include the following:
imprints reorganized, independent booksellers struggle, mass merchandisers like
Wal-Mart continued to dominated the book-selling scene; proliferation of
used books, book piracy, increased competition for consumer leisure time.

· Americans only spent 3.9 hours per week reading
books in 2008, while they spent 15 hours online and 12.1 hours watching
television. The biggest challenge for the publishing industry to overcome may be
increasing the perceived value of reading. Industry analysts believe the
book business should remember that the future of content isn’t about whether
it is seen, but whether it is valued.

So, while it's not all peaches and sunshine the Romance industry is still keeping the publishing industry afloat. While you may not think that 'romance' is for you I would venture to bet that there's a romance book out there somewhere that you'd love. There are so many subgenres within the romance umbrella that it's almost impossible not to find something you don't love.

If you like funny - try a Jennifer Crusie. If you like suspense - try Linda Howard. If you like terrorists - try Cherry Adair. If you like vampires - well, there are so many to pick from:) And if you just want to get more ideas you can take a look at the reviews I've been writing or go over to my sister blog and see the books I've been reading over the course of this year.

I'm missing book club this month for the first time in the 18 months since I joined. It's a bit difficult to deal with actually so I'm making sure that I actually do a good bit of reading on my own.

I'm also reading about reading and I came across some newer statistics about romance novel readership:

• 74.8 million people read at least one romance novel in 2008
• 24.6 percent of all Americans read a romance novel in 2008, versus 21.8 in 2005
• The heart of the US romance novel readership is women aged 31-49 who are currently in a romantic relationship
• Impulse purchases outnumber planned romance novel purchases
• 60 percent of romance readers bought at least one new romance novel in 2008
• The most popular places romance novels are read are at home or while traveling or on vacation
• 29 percent of romance readers usually carry a romance novel with them

There you go. I won't actually get any reading done while on the beach. That's not possible with toddlers around but perhaps during rest time in the afternoons or after Comfort and Joy have gone to bed at night.

And once again, if you haven't found a romance author that you enjoy, drop me comment and tell me what kind of stories you like to read. I'm pretty sure that if I can't come up with some ideas then Hope or Becke might have some ideas as well. We are full of Cool Ideas!

Well, I have some favorites and you can probably tell who they are by looking at What A Cool Idea! Books. Jennifer Crusie is funny and there's food and dogs. Jayne Ann Krentz's books take place usually in Seattle and sometimes involve a bit of woo-woo or paranormal. She also writes historical romance under the name Amanda Quick. Also, check out historicals by Cathy Maxwell. I don't have any on my page yet because I read them all before I started the blog but I think there's one coming out this fall. And if you are ever stuck for a book Nora Roberts has enough backlist to keep us all busy for a few years so you can't go wrong there.

But here are some other's. Women who are up for awards tonight in fact. The romance industry has an award called the RITA. It's a big freakin deal. Listed below are the finalists by category.

Best First Book:
Her One Desire by Kimberly Killion
No Good Girls by Jean Marie Pierson
Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs
Passionate by Anthea Lawson
Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas
Strangers in the Night by Kerry Connor
The Secret Soldier by Jennifer Morey
Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley

Contemporary Series Romance:
A Mother’s Wish by Karen Templeton
Adopted: Outback Baby by Barbara Hannay
Antonides’ Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister
Falling for the Lone Wolf by Crystal Green
Last-Minute Proposal by Jessica Hart
Texas Heir by Linda Warren
The Children’s Doctor and the Single Mum by Lilian Darcy
The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by RaeAnne Thayne
The Right Mr. Wrong by Cindi Myers

Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/ Adventure:
A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers
Cold Case Connection by Kathleen Long
Danger Signals by Kathleen Creighton
Lethal Attraction by Diana Duncan
Strangers in the Night by Kerry Connor
Tall, Dark and Lethal by Dana Marton
The Man Behind the Cop by Janice Kay Johnson
The Secret Soldier by Jennifer Morey
Twin Targets by Jessica Andersen

Contemporary Single Title:
No Good Girls by Jean Marie Pierson
Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson
Out of Time by Samantha Graves
Snowfall at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
Sweet Talk by Susan Mallery
Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber
Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley

Historical Romance:
Duchess by Night by Eloisa James
In Bed with the Devil by Lorraine Heath
Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas
Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal
The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne
To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt
Where the Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens

Inspirational Romance:
Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist
Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh
Finding Stefanie by Susan May Warren
Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck
Mulberry Park by Judy Duarte
The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter
The Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher
Where Love Abides by Irene Hannon

Novel with Strong Romantic Elements:
Last Dance at Jitterbug Lounge by Pamela Morsi
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White
The Paper Marriage by Susan Kay Law
The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Tribute by Nora Roberts
Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris

Paranormal Romance:
Dragon Wytch by Yasmine Galenorn
Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
Moonstruck by Susan Grant
Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready
The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
The Healer by Sharon Sala
The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks
Thunder Moon by Lori Handeland

Regency Historical Romance:
Duke Most Wanted by Celeste Bradley
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn
My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne
The Dangerous Duke by Christine Wells
The Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens
Three Nights of Sin by Anne Mallory

Romance Novella:
“All He Wants for Christmas” by Jill Shalvis in Heating Up the Holidays
“Blame It on the Mistletoe” by Terri Brisbin in One Candlelit Christmas
“Only You” by Jacquie D’Alessandro in It Happened One Night
“Our Day” by Jean Brashear in The Valentine Gift
"Penance” by Sharon Sala in Aftershock
“Snowy Night with a Highlander” by Julia London in Snowy Night with a Stranger
“The Fall of Rogue Gerard” by Stephanie Laurens in It Happened One Night
“Thicker Than Blood” by Meljean Brook in First Blood

Romantic Suspense:
Killing Fear by Allison Brennan
Night Secrets by Cherry Adair
Now You Die by Roxanne St. Claire
Scream for Me by Karen Rose
Stop Me by Brenda Novak
Take No Prisoners by Cindy Gerard
The Angel by Carla Neggers
Triple Exposure by Colleen Thompson

Young Adult:
Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore
How to Hook a Hottie by Tina Ferraro
Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

So, there you go. All the Finalists for the 2009 RWA RITA Finalists. This is a good place to start and shows some of the breakdown in sub-genre. Enjoy!

An article in the NY Times this spring quoted Kelly Gallagher, VP of Publishing Services of R.R. Bowker, discussing who actually buys books these days. So, who is today's book consumer:

• The average book reader was 45 years old


• Women comprise 65% of buyers


• More than 50% of book buys were impulse purchases


• The fiction market is predominantly female, except in science fiction where men still dominate the purchases.

During this economic downturn the romance industry is doing it's share to help bump the publishing industry along. In 2007, the last full year I found statistics during my search, the romance industry sold $1.375 BILLION. Freakin amazing when you figure a lot of that is $4 or $8 at a time.

And that is pretty much why the industry is still flourishing is this downturn where one of every book in five sold is a romance novel. People - and women in particular - are looking for something hopeful and happy. They have limited money and time and they know that for $4 to $8 they can get several hours of enjoyable entertainment that will always have a happy ending. Personally, I think that is definitely a Cool Idea!

Well, I might beg to differ. Sure it's an industry that is mainly for and by women and I appreciate that. But there are men who write romance fiction. Some write alone under pseudonyms, some under pseudonyms with their wives, and others - like Bob Mayer - who collaborates with Jennifer Crusie writing Romantic Adventure, writes under his own name.



Also, NPR had a great essay two weeks ago by Jack Murnighan, the author of Beowulf on the Beach, in which he confessed his love of romance novels as part of their Guilty Pleasures series. He talked about hiding the books in his briefcase and reading them during faculty meetings but also being surprised to find out that women had some of the same fantasies that men had and that this had been a great surprise to him when he first started reading romance.



Personally, I realize that one of the reasons that romance fiction has difficulty being taken seriously is because men aren't involved as writers and readers. Sometimes that bothers me a little because it seems unfair to the women who are working their fingers and hearts out to produce some great books. But then again, this is also an industry that was built around women writers who sat and wrote their novels while their kids were napping. There's something very impowering and fantastic about that and it's a wonderful story to share with our sons and daughters even if stories of women breaking into the business like that now are few and far between.

This isn't an existential posting about the state of the universe. It's a post about a change of roles for the week. For the first time in almost four years I'm not with my kidlets and I'm taking care of my professional life.

I have a professional life? Well, actually I do. Not only do I write this blog everyday but I also write fiction. Three guesses as to what kind of fiction I write. LOL

Odds are if you've looked through the types of books I post about you'll see a trend. Sure there are the 'book club choices' and a few non-fiction books sprinkled in but mostly I read romance novels.

Really? Yep, I read romance novels and I love them. Here I am college educated with a Masters of Science in Business and I read romance novels because I like books about characters and I believe in justice. I used to read mysteries but those are stories about puzzles for people who believe in justice. I decided I like people and characters more than I like puzzles so I switched about seven years ago.

A lot of people are reading romance novels and the Academy has noticed. Recently there was a conference at Princeton University where one of the presenters was Mary Bly, Professor of Shakespeare at Princeton and daughter of Robert Bly who was the author of Iron John, who writes romance novels under the name Eloisa James. She commented that, "Romance novels insist that women's physical desire is significant." Here's the rest of the article from USA Today.

And that friends is the difference in romance novels currently being written and those that probably gave the genre a bad rap. So, if you haven't picked up a romance novel in the last decade give one a shot. Check out some of the books that I've posted about and over the next few days I'll be posted about some other books in other sub-genres of the romance industry so stay tuned! It'll definitely be Cool!