Monthly Archives: May 2011

give your hero autonomy, make a villain

Posted on May 29, 2011 by anna cowan

This thought was groundbreaking stuff when I finally got there, so stick with me as I reason my way to it. A compelling criticism of the bodice-ripping sex-scenes of 80s romance novels is that women have no autonomy – and … Continue reading →

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reading like Sherlock Holmes

Posted on May 25, 2011 by anna cowan

Considering that 80 percent of what I read is historical romance, it may sound a bit odd that I have no inclination whatsoever to read “historical fiction”. It really doesn’t appeal to me. Maybe because real historical figures, even re-imagined, … Continue reading →

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I am too naive to be a writer

Posted on May 21, 2011 by anna cowan

I’ve just spent way too much of my evening watching documentaries on the ABC. I feel…horrified. Like I was an innocent until now. I have just realised documentaries are a smoke screen – the dry, scientific “we don’t have a … Continue reading →

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my adoration of E M Forster has a new context

Posted on May 18, 2011 by anna cowan

I just had quite a delicious, enlightening moment. My sister recently put out a call for book recommendations, “Beautiful novels, not too heavy”. People responded, to my mystification, with suggestions like White Oleander and Love in the Time of Cholera. … Continue reading →

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no means yes: part I

Posted on May 16, 2011 by anna cowan

I’ve just read the first two of Anne Stuart‘s House of Rohan trilogy, and it’s been a weird, tug-o-war experience. Her writing is compulsively readable. She writes destitution to perfection, and her heroes are tortured and depraved without us ever … Continue reading →

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