[Jennifer Crowley]

Welcome to the IASPR Forum. We're glad you're here and are looking forward to your contributions to our discussion.

My name's Jennifer Crowley, and I'm the admin of the forum. If you have any questions or suggestions, post on one of the introduction threads or send me a PM and I'll be happy to help you.

A bit about myself. I'm a recent graduate of Davidson College. I've been reading romance novels since I was at least 13, or at least Young Adult novels with a romantic theme. My favorite authors would be Diana Gabaldon, Nora Roberts, Joey Hill, Denise Rossetti, Ilona Andrews, and Majorie M. Liu. Academically I'm interested in studying Nora Robers and J.D. Robb in comparison. Also vampire romance novels.

I've been listening to Suzanne Brokmann as I knit, crochet and spin in the last few weeks, and I can't quite decide how I feel about her, though I am truly hooked on her books. I've also recently gotten a friend hooked on J.D. Robb, and have been debating how Robb balances the mystery and the relationships in her book. My friend just read Born in Death, and after we finished gushing over the plot turns at the end we got into a discussion about a quiz that was in the back that would determine what character you were from the book. We both ended up being Peabody, even though we had strong influences of Nadine, for her, and Mavis, for me.

[Sarah Frantz]

I'm Sarah (not REALLY "she who must be obeyed"--that's Eric's fault). I started this whole shindig, but couldn't have done it without all the amazing help I'm getting from so many people. I'm so excited this is all happening and can't wait to see where it goes.

Right now I'm stressed to my gills over RWA, Brisbane, IASPR's website going live, and trying to avoid thinking about JPRS because that's Eric's and Kym's problem. So I'll leave my little introduction there until September. (I'm really just testing the functionality of the forum software right now and trying to get my status above "Newbie"! )

[Crystal]

Hey all! I'm Crystal. I'm the IASPR Web Manager, a librarian for San Jose State University, and a romance author for Kensington, Ellora's Cave, and Samhain Publishing, among others. My primary area of interest in romance research is the authors who make the magic happen. I have a social science/humanities background, so it's all about the people for me. Literary analysis scares me...I'll leave that for the experts (and pray they never turn that critical eye on my novels).

P.S. I didn't want to be a Newbie either, so I went into the admin area of the forum and started giving staff members their titles.

[An Goris]

Hi all, I am An from Belgium. I'm a graduate student at the University of Leuven, where I'm working on a Ph.D. about the interaction between genre and authorship in popular culture. For this study I use the romance genre and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb as an extended case study (needless to say this is exceptionally fun). I'm particularly interested in how Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb functions as an individual author in a cultural context and genre to a large extent dominated by conventions and traditions. My research also includes the study of the popular romance novel in translation (in Dutch and French).

I've been reading romance novels since me early teens. I started out reading categories indiscriminately - I read every romance novel I could get my hands on and didn't pay attention to authors, subgenres or lines. I very distinctly remember the moment I realized that Nora Roberts was an individual author - while reading one of the Stanislaski novels I realized I had read other books about the same characters. I looked at the cover of the book, saw the author's name and ever since I've been hooked on Roberts' books. Because only her categories were translated into Dutch (and badly translated at that), I started reading the books in English. Later I went on to study English at university, obtaining a BA in Germanic Philology and an MA Literary Studies. I wrote my master thesis on romance writing handbooks, joined the romance scholar listserv and was invited by Eric to come to the 2007 PCA conference in Boston. The rest, as they say, is history. ;-)

Besides Roberts/Robb, I like vampire/paranormal romance (J.R. Ward!) and I'm in the process of discovering Loretta Chase (thanks to The Smart Bitches' infatuation with Lord of Scoundrels).

Most of the time I'm hailing from Belgium, where I am preparing the 2010 IASPR conference on Theorizing Romance - I hope to welcome all of you to the heart of Europe next Summer! I will spend the 2009-2010 academic year in Chicago, though, since I've been granted a Fulbright scholarship to work with Eric at DePaul University. So, exciting times lie ahead for me!

[An Goris]

Crystal, on 09 July 2009 - 05:44 AM, said:

P.S. I didn't want to be a Newbie either, so I went into the admin area of the forum and started giving staff members their titles.

Thank you, Crystal! I love that I'm no longer a Newbie!

[Jennifer Crowley]

Crystal, on 08 July 2009 - 11:44 PM, said:

P.S. I didn't want to be a Newbie either, so I went into the admin area of the forum and started giving staff members their titles.

Nice. I'd been meaning to do that after I saw Sarah's comment, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

[RFLong]

Hi

I'm Ruth and I write fantasy and paranormal romance (mainly as R. F. Long) for Samhain. Crystal sent me!

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

[Crystal]

An Goris, on 09 July 2009 - 01:39 AM, said:

I will spend the 2009-2010 academic year in Chicago, though, since I've been granted a Fulbright scholarship to work with Eric at DePaul University. So, exciting times lie ahead for me!

Seriously? This is so awesome, An! Congrats!

[Crystal]

RFLong, on 09 July 2009 - 06:28 AM, said:

Hi

I'm Ruth and I write fantasy and paranormal romance (mainly as R. F. Long) for Samhain. Crystal sent me!

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Hee! Ruth's a fellow academic librarian...I had to drag her in.

[Angela Toscano]

Hello. I'm Angela Toscano. You may remember me from such events as April's PCA or last April's PCA. Currently, I am a lowly peon. Formerly, I was a librarian. By August, I will be a graduate student (again) this time in British & American Literature at the University of Utah. I am primarily interested in narrative structure and thematic parallels between romance novels and other types of literature. I did not grow up reading romance. I started when I was abotu 24. Before that I read mainly fantasy and fairy tales. I'm also interested, to a lesser degree, to the way mythology and fable functions in romance. Sometimes I dabble in writing, but I only write first chapters.

[Bethany Allinder]

Hey everyone, it's Bethany Allinder, the Marketing/Outreach lady and as per usual, I am sure I didn't follow directions correctly, because I see you all have IASPR Staff in red and I just signed up the old-fashioned way. Can one of you help me fix my mistake?

So...about me. I'm 25, currently residing in central New Jersey, where I've lived all my life. I have a BA in English and Creative Writing from The College of New Jersey (I know, silly name, but it's ranked as the #2 school after Princeton, so there!) and I've loved romance ever since I watched Dirty Dancing for the first time in 1991 or whenever. I specialized in Victorian lit and am generally bored by 20th century lit (except for T.S. Elliot).

I used to intern at Pocket and thought I would grow up to be a big-time romance editor, but I decided that commuting to New York and making 30g's was loco. I am now a Business Development Coordinator at a Contract Pharmaceutical Research Lab near Princeton, and I'm amazed that I enjoy my job so much, even though it is decidedly unromantic!

I am so excited to be doing publicity and marketing for IASPR, I'm going to be learning how to do this step-by-step, so if you ever have suggestions, please contact me at outreach at iaspr.org.

Oh, and it is a great desire of mine once day to write the Spaceballs/Airplane! of romance. I want a parody with all the classic tropes, with at least 10 secret babies.

[Crystal]

BethanyA, on 10 July 2009 - 12:03 PM, said:

Hey everyone, it's Bethany Allinder, the Marketing/Outreach lady and as per usual, I am sure I didn't follow directions correctly, because I see you all have IASPR Staff in red and I just signed up the old-fashioned way. Can one of you help me fix my mistake?

No worries! It's something Jennifer or I have to do on the admin side of the forum. I got you all taken care of!

BethanyA, on 10 July 2009 - 12:03 PM, said:

Oh, and it is a great desire of mine once day to write the Spaceballs/Airplane! of romance. I want a parody with all the classic tropes, with at least 10 secret babies.

I have a "just say no" policy with writing/reading secret babies! More power to those who love it, but it's so not my (sub)genre.

[Jennifer Crowley]

BethanyA, on 10 July 2009 - 03:03 PM, said:

I am so excited to be doing publicity and marketing for IASPR, I'm going to be learning how to do this step-by-step, so if you ever have suggestions, please contact me at outreach at iaspr.org.

Oh, and it is a great desire of mine once day to write the Spaceballs/Airplane! of romance. I want a parody with all the classic tropes, with at least 10 secret babies.

If you want help with Marketing and PR, I can provide manpower to help. I'd love to gain some experience with that (both for my resume, but also to see if it would be something I'd be interested in, maybe.) (I'm being so indecisive about where I want to go with my life right now)

As for secret babies, I'm just waiting for a parody of paranormal romance and the secret baby trope with secret wolfpups! Or kittens. Kittens would be cute. I think it could go either way. Epic fail or epic win.

[Jacqueline Wilson]

Angela Toscano, on 09 July 2009 - 10:19 AM, said:

Hello. I'm Angela Toscano. Before that I read mainly fantasy and fairy tales. I'm also interested, to a lesser degree, to the way mythology and fable functions in romance. Sometimes I dabble in writing, but I only write first chapters.

Hi Angela!

I love fantasy as well and I am hoping to write a paper on comparing mythology with romance novels in some form - either a series by one author or ??? Haven't got that far and as I am not familiar with literary criticism per se but my original degree was in social science with a lot of English classes for electives.

[Jacqueline Wilson]

I am not doing an introduction per se as you can see from my interest area on the side I basically already did it! LOL

~Jackie

[Jacqueline Wilson]

Hi everyone:

I mostly use the "shotgun" approach to learning: Romance Novels, family history; military history of the British Isles from ancient times thru the 2nd defeat of Napoleon; Romance Novels; US history from 1500 to 1900 especially "manifest destiny" - the claiming of what is now the 48 states, specializing in the Civil War and the settling of the West; and did I mention Romance Novels.<br /><br />I also do needlepoint, x-stitch, and play with all my gadgets (both kitchen and technological ones). <br /><br />I retired after 28 yrs working for the federal govt. to follow my dreams to one day have a PhD and be published. I am currently the editor of the Chicago Corral of the Westerners Brand Book as well as the IASPR newsletter. I am also working on a Masters in New Media Studies at De Paul University. This will give me the tools to pursue my varied interests. I graduate in June 2010. Hopefully I will find an adjunct professorship somewhere to help support my book habit - oops I mean my pension.<br /&g

[Tessa]

Hi all,
I am so excited for IASPR! I have been working my way tentatively towards studying romance for a long time. I was a reader first - fairy tales first, then categories by the time I was 11 or 12. I wrote my senior thesis in undergrad on Nora Roberts' Sanctuary. In grad school I have taken a winding path through Medieval Lit, Fairy Tales, Food Literature and JD Robb. I have finished up my Masters at the University of Wyoming and will start work on a PhD at GWU in August. That being the case I have recently moved across the country to Northern Virgina and am looking forward to the change of pace DC offers from Laramie, WY.

I plan to continue to study/think about/write about the works of Nora Roberts/JD Robb. I am also interested in both material studies and identity construction and how they function in popular romance.

When not involved in academia, you can generally find me in the kitchen trying out new recipes or reading - I come at my academic interests from abase of strong personal interest and experience.

I am so glad that this community is finally up and running! To quote another favorite, "Nothing but good times ahead."

[Treva Harte]

I'm Irene Williams w/a Treva Harte. I'm also a co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Loose Id, LLC. I do have some very dusty academic credentials -- a M.A. in English Lit from the University of Virginia -- but after doing a teaching stint, I ran away screaming. However I can pretend to discuss literary theory, just like I did in grad school, with my professor friends.

[Sarah Frantz]

Treva Harte, on 11 July 2009 - 08:28 AM, said:

I'm Irene Williams w/a Treva Harte. I'm also a co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Loose Id, LLC. I do have some very dusty academic credentials -- a M.A. in English Lit from the University of Virginia -- but after doing a teaching stint, I ran away screaming. However I can pretend to discuss literary theory, just like I did in grad school, with my professor friends.

Welcome everyone, of course, but I know most of those who have introduced themselves. Except Treva--welcome Treva! So good to see you here and we're very happy to have you. A great article about you Loose Id a few weeks ago!