Coerced by Alexandre Drake--one of her fictional characters who has become all too real--to attend a writer's conference, author Maggie Kelly is faced with murderous fanatics, backstabbing colleagues, and NYPD Lieutenant Steve Wendell.

"The late John Cheever once insisted that "saving a letter is like trying to preserve a kiss." Luckily for us, the loved ones of great writers ranging from Sappho to Anne Sexton, from Anton Chekhov to Mr. Cheever himself have ignored that clever dictum. In more than one hundred of the most powerful, witty, wicked and whimsical letters ever written, we chronicle passion's erratic progress." "Why should Marcus Aurelius's amorous words sit side by side with John Steinbeck's letter to the woman who inspired much of his late work? Distinguished scholar Cathy Davidson argues that the love letter is a form of literature all its own, a genre whose language may have changed from ancient Rome to twentieth-century America but whose basic form and content remain the same. For if all literature is a kind of seduction, then the love letter becomes the perfect vehicle for writers to hone their seductive skills." "With novelistic flair, Ms. Davidson has arranged these letters as though they were all part of one romance - a romance in which any of us may have played a part. From the joy of "Falling in Love" to the pain of "Unrequited Love," we chart the evolution of that most hard-to-define emotion. These pages are filled with glorious examples of writers being just like the rest of humanity, to wit: willing to stake so much on what at times seems like nothing more than a promise and an act of faith. How delightful to discover the master of light verse Ogden Nash writing tenderly to a woman he first saw across a crowded room nine months earlier: "This is a particularly gifted and intelligent pen. Look what it's writing now: I love you. That's a phrase I can't get out of my head - but I don't want to. I've wanted to try it out for a long time; I like the look of it and the sound of it and the meaning of it."" "Of course what writers do better than anyone else is to write about love. Through Ms. Davidson's deft touch, The Book of Love becomes a treasure trove of literary discovery. She prefaces each letter with biographical comments that read like novelettes. From the tragic lovers Heloise and Abelard to love that became literature, such as Ernest Hemingway's affair with Agnes von Kurowsky, to Samuel Clemens's heart-breaking expression of love and grief for his deceased child...all have a place in this marvelous anthology. Though originally addressed to only one reader, each of these letters is now a letter to the world that speaks to us all."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Coerced by Alexandre Drake--one of her fictional characters who has become all too real--to attend a writer's conference, author Maggie Kelly is faced with murderous fanatics, backstabbing colleagues, and NYPD Lieutenant Steve Wendell. Reprint.

A comprehensive guide that defines the literature and the outlines the best-selling genre of all time: romance fiction. More than 2,000 romances are published annually, making it difficult for fans and the librarians who advise them to keep pace with new titles, emerging authors, and constant evolution of this dynamic genre. Fortunately, romance expert and librarian Kristin Ramsdell provides a definitive guide to this fiction genre that serves as an indispensible resource for those interested in it—including fans searching for reading material—as well as for library staff, scholars, and romance writers themselves. This title updates the last edition of Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre, published in 1999.While the emphasis is on newer titles, many of the important older classics are retained, keeping the focus of the book on the entire genre, instead of only those titles published during the last decade. Specific changes include new chapters on linked and continuing romances, a new section on "Chick Lit" in the Contemporary Romance chapter, an expansion of coverage on the alternative reality subset. This is THE romance genre guide to have.