The Dramatic Hollywood Rabbit

    “Who Shot JR?”, the question that kept America and much of the world in thrall in 1980 was an excellent advertising gimmick that pulled people back to the show.     Many authors who serialized their novels for magazines also used the cliffhanger to their advantage in hopes that it would encourage readers to purchase the next installment. The intent of the cliffhanger - entice the reader to purchase another copy of the magazine/newspaper.  If the circulation of the periodical went up, then the author could charge more for the next serialized story.    However, the use of the cliffhanger in a full length novel is something I find distasteful.     There is nothing like slinking down in bed with a good book and cup of hot chocolate.  Unfettered time, reading a book is like riding the waves.  The reader’s emotions ride the crests and troughs of the storyline.  Readers are willing to have their emotions buffeted...

      Recently, my oldest and dearest friend shared an article about issues only hard core readers understood.  She added, “ You kept an emergency supply of trashy romance novels in the bottom of your school locker and traded them with friends”.  Oh the memories that one statement caused to bloom.  I was a voracious reader, as a young girl I once hid in my closet and read three Nancy Drew’s in one day.  When grounded, my mother took my books away and made me go outside to play.  As I entered into that hormonal high school hell known as puberty, my ability to enter into fantastic stories made life bearable.  To have friends who were just as passionate about leaving the real world behind and entering a world where the good girls always get the good guys was just icing.  I grew up a child of divorce, money was tight and our local librarian had limited space.   What we had was a craving for romance.  Today, romance writers a...