romance

What was once the preserve of the nightclub before pubs, bingo halls and supermarkets got in on the act is now being tried out in Swansea. Once a month - from 1800 BST onwards - Friday night is singles' night at the city's main library. It is open for business as normal, with organisers stressing that it is just an optional extra and nothing more than a bit of fun.

Romance writer Cassie Edwards and publisher Signet Books have decided to break up after allegations emerged in January that in she lifted passages in several of her books from other sources. The author told the Associated Press that she indeed "takes" material from other works, but said she didn't know she was supposed to credit her sources.

[MacGillivray] has since deleted the review, but not before it came to light that MacGillivray uses yahoogroups and author groups to encourage, browbeat, or by other means, individuals into taking down negative reviews. The author claimed to have hunted down a reader's personal information as well.

A lot of books these days are hybrids of several genres. The Cassie Palmer series, for example, appeals mainly to fantasy, mystery and romance fans. The question I get asked most frequently is, does trying to please the readers of so many genres, each of which has its own rules and expectations, cause any problems?

For a year, Jeffrey Eugenides read nothing but love stories in order to select the best for an anthology. With the tormented poet Catullus as his guide, he went from Chekhov to Nabokov to Alice Munro and discovered that the greatest works depend on disappointment, boredom and broken hearts. A review of My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories from Chekhov to Munro.

Melissa Katsoulis tries her hand at writing romance under the guidance of Mills and Boon. Here’s what she learns along the way. There’s some interesting information here for the aspiring romance writer.

As Mills and Boon celebrates its centenary, it’s interesting to take a look at some facts about the company, for the wow factor if nothing else. They sell 200 million books worldwide each year, for example, and in the UK alone, a Mills and Boon romance is purchased every 6.6 seconds. Wow. And here’s how they do it.

The only male in the running at longlist stage, Emlyn Rees, got knocked out in the final round, leaving six contenders for the coveted Romantic Novel of the Year award.

Signet has responded to the speculation surrounding Cassie Edwards’ romance novels, stating forthrightly that the author is no plagiarist. Here’s the scoop on why the romance review blog Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books was questioning the author’s honesty in the first place. I’d be interested to know if this is indeed considered fair use.

Whitbread first novel winner Susan Fletcher is in the running for the Romantic Novel of the Year award with her second book, Oystercatchers, the story of a woman coming to terms with her past as she keeps vigil beside her dying sister's hospital bed.