Read. It'll inspire you to write as well as the authors who came before you. -Jodi Picoult
Whyte Avenue here in Edmonton is a street that has many unique and high end boutiques, second hand bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants and my favorite place-The Junque Cellar. I discovered this store when I was single and carefree, living in a loft style apartment (that was well overpriced) just off of the popular street and I fell in love immediately. I'm not a sentimental person or someone who gets lost in nostalgia very often, but this store brought out a side of me I didn't know I had. Selling everything from old furniture from the sixties and seventies to records and old dishes-it was a wonderland of old, cool stuff.
And then way in the back of the store on several bookshelves I discovered them-Harlequin books from as far back as 1965:) I can't tell you how many hours I have spent standing in front of that shelf, reading the back blurbs, admiring the old covers...just touching them. (Weird, I know.) From the red rimmed pages to the old Harlequin logo and series number in the top left hand corner-they are perfect. The cover lists a price of 50 cents! And inside, written in pencil is the new inflated price of two dollars. At the time, I was poor but oblivious, so of course I spent grocery money on a bunch of them and these are the books, I can never part with.
Getting my first contract from Harlequin for a book I wrote, while surrounded by these old stories, was an amazing feeling. Writing category romance for a company as well established and known world wide for producing the best romantic stories anywhere is a great honor, but the thing I love most is that my book will be a part of a series. Therefore it doesn't matter how many times it may get reissued or reprinted in different formats...or if it goes out of print altogether-somewhere it will exist in a second hand bookstore (I pray in forty years they still exist) and an unsentimental twenty-something girl who'd rather read than eat may just pick it up and buy it-at an inflated price of course:) I wonder if there's a way to get royalties on that? lol
xo
Jen
Whyte Avenue here in Edmonton is a street that has many unique and high end boutiques, second hand bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants and my favorite place-The Junque Cellar. I discovered this store when I was single and carefree, living in a loft style apartment (that was well overpriced) just off of the popular street and I fell in love immediately. I'm not a sentimental person or someone who gets lost in nostalgia very often, but this store brought out a side of me I didn't know I had. Selling everything from old furniture from the sixties and seventies to records and old dishes-it was a wonderland of old, cool stuff.
And then way in the back of the store on several bookshelves I discovered them-Harlequin books from as far back as 1965:) I can't tell you how many hours I have spent standing in front of that shelf, reading the back blurbs, admiring the old covers...just touching them. (Weird, I know.) From the red rimmed pages to the old Harlequin logo and series number in the top left hand corner-they are perfect. The cover lists a price of 50 cents! And inside, written in pencil is the new inflated price of two dollars. At the time, I was poor but oblivious, so of course I spent grocery money on a bunch of them and these are the books, I can never part with.
Getting my first contract from Harlequin for a book I wrote, while surrounded by these old stories, was an amazing feeling. Writing category romance for a company as well established and known world wide for producing the best romantic stories anywhere is a great honor, but the thing I love most is that my book will be a part of a series. Therefore it doesn't matter how many times it may get reissued or reprinted in different formats...or if it goes out of print altogether-somewhere it will exist in a second hand bookstore (I pray in forty years they still exist) and an unsentimental twenty-something girl who'd rather read than eat may just pick it up and buy it-at an inflated price of course:) I wonder if there's a way to get royalties on that? lol
xo
Jen
What an incredible moment, Jen!! I would spend my grocery money on the old Harlequins too! I remember them from when my grandmother shared hers with me and I would love to see some of those old covers. I agree that it is such an honor to write for a publisher that I've admired since childhood but most of all I treasure writing alongside such talented and gracious people as the Heartwarming authors like you :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! Your kind words just made my day:)
DeleteJen, what a lovely blog post! Thanks for sharing that here. Harlequin offers authors something that no other publisher does - a sense of family, of continuity if you will. It's a pretty terrific feeling.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. Thanks Aimee!
DeleteI'll never forget the image of my mom and her sisters in my grandmother's bedroom boxing up hundreds of her ancient Harlequin Romance books after she'd passed. Years later when I was staying at my cousin's cottage on Manitoulin Island, where my mom's family farm is, I saw two of Grandma's books, signed by her, dating back to the 1950s. I wish I could go back in time and save some of those beloved stories. And I wish my grandmother could've known that someday I'd end up editing series romances for Harlequin. She loved "her stories".
ReplyDelete*Was just going through Jennifer's The Trouble with Mistletoe yesterday looking for an excerpt and I can't wait for it to come out! It's such a great story...and just like Grandma, we all love our stories!
Sniff. I think your grandma knows.
DeleteThat's so amazing, Victoria. I'm sure she would be proud! And thank you for the kind words about my upcoming release. I can't wait either!
DeleteThat's an incredible memory, Victoria. A love of Harlequin definitely runs in your family and I'm sure she knows that you've carried on the tradition.
DeleteJen - I, too, bought Harlequins out of the grocery money! My children were young and we met Ron after work every Friday night to have Chinese food and shop for groceries. I made a detailed list with the estimated price beside it and kept meticulous track as I shopped so I'd know if I had anything left for books. In those days, I bought Harlequin Presents with the beautiful artwork in a round inset on the cover. I loved Violet Winspear, Lillian Peake, Ann Hampson, and many, many others! I felt just as you did when I finally sold years later. I was part of an Army that brought peace through love rather than weaponry. As I keep saying - we are so, so lucky!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put as usual Muriel! I totally agree.
DeleteI was introduced to Harlequin Presents as a teenager. One of my best friend's big sister handed me a box she was giving away. There must have been fifty in there. I remember one was about a poor secretary who saved her money to go on a cruise and of course met a wealthy tycoon.
ReplyDeleteI love reading the ones from the sixties and seventies written during the sexual revolutions (I think that's when that was lol-I'm not a history girl at all)-you can certainly feel the 'women's strength' coming through.
DeleteWhat a beautiful and moving post, Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteI live in a small town with lots of antique shops. My favorite one doesn't carry anything fancy, but rather old books and nic nacs from daily life way back when. We also have a quaint used book store and my boys love going there because it's designed to look like you're in grandma's house. They browse editions of stories I read as a child, while I sneak upstairs to the room full of romances (Harlequins included):)
That book store sounds wonderful! Thanks Rula! And welcome again:)
ReplyDeleteJennifer, love this post. I grew up reading Harlequins in the 80s and beyond though I'm sure I raided my mom's bookcase a time or two where she still had some from the 70s. What a gift for you!
ReplyDelete