In VOX LIT this time :
IN THE FREE BOOK LOVERS' MAG VOXLIT ON-LINE THIS MONTH:

​***LOTS MORE TO MAKE YOUR READING MORE ENJOYABLE ***
 
We have made a few innovations this month which we hope will add something extra to our followers’ enjoyment of books and, if they are also authors, their writing of them.
 
In our new Writers’ Think Tank feature, authors discuss different aspects of their trade. This month it’s where they find their ideas. We also have a new Literary Criticism section, where we take a more academic viewpoint than in the review section. And in the ‘Why should you read my book’ feature, which we started last month, this time over 30 authors have contributed their reasons.
 
Our history of genres continues with a look at romantic novels and we call on Shakespeare for comments on the current political situation in UK and USA. Also our regular contributor Keith Guernsey is helping Cancer Research from sales of his books, so check this out too.  
 
We have two extracts from new books as well, from new contributor Sally Dixon and from old friend Sherry Leclerc. You can also read the next adventure of Rob Burton’s youthful travels in Africa. And another old friend, Holly Bargo, tells us about her experience of collaborative writing in the Features section.   
 
Sherry also has a book review in the Reviews section, along with reviews by Ted Bun and James Gault.
 
Our free E-book is still available and remember also that all the articles from previous issues can still be accessed by clicking the links below.


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Click for these other ARTICLES

​More of Rob Burton's journeys in Africa  

​The Writer's Think Tank

Why read my book -30+ authors tell you why

Excerpt from Sally Dixon's THREE GIRLS
 
​Read the start of the second book in the Seers series by Sherry Leclerc
​
Charlotte Bronte's Gothic writing by 'Aenoa'

Holly Bargo on Collaborative Writing

SATIRE
Shakespeare for politicians

For those who think that Shakespeare is not relevant to the present day.
 
From the whole of the UK to Theresa May
‘Now is the winter of our discontent’ Richard III
‘Get thee to a nunnery.’ Hamlet
‘The miserable have no other medicine, but only hope.’ Measure for Measure
 
From almost any ex-member of Donald Trump’s presidential team
‘I am one who loved not wisely but too well.’ Othello
‘Come, let's away to prison’ King Lear
 
The British House of Commons to Theresa May
‘Nothing will come of nothing.’ King Lear
‘Action is eloquence.’ Coriolanus
 
Theresa May to Michel Barnier
‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream
 
Theresa May to Boris Johnson, David Davies et al.
‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ Hamlet
 
From Donald Trump, about any political subject
‘But, for my own part, it was Greek to me.’ Julius Caesar
 
From Theresa May to herself
‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.’ Henry IV Part I
‘I burn, I pine, I perish.’ The Taming of the Shrew
 
From the UK populace after Brexit
‘We have seen better days.’ Timon of Athens
 
From any electorate to its politicians
‘Lord, what fools these mortals be’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream
 
If you have any other suggestions, contact us and we’ll publish them next time.

​Contributed by James Gault 
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FREE E-BOOK
Enjoy Books Better with Voxlit is now available for download here   and is completely free. It you want to improve your writing or reading experience, these pieces from previous Voxlit issues could be just what you need.  
​Click the month  to view articles from our previous issues  
​JANUARY 2019
NOVEMBER 2018
OCTOBER 2018
SEPTEMBER 2018
AUGUST 2018
JULY 2018
JUNE 2018
MAY 2018
APRIL 2018​
​MARCH 2018
FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY 2018
DECEMBER 2017
NOVEMBER 2017

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           CLICK THIS PICTURE FOR THE VOXLIT BOOKSHOP    -   LINKS TO ALL BOOKS BY OUR CONTRIBUTORS

HISTORY OF THE GENRE
The Romantic Novel

Jane Austen never married, and died childless and most probably celibate. But in spite of that she is, in my view, the undisputed mother of the romantic novel, and Pride and Prejudice is the gold standard in this genre.
 
Earlier books about romantic entanglements exist, but do they qualify as works of the romance genre? With a few exceptions, every book destined for adult readers has a love story buried somewhere inside it, but a romantic novel really concerns itself with nothing else.  A few asides or comments on other aspects of life may be tolerated, but nothing must detract from the development of the feelings the ‘he’ and the ‘she’ have for each other. (In contemporary romance, it may also be ‘she’ and ‘she’ or ‘he’ and ‘he’. Only with Jane Austen did this clear focus on the love story begin.
 
All romantic novels are, first and foremost, about emotions, personality and relationships. More than any other genre, romance concerns itself with the ‘arc’ of character development, where the personalities of each of the main players start in one place, are altered by events, and end up in a totally different place. Principally, they begin as two separate and independent souls and become one happy and united couple by the final page. In the worst examples of the genre, this is about all that happens; in the best the changes in personality and outlook on life are widespread and profound. The appeal of Austen’s greatest work is not that Elizabeth and Darcy find love; but that his pride and her prejudice are transformed into mutual love and respect.
 
The romance genre is almost exclusively the province of women writers, from Austen and the Brontes down through Barbara Cartland and the Mills and Boon and Harlequin authors. But the occasional man makes it into the list: aren’t the novels of Thomas Hardy essentially romance?
 
The plot of a romance novel has a fairly rigid framework  
l Boy meets girl
l They are in some way attracted to each other
l An obstacle comes between them
l The obstacle is overcome and they live happily ever after
 
The challenge for the writer is to flesh out this framework with interesting and engrossing details, and then people the story with credible and fascinating characters. In modern times, the genre suffers from critical disdain, in spite of being the most popular and therefore the most lucrative. This is unfair discrimination. Constrained by the rigidity of the plot framework and with so many stories having been published over the years, the writer who can come up with an innovative quality novel in this genre is worthy of the greatest respect.
     
​Contributed by James Gault.
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​        !! PLEASE HELP CANCER RESEARCH!!
​
We are thrilled to announce a joint promotion with the American Cancer Society where we will be donating 25 cents/copy for any of our books purchased through May 1, 2019 to this wonderful organization. 

As a recent cancer survivor, I found out first-hand the value of early detection and treatment.
Will you please help us stamp out this cruel disease today? Click the book cover!
Thank you, Keith Guernsey

New books from our contributors 

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​Three young women, three loves and three lives that are about to be changed forever. Caught up in a dangerous tide of extremism and racial tension, will Marianne, Sadime and Bea find what each of them craves? to edit.
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​Evangeline Pfeiffer has a stolen secret. There are those who will kill her to get it back.Unwittingly, she becomes an accomplice in the murder of Nazi agent Ludwig Kraus. Thrown together with the killer, a Polish spy, Kasha, her only hope is to escape to Spain.
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​Jerry and Fran Tilson ran away to France a few months ago
Today is a big day in becoming part of the community. They are having a housewarming party for their new friends and neighbours.

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