This blog will outline and grade everything from books to movies.
Pay attention.
There will be a test.
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I am The Dean of both Inquiry and Community.
The Dean's List--the authors who have excelled
- Georgette Heyer -- Who started it all. Legitimacy of Romance in the importance of women taking charge of their lives. One of the first feminists.
- Roberta Gellis For every good thing including actual scholarship in all writing. All readers learn things from her writing.
- MPM For Peabody and Emmerson, Vicky and John, although Ramses and Nefret have become tiresome, they are good names for The Dean's cats.
- Anne Stuart - For outstanding characters and women who are always just a little more real becuse of the extra 15 pounds.
- Kelley Armstrong -- for not disappointing with Clay and Elena (although The Dean finds Paige a bit dreary) and for the incredible generosity of her online writing
- MJD - For full stop vocal inflection in dialogue. Now. Stop. Using. This. Device. Point. Made. And. Horribly. Copied. By. All. Especially. Non-Professional. Reviewers.
- JDR For slowing time to a crawl in the middle of this century. Perhaps The Dean will also age more slowly.
- Colleen Gleason -- for literary use of the "In Which's"
Author Sins (Can Be Used in Conjunction with Grades)
JAK error = using the same description of some aspect of different heroines/heros repeatedly in numerous books, e.g., "she had a cap of seal brown hair."
Extra demerits if the repeated description describes the author. Points to the reader who knows the writer this error is named for because she invariably commits it.
Quill Pen and Parchment Roll (QPPR) error = committed by writers who take an extraordinarily long time to come out with the next book. The only logical explanation is that the writer employs a quill pen which must be sharpened on a roll of brittle parchment (e.g., Terry Goodkind, Erlene Fowler).
Jumping Genre error= occur when the author sets up reader expectations in one genre and then jumps to another genre without explanation. The Dean entertains grave doubts about Kelly Armstrong's new book about the contract killer.
Half-hearted Blunt Object error = the plot that tries to employ a minor mystery or quasi-mystery plot device that is super imposed on the plot and never quite comes off. These are the books where the reader asks "What happened to..." at the end. Could also be assigned to the editor's errors list.
The most serious error is, of course, the dreaded Fan Abuse Error. The Dean is forced to conclude that authors who have committed this error (e.g., killing off a main character--think J.K. Rowling,-- using characters in serveral tomes only to ignore them or only briefly mention them. ) It's all very well and good to allow other characters to have his/her story, but there is such a thing as continuity and having once created reader fans, the author has some level of duty of care for those readers. Very bad form.
Reading Assignments
You should be up to date on your background reading in the Romance genre. If you are not up to date on this reading, hop to it and get literate.
Let's start with the basics.
Historical beginnings
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Lady Chatterley's Lover D.H. Lawrence
Most of Georgette Heyer collection
Modern Mistresses of the Genre
Catspaw I and II Anne Stuart
Crocodile on the Sandbank Elizabeth Peters
(aka Barbara Mertz)
The entire Roselynde Chronicle Roberta Gellis
Now two of the Modern Mistresses are also the primary Bridge Builders of Romance from the original Gothic genre form to the modern romance (non-formulaic).
Grading Scale
- 92-100% Scholarly work in effort and prose
- 82-91% A Noble effort although room exists for improvement
- 72-81% Are you positive this is a finished draft?
- 62-71% One should never attempt scholarly work in the state in which you currently find yourself -- mentally absent
- 52-61% Why are you wasting The Dean's time with this drivel?
- 51% and below. Below failing---hard to believe
About Me
- The Dean
- I am The Dean. What more could you possibly need to know?
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