Saturday, 30 November 2013

I am a Sandra Brown's junkie :)))

I’m going to talk about one of my all-time favorite female novelists, SANDRA BROWN :)

Sandra Brown :)
For those who considered themselves as novelsnobs might not take the second glance seeing her novels.  Partly because her novels, unlike J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or E. L James which go on to be a worldwide hit and put into the screen, like some critics said, are just a typical of cheap and escapist romance novels, which only dragged women into hopeless romantic day-dreaming.

Sandra started writing her novels after being challenged by her tv news anchor husband, Michael Brown in early 80s.  It rode her out of boredom and in 1981, her novel ‘Love’s Encore’ was the first to be published under a pen name Rachel Ryan (at the time, Sandra was too shy to put her real name).  She then left her job as a TV executive and become a full-time novelist.  As of 2013, she already wrote 76 novels and 50 of them are New York Times Bestsellers.  The latest is ‘DEADLINE’ published in September this year.

And, so, what is actually the magic of her novels that draws my attention and stick me around? Here I go on for some pointers I try to list down. (the list is more like English Lit. Students doing their English’s novels analysis :D).
  1. Theme; of course it’s all about LOVE, and everything cliche related to it.
  2. Lesson; generic with all those lessons about GOOD vs EVIL, in many different storytelling.
  3. Character & characterization; Sandra is pretty sexist about this.  The male & female lead protagonists are all unbelievably handsome and beautiful.  Yet, Sandra has this quality which i find it endearing, that she’s able to depict many colors of perfection, in a dumbed down sentence, her ability to describe many forms of beauty, ranging from head to toe.
  4. Plot; mostly linear and progressive.  Early in her career, she wrote romance novels, but later in 90s until now, she switches to thriller, without singling out the romance bits.
  5. Setting; this is the very reason why I like reading Sandra Brown’s novels.  Being a proud Texan, her novels’ settings are majority taken place in SOUTHERN USA.  And it does open my eyes and helps me understand about Southern-Northern culture in USA, as well as their distinctive stereotypes.  Not only about culture, but also the language variation spoken there.  Reading her novel, you will be familiar with the Cajun people in the state of Lousiana, Southern Belle, Southern Personality, Southern Gentlemen, Texas drawl and twang, eating biscuits with gravy, and a hot, fluffy scrambled egg for breakfast in the morning.
Southern USA
All in all, it’s always fun to read Sandra’s novels J Her very first novel I read was ‘A Treasure Worth Seeking’.  A dear friend of mine in High School recommended it and at the time i just read out of boredom of waiting for UN announcement, and have been hooked up ever since.

Some bits I noticed:
  1. Besides depicting her women as an independent, self-reliant, Southern Belle-like woman, I think Sandra has this thing of a woman being a virgin before she finds a matched man.  Therefore, her female lead is mostly virgin in the first place, before taken away by the male protagonist.
  2. As a loving wife, mother, and granny, you always find the atmospher of familiariaty whenever you read her novels, even they are thriller, it is so womanish.
  3. I always love the way Sandra characterize the children with their endearing dry wit and naivety, most notable in her novel ‘DEADLINE’, the child characters Hunter and Grant are so cute.
To date,
Her best novel = A Treasure Worth Seeking (1982)
Her worst novel = Hello Darkness (2003)
Her most loving couple = Jared Lockett & Lauren Holbrook (Hidden Fires, 1982); Gray Bondurant & Barrie Travis (Exclusive, 1996)
Her novel which broke my heart = LETHAL (2011) T____T
Her most beautiful female character depicted = Sage Tyler (Texas! Sage, 1991)
Her most handsome male character depicted = Harlan Boyd (Texas! Sage, 1991)

Visit her web

She finally responded to my tweet :))) my head was bloating so bigg...

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