IS ROMANCE STILL RELEVANT?

How to define this? Is it simply a thrilling 
feeling? Attraction? Something from a 
bygone era, perhaps around the time of 
the knights and their ladies?

I am unashamedly biased.  I enjoy reading 
mystery, suspense,  occasionally a sci-fi. 
But I love a true romance. Some view 
romance as  a little out of date. If what we
 see on our TV screens and the way movies 
depict a relationship between a girl and a 
man is true. Most often it appears that 
romance is mistaken for lust. Everything is 
named sexy which seems to be the most 
accepted compliment a person of the 
opposite sex can give. And I'm concerned 
that many young women feel that going to 
bed with an attractive man is the only way 
to hold him.
 
Oh, such a shame and such a lost opportunity to experience the genuine joys of romance. Even the Bible speaks about the way of a man with a maid. Romance should be the promise of a deeper experience...that of genuine love. That's why I believe bringing a Christian World View into our stories is totally relevant.  
Every woman wants to be loved. Really loved for herself... not just for her body alone. She wants to be courted and shown courtesies. Lots of little
things that add up to that person saying by their actions that they really
care for their sweetheart.
 
I freely admit I love the inspirational historical romance genre. I love the way a man and a woman are attracted despite circumstances conspiring to keep them apart. Yet love prevails and somehow they find a way against impossible odds. But oh, the temptation they face to go against the proprieties of the day. Especially those of the Victorian Era, with all its  undercurrents, intrigues, and meddling relatives adding many plot twists and turns.



Rita is a historical romance writer with two books published in Australia. She has recently gone into Independent Publishing known as Rita Stella Press.com ( Soon online.) 

Victoriana Series
Signed Sealed Delivered - Book I   
The Tie That Binds -Book II   
A Parcel of Promises - Book III, (coming)

At her book signings, she wears a 19th century costume of a governess and speaks 
about the sometimes strange and amusing customs of the Victorian Era.

www.ritastellagalieh.com   www.inspirationalromance.blogspot.com  Facebook and #RitaSGalieh

The AMAZING VICTORIAN ERA

The flogging punishment of a garotter

I do a lot of research into the Victorian Era and come across the strangest subjects. I write Historical Romance so why on earth would I bother about the unsavory side of life?

Strange as it may seem if you're going to understand a time period you need to now what was acceptable in society and what was not. This seemingly gracious time frame had such amazing contrasts. I mean, this was the setting for the Jack the Ripper crimes! And evidently thieves used garotting to render their marks not only helpless, but in many cases, losing their lives with crushed windpipes.

Ooh, not a nice subject. But the gap between the poor and the wealthy was dreadful. The backstreets were havens for murderers, cutthroats, petty thieves, prostitutes, and everything in between. Destitute women were placed in workhouses and orphaned children in foundling institutions. Genuine kindness was rare except for those compassionate Christians like George Mueller who relied on the Lord to support his well-run orphanages. And this was also the time Sunday Schools came into being through like-minded Christians.

On the other side of the impasse the genteel closed their eyes to the need and enjoyed their high teas, their balls, presenting their visiting cards, and shopping trips galore. Besides that it was a time for great inventions.

Death was everywhere on the streets. Horses routinely fell and died as they pulled carriages, coaches and buses, and special companies existed to dash out and collect their carcasses. But people also died on the streets, usually of starvation. Even among the prosperous, signs of death in the streets were important. When someone died, house-blinds were drawn, and funeral drapery, swags of black (or white for girls and children) wool, velvet, or even silver embroidery, were hung across the ground-floor façade of the house. For those who could afford it, 'mutes', men wearing black and holding long staffs with drapery hanging off them, stood outside the door of the deceased on the day of the funeral.

An fascinating era indeed. It revealed the darker side of human nature, but also one of the Light shining in its midst. Oh yes, despite its problems I'm relieved to live in the twenty first century ... but can't help delving into the past for my novels.


*  Rita Stella Galieh is a scriptwriter and co-presenter on Vantage Point, a 5 minute program broadcast throughout Australia. She is now with the Living Word Literary Agency. As a contributor to several US Anthologies by Adams Media, she has two Historical Romances published. Each year she and her husband minister in Buddhist Government schools, prisons, hospitals, shopping malls, and churches in Thailand.

Signed Sealed Delivered is available on Amazon Kindle