BBKristopher.com

Harlequin is kicking off a Fantasy Imprint called Luna.

To quote a certain fictional Colonel, "Well spank me rosie!"

I think this is great. Peachy. Ducky. Down right fantastic.

"But Brian, why on earth would you want Harlequin to start taking shelf space away from real SF&F books?" you say.

This is where I refrain from smacking you and saying "Think with your pocket book for once, dunderhead!"

See, dollars to donuts these are going to be shelved with the Romance novels. After all, they're Harlequins, and everyone knows Harlequin publishes Romance.

<Beavis & Butthead>Heh heh, heh heh, first one's free little girl</Beavis & Butthead>

So, they're going to be eating into someone else's shelf space.

"But Brian, aren't they just flooding the market with crappy fantasy novels?" you say.

Well, no. They actually aren't. See, the thing to remember is, Harlequin has been turning out a consistently good product every month for decades.

Now, I'm not about to claim to be an expert on Harlequin novels. I've never read one (looking at the list of authors, that may well change). I like my women butch. Xena's to big a femme for me.

On the other hand, the map is not the territory, and the Romance Novel audience is not the stereo type. Romance readers are every bit as fanatical about their fandom (which is what it is, make no mistake) as most SF&F fans are about ours.

<Beavis & Butthead>Heh heh, heh heh, first one's free little girl</Beavis & Butthead>

So, you've got an audience who adores Romance novels. An audience who, by definition, is a reading audience. You're slipping them fantasy novels dressed up as Romance novels.

<Beavis & Butthead>Heh heh, heh heh, first one's free little girl</Beavis & Butthead>

Now, give them a few years. SF&F is kind of like drugs. The more you consume, the more you want to consume.

These things are the "gateway" drugs the DEA has been imagining for a few decades.

I'm getting a stiffy just thinking about what this is going to do for fantasy readership five years down the road.

Oh, and they're talking about starting a Science Fiction imprint next year.

<Beavis & Butthead>Heh heh, heh heh, first one's free little girl</Beavis & Butthead>