Musings about Janet Dailey, Romance Author.

I learned earlier today that a Romance writer legend had died over the weekend.  Janet Dailey was not just a favorite author of mine but the one who made me want to start my own writing career. 
I started reading Janet Dailey romances in the spring of 1978 when my best high school friend Mary gave me some books that she got through a subscription her dad had ordered for her.  She didn't like the books and gave them to me and a love affair of romance novels was born. (Yes Mary it is all your fault, and I am forever grateful to you for those books, thank you.) 
I couldn't wait to get new ones. I think I even packed one and took it along to church camp that summer.  When I bought Ms Dailey's Harlequin Presents Novel "Six White Horses," I was hooked forever.  That is my first Janet Dailey novel, and I still have it, and it is my forever favorite.  I read all of her Americana Series, a differnt romance in each of the 50 states.  With original covers.  (I love collecting books with thier orginal covers.)
But when  "Touch the Wind" came out, I was so excited and hook on mairstream as well.  When my Mom and I  bought it, (I acutally had to beg her to buy it.) she read the back blurb and said she had to read it first.  I was only 16 at the time.  My Mom let me read it which stuns me since it deals with some very real issues of kidnapping, murder and well the sex scenes were scandalous to a 16 year old, but my Mom figured I was mature enough to handle it. BUT she told me I was not allowed to blush while I read it, so I read it in my room, every chance I got till finished. ( side note:  she would not let me read Beatrice Small though, LOL. P.S I have and oh my, the age of the bodice ripper was upon us, I think


Just a few of the Janet Dailey books I have, upper middle right is "Six White Horses"


in Mom's stash back then was a book that mentioned something about a dildo made of leather, Now whose blushing? Mom? LOL didn't know I read that one...)

When I mentioned earlier that Janet Dailey made me want to start my own writing career was no exageration.  I used her novels for book reports in english class.  "Touch the Wind" became a newspaper edition, with headlines reading  "Heiress Kidnapped in the Mexican Moutains by Bandits" and the report of her boyfreinds murder, etc.  Oh and Mrs. Merchant my English II teacher gave me an A.  I think I may have the paper somewhere in my archives. 
Numerous other writing assignments featured writing with vivid description, like the time I had to discribe a home photograph and the main person in the picture was discribed as "weather beaten skin, with grey shoot through his brown hair and peircing ice blue eyes," my teacher at that time was impressed by my mature writing skills, something my classmates didn't have.  Non of them had thier nose in a book all the time like I did. I always had a book on my stack of books for each and every class.  My classmates will atest to that.  Even a photo of me in the class year book shows me reading on graduation practice day. sitting on the stage reading, its in the credits.  Book nerd was a very good discription of me only now it could be Bibliophile, or collector of books, thats me and always will be. 

I've traveled around the Unitied States and every where else in the world through romance novels.  I feel as though I got a pretty good geography lesson with all those other  Harlequin Presents authors, Ann Mathers, Fern Michels, Carol Moritmer, just to name a few.  Their discriptions of far off lands had me making a bucket list long before the term was even coined.  

In conclusions, Janet Dailey, I will miss you so much, even though I never got to meet you, was hoping you would be at RT2014, you have been a huge influence on me, and I am forever grateful.  Thank you.