I DNF’d (did not finish) a romance book last week, and I’m on the verge of doing the same to an erotic novel right now. All because I don’t give one flying doo-doo about any of the characters. Continue reading
Sweetie and I have wanted to see this movie since we first heard the title. The juxtaposition of ideas was intriguing – a solemn, revered president of yore, secretly a bad-ass slayer. The whole idea was irresistible. When the reviews were mixed and the overall rating low, Sweetie waffled. In spite of his doubts, we went and I’m glad we did. Continue reading
It seems a little weird to say a book about the end of the world as we know it is a “light read, perfect for your summer list”. Sundered, Bound, and Dauntless by Shannon Mayer are indeed that though. Each book in this series is rather short, around a hundred and twenty pages or so. I’ve noticed that serial fiction novellas seem to be more prevalent and I think it probably has to do with buying trends in e-books. Readers are more likely to spend .99 cents on a book, and two dollars on the following ones, then they are to spend $5.99 on a full length novel. That’s a shame because it means that some books are a little chopped in terms of plot to fit the serial fiction model. These particular books do a good job of creating three stand-alone novels, but I’d urge you to go ahead and buy all three. It’s the price of a couple coffees and you’ll definitely want to read on! Continue reading
In my previous post, I discussed the biological factors around romantic love – specifically surrounding sexual desire and attachment. In psychology, there are typically three concepts that come to play in romantic love: Attachment, Sex, and Caregiving. Today I’m going to discuss how early experiences in attachment can color behaviors in romance.
CHILDHOOD ATTACHMENT EXPERIENCES
Attachment has always been primarily known as the bond between an infant and a caregiver – usually a parent. In the late 80’s, psychologists began to apply this attachment theory to sexual, adult relationships. Continue reading
Love has many dimensions, all of them intense and powerful. A parent’s love for a child. That bond between soldiers in the trenches. Siblings. Close friends. But there is a particular punch that happens with romantic love. What biological and psychological factors play into romance, and how can writers create believable characters in a romantic situation? In psychology, there are typically three concepts that come to play in romantic love: Attachment, Sex, and Caregiving. An individual can still have very strong feelings of love without all three of these, but in what is typically defined as romantic love, all must be present. How do these factors relate to each other, and what truly makes up what we call romantic love? Continue reading
