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Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Susanna Carr asks: How Old Were You?


Whenever a reporter does an interview or feature on me, they always make a point of my age when I first started reading romances. I was ten years old, and it was a Harlequin.

Yes, that was young. Some say it was too young.

For me, it came at the right time in my life. I was already a permanent fixture at the local library and the selection of books was beginning to bore me. When I got my hands on the Harlequin, it opened a new world. I got to read about women who faced life-changing dilemmas. They took action, made mistakes, and persevered to get what they wanted.

Despite what the grown-ups in my life thought, I didn't read the romances because of the sex! Don't get me wrong: I didn't exactly skip over those parts, either. *G* But I loved reading about two people falling in love. That was the exciting stuff.

I'm glad I started reading romances early in life, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. How old were you when you started reading romances?

13 comments:

Stacy S said...

I was about 13-14 when I started reading romances. Love them.

CrystalGB said...

I was 12. I have been an avid romance reader ever since.

Lois said...

Not precisely sure, but I was over 18. My first was a Sandra Brown book that I picked up in the college bookstore. But then after getting the only two others of hers they had, I stopped until a couple years ago, I guess maybe 2003 when I started up again and actually did buy plenty of others, and more Sandra Browns too. LOL I'm 30 now, so that was around 26 maybe. :)

Lois

Angie-la said...

I was around 11 or 12 and my first romances were the Harlequin Presents.
My best friend used to sneak them from her aunt and grandmother!

ChristyJan said...

I think I was probably 15.

Liz Fielding said...

What's romance?

Jane Austen? Twelve.

Georgette Heyer -- I remember my first time; sick in bed in Zambia -- twenty-two.

A series romance? Late thirties. I'd read an article about Charlotte Lamb and Anne Hampson and wanted to know more. (It was a Penny Jordan Sheikh book, one of her very early ones.)

Maureen said...

I'm not sure but it was sometime in high school.

Michele L. said...

Hi Lee,

I thank you again for picking me as the winner for last month's tote bag! I am still can't believe I won!

I was 12 when I read my first romance book. It was a gothic romance novel by Phyllis Whitney. My mom really liked her books. So I borrowed them and fell in love with gothic romances.

Michele

Anonymous said...

I was an early teenager, I used to read the romances where you could change the ending depending on which chapter you picked. I also read ( I think it was called Forever) By Judy Blume. My first big people Romances were from Danielle Steel, Fern Micheals, Laveryle Spencer.

Unknown said...

Hm...that's a good question...I was into reading every genre that I could get my hands on; from Shakespeare to myths from diff. countries, fantasy, mysteries, etc.

And a friend introduced me to romance books during my late teens.

Anonymous said...

I was around 12 when I progressed from teen romance to the hard stuff lol. I always loved books with romantic elements from early on, so it was a natural progression for me to read romance.

Minna said...

I was 12-13 when I started reading them. And I think I was in high scholl when I finally started reading them in English.

Renee said...

I guess it depends on what you mean by romance. I was 10 or 11 when I read Romeo and Juliet, and Halfway down Paddy Lane (the first book I ever read with sexual tension). And while I've always been an avid reader, I didn't read my first official romance until I was in college. But now I'm hooked.