Intrigue, desire, romance, and cowboys — that was the setting for the Leacock Summer Festival’s Saturday night event.
The scene was part of A Night Between the Covers: Romance Night with Mary Sullivan and Molly O’Keefe, two authors for Halequin Books.
Introducing a romance night was a first for the festival started Wednesday and wraps up today at the Leacock Museum.
Saturday night was also a night of firsts for the two authors and Oliver Sjaarda, a Harlequin book cover model, who is also known as the Chris Hemsworth of Toronto. The three were meeting one another for the first time.
The process of producing a book is so compartmentalized that authors don’t generally get to meet cover models, said Sjaarda.
The 26-year-old model from Toronto can be seen sporting a brooding, pensive, and steamy “Harlequin look” on more than 50 book covers.
Other than that, he said, the traits of the lead male character for each book are explained to him before the shoot begins.
“I've been a firefighter, bodyguard daddy, cop, and a SWAT team member; you get to do all these things you wouldn't do,” said Sjaarda.
Even though his face and body have been used on the cover of several romance novels as the object of the heroine’s affection, he said he doesn’t feel objectified.
“That's what modelling is,” said Sjaarda. “I get to personify a character that somebody else is looking to personify.”
So don’t judge a book by its cover, he said.
Contrary to popular belief that all Harlequin romances are filled with scenes of intimacy, Sullivan said it takes a lot more expertise in the craft of writing than you would think.
“I've spent 20 years just studying the craft of writing and character and plot development,” she said. “The sex is actually a small part of it. These are really, really good stories about strong character development and plots.”
She has written more than 15 novels, mostly in the genre of western romance, during her nine years with Harlequin.
“The category I wrote before that was super-romance,” said Sullivan, talking about a Harlequin category defined by a novel with a longer story. “I loved writing the westerns and cowboys and ranchers and children so much that I moved (back) to western romance.”
She didn’t start reading romance novels until middle age, but once she did, she was hooked to the happy ending delivered at the end of every story, said Sullivan.
“If you look at all the categories that Harlequin has to offer, they really offer everything,” she said. “Readers will come for super hot or for sweet or for characters. Other readers will come for a heart-warming story.”
The amount of intimate content isn’t all that is misperceived by the general audience, said Sullivan; the characters have evolved, too.
“I think people are more careful about issues, like we're more careful about making sure that consent is quite clear in the novel,” she said.
O’Keefe said she’s seen the role of novel heroines change dramatically.
“Before, they were the conduit for readers to experience the story and now the heroine is challenging,” she said. “She is not cookie-cutter; she isn't a Mary Jane. She is a fully formed character on the page.”
The stories attempt at being reflective of readers’ lives, O’Keefe said.
“They want to see their choices reflected, and they want to see the problems that they live through solved and reflected,” she said. “At the same time, they want that happily ever after.
“They want a little fantasy, a little hope, and a little faith,” added O’Keefe.
Listening to the authors read excerpts from their books has put romance novels back on the table for Rosanne St-Amour.
“I really enjoyed it; it was really cool,” said the Orillia resident about the event she attended with her friend. “I found it was very entertaining and very informative.”
Jen Martynyshyn, museum coordinator, said she was happy with the success of the festival so far.
She was hopeful that the launch of the poetry anthology Blossom in Winter, Sunday afternoon, and poetry night later Sunday, with Shane Neilson and Antonio Michael Downing, will go just as well.
“We did a mixture this year where we geared our events to a younger audience, brought in new genres with the romance night and historical fiction, which was a new one,” she said, talking about Thursday’s talk with Jennifer Robson and History Night with Ted Barris and Alan Bowker on Saturday.
“We've been finding that the audiences have been very animated and engaged this year and each event has been a real pleasure to do,” said Martynyshyn.
Based on audience feedback, we're going for more of an interactive experience for next year, she added.
The festival also featured staples, such as a Humour Showcase, featuring Dan Needles, J.C. Villamere and Randal Graham, which happened Friday. As well, Guelph storyteller Brad Woods was at the festival weaving tales for the crowd.
