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Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1502
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:33 am
Post subject: Genre labels
Does anyone visiting these boards have the skills and time to campaign for better genre labels?
I like descriptions of books that give meaningful clues to the content.
A few years ago the term "Urban Fantasy" became a standard, even though it also included rural settings. I prefer the term NOW (Nearly Our World) Fantasy as more descriptive, since the parameters of Urban Fantasy seem to be this world +/- a few hundred years and + fantastic elements.
More recently the term "steampunk" has been showing up a lot. After seeing that label for some books with blurbs that sounded pretty far from my understanding of the term, I looked it up in Wikipedia. It looks like the label is being broadened almost to the point of uselessness. I urge limiting it to stories with F&SF elements, Georgian or later settings or equivalent alternate worlds (preferably Victorian), and at least some quirky gadgetry.
Below is a repost of a long essay I wrote about genre labels a few years ago.
Expectations, Genre Labels and the Romance Quotient
Mark Pottenger
Expectations affect experiences. Recent experiments have shown that what a person expects can affect things as fundamental as feeling pain (try a web search for hypnosis and pain perception), tasting flavors (try a web search for expectations and taste response), and seeing colors and words (try a web search for hypnosis and Stroop color-word interference). The impact on more complex phenomena can be even greater.
The placebo effect is a demonstration of expectations so strong that people have said the equivalent effect from a drug would earn it a miracle drug label. Believing that you are taking a drug with effect x produces effect x even when what you are actually taking is supposed to have no physical effect.
Ive eaten some hot food over the years, but the only times it has caused hiccups is when I encountered spicy heat that I wasnt expecting.
Almost every time business earnings are mentioned in the paper there will be a demonstration of the power of expectations. If a company reports good earnings, the stock only goes up if the earnings are better than expectedthe stock goes down if the earnings are not as good as expected. A stock can go up even with a report of bad earnings if the earnings are not as bad as expected. Many people buy stocks based on expectations of future company performance. In fact, many people buy stocks based on rumors and reports from sources external to the companyacting on expectations with even weaker foundations.
I have no idea what percentage of relationships hit this, but I have certainly heard it mentioned as a problem. Some people plan to change their new spouse as soon as they are married, but the spouse often doesnt cooperate. Any relationship founded on expectations of changing the other is headed for trouble.
Much Christmas and birthday behavior depends on expectations. A child wishing / hoping / asking for (expecting) a particular present can be very disappointed if they dont get it even if they get other presents that are much more valuable / thoughtful / personal. The wished-for item might also get an underwhelming response if the recipient was sure it was coming.
A surprise party can be worth the extra effort/secrecy required because the recipient is more strongly affected because he/she wasnt expecting the party.
Readers of books and viewers of movies and television shows approach them with expectations based on publicity/hype, word of mouth recommendations, reviews, etc. Reactions of disappointment often follow excessive hype. Pleased surprise can sometimes follow lower expectations. Good reviews let people approach a book / movie / show with more accurate expectations than when the only available information is paid publicity.
The AAR annual poll distinguishes between bad books (judged as objectively as possible) and disappointing books (judged against expectations).
Book covers and blurbs attempt to establish reader expectations, though there is a serious disconnect problem with many romance covers and blurbs that seem to be unrelated to the actual texts.
Discussions about genre boundaries and what genre labels are appropriate for a given book are fairly common here. This is an attempt to help.
Caveat: I was not an English major in school and have read almost no literary criticism or theory since, so the opinions presented here are those of a devoted reader of genre fiction, not an expert. (Ive read over 2,500 F&SF books since I started keeping a reading log in 1975 and over 2,600 romance books since I started reading in the genre in 1992.)
I know the whole genre label problem would go away if all fictional genres were just labeled Fiction, but I (like many genre readers) LIKE to have genre labels to give me a clue about what to expect in a book.
Here is the definition I will use for the romance genre:
A genre romance novel (or series, novelette, novella or short story) tells a story about entities developing a permanent sexual love relationship with a happily ever after ending.
I deliberately avoid saying heterosexual couple because I know homosexual romances exist and it is possible that romances exist about relationships between more than two people. (IIRC, Honey Moon is about a woman and the two great loves of her life.) I also avoid restricting the entities to humans of Earth since science fictional romances can feature other species, computers, etc.
I specify sexual love (Eros) to distinguish from other uses of the word love such as love of parent or child, country, humanity (agape), God, etc.
I include the HEA ending even though I know not all readers do because the HEA is a critical factor for me.
A discussion about review information on a mailing list Im on resulted in the following list of information potential readers might like to know:
Title - Author:
HC/TP/MMP/E-B - Publisher -Year:
Sub-genre and themes:
Setting(s) (times/places):
Overall Grade (A+ - F):
1-10 Humorous style:
1-10 Light to serious issues content:
1-10 Kisses to burning sensuality (or subtle to hot):
1-10 Poor, middle class, rich protagonists:
1-10 Untitled, titled, royal protagonists:
0-10 Internal conflict:
0-10 External conflict:
0-10 Secretive hero:
0-10 Secretive heroine:
0-10 Portion of text devoted to babies & children:
0-10 Portion of text devoted to appearance & clothing:
0-10 Level of action/adventure:
0-10 Level of angst:
0-10 Level of male-bashing:
0-10 Level of mystery:
0-10 Level of paranormal activity:
0-10 Level of suspense:
0-10 Level of violence:
Forced seductions/rapes:
Animal characters:
Accuracy (historical or other): *
Hero background/profession/type, age if known:
Heroine background/profession/type, age if known:
Believable HEA ending:
Series (Y/N & reading order):
If yes previous titles:
Additional Comments:
*Using these levels of historical accuracy (updated from part of an AAR column at
Hidden history: history that could have happened but we dont know about it. There are no invented countries, no characters with titles (the Duke of X) that did not exist in the depicted time, etc. All events in the story COULD have happenedwe simply dont know if they did because we have no actual historical record of those events. Any story of an unsung hero could be hidden history as long as the events in the story do not contradict the known historical record. (Paranormal stories where the paranormal is hidden from society at large can fit here if you accept that the paranormal elements could be real.)
Altered history: history as we know it with minor alterations (preferably described in notes). Small kingdoms that dont exist in our history can place a story here or in altered reality.
Accepted history: history as accepted in popular culture or a particular subculture (e.g., RomanceLand) despite known differences from history according to scholars, such as the fictional Regency established by Georgette Heyer, the American Old West of dime novels and other fiction, and other settings where everyone knows things that werent so. Contradicting accepted history based on newer or better research almost demands footnotes or end notes for the author to avoid mistaken criticism.
Alternate history (and superseded history): history that definitely contradicts history as we know it, usually splitting from our history at a single point and developing separately after that.
Mythic history: historical contexts used to tell a myth or historical contexts treated as myths rather than hard facts. This is history that approaches fairy tales, but is not quite as distanced from us. Rather than a vague once upon a time, a mythic history story *claims* to be set in a real historical setting, but characters and events are usually larger than life and there is little or no attempt to depict the setting as it actually was.
Alternate history + reality: history as we know it up to a point and a paranormal or magical history after the branching point.
The old Lord Darcy series by Randall Garrett (Lord Darcy Investigates, Murder and Magic, Too Many Magicians, Lord Darcy, possibly other collected stories) is set in an Angevin Empire that split from our history when a monk codified working laws of magic a few centuries ago.
The Southern Vampire (Sookie Stackhouse) series (Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, story in Bite anthology, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail) by Charlaine Harris (still being written) split from our history when vampires came out of the crypt. All the other magical species are still in hiding.
The Hollows/Rachel Morgan series (Dead Witch Walking; The Good, The Bad, and the Undead; Every Which Way But Dead, A Fistful of Charms) by Kim Harrison (still being written) has a history that split from ours in the 1950s when early genetic engineering created a plague that cut the human population so much that all the paranormal species came out of hiding.
Altered reality: history as we know it with overt (not hidden from the culture at large) magical or paranormal elements added (or some other non-magical element such as a species not living on our Earth that changes the setting from the world as we know it).
Small kingdoms that dont exist in our history can place a story here if not in altered history. I would tend to put them here if the setting is an island and in altered history if they are in the middle of a continent, but others could argue differently.
Sorcery and Cecelia and the sequel The Grand Tour by Wrede & Stevermer and Mairelon the Magician and the sequel Magicians Ward by Patricia Wrede. These stories are all Regency plus magic.
The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (His Majestys Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, future books to come).
I categorize all of the Vanza/Zamar books by Amanda Quick here.
Alternate reality: stories that contradict in some way the currently accepted world-view of modern materialistic science and the reader. This does not say that the reality they depict is in fact unreal or untrue, just that it is outside the limits of the current materialistic paradigm. Alternate reality usually has its own very different history because of the different reality. Alternate reality often includes non-human intelligences such as Abominable Snowmen, Aesir, afreets/afrits/afrites/efreets/ifrits, angels, basilisks, banshees, Big Feet, brownies, cacodemons, cherubim, daemons, demigods, demons, devils, djins, dragons, dryads, dwarves, elementals, elves, faeries, fairies/fays, fauns, genies, ghosts, giants, gnomes, gods, goddesses, golems, Halflings, immortals, imps, incubi, jinni, kobolds, lamias, mermaids/men/folk, Minotaurs, naiads, nixies, nymphs, ogres, pixies, pookas/pucas, Redcaps, revenants, salamanders, sasquatch, satyrs, selkies/silkies, seraphim/seraphin, shapechangers, Sidhe, sprites, succubi, sylphs, talking animals, titans, Tritons, trolls, undead, undines, unicorns, vampires, wee folk, werewolves, wraiths, xerafeen, yeti, or zombies
Psychic abilities (as distinct from working magical powers) can put a story in alternate reality if the reader doing the categorizing does not believe they exist in real life. If the reader accepts psychic abilities as normal, the same story would belong in one of the earlier categories.
Fairy tale: once upon a time . . . . Settings are usually (but not always) not identifiable as any known historical time and place. They are often medieval historical, but contemporary fairy tales are also possible. Magic or magical beings are usually major story elements.
Deliberately anachronistic history: deliberate/intentional use of anachronisms to create contrasts or incongruities.
Deliberate hodgepodge history: deliberate mixing of eras, regions, cultures, etc. to create contrasts or incongruities. This is anachronistic history carried farther.
Fictional reality: treating fictional settings or characters as real. This is not necessarily limited to attempting to imitate the style of an earlier work as in a pastiche. This is including characters and events from other works of fiction in a story setting as if they were non-fictional history.
The Thursday Next novels (The Eyre Affair, Lost In A Good Book, The Well Of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Among Sequels) by Jasper Fforde might qualify, though they twist reality somewhat differently.
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein.
Several romances by Minda Webber: The Reinvented Miss Bluebeard, The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing, The Remarkable Miss Frankenstein.
Genre labels
The above review information list is by no means complete, but it does summarize a lot of possible story features readers either want to read or want to avoid. Some of these features (focus on relationship, adventure, etc.) can apply to books in any genre and some are defining characteristics of genres. This is where genre labels get tricky. Any book with content meeting the defining characteristics of multiple genres could legitimately be described as belonging to all the included genres. Rather than being simply a romance, a book might be an adventure historical fiction mystery romance or some even longer hyphenated genre. I actually bought a copy of a hyphenated genre book recently: Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris says Fantasy/Mystery on the spine.
If you are a more visual thinker, visualize the Venn diagrams used in symbolic logic (circles that may or may not overlap). A book can be viewed as placed in the intersection of mystery and romance (or other) circles.
With the increased mixing of genres I have seen in recent years, I think it would be nice to see more hyphenated genre labels.
I also prefer to know the era of a story before I start reading, so I like to see that along with genre labels. A full label, therefore, would be a complete genre label followed by a complete setting label (including a clue about historical accuracy). Current Harlequin Historical books have an abbreviated form of this with the era or setting labels on the spines.
I think more than half of the content of a book should belong to a single genre to get a single genre label: romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc.
Books that are reasonably equal parts from multiple genres should get hyphenated genre labels: mystery-romance, romance-fantasy, fantasy-mystery, etc.
Books where one of the component genres is only a minority of the content should use an adjectival form of the minority genre as a modifier for the genre label: romantic mystery, romantic fantasy, science fictional romance, historical fantasy, etc.
I dont expect to see such labels from publishers any time soon, but the community of readers (and reviewers) could use such terminology at any time to increase the clarity of descriptions of books.
Romance Quotient
The use of a 50% content cut-off to get a genre label is where the Romance Quotient comes in. (I thought of calling it a Romance Ratio, but the initials RQ are less likely to be confused than RR.) The Romance Quotient is the portion of the book devoted to genre romance content OR advancing the relationship even though at one level it could be categorized as belonging to another genre. If the Romance Quotient of a book is less than 50% I would like to see it categorized as something other than a genre romance.
In this context, I think the Romantic Suspense label is a bit of unintentional honesty for many books: they are NOT suspenseful romances because the suspense takes up much more of the book than the romance.
The OR in my description above of the Romance Quotient is critical. Any story element characteristic of any genre can be either purely of that genre or also serving another genre.
Take sex scenes as an example (since they are frequently argued about). With no other context available, I would categorize the natural genre of a sex scene as either erotica or pornography. With a story context that gives it meaning, a sex scene can serve to advance a romance, a mystery, a spy story, or almost any other genre.
This principle applies to any scene or thread in a storyit has a natural genre and it can also help the developing story elements of other genres.
In some books, sex seems to be a substitute for love instead of a manifestation or demonstration of love. When that happens, I would count those scenes in the erotica quotient of the book rather than in the Romance Quotient. I dont know if this is a communication problem or some stylistic barrier between author and reader, but I suspect the not a romance reaction in the recent RWA/RITA discussion would happen whenever the judging reader saw sex scenes as just sex rather than sex showing love. It always comes back to story-telling skill and reader experience: did the authors words succeed in conveying the intended meaning to THAT reader? (A reader with hot-button reactions to certain words, phrases or scenes will experience a different story than a reader with different hot buttons.)
Do other story features serve the romance?
I believe conflict is considered essential to most story telling and many writers and readers think a pure romance has too little conflict to carry a book-length story, so most book-length romance books include conflicts from various genres. If those other genre elements are not bent to the service of the romance, the book is more of a genre blend deserving a multi-genre label.
Every facet of a story can be presented in a way that advances the relationship story at the heart of a romance (some with MUCH more difficulty than others), often by illuminating aspects of h/h character or increasing h/h intimacy. Conflict, secrecy, babies, adventure, mystery, suspense, etc. can all advance the romance. They dont have to do so and in many stories they dont, but in stories where they do the Romance Quotient is higher.
Story Examples
A recent (when I started writing this) Blaze book, Midnight Oil by Karen Kendall, supplies a couple examples of scenes serving the romance. Up to the point in the book Im describing the hero has been pretty much a self-lying jerk (Its just business). The heroine tells him about a near rape years earlier, explaining her avoidance of football players. This is attempted rape serving the romance because this is the first time she has trusted anyone enough to tell the story. After she leaves, the hero uses his fists & feet to destroy a bunch of kitchen cabinets scheduled for remodeling, wishing it was the long-ago assailants. This is one of the first scenes where it is clear he is coming to love the heroine, not just lust after her, so it is violence serving romance.
Another fairly recent example is Some Like It Wicked by Deborah Raleigh. There is a separation late in the book that serves the romance. The separation is short in pages and months in story time. The hero takes that time to create a successful gaming hell to prove to himself and the heroine that he isnt totally worthless. (One could question his choice of business, but he is using his strengths.)
Intent and results
Every reader brings a unique life history to the process of reading a story. That means that every reading of every story is unique. Even the same reader experiences the same story differently at different times in the readers life. There is a common realitya particular printing of the storybut not a common reading experience. (I specify a particular printing in reference to recurring typo discussions. Someone reading a recent Harlequin edition of Heyer has a different experience than someone reading a decades-older edition from a different publisher because of the numerous typos added by Harlequin.)
An author may have intended story features naturally belonging to other genres to function purely in those genres or to advance the romance, but there is no guarantee that all readers will read what the author intended in those story features.
If an author intended mystery elements in a book to advance a romance, the intended genre might have been mysterious romance. If a reader experiences the mystery elements as pure mystery (not helping the romance), for that reader the book is a mystery-romance or a romantic mystery.
I think it could be very helpful for readers to know the authors intended genre, but that is another change unlikely to happen with big publishers.
Unique Readers
I am an over-fifty single male, which immediately makes my viewpoint different from the majority of romance readers, yet I can think of many other details that make me a unique reader.
I can offer myself as an example of the reading experience changing with time. Before I started reading romances I was about as history-free as a literate person can beI was a devoted F&SF reader totally focused on the future, not the past. The first romance I read was a Heyer Regency and there was a LOT of terminology and cultural context I didnt understand. I have studied much more history since I started reading romances than I did in my whole life before that. When I reread that first Heyer book now everything is familiar and understood.
I have proofread material written by members of my family and coworkers for decades and proofread program code on a routine basis during work, so I have a tendency to see typos and mindos even when Im not trying. The more I learn, the more I see. An example of that is the lay/lie confusion so common in American English. Until a year or two ago I only occasionally noticed misuses of these words. After reading an extended discussion of these words on a mailing list, I made the effort to solidly learn the correct usages (which I either never learned in school or forgot). Now I notice more lay/lie errors than I used to.
Most of the time I do not visualize scenes as I read, but occasionally written scenes trigger flashes of visual images. (This is not consciously controlled.)
I stopped watching TV in the 1980s and only rarely watch movies, so I am not in touch with large chunks of modern culture unless I read about them in newspapers and magazines or hear them discussed on the radio. My detachment from media culture increases with time. Most film/TV star names do not conjure any image in my mind, so stories that try to shortcut character descriptions by dropping names give me no image.
I am a mostly armchair astronomer (enjoying pretty sky pictures), only looking through a telescope on rare occasions, but I have a fair grasp of some basic celestial motions. (The Astronomy Picture of the Day site at
is one I visit daily.) In a category romance I read recently the h/h look at an almost full Moon in the west in the early evening (on their way to dinner). How many readers will notice this error and be briefly jerked out of the story?
I prefer to read fiction for the first time in as close to a single sitting as possible, so I usually set aside a block of time and pick a book short enough to read in that time. I concentrate or focus enough to tune out minor distractions, but glitches in the text can break that focus. I dont identify with characters in the story, reading as an outside observer. For reasons I dont know, scenes with superficial injuries on the level of skinned knees cause a shiver of sympathy while scenes with major trauma have no similar effect.
I do not try to deliberately analyze fiction while I read it. I sometimes think analytically after the fact about fiction I have read, but rarely while immersed in the story.
My memory is porous enough that I can enjoy many rereads of a story as much as or more than the first reading. I also tend to remember things I strongly like or strongly dislike better than things that I mildly dislike or feel neutral about, so I forget most details of a lot of stories fairly quickly unless I think about them after I finish reading them.
Every reader could compile a list of personal reading quirks longer than this after some reflection, and no two lists would be completely the same.
Genre Examples
Despite all my warnings above about how every reader is unique and therefore will produce unique evaluations of every book, I will suggest a few genre categorizations here. (All of these categorizations are from memory, so I am arbitrarily picking books I think I remember well enough to categorize.) I believe that the common reality behind all the unique reader experiences can be approached by consolidating genre categorizations from multiple readers. When a living author is available, the authors intent (if stated) should rule in genre labels unless a large majority of readers clearly see the story as something else (see intent and results above).
I have included a lot of Heyer titles both because many people will have read them and because I think very few of her books are just romances.
Carroll, Susan: The Bride Finder (1998): Suspenseful Paranormal Romance Accepted Georgian Wales
Castle, Jayne: Amaryllis (1996): Lightly Suspenseful Paranormal Romance Future Colonized Planet
Castle, Jayne: Zinnia (1997): Lightly Suspenseful Paranormal Romance Future Colonized Planet
Castle, Jayne: Orchid (1998): Lightly Suspenseful Paranormal Romance Future Colonized Planet
Chase, Loretta: Lord Perfect (2006): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Crusie, Jennifer: Bet Me (2004): Comedic Romance Contemporary New York
Darcy, Clare: Elyza (1976): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Davidson, MaryJanice: Undead and Unwed (2004): Romantic Comedy-Chick Lit-Fantasy Contemporary Minneapolis
Davidson, MaryJanice: Derik's Bane (2005): Comedic Paranormal Romance Contemporary America
Davidson, MaryJanice: The Royal Treatment (2004): Comedic Alternate History Romance Contemporary Nation where Alaska is
Duncan, Dave: Strings (1990): Romantic* Science Fiction Near Future Earth (mostly)
(*Whether this is actually romantic can be debated. There is definitely a h/h relationship, but it is more karmic compulsion than love on her side.)
Evanovich, Janet: Back to the Bedroom (1989): Comedic Romance Contemporary Washington DC
Evanovich, Janet: One For The Money (1994): Comedic Romantic Mystery Contemporary New Jersey
Garwood, Julie: The Secret (1992): Romance Mythic Medieval Scotland
Harrison, Kim: Dead Witch Walking (2004) (and sequels): Alternate History+Reality Science Fiction-Fantasy Alternate Contemporary Cincinnati
Heyer, Georgette: The Black Moth (1921): Adventure-Romance Accepted Georgian England
Heyer, Georgette: These Old Shades (1926): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Georgian England & France
Heyer, Georgette: Devil's Cub (1934): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Georgian England & France
Heyer, Georgette: The Spanish Bride (1940): Fictionalized Biography-War Story Hidden Regency Peninsular Campaign
Heyer, Georgette: Regency Buck (1935): Mystery-Historical Fiction Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: An Infamous Army (1937): War Story-Romance-Historical Fiction Accepted Regency Belgium
Heyer, Georgette: Arabella (1949): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Black Sheep (1966): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England (Bath)
Heyer, Georgette: The Convenient Marriage (1934): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Georgian England
Heyer, Georgette: The Corinthian (1940): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Cotillion (1953): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Cousin Kate (1968): Gothic Historical Mystery Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: False Colours (1963): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Faro's Daughter (1941): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency London
Heyer, Georgette: The Foundling (1948): Coming of Age-Comedy of Manners-Historical Fiction Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Frederica (1965): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Friday's Child (1946): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: The Grand Sophy (1950): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Lady of Quality (1972): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England (Bath)
Heyer, Georgette: The Masqueraders (1928): Adventure-Romance Accepted Georgian England
Heyer, Georgette: The Nonesuch (1962): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Powder and Patch (1923): Comedy of Manners Accepted Georgian England
Heyer, Georgette: The Quiet Gentleman (1951): Romantic Mystery-Historical Fiction Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: The Reluctant Widow (1946): Comedy of Manners-Romantic Mystery Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Sprig Muslin (1956): Comedy of Manners Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Sylvester (or, the Wicked Uncle) (1957): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England & France
Heyer, Georgette: The Talisman Ring (1936): Comedy of Manners-Mystery-Romance Accepted Georgian England
Heyer, Georgette: The Toll-Gate (1954): Comedy of Manners-Mystery-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: The Unknown Ajax (1959): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
Heyer, Georgette: Venetia (1958): Comedy of Manners-Romance Accepted Regency England
High, Philip E.: Invader On My Back (1968): Romantic* Science Fiction Future Earth
High, Philip E.: The Prodigal Sun (1964): Romantic* Science Fiction Future Earth
High, Philip E.: Reality Forbidden (1967): Romantic* Science Fiction Future Earth
High, Philip E.: These Savage Futurians (1967): Romantic* Science Fiction Future Earth
High, Philip E.: The Time Mercenaries (1968): Romantic* Science Fiction Future Colonized Planets
High, Philip E.: Twin Planets (1967): Romantic* Science Fiction Multiple Earths
(*Most of Highs books are from the 1960s and feature couples and a theme of finding ones perfect partner. In some the perfection of the partners sounds more genetic than romantic.)
Howard, Linda: To Die For (2005): Suspense-Comedy-Romance Contemporary North Carolina
Kenyon, Sherrilyn: Night Play (2004): Comedy-Paranormal Romance Contemporary New Orleans
Knight, Angela: Master of Wolves (2006): Alternate History+Reality Romance Alternate Contemporary America
Krentz, Jayne Ann: All Night Long (2006): Suspense-Comedy-Romance Altered Contemporary California
Lackey, Mercedes: The Lark & The Wren (1992): Romantic Fantasy Medieval Planet
Lackey, Mercedes: The Fairy Godmother (2004): Romantic Fantasy Fairy Tale Kingdoms (This is a stand-on-your-own-feet Cinderella story. The hero isnt introduced until almost halfway through the book and takes quite a while to stop being an ass and start being a hero.)
Laurens, Stephanie: Devils Bride (1998): Suspense-Romance Accepted Regency England
Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve: Conflict of Honors (1988): Romantic Science Fiction Multiple Planets
Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve: Agent of Change (1988) + Carpe Diem (1989): Romantic Science Fiction Multiple Planets
Leinster, Murray: The Pirates of Zan (1959): Slightly Romantic Comedic Science Fiction Multiple Planets
McCaffrey, Anne: Dragonflight (1968): Romantic Science Fiction Future Colonized Planet
McCaffrey, Anne: Dragonquest (1968): Romantic Science Fiction Future Colonized Planet
McCaffrey, Anne: The Rowan (1990): Romantic Science Fiction Future Earth & Colonized Planets
McCaffrey, Anne: Damia (1992): Romantic Science Fiction Future Colonized Planets
McCaffrey, Anne: Restoree (1967): Romance-Science Fiction Near Future Other Planet
McCaffrey, Anne: The Ship Who Sang (1970): Romantic Science Fiction Future Interstellar Culture
Novik, Naomi: His Majestys Dragon (2006), Throne of Jade (2006), Black Powder War (2006): Science Fiction Altered (with dragons) Napoleonic Wars
Quick, Amanda: Lie by Moonlight (2005): Lightly Suspenseful Altered Reality Romance Altered Victorian England (I consider all the Zamar and Vanzagara novels altered reality.)
Quick, Amanda: Second Sight (2006): Lightly Suspenseful Psychic Romance Accepted Victorian England
Robb, J. D.: Naked In Death (1995): Science Fiction-Mystery Near Future Earth
Sands, Lynsay: Single White Vampire (2003) (and sequels): Comedic Paranormal Romance Contemporary Canada & America
Wrede, Patricia C. and Stevermer, Caroline: Sorcery and Cecelia (1988): Mystery-Romantic Fantasy Altered Regency England
Wrede, Patricia C. and Stevermer, Caroline: The Grand Tour (2004): Mystery-Romantic Fantasy Altered Regency Europe
Convincing HEA
A Yes/No for a believable HEA ending was on the reader info list above because it matters for some readers. I am one of many readers who insist on a HEA as part of the definition of the romance genre. A HEA unconvincing because of the story and characters in the body of the book might as well not be present in terms of categorizing a book as a romance for some readers. Because there will never be universal agreement about any book, the romance label can still apply, but a warning that x% of readers dont believe the HEA might be appropriate.
One problem for me with HEA believability is that the behavior of many romance heroes looks a lot like the symptoms of an abusive personality and quite a few others look obsessive. Neither abusive nor obsessive spouses seem to me to be great candidates for living HEA.
Labels by marketing and labels for series?
I have recently encountered some genre labels that I think mislead potential readers: books that say "Paranormal Romance" on the spine that I believe should say "Fantasy" to avoid leading readers to expect a HEA ending. I don't know sales figures, but I suspect that romances below the best-seller level probably sell more copies than similar books called fantasy. If that assumption is correct, the labels could be due to marketing decisions. It is also possible, of course, that some publishers don't adhere to a strict HEA ending policy for their genre romances.
The specific examples are the D'Artigo sisters series by Yasmine Galenorn (four books published so far, with several more to come that I will probably read AS FANTASY) and the Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason (four books so far and I stopped reading at one).
The normal romance HEA ending is reached in a single volume. A very small number of romances follow a single couple through more than one book. Some succeed in continuing a story without devaluing any earlier apparent HEA endings, and some diminish or tarnish the first HEA. JAK is one of the few romance authors I've read with several multi-book romances, and not all of her multi-volume romances work for me.
I would like to suggest that multi-volume stories that build to an eventual HEA ending need a variant of standard genre labels. The SERIES as a whole may be called a romance (singular), but the individual volumes should bear the labels of whatever other genres make up most of the text. By this standard, the individual Galenorn and Gleason books would say "Fantasy" on the spines and not mislead readers.
I mentioned above that blurbs can be misleading, but many are still useful. I normally read the blurb before starting any book. When accurate, a blurb gives me some idea of the plot and lets me pay special attention to the romance h/h from the start of the story.
While I now buy mostly ebooks instead of paper books and I see many virtues to ebooks, I have noticed that almost no ebooks I buy include the equivalent of the back cover blurb. I think ebook publishers need to correct this so that readers like me who rely on the blurb to help define expectations before reading can continue the practice.
I currently look up ebooks I plan to read in BYRON, but I don't always find them, and sometimes BYRON doesn't have the blurb.
Other genres
I have primarily discussed the romance genre here, but similar issues exist for other genres. In the other genre I read a lot of, F&SF, there are broad divisions of Fantasy and Science Fiction, there are finer divisions of Heroic, Epic, Quest, Hard Science, Alternate History, Space Opera, etc., there are settings all over many universes, there are humorous, serious and tragic stories, etc. I know the mystery genre also has many subsets. Even (or especially?) readers of non-genre fiction could benefit from clearer labels.
Expectations again
I have said more than once that expectations have a huge impact on every reading experience. If the genre label says Romance then I expect the ending to be HEA (self-contained within one book) and can be disappointed if it isnt. If I expect a romp and hit an angst-fest Im not likely to appreciate it. I believe more detailed genre labels such as I have suggested here could improve reading pleasure for many readers by letting them pick books to fit moods and approach books with reasonably accurate expectations.
Community action
I doubt that many publishers will act on label (or blurb) improvement any time soon (though surprises are always possible), so I wonder if there is anything the community of readers can do.
I have a copy of the BYRON database, which sometimes helps, but BYRON isn't a general solution since it isn't cheap and its coverage of the oldest and newest books tends to have gaps.
Are there any existing web sites that already supply better genre information than publishers do? I know there are a number of bibliographic sites out there, some genre-oriented, but nothing I have looked at quite satisfies the genre label need I see.
Is there any site that consolidates/pools data from many review sites to give more complete coverage than any single review site can supply?
Has anyone organized a wiki about published fiction that supplies genre details?
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Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1502
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:16 pm
Post subject:
This was posted on the Potpourri board a few months ago but was intended as an addendum to Genre labels. I am posting it here since the blog today has another discussion of labels.
A Proposed Paranormal Taxonomy
The term "paranormal" (as used in paranormal romance) covers quite a range.
I think we might want clearer or more detailed labels than the overly broad use of "paranormal" for the same reasons given in my "Genre Labels" essay some years ago (still on the WWW board). Clearer labels can make the reading experience more enjoyable by setting more realistic expectations. With paranormality, there is also a disbelief or comfort issue. As a long-time F&SF reader, I enjoy all the variations I've listed, but I know of other readers who can enjoy some subsets of the paranormal but not others. Clearer labels would let such readers pick and choose more carefully without having to try or avoid everything with the paranormal label: approachers could look for subsets they like and avoiders could steer clear of subsets they don't like.
Here are some possible categories (with labels I coined--I have not run across standardized terminology).
Everyday light paranormal romance includes things that some people ascribe to paranormal talents and some people don't, such as hunches, intuition, thinking about someone right before a call or contact, etc. Things like this pervade fiction.
Mild paranormal romance includes people demonstrating actual psychic abilities, but mild ones such as dowsing, psychometry, etc.
Psionic paranormal romance includes people consciously and accurately using strong psychic/psionic abilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, telehypnosis, teleportation, clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc.
Magical paranormal romance is the same as psionic paranormal, but is presented in a world in which magic is known to work.
Beyond human (metahuman or transhuman):
All the categories to this point just include human characters. There are many stories with characters other than humans. Such stories often also include humans with paranormal talents.
Ghost paranormal romance adds ghosts or wraiths, which in most stories are transformations, survivals or residues of humans.
Undead paranormal romance adds vampires, revenants, zombies, liches, ghouls or other varieties of undead creatures from various cultural traditions (or new types invented by authors). In most stories the undead are (usually but not always magical) transformations of humans, but I've read some vampire stories that present the vampires as a separate non-human species. Most paranormal romances with undead protagonists modify the traditional undead natures fairly substantially to enable romantic relationships with humans.
Shifter paranormal romance adds werewolves or other shapeshifters. The explanations are almost always magical. Some allow humans to become weres (contagion or curse models), but many treat weres as separate species established by major magical events in the past.
Multi-sapient paranormal romance adds other sapient species (often but not always humanoid) on this Earth or an alternate Earth. These sapient species can be from any mythology or cryptozoology or new species invented by authors. This can include Bigfeet, brownies, dragons, dryads, dwarves, elves, faeries, fauns, giants, gnomes, kobolds, merfolk, nymphs, ogres, pixies, satyrs, selkies, trolls, yeti, etc.
Multi-dimension paranormal romance adds planes/dimensions beyond Earth. Access to other dimensions is mostly magical (e.g., Faerie realms), but sometimes a scientific-sounding explanation is given. This isn't the same thing as alternate history, which has many instances of the same Earth that have developed along different historical lines.
Genie paranormal romance adds one or more version of afreets / afrits / afrites / efreets / ifrits, djinns, genies or jinni. These are (usually strongly magical) sapient species, often with partially or completely non-physical natures. Elementals probably also fit in here.
Demon/angel paranormal romance adds angels, cacodemons, cherubim, daemons, demons, devils, imps, seraphim / xerafeen, etc. Incubi & succubi probably fit in here, since I believe they are usually categorized as classes of demons. Many, but not all, demon/angel stories use a Judeo-Christian-Islamic framework or background.
Gods paranormal romance adds beings like gods: Aesir, demigods, gods, goddesses, Olympians, titans, etc. These are usually lowercase (polytheistic) gods or just beings with great (god-like) powers. Greco-Roman, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian and Native American traditions are probably the most used. God-like beings are rarely the protagonists.
In SFR (science-fictional romance), there are also often aliens with varying levels of divergence from familiar Earthly humans, or human races from other planets (often without any attempt to explain origins).
Also, an observation: SF, fantasy & paranormal romances treat the concept of "species" rather strangely, since they have many separate "species" that somehow manage to breed together despite interfertility usually being one of the defining characteristics of a species. All the interplanetary and other breeding would require a really wide definition of Homo Sapiens, with all the planetary populations, shifters, weres, vampires, elves, fairies, etc. as sub-species.
A few examples of expanded labels:
The Demon books by Meljean Brook are Magical + Undead + Demon/Angel + Multi-dimension PNR.
The Parasol Protectorate books by Gail Carriger are Magical + Undead + Shifter Steampunk.
The Undead books by MaryJanice Davidson started as Undead PNR and now are Magical + Undead + Shifter + Demon + Multi-dimension (counting Hell as a separate dimension) + Time travel PNR.
The Elder Races books by Thea Harrison are Magical + Undead + Shifter + Multi-sapient + Multi-dimension + Genie PNR.
The Dark Hunter books by Sherrilyn Kenyon are Magical + Undead + Shifter + Multi-dimension + Demon/Angel + Gods PNR, including the only protagonist god I've been able to remember so far.
The Arcane Society books by JAK (Jayne Castle / Jayne Ann Krentz / Amanda Quick) are Psionic PNR.
The Pack and Pride books by Shelly Laurenston are Magical + Shifter PNR.
The Wild About You books by Vicki Lewis Thompson are Shifter + Multi-sapient PNR.
The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris are Magical + Undead + Shifter + Multi-sapient + Multi-dimension (counting an offstage fairy realm) Mystery/Fantasy.
The Lupi books by Eileen Wilks are Magical + Undead + Shifter + Multi-sapient + Multi-dimension + Demon + Gods Urban Fantasy.
I urge anyone discussing (or reviewing) paranormal stories to qualify the term to increase clarity.
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Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1502
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:18 pm
Post subject:
This was posted on the Potpourri board a few months ago but was intended as an addendum to Genre labels. I am posting it here since the blog today has another discussion of labels.
Series labels
I briefly mentioned series in my original Genre Labels essay (still visible on the WWW board), but have recently been thinking more about series and reading order.
I read F&SF for many years before I started reading romances. Most F&SF series have stories that build through multiple books, so it is best to read them in order. Occasionally an author writes books out of the order of the chronology of story events, and there can be valid arguments for either story chronology order or publication order. The Pern books by McCaffrey and the Liad books by Lee & Miller are examples of series that I would recommend to read in publication order rather than story universe chronological order.
There are also some series that are more episodic or standalone, without any overall story arc or development, where reading order isn't a big deal. The Tom Swift Jr. series that I read in my teens was like that--even though there were new inventions in every book, Tom was 18 years old through more than 30 books.
When I started reading romances, I found a different sort of series: the one-couple-per-book series. Some have overall arcs of development and many don't. In some of the series without an obvious overall arc of development, primary couples from one book will be important secondary characters in other books, but in other series primary couples get little page space outside their own books.
Many Paranormal Romance series that I've read are best read in order, including series by G. A. Aiken, Dana Marie Bell, Meljean Brook, Kresley Cole, Bianca D'Arc, MaryJanice Davidson, Thea Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Angela Knight, Shelly Laurenston, Katie MacAlister, Erin McCarthy, Robin D. Owens, Cindy Spencer Pape, Kimberley Raye, Tielle St. Clare, Lynsay Sands, Nalini Singh, Kerrelyn Sparks, Vicki Lewis Thompson, and Christine Warren (though the way the "Others" books have been published & revised makes reading order a bit of a challenge).
I'm unsure about the Cynster books by Stephanie Laurens. I have read them in order of publication, but they are more loosely connected than most paranormal series. Her Bastion Club books are definitely a read-in-order series.
I like the fact that AAR reviews mention if a book is part of a series, but I'm wondering if it is worth trying to encourage the online romance community to add a few modifiers to the word "series". Some possibilities:
ARRO Author's Recommended Reading Order
MRC Major Recurring Characters
MVCA Multi-volume Character Arc
MVSA Multi-volume Story Arc
MVSCC Multi-volume Same Central Characters
OPCMV One Primary Couple, Multiple Volumes
OPCPB One Primary Couple Per Book
RIAO Read In Any Order
RICO Read In Chronological Order
RIPO Read In Publication Order
These labels can overlap, so there are probably better systems (though I didn't get any suggestions when I posted an earlier version of these thoughts on the Potpourri message board some time ago). MRC could mean books like Nina Bangs' books with the cosmic troublemakers as recurring secondary characters but no obvious MVSA, or Meljean Brook's Demon books with the h/h of Demon Angel present as important secondary characters in most following books with a MVSA, but the latter could also be described as MVCA. Laurens' Bastion Club books, with the buildup to Dalziel's story, could be described as MRC, MVCA or MVSA. MVSCC includes series like the Tom Swift Jr. books or the J. D. Robb "In Death" books, though I've also seen suggestions that the In Death books are RIPO.
The majority of books published as romances are OPCPB, but there are exceptions (which I consider to be badly assigned genre labels). The Undead (Queen Betsy) books by MaryJanice Davidson are labeled Paranormal Romance but still haven't reached a primary couple HEA after 10 or 11 books. A number of books by Katie MacAlister are labeled Paranormal Romance but take three or four books per couple.
There is a lot of overlap between Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, but I don't approach UF expecting OPCPB. I recently bought & read the Lupi ebooks by Eileen Wilks after one of my brothers recommended them. The publisher is too cheap to include cover images, and I have never seen genre labels on any ebooks to date. I just checked the Fantastic Fiction site and found the Lupi books listed there as Urban Fantasy, which fits the fact that most of the books have centered on one couple. For another example, I consider the Otherworld series by Yasmine Galenorn to be Urban Fantasy rather than Paranormal Romance (as does the FF site), but the one book I bought in paperback before switching to ebooks said Paranormal Romance on the spine. A quick web search turned up an author site saying the author considers the series Urban Fantasy and has no control over publisher genre labels. Maybe not seeing publishers' genre labels on ebooks is a blessing in disguise.
A large portion of my reading these days (about 3/4 so far this year) consists of books in series. In line with my earlier plea for better labels on individual books, I would like to see publishers do a better job of labeling books in series.
Always list all books in the series at the front or back of the book. Clearly label the list as Author's Recommended Reading Order, Chronological Order, or Publication Order. Do NOT just list the titles in alphabetical order unless that is also the recommended reading order.
Include all anthologized stories/novellas/novelettes in the list, correctly placed in the specified reading order.
For those who care about numbers, here are some terms. Some years ago I tried to recall appropriate series words for various numbers and did a little dictionary checking. Trilogy and tetralogy both trace back to the ancient Greek religious theatrical competitions. The three tragedies were a trilogy and the three tragedies plus one comedy that made up a playwrights complete entry were a tetralogy. The words were later generalized to describe three or four works of any kind. Since the cultural and linguistic origin is Greek, I checked for other words using the Greek number roots rather than the Latin (quattro- is from Latin). For two works, duo can be used, though it isnt specific to writings, or one can just talk about a book and its prequel or sequel. I was able to find OED mentions for pentalogy (five books) and hexalogy (six books). I didnt find any mention of heptalogy, octalogy or ennealogy, but heptad, octad and ennead are words for groups of seven, eight and nine items. The word Decalogue (or decalog) is reserved for the Ten Commandments, and I didnt find decalogy. I did not try to find terms for groups beyond ten books.
I read a lot of books in series, and some of those series feel like they have gone on too long while others still feel fresh after many books. As with any generalization about fiction, a good author can write a counterexample, but I would say I find a positive correlation between the number of major characters and the number of books I'm willing to read. Genre also make a difference. With just one central couple, a trilogy or tetralogy will often work for me, but anything longer has to have a good reason. With many major characters, I can happily read many more books as long as they don't feel like rehashes of the same material.
Examples (counts are what I've read, + mostly indicates anthologized stories):
6+UF Magic books by Ilona Andrews: I'm still interested.
3 UF Mercy books by Toni Andrews: unfinished since 2009. Will this be finished?
9 PNR (3 linked Salem trilogies) by Annette Blair: is there more to come?
8+UF Mercy & Alpha books by Patricia Briggs: keep going.
7+PNR Demon books by Meljean Brook: this story is hanging unfinished.
10+PNR IAD books by Kresley Cole: what is planned?
10+PNR Undead books by MaryJanice Davidson: please wrap this up.
50+SF 1632 universe books by Eric Flint & many others: keep going.
9+UF Night Huntress (& World) books by Jeaniene Frost: keep going.
11+UF Otherworld books by Yasmine Galenorn: please wrap this up.
4+PNR Elder Races books by Thea Harrison: more, please.
9+PNR Mageverse books by Angela Knight: thank you for wrapping this up. I was getting very tired of too much of the ubervillain.
10+PNR Pack and Pride books by Shelly Laurenston: keep going.
10+PNR Guardian/dragon books by Katie MacAlister: please wrap this up.
10 PNR Celta books by Robin D. Owens: keep going.
12+PNR Vampire books by Kerrelyn Sparks: please wrap this up.
4 UF Katie Chandler books by Shanna Swendson: book 5 just came out four years after book 4.
19+PNR Others books by Christine Warren: I'm ambivalent.
9+UF Lupi books by Eileen Wilks: I'm still interested, but is there a planned arc?
Tangential note: I need to find a better way to keep up with releases. While checking some counts for the above list, I came across info about an Elder Races novella that came out a couple months ago that I hadn't heard about. I also found out about the Shanna Swendson continuation after a four-year gap.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Apple Nachos RecipeRead Reviews Be the first to add a review
- 36 caramels
- 1 tablespoon water
- 30 large marshmallows
- 1/3 cup butter, cubed
- 4 medium tart apples, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/3 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
- 1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons Halloween sprinkles
- In a microwave, melt caramels with water; stir until smooth.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt marshmallows and butter. Arrange apple slices on a large platter. Drizzle with caramel; top with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Serve immediately. Yield: 24 servings.
Reviews for Apple Nachos
"Did anyone have a problem with apples turning brown before recipe was completed and dish was served? Thinking about soaking apples in lemon juice..just wondering :-)"
"These were delicious!! The only problem I had was the thinness of the apple slices. They were too thin and fell apart with the all of the toppings on it. The next time I make them, I will do thicker slices. Other than that they were so good and gobbled up!"
"I made this recipe for girls' night and it was a huge hit!!! In addition to using the jarred caramel I also used the jarred marshmallow. Much easier and less messy!I plan on making this recipe for an upcoming Halloween party."
"Delicious my guests couldn't gobble these up fast enough!"
"I am planning on making these for my granddaughter's birthday party. Nice to see the idea of fluff and ice cream topping. I will add peanut butter chips also. It all sounds so yummy!"


text:
Mooberry Track & Field Complex
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Like the baseball team, Cougar Track and Field got a new home after the football field was renovated in 1980. The Mooberry Track and Field Complex opened under the shadows of Martin Stadium's north bleachers on May 3, 1980 with a 101-61 dual meet victory over Washington.
The facility is named after long-time Washington State Track Coach Jack Mooberry, who compiled a .706 winning percentage from 1946 to 1973.
All running and field events are held on site. The oval track runs north-south and has nine lanes on the straightaway and eight on the curves. The javelin, shot put, discus, pole vault, and jumping events are all held on the infield.
Grandstands line the north ends of the straight stretches. Mooberry has a seating capacity of 4000, with additional room for standing room spectators. The press box sits atop the west bleachers. It houses members of the media, official scorers and the public address announcer.
The Mooberry Track and Field Complex has been home to five of the Cougar men's Pac-10 championship teams.
In 2012, Mooberry Track underwent renovations that included updating the track surface and reconfiguring the infield track area for more effective use for field events. The new running surface, the Beynon Sports Surface 2000, is promoted as giving an Olympic caliber running surface that gives athletes the ultimate edge when it comes to competitive performance. The 2012 US Olympic Trials were held on the same surface. For full details on the renovations, click here.


text:
Former Galleria shopping center up for sale
Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 5:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 5:25 p.m.
The former Galleria shopping center is for sale.
Brian Eckel and Hank Miller of Cape Fear Commercial are marketing the 12-acre site at 6800 Wrightsville Ave., a half-mile from the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge.
The shopping center was formerly anchored by Harris Teeter, Rite Aid, Wrightsville Grille and office users.
The 97,864-square-foot center is vacant, said Eckel, who added that the asking price hasn't been determined.
"At this point we haven't reached out to any specific users," Eckel said Wednesday. "When we begin to actively market the site, we will target a selection of investors, retailers, and both commercial and multifamily developers."
Robert Mitzel, regional president of Equity One Inc., the center's owner, said last year that demolition was a possibility for the Galleria.
Mitzel said that the center had "become antiquated over time."
Built in 1986, it was one of the first developments in that area, he said Wednesday.
Harris Teeter and Eckerd Drugs were original tenants, Mitzel added.
"The center had a restaurant upstairs with an outdoor patio. It was awesome," he said.
Mitzel said his group bought the center in 1992 and "it was a great asset."
But "two-story retail," he said, "just doesn't work today in non-urban areas."
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text:
Sage's Art Programs Receive Prestigious NASAD Reaccreditation
Sage's programs covered by the prestigious NASAD accreditation include several Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) programs in the Visual Arts Department at Sage College of Albany – including majors in Fine Arts, Graphic & Media Design, Photography and Interior Design – as well as the Master of Art in Teaching (M.A.T.) program in Art Education offered through the Esteves School of Education at Sage.
"We are extremely proud that the excellence of our programs in art has once again been recognized by an external and highly regarded accrediting organization and by peer institutions," said Sage Provost Terry Weiner. "It is through the hard work and dedication of the faculty and staff in these departments that our programs continue to be of the highest standards."
"We are thrilled that the NASAD Commission on Accreditation voted at the April 2012 meeting that Sage's art programs remain in good standing, and commended The Sage Colleges for our thorough response," said Sarolta Takacs, dean of Sage College of Albany.
The Commission's main role as a professional accrediting agency is to improve educational practices, maintain high professional standards in art and design, and establish a level of excellence among most major art programs in the United States.
For more on Sage's B.F.A programs, visit www.sage.edu/art
For more on Sage's M.A.T. in Art Education, visit esteves.sage.edu


text: Dr. Susan Bahl's practice, the Women's Center for Breast Care, provides compassionate, quality care in the treatment of a full range of breast health concerns. One of only 350 fellowship trained breast surgeons in the country, Dr. Bahl's focus is the treatment of breast disease and a multidisciplinary approach to the care of breast cancer patients. Dr. Bahl is a recognized expert in breast conservation surgery, and is trained in techniques that are less invasive. The Women's Center for Breast Care also evalutes and manages many breast issues that are not cancerous but require surgical treatment.Dr. Bahl completed her fellowship training in breast surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Board Certified Surgeon. She is a member of the Association of Women's Breast Surgeons. Dr Bahl is a compassionate surgeon, dedicated to improving women's health.The Women's Center for Breast Care is located in theFMH Crestwood Building7211 Bank Court, Suite 110Frederick, MD 21703For information call: 301.418.6611


text:
This Saturday, I joined five other BFFs from high school for a fun afternoon hosted by one of them. I won't name names to protect the innocent. You'll soon find out why.
That morning, I started trying on a few outfits to, well, help me look my best among friends. I didn't have time during the week to get waxed, or have my hair cut and colored for that matter.
As my clothes pile got bigger, I finally gave up. Reluctantly, I went into my dresser drawer and pulled out a Spanx, designed and purchased to reduce my muffin top. It was an all-in-one operation — complete with bra — that went only to my waist.
Well, this might work, I thought, even though I can remember how I felt the last time I wore it. I contorted my upper body, took a few deep breaths and struggled into my straight jacket until my face turned bright red. Then I added a colorful sweater for additional camouflage and off I went.
When I arrived at my friend's house, I was happy to see my friends. We all looked the same since we last saw each other, give or take a few pounds. We caught up, reminisced and laughed over some wine before a fabulous lunch.
Of course, the topic of our ever-changing body shapes came up. So did the pros and cons of wearing Spanx. One by one, most of us admitted that we did indeed wear the black, white or skin toned "under armour" on rare occasions — or even more regularly than that.
Little by litte, we confessed our sins:
"I wear at least two, sometimes three, Spanx every day to work. By the time I get home, I can't even breathe. "
"I used to wear one to reduce my bust, and then I end up with a smushed and unflattering uni-boob. I felt like a &*%#$ linebacker. "
"I can't unsnap my Spanx fast enough when I have to use the ladies room. It's not a pretty sight."
"I wore an all-in-one Spanx for my nephew's wedding. It went down to my thighs. I slipped on the dance floor, and there I was, on my knees in all my glory. All you could see was my black Spanx. The worst part was that my sister posted it on Facebook!"
Our stories brought additional laughs and offered some food for thought. We pondered: Are Spanx really worth it?
As I got up from the couch, I noticed my Spanx had rolled up to my bra, leaving my midriff exposed under my shirt. Maybe I need a new Spanx. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just say no thanks to Spanx. I'll never tell.
I guess one thing is for sure. You can run, but you cannot hide.


text:
"The trick to aging," Jane Fonda says, "is to go slow." She learned this the hard way when, at 60, she climbed her favorite peak in Argentina: the 12,293-foot dormant volcano Mount Lanin, near a ranch owned by her then-husband, Ted Turner. "I almost got to the top," she recalls, "but I went too fast and perspired and got hypothermia." To mark her 70th birthday, last December, Fonda heeded the advice of her boyfriend, retired businessman Lynden Gillis, and headed down instead of up: She did an 85-foot dive in Turks and Caicos and swam with sharks, barracudas, and stingrays. "I went very slowly," she says. "It's a major life lesson. It's true with mountain climbing, scuba diving, and lovemaking."
Fonda's "taking it slowly" would be full steam ahead for most people. Author and motivational speaker are just the latest incarnations of the Hollywood legend dubbed a chameleon by her daughter, Vanessa. Fonda, whose autobiography, My Life So Far, was a best-seller in 2005, is now hard at work on a book about aging, The Third Act: Entering Primetime. "We've been granted an entire adult lifetime, longer than what our grandparents had, and we are entering this third act healthier physically and mentally," she says. "We get less judgmental, more positive. And so we have a tremendous opportunity to change the world."
Fonda has always been a mover and shaker, morphing from an ingenue to a polarizing symbol of Vietnam War protest to an Oscar-winning actress-producer and workout-video queen. "It was totally organic, a natural evolution," she says. "I never get bored, ever." Along the way, she was married three times — to director Roger Vadim, California politico Tom Hayden, and media mogul Turner. "Women like me tend to have a porous ego. I don't anymore," says Fonda, who announced her retirement from acting while she was with Turner — and then, after their split, reemerged at the 2000 Oscar ceremony looking radiant in a Vera Wang gown. "It took me a long time, into my 60s, to own my own narrative." She based her comeback role, in the 2005 comedy Monster-in-Law, in part on Turner, with whom she remains friendly. "He taught me that over-the-top and outrageous are lovable," she says. "People used to say I didn't have a sense of humor. They were right. Ten years with Ted gave me humor and confidence."
Fonda overcame an early dry spell in Hollywood by developing and producing her own material, including the hit films Coming Home and The China Syndrome. "It was hard for me to get decent roles for a number of reasons," she says (among them, backlash from her visit to North Vietnam in 1972). "So I combined my beliefs and values with the movies I made, and they did well. It was unusual."
It's shocking to learn that one of our greatest actresses hasn't a single film project in the works today. "Shouldn't be shocking, given the reality," says Fonda matter-of-factly, referring to Hollywood's ageist attitude. The films she's offered are "either dour, or less interesting versions of the shrewish mother-in-law. And I'm too old to produce, because it takes years. I can't. But I really do want to make movies."
Fortunately, she has plenty to keep her otherwise engaged. Writing helped her find her voice — strong, supple, and clear — and these days she uses it to denounce the war in Iraq and support Democratic candidates (first Hillary Clinton, now Barack Obama). She also promotes the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, an organization she founded 13 years ago, and speaks to women around the country about empowerment.
"You know," she says, "I made the workout famous. And this is the time for the work-in. This is the time to continue developing and growing."
Originally published in MORE magazine, November 2008.


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Waltraud Meier is one of the most fascinating singers in the opera scene, with people travelling across Europe to see and hear her. This rigorous actress is attentive to nuances, language and meaning. She will be at La Monnaie for an exceptional evening of lieder by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Gustav Mahler, which she has called 'Frauenliebe und –leben'. Her performance will convince us once again that she is not only the legendary Wagnerian with whom all stage directors dream of working, but also a deeply moving performer in the intimate and special atmosphere of a recital.
For several years, you have been one of the singers and actresses most sought after by stage directors. When you give a lieder recital, you do not have to meet the demands of a stage director and are not playing a role. Who are you in a recital?
I am the character I am singing about in the lied. I create images, scenarios, a story, connections, etc. The source of expression is exactly the same as in an opera.
When you prepare a recital, there is probably more personal work to be done based on the literary and musical material, and you invent yourself and your inner journey. Is this true?
Yes. It would obviously be wonderful also to have someone such as Patrice Chéreau to guide me in the interpretation of lieder. But in any case, I always have suggestions and ideas regarding the staging of the works I perform; or at least my body language – if I am fully conscious of how I use it – often becomes an essential element for the stage director.
Therefore, when you step on stage for a lieder recital, you have your own staging in mind.
Is the closeness to the audience very different during an evening of lieder and an opera?
Yes. And I like it when there is a little bit of light, not only so that people can read the text at the same time, but also because I want to see their faces. I enjoy interacting with them and having a true dialogue. In an opera, I have this dialogue with another singer, and in a lied I have it with the audience. In this case, even a monologue is a dialogue.
Does the performance of a recital have an influence on the way you approach opera?
Yes, absolutely. And not only regarding vocal techniques. The attack of the sound in a lied is much finer, more precise and cleaner. It is of course very beneficial to apply this to opera. But I also have to concentrate on what I am saying: it must be sincere. This is always important. I must sing as though I am talking to someone.
The text is very important to you in an opera and in a recital. Who has taught you the most about understanding the subtleties in a text and about working precisely on the poetic impact of texts?
I think I have always been like that. In fact, I wanted to study languages. I have always had an affinity with language; I am interested in the meaning of each word, and I wonder why a sentence is written in one way and not in another. It must have a very specific meaning. I have always been interested in this. And this approach has been reinforced by certain stage directors such as Patrice Chéreau in particular. I might also say that they encouraged me in this respect.
'Singing is being.' Can you expand on this idea?
In singing, I express everything in me. I can hide things if I want to, but if I really want to reveal myself, I can do it better by singing – more thoroughly than if I limit myself to talking. In singing, all of the nuances are heard.
Do you have the feeling that with experience you are able to achieve more nuances than you could a few years ago, and that this allows you to be even more sincere?
Yes, I think so. But I think that when we live life with full consciousness and never stop questioning the essence of things, we are in touch with reality and with who we are. When we wonder, 'Is this really true?', 'Is that what I really think?', 'Am I authentic and sincere?', then we evolve as human beings.
Interview by Christian Longchamp
article - 7.12.2012


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Rated 3.5 out of 5 by 4 reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Hill Exactly what we were looking for. Purchased this online. It was exactly the look we were going for. The price was right and the quality of the product was as well. The assembly was a snap with the help of easy to read directions. July 27, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Ccurtis Really happy with purchase I've been looking at similar items from RH and found a French antique bookshelf for 1200 but thought I'd try this before I dropped a ton of money. Although the shelves are not as solid/heavy as RH or the antique bookshelf it is perfect for what I need. Easy to put together and very good instructions. My first WM purchase and I will buy again. May 22, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Mrsdeannec Ok shelf but who measured it? This shelf is only 45" wide! The online information said 50". So I purchased 2 to fill a 100" wall but now I have a 10" gap. Very disappointed by this! I normally love WM and have many products, especially furniture, from them. Gotta say though this really irritated me. July 17, 2013
Rated 2 out of 5 by barb9 Design is wonderful, but poor materials ruin what could be a beauty. To view this online, it looks great; an excellent blend of industrial and vintage style. However, when the bookshelf arrived, the obvious poor quality of the materials used to construct the bookshelf were disappointing. The shelves are paper thin making them incredibly fragile, added to the difficulty of assembling the bookshelf. The metal wheels do not roll smoothly either, so forget about being able to move the bookshelf once you have assembled it. Another disappointment was the width. The dimensions for width are incorrectly listed at 50 inches on the website, the bookshelf is only 44 inches wide. Had we not purchased this on sale for less than a hundred dollars, we would have returned it immediately. At the reduced price, we decided to keep the bookshelf as it does look attractive, but is not as hardy as traditional industrial furniture due to the low quality of the materials it was constructed from. July 19, 2013
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Farm Call: Your Questions Answered
Evicting Carpenter Bees
July 27, 2015
Q. What is the best way to get rid of carpenter bees without harming my horse if he comes into contact with the insecticide used?
Should I Wrap an Abscessed Hoof?
July 22, 2015
Q. Dr. Britt Conklin offers suggestions on how to keep an abscessed hoof clean.
From Toeing-Out to Toeing-In
July 08, 2015
Q. What could cause a change in an adult horse's leg conformation?
How to Keep Your Horse Safe During the 4th of July
July 02, 2015
Q. A veterinarian offers tips to keep your horse calm despite the noise and sight of festive fireworks.
What is a Neck Threadworm, and Can it Hurt My Horse?
June 26, 2015
Q. An equine parasitologist answers a horse owner question about these mysterious worms.
Problems With Previcox Overdose
June 23, 2015
Q. What can happen if a horse overdoses on Previcox? Are there any repercussions that he could suffer?
Wedge Pads and Navicular Horses
June 10, 2015
Q. A veterinarian and farrier addresses the benefits and concerns of wedge pads in shoeing horses with navicular syndrome.
Weaving: Are Mirrors the Answer?
May 25, 2015
Q. Are stall mirrors recommended for horses that weave, and where could I find one that is safe and economical?
Death of a Herdmate
May 19, 2015
Q. Can the death of one horse lead to a complete change in another's behavior or "personality"?
What's the Difference Between Gastrogard and Ulcergard?
May 11, 2015
Q. One is prescribed by your veterinarian, the other is available over-the-counter. Find out more in our Q&A.
Baled Alfalfa or Alfalfa Pellets: Which is Better?
May 04, 2015
Q. You're faced with the choice of offering your horse alfalfa pellets or hay. Which should you choose?
Fever Leading to Gastric Ulcers in a Young Horse
April 20, 2015
Q. A filly goes to the trainer and ends up sick, off feed, and with gastric ulcers. Will the ulcers return due to stress when she goes back into training?
Twitch Efficacy and Endorphin Levels
April 13, 2015
Q. Learn about applying a lip twitch and the endorphin release that occurs during application.
Strange Stance for Shoeing
April 06, 2015
Q. Whenever the farrier is working on my gelding's feet, he stretches his head straight out in front of him and twists it to the side. Is this just a strange habit he picked up at some stage?
Should I Worry About the Hardness of My Horses' Water?
March 30, 2015
Q. My water company recently announced that our new community water source is "hard" water, with higher levels of calcium and magnesium. Do I need to worry about the change in water or the additional source of calcium in my horses' diets?
Horses Eating Thistle
March 23, 2015
Q. An owner worries about her horse eating thistle. An equine nutritionist responds about the risks.
Bats in My Barn
March 16, 2015
Q. Bats have moved into one horse owner's barn. Find out if that's a good or bad thing.
Caudal Heel Pain or Navicular: What's the Right Term?
March 02, 2015
Q. A veterinarian explains terms often used to describe horses with front-limb lameness that might be associated with the navicular bone.
Hoof Abscesses: Does Epsom Salt Really Help?
February 24, 2015
Q. A veterinarian considers if Epsom salts and poultices really help draw out hoof abscesses.
How Does Arena Footing Affect an Athletic Horse's Longevity?
February 16, 2015
Q. An equine sports medicine specialist shares how footing can impact soundness and offers footing selection advice.
Hypovolemic Shock
February 09, 2015
Q. My horse recently suffered major chest trauma, deep lacerations, major blood loss, etc. He went into hypovolemic shock due to the blood loss following the injury and a bad colic. Can you tell me more about shock related to blood loss or trauma?
Mucousy Manure
February 02, 2015
Q. I am concerned about an older horse where I board. Yesterday I found in her manure what looks like stringy intestinal tract with feces encapsulated inside. It does not look like worms. She is also not eating as well as usual. What could cause this?
Can I Give My Horse Biotin Supplements Designed for Humans?
January 26, 2015
Q. Find out how biotin might help hoof and haircoat.
What Should I Expect From a Veterinary Visit?
January 21, 2015
Q. I am looking for general information regarding my veterinarian and horse care. What should I expect from the veterinarian? Is there a set protocol or standard that I should be asking for?
Can Horses Take Firocoxib Long-Term?
January 19, 2015
Q. My horse receives 25 milligrams of Previcox daily to manage pain related to navicular syndrome. Is long-term use of this drug okay?


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Jan 06th 2011
Utah: Not Just a Vacation Spot
It's our state motto and it has become so overused it's bordering on cliche, but the truth is, Utah really does have the greatest snow on earth. With travel websites promising "unparalleled access" and various resorts boasting new upgrades and newly accessed ski country, it seems everyone wants to spend time here. (Photo courtesy of http://utah.travel) Read More


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I would really like to adopt Jennifer Lawrence. But since she seems to have perfectly nice parents and I have a perfectly nice daughter, I have a backup plan: I want her to marry my son. ("Great idea!" he agrees. "How do we make it happen?") I can see her flopping around our apartment in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, dropping a bowl of mashed potatoes maybe or reacting to our bulldog's drool.
I'm not so sure about Lena Dunham, who just might walk naked into the room, as she does with such disconcerting aplomb in nearly every episode of her HBO series Girls. And I'd definitely get nervous if she asked for a Q-tip. Just weeks ago, her self-written character, Hannah, was caught doing bloody damage to her eardrum with that cosmetic tool.
But what I love about both these women—and what may be the only thing they have in common—is the way they go through life without shame or sham. Forget Hollywood history and expectations; Lawrence, 22, and Dunham, 26, say what they mean, spontaneously spitting out their actual thoughts ("You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell," Jennifer said, accepting the Best Actress Oscar after her Dior dive) and slapping down detractors ("Get used to it," Dunham told critics of her flaw-revealing red-carpet shorts, "because I am going to show my thighs every day till I die"). With Lawrence, we get glamour gone goofy; Dunham dares to tread the take-me-or-leave-me terrain previously reserved for proudly misbehaving men.
Maybe it's the Internet influence—they are the generation who grew up putting it all online—or the result of those storied efforts to bolster girls' self-esteem; some might even call their insistence on being themselves entitlement's final frontier. But these stars don't feel the need to spin. They allow us to watch them evolve, test the waters, make mistakes. And as much as I might miss the elegance of Audrey Hepburn or the mystery of Julie Christie, I'm starting to see more value in two mouthy new idols who, probably and charmingly, don't give a damn what I think.
Next: Funniest Women on Screen
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There are approximately 30,594 Latinos and 98 Latino lawyers (attorneys) residing in Jacksonville. Jacksonville itself has a total population of 821,784 (U.S. Census).
We are currently working on adding Jacksonville Spanish speaking lawyers to our database. In the meantime please fill out the form below and we will do our best to connect you with one. This service will be free of charge to you.
Since you are looking for a Spanish lawyer in Jacksonville, you might find the following legal and government links useful:
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All attorneys listed on our website go through a licensing verification process to make sure they are in good standing with the state agency issuing their license at the time of joining our directory.
Attorneys are also required to notify us immediately if they become the subject of any disciplinary action by any state licensing agency.


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April 21, 2013
UCLA Volleyball on Facebook
UCLA Volleyball on Twitter
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. - Juniors Meg Norton and Kelly Reeves placed third in the USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate Challenge Gold bracket pairs competition on Sunday, while senior Bojana Todorovic and sophomore Karsta Lowe were third in the Silver bracket.
Norton and Reeves began the day with a 21-13, 21-13 victory over CSU Bakersfield's #2 team of Debora Araujo and Yuan Fu and posted another straight-set win in the quarterfinals, defeating the Hawai'i #2 squad of Natasha Bell and Tai Manu-Olevao, 22-20, 21-17. The Bruin junior duo then ran into the #1 team from the top-ranked squad in the nation in Lilla Frederick and Kim Hill of Pepperdine and put up a valiant effort, but fell 21-16, 21-19 to finish in a tie for third in the Gold bracket.
Sophomore Zoë Nightingale and freshman Becca Strehlow lost both of their Gold bracket matches, dropping straight-set decisions to Santa Clara's #1 Taylor Milton and Danielle Rottman (21-13, 21-19) and to Hawai'i's #2 Katie Spieler and Ginger Long (21-13, 21-7).
In the Silver bracket, Lowe and Todorovic made it to the semifinals. The #3 UCLA duo began with a victory over Hawai'i's #4 team of Ali Longo and Olivia Urban by identical 21-12 scores. Then taking on the Rainbow Wahine's #3 squad, Lowe and Todorovic knocked off Emily Mount and Ashley Kastl, 21-14, 16-21, 15-13. However, the Waves would strike again in the semis, but not without a fight from the Bruin pair. Lowe and Todorovic took Pepperdine well into extra points in the second set, but ultimately fell, 21-18, 29-27.
The UCLA #4 team of freshmen Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye split their two matches in the Silver bracket, defeating Loyola Marymount's #3 squad of Hannah Tedrow and Amber Mirabello, 21-18, 21-10, while falling to Long Beach State's #3 team of Jocelyn Neely and Lauren Minkel, 21-9, 21-10, in the quarterfinals.
In the Bronze bracket, freshmen Maddy Klineman and Phelix Fincher also split their two matches. They fell in the first round to Hawai'i's #5 Ku'ulei Zalopany and Nikki Miyashita, 21-15, 21-13, but bounced back with a 21-8, 21-6 win over Santa Clara #5 Chloe Sliger and Lacey Maas.
On Monday, the selection committee will determine which teams and pairs will participate in the AVCA Championships, which take place in May 3-5 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Sunday, April 21, 2013 - Hermosa Beach, Calif. - USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge
Gold Bracket
First Round - Norton/Reeves d. Araujo/Fu (CSUB), 21-13, 21-13
Quarterfinals - Norton/Reeves d. Bell/Manu-Olevao (UH), 22-20, 21-17
Semifinals - Frederick/Hill (PEP) d. Norton/Reeves, 21-16, 21-19
First Round - Milton/Rottman (SCU) d. Nightingale/Strehlow, 21-13, 21-19
Consolation - Spieler/Long (UH) d. Nightingale/Strehlow, 21-13, 21-7
Silver Bracket
First Round - Lowe/Todorovic d. Longo/Urban (UH), 21-12, 21-12
Quarterfinals - Lowe/Todorovic d. Mount/Kastl (UH), 21-14, 16-21, 15-13
Semifinals - Larsen/Woolever (PEP) d. Lowe/Todorovic, 21-18, 29-27
First Round - Drolson/Inouye d. Tedrow/Mirabello (LMU), 21-18, 21-10
Quarterfinals - Neely/Minkel (LBSU) d. Drolson/Inouye, 21-9, 21-10
Bronze Bracket
First Round - Zalopany/Miyashita (UH) d. Klineman/Fincher, 21-15, 21-13
Consolation - Klineman/Fincher d. Sliger/Maas (SCU), 21-8, 21-6


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This report from "The National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse" at Columbia University details seemingly shocking figures from America linking use of social networking sites to increased use of drugs and alcohol in teenagers in America.
70% of teenagers in the study used a social networking site at least once in a "typical day". Compared to the 30% who didn't the networking group were:
- Five times more likely to use tobacco;
- Three times more likely to use alcohol; and
- Twice as likely to use marijuana.
The figures are then analysed further and, perhaps unsurprisingly those who saw images through these sites of others being drunk or under the influence of drugs were more likely than those who did not to use drugs and alcohol.
The study surveyed just over 1000 teens (using an internet based questionnaire) in America and looked at matched responses from just over half the parents involved (using a telephone questionnaire) to ask the parents perceptions of what effects such images and messages were having on their children.
I was quite shocked to read the statistics contained within the report and wonder about a number of factors...
- Given this is an internet based questionnaire, does it give a truley representative view of teenagers - what about those who dont use the internet?
- Does the fact the report is issued from an organisation whose aim is to highlight problems with drug and alcohol addiction make any figures subject to bias? - how transparent is the organisation?
- Is this data, being from America, representative also of the situation here in the UK? I would like to hope not although I image we would have some similar, if not so prominent, statistics.
The end questions to come from this is...


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fluvastatin, Lescol, Lescol XL
Pharmacy Author:
Omudhome Ogbru, PharmD
Omudhome Ogbru, PharmD
Dr. Ogbru received his Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy in 1995. He completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Arizona/University Medical Center in 1996. He was a Professor of Pharmacy Practice and a Regional Clerkship Coordinator for the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy from 1996-99.
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Jay W. Marks, MD
Jay W. Marks, MD
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
GENERIC NAME: fluvastatin
BRAND NAME: Lescol, Lescol XL
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Fluvastatin is an oral, cholesterol-lowering drug. It belongs to a class of drugs called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, commonly called "statins." Other statins include lovastatin (Mevacor), atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), and rosuvastatin (Crestor). Statins reduce cholesterol by inhibiting an enzyme in the liver (HMG-CoA reductase) that is necessary for the production of cholesterol. In the blood, statins lower total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol as well as triglycerides. LDL cholesterol is believed to be an important cause of coronary artery disease. Lowering LDL cholesterol levels slows and may even reverse coronary artery disease. Statins also increase HDL ("good") cholesterol. Raising HDL cholesterol levels, like lowering LDL cholesterol, may slow coronary artery disease. The FDA approved fluvastatin in December 1993.
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Oct 31st 2011
Utah Field Guide: Trunk or Treat
In Utah, during the 1970s, Halloween was the first time we went into the night on purpose. Dressed as little ghouls, goblins, ghosts and witches, we braved the dark in wild, shrieking packs, fearless behind our masks and make-up, secure that this night was ours. We belonged in the chilly fall air, the breeze creaking the skeletal trees, leaves crunching under foot. On this night, we were in league with the things that go bump in the night and the shadowy creatures lurking under our beds and in our closets. We junior demons could stride to our neighbors' porches to demand candy with the threatening incantation: "Trick or Treat!"— which meant, "Give me some candy, Brother Jorgensen, or I will vandalize your home." Read More


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Sponsored by Student Activities and Organizations
SAC Cinema presents: "Captain Phillips". Doors open at 8:30 pm with free popcorn! FREE with CAF, $2 without. The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. Rated PG-13.
Questions? Contact Mary A. Weis, SAC Cinema, 563-387-1023
Learn more at https://www.luther.edu/studentlife/activities/events/


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Wedding Photography I love to take a snapshot of people laughing, dancing and everyone really having a great time. It's an amazing feeling when you catch that photo, a look, a kiss, a smile a memory of the day. The great outdoors Landscape photography started as a way to record my adventures so i could remember them for years to come. What started as a photo record evolved into a consuming passion.
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Niamh & Kenny Wedding Day Published July 26, 2012
Jo & Matthew Wedding Day 24th Sept 2011 Published February 15, 2012
Geraldine & Steven Wedding Day 11th December 2010 Photography By Sarah Jones Published January 17, 2011
Louise & Leigh Wedding Day 7th August 2010 Photography By Sarah Jones Published September 29, 2010
Rachel & Chris Wedding Day Published February 24, 2010
Natalie & Martin Wedding Day October 3rd 2009 Published December 01, 2009
Emma & Mark Wedding Day September 12th 2009 Published November 12, 2009
Rhonda & Darrin Wedding Day 3rd September 2009 Published October 10, 2009


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Electric Scooters Galore is careful to choose only the most reliable, top quality brand names to be included in our store. We want you to be happy with what you purchase from us, so we've already screened our manufacturers and distributors to offer you the best in the industry today.
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Situated on the scenic North Coast, the Ballina Island Motor Inn has over two acres of tropical gardens making it the perfect wedding venue. We have created a special wedding garden on the property ideal for the bridal couple to exchange their vows.
Many couples choose to have their reception in the Island Function Room which can seat up to 110 guests. An alternative choice is a marquee in the wedding garden. This provides a beautiful setting for up to 100 guests for a seated function or 120 for a cocktail party.
The grounds are a photographer's heaven with so many alternatives for that special shot.
One of the great attractions of the the Ballina Island Motor Inn is its accommodation. The bridal couple have complimentary use of a wedding suite and with 40 comfortable and spacious rooms, guests can enjoy the wedding without having to worry about the drive home. Why not extend your stay and discover the Byron Bay and Ballina region see some of the things to see & do.
It's everything you've imagined as the perfect wedding venue. A delightful setting for your reception, ceremony and photographs, professional and attentive staff, delicious cuisine and a dedicated wedding coordinator to attend to your every need.Download Wedding Kit


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