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Harlequin books seeks “real men” for covers

I saw this article on Yahoo News and thought it to be quite interesting, cause when it comes to romance books, I usually buy them for the cover art, but than rarely ever read the book, all I wanted was the picture on the cover! LOL! Of course all my Harlequins are from the 1970′s though, back when they used to sell Gothics on a regular basic, and the covers had big old haunted houses on them, with a girl in a long gown seen in the shadow of the house, running away. Anyone rember those great old Gothic covers? Why don’t they make those type of covers anymore, I wonder?

Well, here’s the article as seen on Yahoo News:

Harlequin books seeks “real men” for covers

By Jonathan Spicer Sat Mar 24, 3:08 PM ET

TORONTO (Reuters) – Real men don’t pose for the cover of a Harlequin romance. And that’s something the publisher wants to change.

Representatives of Harlequin Enterprises, the world’s biggest publisher of romance novel series, inspected the assets of about 200 men who lined up at a Toronto casting house on Saturday to prove they could flutter readers’ hearts better than professional models.

“We’re looking for some guys that are not your usual models, but have that iconic look that women go for — sexy, sensitive, beautiful and fit,” said Harlequin spokeswoman Marleah Stout, who attended the open casting.

“We want real men … exactly what you think in your mind when you’re fantasising or imagining that ideal man.”

Toronto-based Harlequin, a division of newspaper group Torstar Corp., sold 131 million books in 94 countries last year. It estimates that a third of American women have read at least one of its titles.

Until now, the publisher relied on modelling agencies to supply bodies for its concupiscent covers. But the readership — predominantly female and averaging 42 years of age — was upset when slight, young cover models clashed with the brawny, mature heroes described within.

“Some of the heroes are captains of industry, billionaires,” said Deborah Peterson, a Harlequin creative designer and a judge at the audition. “A lot of the models were too young, men in their twenties … and our audience likes men a little bit older, a bit bigger, than the runway models.”

At the Toronto casting, chiselled hopefuls shed their shirts and donned a cowboy hat for the panel while a handful of other judges watched on closed-circuit camera in an adjacent room.

Several were asked to return for a book cover shot, where they may earn up to C$250 (110 pounds) an hour, according to male modelling agencies.

Others indulged their own fantasies.

“From what I understand, (Harlequin) readers are women who want to escape from the relationship that they’re in,” said auditioner Carlos Troccoli, 30, who was tall, sturdy and muscular. “I can bring that to them.”

My thoughts on that? Well, this phrase stands out to me and makes me think:

 ”We want real men … exactly what you think in your mind when you’re fantasising or imagining that ideal man.”

hhhmmm… you know, I rarely like the men on the covers of Harlequin, they all look like Arnold. Not that that’s a bad thing, Arnold was a regular dreamboat as Conan. But for me, prefer older, more “real”  looking men. They are just so much sexier. When it really comes down to it, I prefer a man who looks more like Sir Roderic from my Twighlight Manor series, as Roderic looked in the late 1800′s to the 1970′s (the guy is 450 years old, so you’ll have to strecth your mind around the dates a bit). Well for those of you not familiar with Sir Roderic or what he looked like in that time period, just think of David Carradine as he looked in Kill Bill. And for those of you who have never seen Kill Bill, I just happen to have visuals for you. Wasn’t that thoughtful of me?

Isn’t  he just gorgeous? Can you think of a better guy to model for Harleqin’s covers? I can’t.

Now if Harlequin had more guys like that on their covers, I’d buy more of their books, esp if the guy turns out to be a spooky gothic guy with a big old haunted house. (I just go head over heals for a Gothic!)

I’d really love it if I could get David Caradine to be a cover model for Sir Roderic. What a dream that’d be!

If you could be a character in any movie….

If you could be a character in any movie….who would you be and which movie would you choose? Why?
I’d want to be Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp version)… I already wear the coat and hat, and was a taste tester for the real Wonka company back in the late 1970′s (I was eating Nerds looong before they were released to the public! and I’m eating them right now too! ) I love his “house”, his boat, and I’d much rather travel by Glass Wonkervator than by car…

Any female in the Harry potter series that would place me in a position to seduce Professor Snape. Ain’t he villainously cute?

and I’ll also add to that, any gal they Jack Sparrow would want too.

…also Christine Dae in Phantom of the Opera, and I’d pick Eric, not the other guy

…or the bride of Jarath in Labyrinth (I know, I’m rewriting all the movies here! LOL! )

…oh yeah… and I’d be The Bride in Kill Bill, only I wouldn’t have left Bill to marry the guy at the music store, so Bill never would have gone on his rampage, and Bill and The Bride and B.B. would have lived happily ever after

~~EK