Comments on: Desert winds and caravans

By: M.V. Freeman

M.V. Freeman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:25:56 +0000

LOL! I’m sorry, but I am tickled pink to get a whole list of new authors to read…woohoo!!! Tell you what, I’ll check back with you once I read a few them.
Thank you!!!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:47:32 +0000

I understand the reality aspect of what Caroline said. But I read to escape, to picture a better world where love is king and men will do anything to conquer a woman’s heart. Whether set in exotic settings or a cave, the breakdown of the story is the same, love will conquer all and our h & h will live happily ever after.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:45:44 +0000

Oh, Valentino, Omar Sharif and Sean Connery… excellent sheiks all. Desert winds and caravans transports me to isolated rendevous in tents, surrounded by pillows, and silk. Dark skinned men with thick accents who cherish their women above all else. Yes, I can definitely get sheiks, especially the tall, dark and handsome variety that Annie West writes.

Can’t wait to read your story, Lynn!

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:06:57 +0000

Hi, Caroline! Of course you can be frank! I appreciate your perspective, I really do. My parents lived in Turkey for a while — and my minor, both in my undergrad and grad degrees, is history. I studied quite a bit of ME history, and I know the realities of which you speak. Not from viewing them firsthand, of course!

The Harlequin sheikh and the real sheikh are two entirely different things, that’s for sure. I’m able to compartmentalize them just fine, but I know not everyone feels the same way. I have had this conversation with my bud, Kimberly Lang! She doesn’t get the appeal of the sheikh because the realities of the ME are always on her mind.

For me, the stories take me back to when I was a kid and I didn’t know the difference. I loved those desert stories then, and I bring that same naivete to them now I guess.

But for the reality of it? Oh yeah, I agree with you.

By: Caroline Storer

Caroline Storer — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:24:09 +0000

Can I be frank – blunt even! I don’t like sheikh stories. I have read a lot of them. Don’t get me wrong – the story is fine, the writing is always good but… and it’s probably only me – but… as a child I lived in Saudi Arabia (up until I was 11). My memory is of immense poverty – the rich were rich and the poor very, very poor. They weren’t particularly kind to animals (esp. donkeys) either. I could go on but I think you get the drift…. So these particular issues have stayed with me all my life – so when I read about the immensely rich Sheikh’s all I think of is the grinding poverty that I used to see – and wouldn’t it be nice if they spent the money on their own people instead of massive palaces and 100′s of Rolls Royces. *sorry*. Like I said it’s probably me. Take care. Caroline x

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:50:28 +0000

Oh dear, you sound like a tough customer with the sheikhs! Or you haven’t read the right authors. Have you tried Sandra Marton? Jane Porter? Penny Jordan? Annie West? Kate Walker? They do such marvelous things with the stories! And I hear that Alexandra Sellers and Olivia Gates, who write for Desire, do wonderful sheikh stories too.

By: Lynn Raye Harris

Lynn Raye Harris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:48:52 +0000

LOL, Alison! I like that one, and now I’ll remember it forever too. Thanks for sharing!

By: M.V. Freeman

M.V. Freeman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:59:40 +0000

LOL, I’d like to say I know that joke, but I only remember one and really, after I’ve told it once…there goes my whole stash of jokes.

As for Seikh novels–it depends on how it is written, I have not read one that stands out, but I am looking forward to yours!

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:54:17 +0000

Oooh, oooh, I know a desert joke! ‘Why will you never go hungry in a desert?’- ‘Because of the sandwiches there!’ (sand which is there…) Thirty years ago in junior school I heard that – what a (useless) memory!