Cyberfolk Friendly Guided Web Site Tours

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In the late seventies my mom used to give me Harlequin romances by the grocery sack-full. She bought them at a used bookstore for a dime apiece, and traded them back in for a nickel credit. I started reading them in the evenings when I came home from work because they were quick reading and an easy escape from the pressures of single-living and career-chasing.

I had recently discovered various writing colonies on the web and thought perhaps I could find some devoted to romance. Boy, did I! There is a wealth of sites offering information for readers and writers, and more appearing every day.

The biggest publishers of romance are eager to educate the public about what they have to offer. Romance.net by Harlequin Enterprises is a user-friendly site that offers promotional blurbs for their latest books, plus author bios, astrological forecasts, and more.

Another site by one of the largest romance publishers, Bantam Doubleday Dell, gives sneak peeks at new novels, interviews, and a bulletin board for communicating with other readers and the publishers. They also offer a newsletter that keeps readers informed about their favorite authors newest releases.

A new project that is exploding is the Painted Rock Writers and Readers Colony. It opened it's romance colony first, but are picking up mystery and horror enthusiasts and will eventually have colonies for almost all genres. They offer a lot for the avid reader as well as the writer, such as excerpts from new books, information about new releases, free listservs, writing classes, and message boards that allow you to talk with Painted Rock authors. The Historic Downtown & Wharf offers shops where you can find printers and publishers, web design, software, bookstores, and more. This site operates by paid subscription, although they do have a few free areas, and guest passes are available to try them out.

There's plenty of industry news here for readers and writers with point-and-click hyperlinks to interesting sites. You'll find more than just books, too. There are links for gifts, calendars (Studmuffins of Science, anyone?), and more. There is also a long list of romance authors' links to put you in touch.

This is an attractive site including authors' home pages with bios, upcoming appearances, book excerpts, and book covers. Lots of links to places for buying writing and reading related products and services, a newsletter, online shopping for romance books, and more, are available here, too.

This is a new site for the radical romance fan who just can't get enough. They offer reviews, profiles, quotes, editorials, chat, and a fantastic archive of romance novels that allows you to search by author, title, or category.