Exploring the Decline of Historical Romance

May 9, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

Today is the start of this year’s Tulip festival in the city where I live. We are across the street from the park (and down the block) so it’s not far. Housemate and I are going tomorrow. Real Life Romance Hero loved the tulip festival, so it’s going to be different going without him. It’s Housemate’s birthday tomorrow, though, so celebrating her will be fun. I will probably take pictures, and hopefully put something on Tik Tok. I am still figuring that out, but I am there, as anna_log_writes. Do I know what I am doing there? No. Am I having fun? I think so. If you’re there, I’d love to connect. Right now, I am mostly getting the lay of the land, especially as it pertains to Booktok.

One of the things I’ve noticed in my very brief time there, is that I’m not seeing very much about historical romance on Booktok. As I’m getting ready to oh so finally release A Heart Most Errant, this has become relevant to my interests. Not that there aren’t any, it’s that I would like there to be more.

Those who have been here for a while know that I am coming out of the biggest reading slump of my life. Things have of course changed since I was last able to read the way I like, and some of those changes are big. Harlequin Historicals, which I’d always appreciated offering a variety of historical settings, went first to nineteenth century only, and now are closing. Mass market paperbacks in general are a dying breed. Perusing shelves in book and mortar bookstores now show lots of contemporary, romantasy, and dark romance on the shelves, but I’m not seeing as much historical as there used to be.

Ask one hundred people why that is, and you’re likely to get a hundred different answers, at the very least. My educated guess? I’m not sure. I don’t know how history is being taught in schools/ Bridgerton is popular, sure, though not exactly my speed. The Sims 4 is even having a Bridgerton themed event starting on May twelfth. I will be playing that for sure, since Sims is my relaxing place, and it will probably also be fun.

Historicals in the here and now, however? That’s a topic I am investigating. Several of my favorite romance related YouTubers have had a lot to say, such as PeaceLoveBooks:

She’s got a lot of really good points, as usual. I wouldn’t say there’s nobody reading historical romance anymore. There are a bunch of us, reading and writing both, and that does extend beyond the nineteenth century. Medievals, ancient world, Tudor, Stuart, Georgian, Edwardian, US Western, Australia, the high seas, and pretty much any place on the globe, in any time before living memory. Right now, that sits roughly around WWII, which can feel modern to those of us who had parents who served at that time. Then again, WWII is a pretty popular era in historical fiction, which may or may not have a love story, which may end any sort of way.

Recently, I’ve noticed some of the historical romance authors I have followed for years, even decades, are taking well deserved retirements from the publishing world; Pamela Clare, Shirl Henke, Marsha Canham, and others. Others are coming back in fine feather. Danelle Harmon’s meta memoir, featuring characters from her beloved historical romances, is coming out at the end of the month, and I can’t be more excited. I gulped the ARC of that one, and it has me even more pumped for the next historical romance.

So, where am I going with this? I do not know. All I know is that I wanted to get a blog out this week, and here it is. Expect babbling, because that seems to come easily even when the brain fog is fogging. If you do follow any historical romance Booktokers, drop their names or links in the comments below and I will definitely check them out.

Summer Vibes and Romantic Reads

April 14, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

Today feels like summer. I did not authorize that. I do have summer dresses on hand, so there is an upside to that. Today is blog day, so I am here, blabbering on the page.

Reading is looking up, after a library run. Current read is A Lady For a Duke, by Alexis Hall. This is not my first historical romance with a trans lead. That would be Artemis, by Jessica Cale. It will likely not be my last. It will assuredly not be my last Alexis Hall novel. I am thinking possibly Glitterland or Never After. I love the rich and intricate language the author uses, and oh my stars, the emotion.

A contemporary YA romance that I loved with similar vibes would be Birthday by Meredith Russo. Two leads who grew up together, loved each other deeply, yet something wasn’t quite right. Nobody is presumed dead in Birthday, but the intimacy of emotion, the shift in the relationship when one lead figures out something very important. Birthday does have a traditional HEA, likely much easier (though not exactly easy) in our modern day. I have questions about how things will turn out for Viola and Gracewood in A Lady For A Duke, but I this is a romance, so they will be together and happy about it, and that satisfies.

Also, Meredith Russo is on my auto-read list. If her name is on the cover, that is enough for me. I have already read her debt novel, If I Was Your Girl, and it looks like I still have some anthologies to read.

Also on my TBR are

A historical romance where both leads are Jewish? Yes, please. It looks like the first scene takes place in a synagogue, and there are more books in this story world. I am going into this mostly blind, ready to discover its delights. I am always up for recommendations of books with Jewish characters and would love to see more in romance. For a historical where being Jewish has a strong influence on the romance, I recommend A Bed of Spices, by Barbara Samuel. .This is a medieval, where Christian heroine and Jewish hero bond over a passion for medicine. Yes, HEA, but realistic for the time.

Third in line is Just in Time For a Highlander, by Gwyn Cready. I have been looking forward to trying this author for a while now, and greatly appreciate that I have stumbled upon a series starter. Scottish borders always mean lots of plausible conflict, and I love the idea of a historical reenactor finding themself plopped down in the middle of the real thing. Odds are high that I will like this.

For a Scottish time travel recommendation, I will suggest:

First in Terri Brisbin’s MacKendiman series, this came out in the 90’s, when time travel was so much of a thing that it had its own line. This was also my first ever Terri Brisbin, leading me to her historical and fantasy romances as well as time travel.

This is only my physical short term TBR. I am saving the e-book and audio lists for future posts. What’s on your TBR?

How It’s Going

April 9, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

Blog coming at you on Thursday instead of Tuesday because meds adjustment has me in two modes: loopy and asleep. This will only be for a few days. I am fine. Bestie and Mr. Bestie came to visit this past weekend, with my fur niece. We all wore ourselves out in the park. Having my loved ones around me when a major holiday :salute: Real Life Romance Hero loved rolled around without him helped a lot.

The more I use this pocket rings setup as my everyday carry (EDC) planner, also my main planner (I have another at my desk, for scheduling video chats/meetings) Planning and journaling is what my brain has honed in on, and I have a couple of A5 rings setups that are wholly based on vibes. Right now, British Isles and nautical/mermaids. There is indeed some overlap, and there is already some fairy overlap in the British Isles book. Are either of these going to turn into bases for future romance novels/ Probably.

A big influence in my journaling right now is the You Tube channel WordLayout. Her commonplace book videos have absolutely lit a fire under me, and that is not a complaint. This is probably going to go a long way in chucking out the old way of creating novel notebooks that I then never use. Lots of splashing about in the shallows.

Storm has been focusing lately on being my purr-sonal assistant, but is ready to return to blogging duties if she remembers where her treats come from. She has a bunch of new catnip toys from Bestie and Mr. Bestie, and may or may not have tried to climb into the actual gift bag to get at them before I could present them properly.

So far this week, I have been to the park twice. No, three times. The waterfowls are back and doing their thing. The big gander and his Mrs. have checked me out and determined me not to be a threat. I find this reassuring. Dogs are out in abundance, which is always fun. There is a dog park within our park, but dogs can be anywhere-anywhere. This is a good thing.

This Saturday, I will be starting back with Improv classes. I am interested to see what I have to bring back to the process now that my life is very different from where it was when I started the last iteration of the class.

Nothing up yet, as I am still observing, but I am caving and joining BookTok. Drop any favorite BookTok people, authors or readers, in the comments, and I will give them a look. Also, if there’s anything you’d like to see me make content about, drop it below. I am open to suggestions.

That’s about it for right now, as I am exiting the loopy stage and drifting to the sleepy stage. Pet your pets, read good books, indulge in a beverage of choice, and I will see youu next time.

Art Caddies Then and Now: Curated Possibilites

March 6, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

Back in the 1980s, this right here was the pinnacle of my art supply dreams:

I don’t remember if the jar pens were acrylic or tempera, but I think acrylic. Classic crayons (with sharpener) a basic set of markers, and a basic set of watercolors. I think I went through a couple of these, and am still chasing the thrill. My father was a fine and commercial artist, so I had been borrowing his supplies since I was tall enough to reach them. His father was also a fine artist (and structural engineer) and fine artists abound on his side of the family. Since I am adopted, I don’t share their DNA, but the art love came from somewhere in my genes.

Lately, I have been turning to my art supplies and journals to help me navigate the big life changes that come with a huge change in family dynamics. With all the chaos that comes with that sort of change, I crave order even more than I usually do. The caddy came to mind easily and I suspect that memory is going to stay. I don’t have one of these caddies right now, and it seems to be among the retired products, which is fine. Crayola is still The Stuff when it comes to crayons, according to me, and while my watercolor horizons have expanded, I still like the basic Crayola watercolors for casual journaling use. As soon as my great-niece is big enough, I plan to be the auntie who shows up with cool art supplies and is happy to join her in exploring them.

In the meantime, the complete overhaul of my living area includes room to spread out my art supplies and organize them in a way that makes sense. Some supplies are staying, others are going, and yet more are moving from the “maybe someday” to “burning daylight here, let’s try them.” I like working in art journals because I don’t have to show my work to anybody. There are no expectations, and if I don’t like the result, I can gesso over it, glue pages together, or collage on top. I would say tear out a page, but I don’t do that with bound books, which are normally what I use for this purpose.

What, you might ask, is this purpose? Isn’t this a writing blog? Well, yes. Writing, reading, pens and paper, journals, planning, mental health, grief, and all that stuff. It’s a multimedia experience right now. This week, I am writing scripts to relaunch my YouTube channel, where I can blabber about the things I do with ink (and other things) and paper. That about covers things.

mood tracker and mental health journal bag

Enter the modern variation. Well, one of them. These days, I like making kits for specific purposes. Above, is my mental health journal bag. The pink book is my mood tracker, with a year’s worth of inserts. The green book is therapy notes. I like being able to pick up one thing and have all I need for that purpose with me, no looking for needed supplies. Having a limited selection of supplies helps me focus not on the things, but what I can do with the things. For me, that shifts the focus from the tools to the expression, and that carries over well to writing.

For those wondering if I have considered looking for the OG Crayola Caddy on the secondary market, I have indeed, and let’s say it’s a collector’s item. That’s okay. My chosen art supplies have evolved, and so have I, so it makes sense that my storage needs will be different. What I use isn’t as important as how I use it.

illustrated image of a redheaded woman writing in a journal as her calico cat observes. — as always, Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: February Snowstorm Edition

February 24, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We have had a big snowstorm here in New York (we live in a city, but not that city) which made it an especially good weekend to stay home. Normally, this would be Mama Anna’s time to blog, but she says I owe her, so I am taking this spot for now. That’s fine. I am at no loss for words.

Mama Anna has been taking care of business around here. Part of that was getting Papa’s phone ready for its next adventure. No surprise, most of the pictures were of me. Mama Anna also found a digital camera with a full memory card. She hasn’t looked at those images yet, but that’s probably mostly me as well. Right now, her plan is to get a new card and use the camera herself, probably also mostly for pictures of me. I do not blame her. They both have excellent taste in subjects for photography.

Watching Mama Anna work on stuff around here is super fun. The other day, she found some ribbons she had given Papa to choose from (for wearing something around his neck; he didn’t like chains) and that meant we got to PLAY. I smacked that ribbon. I chewed that ribbon. I showed it what-for and showed it what’s what. We are going to do that again.

Aunt Linda is doing some research on the kinds of people food she and Mama Anna might like to buy and make. They will also be donating the wrong kinds of cat food they got by mistake. One of the nice things about living in a city is that there are humans who make it possible for us to get things we don’t need to humans and kitties who do. I want to go on record that the wrong cat foods taste fine, but I am not a pate girl. Also, turkey is no bueno for my tumtum. Enough said on that.

Back when the humans lived in their first NY apartment, when Skye was the kitty, their downstairs neighbors were a troupe of steppers. That doesn’t just mean humans who walk. It means the humans perform rhythmic movements and sounds. It also means they had to practice a lot because they did that for monies and to compete with other humans who perform the same thing. By the time they moved, my human’s (okay, Skye’s then; I wasn’t born yet) had learned some of their routines.

I mention this because with Mama Anna working on her first standup set in a very long time, she is practicing it. At some point, I will probably be able to learn the whole thing. This is not a complaint, only an observation. We cats are great at recognizing patterns. I am keeping a very close eye on all the things she is doing, be it environment stuff, writing, journals, or anything else. I am also strongly interested in the food thing. Cat food has to be in there somewhere.

Snowy Days and Journaling: Embrace the Indoors

January 28, 2026annabowling Leave a comment

I can describe the weather around here can be summed up in one word: snow.

This means it is perfect weather for tucking in and fully committing to the great indoors. Normally, reading would be great, but depression and grief say otherwise. Thankfully, journaling is an option. I have been watching a bunch of You Tube videos on analog bags (or, in this case, Anna Log bags, and yes, the videos will resume soon) and how to use items I already have, I am very interested in using what I have before I acquire much more.

The video that lit a fire under me on this latest endeavor was this one from Abbey in Archive on You Tube. For bonus points, she has a page about Empire State Plaza in Albany, which is a familiar sight. She includes pastel pages, which is definitely relative to my interests. Right now, I am loving Morandi colors, a dusty pastel palette and making kits for individual projects, so I can pick up one thing and take it wherever. Bedroom, kitchen, cafe, library, etc.

I am writing longhand, a lot, in different journals, on a few different projects. Melva and I will have good news on Drama King very, very soon. We have seen and approved the final cover, and the only thing left is uploading. Then we are officially indie published. A Heart Most Errant will not be far behind. This is exciting and a little scary.

Anyway, back to the particular journal at hand. I am not sticking strictly to commonplacing, as in a place to collect information, but still close enough. I have one section started to create wiki-like pages for the leads in my current projects, for easy reference, so people don’t change eye color, age, or place of origin willy nilly, as has been known to happen. This can be especially useful when collaborating.

this looks **much** brighter than it really is

The actual pagers are not this cyan in real life; more of a soft, powdery periwinkle. Ditto with the highlighter used for the bands at top and bottom. Stickers are from a kit by Cora Crea Crafts.

That’s about it for this week. Hoping to have good news about Drama King very, very soon.

Journal Writing During Family Emergencies

December 15, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

Yesterday was a gorgeous snow day in NY state. We are not in the city, but I saw plenty of such pictures from those who were, and it was everything I ever would want from a NYC snow day. I did get to see the snow from the waiting room outside where Real Life Romance Hero is staying right now. Yesterday was a good-ish day. The day before, not so much. We are still figuring out a few things. I am not using my planners much right now, as days are pretty much the same – days are for hospital, then home for dinner and sleep. Housemate is handling domestic matters.

Journals, though, I am using a lot. Hospital journal. Personal journal. Notes on writing stuff. Not notes about blogging, because I am winging it for now. This is a time for blurting. What is on my mind is on the page. We are one day at a time-ing it over here. This is my favorite time of year, and yet this year, we are outside of it. That is what it is. I am setting up for 2026, though. I like the focus. This does include writing things. The need to write is strong. Fiction the most, because that’s my big creative love. I am interested to see what my writing will do in and after this season.

Storm is definitely doing her job. When I get home from the hospital, she meets me at the door. She leads me into the bedroom, and insists I lie on the bed, so she can jump on me, loaf, and purr. I pet her. She is warm and soft. She insists that Housemate and I give her gushy food when we have our dinner. She has a new tilted food dish that is only for gushy food. She deserves all the treats and many belly rubs.

Housemate comes with me most days now. Having the company helps a lot. Yesterday, she sat next to me and crocheted, explaining her stitches and such, even though I do not myself crochet. I like the rhythm of her stitches. I tell RLRH about what is happening at home, the weather outside, share memories and inside jokes. I write in my hospital journal, notes on RLRH’s care, and thinking on paper, much like here, whatever is in my brain. I know I need and want to be reading, though my brain is not quite there yet. I haven’t listened to Christmas music; I want to, though. My usual Christmas movie re-watches — Love Actually, The Holiday, About A Boy— I have waved at from a distance. I love them, I think about them, and I can absolutely watch them at any time of the year. Same with Christmas/holiday books, foods, etc.

Family emergencies are tough. Holidays can be tough. Combine the two, and it’s something else altogether. Like I said, we are one day at time-ing the whole thing. That is good enough for now.

Typing With Wet Paws: Plague House Edition

November 18, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers. I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We are in a plague house, according to Mama Anna. Papa is Patient Zero, and all of the humans are down with a cold. The middle of November seems to be a reasonable time for a pre-winter cold. The humans will be fine in a couple of days. In the meantime, Mama Anna says I have to do the blog for her.

I, of course, am fine. I spent most of yesterday afternoon investigating and playing with this awesome bag from when Mama Anna and Aunt Linda got takeaway. Trust me, the bag smelled amazing. I got to sit on it, inside it, and bunny kicked the heck out of the bottom. The only thing I can think of to make it perfect (or purr-fect) would be to add either treat or catnip (or both.) Mama Anna said something about proof of life, so I get to have today’s blog.

Some of the coming attractions: Mama Anna needs to set up the planner for 2026, which she will be making from scratch (I will be helping, as I am great at scratching) She has plenty of undated and easily re-date-able planners to take over if need be. For today, I am on nurse duty, watching all of the humans. I plan to do a lot of lying on top of Mama Anna, while she either reads or listens to YouTube videos about historical romance, because she finds she has a lot to say on the subject.

Holiday plans are now going into effect. Yesterday, Mama Anna and Aunt Linda picked up what will be our Christmas stockings, a tradition Mama Anna is bringing back. Stockings will hold snacks and diversions to keep us busy until Christmas dinner. For right now, though, Thanksgiving comes first. Mama Anna is salty that Thanksgiving often gets skipped over between Halloween and Christmas. Plan A for Thanksgiving is that Papa will cook. Plan B is they will go to. I am not allowed to have turkey, because it makes my stomach unhappy, so I will probably have tuna. Also Temptations. I love Temptations. (not a sponsored post, but, Temptations, DM me.)

Back in the day, Mama Anna had a tradition of getting herself the new Maggie Osborne historical romance novel to read the day before Thanksgiving. There is a problem with that since Maggie Osborne retired some time ago, but thankfully (or Thanksgivingsly) there are ways around this. Libraries, e-books, and secondary markets mean Mama Anna can find copies of Maggie Osborne books to re-read, or she can find a vintage historical that she hasn’t yet read.

I am going to wrap this early because I have triple nurse duty today. If I can herd Mama Anna into bed, Papa is there already and that makes two humans in the same place. Much easier to tend. i am fairly certain I can convince them to agree to a whole family nap.

How is your week going?

Typing With Wet Paws: Mama Anna’s Birthday Week Edition

October 30, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. October has been a quiet month for the blog, but that’s not because nothing is going on. It’s actually the opposite. Super powers are in full swing, and Mama Anna is not idle. I will say, though, that she is slow on the uptake on one thing.

Her favorite week of the year is what she calls the tucked away week, from December 25 to January 1, aka between Christmas and New Year’s Day. She has only this year acknowledged that there is a second (or rather, first, as October comes before December) tucked away week, and that is between October 24th (her birthday) and October 31 (Halloween.) Start and end with a holiday both times, special foods and customs, seasonal decor, friends and family, you get the drift. Which is quicker than her in this case. That’s okay. Not everybody can be a cat. I am, though, so I lucked out on that one.

Anyway, Mama Anna’s birthday was great. Social media people showed up with good wishes, Aunt Linda took her to lunch and the art store (Mama Anna loves the art store) and Papa got Chinese food for dinner and they got to hang out at home. I gave her cuddles and headbonks and we played red dot, which was super fun. The next day, the party kept going.

This is Cousin Skye, who is a dog, and different from Big Sister Skye, who is a cat (Rainbow Bridge) and her lobster toy from all of us. That is the only picture of said lobster toy, as she loved it to death. Literally. RIP, Lobster. We all knew that going in. Next time, Kong. That’s Uncle Brian with her, who is married to Aunt Mary, who makes the bestest pina colada cake (I have to take the humans’ word for it, because apparently it is Not For Kitties) I stayed home with Papa, because I am not great on my own for whole afternoons. They did go thrifting and I got to inspect the results of that. I approved everything.

Here I am, with a paper bag that passed inspection with flying colors. Very crunchy, smells great. Papa said I did mostly great on our afternoon, playing with him, getting treats and cuddles. I did pace for the last hour-ish, but as soon as I heard Mama Anna come home, I was all better. I have been sticking close to her ever since. She had to help Aunt Linda do something out of the house on Monday, which is too soon for Mama Anna to go out after being out already, but she brought back interesting bags and I got catnip. I forget what happened after the catnip, but my paws are amazing. I have switchblade fingers.

For those wondering if I am going to dress up for Halloween (if your question is do I let Mama Anna put things on me, like hats and capes, the answer is yes) wait no longer. I will be dressing as an ice cream sundae. Dark fudge and chocolate on vanilla, to be exact. It is the traditional dress of my people, the Calico. It is also the same as my everyday look, because it’s just that good.

What are you up to this tucked away week?

Exploring Changes in Local Libraries: A Personal Experience

October 22, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

Yesterday was a full house day (not the tv show) meaning that everybody was home. Real Life Romance Hero likes his alone time, so Housemate and I headed out for some shenanigans. One shenanigan was making a library stop because A) we had library books to return, B) we wanted more library books, and C) our area has a lot of libraries. We picked a particular one we hadn’t been to for a while. It was an experience.

Once upon a time, we’d known our way around this library, but sometime in the past year, or maybe two, they changed things. Now it’s much more open plan, with stacks clearly labeled (which is helpful) but all in identical off white metal shelves, which made it seem, to me, like a warehouse. I don’t know if they are in the middle of decorating/renovating, but it was overall very low-contrast, which is not great for my impaired vision. That’s fine, though. My general modus operandi for library browsing is to find my desired section and drift through, seeing what catches my eye. This time, it was not what I expected.

I headed to romance first, because that’s my favorite, though I felt more stranger-in-a-strange-land-ish than I generally do in such an environment. Most of the books were trade sized paperback rather than mass market. Not revolutionary; bookstores are like this, too, but it stood out. This also tells me we are looking at mostly newer releases. The majority seemed to be contemporary, many on the rom-com side, which also applied to a not insignificant amount of the historicals I noticed. Is it possible I missed several examples of exactly what I was looking for on this particular day? Absolutely. Is it probable. though? I don’t think so.

Though this may sound like a complaint, it isn’t coming from that. It’s coming from a place of observation. Libraries need to focus on what the majority of their readership wants. That is often not going to match the wants of certain individuals, sometimes including me. That’s not a bad thing, just a thing. I am quite sure that at least one reader in the recent past has seen exactly the same setup with exactly the same books and hot diggity dog, load up the truck, Grandma, we’re going to town.

Most of the historical romances I did see were set in the nineteenth century, which is currently super popular. There were a few examples of other eras, but those were the outliers. No, I did not take home any romances from that visit, historical or otherwise, but I did appreciate their new YA room. There, books are shelved by subgenre, with a sign at the start of said section explaining what one might expect in said subgenre. For instance, fantasy is where you’ll find wizards, fairies, myths, things that can’t happen in the real world. Realistic fiction means that these things can happen in the real world. Historical means before living memory (around 1920s) etc. If you’re curious, I came home with one realistic YA and one horror YA.

Okay, so, let’s get to the point where we summarize. The sad part was that I didn’t feel represented in this particular library’s selection on this particular day. First world problem. Also first world solution, because librarians exist, and they love to help patrons find the books they want. Asking them is a fabulous way to get the book you want but don’t see, if not part of the permanent collection, through interlibrary loan. If the book can be gotten, the librarians will get it for you. There are also things like Kindle and Thrift Books and used bookstores (less common now in the brick-and-mortar variety but online is a different story, pun intended.) There is also the private library option, where I could read books I already have but haven’t read. There are also the ones I have read; the good ones always give me something new every time I go back to them.

Even when the stories are historical (or futuristic, etc) commercial fiction is written for the contemporary audience and that is going to affect what publishers buy, which affects what librarians can buy, which affects what patrons can borrow. Trends come and go. Don’t like the “in” trope or cover treatment or whatever? Wait five minutes. Something else will come along, and we are at a point in bookish history where there is more variety than ever before, so one library trip is not the end of the world.

Anyway, that’s what’s on my mind for today. What’s going on at your libraries?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

Uncategorized