1.
2013 Cannes Film Festival
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The 66th annual Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition, new Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and Short Film sections. French actress Audrey Tautou hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, Actress Kim Novak was named guest of honour and introduced a new restored version of Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo. The festival opened with The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann and closed with Zulu, the film poster for the festival featured Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. The Bling Ring, directed by Sofia Coppola, opened the Un Certain Regard section, the French film Blue Is the Warmest Colour won the Palme dOr. In an unprecedented move, along with the director, the Jury decided to take the step of awarding the films two main actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, with the Palme dOr. On the occasion of 100 Years of Indian Cinema, India was the Official Guest Country at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, seven Indian feature films were premiered among various sections on the festival. Actress Vidya Balan was one of the official Jury of the festival, the first Incredible India Exhibition, a joint participation of the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Republic of India was inaugurated by Indian delegate Chiranjeevi. The Cinéfondation section focuses on films made by students at film schools, the following 18 entries were selected, out of 1,550 submissions from 277 different schools. One-third of the films selected represented schools competing for the first time and it was also the first time for a Chilean film to be selected in Cinéfondation. The line-up for the Directors Fortnight was announced at a conference on 23 April with the following films being selected. Feature films The line-up for the International Critics’ Week was announced on 22 April at the sections website, in a first for the competition, the jury decided to award the Palme dOr to Kechiche and the actresses who star in the film, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. Blue Is the Warmest Colour is a film that tells the story of a lesbian relationship between a 15-year-old girl and an older woman. It has shocked critics with its graphic and controversial sex scenes. A reporter for the Radio France Internationale stated that Kechiche paid tribute to the Tunisian revolution, the Grand Prix was won by the Coen brotherss Inside Llewyn Davis, while Bruce Dern and Bérénice Bejo were awarded Best Actor and Best Actress respectively
2.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
3.
Ethel Merman
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Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her voice and roles in theatre, she has been called the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage. The Irving Berlin song Theres No Business Like Show Business, written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, became Mermans signature song. Merman was born in her grandmothers house located at 359 4th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, in New York City in 1908. Her father, Edward Zimmermann, was an accountant with James H. Dunham & Company, a Manhattan wholesale dry-goods company, Edward Zimmermann had been raised in the Dutch Reformed Church and his wife was Presbyterian. Shortly after they married, they joined the Episcopal congregation at Church of the Redeemer and her family was of German and Scottish ancestry. 4 and William Cullen Bryant High School, where she pursued a course that offered secretarial training. At home she tried to emulate their singing styles, but her own voice was difficult to disguise. After graduating from Bryant High School in 1924, – Merman was hired as a stenographer by the Boyce-Ite Company, during this period, Merman also began appearing in nightclubs, first hired by Jimmy Durantes partner Lou Clayton. At this time, she decided the name Ethel Zimmermann was too long for a theater marquee and she considered combining Ethel with Gardner or Hunter, which was her grandmothers maiden name. These considerations got her fathers German ire worked up, finally, she abbreviated Zimmermann to Merman to appease her father. He offered her an exclusive contract, starting at $125 per week. She finally urged Irwin to try to cancel her agreement with Mayo, instead, Merman was hired as a torch singer at Les Ambassadeurs, where the headliner was Jimmy Durante, and the two became lifelong friends. She caught the attention of such as Walter Winchell and Mark Hellinger. Soon after, Merman underwent a tonsillectomy she feared might damage her voice, while performing on the prestigious Keith Circuit, Merman was signed to replace Ruth Etting in the Paramount film Follow the Leader, starring Ed Wynn and Ginger Rogers. Following a successful run at the Brooklyn Paramount, she was signed to perform at the Palace for $500 per week. Upon hearing her sing I Got Rhythm, the Gershwins immediately cast her, Girl Crazy opened on October 14,1930, at the Alvin Theatre, where it ran for 272 performances. The New York Times noted Merman sang with dash, authority, good voice, Merman was fairly blasé about her notices, prompting George Gershwin to ask her mother, Have you ever seen a person so unconcerned as Ethel
4.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Gale Sondergaard was the first winner of award for her role in Anthony Adverse. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 78 actresses. Dianne Wiest and Shelley Winters have received the most awards in this category with two awards each, despite winning no awards, Thelma Ritter was nominated on six occasions, more than any other actress. As of the 2017 ceremony, Viola Davis is the most recent winner in category for her role as Rose Maxson in Fences. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, inside Oscar, The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. New York, United States, Ballantine Books, oscars. org Oscar. com The Academy Awards Database
5.
The Age of Innocence (1993 film)
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The Age of Innocence is a 1993 American film adaptation of Edith Whartons 1920 novel of the same name. The story takes place during the Gilded Age, portraying New Yorks high society, the film was released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The film was dedicated to Martin Scorseses father, Luciano Charles Scorsese, in 1870s New York City, Newland Archer is planning to marry the respectable young May Welland. Mays cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, has returned to New York after a marriage to a dissolute Polish Count. At first she is ostracized by society and vicious innuendo is spread, when Archer realizes that he is in love with the Countess, he abruptly leaves the next day to be reunited with May and her parents, who are in Florida on vacation. Archer asks May to shorten their engagement, but May becomes suspicious, Archer reassures May that he is in love with her. When back in New York, Archer calls on the Countess and admits that he is in love with her, after their wedding and honeymoon, Archer and May settle down to married life in New York. Over time, Archers memory of the Countess fades, when the Countess returns to New York to care for her grandmother, she and Archer agree to consummate their affair. But then suddenly, the Countess announces her intention to return to Europe, may throws a farewell party for the Countess, and after the guests leave, May announces to Archer that she is pregnant and that she told Ellen her news two weeks earlier. The years pass, Archer is 57 and has been a dutiful, loving father, the Archers have had three children. May had previously died of pneumonia and Archer had mourned her in earnest. Archers engaged son, Ted convinces him to travel to France, there, Ted has arranged to visit the Countess Olenska at her Paris apartment. Archer has not seen the countess in over 25 years, Ted confides to his father Mays deathbed confession that. She knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you gave up the thing you wanted most. Archer confesses that she never asked him and that evening outside the Countess apartment, Archer sends his son alone to visit her. While sitting outside the apartment, he thinks about their time together and gets up, the Age of Innocence was filmed on location primarily in Troy, New York. The opera scenes were filmed at the Philadelphia Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the scenes set in the home of Mrs. Mingott were filmed in The Castle, a fraternity house belonging to the Alpha Tau chapter of Pi Kappa Phi at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Formerly known as the Paine Mansion, after its completion in 1896, the scenes depicting the country house in snow were filmed inside the circa 1737 Dutch-colonial Luykas Van Alen House, in Kinderhook, New York
6.
Law & Order
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Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It originally aired on NBC and, in syndication, on cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13,1990, and completed its 20th, at the time of its cancellation, Law & Order was the longest-running crime drama on American primetime television. Its record of 20 seasons is a tie with Gunsmoke for the longest-running live-action scripted American prime-time series with ongoing characters, although it has fewer episodes than Gunsmoke, Law & Order ranks as the longest-running hour-long primetime TV series. Gunsmoke, for its first six seasons, was originally a half-hour program, plots are often based on real cases that recently made headlines, although the motivation for the crime and the perpetrator may be different. The show has been noted for its revolving cast over the years, the success of the series has led to the creation of additional shows, making Law & Order a franchise, with also a television film, several video games, and international adaptations of the series. It has won and has been nominated for awards over the years. On May 14,2010, NBC announced that it had canceled Law & Order, in July 2010, however, he indicated that those attempts had failed and declared that the series had now moved to the history books. However, in February 2015, rumors started that NBC was planning to bring the back for 10 episodes. In May 2015, former star Sam Waterston announced to The Hollywood Reporter that he supports and would join a revival of Law & Order, saying, Youre darn right. Creator Dick Wolf has expressed wanting to use a L&O revival to do a ripped from the headlines story-line surrounding the trial of Robert Durst. Everybody who knows me knows its something I want to do, he continued, at the 2015 Television Critics Association summer press tour, Wolf noted everyone wants a revival, It is a question of. Most of the involved are very successful in their careers. To try to get everything in sequence is more difficult than it looks on the outside. I would love to do it if we can make it work, in 1988, Dick Wolf developed a concept for a new television series that would depict a relatively optimistic picture of the American criminal justice system. He initially toyed with the idea of calling it Night & Day, the first half of each episode would follow two detectives and their commanding officer as they investigate a violent crime. The second half of the episode would follow the District Attorneys Office, through this, Law & Order would be able to investigate some of the larger issues of the day by focusing on stories that were based on real cases making headlines. Wolf took the idea to then-president of Universal Television Kerry McCluggage, who pointed out the similarity to a 1963 series titled Arrest and Trial, which lasted one season
7.
ER (TV series)
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It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. ER follows the life of the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history and it won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award, and received 124 Emmy nominations, which makes it the most nominated drama program in history. ER won 116 awards in total, including the Peabody Award, in 1974, author Michael Crichton wrote a screenplay based on his own experiences as a resident physician in a busy hospital emergency room. The screenplay went nowhere and Crichton focused on other topics, in 1990, he published the novel Jurassic Park, and in 1993 began a collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the film adaptation of the book. Crichton and Spielberg then turned to ER, but decided to film the story as a pilot for a television series rather than as a feature film. Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment provided John Wells as the executive producer. The script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what Crichton had written in 1974. Because of a lack of time and money necessary to build a set, the episode of ER was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles. After Spielberg had joined as a producer, NBC ordered six episodes, ER premiered opposite a Monday Night Football game on ABC and did surprisingly well. Then we moved it to Thursday and it just took off, ERs success surprised the networks and critics alike, as David E. Kelleys new medical drama Chicago Hope was expected to crush the new series. Crichton remained executive producer until his death in November 2008, although he was credited as one throughout that entire final season. Wells, the other initial executive producer, served as showrunner for the first three seasons. He was one of the shows most prolific writers and became a director in later years. Lydia Woodward was a part of the first season production team and she took over as showrunner for the fourth season while Wells focused on the development of other series, including Trinity, Third Watch, and The West Wing. She left her executive position at the end of the sixth season. Joe Sachs, who was a writer and producer of the series, believed keeping a commitment to medical accuracy was important, Wed bend the rules. A medication that would take 10 minutes to work might take 30 seconds instead, a 12- to 24-hour shift gets pushed into 48 minutes
8.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
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Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO that premiered on October 15,2000. The series was created by Larry David, who stars as a version of himself. The series follows Larry in his life as a television writer and producer in Los Angeles. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife, Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager, Jeff, Curb Your Enthusiasm often features guest stars, and many of these appearances are by celebrities playing versions of themselves fictionalized to varying degrees. The plots and subplots of the episodes are established in a written by David. The character has a hard time letting such annoyances go unexpressed, the series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special, Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. The special was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras, the series itself is not a mock documentary but is shot in a somewhat similar, cinéma vérité-like style. Curb Your Enthusiasm has received critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. It has been nominated for 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, and Robert B, weide received an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode Krazee Eyez Killa. The show won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, after season eight finished in 2011, the series went on an indefinite hiatus. In June 2016, after an absence, it was announced the series would return for a ninth season. The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like the real-life David, the character is known in the entertainment industry as the co-creator. For most of the series, the Larry David character is living a life in Los Angeles with his wife. Davids main confidant on the show is his manager, Jeff Greene, a large portion of the shows many guest stars are celebrities and public figures, such as actors, comedians, sportspeople, and politicians, who play themselves. These include Davids longtime friend Richard Lewis as well as Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, the show is set and filmed in various affluent Westside communities of Los Angeles, as well as in the adjacent cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. Davids hometown of New York City is also featured in some episodes, most of the series revolves around Davids interactions with his friends and acquaintances, with David often at odds with the other characters, usually to his detriment. Despite this, the characters do not seem to harbor ill feelings toward each other for any extended period, and this conflicts with his dry style
9.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
11.
The Boy Friend (musical)
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The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. This musical marked Julie Andrews American stage debut, set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring Twenties, The Boy Friend is a comic pastiche of 1920s shows. Its relatively small cast and low cost of production makes it a popular choice for amateur. Sandy Wilson wrote a sequel to The Boy Friend, set ten years later, and, appropriately, a pastiche of 1930s musicals it was titled Divorce Me, Darling. And ran for 91 performances at Londons old Globe Theatre in 1965 and it is sometimes revived as a double bill with The Boy Friend. The musical was first performed in London in 1953 and it opened at the Players Theatre Club on April 14,1953, and reopened in an expanded version on October 13. It transferred for a season to the Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage. The light, tuneful piece proved popular with the British public, including the Queen, and ran for more than five years. The principal role of Polly Browne was to have played by Diana Maddox. Anne Rogers volunteered to take over, having learnt the role on her own, the show opened the following evening and made an overnight star of Rogers, who stayed with the production through its expanded versions to the triumphant West End first night at Wyndhams. The cast also included Hugh Paddick in his first leading West End role as Percival Browne.1984 saw Cameron Macintosh 30th anniversary production opened at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley. Directed by its creator, Sandy Wilson, it starred Glynis Johns as Madam Dubonett, in 1995, on its 40th anniversary, the musical returned to The Players Theatre in London in a new production that was as near a reproduction of the original as possible. It was directed by Maria Charles, who had played the original Dulcie, the choreography was by Geoffrey Webb who was also in the original production. It was originally planned that the choreography would be done by Larry Drew, the original Bobby van Husen, set design was by Disley Jones who was responsible for the hat designs in the original production. Among the cast were Gemma Page, Oliver Hickey, Sophie Louise Dann, following its success at the Players it went on a nationwide tour and was very successful. A production played in 2006 at the Open Air Theatre at Regents Park and this also proved to be a highly acclaimed production, and was revived during the Open Air Theatres 2007 season. The Boy Friend is the title for the Showtime Challenge 2011 at Her Majestys Theatre, London. Rehearsals take place over a 48-hour period immediately prior to the performance on Sunday 8 May, the Boy Friend opened on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on September 30,1954 and closed on November 26,1955 after 485 performances
12.
Romance novel
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The romance novel or romantic novel discussed in this article is the mass-market literary genre. Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship, there are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical romance, paranormal fiction, and science fiction. Walter Scott defined the literary form of romance as a fictitious narrative in prose or verse. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, Heyers first romance novel, The Black Moth, was set in 1751. The British company Mills and Boon began releasing escapist fiction for women in the 1930s and their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books. An early American example of a romance was Kathleen Woodiwiss The Flame. Nancy Coffey was the editor who negotiated a multi-book deal with Woodiwiss. In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, the genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism, and criticism. Romance erotica seems to be on the rise as more women explore this new subgenre, erotica is a term used to describe scenes in the novel that are risqué but not pornographic. According to the Romance Writers of America, the plot of a romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship. Furthermore, a novel must have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Others, including Leslie Gelbman, a president of Berkley Books, define the genre more simply, stating only that a romance must make the romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine. Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying, The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations, to avoiding themes. While the majority of romance novels meet the criteria, there are also many books widely considered to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. Therefore, the definition, as embraced by the RWA and publishers, includes only the focus on a developing romantic relationship. As long as a romance novel meets those criteria, it can be set in any time period. There are no restrictions on what can or cannot be included in a romance novel
