Ever since starting to publish romance novels Iβve been checking out the romance books at the thrift store specifically for the clinch covers, as a reference for what I might want to do with my own books.
As a culture we mocked these to extinction but I think we were just afraid of their power. The modern clinch revival still hasnβt reached the heady heights of what they were doing in the 80s! The vintage covers can be really quite explicit. These ones in particular were steamy enough they had to be hidden on an inner flap.
This episode of the Smart Bitches Trashy Books podcast where they interview Shirley Green and Sharon Spiak, who were romance novel cover artists in the 80s, is a fascinating look at what a huge industry these covers were. Did you know they had whole photography studios full of props to make these? Theyβd take photos and turn those over to a painter whoβd make something like a couple of these a day. They had it down to a science.
Here is a particular favourite of mine, also by Sharon Spiak!
How I think I’m writing: Using eye contact, or lack thereof, to display emotions such as intimacy, shock, denial, or nervousness.
How I’m actually writing: She looked at me, and I looked away. I tried to look back, but she was already looking at the sky. “Look,” she sighs, looking back at me for a split second. “I don’t know how to say this.” We looked at each other and time stopped, but then she looked her lookers at something else to look at, looking tired.
