HOT READS, HOT RODS.

We're now three races into the Formula One season. This weekend was the Australian Grand Prix, but my husband, John, said it should have been renamed the Calamity Grand Prix, as nearly half the field was out by the end of the race.

A number of crashes resulted in the safety car having to be dispatched around the track four times. Even the ubiquitous, seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, suffered a rather spectacular smash-up. My favorite driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, nearly lost his own car at the exact same spot, but managed to recover, only to fall prey to electrical failure.

Still, I was happy that John's favorite driver, Kimi Raikkonen, managed to place second, at least, although we had both hoped that he would catch Fernando Alonso in the end. But it wasn't to be. From beginning to end, despite all the mishaps that occurred to many of his competitors, Alonso ran away with the race.

Although I'm a big fan of Formula One, I know that many of my colleagues prefer Nascar, which has teamed up with Harlequin to produce Nascar-themed romances.

USA Today reports that:

"It's a partnership between two extremely brand-loyal groups," says Kerry Tharp of NASCAR. "We're trying to reach out and do more to appeal to our female fan base."

NASCAR fans buy $2 billion in licensed products annually. Harlequin devotees bought 130 million books last year.

"It's a very good fit," agrees Marleah Stout of Harlequin, pointing out that women account for 40% of the sport's fan base.

I wonder what Formula One's female fan base is like---and if there will ever be Formula One-themed romances, as well. I can at least hope. *g*

THE HOURGLASS AND MANGA.

Occasionally, at Romancing the Blog, I've talked about the changing demographics of the romance market and where the romance genre might be headed in the future.

Recently, I read an intriguing article on how the population of the U.S. is going to look in the coming years. The article describes an hourglass formation: top heavy with Baby Boomers, bottom heavy with the Millennium Generation, and with Generation Xers squeezed in between.

What all that means is that both Baby Boomers and the Millennium Generation are going to become increasingly important to anyone with a product to sell, and that includes publishers and authors.

Already, we know that Baby Boomers, who have traditionally formed the core of mass-market paperback buyers, have turned more and more to hardback and trade-paperback formats instead, which have larger type that is easier for aging eyes to read. But as Baby-Boomer readers make the transition from mass-market paperbacks, they are not being replaced by their younger counterparts from Generation X and the Millennium Generation. So both publishers and authors need to find new avenues to reach younger readers.

Not long ago, I received my copy of Harlequin's Worldbeat newsletter in the mail, interested to see that Harlequin is branching out into the manga market.

Harlequin and Dark Horse Comics---the world's leading publisher of licensed comics material---have teamed up to publish Harlequin books in manga format in the United States, Canada, U.K. and Australia. Mangas (literally meaning "cartoons" or "comics" are stylized graphic novels that originated in Japan and are read right to left. Dark Horse is publishing manga adaptations of six top-selling Harlequin titles under the Harlequin Ginger Blossom banner.

The article goes on to say that the Harlequin Ginger Blossom banner is composed of two lines, one (Harlequin Pink) for younger readers and one (Harlequin Violet) for "more sophisticated readers," and will be published "approximately every three months."

In addition, according to the April 2006 issue of RWA's Romance Writers Report, Dorchester Publishing is "currently seeking manuscripts for a new line of romances, due to be published in 2007."

To be packaged with modern anime or manga-style covers, these romances will be targeted toward a younger, hipper audience than old-style traditionals. While the content can be of any subgenre of alternative romance (paranormal, futuristic, fantasy or other), the books will feature a young woman (18-25) stolen from her normal life into an alternate universe---a universe that challenges all she thought she knew.

It will be interesting to see how these various forays into the manga world perform for the romance genre.