Fabio only ranks #22?

Fabio He makes our hearts go pitter patter, especially those of us in the romance publishing world. For a long time, perhaps forever, he'll be our #1. When I signed onto AOL this morning, the beautiful Fabio was staring at me from the AOL news page and the head line read "I Can't Believe He's Only #22". I just had to read on to find out what they meant. I also wondered why a tub of butter was attached to his picture. I don't remember that commercial. Although I don't remember the commercial, I'll never forget Fabio. He's an icon in the romance writing world. According to the article Fabio was a spokesperson for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" in the mid 1990s. Then I wanted to know more about Fabio, so I googled him. I was surprised to find out he and I were born in the same year and so he's just a few months older than me. Wikipedia also says, "He became famous in the romance world for appearing on hundreds of kitschy romance book covers, the first of which was Hearts Aflame in 1987." See the cover to the right. Now, according to Romantic Times it is Fabio on the cover. According to Johanna Lindsey, the author, it is not Fabio. Anyway, the dude's been on many covers. I didn't know this, but it says that "Fabio became the first male romance writer to author romance novels without the use of a pseudonym. Fabio's books were titled Pirate, Rogue, and Comanche." Unfortunately I can't find pictures of the novels Fabio penned himself. Excuse me while I segue for a moment or two. Did you catch above that Wikipedia called the covers "kitschy"? I didn't know what that meant so I followed the link. According to Wikipedia kitschy "is a term of German or Yiddish origin that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious to the point of being in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass." Of course we romance writers and readers know there has long been a debate about "bodice rippers". Personally I love these covers and it infuriates me how our industry is put down for them. So many other industries wish they had a 50% market share and such loyal customers. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, and Sandra Cox are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)