“There Are Six Bodies in This Relationship: An Anthropological Approach to the Romance Genre” in Journal of Popular Romance Studies, Issue 1.1, August 2010, co-authored with Dr. Laura Vivanco.
Kyra was the secondary author on this essay with Dr. Laura Vivanco, who is a well-respected scholar in popular romance studies and a very nice person. This paper looks at the concepts of the Mighty Wang and Glittery HooHa, because romance scholars frequently shanghai and utilize phrases that would otherwise be mocked. Romance scholars are fierce and will not be trifled with. While researching and collaborating this paper, Kyra found out that Dr. Vivanco is brilliant. Later, on a trip to Scotland, she discovered Dr. Vivanco gives excellent tours of Edinburgh.
“A New Explanation of the Reproductive Woes and Midlife Decline of Henry VIII” in The Historical Journal, Volume 53, Issue 04, December 2010, pp 827-848, Cambridge University Press 2010, co-authored with Dr. Catrina Banks Whitley
Clearly this paper is seed from which Blood Will Tell sprouted. It was co-written with Dr. Catrina Banks Whitley, who is a bioarcheologist. Dr. Whitley was the one who delved into the biomedical nitty-gritty about a Kell positive blood type and McLeod syndrome while Kyra found the historical events that correlated with the symptoms Henry VIII would have manifested as a result of these medical conditions. Dr. Whitley is now one of the research associates at the New Mexico Office of Archeological Affairs. A paper published in 2013 in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, “Henry VIII, McLeod syndrome and Jacquetta’s curse”, (Volume 43, Issue 4) offered both critiques of, and more medical evidence supporting, the Kell/McLeod theory.
“Raising Veils and Other Bold Acts: The Heroine’s Agency in Female Gothic Novels” in Studies in Gothic Fiction, Volume 1, no. 2: (2011) pg. 23 – 36, Zittaw Press
This is an essay Kyra wrote regarding the ability of the Female Gothic heroine to influence her own fate, in contrast to heroines in other genres both historic and modern. Heroines, far too often for far too long, have been “passive” players in their own stories, wherein events happen to them and they react to these events by being rescued by an active hero. Not so the heroine of the Female Gothic. Those women were raiding tombs 200 years before Lora Croft, even if they fainted while they did it. If you are interested in the Gothic genre, you can see more articles like this one at Studies in Gothic Fiction.
“Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines” in Journal of Popular Romance Studies, Issue 2.2, April 2012
Romantic heroines are often beautiful, whether the character is aware of it or not. They have also tended to be thin, young, and until the 1990s they were usually virginal as well. Although the emphasis on virgins has fallen by the wayside in the last 10 years (with the exception of historical romances which have virginal heroines to conform to the norms of the time period), heroines have remained mostly thin and young. Kyra noticed that Jennifer Crusie was one of the first and most popular authors to have heroines who were something other than thin, young, virgins. Kyra also noticed that the bodies of Crusie’s heroines could be understood as sites of feminist resistance, and wrote a paper about it.