Category: Romance

 

 

So, I kind of decided that I’m probably going to give up reading romance novels for Lent.

I usually try to give up something I like for Lent, but this year it was hard because I’ve already changed a lot of stuff. There just wasn’t much left.

After some thought, I decided to give up reading romances. I know, I know. It might sound silly to you, but it really will be a sacrifice. Romances are pretty much all I read, and Nalini Singh has a new book coming out on February 28th. Now I’m going to have to wait to get it from the library.

I hate waiting.

I guess that’s the point.

And, naturally, because I’ve decided not to read romance novels for a few weeks, I keep thinking about them. Like chocolate.

Mmmmmm….chocolate….

Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I thought I’d tell you 10 reasons why I love romance novels.

I love romance novels because…

1. Romance novels are about Love.

2. Everything works out okay at the end of a romance novel. At least it works out okay for the main couple.

3. The main couple “gets together” in a romance novel. (*wink, wink*)

4. You know going into the book that the main couple is going to resolve whatever big issues are keeping them apart. It’s comforting.

5. Romance novels can make me cry. Crying about fictional characters is better than crying about real life, and can be just as cleansing.

6. Romance novels can make me laugh. Sometimes unintentionally.

7. The main couple in a romance novel recognizes each other as mates and makes a commitment to each other. They race to each other across a windswept field and embrace and…Well they do!

8. In romance novels, people are important. Because romance is all about people. Unless you’re in love with a car.

9. In romance novels, emotions are important. Because romance is all about emotions. So it’s okay if you have some strong ones.

And finally,

10. In a romance novel, love wins. Period.

Ooooo…I just want to rush out and run across a windswept field and read a romance novel right now! But I can’t.

How fortunate for me that I am NOT giving up “novels with strong romantic elements”, such as the “In Death” series of books by J. D. Robb. Roarke! Take me away!

 

I read a lot of romance novels. I think we’ve established that already, right? Right.

Anyway, I’ve decided that one of the things I find the most irksome in a romance novel is when the hero is too perfect.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate a perfect heroine too. But usually the author will try to give the heroine SOMETHING to overcome. She is, after all, the main thrust of most romance novels. There are still a lot of heroines who are too perfect for my taste, but they usually have received a few bumps and bruises along the way. That is theoretically what makes them interesting enough to carry a book.

But the hero can easily become a cookie cutter character. Many authors seem to focus on the fact that most romance novels are written primarily for women, and try to give the readers what they think they want – Prince Charming.

The result is a hero who is handsome, built, smart (goes without saying), rich, powerful, and sexually accomplished. He’s also brave, loyal and true, kind to old women and dogs, falls madly loves the heroine, isn’t afraid to tell her. As opposed to most men who would rather have a root canal than talk about their feelings.

And here’s the problem. If the man is THAT perfect, there’s no tension between the characters unless the heroine continually finds reasons to push him away.  And that’s not realistic. Because either the heroine would be all over him because, hello! Perfect! Or Prince Charming would get tired of being pushed away and actually, well, leave. Oh, except he’s loyal. Forgot about that.

And besides, I’d like to know how a well-adjusted, handsome and studly male like the one I just described made it to his adulthood without being snapped up by some enterprising female? And where can I find one?  It only makes me bitter that he keeps chasing a woman who doesn’t seem to want anything to do with him, despite his studliness and other exceptional qualities.

I love the romances that show me the hero’s pain, that show me his bumps and bruises. If Prince Charming falls off the horse a time or two, it won’t make him less of a Prince, but to my mind it does make him more Charming. That’s because he’s more human. He’s just like the rest of us – less perfect. More real.

Well, as real as the hero of a novel ever is.

What about you? What really bothers you about characters in a novel?

And, okay, I’m asking that question to promote dialog, as instructed in most blogging books.  But I’m also asking because I’m trying to write this stuff.  Seems like it would be good to know.  LOL

 

As you may, or may not, know, I own well over 2,000 books. And I’d say that about 1200-1300 of them are romance novels. Have I read them all, you ask? Pretty much. And I’ve actually read more than I own because I periodically feel that I have too many books and try to divest myself – which means after a few weeks I’m out buying more books. Then there’s the library, friends…well, you get the idea.

But it seems to me that there are some romance writers who are very useful to read if you are interested in writing romance, and I thought I would give you four recommendations. These are just my opinions – your mileage may vary.

Nora Roberts – Say what you will about La Nora, the woman has a bazillion freaking books out and writes about a thousand new ones a year. And I’m only exaggerating slightly. Do I enjoy all of her books? No. But there’s an awful lot you can learn by reading her. Some of her plots may be silly, some of her characters may be pressed out of a cookie cutter, but in her capable hands everything gels more often than not. I read her books to find out why they work and how they work.

Jayne Ann Krentz – Again, she has a million billion books published under a variety of pen names. Some of them work for me, some don’t, but you can learn a lot by reading her. With Jayne, I learn a lot about what to do – and what not to do. For example, the protracted explanations her characters deliver at the end of every book would not work for a new author like me. In my opinion, they don’t always work for her either, but she can get away with it. On the other hand, she is the queen of getting an unlikely hero and heroine involved in a mystery in a relatively graceful manner.

Nalini Singh – I love Ms. Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, but as a writer I read her for the world building and the character development. The depth to the worlds she’s built in both of her paranormal series is truly astounding. Her characters are full bodied, and the conflicts they’re part of are intense and realistic. In addition, unlike many other paranormal romance authors who have successful series, she has, so far, managed to keep the romance balanced with the demands of her plot structure. Although I don’t write paranormal romance (yet), it’s useful to see how she keeps all of the parts of her complicated story working together.

Robyn Carr – In Ms. Carr’s Virgin River series it’s all about character, and those characters are so well developed they seem to leap off the page and sit down in your living room with you. Sometimes the romance gets a little lost, but you forgive her because the people are just so real. Not too good to be true, but honest. I read her to watch her develop characters, not only in their own book, but in the books following their HEA. Basically I read her to see how she develops her town. I guess that’s world-building too.

So there you go – four out of many.

Maybe it’s just my excuse to keep reading romance. 😀

You know, when I decided to concentrate on writing romance, I had absolutely no idea that I was threatening the fabric of society as we know it.  And yet, it appears that I am.

In recent months we have seen, first the public “outing” and castigation of a high school English teacher who has been writing erotic romance novels for years.  More recently there was a news report that reading romance novels can be as addictive as pornography, makes women unbalanced, and threatens marriages (presumably around the world).  Obviously there’s a real problem going on here, and it’s all centered around romance.

But what exactly IS the problem?

I’ve been looking at some common characteristics of the romance genre in the hopes that if I understood where it has been going wrong, I could pass the information along to all of you.  Here are some of the common points I’ve identified as a part of my informal investigation:

1. Most romance authors are women.
2. Most romance readers are women.
3. Most romance editors are women.
4. A lot of the agents who handle romance are women.
5. Most romance bloggers are women.
6. By the end of a romance novel, a deep, intimate and usually lifelong commitment has been established between characters.
7. Usually a romance novel contains sex. For the most part, the sex is extremely enjoyable for one or more of the characters involved. This sex might be repeated several times during the book, with different degrees of verve and variety.

Based on these findings, I believe that I have identified the reason the romance genre as a whole has been slammed recently. To summarize:

• Although not all women enjoy romance novels, most romance novels are written, read, sold, and promoted by women.
• Romance novels always involve people making commitments to each other.
• Most romance novels also include people having extremely enjoyable sex.

Ergo, I believe I can state with some certainty that the issue is:

• Women might think about sex.

I hope this helps.

PS – I’m heading out to the RWA national conference on Tuesday to hob-nob with other authors specializing in romance, aka the genre of fear.  I hope to be tweeting and facebooking as the week goes on. And stay tuned here on the blog for photos from my excellent adventure in NYC!

 
As I mentioned in an earlier post, a few months ago I had a run-in with a rather rude man at a Barnes and Noble. As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the romance genre, about what it is and what it isn’t. What follows are my humble opinions on this subject, for what they are worth.
 

What Romance Is
 

In a romance, whether novel or subplot, two people come together and form an intimate bond. At the end of their story arc, no matter how long it takes to get there, they have remade their world. They are now a unit beyond the sum of their parts. If their world is not remade, the story is not, in my opinion, a romance.  “Happily ever after” is required. Under this definition, a book like Wuthering Heights is not a romance. A book like Pride and Prejudice, however, is.
 

What Romance Isn’t
 

In today’s market, Wuthering Heights would probably be considered “chick lit”. I really hate that term, because basically “chick-lit” is just old-fashioned literature written by and about women. Romance can certainly be a part of a “chick-lit” novel, like Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner. But whereas the point of a romance novel is two people learning to become one whole, the point of “chick-lit” tends to be self-discovery.
 

Romance heroines grow and change and go on journeys of self-discovery too, of course they do. A romance novel would be pretty boring if the hero and heroine didn’t change! It’s just that the main point of a romance novel is the discovery of intimacy with the “other”, and that is not the main point of a “chick-lit” novel.
 

Because romance deals with intimacy, and intimacy between two adults is often expressed in sex, romance novels contain sex.  The sex is of varying degrees of intensity, depending on author and subgenre. But regardless of erotic content,  a romance novel is NOT erotica or pornography.
 

In erotica, the individual’s journey of self-discovery takes the form of an exploration of sexuality. The other people involved in those sexual exploits are, so to speak, tools for the journey. It may be that there will be an emotional bond with one or more of them, but that isn’t the point of the story. The point of the story is the sexual exploration.
 

And porn? Well, what can I say. In pornography both the viewer and the viewed are objects. Ain’t no journey happening there except the journey towards…*cough*… well. Let’s just say that character development is not a priority one way or another.  True intimacy is not involved.
 

So, there you go. My opinion of what romance is – and what it isn’t.

I’m glad I have a blog now so I can share these deep thoughts with you.  I’m sure you are glad as well. 🙂