How much romance can you handle?
Recently I asked some members of the Aloha Chapter, Romance Writers of America, how much romance they could handle. How would you answer that question?
Here’s what the writers said. (Watch out for romantic vampires lurking below ... we'll take a scary look at them next time, with Cami Nihipali as our guide.)
Sally Sorenson: A daily dose would be great. I’m a news junkie, and it’s so depressing to read the newspaper first thing in the morning, then check headlines on the Internet throughout the day. Along with all those facts, a little fiction goes a long way to cheer me up. Unfortunately, I don’t take the time to read for pleasure nearly as often as I should. It’s usually when I travel. Then I like nothing better than to strap into my airline seat and get engrossed in a romance by Susan Wiggs, Jill Marie Landis, Jennifer Crusie, or Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Leslee Ellenson: Reading romantic suspense novels allows me to live on the edge vicariously, while at the same time feeling safe and secure. Reading allows me to creatively visualize scenes and bring them to life, often in a more dynamic way that any movies do. The act of visualizing both romance and suspense aids my own creativity as a writer. I always see the scenes I write in my mind’s eye before I write them. Fortunately for all of us, the imagination doesn't seem to know the difference between a real life experience and a virtual one, which is probably why reading a romance novel can get me hot!
Carol Catanzariti: How much romance? Not just a languid ride on a gondola or a moonlit night on the moors or a dinner of Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon (although I'll take all that as well … all of it … together … and more). The "more" happens when the story includes a "topper," the moving, emotion-driven connections that bind. For me, that happens when there's genuine ideological conflict between the male and female protagonists, a conflict that obscures understanding of each other. Until their Waterloo moment when they have to choose to act one way or another, love is not easily won, but physical attraction magnetizes.
Make it all intense. Adding a mix of cultures, history, and threat to enrich the story keeps the reader engaged in what will happen next. A little humor goes a long way to show how we are all in a grand experiment in living our love stories. Titillating moments are the piece de resistance, but too many, or with too explicit details, are the pins-in the-balloon for me. The reader's imagination soars anyway without cliché. After all their trials and tribulations, the couple does have a real love that overshadows predictability. Nora Roberts, for one, gets this balance right. So embellish with substance and good writing to enrich our lives. Make us laugh at ourselves. And bring it on.
Lynde Lakes: Hey, I’m a romantic—and a romantic suspense and thriller writer and reader. You can guess from my novels, such as Billboard Cop, that I enjoy equal suspense in my stories. However, I must say that I prefer to handle only as much romance as is appropriate for the story. My motto is “round it up and lasso as much as needed to keep the pace fast and the pages turning" (a bit of humor in keeping with my Ranch trilogy). I read all genres across the board, fiction and nonfiction, including Michael Little’s Chasing Cowboys, all of Tess Gerritsen’s medical thrillers, Lynn Raye Harris’s Harlequins, Jane Porter’s local romances, and Tom Clancy’s thrillers, to name only a few.
I read daily and always have a book in my hand. You would be surprised how much a book lover can devour a day while standing in grocery lines, riding a bus, riding an exerciser bike and while walking four miles a day. I always spice my own writing generously with romance; after all, love is what we all seek, consciously or unconsciously. Have I ever read too much romance in a story? Never, but perhaps I should define romance. Romance comes from the heart and anything that is heartfelt and lifts our spirits and makes the world a better place. So, let us lavish the world with love and romance.
Eve in Arizona: So just how much romance can I handle? Romance is a very tricky thing. If it comes from the heart, it's wonderful, but if it's forced, like cards and gifts someone has to buy on certain days, that's awful. Romance should be an extension of someone's caring. Romance is really the little things one does for the other ... the early morning tea in the favorite cup, the special dinner cooked and ready to eat when you get home from work just because. I like “just because” things, not national holiday mandates for gifts. The best gift is when someone cares about you every day of the year, just because you are you.
Cami Nihipali: Adolescent literature, that is definitely where it is at for me, as a reader and as a writer (and yes, I am an adult). Many young adult (YA) novels delve into the personal experience of young love through the eyes of an adolescent with the hint of romance. YA authors often develop with acuity that character and his/her conflict while teasing the reader with a romance between the hero/heroine that concentrates on the butterflies, the tension of young love, and the "firsts" associated with it. It provides a visceral experience for the reader in the joy of connecting to one's own experience.
YA Urban Fantasy is especially hot right now. The Twilight phenomenon, by Stephanie Meyer, is a prime example. Other urban fantasy authors that I love and have capitalized on this thrill of young love are Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy and Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy. Other noted authors in this YA urban fantasy genre are Holly Black, Alyson Noel, Melissa Marr, P.C. and Kristen Cast, and Scott Westerfeld. There are a host of others, and for the most part this is a wonderful genre that not only delights the adolescent but enchants the adult as well.
Tags: Cami Nihipali, Carol Catanzariti, Eve in Arizona, Leslee Ellenson, Lynde Lakes, Romance, Sally Sorenson, Twilight, vampires, young adult
September 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
It was fun reading others views of "how much romance." Thanks for sharing!
September 26th, 2009 at 2:41 am
I really like this little collection of different perspectives on romance and want to throw my own voice into the mix.
Romance is a very touchy subject for me in life and, by extension, in fiction where the author has free reign over how and where s/he presents it. I'm an idealist at heart who grew up thinking that all things in life should have some sort of romantic aspect to them. But they don't, and learning that reality was a painful process. Being a romantic sets you up for disappointment. I spent much of my youth making an effort to expect the worst so that when anything good happened I would be pleasantly shocked by it. On that note, romance born out of struggle and desperation makes the most sense to me. Anyone can love and wants to be loved in return - that is our nature as social creatures - but when you've been deprived of that and come to need it as a basic survival mechanism, that desire burns very bright and often ends tragically, which peaks my interest.
I'm not sure where I stand on romance's place in fiction. Most things I've read that are generally classified as "romance" alone are too saccharine for my tastes. I don't view romance as a stand-alone genre as much as I do a facet to storytelling craft as a whole. People need to feel a connection with others, and a good writer has the ability to translate that desire (however it manifests itself) over to the characters of their creation in a way that the reader can identify with or at least feel something toward that isn't indifference.
September 26th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Interesting to see the different perspectives. Any romantic gesture is fantastic, no matter how small, as long as it is sincere and spontaneous, but not done for show. In a novel, it really helps reveal the character of the person.
September 27th, 2009 at 12:23 am
I posted a reply. But I don't see it Michael???? Aloha, Lynde
September 27th, 2009 at 12:28 am
Okay, now I see one that said, I don't see it. The wolf must have ate the other one. He gets ravenous from time to time. Or maybe it was one of the cowboys who lassoed it and whisked it away. They are always doing things like that. Aloha, Lynde
September 27th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Lynde, your earlier comment is attached to my earlier blog post "A Little Romance: Anticipation." If the cowboys did it, as you suggest, then it's in a different corral. Thank you for commenting!
September 27th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I get pretty uptight at how most people assume that "Twilight", the series is suppose to be just a story of good people.
First of all, vampire stories were always about sex. The sexual thrill of sucking someone else's blood etc. Or maybe that's ok with people. It would ber so much more intellectual and absorbing to read literature without having to ALWAYS be with a sexual conotation. I love romance like the next person but not to the point where all romance books must have sex. Geez!!