And scroll down to yesterday's post to see if you're a winner of a giveaway from last week's post!
Welcome to Terry's Place. I'm an author of mystery and romance, happy to share what I'm learning, both about writing and anything I find interesting.
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Romantic Suspense or Romantic Mystery?
Monday, February 14, 2011
What Is Romance?
What I'm reading: Edge of Sight by Roxanne St. Claire.
Don't forget my new contest where everyone wins. Click the Contest tab above. And there's another contest in today's blog--details at the end of this post.
It's Valentine's Day, a holiday devoted to romance. I thought I'd ask what others find romantic, but before I did that, I went to Dictionary.com to see what the 'official' definition was. I was surprised when I found this at the top of the page:
1. a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting.
2. the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales.
3. a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating of heroic, fantastic, or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory.
4. a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.
5. a romantic spirit, sentiment, emotion, or desire.
6. romantic character or quality.
7. a romantic affair or experience; a love affair.
8. ( initial capital letter ) Also, Romanic. Also called Romance languages. the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as french, spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino. Abbreviation: Rom.
Scrolling down, I found the entries for the World English Dictionary to be the following:
Don't forget my new contest where everyone wins. Click the Contest tab above. And there's another contest in today's blog--details at the end of this post.
It's Valentine's Day, a holiday devoted to romance. I thought I'd ask what others find romantic, but before I did that, I went to Dictionary.com to see what the 'official' definition was. I was surprised when I found this at the top of the page:1. a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting.
2. the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales.
3. a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating of heroic, fantastic, or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory.
4. a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.
5. a romantic spirit, sentiment, emotion, or desire.
6. romantic character or quality.
7. a romantic affair or experience; a love affair.
8. ( initial capital letter ) Also, Romanic. Also called Romance languages. the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as french, spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino. Abbreviation: Rom.
Scrolling down, I found the entries for the World English Dictionary to be the following:
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Love and Heroes
Yesterday I talked about what makes a hero someone both the reader and writer loves. There were some great comments, and one of the frequent ones was that he had to love the heroine.
When writing a romance, there are some reader expectations that have to be met. When we write a romance, we're promising the reader that we're going to address them. One of the "requirements" is to show that moment when the hero realizes he's in love with the heroine (and vice-versa, of course). There are others, but this is a blog post, not a workshop.
I seem to have a theme for my heroes that they're all career consumed, and their careers don't lend themselves to family lives. With the exception of Blake Windsor in What's in a Name?, they're all either cops or covert ops specialists, and don't think their jobs can mix with relationships.
My preference is for that moment to sneak up on the hero. None of mine have been actively seeking a life partner. And, like with all writing, you can't just dump these things on the reader. They need foreshadowing and setups.
And of course, taken out of context, these 'aha' moments aren't as meaningful, but I thought I'd share a few examples from my own work (no issues with copyright that way).
So, here they are:
When writing a romance, there are some reader expectations that have to be met. When we write a romance, we're promising the reader that we're going to address them. One of the "requirements" is to show that moment when the hero realizes he's in love with the heroine (and vice-versa, of course). There are others, but this is a blog post, not a workshop. I seem to have a theme for my heroes that they're all career consumed, and their careers don't lend themselves to family lives. With the exception of Blake Windsor in What's in a Name?, they're all either cops or covert ops specialists, and don't think their jobs can mix with relationships.
My preference is for that moment to sneak up on the hero. None of mine have been actively seeking a life partner. And, like with all writing, you can't just dump these things on the reader. They need foreshadowing and setups.
And of course, taken out of context, these 'aha' moments aren't as meaningful, but I thought I'd share a few examples from my own work (no issues with copyright that way).
So, here they are:
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Why I Like Romance
Today, I welcome author Rebecca York to Terry's Place. Rebecca started writing romantic suspense when she was eight. Well, actually, she was playing with dolls, but the dolls were always kidnapped by a handsome hero and taken off to a desert island.
Rebecca will give away an autographed DRAGON MOON to a reader who comments on her post by December 11. Rebecca will choose a winner, and I'll announce it here, so don't forget to check back. Unclaimed prize will be forfeited.
Romance authors get criticized for their happy endings. It can’t be real literature if you know the hero and heroine are going to walk off into the sunset together.
Literature? That’s what I studied in my English classes in college. When I read a book now, I want to enjoy myself.
I’ve just finished a “guy book” that upset me a lot. So I want to discuss it a little. I won’t mention any names, but the story was about a woman lawyer whose husband was accused of murder. She loved him and defended him at his trial. During the course of the book, I got to know and like the heroine. Several times during the story, she questioned whether her husband was really innocent. But each time, she regained her faith in him. She won an acquittal, and they joyfully went home again. Then the author had the brilliant idea of having her find out that the guy was really guilty. Not just guilty, but a psychopath. When she confronted him, he tried to kill her. When she ended up shooting him in self-defense, that was the last straw for me.
Rebecca will give away an autographed DRAGON MOON to a reader who comments on her post by December 11. Rebecca will choose a winner, and I'll announce it here, so don't forget to check back. Unclaimed prize will be forfeited.
Romance authors get criticized for their happy endings. It can’t be real literature if you know the hero and heroine are going to walk off into the sunset together.
Literature? That’s what I studied in my English classes in college. When I read a book now, I want to enjoy myself.
I’ve just finished a “guy book” that upset me a lot. So I want to discuss it a little. I won’t mention any names, but the story was about a woman lawyer whose husband was accused of murder. She loved him and defended him at his trial. During the course of the book, I got to know and like the heroine. Several times during the story, she questioned whether her husband was really innocent. But each time, she regained her faith in him. She won an acquittal, and they joyfully went home again. Then the author had the brilliant idea of having her find out that the guy was really guilty. Not just guilty, but a psychopath. When she confronted him, he tried to kill her. When she ended up shooting him in self-defense, that was the last straw for me.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
All About Conferences
Tomorrow, I'm heading off to a romance conference, RomCon, in Denver. It was a sort of spur of the moment decision. I saw a post about free admission and decided that since we were living in Colorado, Denver was within driving distance, and free was good. Of course, 'free' doesn't include the hotel or meals, but I thought it would be smart to mingle with live people for a change.
The 'catch' of the registration was that it's a Reader registration. It was far too late to sign up as a participating author, so I figured why not? I'll still be meeting the same people. There was a rather stern warning about Readers not being allowed to do anything in the way of promotion. NOWHERE TO HIDE isn't officially released, but I do have bookmarks. I wonder if handing them out in lieu of business cards, which I haven't updated, constitutes promotion?
On the up side of being "only" a reader, there's very little pressure to make sure I have everything perfect. I don't have to worry about presentations, handouts, PowerPoint failures. It'll be all about the mingling. I have barely begun my preparations. I topped off my gas tank, charged my shuffle, and am doing laundry.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Retired? Unemployed? Whatever.
What I'm reading: Knock Out, by Catherine Coulter
Yesterday, I volunteered at an semi-annual Award Ceremony at the Sheriff's Office. The small auditorium was packed to honor those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, as well as those retiring after decades of service.
Family and friends were invited, but I was most impressed by how many colleagues of these people took time from their day to crowd into that room. I can't help but compare it to what's going on at our place.
Yesterday was also hubby's last official day of work. He's been on half time for the last three months, but as of today, he's officially either unemployed or retired—he hasn't decided yet, since the choice to leave wasn't his. He works in a very small office, but there was absolutely nothing done to acknowledge the countless hours he's put in, going in on weekends, stepping in to do everything from crawl under desks to keep computers running, to driving across the state to represent the company at a fund-raising event.
Not to mention nary a raise in the 8 years he's worked for them. (Practice for living on a fixed income, right?) The company is headquartered in California, but they've definitely kept their hands on what's going on in Florida. Actually, "micromanage" is the term hubby used.
Keep Reading...
And, work horse that he is, he'll be back at the office, probably every day, although the agreement says they'd like him to come in one day a week in return for a few minor perks. His new "emeritus" status gives him a desk, and he's been working on some personal, but work-related projects which he can do better there. And yes, there's the "I'll drive him nuts if he's home all day" factor which plays into it as well. But my mindset right about now is that it's all well and good for him to do HIS work at his office desk, but if I find out he's crawling under desks to fix computers, or answering questions, or anything else that he used to be paid for, I'll pitch a fit.
Unemployed or retired doesn't matter. He's not being paid for his time, and owes them nothing. Petty of me? Probably. But that's how I feel right now. And he knows he's toast if he goes to the office until next week, so we should be taking some time off for us, at least until we get sick of each other. Anyone going to start the pool for when that will be?
Meanwhile, I'm working on my short story. I'm about 5,000 words in, so I'm past the halfway point. It's quite a departure for me, since there's no "relationship" the way there would be in a romance or romantic suspense. The protagonist is a divorced homicide detective in his mid-to-late forties, and the major secondary character is a rookie cop who happens to be female. He's definitely a mentor figure, and there's none of the demand to keep building sexual tension.
To be honest, I'm having similar issues with the novel I set aside to write the short story. I have Gordon, a divorced Chief of Police, and two other POV characters, Justin and Megan, all caught up in some Very Bad Stuff. For some reason, there is an undercurrent of sexual tension building between Justin and Megan. I have a feeling that convention would require that if I give them a consummated relationship, I'll have to find a woman for Gordon as well.
It's not a romance, so I don't have the constraints of that HEA relationship, but it's starting to feel strange as Justin and Megan are alone in a hotel room, while Gordon's back in town dealing with two homicides and two break-ins. Hmmm. He's had his eye on Angie, who works in the small town's favorite bakery/café/diner. Maybe she'll notice.
Other writing updates: The release date for my Cerridwen Press short story, The Other Side of the Page is July 27th.
I got my Rita contest scores and When Danger Calls finished in the top quartile. Since it doesn't adhere to romantic suspense convention, I'm pleased to know the judges liked it.
Check back tomorrow when I'll announce the winner of my June contest. And Friday, it's the conclusion of "The Exhumation" from the case files of Detective Hussey.
Yesterday, I volunteered at an semi-annual Award Ceremony at the Sheriff's Office. The small auditorium was packed to honor those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, as well as those retiring after decades of service.
Family and friends were invited, but I was most impressed by how many colleagues of these people took time from their day to crowd into that room. I can't help but compare it to what's going on at our place.
Yesterday was also hubby's last official day of work. He's been on half time for the last three months, but as of today, he's officially either unemployed or retired—he hasn't decided yet, since the choice to leave wasn't his. He works in a very small office, but there was absolutely nothing done to acknowledge the countless hours he's put in, going in on weekends, stepping in to do everything from crawl under desks to keep computers running, to driving across the state to represent the company at a fund-raising event.
Not to mention nary a raise in the 8 years he's worked for them. (Practice for living on a fixed income, right?) The company is headquartered in California, but they've definitely kept their hands on what's going on in Florida. Actually, "micromanage" is the term hubby used.
Keep Reading...
And, work horse that he is, he'll be back at the office, probably every day, although the agreement says they'd like him to come in one day a week in return for a few minor perks. His new "emeritus" status gives him a desk, and he's been working on some personal, but work-related projects which he can do better there. And yes, there's the "I'll drive him nuts if he's home all day" factor which plays into it as well. But my mindset right about now is that it's all well and good for him to do HIS work at his office desk, but if I find out he's crawling under desks to fix computers, or answering questions, or anything else that he used to be paid for, I'll pitch a fit.
Unemployed or retired doesn't matter. He's not being paid for his time, and owes them nothing. Petty of me? Probably. But that's how I feel right now. And he knows he's toast if he goes to the office until next week, so we should be taking some time off for us, at least until we get sick of each other. Anyone going to start the pool for when that will be?
Meanwhile, I'm working on my short story. I'm about 5,000 words in, so I'm past the halfway point. It's quite a departure for me, since there's no "relationship" the way there would be in a romance or romantic suspense. The protagonist is a divorced homicide detective in his mid-to-late forties, and the major secondary character is a rookie cop who happens to be female. He's definitely a mentor figure, and there's none of the demand to keep building sexual tension.
To be honest, I'm having similar issues with the novel I set aside to write the short story. I have Gordon, a divorced Chief of Police, and two other POV characters, Justin and Megan, all caught up in some Very Bad Stuff. For some reason, there is an undercurrent of sexual tension building between Justin and Megan. I have a feeling that convention would require that if I give them a consummated relationship, I'll have to find a woman for Gordon as well.
It's not a romance, so I don't have the constraints of that HEA relationship, but it's starting to feel strange as Justin and Megan are alone in a hotel room, while Gordon's back in town dealing with two homicides and two break-ins. Hmmm. He's had his eye on Angie, who works in the small town's favorite bakery/café/diner. Maybe she'll notice.
Other writing updates: The release date for my Cerridwen Press short story, The Other Side of the Page is July 27th.
I got my Rita contest scores and When Danger Calls finished in the top quartile. Since it doesn't adhere to romantic suspense convention, I'm pleased to know the judges liked it.
Check back tomorrow when I'll announce the winner of my June contest. And Friday, it's the conclusion of "The Exhumation" from the case files of Detective Hussey.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Plots, Characters and Genre Blending
What I'm reading: The Kissing Game, by Suzanne Brockmann
First – Thanks, thanks, thanks to Lee Lofland for sharing that piece of his life yesterday. (If you haven't read it, scroll down.)
Next month, I'll be on a panel with a group of mystery writers at the Romantic Times convention in Orlando. Our moderator has given us some flexibility with our discussion topic, and I think I'm going to talk about expectations of each genre, and how to blend them, especially since most of the other panelists are straight mystery writers.
In the broadest sense:
Romance: hero and heroine meet, fall in love and have a happily ever after (or promise thereof) at the end of the book. What happens in between is what makes the readers care.
Mystery: some kind of crime is committed, someone figures it out, and the bad guy is caught.
Obviously, those are simplistic explanations, but if a book is on the romance shelf and the hero and heroine don't fall in love and have a potentially happy ending … well, someone put the book on the wrong shelf. Move it to the "literary" section. If the detective doesn't solve the crime by the end of the book, readers will be upset.
Keep Reading...
I'm well into chapter 3 of my new manuscript. I'm establishing the mystery first, so I can structure the story around it. It's still blurry, but I'm seeing some shapes forming in the mist. It's not going to be a straight detective story, but a cop showed up in Chapter Two, so there's going to be some kind of investigation. I have almost pinned down the Secret From the Past which is going to be the underlying connection that will tie everything together. I don't need all the details yet. I know there are plotters tearing their hair out, but I'm establishing back story for two secondary characters and The Secret will be in there.
As the author, what I have to figure out is why the secret needs to be kept a secret. It's got to be believable for the reader. So why does my character need to know this secret? What does he lose if he doesn't find it? What does he gain if he does? And why do the characters keeping the secret need to keep it hidden?
Let's face it—there's no story if Character A says, "Hi, Granny. You know that book in the attic with the silver pendant with the funny inscription hidden inside? I need it or someone will kill me. Can I have it?" And if Granny says, "Sure, dear, help yourself," then the book is over right then and there. Characters have to have choices. And they have to be tough ones. If I do A, then this happens which is bad news. But if I do B, then that happens, which is worse."
So, once I have the basic premise sketched out, I need the characters. I know my heroine. Usually the hero comes first, but for some reason, I'm connecting with her. If I look at my computer files, the last 3 books have been in folders bearing the hero's name. This one says "Megan."
In a romance, readers want both the hero and heroine's stories. I remember being at my first SleuthFest and waiting around for my agent appointment, chatting with a mystery writer. He could not understand how you could write a book with TWO main protagonists. He was of the mindset that you had a detective who solved a crime, and there was your story. His eyes glazed over as he tried to grasp the concept of separate but equal protagonists, each with an individual character arc AND a mystery plot.
Okay, 'separate but equal' isn't quite right. In any romance, even with both hero and heroine sharing the page, it's going to end up being more one character's story than the other. Not by much, but it's going to be a 'his book' or a 'her book.' The one I'm writing is definitely leaning into 'her book' territory.
That might be directly related to the fact that I'm not sure who the 'his' in this book is going to be yet. I've got two strong male characters, each with his own problems to deal with, and the heroine is connected to both. I've added a third POV character for the first time.
I did pick up one trick at SleuthFest that I think I'm going to try (especially since I have all the components). Kris Montee (half of the PJ Parrish team) did a workshop on pacing, but she started by explaining that she hated to plot. Her sister, on the other hand, plotted everything. The technique they ended up using was to write the necessary scenes and plot points on sticky notes. Different colored notes for each POV character. Then, by moving them across a white board, they could see where each piece of the puzzle had to fit.
There are some 'givens' in any romance, and likewise, in any mystery. In the former, there's going to be a meeting of hero and heroine, they'll have their first kiss, and so on. In a mystery, there's going to be the discovery of the crime, the suspects, lots of clues and red herrings.
Since I have only the barest of outlines when I start, but lots of ideas for 'stuff' that should happen, I thought I'd give this technique a shot.
First – Thanks, thanks, thanks to Lee Lofland for sharing that piece of his life yesterday. (If you haven't read it, scroll down.)
Next month, I'll be on a panel with a group of mystery writers at the Romantic Times convention in Orlando. Our moderator has given us some flexibility with our discussion topic, and I think I'm going to talk about expectations of each genre, and how to blend them, especially since most of the other panelists are straight mystery writers.
In the broadest sense:
Romance: hero and heroine meet, fall in love and have a happily ever after (or promise thereof) at the end of the book. What happens in between is what makes the readers care.
Mystery: some kind of crime is committed, someone figures it out, and the bad guy is caught.
Obviously, those are simplistic explanations, but if a book is on the romance shelf and the hero and heroine don't fall in love and have a potentially happy ending … well, someone put the book on the wrong shelf. Move it to the "literary" section. If the detective doesn't solve the crime by the end of the book, readers will be upset.
Keep Reading...
I'm well into chapter 3 of my new manuscript. I'm establishing the mystery first, so I can structure the story around it. It's still blurry, but I'm seeing some shapes forming in the mist. It's not going to be a straight detective story, but a cop showed up in Chapter Two, so there's going to be some kind of investigation. I have almost pinned down the Secret From the Past which is going to be the underlying connection that will tie everything together. I don't need all the details yet. I know there are plotters tearing their hair out, but I'm establishing back story for two secondary characters and The Secret will be in there.
As the author, what I have to figure out is why the secret needs to be kept a secret. It's got to be believable for the reader. So why does my character need to know this secret? What does he lose if he doesn't find it? What does he gain if he does? And why do the characters keeping the secret need to keep it hidden?
Let's face it—there's no story if Character A says, "Hi, Granny. You know that book in the attic with the silver pendant with the funny inscription hidden inside? I need it or someone will kill me. Can I have it?" And if Granny says, "Sure, dear, help yourself," then the book is over right then and there. Characters have to have choices. And they have to be tough ones. If I do A, then this happens which is bad news. But if I do B, then that happens, which is worse."
So, once I have the basic premise sketched out, I need the characters. I know my heroine. Usually the hero comes first, but for some reason, I'm connecting with her. If I look at my computer files, the last 3 books have been in folders bearing the hero's name. This one says "Megan."
In a romance, readers want both the hero and heroine's stories. I remember being at my first SleuthFest and waiting around for my agent appointment, chatting with a mystery writer. He could not understand how you could write a book with TWO main protagonists. He was of the mindset that you had a detective who solved a crime, and there was your story. His eyes glazed over as he tried to grasp the concept of separate but equal protagonists, each with an individual character arc AND a mystery plot.
Okay, 'separate but equal' isn't quite right. In any romance, even with both hero and heroine sharing the page, it's going to end up being more one character's story than the other. Not by much, but it's going to be a 'his book' or a 'her book.' The one I'm writing is definitely leaning into 'her book' territory.
That might be directly related to the fact that I'm not sure who the 'his' in this book is going to be yet. I've got two strong male characters, each with his own problems to deal with, and the heroine is connected to both. I've added a third POV character for the first time.
I did pick up one trick at SleuthFest that I think I'm going to try (especially since I have all the components). Kris Montee (half of the PJ Parrish team) did a workshop on pacing, but she started by explaining that she hated to plot. Her sister, on the other hand, plotted everything. The technique they ended up using was to write the necessary scenes and plot points on sticky notes. Different colored notes for each POV character. Then, by moving them across a white board, they could see where each piece of the puzzle had to fit.
There are some 'givens' in any romance, and likewise, in any mystery. In the former, there's going to be a meeting of hero and heroine, they'll have their first kiss, and so on. In a mystery, there's going to be the discovery of the crime, the suspects, lots of clues and red herrings.
Since I have only the barest of outlines when I start, but lots of ideas for 'stuff' that should happen, I thought I'd give this technique a shot.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
What's in a Label?
What I'm reading: Rogue's Challenge, by Jo Barrett
In case you're not aware, this is Read an E-book Week. If you're not familiar with reading digital books, this might be a great time to give it a try. A lot of publishers and e-bookstores are making free reads available. Not sure you're ready for an e-book reading device? Try a short story, more easily read on a computer.
The way I see it, digital books shouldn't be thought of as a way to replace print, but rather, to give readers an alternative. A choice.
Onward ... Today at the Y, I got into two very interesting discussions.
Keep Reading...
The first was with a woman who knows I'm a writer. Now, she's an avid reader and volunteers at the library, so it's not that she's someone (although I still can't understand how they exist) who just doesn't read.
She read a few of my Wild Rose Press short stories, but says she doesn't read my genre enough to be interested in trying one of my novels. But today she stopped me and told me I'd be interested to know she was reading a "trashy book."
I smiled and mentioned that we all have our own definitions of "trash", and that there are different levels for different readers. I told her I write what I consider to be mystery books, but because there's a strong relationship that ends on a positive note, they're called Romance, even though they're not the short Harlequin category books, which is what most people think of when you say "romance."
She went on to ask who decided what kind of a book it was. I told her that ultimately, it's the publisher's decision. When Danger Calls is action adventure, and if it was lying on a table, the cover would definitely not say, "This is a Romance."
Finding Sarah is another book that I think is as much mystery as romance. The cover (which I really like) doesn't scream "Romance" either. The sequel, Hidden Fire, which to me is much more of a mystery book, definitely says "I'm a Romance."
Next, I bumped into a couple, also a bit older than I am--but not that much -- who had bought When Danger Calls. The gentleman said he'd read the book and was a bit confused. I asked him to explain. He said he was about halfway through before he realized he just might be reading a ... romance. He enjoyed the book, but we got back into that label discussion I'd just had. (Yes, I did actually work out -- these conversations took place before and after.) His wife has just started the book, and I'm sure she's going to read it differently.
Does it matter what you call it if it's a good story? The gentleman will probably never admit to anyone that he read and enjoyed a ... romance. But he did.
Come back tomorrow -- I'll be sharing part 3 of Cop Humor, provided by "Homicide - Hussey"
In case you're not aware, this is Read an E-book Week. If you're not familiar with reading digital books, this might be a great time to give it a try. A lot of publishers and e-bookstores are making free reads available. Not sure you're ready for an e-book reading device? Try a short story, more easily read on a computer.
The way I see it, digital books shouldn't be thought of as a way to replace print, but rather, to give readers an alternative. A choice.
Onward ... Today at the Y, I got into two very interesting discussions.
Keep Reading...
The first was with a woman who knows I'm a writer. Now, she's an avid reader and volunteers at the library, so it's not that she's someone (although I still can't understand how they exist) who just doesn't read.
She read a few of my Wild Rose Press short stories, but says she doesn't read my genre enough to be interested in trying one of my novels. But today she stopped me and told me I'd be interested to know she was reading a "trashy book."
I smiled and mentioned that we all have our own definitions of "trash", and that there are different levels for different readers. I told her I write what I consider to be mystery books, but because there's a strong relationship that ends on a positive note, they're called Romance, even though they're not the short Harlequin category books, which is what most people think of when you say "romance."
She went on to ask who decided what kind of a book it was. I told her that ultimately, it's the publisher's decision. When Danger Calls is action adventure, and if it was lying on a table, the cover would definitely not say, "This is a Romance."
Finding Sarah is another book that I think is as much mystery as romance. The cover (which I really like) doesn't scream "Romance" either. The sequel, Hidden Fire, which to me is much more of a mystery book, definitely says "I'm a Romance."
Next, I bumped into a couple, also a bit older than I am--but not that much -- who had bought When Danger Calls. The gentleman said he'd read the book and was a bit confused. I asked him to explain. He said he was about halfway through before he realized he just might be reading a ... romance. He enjoyed the book, but we got back into that label discussion I'd just had. (Yes, I did actually work out -- these conversations took place before and after.) His wife has just started the book, and I'm sure she's going to read it differently.
Does it matter what you call it if it's a good story? The gentleman will probably never admit to anyone that he read and enjoyed a ... romance. But he did.
Come back tomorrow -- I'll be sharing part 3 of Cop Humor, provided by "Homicide - Hussey"
Thursday, February 12, 2009
What's in Your Bookstore? And Where is it?
Saw this in the paper the other day. Couldn't help but think about one of the first 'romance' books I read. My mother had been visiting, and she went on and on about this great book she'd finished, and then was even more excited when she found out she'd read the second in the series (which was only two books long at that time) and could go back and read more. Diana Gabaldon said her books present booksellers with the 'where do I shelve this?' dilemma. Is it a romance? Is it historical fiction? Faye Kellerman claimed all she thought she was writing was a nice little romance when she wrote her first Peter Decker/Rita Lazarus novel. Now, they're definitely in the mystery section.
I'd never read a traditional romance when I started writing Finding Sarah, and I thought it was a mystery. Who knew there were rules? At the time, I didn't think I could ever write a romance. Because I, like so many others, was clueless about what a romance really was.
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If I say I write "romance", more often than not, I get the eyeball roll, and the "I don't read that stuff," response. I was chatting with someone last night, and the topic arose. Back in the day, when romances were 'bodice rippers'. She said she and her mother used to love to toss out the vocabulary of the books of that time, words like portmanteau and reticule.
The genre has expanded. Tremendously. My books, marketed as romance, have little resemblance to the short category romances that still bedeck the bookstores. I know. I just finished reading nine of them for the Romance Writer's of America's RITA contest. Some were good, some I finished more out of obligation to the contest than because I cared about the characters (which is, to me, the whole point of reading a book).
But just looking at the categories in any romance contest proves this is not a one-size-fits-all genre. The RITAs mentioned above have the following categories:
Contemporary Series Romance
Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense:/Adventure
Contemporary Single Title Romance
Inspirational Romance
Historical Romance
Regency Historical Romance
Romance Novella
Paranormal Romance
Romantic Suspense
Young Adult Romance
Novel With Strong Romantic Elements
And, I'm not touching the controversy about whether there should be categories for erotic romance, and if so, where they would belong.
Do people avoid the romance section entirely because they think all they'll find are the stereotypical stories? So, should bookstores organize their shelves within the romance section? If I like to read romantic suspense (which has it's own myriad sub-genres), how hard should I have to look? Harlequin makes it easy to find the various subsets of it's traditional lines with distinctive color coded covers. Kind of Garanimals for books. But out in the world of single title, one has to know the author to look for.
Tomorrow, it's once again time to turn over this blog to the next installment of "Homicide - Hussey." For latecomers to the series, be aware, I didn't write these. They're posted here due to the kindness and generosity of a local homicide detective. Please come back.
Monday, June 16, 2008
What is romance?
What I'm reading: Body Language by Suzanne Brockmann
What I'm writing: Chapter 3 (was chapter 5) scene 2.
What I'm writing: Chapter 3 (was chapter 5) scene 2.
What do you think of as a 'romantic' moment? Flowers and chocolate on Valentine's Day? A glittery something on your birthday? Flowers delivered every Friday?
For me, romantic means thoughtful. Doing something unexpected. Sure, a guy's going to be in deep yogurt if he forgets Valentine's Day, but it's the action that says "I'm thinking of you all on my own" that trips my heartbeat.
Is a Swiss Army knife a romantic present? Some would say no, but the circumstances, not the gift, define the romance. Years ago, I watched MacGyver. Hubby could take it or leave it, and it definitely wasn't a 'let's sit down and watch this together' sort of a show. I was vaguely aware that he'd come into the room, but didn't even turn my attention from the set. When Mac got out his trusty knife, I mumbled, "Why don't I have one of those?" So when I unwrapped my birthday present and found my very own "mini-MacGyver" (hubby wasn't sure I was ready for the real MacGyver version), I was thrilled. Not for the knife, but for the fact that he actually heard me, even when I wasn't staring right at him, and making a specific request.
Sometimes the gifts can be glittery – such as the time when hubby and one of our daughters were out for dinner. Afterward, as we walked through the strip mall toward our car, I decided to look in the jewelry store. Hubby was definitely against it, but daughter and I pointed out things we liked while hubby grumbled. The next week was Valentine's Day, and daughter and I each received one of the, "that's nice" pieces.
Other things that say romance to me:
Hubby poking his head into my office where I'm busy typing away, and saying, "Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes."
Coming back from the Y and finding the bed made.
Hubby saying, "I'm making eggs, should I cook some for you?"
Note: leaving the dirty frying pan on the stove 'in case you wanted to have eggs' is NOT thoughtful and romantic.
If we have to ask, it's not romantic. If those Friday flowers are because you (or your secretary) has a standing order at the florist, it's not romantic. If, however, you bring home flowers for no reason other than, "You looked sad when you had to throw out the last ones," then that IS romantic.
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