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There are a number of authors who, for one reason or another, refuse to be acknowledged as romance writers. So, despite the fact that all of his/her books may focus around a main romance and fit all the "requirements" of a romance novel, they claim to just be "fiction."
Two authors jump out at me right now when thinking about this: Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks.
To me, the former is easily a romance writer, although many people argue that she is not. I don't see how the arguments have much merit though, to be honest. Every book I've read of hers (which is A LOT) follows a romance formula and has a HEA every time! Don't get me wrong, I love DS, despite her predictability, but don't tell me she's not romance! (Or if you're going to, explain to me WHY in a way that makes sense LOL!).
Nick Sparks toes the line a little more though. The majority of his books seem to focus on a central romance as well, and they certainly are "romantic" in tone and style. The occasional lack of a HEA is the only thing that really pushes me away from calling him romance. But I'm still unsure.
What do you think? Romance or not? Why or why not? Any other authors that come to mind that you believe are romance but aren't acknowledged as such?
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Joined: 3/3/2011
Posts: 9
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Danielle Steel, definitely. Nicholas Sparks? Don't get me started. Not romance. He had me so hooked on Message in a Bottle; I was reading it on a trip to Cabo and couldn't put it down. Until the hero did something so TSTL I couldn't BELIEVE HE WAS ACTUALLY DOING IT, and had to keep reading because, SURELY he wouldn't be so TSTL to do THAT... and yes, he was, and, yes, it didn't end well, and it was just so TSTL that I threw the book in the hotel pool. Shocked the heck out of everyone who was on
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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 2
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Same here with Sparks. His description of Noah in The Notebook made me think he was looking in a mirror, describing himself the way he saw himself. Clearly the man has a Charlie-Sheen-style healthy ego. So not my kind of read. And without a HEA (which, I believe, RWA mandates for romance fiction entry in the Golden Heart contest), how can it be romance? John Grisham has more romance in his books than Sparks.
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Joined: 2/26/2011
Posts: 13
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I don't think they're genre romance writers? But I think they profit from the audience, which makes it singularly bizarre that they choose to snub them. But if they were any sort of genre, I'd guess that they were women's fiction, which feels less 'genre' ish to me than the rest of romance? It's hard to say, but I feel like most romance follows a specific formula (that I happen to really like) and I feel like DS and Sparks have their own formula, but it doesn't match the standard romance formula
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LOL! You guys all have me cracking up over here! Excellent points! I'm actually reading SAFE HAVEN by Nicolas Sparks right now and I'm pretty unimpressed. THE NOTEBOOK I'll admit I adored, in addition to its sequel THE WEDDING, but this one is rough. Definitely not the same caliber!
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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 15
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I haven't read either of them (ahh long stories), but James Patterson also walks a fine line in my opinion. The man is versatile as all get, but he has a few 'contemporary fiction' that is definitely more 'romance' then 'ordinary' fiction.
On the one hand I can understand why the male authors may be wary to be labeled 'romance writers', since there still seems to be some sort of 'oh ROMANCE you mean those books women read for the sex?' reaction and that's not exactly what a guy wants to be k
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Joined: 3/3/2011
Posts: 15
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I just get bent out of shape by any writer (or reader) who thinks that being linked to a particular genre is derogatory. And that includes such eminent publications as The New York Times, thank you very much. My two published books have been Regency romances. Library Journal reviewed the first one, and they were reasonably kind, but they end with the comment 'amusing, for fans of the genre.' I supposed that sort of comment is supposed to mean that some books are so groundbreaking that they break
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Joined: 3/3/2011
Posts: 15
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Huh. My verb tenses got a little mixed up in that last post. That is not a problem I usually have. Sorry about that. I must have been being unusually passionate.
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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 18
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Yasmine has a good point. I've read a few Steel books, but never Sparks. So, let me ask this - Take two specific books as examples: 1.) A Woman Of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford (a fav of mine and probably the novel that hooked me); and, 2.) The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Both books have romantic threads throughout and neither really has a HEA - although in both cases the main female characters could probably be counted to have had 'successful' lives. Both struggled through various
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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 15
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heh yeah a couple of your books have caused heated meltdowns in the college bookclub I was part of Yasmine.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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There is a difference between a Romance novel and a novel with romance in it. But more than that -- there's the matter of giving the reader what they expect. Sparks is known for his non-HEA endings so a reader doesn't feel let down when a book doesn't end happily. Danielle Steele is her own brand at this point. The Thorn Birds. Sigh. Very sad and romantic, but I think it would fall more into the category of women's fiction. Women's fiction doesn't have to have an HEA. But if a book is sold as a Romance novel, readers will generally expect an HEA. In fact, many publishers require HEA for novels that fit within their specific Romance categories.
Am I a Romance writer? Sure, when I want to be. Just had a new one release recently. it has the "traditional" elements, the innocent blond virgin. He's an archeology student. The dark dangerous hero. He's a Mayan were-jaguar. Conflict, danger. And an HEA with true love.
Can I write other genres? Sure. I love writing mysteries. The clues. The puzzle aspect. It's tons of fun. Fantasy - love to write it. Can never finish it.
No genre is better or worse than another genre. If you want to write a romance novel, give it everything you've got. The same with any other genre you want to tackle. If you respect the genre and the readers, then it doesn't matter what writers outside the genre think.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 226
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Hi everyone! I'm a romance reader and writer through and through. I love it. I can't get enough of it. And I shout it from the rooftops, often. I have to admit, there are a few covers that I hide when I'm reading in public, but for the most part, I don't care what other people think. (Caveat: I had to explain to my 4-year-old daughter that one man was "just smelling the woman's perfume" one a particular cover with a heated embrace. That was a tad awkward).
I'm sad that romance is a genre that gets a bad reputation from the general public, and I refer those people to smartbitchestrashybooks.com for a romance education. *grin*
I saw the interview with Danielle Steele regarding her not identifying with romance and I was upset at first, but then realized that she might be right. She's not like the romance I read, and I don't have the patience for most of her books. There are very few saga-like books I like, where a heroine has several loves. I prefer the books with one hero, one heroine, true love everlasting, and all that stuff. It's my fantasy, right?
I do read other genres, but romance is by far my favorite.
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 214
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Sparks and Steele write love stories not unlike the 70s book/film “Love Story” (forget the author’s name). These novels have a certain cinematic appeal; whenever I pick up one of these authors’ books, it practically has MADE FOR FILM/LIFETIME written into the plot. And they always have a few tear jerks in there somewhere. They’re formula, but they’re a different formula than what I typically associate with romance novels. I don’t know if I’m making myself very clear here (am I?).
As for being reticent to admit to writing romance, to quote physicist Richard Feynman’s wife, “What do you care what other people think?” Some of the gals in my RWA chapter are stunning people. They love what they do. They love giving readers a happy ending. What’s so terribly wrong with that? ☺
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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Honestly I wouldn't call myself a 'Romance Author', but it's because not everything I write is a Romance / has an HEA. I don't want to disappoint readers when they pick up a book and find it's mostly people getting shot and beat up, or people fighting against evil gods, or... well... stuff that isn't focused on the relationship of the main characters.
Now, I *have* written romances. Or at least things I thought were romances. I've been told they're not as often as I've been told they are. But if someone were to tell me 'Hey, I read Fae Eye for the Golem Guy, it's a Romance, you're a Romance Author", I'd be flattered, not upset.
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Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 4
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I am in an interesting predicament. I do not like romance novels. Still, I started writing an adventure novel and when I was half way completed I did not see how I was going to make the project novel length. I also did not have good character development.
To add motives to my characters I posited a love triangle in the hero's office, and involving the hero. The hero, the head of the company goes off on his action adventure, and falls in love. He then comes back with his new girl friend, and they tour Manhattan. My action adventure novel is suddenly a romance novel.
Now I am working on A Sappy Piece of Crap. The heroin makes Amish fine furniture, and makes her own varnish, from tree sap. She also lives in a wigwam, so everyone calls her a sappy piece of crap. Guess what. Romance novel number two, and I don't even like romance novels. How can this be?
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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@Charlie - Four notes;
- One, if what you write has romantic elements, but isn't focused exclusively on the romance, a lot of readers won't classify it as "Romance", even if you hit all the points in the Romance guidelines. It qualifies as 'having romantic elements'. So you're not (technically) a Romance writer if you're not (technically) writing romance.
- Two, is that *really* the title of your novel? Even the working title? I mean, seriously.
- Three, do YOU like reading what you've written? If you do, Stop Worrying About Classification. Write something that is fun to read, and eventually people will say 'oh, my god, this is fun to read, let's read it!". They won't care if it's Romance, or Erotica, or Adventure, although some of them may lump it in with their 'chosen' genre, even if they have to use a shoehorn and twelve pounds of plastique to make it fit.
- Four, You might want to watch how down you get on Romance novels. If what you write has heavy romantic elements, a lot of your readership may wind up coming from the Romance genre. They *are* the big dog in genre fiction. While readers won't care if you think you write Action, or Thrillers, or Self Help Books disguised as Fiction, they *will* care if you think everything else they read sucks, and by extension you imply that they do too.
Honestly? A lot of Romance novels annoy me, too. I wind up screaming at the characters and putting the book down. But a lot of them entertain me, and that's all I can reasonably ask of a book. As I noted earlier, if a fan told me they liked my work because it was a Romance, I'm taking the compliment and running with it.
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Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 4
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One, It ended up focusing upon the romance, Two, The second novel really is "Sappy Piece of Crap." I looked at one of the wife's romantic novels and called it that, then realized I could use that as a hook. The wife thinks it refers to the heroin, the husband that it refers to the book. Three, if I can't read it and love it, I don't write it. That is my first test for readability, and marketability.
Four, I can watch romance on the big screen sometimes. As part of writing "Sappy Piece of Crap," and telling friends about it, someone said, "Sounds like Tammy out of Time," or Tammy and the Bachelor. watched the movie and liked it.
The idea behind the plot is to make fun of those who hate romance novels. The idea for the title is a tongue and cheek spin on it name. The idea is to get people to laugh at the title, maybe pick up the book, and then read the back cover. Hope the back cover is really, really good to make the sale and hope the novel sells itself.
One other thing, Thanks for the input.
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