The first comment you get on any discussion of the romance genre is the idea of fantasy. Romantic fantasy, sexual fantasy, idealistic fantasy, etc…. But fantasy is such a broad, clichéd word, and I’m not sure that it gets to the heart of why romance.

I’ve been thinking a lot about thisbecause of something I had recently mentioned about reading for the emotional bond with the characters vs. reading for the fantasy. Ideally, I want both in the romance, the bond with the characters vs. the idea of an escape from the world, but I am more likely to bond with ordinary characters, rather than the large-than-life heroes and heroines that populate our pages. I think it’s why I tend to gravitate toward writing ordinary characters, because these are the people that I bond with most. Now, on most days, I read for the emotional bond, but sometimes, on those days when life is just killer, I do love to read something fluffy and non-bonding to get “swept away.” But am I truly reading to get “swept away” or am I doing what likari called “mental hygiene?”

Redrobinreader, mcvane, likari, and I were tweeting about the idea of the fantasy that drives romance, what readers are truly seeking when they read romance, changes over time and economic situations. I started thinking about the heroes in romance and their changes. In the 80s, we had the uber tycoons, the brooding dudes, the rugged adventurers who were very domineering. Johanna Lindsey, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, and Judith McNaught all blossomed here. In the 90s, we had Pat Gaffney, Lara Kinsale, and Mary Jo Putney. Very tortured, very flaws, lots of angst. In the 00s, we swung back to alphas, romantic suspense, paranormal reigned and we left some of the angst behind. Harlequin Presents, JR Ward, Julia Quinn.
But there’s a lot of splintering in that discussion. The era of the category, the rise of the paranormal, the days of the tear-jerker historical, etc, so maybe a change in the romance genre is not due to *people changes* or society changes, but simply a gravitation toward something new and different.

It’s very tempting to cookie-cutter romance readers and books and society, but I think it’s important to respect how diverse we truly are — in personal taste, in emotional need, in societal background, etc. As we were going back and forth on twitter (try and have interesting philosophical discussion on romance in 140 characters or less), I began to realize that we tend to cookie-cutter the reasoning behind romance as well as the drivers in our life-environment that keep us reading romance.

So, let’s talk about the whys, and recognize that it’s a fluid, dynamic thing. In your 20s, you might read romance for one thing on one day, and the next, it might be different. So what are some of the reasons we read romance?

Escape? I’ve always disliked that word, because it implies that I *need* to escape. Idealized world? Maybe. Idealized people (hero, heroine)? Eh. The thrill of heart-pounding excitement? Sexual or otherwise? Sometimes, yes. A loss of control? A desire to hand over the reins for a few hours to someone else?

Redrobinreader pointed out that romance is all about problem-solving to eventuate optimistic, satisfying conclusion, which I thought was really interesting. Reading and learning at the same time? A sort of relationship psychology? Or is it the inverse that’s true. Are romance readers better geared to handle relationships because they’re exposed to a wide variety of relationships and how those conflicts were resolved?

I tried to analyze my own drivers for reading romance, and I wasn’t sure that I could define it. I think a lot of it is my optimistic view on the world, and romance novels reinforce my viewpoint. I believe that love solves many problems and I think romantic love is one of the few things that can truly impact a person and can cause real change.

I apologize for rambling, but here’s the deal. I have a few questions in my survey, and I’m going to give away a bagful of books (some mine, some others) to one lucky commenter, because I’d love to get a lot of input on this one.

So, here are the questions:

1. Does your reading choice vary over time/mood/age? That is, has your reading habits changed and how?
2. Do you gravitate toward one specific sub-genre, or do you read in all romance sub-genres, or all fiction genres as well? Has this changed for you, and do you think it’s because of getting tired of something, or something seems more interesting, or is because your life-circumstances had altered?
3. Has your reading changed in the past year? What were you reading prior to this year and what are you reading now?
4. Do your likes and dislikes of heroes and heroines change, or do you think it’s remain constant? Alphas, yay, nay?
5. Any other comment you want to add on this very unorganized discussion.

I’m in the midst of getting a book ready for press, and I thought readers might be interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the other steps an author goes through — the steps beyond merely writing the book. (Although in full disclosure, writing the book is the hardest part).

About a month before the book is due, an author has to turn in an Art Fact Sheet (AFS), which is what the art department uses to make the cover. In addition, it’s what is used to sell the book to foreign markets. The author has to include a synopsis of the story, describe the hero and heroine, and describe a few key scenes.

One of my favorite parts of the AFS is character page. There’s a character theme listbox, and you have to decide what is the *one* word that describes my hero or heroine. Some of the choices are: Abducted, Academic, Aloof, Astute, Former Bad Boy, and my favorite, Murderer. I love browsing through the tags, because it’s actually a great way to get your brain working on the next story and you can see the hundreds of different character types that will show up in a Harlequin novel. Nationality/Ethnicity choice is another one that I chuckle over, and I can see some other author saying, “Well, he doesn’t fit into any of the boxes. He’s half New Zealander, half European.” And yes, now that’s one of the choices. There’s British/Cuban or another good one, Fictional Nationality – Very Italian. If that doesn’t work, there’s Welsh/Italian. I always want to seek out those books and read them, because Welsh/Italian sounds fascinating.
Under occupation, there’s the usual listing of romance hero and heroine occupations, but we also have “vampire”. That always cracks me up.
“What do you do?” “I’m a vampire.” “Oh. I wanted to study that in college, but my parents talked me out of it. How do you like it?” “Sometimes good. Sometimes not so good. Buffy did very well for the profession. We’re seeing more and more graduates studying the vampire field.” Okay, you get the point now. I’ll shut up.
After the AFS is put to bed, an author gets revisions to work on. Sometimes they’re tooth-pulling painful, and sometimes they’re easy. I’ve learned that if I do my really painful stuff up front before the book is turned into my editor, then revisions go much better. There’s always hard work in writing. As an author, you have to decide just where you want your pain. Up front or at the end.

At some point, your editor will ask for the Dear Reader letter and the dedication or acknowledgments. Those are pretty straight-forward. And the last part of the process if the AA’s. This is an author’s last chance to change the words. For the AA’s, I always sit down like I’m about to read a book (except I use a red pen to write all over it) and work through the story from beginning to end.

According to Amazon, my August Blaze is now shipping, and the cover on that one makes me smile. The heroine in the book is described thusly: “Her hair was dark, nearly black, and she had soft brown eyes, and a nose that was too big to be called pert.” The heroine on the cover has long, curly red hair, and okay, her nose is right, and the clothes were spot on. Now, don’t get me wrong. Since the hero has dark hair, as well, I’m thinking the art department got it right.

So what are your favorite sort of covers? Drop a comment, and to one lucky commenter, I’m giving away a copy of Hot Under Pressure, plus an extra surprise book that I brought back from RWA National.

I bet you guys didn’t know that today, June 24, is National Blaze Readers Appreciation Day, did you? It is, pre-ordained by… me, because honestly, I think all you Blaze buyers out there deserve your own special day where humble authors like me can bow and scrape and say, “Thanks to you, Blaze Readers. I owe you a big debt, and it’s not one I’ll forget.”

As Blaze romance buyers, you endure sanctimonious book-clerks, cover-ogling-smirks, the lurid “oh-youre-reading-romance that means you want to have sex with me” businessman leer, the well-meaning relatives who asks when you’re going to read a real book, and honestly, the list of slights goes on and on. Yet, in spite of such indignities, the Blaze reader is a loyal reader, a trusty soldier who brandishes her covers proudly, and dares the world to question her (his?) reading choice.

As an author, (and a fellow Blaze buyer), I get this, and thus is born, National Blaze Readers Appreciation Day, where I can tip my hat and say: “Thank you, Dear Reader. Because of you, my children have shoes.”

And because I’m not all bluff and circumstance today, feel free to share your favorite put-upon-reader story, or just say, Hello, and I’ve got a copy of Hot Under Pressure (August 2009) Blaze to give away to a random commenter. And if you want a sneak peak at Hot Under Pressure, take a look here:

On television, they’ve had several shows that feature mystery authors (Castle, Murder She Wrote, and probably more that I’m more can’t remember), one that featured a horror author (Stark Raving Mad), , but they have never, ever had a comedy show that featured a romance author. Yeah, yeah, we had Romancing the Stone, but that was a movie, and honestly, it had nothing to do with the life of a romance author.
The truth is, the life of a romance author is must-see entertainment at it’s finest.
First of all, there’s the actual writing process. Now, I’m sure that every type of author has a process, but in romance, it’s different. Let’s say, you know, because we’re Blaze authors, you have to write a love scene. But you’re running on three hours of sleep, the kids are in the other room watching Drake and Josh, and you’re trying to create something that’s sultry and steamy, and full of hot, passion that is smoldering from your hero and heroine’s every look and touch. But then, “Mom! I can’t find my cup!” “What cup?” I ask, leaving my hero and heroine in mid-embrace, their lips a whisper apart. “My cup, you know, the Jewel Protector.” I stare at my son, trying to remember where I last saw the athletic supporter, and when I sit back down to resume typing, my hero and heroine are in such deep trouble, that it is no surprise that if I as an author can create passion from the dregs of domesticity and motherhood, then I am Blaze-Author, hear me roar.
And then, there’s the plotting sessions. I’m lucky to have friends who I call at three in the afternoon, sometimes three in the morning (they’re *really* good friends) and I have to explain that my heroine’s problems aren’t enough.
“What kind of problems?” asked JK, “Hold on. I’ll have a large venti, non-fat. Sweetie, what do you want?”
“Are you talking to me?”
“No. My daughter. Hold on. OK, what kind of problems?”
“Sexual problems. I don’t think it’s enough. I don’t think a bad boyfriend will do it.”
“What if they had a bad-breakup, or what if he dumped her at the prom, or what if he told her that she sucked in bed? Give me a second. Here’s a five. Oh, and can I have an extra cup?”
“It’s too cliché.”
“Probably. Sweetie, take the juice. Maybe it’s the hero? Maybe he has problems. Maybe he slept with his step-mother to make his father mad, and she was all slutty, and he has problems with an aggressive female.”
I think for a minute. “I could work with that. “
The list goes on, the research, the scouring the Cosmo, the perusing the latest in sexual adventures, the asking of the husband, “Can you put your hand there? Your leg, over there? Do you think….? Nah. This just isn’t right….”
When you write romance, you have to LOVE what you’re doing, because it is not easy to pull the cupid’s-wings out of everyday life. It’s not easy finding magic when there is none, and you’re being pulled in eighty directions. No, it’s not easy. But somehow, as authors, as wives, as girlfriends, as women, we’re expected to do it all the time. Creating love, magic, peace, where there should be none.
Must-see entertainment. Def.
If you have a fav romance out of nothing story, feel free to share, and uh, if it ends up in a book, I swear, I *swear* I didn’t mean to. ☺

Okay, that’s not exactly correct, but as a writer, I’m prone to dramatize/exaggerate/ romanticize, so sue me. Anyway, I was watching American Idol this week, and pondering what to write about, and I realized that many of the same things that fascinate me about American Idol are the same things that I use when writing for Blaze.

First of all, I love, love, love when the ordinary becomes the extraordinary. Has everybody seen the Susan Boyle video? If you haven’t, because you’ve been, like, marooned on some uninhabited island without the net, twitter, human contact, or even that stray message in a bottle that washed up on the deserted beach (“Tears were streaming down my cheeks! Tears!!!”) , check it out here

Now, back to American Idol. Do you remember when Anoop Desai first came on? Gah! The sand-colored checked shirt, the preppy khakis, the beachcomber sandals, all paired with those bear-pelt eyebrows???

And then he opened his mouth and sang, and it was… cool. As the weeks went on, he became a little more sure of himself, his stage presence went from zero to hero, and he truly started hitting all the notes, not just the important ones. This past Wednesday, I did NOT want him to go home (not that I wanted Allison, either, but hey, if Danny got a surprise ouster, I wouldn’t be nearly that heartbroken).

His version of Everything You Do is Here

I love watching the ordinary grow to extraordinary. It’s the ultimate hero’s journey, and you see it so often in the Blaze line. Yeah, the heroes and the heroines are fabulous, but in the beginning, they’re usually not tycoons or royalty. They’re very much ordinary people that you want to hang with. Now, I know that the seven-foot super-uber-hero with muscles erupting from his leather motorcycle jacket is very ragey in romance, but when I read those those books (and I do), I replace the hero with my own guy who usually tops around six foot, isn’t quite so Incredible Hulkish, would never, ever be caught in leather pants. Best of all, he always has that look in his eyes: What the hell am I doing in a romance novel?? I confess. I melt.

The second American Idol lesson is tension. Ryan Seacrest, come on, you know how to milk it…. Sixty minutes of waiting on the edge of your seat. Who’s going off this week? America has voted, and it’s time for the moment of truth, one of these contestants is going to end the journey tonight, and the name is on this card, and it’s… it’s……. coming up right after the commercial break. I spring up from my chair, shouting at the TV: RYAN!! I HATE YOU!!!

Now, that is this some awesome suspense. You’ve waited a long time for this, sitting on the edge of your seat , heart pounding, and oh, please, don’t let it be – insert name of favorite Idol contestant here.

This is what Blaze does so well. Twenty-hundred and forty-pages, waiting for the payoff. And no, a little sleight of hand there, it’s not the sex. Pardon my pun, but in Blaze, that cherry has long been popped. The payoff is The Moment. That exquisite “Oh, YES!” when everything comes down to two people finally realizing that they’re everything for each other. Another huge sigh.

The last lesson, and it’s probably the biggie. Heartbreak, and how to handle it. On the elimination show, there’s always heartbreak, one hour of tension, palm-sweating waiting. Your heart is aching for the elimination-seat-sitters who have ginormous, foreboding eyes that know heartbreak is just on the other side of the break. As a viewer, you have to sit there along with them, knowing what’s coming, watching their heartbreak. Sometimes, there are tears, sometimes, it’s quiet courage, and sometimes you have to watch someone being emotionally gutted, all in front of twenty-four million television viewers.

I don’t exactly know why heartbreak fascinates us, but it does. Whether it’s “Oh, God, I’m glad that’s not me,” or some buried piece of human empathy that sits inside our psyche, I don’t know, but there’s something, and it never fails to draw my eyes and touch my heart.

I love American Idol. Every year, I say, not this season, I’m not watching. I’m too busy, and did you hear the record that – insert name of hated American Idol winner here—released. Crap! Unadulterated crap! And once the auditions are over (I truly don’t watch the auditions. It’s too painful), and the real journey begins, that’s when I’m hooked. So, American Idol fans here? Predictions? Biggest surprise? Biggest disappointment?