At Seton Hill University, you can get an MFA in writing popular fiction. Nicole Peeler, who teaches in the program, thought she was headed for a conventional life as an English professor, armed with her PhD in English. But she began writing urban fantasy paranormal romances several years ago, and now teaches courses about dialogue and character, point of view, story structure, and worldbuilding to students who aim to be published in romance, mystery, sci-fi, horror, and fantasy (and various mixtures of these genres).
She says, “I’m very comfortable with the idea that genre fiction is storytelling, and I’m proud of the fact that I’m a storyteller. I consider myself doing a very different thing than a literary writer. Like I said, I love literature. I love what literature does in our society. It creates the ideas that trickle down. But I’ve discovered I’m able to lace ideas through my books. . . You reach so many more people with the carrot than you do the stick. And sometimes literature can be a stick.”
Nicole’s books straddle the worlds of sci-fi and romance, and she told me some funny stories about her interactions with writers and readers from the different genres.
What do you think are the differences between the cultures of romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery? What interactions have you had with readers and authors in the different genres? Do you have any stories like Nicole’s? Please share your stories below the cut! Read More
James Buchanan (a pseudonym) writes erotic male-male romance novels that are mostly read by women. She’s an attorney who loves being in court (and doesn’t want to be stuck behind a desk). She has a husband and two kids. And she’s also involved in the kink community.
When we spoke, I asked her about the phenomenon of male-male gay romance novels written by women, and she explained how her work (and the work of other male-male romance writers) fits into the larger romance community.
The Popular Romance Project is following several pairs of critique partners. One pair, Joanne Lockyer (from Queensland, Australia) and Elizabeth Essex (from Dallas, Texas), both got exciting news several weeks ago, when the Romance Writers of America announced the nominations for their annual awards. Joanne has just been nominated for the top award for unpublished authors, the Golden Heart®, and Elizabeth Essex has been nominated for the Oscar of the romance world, the RITA®. Congratulations to both authors!
Critique partners show their work to one another for feedback before it’s published, they share business advice, and they often become lifelong friends. Some critique partners live in the same town. Others collaborate from opposites sides of the globe. Joanne and Elizabeth told us how they manage the huge gap between Australia and Texas. They also explained how their complimentary strengths as writers make them good critique partners. They only meet face-to-face once a year, but it’s obvious how much they enjoy one another’s company!
Below the Cut: Joanne’s boyfriend Rob interviews her on her Golden Heart® nomination! Read More
When Dominique Raccah founded Sourcebooks in 1987 (with $17,000 from her 401(k) plan), the company initially published a few professional finance titles. Sourcebooks is now publishing five to ten single title romance novels per month (in addition to its popular gift books, college guides, nonfiction, poetry, calendars, and children’s books)—and it is the largest female owned trade book publisher in the U.S. The company has embraced digital publishing, and it is well known for its marketing strategies.
Dominique got into romance publishing when Sourcebooks published some Jane Austen sequels—and their sales took off, beyond all expectations. Dominique brought Deb Werksman on board to be the company’s acquiring editor for romance and women’s fiction. Dominique and Deb are passionate about their work, and they love talking about their favorite romance authors—from Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer to their own growing roster of romance authors.
In my interview with them, I asked, “What criteria do you use when you are looking for new romance authors?”
Read on for Dominique Raccah’s thoughts on digital publishing! Read More
When romance novel authors finally get a publishing contract, they have to meet deadlines that would kill most of us. Published authors typically write two, three, or four novels per year. If they are popular, their readers want to know, “When’s the next one coming out?” I honestly don’t know how they do it. Some get up at 3 or 4 a.m. to write. Others stay up late after their kids are in bed. The successful writers are all disciplined. And they have funny stories to tell about the places where they manage to write, tuning out everything around them.
Romance authors Celeste Bradley (who writes historical romances) and Susan Donovan (who writes contemporaries) are best of friends. They recently teamed up to write several books in which a contemporary plot is intertwined with a plot from the past. Susan writes the contemporary chapters of the story, and Celeste writes the segments that take place in the past. When asked about their deadlines and their working habits, they laugh. Working together was a challenge because Celeste is a night person and Susan is a morning person. “I keep frat boy hours,” Celeste said—and Susan quipped, “I keep nun hours.”
Bradley and Donovan on deadlines and places to write from Laurie Kahn on Vimeo.
Romance author Sherry Thomas aims to end her historical romances with “excellent new beginnings” rather than “happily ever afters.” Find out why. She talked with us about what makes a romance novel satisfying, and she described the types of heroes and heroines she likes to write.
Sherry Thomas ends with excellent new beginnings from Laurie Kahn on Vimeo.
Go below the cut to watch Sherry discuss culture shock and her early encounters with romance novels. Read More
Bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann began writing her very first novel in chemistry class in high school. She and her friend Denny are characters in that book—and so are Brockmann’s favorite Star Trek characters.
(Quite a few well-known, successful romance authors got their start writing fan fiction: Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, Meljean Brook, Marjorie M. Liu, Meg Cabot, and Jean Johnson, among them.)
Suzanne has now written more than fifty books, and she’s one of the leading voices in romantic suspense. She is probably best known for her ongoing series about Navy SEAL teams, the Troubleshooter Series.
Suzanne Brockmann talks about her very first novel from Laurie Kahn on Vimeo.
Read on for an additional interview clip on the reader-writer relationship. Read More
Best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz writes under three names, one for each of the three worlds she’s created: she’s Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense, Jayne Ann Krentz (her married name) for contemporary romantic suspense, and Jayne Castle (her birth name) for futuristic/paranormal romantic suspense. She believes that romance novels celebrate women’s heroic virtues and values, and that all genre fiction gets its power from ancient heroic archetypes.
When I interviewed Jayne, I asked her about genre fiction, archetypes, and romance. Watch, and tell us what you think!
Jayne Ann Krentz on romance and archetypes from Laurie Kahn on Vimeo.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is an extremely active website all about romance novels—with reviews; a book club; and discussions about romance novels, their authors, publishers, agents, cover artists and readers. Sarah Wendell, co-founder of the site, keeps her ear to the ground and knows what’s happening in the romance novel business. She’s outspoken and visible, and savvy about social media, sharing her thoughts via twitter multiple times per day.
When I interviewed Sarah she told me how the site came to be:
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Beverly Jenkins has written 30 novels and she is much beloved by her readers. Most of her romantic fiction is set in the 19th century, and some of her contemporary romances (she writes romantic suspense and faith-based romances) are about characters who are the descendants of her 19th-century characters. Her historical books all have bibliographies in the back—and it’s clear that her fans know their history. When they meet up in person or talk online, their conversations about Beverly’s books and about African American history are passionate and well informed. They share information about books and history, but they also talk about their kids, their husbands, their favorite sports teams (Beverly is a huge football fan), the milestones in their lives, and their everyday trials and triumphs.
I interviewed Beverly on a trip she took with her fans to Charleston, SC, and St. Helena Island, where events in her books took place before and during the Civil War.
I asked her, “What shapes your characters? How do you interpret history in the books you write?”
Beverly Jenkins talks about the power of history from Laurie Kahn on Vimeo.
Read on for two more videos. Read More
