Writing Romance

As I said last week, romance novels weren't what I thought I'd write. But now that I've settled on this genre, I'm loving it. I get to hang out on-line with a lot of other terrific writers who share my interest. I will have my first novel published in June (I've mentioned that before, have I? Sorry.) I get to download a ton of cool stuff onto my iPad and count as research reading which would, under other circumstances, be my entertainment.

In the hundred or so novels I have on my magic machine I have found a wide range of books. Some of them are so-so, many of them fun and funny, all of them have something to teach me as I hone my skills.
But none of them prepared me for the reactions people have when I tell them what I'm writing.

The folks who look oddly at me and ask "Why would you want to write that?" are easy to deal with. I just tell them I'm following the first rule of writing--write what you know. That usually shuts them up. It also makes them look speculatively at my husband.

The next group is easier. They're the women who would never, even if water-boarded, confess to most people that they read romance novels. They're usually lawyers or accountants or something like that, women with serious day jobs who escape into the fiction of romance. They get it. I love talking to them about what I'm writing.

But perhaps the most fun I've had is discussing my romance writing with other writers. I've been involved in critique groups both formal and informal for more than 15 years. I've had long and detailed discussions about point of view, scene vs. summary, the beats in dialogue, how to describe a room without sounding like Architectural Digest. Only since I've been writing romance, however, have my conversations with other writers been funny.

There was the writer who read one of my first drafts of my first novel. She made the usual comments about the arc of the story and the development of the characters. But then she went off in another direction. "One thing, that scene in her hotel room. Have you been kissing my husband?"

I said no, other than the peck on the cheek when we'd come into their house, I had not. Was that what she meant? No," she said. "I mean KISSED my husband. The way you describe your character kissing is exactly like the way (my husband) kisses. I didn't think anyone else kissed like that."

"Well," I said. "Aren't you lucky?"

Then there was the writer/friend who had proofed a novel about to head off to my Crimson Romance editor. She was happy with most of it except for one question. "That thing you said he does with his tongue. I thought they did that with their teeth. But I'm not sure. I don't think I was really paying much attention when it happened to me."

I was at a loss for words.

Best, maybe, was a recent lunch with a friend who is a writer, a romance fan and a PR whiz. She works for a construction company. After I regaled her with my stories of writing, she said, "I've been working all day on the most boring writing imaginable--an application to renew our permits to put up steel structures. All I can say is, after this lunch, steel erection will have a whole different meaning."

Always glad to be of assistance to my friends.