Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Confessions of a Non-Romance Writer - I Write Romance

I've never thought of myself as a romance writer.

I always thought romances had to involve throbbing manhoods and surrendering valleys. Fabio would grace the cover, and the unnamed female model would have some cloth draped just over her unmentionables.

Though, I guess Nicolas Sparks writes romance. The smultzy epic love story counts as a romance. Two people over space and time, and despite all odds find one another - and more importantly, stay together! It's not the pulp paperback section of the secondhand book store (or maybe it's right next to it!), but it counts. Totally.

I thought science-fiction and fantasy were isolated from this sappy genre.

I'm an idiot.

Now that I'm writing Book 3, Lilith and Ammon, I have come to terms with the fact that I write romance. I don't write erotica. I don't write about pulsing rods and rhythmic rocking, but my characters do get it on. It's a part of adult life and relationship health that I couldn't possibly ignore. However that's not the only interpersonal thing I write about. There are transformations that take place, not only with individuals, but within relationships and families. And there are some big love themes (not to be confused with the primetime show).

Lilith and Ammon is an epic love story. It spans centuries. The Khloe Alwell series is a conclusion (and the beginning) of that epic story. Yes, there are environmental and war themes that are important, but everything comes back to the choices this one couple makes. So it's a fantasy. It's a romance. It's an adventure.

I'm not a romance writer, except, I am.

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