I totally need to sit down and write a romance novel. Harlequin, the market leader, sells four books a second. Of all paperback fiction sold in the United States, 55% is categorized as romance. And the biggest romance-hogs spend $40 a month. I want some of that action. It can't be that difficult.
Or maybe it is. The vision of romanticized romance stuck in my head is the formal period piece. The characters are kinda stiff - ahem - and the whole thing is about as distant from real life as can be.
Then again, perhaps that is the point. Real, boring, tedious life is not romantic, so setting a work of escapist fiction in the suburbs doesn't fit the bill. Readers are probably looking for some idealized tale different from their own life, an experience with heightened emotions, lots at stake, and big decisions. That sounds like the same thought process that leads people to buy a gram of cocaine. But I'm a cynic.
Romance Part 1, Romance Part 2, Romance Part 4.
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