Not after my heart was broken from too many boys with winning smiles and dangerous glints in their eyes. Not after my best friend married at age 18 and then divorced a year later. Not even after I experienced rape first hand.
Nothing would shake my belief that HEA is real.
When I met my husband, he proved it to me. My white knight who drove a hard core Mustang. It was love at first sight.
My Fairy Tale come true.
But we all know life gets in the way of love. And that's why we dive into the romance novels. Not for the hard core body action, not for the sighs of delights, the handsome Scots in their kilts, the Tall Dark & Handsome stranger who rescues the damsel in distress. Nope. We read it because of the ups and downs our heroines go through, the conflicts, the stupid choices made throughout the story.
Don't get me wrong. All that other stuff is CRUCIAL to enjoying the story! We need the naked bodies, the titillating heart throbs, the love at first sight. But deep down, I think we like to read a story when someone else's life is WORSE than ours. When the choices THEY make end up making our choices look 'not so bad after all'.
We lose ourselves in these stories because they take us away from our lives. They give us our fairytale when we feel like Cinderella before the ball.
That's my thought at least. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Why do you read romance novels?
Better yet - why do you write them?
Better yet - why do you write them?
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7 comments:
I agree...romance is definitely an escape, but for me, it's also a reminder of what life was like in the beginning...the tingles, the butterflies, the hating to say goodnight, wishing you could spend more and more time with him.
It's no secret, after you've been married for a while, and have kids, and jobs, and responsibilities, alone time is extremely limited...the spontaneity is rare... Romance novels take me back to a time when all that didn't exist...it was just me and hubby and nothing else.
I write romance because of the emotion...the first tingles of attraction, those butterflies that soar throughout our bodies, the ache of needing to be with that person almost more than breathing.
I read them for escape. I write them for pleasure. I like reading romance with humor and fun, but I prefer writing drama (and a lot of sex). It's all good. ;)
I don't really read many romances. At least not as many as some individuals. My favorite YA novels all have romance in them.
I write edgy YA, and I like to have romance in them to allow my mc those lighter moments in which she can think about something else other than the major issue at hand. Plus, I love writing those steamy makeout scenes. ;)
I like to write and read romances because of the infinite possibilities that they represent. It's an escape from real life where sometimes there is no HEA. There might only be a happily right now. I think there is no better genre!
Reading and writing is an escape for most people, amongst other things too. We feel a sense of comfort when the hero and heroine do something imperfect because it makes us feel better about our own choices. We read what the hero goes through so we never have to endure her journey.
Stephanie - good point. The butterflies, the tingles ... they're important to.
Amelia - I like your reasoning :)
Stina - let's face it - steamy makeout scenes are the best. No matter what genre ;)
Marie - there IS no better genre! Well said!
McKenzie - I love the escape aspect!
Totally agree. Where's the LIKE button? I love watching an envovled up-and-down story, but not actually getting into the middle of one in real life. I love how things could look so impossible one minute, yet they still turn out all right at the end. I just love how love conquers all in romance stories.
Why I write romance? Well, for all the above of course, plus I always have characters sprouting in my head with all these problems that need fixed, so for me, it's really just easier to write down their stories so I can get them out of my head for new characters to make room up there.
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