I have always enjoyed reading romance novels, from my first
Georgette Heyer Regency romance to the latest contemporary romance. For me,
they were and are pure escapism which is why I now write romance. Romance
Writers of America defines it as ‘two basic elements comprise every romance novel:
a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.’
Over the years, many people I have met who discovered I am
an author have told me they could write a romance as “It’s only a basic formula,
after all.” And as one close friend, who should have known better, once said,
“Two people meet, fall in love, get married, have two children and a dog. The
end.” She had utterly ignored the times she had seen or heard me almost
pulling my hair out while trying to determine the nuances of building my
characters to make them not only unique but also plausible or deciding what
subplot would best create confusion and conflict in their burgeoning
relationship.
As with any genre, those subplots and conflict are necessary
parts of the storytelling process to keep your reader engaged, but in a romance
novel, the love story must be the main focus. Romance novels swing through a
whole arc from sweet to super hot and in many subgenres, from historical and
contemporary to fantasy, young adult, and paranormal, and more. At each end of the heat scale, they can swing from spiritual to sexy. Whatever the heat level, our romantic couple must
risk everything for each other before they get their happy-ever-after or
happy-for-now ending.
I love putting my very proper Regency heroines into
unexpected and sometimes dangerous situations. They are not simpering sampler stitchers
but real live flesh and blood up and at ‘em in your face type gals. As I have
often been told, my heroines are far too out of the box for a traditional
Regency romance, but those are the kinds of characters I like, so that’s what I
write and make no apologies for.
My heroes, the guys who often raise their eyebrows at the
shenanigans my gals become embroiled in, are, indeed, my heroes. No one is
perfect, but they are perfect enough in my eyes to take centre stage and
support, thwart, or otherwise involve themselves with these feisty, fearless
females. They are usually aristocratic lords, the epitome of the English ton,
who often have to step outside of their rigid social structure to deal with the
uppity females in their lives.
My research into the historical facts for the Regency years (strictly 1811 – 1820) is in-depth and solid enough to create my characters’ worlds and costumes realistically. Visiting museums is a must and I had fun with the bonnets at the Costume Museum in Bath, UK.
I was shocked when I discovered that novels set before 1950 are considered historical. My historical romances cover the years 1814 to 1818 (Regency), 1907 to 1918 (Edwardian), and 1935, the last being Book #1 in BWL Publishing Inc’s Canadian
Historical Brides Collection.
I am currently working on a cozy mystery series, but I have
no doubt that I will eventually return to where it all began and write romance
Victoria Chatham
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Lovely valentine to a much-maligned genre! I love the affirmation that love will conquer all that comes with every romance. Thank you for writing them.
ReplyDeleteStay true to your heart - always a win :)
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