Cyn

These questions were asked by Elisabeth Keatley early this morning

Q) What is the definition of a “Romance” book?

Q) Does there always have to be a”happy-ever-after”?

Q) What type of genre is the best for “Romance”………..

Chick-lit,
Sci-Fi
Horror
Fantasy
Historical
Contemporary
Shape-Shifter
Murder-Mysteries
Comedy
A Battle of the Sexes
Thriller………………….and does it matter?

First, I believe there is going to be a different answer for nearly every different writer out there

For me a romance novel is about the course of true love. Two individuals that find each other and discover happiness by being together. But we all know the course of true love never runs smooth, and few of us are with the person we first fell in love with. So, does a romance story have to have a happy ever after (hea) ending? N0. But, I believe it does need a happy for now ending at the very least.

Any genre can work for a romance. This really depends on the interest and skill of the writer. Currently, even though I’ve been asked, I can’t write comedy, so that sort of romance novel would not be one I’d atttempt. I’m much more adept and murder, mayhem and life/soul threatening situations. Maybe its my military background, maybe its because I enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy, maybe it was because I thought Basil Rathebone as Sherlock Holmes was about as cool as you could get when I was a teen. But comedy is out for me…right now.

No writer knows quite where they will be taken in the future. I won’t rule out comedy forever, because you know as soon as you say you will never do something you have to.

Recently, I've severed ties with one of my publishers, who from now on shall be called, "The Publisher that shall not be named".  This publisher misled and abused many of its authors by shoddy business practices, but more importantly withholding important information.  As information came to light, I realized how important it is to have a sense of honor.

In the past two years I've learned a lot about honor.  I've seen it in the sacrifices made by soldiers, by firemen, by police officers.  One such man is what prompted me to write in my blog today.

There is a police officer in my city who kindly answered several questions I had regarding the authenticity of a work I am considering for publication.  I told him in an email that I really don't like it when information is wrong.  He quickly, efficiently responded answering my questions and closing with a willingness to answer any more questions I may have.  He did so expecting nothing in return.

He knows I write, and I believe he knows I currently write erotica.  If he doesn' t he will as soon as he visits my web site.   And I'm pretty sure he'll be surprised that my most popular works aren't the science fiction, or even the romantic suspense that "The Publisher that shall not be named" recently let go.  Instead, he'll find the heroes I truly like to write about, the men that I put on the pedestal of my fiction pages are men who risk their lives, most particularly police officers.

Yesterday, the news was filled with video of a police officer beating a female bartender in Chicago.  There are always abberations to every chosen field, those who abuse and take advantage of those in their sphere of influence.  That man acted without honor.  Honor, to me is defending the weak, being truthful, keeping promises, doing what is right especially when others would do what is easy.

Which led me to think about what my acquaintance would think about what I write.  Would he consider it porn?  One friend I have calls my writing hot...what would you expect from a fireman though...but he doesn't consider it porn.  I think the biggest difference, and I know there are a lot, is that with my writing I do have a hero who has honor.  His or her life isn't solely focused on sex but my hero doesn't deny his sexuality either.  My characters are full-bodied individuals with lives that are multi-faceted.  They have real problems.  They create real solutions-some that work and some that don't.

But my heroes, in real life and in my fiction all have honor.  They tell it the way they see it.  They don't say, gee if you complain you'll get replaced.  They don't lie.  They don't mislead.  They don't say, gee you've never been rejected, its time you learned.  "The Publisher that shall not be named" has done all this and more under the guise of saying this is how the real world of publishing does it.  Pfft. 

It's time the real world of publishing learned some manners and how to treat people as intelligent human beings.  It's time "The Publisher that shall not be named" learned that in corporate America, treating employees the way they treated the authors recently let go would result in a huge lawsuit and send any sound human resources department running.  Maybe "The Publisher that shall not be named" needs to go work in the real world for a while before they determine that's how all businesses are run.

Sometimes, you do it all right, follow all the submission guidelines, take the classes, practice your craft and still nothing happens.  It happened to Robin.  She’d been writing for eight years, following the advice of those who’d gone before, and wasn’t getting anywhere.  Then, six years ago, she finally got “the call”.

During the intervening years she developed strategies to help her survive the wait, strategies that helped her continue to write and hone her story telling.  The first strategy she created was to define herself as a writer.  Make this definition a part of your core identity; come out of the closet with your writing.  This enables you to gain support from people who care about you.

Second, get goals.  Make these goals things that are in your control.  You can’t control who buys your book, but you can control how many pages/words you write.  Have easy, moderate, and difficult goals.  When you achieve an easy goal you can press toward another goal, eventually stretching.  Write them down.  The act of putting them in writing makes them more “real”.  Achieving a goal makes you feel good.

Third, eliminate the negative.  Check your physical state and environment.  Is your work station too neat, too messy?  Is the light right?  Are you in a good ergonomic position?  Do you work at a computer for your day job?  Can you change your screen to something that doesn’t resemble work?

How is your mental state?  What deters you from writing?  Bills?  Correspondence?  E-mail?  Are you procrastinating?  Why?  What are you doing instead?  If you really must play that game, set a timer and use it to either limit your activity or use it for a minimum writing time and then reward yourself with the game.

Rejections also impact our mental state.  It hurts and our inner self is like a child.  Allow yourself to deal with the rejection, then move on.  Some writers have rejection rituals where they write letters to the person who rejected them and then burn the negative energy in the sink.  Perhaps it isn’t you or your writing, but circumstances totally out of your control.  Rename your rejection letter to a “declination” letter.  It doesn’t sound as harsh.

Muzzle your inner critic.  Find out what s/he is yammering about by writing an affirmation ten times and being aware of the negative thoughts that surface.  Deal with this thought by determining what happened in your life that planted that negative seed and then create a positive affirmation that you repeat when the negative blurt makes its presence known.

Forth, accentuate the positive.  Save the good reviews, comments from critique partners and other complements you receive.  Free write and get your whining out of your head and onto paper.  Find affirmations, statements that encourage you.  A book like Walking on Alligators will help you find some.  Keep pretty things around you. 

Validate your best efforts remembering that you are growing in your abilities.  What you wrote five years ago won’t be as good as what you write in five years.  Rely on yourself for validation with statements like “I wrote the best book of my heart with the skills I had at the time.”  Don’t rely on others for validation.  Doing so is an addiction that never satisfies. 

Find some Never Quit cards. Practice your own unique writing ritual whether it be lighting candles, listening to music, stretching, taking cleansing breaths, moving to another room.  Practice your craft every day.  Find support from other writers in writing groups, critique groups, contests.  Write, write write.  The act of the work will get you through even when you are depressed and wondering if you’ll ever receive “the call”.

The bottom line?  Ask yourself some basic questions.  Are you happier when you write?  If someone gave you ten million dollars to never write a creative word again, and promised to exact a dire punishment on you should you break that promise…could you take the money?  If you knew you’d never be published (or published again) would you still write?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you Survive to Write and Write to Survive.