The cover of my first book, Chocolate Kisses, appears on the front of Romantic Times’ January issue. It’s just a small corner, but I’d only seen it on the computer, so while I was at the bookstore the other evening, it really caught my eye. Grabbing the magazine, I ran my fingertips lovingly over the image.
I must have sighed or giggled, maybe even hugged it. Kissing it wouldn’t have been entirely out of the question. Whatever I did, it captured the attention of another woman browsing the nearby romance section, and she inquired over my reaction.
“It’s my cover,” I explained, showing the luscious lips and delectable chocolate heart.
A white woman, in her early 60’s, I’d guess, had a stack of romances cradled in her arms, but couldn’t help the furrow of her brow when she looked at the cover. “I haven’t read that type of romance. What’s it about?” she asked.
I went on to tell her a little synopsis of the book–An African American erotic tale of friends who love each other but fear risking their relationship by giving into their attraction.
She smiled. “So, it’s a regular romance, but their skin is brown?”
A regular romance? Hmm?
My defenses prickled. Regular?
Had there been a drop of racism in her tone, I’d have called her on it. But her question was asked with genuine interest. I wasn’t about to school her on the Civil Rights Movement for two reasons. First, she was twice my age and old enough to have been around then. I wasn’t. Secondly, answering what regular was would be different for everyone. It did, however, lead me to other questions.
Does color matter?
Is the difference between white contemporary romance and black merely the color of the skin on the characters?
Being from Northern California, brought up in middle class neighborhoods where liberals flourish and racism is minimal, my normal–regular–is going to be different than a woman who lives in an urban setting. Far different from the South.
But regardless of environment, I strongly believe you can’t slap some brown-sugar skin on any character and call them black.
The difference isn’t a skin shade one. It’s a culture thing. It’s deep. Rooted. Integral to how the hero and heroine will relate to one another. How they deal with life issues. Fears. Trust.
So fundamental, in fact, it effects how they love. I’m not talking the sexual act here(that’s a separate discussion), but the expression. The emotion. How the character’s love arcs grow and change.
My answer was twofold. Yes. There is something unique about (most) black romance. If you’re any shade but one considered black, then a black romance isn’t a regular one just with darker skin. It’d be culturally different.
But telling that to this nice, polite lady wouldn’t convince her to give a black romance a try. And I wanted her to, which leads to the second part of the answer.
No. Skin color doesn’t matter. At least, it shouldn’t.
Glancing quickly at her stack of books, I noticed the majority were historical. She’d given me fuel to back up my argument.
“Why haven’t you read an African American romance before?”
It didn’t take her long to reply. “Because I don’t think I could relate to the characters.” The response I’d hoped she’d give.
“But you can relate to dancing at a ball or marrying a duke?” I asked her.
Smart lady. She knew where she’d been led. Shifting her books to make room for more, she smiled at me and said, “Who do you recommend?” I spent the next hour showing her. She bought three.
Skin matters. Like the cover of a book (not all–an art department thing) skin hints at the substance within. True enough, the cultural differences are there. But well written love stories are well written love stories. Period.
If you’ve ever passed up reading a black book because you thought it’d be a story/characters you couldn’t relate to, I implore you to give one a try. While the variances in cultural remain, there’s a sisterhood that binds us. Not one of skin, but of gender. Across America and around the world, women share dreams of health, wealth, and happiness for their families.
And desire romance, love, tenderness, passion, commitment, loyalty, devotion…a man to sweep them off their feet.
Isn’t it well past time that differences are celebrated and common ground is found within the pages of a romance?
Related posts:
I posted on my blog… for white people who have considered homicide when the rainbow (racism talk) is enuf if y’all need an intervention.
But given the huge variety of the black people and the black experience here in the US alone–I think the main commonality of our culture in addition to our southern roots, is simply being black and the perceptions and expections that we have to deal with because of it.
As I commented on Emma Gad’s blog, NOTHING affects the writing career of a romance writer or the market that reads a writer than being black or being Not Black. Nothing!
Being (or pretending you’re) Not Black is the largest single element in the romance genre needed to participate in it fully. Way more than talent, hard work, or luck.
There’s plenty of articles on every facet of succeeding in the romance genre except the profound importance of being Not Black in reaching the majority of romance readers.
People quickly tire of words expended on this particular topic. Until that changes, nothing will.
I agree, Monica, that we’re a long way off from having wide-spread cross-over readers, no matter what words are said. We have work to do, and the method I’m trying is educating ‘em one at a time. Give ‘em something good to read, regardless of genre, and fight the battle with wisdom rather than brawn. I have no doubt this white woman from the book store will buy my book when released, and with talent (I hope) I’ll keep her buying more.
I disagree, however, that one must be Not Black to succeed. I’ll never accept this. Kayla, Donna, you, Brenda, Sandra….I could go on and on, but the path to success has been begun and they’re footsteps I aspire to follow.
Oh, we can succeed, but not in romance. If a black writer stays in the romance genre, because of the profound racial divide (black and Not Black), no matter how much hard work, talent or luck a black romance writer has, their success can’t compare with what it would be if they were Not Black.
That’s the cultural commonality we enjoy, not any difference in ways we pursue romance, sex and courtship.
I’m probably going to get blasted for this, but I’m going to say something that’s probably on a lot of white readers’ minds.
When someone asks me why I don’t read black romance…the answer has nothing to do with culture. It’s because when I read a romance I read it for the hero. I have to fall in love with the hero. I have to be attracted to the hero. I’ve said it before: Romance, for me, is ALL ABOUT THE HERO.
I don’t read black romance FOR THE ROMANCE because in general, I’m not attracted to black men.
I’m also not attracted to blonde white men, so if I see a cover with a blonde guy, I tend to skip over it.
Am I shallow? Maybe when it comes to reading, because in real life, I’ve dated blond white men, and I’ve dated black men. Why? Because I gave their personalities a chance.
Have I NEVER read a black romance? Yes, I have. Because like a lot of people, I like to give books a chance beyond the covers. I’ve got two AA romances right now, and I read them because I wanted to read a good book–and I’d heard they were good. But I didn’t pick them up because I wanted romance at the time.
Does any of this make sense?
I have a feeling I’m going to need to explain myself a bit…
Oh, and I forgot to add that I DID fall in love with the heroes in the AA romances by the end!
I can empathize with you. I’m not attracted to blond, pinky men either and I wouldn’t see out any romances with a pinky man either!
BUT I saw this old movie with Val Kilmer and he was ragin’ pinky and blond and HOT as heck too.
Who knew?
Not reading as much romance as I used to means I also don’t read a lot of AA romances — though I’m reading Leslie Esdaile’s Sister Got Game at the moment and enjoying it very much — but I LOVE Barbara Hambly’s Benjamin January books.
It’s a mystery series set in 1830s New Orleans and while not romance, the books have lots of romantic elements.
The hero, Ben, is a 40-something free man of color who has returned to New Orleans after years of living in Paris — and back in New Orleans he keeps finding himself in the middle of dangerous situations.
Ben’s status as a free man in a slave state, and his interactions with the many different types of people in his world, is very well done.
If you like books with lots of wonderful characters (black, white, lotsa shades between), rich detail, and a fascinating setting, you might give this series a try.
In all honesty, I’m not 100% sure why I’ve never really read books with black characters. I’m looking forward to reading Made of Honor by Mary Griffith. I’ve seen excerpts of it on Snarkling Clean’s blog and it looks great.
I think what I care about more than anything is if the story is good. If the story stinks, I’m not going to read it. It doesn’t matter what the color of the characters skin is.
Great column, Renee! I’ve put Chocolate Kisses on my wish list.
Michele, thanks for the suggestion. I just ordered the first book in the Benjamin January series. It sounds fascinating.
I’m such a snob–I’m attracted to the hero no matter the author if he’s intelligent, if he can express himself well, if he behaves and talks like he has a brain and knows how to use it, and if he “does it” for me as a reader with the way he treats and loves the heroine.
One of my favorite anthologies is “Livin’ Large”, and I’m always rereading it just for the interactions between the characters. One day a woman next to me in line at a business function saw my book and asked me why a white woman was so engrossed with it. I told her that it doesn’t matter if it’s chocolate, vanilla, caramel, or cinnamon–if it’s delicious, I’m there.
There are distinctions within the tastes, too – for instance, I prefer Cafe-Tasse over El Rey or Author A over Author B, but the point is that my palate deserves to know the differences…not all coffee, chocolate, men, or books are equal. Not all readers are connoisseurs–which is their loss.
Or maybe I’m a different kind of snob – lol – I just like ‘em all to be rich in one form or another.
Good blog, girl.
The reason I don’t read AA romances is because I don’t read contemporary romances, only historicals, and AA historical romances are not exactly thick on the ground. I have read a few years ago (I remember a very exciting and tender interracial romance between a white woman and a black trooper that took place on an army post in the late 1800s). On my commuter bus most of the AA women are reading AA romances and the white women are reading romances with white characters. I read Terri McMillian’s books, but they are women’s novel, not romances. If there were more historical romances with AA characters, I would read them.
This question is for Larissa: If you don’t read AA romances because the hero is black and you’re not necessarily attracted to black men, have you ever read any IR romances where the heroine is black but the hero is non-black?
I’m curious about certain dealbreakers with particular books, especially IR romances (which I write). Given the overwhelming popularity of Suzanne Brockmann’s IR couple Alyssa/Sam, the market doesn’t seem to be adverse to this type of pairing.
But then again, is any pairing more “acceptable” when written by a white author, as Brockmann has also featured a BM/BF romance (although I don’t know how well this went over with her readers)?
I know what you mean, Monica–there are certain men who do nothing for me…until I see a particular movie that just does it for me. I didn’t think Vin Diesel was attractive AT ALL, until I saw The Pacifier, and for some reason, his character really did it for me. And I’m definitely not a Johnny Depp fan, but he’s so damned sexy in Pirates of the Caribbean that I drool!
Sharon, I’ve never read an IR romance where only the heroine is black, but that’s only because I haven’t seen one (I haven’t bought romances in forever because I had a huge TBR pile, so I’ve really been out of the loop.)
But I’d definitely read one, and now that I know Suz has one out, I’ll absolutely buy it. She writes a yummy hero–always–even if they are balding or short or whatever.
But yes, I would read IR romances where the heroine is black and the hero is white. In fact, I’m looking forward to it!
If you don’t read AA romances because the hero is black and you’re not necessarily attracted to black men, have you ever read any IR romances where the heroine is black but the hero is non-black?
In the “Dangerous Men, Adventurous Women” book of essays edited by Jayne Ann Krentz, there is one on placeholders by Laura Kinsale, and how some readers see themselves in the roles of heroes, others in the roles of heroines. I know that’s a very simplistic synopsis for an essay that is particularly brilliant, but I take Larissa’s comment in that vein. She may not consider herself the heroine, but she wants to fall in love with the hero. I think her preference has more to do with how she reads books than does the color of any characters or even the author.
Sunny Lyn, have you also read A Whole Lotta Love and Big Girls Don’t Cry? They’re more or less sequel anthologies to Living Large, and have excellent stories. They’ve come out 3 Januaries in a row–I’m hoping there’ll be another one next month.
I totally agree with your comment to the woman in the bookstore, Renee–yes, AA or other non-white romances do portray a different culture, and it’s not the same as having a blonde heroine versus a brunette. But so do historical romances, or paranormal romances, at least the good ones.
I just wanted to say, BRAVO! What a wonderful commentary. The truth is, being white, middle-class, and brought up in a predominantly white neighborhood where I’ve lived most of my life, I really hadn’t given the cultural differances in respect to emotional responses any thought. My philosophy has always been, people are people, the only thing that would make them better is if they had been created without eyes. No one would judge the other based on appearances then. However, that is an idealistic way of thinking, and I know that. I know there are differences of culture. I just simply never thought about how it would affect other areas of personal lives. Love is love. People react much the same on the whole… I guess I am going to be searching for some catagorically specific romances in the near future, just to get a better idea of what makes other races diverse in that respect.
I, too, have never read an african american romance. Not ‘intentionally’, or because I didn’t think I’d like them, it just never came up. It’s time for me to go looking for it, and bring it up.
Thanks again. Wonderful article.
Darla, as one of the authors of the Living’ Large series, there won’t be one coming out this January. I think BIG GIRLS is the last one.
Alison, your commentary is quite interesting. I’ll look for that essay. I’ve always wondered how BW/WM books do with white readers. Do they go over better? I just wrote one, the first white hero I’ve ever written. There’s no indication on the cover/back copy of the white hero, and it’s not written as a cross over but for a black line. I’m curious too.
I haven’t been ignoring the comments all day, but my daughter was playing soccer for the district cup, so I’ve been away. Won both games so far.
Great comments. I could write a lot here, to reply to some of the things said. Agreeing on the white dude thing–never been really attracted to one, either. Still, for me, it’s not the hero’s skin color that makes me fall for him, but the way he treats the heroine.
And the comments about sweet deserts, well even diffent brands of chocolate have different quality and standards. Of course I don’t expect a reader to pick up every AA romance and fall in love–or even like–because the story may not do anything for them. Just as I prefer Hershey’s over Nestle, the authors voice and style has to also appeal. But I wouldn’t pass over a candy bar (or other sweet treat) just because it was one I was unfamilar with.
I’d ask the same thing about AA romance. Check out the covers, read the back, flip through the pages to get a feel for voice and style, just as you would any new (or new to you) author. And don’t paint them all with the same brush, if the first doesn’t hit home, just as you wouldn’t stop reading a genre if you read one or two wall bangers. I don’t like them all, either….but there are those that have kept me up all night until the final ‘I love you’.
Monica, I’m sorry to see the Big Girls go, too. That’s disappointing.
Alyssa, thank you. And thank you all who’ve taken the time to engage in this discussion.
Very Pragmatic! (Perhaps there would be some peoples out there which will call this loveless
Wow, this is a totally great post. I write Asian American novels and have wondered if non-Asian readers would even want to pick it up. The post and the comments are so interesting for me. This gives me such a deeper perspective on things.
I’m reading an African American Chicklit right now–MADE OF HONOR by Marilynn Griffith–and I love the cultural aspect that comes through, it’s so sassy and cool.
And I’m thinking, If I’m ever published, I want other non-Asian readers to think the same thing about my novels. I want them to have fun reading and enjoy the culture and laugh and fall and love with the heroine, even though and especially because she’s from a different American racial subculture.
Camy Tang
Well, darn, Monica. I’m going to miss those books.
They did do their job, though, introducing me to some fabulous authors!
What a great blogging. Nicely done, Renee.
As someone who prefers first-person novels (so chick lit or mainstream) much more than romance, I find myself wanting to identify with the heroine much more than the hero.
And I’d challenge anyone to read the first page of a Pearl Cleage book and not want to move herself to Chicago (or Atlanta) to hang with her excellent, “free” (in every sense of the word) black women.
I’ll have to check out Marilyn Griffith’s CL book. Thanks!
This is a topic that interests me, and originally got me thinking when I saw a similar “At the Back Fence” on the http://www.likesbooks.com/ site. I was too late to respond to it on the message board there, so I thought I’d give it a try here.
I’m white, and I admit I don’t read african-american romances, and until I read the ATBF article, I hadn’t really thought about WHY I don’t.
When I was a kid and a teenager I read about black characters all the time. I remember several of my all-time favorite books–”Striped Ice Cream” (Great first reader book! I even sought it out as an adult and re-read it.), “Wolf by the Ears”, and “My Name is not Angelica”–In these books I had NO problem identifying with the heroine or any of the other characters, and race just really wasn’t a consideration when I picked up books. In fact, one of my favorite series when I was young was the “Gymnasts” series and one of the several heroines of that series was black, and she was the one I identified most strongly with.
So why haven’t my childhood tastes grown into a love of reading AA romances? I have a couple of theories–
#1–I really only read historicals. When I read contemporaries, it’s only because I’ve “followed” a favorite historical author. I’m not a big fan of Chick-lit or most contemporaries, and I haven’t seen an AA romance that wasn’t one or the other.
#2 I have read some AA romances in the past, when they were an impulse buy at a check out, or when the UBS is having a deal and they’re not expensive. The ones I read just didn’t have themes to my liking. In the same way that I can’t stand reading about cowboys and small-town sherriffs I really dislike reading about bounty hunters or private investigators or cops–The AA romances I read all had heros who were in the army or law-enforcment or some other very “macho” proffession.
#3–I like Beta heros. Most (esp. older) Johanna Lindsey books have major Alpha-he-man, heros and I can’t stand them. The AA romances I read all had VERY ALPHA! heros, which is a turn-off for me
Does the color of the character’s skin matter to me? I can honestly say it doesn’t. One of my favorite romance books is a harlequin I also got when the UBS was thinning it’s stock, and it was an Native-American romance. The hero was smart, and sweet, and sensitive, and I fell in love with him right away. Race was actually a big part of the book–The heroine wanted to forget her heritage and go make a life for herself far away from where she grew up, and the Hero wanted to stay on the reservation as a teacher. It wasn’t preachy, and the conflict was affected because of their race, but only because it was such a part of their identities, and to me it didn’t overwhelm the overarching LOVE-story aspect. Their race wasn’t WHO they were, but a PART of who they were. I don’t have any problems identifying or enjoying this type of book.
So…can anyone point me to a historical with a nice beta hero who isn’t in law enforcement? Cause I’ll pick it up.
My one complaint, and this is with the book stores, is that it’s true that they don’t shelve AA romance with regular romance. I randomly browse in the romance section when I don’t have anything specific I’m looking for, and I’ll pick up anything that looks interesting…(Every once in a while I’ll even pick up a western if the plot seems good enough)–I admit it doesn’t occur to me to go seek out the AA romance in their own section–but if I were to pick one up that looked interesting in the romance section, I would read it.
Come to think of it, that’s how I picked up those children & YA books that are still favorites. They weren’t off in their own “African-American” section, they were with all the other books, and they called to me, and I loved them, end of story. That’s how it should be for AA romances too.
I read romance as though I’m watching a film, not starring in one, so I’m likely to pick up any book that piques my interest in some way. Authors and characters don’t have resemble my looks or thought for me to select or reject a book. One of my recent faves is Anjali Banerjee’s Imaginary Men, a book about young Indian american matchmaker that creates an imaginary fiancee to stave off her own family’s pressures to get hitched. I also got Monica’s Love’s Potion because of the fresh take on djinni lore. However, I plan to pick up Cheyenne McCray’s Forbidden Magic just to see how uses San Francisco as the setting for that novel. I also like Beverly Jenkins historicals because they explore the black enclaves that existed amongst the backdrop of slavery and Jim Crow. It seems these books wouldn’t even be published by a large house if not for Avon.
Time, space and budget contraints have specifically changed my romance buying habits; these are the books that seem to be breeding behind my back.
I seldom browse boookstores and have returned to reading Romantic Times and romance related websites to better select books that relate to my wips and/or contain what I consider intriguing content. I’m also buying more ebooks.
Hi, Darla! Yeah, I have Whole Lotta Love but not Big Girls Don’t Cry – gotta get that one. I just fell in love with those authors.
I’m also a sucker for AA chick lit – have a signed copy of Francis Ray’s “Like The First Time” that I’m itching to dig into when time permits.