Comments on: It’s Easy to Be Romantic When You’re Fictional

By: Fedora

Fedora — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:00:24 +0000

Love the post, Kerry! Very entertaining–it’s true that it’s awfully hard to live to up fictional standards when reality intrudes! Alas, I can barely keep the kitchen table cleared off–don’t have much time to wax and primp And thankfully my husband’s doing his best to overlook those things, but I’d like some time to indulge myself, for him and for me

By: Kate Hewitt

Kate Hewitt — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:53:05 +0000

I think romance needs to be a careful balance of fantasy and reality; readers want an escape but they also want to be able to identify with the heroine and the story somewhat–at least, I do, and I write for Presents, which is often billed as ‘the ultimate fantasy in romance’ or some such… yet even in Presents, you have heroines who get tired and cranky, dirty and sick. I think Karen’s right, a hero is someone who loves the heroine even when she’s like that. But she probably will have flawless skin and perpetually waxed legs

Kate

By: Karen Templeton

Karen Templeton — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:44:14 +0000

Welll…I’ve been writing romance about “real” women for ten years. My gals sometimes have puking kids (or even puke themselves ), and/or look like hell (puking will do that to a body), have trouble getting their jeans zipped over their stretch-marked bellies, do the whole kid-and-work juggling thing, and definitely know what real life stress is.

Their heroes? The guys who love those real women, not some air-brushed fantasy. Guys who clean up the puke (whether hers or her/their kids’) and kiss the stretch marks and not only unload the dishwasher but put the dishes *in* the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen, too.

Which is, BTW, *my* reality (and probably why I’m still happily married after nearly 30 years) and most definitely my definition of romance. So it only stands to reason that those are the stories and characters I write.

By: Bettye Griffin

Bettye Griffin — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:32:30 +0000

Personally, I think that today’s real women are too intelligent to enjoy any story that is pure fantasy without any semblance to reality whatsoever. Sure, part of the story can be written as the perfect world, but there’s got to be something resembling meat with all that shredded lettuce.

By: Kimber An

Kimber An — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:07:08 +0000

Good post. I’ve been happily married long enough to know that slaying dragons is nice, but it takes a real Hero to make a lady’s computer work for her, for instance.

I love an author who can bring realistic romance to life in a Romance novel.