Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

Just like we’ve known that Victoria’s Secret is that “she’s” a man, baby, we’ve known that men have been writing romances since the dawn of time. After all, the Jennifer Wilde that introduced me to Marietta Danvers was actually a man named Tom E. Huff. But what about some of the men inhabiting bookstore fiction sections and bestseller lists? It’s getting harder and harder to separate some of their work from that of the women writing contemporary romance.

For example, Eric Jerome Dickey writes women so well that I swear someone has given him the secret estrogen handshake. No one can tell me that Milk in My Coffee isn’t a romance novel. However, the writer who embodies my thesis by far is the great Nicholas Sparks. I mean, Message in a Bottle? The Notebook? Nights in Rodanthe? If those aren’t romance novels, then I don’t know what romance novels are. Yet, you won’t see Sparks in the romance section of your chain bookstore.

Contrary to what some of my bitter single girlfriends may want to believe, men can actually relate to the themes prevalent in romance – the desire to couple, the journey to finding a partner, the ability of unconditional love to soothe the rough edges of past hurts, for example. As someone so succinctly put it recently, men are the new women. They’ve realized that there’s a life outside of sports. They’ve come to appreciate culture and the finer things in life. They’re plagued by the same insecurities once thought to affect only women. The concept of metrosexuality is a physical manifestation of this point. Just one pass through Men’s Health magazine reveals that men have their own version of body dysmophia (“bigorexia”). Men are whitening their teeth. They’re dying their hair. They’re having cosmetic surgery in record numbers. I live near a military base, and it’s common to see battle-hardened warriors in fatigues getting a mani-pedi. In short, we’re more alike than we’re different. The war itself might still be raging, but this particular battle of the sexes is a draw.

Slowly, though, I think that those who use gender to put genres in certain boxes and stock bookshelves may have gotten the memo. A couple years ago, when I read that Devon Vaughn Archer and Wayne Jordan were the first two men to write for Kimani Press Arabesque – without hiding behind girly pseudonyms – I sensed that there was a sea change in the offing. My cynical side asks if this is because maybe pink is the new green. I recently wrote a piece for Examiner.com about how romance is the recession proof genre, that it’s the tide that’s lifting all boats while the publishing industry at large attempts to reinvent itself.

My hopeful side says that, even though I’m not all that stoked about men having to validate the genre with their presence, maybe this is the first step in romance escaping the pink stigma. Perhaps men – both writers and readers – will realize that embracing their so-called feminine side is to embrace the human condition… while enjoying some damned good fiction in the process.

Even if you only following publishing news casually, you know the industry is in the midst of a digital revolution. Maybe it’s not the change we once imagined, but that’s because instead of “ebooks are the next big thing”, the revolution is affecting how the publishing ecosystem does business.

Everyone is impacted. Authors. Agents. Editors. Marketers. Booksellers. Readers. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to hear booksellers talk about how they are positioning themselves for a future where readers have greater choice of format and selection. Just as exciting are the opportunities for authors, especially as reader behavior evolves.

Case in point: my husband, who, compared to me, is a casual fiction reader, finds himself increasingly engaged in novels because the convenience of books on his iPhone provide him more opportunity. Goal One of the digital revolution must be to make it easy for people to buy and read books. Anything less is bad for everyone.

It won’t surprise many of us to learn that the romance genre has been a leader in the digital revolution. From authors to readers, we’ve been willing to explore new media and test new ideas. But we, particularly within the Romance Writers of America sub-system, have also developed a huge sore spot when it comes to digital.

That’s a shame because as the publishing world changes, authors need to understand the impact on them. Big publishing houses are looking at digital-first strategies. Small publishers are building reputations for quality, both when it comes to story and when it comes to quality. Distribution rights are changing – do territorial restrictions make sense in an on-demand world? – and financial models will, either by sheer will of Amazon or the marketplace (author, publisher, and reader) change.

Some for the better, some for the worse, some to reflect reality good and bad. I’ve attended many publishing industry conferences over the past few years, and the ins and outs of digital publishing are Topic One. Think about it: every week brings a half dozen stories about new technology, new initiatives, and new processes. Authors need to understand and react to how the digital market is evolving – it is your career, you know.

This is why I thought a friend was joking when she noted there wasn’t a single panel devoted to digital publishing on the upcoming RWA Annual Conference schedule. How could that be when it’s the most important, high-profile topic in the industry? I don’t begrudge anyone a workshop on alpha heroes, but, given the breadth and impact of what’s happening, I’d expect four or five sessions.

Where are the sessions on distribution, on royalties, on what digital publishing means? What are the differences between going digital only with a big house versus small? How do the deep discounts demanded by Amazon – especially in light of the fact that Kindle sales equal 35% of all sales for books available in both Kindle and print format – impact author compensation? What does the alphabet soup of formats mean to readers. DRM? Can it be less evil?

(Heck: does DRM do anything beyond frustrating readers? Is there a better way to protect copyrighted work while making sure Goal One is achieved? There is.)

Do today’s published authors realize that their choices are creating a template for the next generation? Worth considering or not?

It’s a bit frustrating for me to see the lack of educational programming on the schedule because I have believed in this market since 1998. Digital publishing isn’t an either/or choice – it’s the embodiment of either/and. For authors, publishers, and readers. With such freedom comes great opportunity.

A wise person recently said to me “If you’re paying attention, you’re getting into digital publishing Right Now.” Confidentially, that’s exactly what I’m doing – well, me and three incredible business partners. We’re still in the infrastructure-building phase (trust me: we’re not your mother’s epublisher!), and will be opening the doors for business very soon. To keep up with our progress, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/quartetpress. While the website is in development, we’ll be taking submissions at submissions@quartetpress.com (email with questions).

It’s a brave new world, and I’m excited to be part of it.

In the meantime, I hope every author out there focuses her (or his!) industry study time on the myriad issues relating to digital publishing. We have seen the future, and it is happening right now.

I love a good story. Whether it’s a contemporary romance, urban fantasy, or an edge-of-your-seat spy thriller, I read ‘em all.

And lately, I’ve discovered I like writing all different kinds of stories too.

In the past few months, I’ve written books in three different genres – urban fantasy, young adult, and contemporary romance. Yeah, I know. My muse is all over the place.

Admittedly, the genres don’t have much in common. My urban fantasies are gritty, gritty, gritty. My young adult is a swashbuckling fantasy. My contemporary romance is set in a small Southern town.

But they’re all stories I wanted to tell. That I needed to tell, if only to quiet the voices of the characters in my head. At least for a little while.

Even if these books don’t sell, even if no one ever reads them but me, I’m still proud of them. I’m still glad I stepped outside my comfort zone and tried something new.

Too often, I think writers get pigeonholed into writing one genre, one series, one character. C’mon. We’ve all seen blog posts bemoaning the fact that a beloved writer has gone from historical romance to alien-filled, sci-fi, space operas. Or vice versa.

But I think we should look at authors switching genres as an opportunity. They’re trying something new, and so should we as readers.

For example, as much as I like Lisa Kleypas’ “Wallflowers” historical romance series, I absolutely adore her contemporaries. Robert B. Parker, author of the “Spenser” P.I. series, has penned a series of westerns that I admire. Donald E. Westlake, known for his “Dortmunder” comic crime capers, wrote a great series of gritty, hard-boiled crime novels under the name Richard Stark.

As a reader, I’m glad these authors branched out and gave me even more great stories to read. Ditto for all the other authors I’ve found through one or more of their series and genres.

Writing fantasy will probably always be my first love. But there are so many more things I want to write. So many more stories I want to tell.

I want to write an elaborate heist book, in the vein of “Ocean’s Eleven.” A western with a gunslinger who’s just as cool as Clint Eastwood. A stand alone that’s the next great American novel. An epic fantasy trilogy. A series with seven books – or more.

These are just a few of the ideas bouncing around in my head. Will readers follow me from series to series, from genre to genre? Or will I end up on one of those blog posts? I don’t know.

But I think it’ll be fun to find out.

What about you? What’s the book you dream of writing? Who are some of the genre-switching authors and books that you like? Share in the comments.

My first urban fantasy novel made its official appearance yesterday. I’ve been an urban fantasy reader for some time, and I’ve written paranormal romance for some time. So, I’m very familiar with both and I think I can label each pretty easily. It is usually as clear to me as telling an orange from an apple.

But I don’t think it is to everyone. In fact even those of us who are really clear (in our minds) on the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance may think of something very different when the term urban fantasy is used from what a fantasy-only reader may think of.

I’d suspected this for a while, but it was really made obvious at a recent panel I was on. There were four authors on the panel, all of us published in some form of fantasy. One of the panelists was Emma Bull, an author credited with being one of the original urban fantasy writers. If you read her book, War for the Oaks, it will, I’m guessing, fit into your definition of UF too, but when the panelists were asked to define urban fantasy, they talked about things I’ve never heard a romance-oriented reader talk about.

There was a major emphasis on the setting (which from my observation scifi/fantasy readers focus on more than romance readers anyway) and on how the city is a character itself, perhaps one of the most important characters. The term “city as forest” was used.

Now I think all of this is totally cool and CAN fit into what we describe as UF, but I don’t think it what would spring to mind for most of us. And I don’t think it is the key element that makes someone say “this book is UF.”

So, when my time came, I pulled in a breath and said, “And now I will disagree with everything said. ” Not because they were wrong–they weren’t wrong, but the books they listed were not the books and authors I would list. My list being Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs, etc. Their’s being Emma Bull, Charles DeLint and others who came at it from the city as character side.

And while in romanceland we discuss what is urban fantasy and what is paranormal romance–the idea that there was any similarity was something I don’t think fit into their definition at all.

Here is what I said (to me) were core characteristics:
Urban Fantasy…

1. Single strong protagonist
2. Frequently told in first person (though not required)
3. Mix of mystery, fantasy, horror and romance
4. Set in a contemporary world that is similar to our own
5. Probably in a city of some size
6. Could be what I call female-market-directed UF with a female protag and possibly sex scenes or with a male protag and no sex scenes (has anyone read a UF with a male protag and sex scenes? If so post the title in the comments; I’d love to know about it.)
7. Core story is about the adventure/journey of the protag (not the romance)

Paranormal Romance…

1. Two strong lead characters (Hero/heroine)
2. Probably told from two points of view (frequently third person)
3. Mystery, suspense and horror elements added to romance
4. Could be any setting…contemporary, historical, made up place
5. In general there will be sex scenes
6. Core story is about the romance–if you pull the romance out, the book falls apart.

So, where are you coming at it from? What is your definition of urban fantasy? Are sex scenes a must have part? Do you get it confused with paranormal romance; do you see the city as a character in the UF you read? Or do you just not read it at all and wish the whole paranormal thing would get staked right through its core market?

by Special Guest Therese Walsh

Warning: This is a conflict post.

I don’t like conflict. I usually go out of my way to avoid conflict. If you follow my posts at Writer Unboxed, you know that I’m pretty much the warm-and-fuzzy type. But sometimes conflict is worth the effort, and I think this is one of those times. And I think this is the right place to say what needs to be said.

For a long time now, RWA has sat on the fence regarding women’s fiction. Should they or shouldn’t they have a “novel with strong romantic elements” category for the RITA and Golden Heart awards? There’s been plenty of debate, and as of now the category still stands. I’m glad of that. But just as RWA has been lukewarm about this category, they’ve been lukewarm about embracing the authors of those books. Authors who aren’t, strictly speaking, romance authors, even if their books would appeal to the same audience.

Yes, the “R” in RWA stands for romance, but maybe it should stand for something else. Rethink. Reconsider. Reassess. Review. Remodel.

My journey might be unique. I began writing a romance in 2002. It morphed, as stories do. A fabu romance agent—Deidre Knight—read my work and counseled me to keep the heart of the story, the love story, too, but to expand upon it and write women’s fiction. So I did. I rewrote the entire story, and was later picked up by an agent, and then a publisher. Today, I’m fortunate to have a two-book contract with Shaye Areheart Books, Random House.

For many years I thought of myself as a romance writer. My roots are in romance. My debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, has been heavily influenced by the industry and by my peers, who write romance. The love story remains an integral part of the book. Yet there is no place for me in RWA. They’ll accept my membership dues, but that’s not what I mean about “place.” Where do I belong in this organization? Is there a niche for me at RWA?

Not really, no; I’ve asked them. I was reminded that the “R” in RWA stands for romance. I was told that their name would have to change if they embraced women’s fiction authors, too. I was pointed toward the special interest chapter at www.chicklitwriters.com and told that I “might want to check it out.”

When I asked about a special interest chapter for authors of novels with strong romantic elements—not chick-lit authors but women’s fiction authors—there was no response. Nada. Through other sources, I learned of another person at RWA who might help in establishing a new chapter. Alison had a great idea. Let’s call it Authors of Novels with Strong Romantic Elements, otherwise known as “ANSRE.” I don’t know what will come of it, but I think the idea is something worthy of a fight.

Here’s the thing: If RWA welcomes women’s fiction authors for two of the biggest contests out there—the RITA and the Golden Heart—and accepts their dues and accepts their contest fees, shouldn’t they make a place for those authors in earnest? Isn’t what RWA doing a bit like inviting someone to your home for dinner and then asking him or her to stand in the corner to watch while everyone else eats? Personally, I’m a little tired of drooling in the corner.

“R” is for really.

Thoughts? Would you support the formation of a chapter like ANSRE? Why or why not?

Thank you, Alison, for having me today! Write on, all.

Last week, I had to go and talk to a local writer’s group about time management for writers. It occurred to me as I printed out my handouts that many wannabee writers that I have met—and spoken to on this very topic—return again and again for the same lecture. I mean, I’ve been leading this group for six years, and every year they ask me to talk about Time Management. How do I find time to write? they ask. What they really want to know, though, is: How do I find the time to pursue my dream?

After six years of giving the same tips, I start to wonder. Is it REALLY about finding time? I think these people who come to hear this talk again and again are there because they are hoping that somewhere amongst my tips about getting up earlier, taking the work with you and having a notebook in every room of the house, they’ll find the secret to why they aren’t writing.

My personal opinion? I think it’s not about how much time you have or don’t have. We all have twenty-four hours a day. I spend my twenty-four differently than you do; you spend yours differently from your neighbor. Whether you choose to set aside one minute, one hour or no time at all for your writing (or whatever your dream happens to be) is all your choice.

And that, my friends, is, in my opinion, the real problem for many writers. It isn’t about tips and tricks on fitting more into your writing day. It’s about deciding that finishing that book or short story is a PRIORITY to you and then making the time, wherever you can find it.

To do that, you first have to look inside you. Are you afraid to write? Hands down, that’s probably the number-one reason most people come to me, month after month, looking for a magic cure to their “block.” Guess what?

There is no magic cure. There isn’t, in my opinion, such a thing as writer’s block. There’s only you and a piece of paper. Either you choose to fill it or you don’t.

There’s the key—you CHOOSE to fill it. You CHOOSE to ignore your doubts and your fears. Heck, yes, you might get rejected. You’ll live through the rejection–I promise. I’ve been there a thousand times myself (just because you’re published doesn’t mean the gates of publishing heaven open and everything you write is brushed with gold).

Despite having more than 30 books under my belt, I still battle the temptation to play Freecell every day, sometimes every hour, every minute. The parts of me that doubt I can do it again urge me to put the book off, set it aside, ignore it, do something far better with my time (like shop and spend money I haven’t earned yet).

Hmmm…sound familiar? Ask yourself, is it REALLY about finding the time to write or is it about finding the courage to face that page?

Maybe you’re reading this because you want some tips, some magic cures. I’ll give you a couple—but remember, the real cure is right inside you already.

1. Do it for one minute. Baby steps, said Richard Dreyfuss in “What About Bob?” Start with a baby step. Sit down and write for one minute. Put on a timer, grab a pen or a keyboard and just write.
2. Realize the words don’t matter at first. You probably read the first tip and said, “But I don’t know what to write about! I have no plot, no characters, no what-if situation…nothing.” Fine with me. I start that way a lot. I don’t care if you write the words to the “Star-Spangled Banner,” the point is to get something on the paper. Sean Connery tells young Jamal in “Finding Forrester,” to start with someone else’s words until your own start coming. Write your opinion on a news story. Write a letter to your grandma. Write a list for the grocery store, then when your fingers get comfortable, start with anything you think of.
3. Stop pressuring yourself. Lots of us expect this great story to start leaping off the page right away. Hah! When you find the secret to that, let me know because it would save me a lot of effort. Give yourself permission to write junk, to write pages and pages of basically regurgitated words. Why? Because once you get those ones out of the way, you’ll get to the true story. It’s there, just waiting for you to get past the other stuff.
4. Don’t be your own worst enemy. You know how this works. You sit down to write and suddenly remember the Rose of Sharon bush needs pruning or that denim jacket you hate to wear needs to be mended. Your “what if I have to finish this, what if some editor hates it, what if I can’t write, what if, what if, what if…” mind can find five hundred different excuses that stop you from writing. Tell it to SHUT UP and let you just do what you came here to do.
5. Remember this is fun. Writing is not supposed to be torture (okay, there are days when revising is not fun and I just want to be done with the book, but overall, nine days out of ten, I am having fun). If you are dreading every second, then you are either writing the wrong thing or thinking the wrong thoughts. Give yourself permission to have fun with the words, laugh at your own jokes and cry at your own drama.
6. Stop looking for a secret. Use the tips you find for what they are: tips. The true secret, however, to finding the time to write is MAKING IT A PRIORITY. Deciding this is important to you and carving out time every day, whether it’s ten minutes or ten hours to devote to it. Deciding that this priority is more important than your fear of failure, your fear of the unknown and your fear that you really don’t know what the heck you are doing.

Remember when you were a little kid and learning to ride a bike without training wheels? It was a scary time, wasn’t it? You could fall, break your head open (as your mother often told you, though I’ve never seen a head broken open), or worse, you could be the only kid on your block still using training wheels in the eleventh grade.

But you persevered and kept trying and falling, trying and falling. Putting a little time in every day after school because your goal was bigger than the what-ifs. Eventually, the training wheels came off, you were on a “real” bike and Lance Armstrong had some competition in the neighborhood.

Take the training wheels off your writing. The time is there; you just have to reach out and grab the handlebars of your dream.

Shirley

I sent the first 97 pages of my new novel to my critique group yesterday.
Deeeeep breath. This is scary.
Really scary.
Before sending my pages to anyone – best friend, agent, editor, critique group – I always edit them one last, supposedly final time, to make sure my writing is as good as it can be. It’s kind of like straightening up the house before the cleaning lady comes. You don’t want her to know how sloppy you really are.
A couple days later, I read through the pages again. I’m aware now that Mike is reading that first paragraph, figuring out how it can have more impact with just a few simple word changes. I’m seeing that I’ve neglected Liz’s advice on hooking my reader at the end of each scene. I’m looking at the story through Jeana’s eyes, wondering if my heroine has just a touch too much of the devil in her. And I’m wondering whether Mary will catch those klunky clichés and Heather will find the humor she appreciated so much in my last book. (I so want to earn more of her smiley faces!!!)
Seeing the manuscript through their eyes, I claw my way through it again, snagging the weaknesses each reader might perceive, and finding ways to make the story even stronger than my last “best effort.”
So if you don’t have a critique group, don’t despair. Just imagine the various types of readers you’d like to impress. Read your story through their eyes. You can do it. You’re a writer. You have a creative imagination that lets you see the world through any character you choose, so look at your words with various readers in mind – and you’ll find ways to make your narrative flow, to make your characters glow, and to improve every word, every image, and every turn of phrase.

Writers are cerebral and emotional creatures. We spend our days thinking and reading and way too much time sitting in front of a screen, moving only fingers, burning in the arena of 12 calories a day. The sitting leads to blooming behinds. The repetitive motion leads to joint problems and neck problems and spine problems. To counter these ills, there is one simple answer:

Move your body. I don’t mean to guilt you into going to the gym or training for a marathon or anything like that. Just simple stuff, the things we all did naturally as children. Walk. Stretch. Dance. Ride a bike or get some skates or garden madly.

Walking is easy. Most of us can do it, even if we do it slowly. A half hour a day is touted as a stress-reliever, a heart-saver, and a joint cure. You can do it in a park or in a gym or around your block. You can do it with a dog or your spouse or with yourself.

It’s spring here finally and this afternoon, I took a long walk home from the movie theater a few miles away. Lilacs were blooming en masse, dark purple, light purple, white, filling the air with an almost visible cloud of perfume, and it had rained while I was in the movie, so the air was damp, the clouds in shreds over the mountains. Heady stuff. My brain nattered on, as brains do, but my body rejoiced to be simply walking. One foot in front of the other, over and over, breathing in the cool damp air, the smell of lilacs. Lungs filled with fresh air, blew out old stale stuff. Invigorated blood coursed through veins and arteries (or actually, it would be arteries and veins, right), tension melted from my neck and my hips loosened up. I walk my dogs every morning for a half hour before I start working. It’s meditative and peaceful. It fires up the creative centers and wakes up my brain and I come back ready to dive into whatever the next scene or task might be. If I skip that half hour, thinking I should get to work, it takes me that same half hour to noodle myself awake. Might as well get the brain primed.

Other walks are for me–long, ambling walks or vigorous hikes, it doesn’t matter. It’s good for my body and good for my sleep and good for my brain. (I’d love to say all this exercise is good has made me a lean, mean fighting machine, and while I’m fit, nobody but my darling Christopher Robin would ever say I was thin.)

Another thing we should ALL be doing is stretching. According to Pete Egoscue (http://www.ecoscue.com), much of our joint pain comes from not moving our limbs out of a box-sized area that goes from our shoulders to our knees. Think about it–and deliberately stretch and move out of that box. Yoga is one way, of course. The whole purpose of yoga is to keep your spine flexible, and a sun salutation can work out a lot of kinks, but if that seems intimidating, is simply stand up every hour on the hour and reaching high above your head with both arms. Breath in, blow out all the stress, bend over and touch your toes if you can. Reach your arms out in a star. Over your head. Reach out in front, behind, to the sides. Keyboarding causes tight hands and forearms–reach your arm out in front of you, palm up, and with the other hand, gently push your fingers down. Feels really, really good when you’ve been at it all day. Another super easy yoga pose that offers great relief for the demands of our job is legs-up-the-wall. Lie down on the floor, with your bottom against the wall, and stretch your legs up and lean them on the wall. (This will help alleviate humidity swollen feet, too). Rest.

One last thing to move your body: dance. I’ve fallen completely head over heels in love with Nia–a very joyful, easy form of dance–but putting on some music and shimmying around to your favorite beats will do just as well. Sweat. Go ahead. Imagine you’re the hot woman on the dance floor and shake it like crazy. I’ve noticed Irish step dancing classes at my YMCA, and country line dancing, and Zumba and even an 80’s mix. Dancing is back, and it’s really a blast, and believe me, the women in those classes are not all svelte and/or young, so it’s an easy place to go have fun.

Move your body. Walk. Stretch. Dance, and be healthy. Have more time to read and write more books.

Are you a walker? Dancer? Yogi? Do you have a story of easy-exercise transformation to share with us?

What would I like to see in romance in today?

Change. To reflect the world we live in.

Before people get crazy, I’m not trying to overhaul the genre. Boy Meets Girl. Boy Likes Girl. Boy and Girl Connect. Boy and Girl Breakup. Boy and Girl Reunite for HEA.

That formula still works for me.

I’m a fan of romances set in contemporary times, regardless of sub-genre. So that makes me think of contemporary issues. War. Poverty. World hunger. Racism. Saving the planet. A new era in politics. Healthcare costs. Economic downturn. Gun violence. Failing schools. The list goes on.

I’d like to see contemporary romances take on some of these topics. Give me heroes and heroines who have been touched by these issues, and are wrestling to overcome their effects, or who are active in the fight to address these problems for the betterment of society on a local, national or global level.

I don’t know about you, but for many people, happy days aren’t here again. I think contemporary romances should reflect this while still providing that inspirational lift stemming from love triumphing over adversity. In the face of so much bad news swirling about, wouldn’t a great love story set against the times just fill you with warmth and inspiration?

I guess I could pick up any non-fiction book on these topics, but that wouldn’t be quite as much fun.

I appreciate a good timeless story. But there’s a place for time-ly stories too.

I know enough about the publishing industry that I understand the stories on today’s bookshelves were contracted a year or two ago, and penned by their authors even farther back than that, when the mood of the country was very different.

I also get that romance readers read for escape. Not everyone wants to be reminded of the bad things that are happening in our world when they crack the pages of a book. Also, publishers need to be careful. Should the economy recover, the war end, and global warming cease, people may not want to read about those things after they are done with. We naturally prefer to revel in happier circumstances.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to be mired down in doom, gloom, and despair either. Yet, I welcome, through my reading, the opportunity to identify with characters who live in the world we know today, to consider these troubling issues from new angles, and to be inspired to face these monumental challenges in new ways.

Don’t you? Are there real-world topics that you’d like to see touched upon in today’s romances? Have you read any romances recently that address contemporary issues you’d like to recommend?

This past weekend temperatures soared from the 40s to the 80s here in the Pacific Northwest. The sun which was a long forgotten memory, returned with a vengeance and man, oh, man was it hot! Fabulously hot. Not only did I break out the sandals and last year’s shorts but I put aside my laptop and plans to delve deep into my new project.

So rather than work out the kinks in my plot, I planted flowers and herbs, swabbed out my little electric boat, scrubbed and bleached the fountain and walked the dogs over and over again. As the evening crept in, I battled pond scum and spiders and cleaned out the flower beds. Once, I did hazard a glance at the computer monitor, but when I had to draw the window shades because of the glare, I shut it down. I drank lemonade, put on my Jimmy Buffet CD, and attended a barbecue outside with family and friends. It just felt like summer. And it reminded me why I don’t get any books written in July, August and September: I’d rather be outside doing anything (even weeding!)

So, it kinda scared me. I’ve got a deadline looming and I realize now that if I don’t get at it now, summer will come and I’ll be really late. Again. Even though this is the year I’ve sworn to be ahead of the game.

Fortunately (I guess) the cold rain returned and I’m back at the computer with a cup of coffee and socks firmly on my feet. I now realize why I’ll never make that move south to California.

Okay, I know a lot of writers do live in the warmer, sunnier climates. And they write many books. Many GOOD books. I wonder how they do it. I guess they weren’t born with moss on the bottoms of their feet!

I wonder how other writers handle the siren song of warm summer breezes and icy cocktails?