Romance Writers Of America –

Readers, Writers, And Romance

By Jan Howard

Romance and chocolate… could there be anything better? The St Rose Women’s Club combined the two February 7, featuring a presentation by three romance writers followed by lots of chocolate desserts with a Valentine theme.

The romance genre is growing, and the number of romance writers is also growing. In this area, about 80 members of the Connecticut chapter of Romance Writers of America gather at the Southbury Library once a month to learn more about the craft of romance writing.

Nancy Block of Newtown, Anna DeForest of Wilton, and Sharon Schulze of Oakville, all published romance writers and members of the Romance Writers of America, encouraged Women’s Club members not only to read the genre but to put hands to word processor to write a romance novel. They discussed various aspects of the romance genre, from how they plot their books to what happens prior to publication.

Ms Block is the author of Once Upon a Pirate. She is currently at work on her next book.

Ms DeForest is the author of four books. Her most recent is A Cowboy for Christmas. Her first book, Golden Dreams, was a finalist for the Holt Medallion in the Best First Book category. Her second book, The Courtship, received a National Reader’s Choice award. She is also the author of The Cowboy and the Heiress.

“Cowboys sell books,” Ms DeForest said.

Ms Schulze is the author of five historical romance novels. Her most recent release is Lady of the Keep. Her third book, The Shielded Heart, was a nominee for Romantic Times’ 1998 Reader’s Choice Award for Best Medieval Historical Romance. She has been featured in numerous publications.

Ms Schulze said writing romance novels “is a great job.”

Ms DeForest said it took her about five years to learn how to write romance novels. “When you think about popular genre fiction, if you buy a mystery, there is a detective that deals with the problem. You expect him or her to solve the problem. In romances, readers expect happy endings. You have to bluff your readers that the hero and heroine won’t get together, but of course, in the end, they do.”

“Writing a romance novel is harder than it looks,” she said.

The best thing about being a writer, she said, is that she can work at home. Working at home can also have its drawbacks, she added. “It’s hard to be professional when you have small children running around. Sometimes I just want a door.”

“My grandmother got me hooked on romance novels,” Ms Block said. “They were wonderful.” However, after attending college and getting married, she picked up a romance novel to read and was surprised at how much the genre had changed.

Ms Block was writing science fiction when a friend told her about a press release in the paper about Romance Writers of America. Since she always included romance in her science fiction writing, she joined the local chapter.

“Sharon was the one who got me to finish my first book,” Ms Block said. “There is probably still no market for that book.

“There are lots of types of romances,” she said. “Love is just basic. It’s about relationships. People really want to connect with others.”

Ms DeForest said heroines have changed through the years. “They rescue the heroes as much as the heroes rescue them.”

 “Being a romance writer is a lot of fun,” Ms Block said. “It’s fantasy, but it’s a tremendous amount of work.”

She said an average work entails 350-400 manuscript pages. Also, the manuscript must be historically accurate. “Readers are very savvy. They check up on facts, but you can only use history to a certain extent.”

Ms Schulze said she makes up castles and family names, but once received a letter from a reader who thought a character was real. “History is the frame-work for the romance,” she said. “It’s not a hardship to do the research. I love to do research.”

The secret is realizing when enough research has been done, she said, noting it can be overdone.

Debra Sennefelder, president of St Rose Women’s Club, is also president of the Connecticut chapter of Romance Writers of America. The group, which was formed in 1980, meets at the Southbury Library on the second Saturday of the month at 11 am.

The state organization offers lectures and workshops on writing techniques, characterization, and plotting and the business of writing and how to deal with editors. It encourages members to enter writing contests, attend conferences, and share information.

In 1999, romance fiction comprised 58.2 percent of all popular paperback fiction, and 18 percent of all books sold, excluding children’s books. There were 2,218 romances released in 1999, generating $1.35 billion in sales. About 60 percent of the romance titles were contemporary, with a setting after World War I. About 29 percent were historical romances, with pre-World War I settings.

Ms Sennefelder said the three most important character traits for a romance novel heroine, as ranked by readers, are intelligent, beautiful, and strong and determined. The traits most important for a hero are handsome and attractive, kind and compassionate, and intelligent.

But as romance novels have changed through the years, so have the heroines and heroes.

Romance fiction once featured the young, naïve virgin in love with an older, cynical, brooding man. The new heroine is stronger, Ms DeForest noted. “She has flaws but has challenges.”

The heroes are of two types. They still include the brooding, dark, cynical man, “which goes back to Jane Eyre,” she said, but also heroes who are more compassionate, more caring.

“Romance has changed,” she said.

Ms Schulze noted that some heroines are not always depicted as pretty. There are transforming stories, where a woman who is not beautiful becomes beautiful in the hero’s eyes, she said.

“There are plenty of regular people with flaws,” Ms Block said. “Half of the books are not about beautiful women. There was one book about a pregnant widow and a man with a scar.”

The writers agreed that authors produce a more finished and polished product through the use of word processors and computers. Also, “When you sell the book, you need a hard copy plus a disk,” Ms Block said, because publishers edit the writer’s submission on the disk. “They would want to know what program you used.”

A beginning writer may need to submit an entire book, but established writers usually send their publisher three chapters and a synopsis. “We don’t write the book until they pay us to do it,” Ms Schulze said. However, an established writer may have to submit a finished product if changing to a new publishing house.

Some writers have agents; others don’t need them if their publishing houses have established contracts. However, in other cases, “Some houses won’t look at anything unless you have an agent,” Ms Schulze said.

Writers with agents may receive a faster response, Ms DeForest said. However, she noted, “You also have to pay the agent.”

Writer control over the final product varies, they said.

“You have several opportunities to fix things,” Ms Schulze said. Editors also make suggestions for changes, she noted.

The writer usually does not have control over what is featured on the cover, she noted. Sometimes the publishing company will agree with the writer’s suggested title, but often it is changed, especially if the company has another book with a similar title.

 Ms DeForest said editors sometimes change the ending, as happened with her first book, leaving her readers to wonder what happened after that.

Ms Block said publishers often find a theme that sells and want to keep it going with subsequent books.

Planning a book is necessary, the writers noted. “When you come up with an idea, you have to ground it to history. You have to plan it out,” Ms Block said.

“Our best writers write as well as some of the best known authors,” Ms DeForest said. “The genre is written by women, for women. Give it a chance.”