Who Moved My Cheese? Are Paranormal Romances Due for a Career Change
Interesting blog post by dear jane, a follow up to the thread that wouldn’t die.
Who Moved My Cheese? Are Paranormal Romances Due for a Career Change
Interesting blog post by dear jane, a follow up to the thread that wouldn’t die.
Interesting topic going over there, Sybil.
I think I have the book that Jane read. Haven’t read it yet. But I picked it up because I liked the cover. Since I know how misleading back cover copy is, I don’t pay much attention to that any more. I flipped thru the book and figured it was more urban fantasy or paranormal fiction than romance. Glad I did because even though I still might have bought the book, I want to know what I’m buying.
Syb – I love the Energizer bunnies. I thought that the longest commented thread should be followed by the longest blog post.
All I know is I want a friggin’ romance with all it’s wonderous HEAs if the publisher puts ‘anything’ romance on the spine of the book. I can’t believe there are publishers or authors even trying to argue a middle ground. I was going to post at Ja(y)nes but didn’t want to start a flame war with my ‘old style thinking’ 😉
Instead of putting paranormal romance on the spine whynot put romantic paranormal – I think this puts the emphasis on the strong part of the book. If your story is not going to end HEA then there are those who would argue it’s romantic (not me!) Therefore romantic paranormal to me means that there are elements of romance in a paranormal book.
I see paranormal romance and I think that the paranormal is just a ‘part’ of the romance and thus a HEA is something I as a reader expect.
Hmmm, maybe I should copy and post at Ja(y)nes.
CindyS
It’s a really interesting discussion over there. And many of my favorite authors interviewed!! I really have nothing new to add, because I agree with the majority opinion that the key element of a Romance, as in genre romance, is a HEA between the two main characters. What I mean by that is the two main characters in love and together. SK describes the ending of two of her books as not “HEA”, but in both the hero/heroine end up together. I’ve been reading Fantasy and mysteries for years and I’ve always liked romantic elements in all of my fiction. I feel like readers who like this kind of thing will find it no matter what. I pick up books b/c of the title or the cover, then blurb reels you in. I’ve spent hours in different sections of the bookstore, just browsing. If they market well, then they’ll find the audience they’re looking for. There’s no need for misleading labelling. When you go to the romance, or the fantasy, or the horror section of a bookstore, you have certain expectations. The books should be put where the elements are the strongest.
Just as an aside, I’ve picked up Kelley Armstrong books in the literature, fantasy and horror sections of the library.
I think too much labeling can get out of hand. Where would it stop? I can understand being disappointed with an unhappy ending when the book is labeled ROMANCE, but other than that too many labels don’t make sense. I read everything and don’t limit myself to one or 2 genres and I really don’t require a happy ending outside of romance. As for a love story or romance inside a book other than one labeled ROMANCE, there is always the challenge of finding those. I’ve found the people that work in bookstores to be helpful with that. I’ve had many clerks (women mostly) point out titles with a love story. If I beg them, they will tell me if it ends happily or not. They are usually very reluctant to give the ending away. All in all, I think labeling everything to death is silly.