Monday, September 10, 2007

Mavens Monday



Good morning! I hope your weekend was better than mine. SIGH. But I'm not here to post about THAT.

Today, I want to talk about romance in general. Why do you read it? Why do you write it? DH has frequently asked me that question, and he just doesn't understand how I don't get bored with the genre. How many times can you read about two people falling in love?

But honestly, you could say that about any genre. How many mysteries can you possibly solve before you get bored? How many horrors can you possibly devour before you're drooling in your chair? lol

For me, I love reading about the power of love and how it prevails over all other trials and tribulations. I love reading about the budding relationship, and feeling that joy and wonder along with the characters. Sometimes, "old" love doesn't have the excitement that new love has, and I think that's part of what endures people to the genre. "Old" love is comfortable. When you've been married for years and years, you might not be jumping for joy when the ol' DH comes home from work. You might not have wild, freaky monkey sex any more. You get into a pattern, you become comfortable, relaxed, like a long, lazy stroll down the beach.

But we remember how things used to be, the excitement of when your honey calls you on the phone (remember the way your heart leapt when the phone rang?) The way they would gaze at you during a night out at a restaurant, as if he couldn't wait to get you home and devour YOU for dessert... The way you'd get freaky in any room in the house whenever the mood struck (probably before kids).

These are the feelings we want to "get back", if only for a few hours. So we read romance in order to sigh at the shiny newness of it all. That's my theory, anyhow.

Why do YOU read/write romance?

~~Becka

http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

5 comments:

Sandra said...

For me, I started reading romance when I was bored the day before Valentine's 15 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I don't know why I enjoy reading romance so much. I've tried reading sci fi/fantasy, but they miss something important. What that quality is, I have no clue.

There is just something between the covers of a romance book that calls to something inside me. They also help to quiet my head to where I don't have self-doubts and the like about certain things in my life.

I've even found that if I go too long without reading a romance story, I start going through withdrawal. I actually get moody and then after I buy a few books, it is like a sigh is released. *smile*

So for me, I have no clue other than there is a certain quality that completes me (man that is so cheesy sounding even in my own head) that I can't find in any other genre.

Donica Covey said...

GREAT topic Becka!

Why do I write romance? I usually say I write about what I'm missing. While that's still true its not the main reason.

I write suspense. I love a good murder mystery. Trust me this is VERY cathartic for me.

I want to give the sigh factor. The on the edge of your seat. The heart pounding.I want to give people an escape from their every day life.

Yes I include romantic elements and I do have some books that are light hearted comedy and I know in this day and age that is what people need. But for me there is nothing like a good "Oh my GOD!!! CAn you belive he killed her? Can you belive it was him???

Reading? I run out of time to read. I do try to read something other than what I write it's just hard fitting in the time.

Speaking of writing--gotta run!
Huggles~
Donica

Ciara Gold said...

Ah, the innocense of puppy love. I just love knowing that no matter how bad things get for the hero and heroine, the ending will always by happy and love will prevail. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that scenerio.

Kat Hall said...

I love to read romantic suspense. I have always been into crossword puzzles, solving and finding answers. So, naturally, suspense fits in just perfect. The romance part, the two of them working together, learning to trust and fall in love with each other. I love the "who done it" books. If I cannot figure out who the bad person is before the end of the book, then it is good. So many of them, I can pick out the bad person in the first part of the book. It takes away from the thrill.

I read many genres and enjoy them but suspense is first and foremost.

Taryn Raye said...

I read and write romance for quite similar reasons. I wrote a blog at the end of August called Why Romance? that expressed my reasons for enjoying sappy love songs and reading/writing romance novels.

For a wife and stay at home mom, that romance sometimes gets lost and swallowed up in the mix of day-to-day routines and those songs and books and what I write helps me hang onto the hope that even in "normal" life, romance still exists between dirty dishes, whining fussing kids, laundry, cleaning and cooking.

I enjoyed happily-ever-afters as a little girl and I love my life, but sometimes I like to escape into a world far different from my own. "Old" love is good, but there's always room for daydreaming about HEAs.