Since it’s almost Valentine’s Day, I’ll tackle my bi-yearly topic from another angle.
Hmm. Being a writer of what I choose to call “non-traditional romance”, perhaps just to be difficult but mostly because my stories don’t fall into the traditional “norm” for CBA romance, I’ve realized that of all the genres it might just be easiest to write poorly when constructing a romance novel. I admit I read less of the genre now than when I began to write them, and from that beginning I’ve strayed noticeably from the more “proper” forms. The beautiful exception to that “norm” of old was Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love setting the legendary benchmark for an amazing story with the accompanying writing to match.
I have to chuckle every time my friend Mike Duran mentions “romance” because it is invariably coupled with the adjective “sappy”. Now I question how much romance Mike has actually read in either ABA or CBA, but the point here rests in the perception of romance writing as being gooey, too sweet, formulaic, and concluding with perfect endings. Well . . . that’s not too far from the truth with a lot of category romance. Different publishers designate whatever restrictions they prefer in certain imprints for romance, but the larger CBA publishers truly are branching out and daring to allow such amazing stories as Lisa Samson’s The Passion of Mary-Margaret which artfully and without blanching creates a story dotted with sordid situations. Kristen Heitzmann writes strong and meaningful romance for Bethany House.
The changes I’ve noticed in recent romance writing which isn’t peculiar to the genre are heroines who have whiny tendencies, immature or abandoned faith issues which never quite get beyond shallow, self-absorbed personalities, and who seem not to have a clue what men are like, what they value, or where their struggles lie, and once they have conflict with them: they seem not to care about those very things. I know I can’t handle those kinds of characters in either gender or in any story unless the writer can somehow give them a more dimensional personality to draw out my concern for them.
These characters I just described have been visible in other genres but they’re usually less conspicuous or less important in them. Romance focuses its attention on the heroine and/or protagonist so if either of them or both are flawed to the point of irreconcilable differences between them and me, I usually fall just short of hating the book.
One reason I call my “stuff” non-traditional romance is because sexual issues play an important role in all of my novels. Unless an author writes for pre-teens, it seems disingenuous to leave out the challenges of sexual attraction in a romance novel. And since the world’s view of these attractions and reactive situations contrast to God’s view on this matter, worldly conduct plays out without judgment on the pages of my novels. And this is the precise reason I always seem to quantify who my audience is and who it isn’t. I have no idea why Christians get squeamish about sex as long as it’s not graphically portrayed since it is the physical means God ordained for committed people to share and enjoy their love. The multiple obstacles to this enjoyment involve all kinds of perplexities in the human psyche from perceptions to physical assaults, so the area lends itself to meaningful story material. Characters that face romantic circumstances must face sexual issues. Worldly characters and Christian characters handle situations differently, but it can be a genuine struggle for either depending on those situations.
Nevertheless, romance often suffers from cliché, from two dimensional men and women, and from formulaic writing with little imagination or unique style. Sometimes the “clean” factor is unrealistic, but its appeal services a particular group of readers. The more blatant writing about sexual issues in romance offends a portion of this group, some even to the point of harsh criticism.
I’ve concluded romance writing is difficult to make meaningful to readers like myself. I like pop and sizzle, real characters who demonstrate their humanity and their spirituality and how they struggle with both when confronted with relationship, romance, and redemption.
Father, some days we sit atop our little mountains and other days we plunge to the rocks below. You know me, and what’s important for me. Please help me to focus on you in all things. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Into the Fire 
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