Write Romantic Novels ...And Live on It

By Corinna Taylor

These types of novels are not the same as the historical ones that were established in the period of the regency. They are usually shorter, usually paying attention to the society of the regency and dialogue around action and sex (although Mary Balogh and other authors have introduced sex in this genre) it can be said that these romances should Much to authors as I arrived Georgette Heyer (one of the favorite writers of the SF, author of Lois McMaster Bujold) also to Jane Austen. In spite of everything, the regency of today does not have to be a sitcom. This subgenre can deal with distressed characters, discovering the importance of family life, with heroines forced to sexual abuse, protagonists or women heroines forced to become prostitutes (Mary Balogh, The Secret Pearl). Some writers began writing these types of novels before entering historical romance.

Notable names in this genre, especially the humorous regency are Emma Jensen, Barbara Metzger, Diane Farr, Marion Chesney and Kasey Michaels. Notable authors of more serious regencies include Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, Joan Wolf, Patricia Oliver, Mary Jo Putney, Alison Lane, Elisabeth Fairchild and Jo Beverley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Aug 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667411132

Corinna Taylor

Hija de padre británico y madre española, pasó la mayor parte de su vida viviendo entre Reino Unido y España. Su primera gran debilidad es la literatura y la segunda, viajar. Siempre le apasionaron las relaciones de pareja, recrearlas, descifrarlas, idealizarlas... es creadora del subgénero Déjà vu, y además, se encuentra súper a gusto escribiendo comedias románticas contemporáneas. Hoy compagina su trabajo de profesora y psicóloga con la escritura, y también, los viajes, por supuesto. English Daughter of British parents, her first great passion is to write and the second to travel. He always liked to create romantic adventures, these made him move to other places, at other times. Today she combines her work as a teacher with writing, and also with travel, of course.

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Part 1

Write romantic novels

1.1 The romantic novel

Romantic novels are a literary genre developed for centuries, despite their age the authors have known how to evolve so that it does not lose its validity, popularity and consequently that ability to attract millions of readers around the world. Thanks to this same evolution, different subgenres have emerged such as contemporary romance and some as different as paranormal and fantasy romance, where love and romance continues to be the focus of the stories.

If you are one of those people who find in this genre, stories with which they identify and manage to catch them, this chapter is for you. We invite you to read it and discover all the secrets and also some history about romantic novels or roses as they are also known.

The origins of the romantic genre date back to the beginning of the 20th century, when the first love novels in England are published, in which the analysis of feelings inspired by Jane Austen's model is combined with a historical environment and a touch of mystery . The progenitors of romance are Georgette Heyer and Constance Heaven, but it is Barbara Cartland, with her seven hundred and thirty novels, which achieves the greatest success in public and codifies the recurring patterns of the genre: a beautiful and virtuous protagonist who falls in love with a handsome man , rich and noble.

In the same years, the romantic novel extends to France thanks to Jeanne-Marie Petitjean de la Rosière and her brother Frederick, who, under the pseudonym of Delly, give rise to the pink reef of the French narrative.

After Cartland's success, the romantic genre arrives in the United States, where publishers profile their commercial potential, to such an extent that Harlequin, the first specialized publisher, was born in the 1950s.

Characteristics of the romantic novel

The romantic novel, also called romance, is a fairly conservative literary genre, in which the public, composed mostly of women, does not seek novelty, but instead expects to find 5 recurring elements.

Recurring elements of romantic novels

1) Love as a central theme

Love vincit omnia. The central theme of a romantic novel is the love story between the two protagonists. It may be an opposite love, denied, hidden, forbidden, forgotten, rediscovered, but it must be love. Everything else revolves around this hinge.

2) A simple plot

If in other literary genres the authors strive to endow readers with intricate plots, international intrigues, complicated family genealogies and elaborate twists, in the romantic novel the plot is simple . Readers do not want to have to remember what happened on page 35 to understand who is stealing the encrypted file on page 273. Readers want to immerse themselves in a simple story, in which it is easy to identify each other and that you can continue without needing take notes. 

Reading a romance is above all leisure and lightness . 

3) A dream setting

History, or at least part of it, must be established in an unusual and exotic place , far from the ordinary and above all, luxurious and exclusive . Reading a story set in an anonymous city in the province where the protagonist has to perform all daily tasks has never made anyone dream.  

4) Wealth of details

Someone said ... the devil is in the details.

To compensate for the simplicity of the plot, the romantic novel loves descriptions and focuses on details . The details in the environments, in the dress, in the physical and character descriptions are what the readers are looking for and what allows them to fully imagine the story in their heads. The details make a story likely and, therefore, facilitate identification.   

5) A happy ending

And they lived happily ever after.

The happy ending in the romance novel is inevitable , a certainty for the readers who choose this genre, also and for this reason. Because, at least in the books, love triumphs over everything. 

The romantic genre today

What is understood as a romance novel?

The same romantic novel explanation is cause for discussion. Diolch is convinced that in order to consider a literary work as romantic, the plot has to focus on the two protagonists, the couple and it must have a happy ending. Amorós think that the romantic novel tells a romance and belongs to this genre when the love story is predominant in the face of sexual or erotic relationships.

Evolution and history of the genre of romantic novels

This genre, as we know it today originated in the 70s, from long and extensive publications, as in previous times, and shorter and easily read works, these are known in the literary field as one-title novels. The first time a work of this nature was published was in 1972 by Kathleen Woodiwiss, with the novel The Flame and the Flower.

These types of works became famous and during the 80s there was a great production and flowering, becoming known throughout the world, especially in the West. This great popularity led to the emergence of many categories or subgenres, the majority already known and others appeared thanks to the adaptation to current tastes, growing and extending the limits on the stories they presented, characters and the genre itself.

At present, the taste for the romantic genre is very high in Europe, Oceania and throughout America. According to statistics, more than 55% of total readers identify with these types of stories and feel pleased by them. To such an extent is the success that many copies are translated into more than 90 different languages, no matter whether they are paranormal romantic novels or historical romances, passion never decreases.

Writers of all regions

It is thought that the vast majority, almost all the works of the romantic genre are the result of authors from Anglo-Saxon countries, who speak English; But today it makes no sense to say this. Although in principle, the development of this type of novels was under the English language, from the following decades the genre was expanding to all countries of the world.

The authors of different places grow day by day and do not stop developing stories in the romantic genre. We no longer only find great successes among North American and European authors, it is more usual to find talents in other places or latitudes, which manage to recreate amazing and unique plots.

For example, Venezuela, cradle of great and famous romantic novel writers of great fame in Latin America. These, develop texts not only of the colonial era, or political, or historical; they also create fantastic stories or paranormal romantic novels, there are all varieties and styles, including writers who write n novels with a lot of mystery and unrepeatable characters finding themselves in a plot of love and romance.

The great change of the covers

The covers have had a great transformation from the point of romantic. They have become suggestive, elegant, less explicit designs. In previous decades the images of Scots proliferated (which had great success), men who showed their bare chest or women who appeared with a submissive image (in certain cases, even with slap, something unthinkable today).

Before the covers were lined to hide those scenes that until recently were protagonists of those novels. The covers of today are not explicit, they usually have a lot of black background, details like a tie, a flower or an apple. They no longer make their readers feel ashamed when they go on the subway.

There are great writers of great success like Megan Maxwell, whose trilogy Ask me what you want has become a phenomenon of sales, although it had been writing romantic history for years until it finally succeeded.

Another example is Noe Casado (In your arms) who always wrote erotic romantic, let's not forget the successful Jodi Ellen Malpas (Seduce me). MC Andrews (Everyday), Mariel Ruggieri (Surrender) or Silvia Day (The heat of the night), we can say that it is a genre of great health in Spain, despite the confusion that can create us seeing Anglo-Saxon names, the pseudonyms with which they sign their authors, we find many writers, almost none use their real name, only a few like Marta de Andrés, Loles López or Noe Casado. The classics of this genre are still Victoria Holt, Julia London, Danielle Steel or Corín Tellado.

Perhaps it is because of inertia the fact that they all sign with Anglo-Saxon names, since in the beginning the genre began in these countries, the fact is that they enjoy a lot of success by awarding an English pseudonym, perhaps it makes us dream more.

There are some novels that do not end well, which is novel because it contradicts one of the fundamental requirements of this genre, an ending that is not happy is not contemplated by most publishers as a romance genre novel, except that there are A second part. The two golden norms of the romantic novel are the happy ending and that the story revolves around love. It can have paranormal or mysterious touches, but all this is accessory, the important thing is the romantic story.

The role of women, the other key

The covers have not been the only ones that have changed, there have been other modifications that explain the great success of the romantic woman and the role she plays in society. Today's female characters are strong, independent, sometimes they are the saviors of man. Merche Diolch is the author of romantic novels and created the romantic novel meeting held in Madrid in 2014, in which they were editors and first-line authors such as Jodi Ellen Malpas. This was one of the most acclaimed in the field of the erotic novel, of a subgenre of the romantic.

As for the authors, it is still a territory of women, there are few men who sign this type of novels in collections with the romantic label (in the same way as in their readings); Some male authors became more successful when they signed with a female pseudonym.

Some experts think that man does not write with the same sensitivity as they do in this field, there are even those who say that they tend to tend more to pornography. CJ Benito said Many girls publicly refused to read me for being a man, no publisher opted for me until Dolce Books arrived; As we can see, it is due to a stereotype established strongly, preventing men from having their plot in this literary field.

The present in romantic novels

As we well know the current landscape has changed a lot for the genre of love novels. It is increasingly common for them to be framed not in times past but now. The romantic comedy that takes place in the present, the chick-lit or even the romances starring vampires, triumphs, although these are already in decline.

What predominates are stories that allow evasion, with an anchor point in reality, in the chick-lit we have millionaires and millionaires in an unattainable environment for the vast majority. That is why the present touches strongly in the romantic genre, including romantic novels about the crisis like Noelia Amarillo, in Stay by my side, the protagonist is a beggar to look for work, in the end it is women who save him . What does not change is the love story, a fundamental thing in this trend that is inclined to smile, fun and romantic comedy.

Development of different types of subgenres

In this popular genre, because it has had great growth and expansion, many subgenres have emerged that develop different themes each with its own style. Romantic subgenres are the main reason why novels and books with love stories keep their health intact today, causing some classic stories to be renewed.

Let's see what are the most important genres that exist in the romantic novel scene.

Historical romance

Historical romance is still very popular among many readers. It is a subgenre that adapts a lot and can develop stories in different places and times, so there are no restrictions, although one of the most famous among readers of historical romances are the novels that take place in the middle ages, the Victorian era or the American Civil War, to name a few.

Despite this, it must be made clear that they are not stories about history, they are love plots, some with humorous touches and some elements of historical content. In short, novels with lots of adventure, love and fun.

We can subdivide it according to the setting: hills, Scotland, medieval, western, Arabs, Vikings, classical Greece, etc. Some authors who work it are Suzanne Barclay, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Garwood, Ana Iturgaiz.

Subgenus SEAL (Sea, Air and Land)

It is also known as military romance. It is characterized by its military characters (the male protagonist always, she sometimes), but we should not confuse it with war novels. The stories almost always unfold around secret missions that are resolved with the salvation of the protagonists' honor. We have some authors like Suzanne Brockmann, Dee Henderson, Lindsay McKenna ...

Chick lit

Chick lit is the English expression that defines a literary genre that emerged in the 1990s and is represented by especially British and American writers, which are aimed primarily at an audience of young, single and professional women . To this genre belong many of the international bestsellers from the nineties onwards.

Name's origin

In American jargon, chick is an informal term for girl derived from chicken (chick); lit is the abbreviation for literature (literature). The expression came into common use around 2000.

characteristics

By presenting some elements in common with the traditional romantic novel, the chick-lit novel tends to be humorous and postfeminist in its representation of life and sentimental relationships . The protagonists are usually dynamic and fashionable women , aged between twenty and forty , who live in large cities (for example, London or Manhattan) and work in sectors such as advertising, marketing, finance or fashion . The narrative style tends to be irreverent even (or especially) in sentimental and sexual subjects.      

Main works

Jane Austen and Anita Loos could be considered precursors of the chick lit; The influence of his production is perceived in many works of this type, and some authors have explicitly declared their debt with novels such as Emma or Pride and prejudice. The latter is repeated in what is considered the progenitor of the chick lit, Bridget Jones's diary of Helen Fielding, world best-seller, used as the subject of an equally fortunate film. Shortly after the publication of Bridget Jones, the television series Sex and the City (Sex in the City) was very successful, based on the novel by Candace Bushnell, another classic in the genre.

Both Bridget Jones and Sex and the City were initially published as serial stories in newspapers such as the New York Observer and the Daily Telegraph, and later became a novel given the great public interest. The first chick lit opera conceived from the beginning as a novel was probably a hunting and fishing manual for girls by Melissa Bank. The success achieved by Fielding, Bushnell and Bank was such that it resulted in one of the most prolific and profitable literary genres of recent decades. Among the most successful multifaceted novels we can mention I Love Shopping by Sophie Kinsella and El diablo wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. 

Writers related to chick-lit

Nancy Mitford is the main precursor of this genre. In his funny novels he recreated the adventures of her and her sisters, all famous people of English social life of the first half of the twentieth century. His main works are The hunt for love, Love in cold weather, Blessing and Do not tell Alfred.

Marian Keyes, considered the queen of the genre and one of the most appreciated by the readers of the genre. Some of his works are Lucy Sullivan marries, who has told you ?, By the hair or is anyone out there ?.

Helen Fielding, creator of The Bridget Jones Diary. He has also written Rich and Famous in Nambula and The Uncontrolled Imagination of Olivia Joules.

Candace Bushnell, known worldwide for having written Sex in New York, shortly thereafter brought to the small screen by Sarah Jessica Parker. Also author of Women in Manhattan and behind the catwalk.

Meg Cabot has in its repertoire both chick-lit novels and romantic novels, the latter signed with the pseudonym of Patricia Cabot, including The boy next door, When I tripped over you, I have done it again, or The princess's diary, which He has been taken to the cinema with the name of Princess by surprise.

Sophie Kinsella, writer of the Crazy for Shopping series, has also published Queen of the House and you will not believe it. Sophie Kinsella is the pseudonym of Madeleine Wickham, author of novels like How are we going to sleep? o Cups for three.

Plum Skyes, editor of Vogue that has achieved great success with only two published novels: The Blondes of 5th Avenue and A for all, where the adventures of the most in nicks in New York are told.

Lauren Weisberger became known in the wake of The Devil Wears Prada, based on her own experience with Anna Wintour. He has also written How to be the most in New York. He has also published Chasing Harry Winston, which has not yet been translated into Spanish.

Emily Giffin, with her bomb-proof works, can I