I was recently asked this question: “Hey, do you write anything other than those love books?”
My initial reaction?
😐
My actual response was, “No, I do not.”
But I got to thinking about the question and then I was mad because there is so much more to romance novels than that.
They are not just “love books.”
They are stories about triumph, good vs. evil, relationships, beating the odds, coming of age, and many, many more themes.
They could be set in space or in the Middle Ages or in Regency England or in a completely made-up land. They could be set in your hometown or a big city everyone knows. Maybe your characters is a farm boy tapped to become the next savior of the world, or a hobbit tasked with the impossible thing of destroying a fabled ring. You know these heroes–they are the every day Joes who become the hero that we, the audience, always knew they were.
But just because it’s a “love” book doesn’t mean there isn’t more to it than that.
I could point out annual sales of romances novels total somewhere around $1.08 billion dollars. Not bad for a love book, huh? (More statistics here and here.)
My books usually have the same theme: good vs. evil, family, loyalty, honor. I love those unlikely hero stories, stories with the every day Joe who becomes the hero of the world. The little guy who turns out to be way more important than he ever thought he would be. I’m also really fond of quest stories. Pick up any of the Realm of Honor books or In the Tower of the Wizard King and you’ll see most of these recurring themes.
I write fantasy and science fiction and urban fantasy and paranormal and sometimes…sometimes…I even write a smidge of historical. I write about magic and fairies and dragons and wizards and people who fight against the wrongs of the world to make them right. I write about small towns, cities, made up lands and lands that are hidden within our own.
And yeah, I also write those love books.
