Confessions of a Romance Author

In my opinion, the romance genre is wider and more varied than any other, as evidenced by the various labels the publishing industry has used in recent years, each of them reductive and most of them patronising. The genre encompasses ‘women’s fiction with romantic elements’ (who are they to say only women can read books based on emotional arcs instead of external action?!), the trendy new term romantasy, cowboys, mafiosi, cupcake shops, manor houses and every imaginable historical period. There’s ‘romantic comedy’ (overused because it’s slightly more socially acceptable than plain romance), romantic suspense and my personal cringe, ‘chick lit’.

Despite this wide variety, there remains a stereotype of the genre as frivolous, skinny women falling for big strong men. Lucky for me, the genre as it truly exists is much broader than the stereotype, because there are a lot of things I couldn’t write about.

First confession: I don’t own any make-up. Now I’ve tipped over into my forties, I get a bit self-conscious about it, but not enough to actually go out and buy stuff (and learn how to use it). While I do write characters putting on and wearing make-up, it’s the times when they don’t have any on that interest me more. The character of Jenn in a Taste of Italian Sunshine is definitely the type to be made-up and well put-together at all times, but the story is about her learning when to drop the mask, that it’s okay to just be herself and not always put on a face to others. That said, I have read books where make-up plays an important role and I loved them (I’m thinking Just a Boy Friend by Lucy Keeling – some scenes from that book live permanently rent-free in my mind). Women are more than just their make-up, but it’s also great for women who enjoy it. I won’t judge.

Second confession: I can’t tell Fendi from Louis Vuitton (I had to look up those two as well). I don’t know the first thing about shoes and bags and most of my clothes were bought at the supermarket because I’m there and my other clothes had holes in. If I wrote a book about fashion, I would be researching for months (and still get stuff wrong). I’d much rather learn a new language. Again, for the people who find joy in shoes and bags, I’m happy for you! I might just miss the subtleties in a book about them.

Third confession: I’m not a gourmet. This one is slightly more controversial, given the kind of books I write. Sure, I can get away with characters without make-up if they’re on the beach somewhere exotic (I hate that word, by the way – it basically just means ‘other’). I don’t need to understand the ins and outs of fashion when my characters lose their suitcases in the first couple of chapters (see a Wedding in the Sun!) But I understand that food is a huge part of the travel experience for a lot of people. Still, I’d rather find the peasant food than the Michelin star experience. My characters eat takeaway pizza out of the box (and how good is takeaway pizza out of the box in Italy??) And I’ll probably never write a book set in a cafe or a restaurant because it’s just not what captures my imagination. Again, it’s great that there are books out there about cafes and restaurants. I’m going to give you landscape, history, language and architecture instead. I hope that’s okay.

Fourth confession (and this is what made me start thinking about all of this): I’ve started work on a series about weddings and… I don’t know much about weddings! I do a huge amount of research (some in person, but mostly online) for each book, so I imagine I’ll spend a lot of time looking at photos of people’s weddings and searching for basic terms. Do I hear you ask why I decided to write this series if I’m not a wedding nerd? Because I’m writing this with my own twist (you’ll have to wait and see) to remind us that weddings aren’t only about satin ribbons, place settings and party favours, they’re about family (specifically, celebrating a new family constellation), they’re about hope and fear, love, doubt – weddings are a chance to reflect on what’s important in life (in a happy way haha). There’s also endless potential for drama, so I’m looking forward to it!

Here’s a little quote from Andreas, the love interest in the first book, as a taste of weddings à la Leonie:

The wedding nonsense made him feel restless – useless. He didn’t care if those flowers were roses or gardenias or genetically modified nuclear waste. The price tags he’d spied that day were entirely unnecessary. The fuss was stifling, claustrophobic. But…