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Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Genre » Page 3

Genre

The Joy of the Love Story

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 5, 2015
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Sometimes readers will tell me they don’t understand why anyone would enjoy genre romance novels. Sometimes they’ll even grimace and shudder. I can tell you a couple of reasons why these are such great books:

They Make Sense

Some books don’t make sense. If you read book reviews, you’ll see that a plot not making sense is a frequent complaint. As for everything making sense, perhaps my faith (or personality) helps me not to be bothered when, “things don’t make sense,” whereas others (even other devout Christians) may tend to ponder these issues. I’d rather fry an egg than worry whether the chicken or egg came first. (I think Genesis answers that question anyway.) So I give authors a wide berth here, although I do appreciate loose ends being tied up. For example, don’t leave me hanging on a big issue with a character you’ve made me care about unless all is revealed in a subsequent book.

In a genre romance novel, the hero and heroine must overcome both internal and external conflicts that are in the way of their romance. The way they overcome these conflicts needs to make sense to the reader. The reader may be struggling with similar conflicts and, through fiction, can see one way of coping. Or the reader may just be looking for an inspiring story where conflict is overcome and all is right with the world. Either way, everyone wins.

The Endings Are Always Happy

Years ago I watched a movie with extended family and couldn’t believe when criminals got away with a large sum of stolen money. My father-in-law, a pastor, joked, “They’re going to give it to the church.” He knew I’d like that thought. Because of my moral compass, criminals freely riding off into the sunset was an ending I didn’t like.

I don’t often read novels where all ends badly. That doesn’t mean others can’t or shouldn’t enjoy these books; they just don’t usually appeal to me. Readers of genre romance know they’ll be getting a happy ending. This is the contract the author makes with the reader. Some people criticize the genre for not being realistic because not all love stories end well, but that’s not what the genre purports to accomplish. Do you want stories of love gone terribly astray? Take your pick of celebrity tabloids. Do you want stories of Christians seeking God’s will for their lives? Read Christian romance. Just sayin’.

Whatever you enjoy, happy reading!

Your turn:

What are some other good reasons to read romance novels?

What are good reasons to read Christian romance in particular?

What Christian romance author and/or novel would you recommend?

Leave a Comment
Category: Genre, RomanceTag: Genre, Romance

Fiction: Contemporary or Historical?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 16, 2015
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Recently I noted an article in a prestigious publishing journal that says readers are looking for more fiction. I hope the article is right! To narrow this down, we can look to historical versus contemporary, since many authors write both. To clarify, for the purposes of this blog, I am limiting my discussion to traditional CBA trade book fare of strong stories heavy on romance. I am not …

Read moreFiction: Contemporary or Historical?
Category: Career, Craft, Creativity, Genre, Get Published, Romance, TrendsTag: Contemporary Fiction, Genre, Historical Fiction

Does Genre Matter?

By Steve Laubeon June 29, 2015
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Earlier this month two literary heavyweights discussed the issue of “Genre” and whether or not it should exist in its current form. Read Neil Gaiman and Kazuo Ishiguro’s discussion in the New Statesman. It all started because Ishiguro’s new novel Buried Giant is not presented as a Fantasy novel despite having a number of elements in it that would brand it as a Fantasy (like ogres). The argument is …

Read moreDoes Genre Matter?
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Branding, Genre, PlatformTag: Branding, Genre

Watching History

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 15, 2015
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Over the holidays, my husband and I viewed an epic series about the life of St. Teresa de Jesus, filmed in Spanish, though English subtitles were provided. For eight hours, we were taken back to the 1500s in Spain. As a writer of historical novels, I’ve researched many eras. However, being immersed in an era for such a length of time brought to life many facts: 1.) Even in the best of …

Read moreWatching History
Category: Genre, Writing CraftTag: Genre, Historical, Research

Writer, Know Thyself!

By Karen Ballon August 13, 2014
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I recently spent four days with a wonderful group of writers. We meet every year to pray together, brainstorm each other’s books, and laugh uproariously. I always come home feeling like I’ve had a major ab workout from all the laughter! In the course of our discussions, I realized that with publishing changing in so many ways, writers can sometimes lose their focus on what they’re really …

Read moreWriter, Know Thyself!
Category: Branding, Craft, Creativity, Genre, Writing CraftTag: Branding, Craft, Genre

Test Your Genre Skills!

By Karen Ballon July 16, 2014
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Today feels like a writing day, so let’s try an exercise together. Write a scene, up to 150 words (no more!), about making a sandwich, but do so in a way that makes the genre clear. I’ll go first. Guess the genre: Almond butter. She hugged herself. Oh, he loved almond butter. But not just any almond butter. He loved the organic kind, the kind that had one ingredient: almonds. It wouldn’t take her …

Read moreTest Your Genre Skills!
Category: GenreTag: Genre, Writing Craft

Rooting for the Bad Guy?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 13, 2014
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Last week I blogged about amoral protagonists. But what about protagonists who are unquestionably immoral?

Some general market books make their readers root for the bad guy. Think about accounts of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, written from their points of view. Or a book written primarily from the point of view of a courtesan, such as Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement. These books set the …

Read moreRooting for the Bad Guy?
Category: Craft, Creativity, Genre, Tamela, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Genre, Protagonists

Why I Read Romance Novels

By Karen Ballon February 12, 2014
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Valentine’s Day is on its way, and that got me to thinking about that four-letter word we all use with impunity:

LOVE.

What a powerful word, one so full of meaning I could write a dozen blogs about it and still not exhaust the depth and breadth of all it entails. I’m grateful for love. For God’s love. For my hubby’s love. For my family’s love. For my doggies’ love. Love has blessed me more …

Read moreWhy I Read Romance Novels
Category: Craft, Creativity, Genre, Karen, Romance, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Genre, Romance

The Moral Protagonist: A Key Difference

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 6, 2014
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This is entirely an opinion, but in my reading of general market fiction versus Christian fiction, I have noticed one key difference:
The protagonists don't have to be moral.
In Christian fiction, the protagonists must be moral or have a great desire to be moral at their core, even though they may make mistakes.

Christian fiction offers a Christian world view.  The characters' circumstances …

Read moreThe Moral Protagonist: A Key Difference
Category: Craft, Creativity, Genre, Romance, Tamela, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Genre, Moral, Protagonists

Genre Hopping

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 3, 2013
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An author recently posed a question to us through our question button (in the right column on the blog page). We like when authors do this, so please feel free to use the button!

While everyone's situation is different, the elements of the question are relevant to many so I'm addressing those today.
I have a question about genre hopping. I have a non-fiction book geared for parents of teens …

Read moreGenre Hopping
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Genre, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: Career, Genre, Writing Craft
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