Romance where the love-interest dies?

Well said again, Twick and Amergina both. If we do anything else, we're quibbling over the tin-can "romance" and what it means to the important party: the reader.

The #1 thing most (romance) readers want is not to think they are buying one thing, and find out they have been sold something different. So genre-identification is not a quibble.

I am chiming in to agree with the fact that genres do indeed have criteria that a book must follow to be considered that genre. That's how it works. If a book does not meet major criteria of a genre, then it shouldn't be labeled as such unless the writer realizes they will get comments about how it doesn't fit the category it's been labeled. As others have mentioned, this goes for all genres, not only romance.

That said, writers have books with fluid genres and more than one genre all the time. It can make a book harder to market, but it can certainly be done. OP- write the story you wish to write. Your idea would easily be marketable as women's fiction, historical fiction, or drama. It can be a romantic story without being a romance, and that's all right. Koontz has romantic themes is most of his books, for example, but he doesn't try to market them as romances.

I just had to share an amusing little mental scene I've been enjoying thanks to this thread.

Young Chef: I'm catering a party, and I think I'll serve hot wings for the "dessert" course.

Older Chef: I do enjoy hot wings, and your recipe is wonderful, but um, hot wings aren't a dessert.

Young Chef: The dessert is the last course, so if I serve the hot wings last, then perforce they ARE a dessert.

Older Chef: But there's more to the definition of a dessert than just appearing last. People generally expect desserts to be sweet, and hot wings are well... hot.

Young Chef: Ugh. That's so confining. Who made up these rules that dessert has to be sweet? There can be salty desserts, or savory desserts.

Older Chef: I suppose... but if you call it a "dessert," the guests are going to have certain expectations, and if you don't meet those expectations, you probably won't get too many future catering gigs. The wise choice is to choose a different label for your hot wings. Serve them first and call them an appetizer. Serve them somewhere in the middle and call them the nth course. Something like that. There's no rule that says you have to serve dessert, and if you don't have a dish that would count as dessert, skip it completely.

Young Chef: These plebian guests just don't understand the artistry of my vision. How dare they complain about my delicious hot wings?

Older Chef:

Now I want hot wings.

And dessert.

So say we all! Can I expect their delivery before, say, 7:30 CDT?

Marian Perera said:

I wonder if people who sneer at HEAs in romance also despise mysteries because those always end with the murderer's identity being revealed.

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Ditto

I don't write romance. I READ romance, but I don't write it because I don't find myself focusing on the love interest as a driving plot point. I love including romantic subplots in my books, but I totally understand that's different from writing a romance.

No one is saying that there is no place for tragic romantic stories. No one is saying "don't kill the love interest at the end."

However, as a reader of romance, if I pick up a book in the romance aisle, I have two expectations:
1) The ROMANCE is the primary plot element. Sure, there may be suspense or mystery or adventure or fantasy, but a major plot point is "How will these two crazy kids get together."
2) These two crazy kids WILL GET TOGETHER and be happy at the end of the book.

If you write a story where the romance is secondary to the main plot, or the MCs do NOT end up together for whatever reason (death, disinterest, time displacement, etc.), it is not a romance. By all means, write what you want to write, but MARKET IT appropriately. It's historical fiction, or fantasy, or women's fiction, or mystery or suspense with strong romantic elements.

There is plenty of room on the bookshelves for all types of books. There is no place for snobbery and denigration of certain genres. Anyone who thinks otherwise should really just get over themselves.

Oh, and once more thing, I find that consulting real romance writers on my romantic subplots is very helpful. Even though I don't write romance, I read this forum regularly and pick up tons of ideas. Romance doesn't have to be your primary focus to benefit from the experience and talent of people who make it their business to know these things.

I think a lot of people just assume relationship stuff = romance novel, and when told you have to have a HEA in a romance novel they hear "You can't write anything other than that in your book." Sure you can! Look at the megasales of Nicholas Sparks and older works like Love Story. But you won't find them shelved under "Romance Novels."

If you want to sell a sausage on a bun, go right a head. Just don't try to market it as a hamburger.

Tophert said:

As far as I can see, the entire lot of them write for sexually frustrated housewives who want a Hollywood ending. Personally, I like something a little more grown up and challenging.

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My attention was caught by the sweeping generalization. The entire lot of romance novels? Really? That's neither grown up nor challenging. Rather the reverse. That kind of black-and-white oversimplification cannot handle any shades of gray, let alone 50 of them.

Twick spake thusly:

That's not so much snobbery poking its head out from under the blankets as snobbery throwing back the covers, leaping out of bed in glorious nudity and doing a series of high kicks to make sure everyone can see the goods.

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I do love a well-written sentence

Confession: Yes, I did write a Harlequin romance. I learned a lot doing so. No regrets.

Evelyn_Alexie said:

Confession: Yes, I did write a Harlequin romance. I learned a lot doing so. No regrets.

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In the 70s and 80s, my cousin wrote for Harlequin and Silhouette. She had 3 pseudonyms, published multiple books a year, and had work translated into numerous languages. Hers was a serious career for which she worked incredibly hard.

I have emphatic feelings about people who are snobs about romance.

lizmonster said:

In the 70s and 80s, my cousin wrote for Harlequin and Silhouette. She had 3 pseudonyms, published multiple books a year, and had work translated into numerous languages. Hers was a serious career for which she worked incredibly hard.

I have emphatic feelings about people who are snobs about romance.

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Absolutely. I hope my comment did not come across as snobbish. I meant it to indicate my own bias toward category romance. Perhaps I should've written 'disclaimer' not 'confession.' (Note to self: more coffee before posting )

Evelyn_Alexie said:

Absolutely. I hope my comment did not come across as snobbish. I meant it to indicate my own bias toward category romance. Perhaps I should've written 'disclaimer' not 'confession.' (Note to self: more coffee before posting )

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Oh, you were fine. I was having flashbacks to That Earlier Post to which you responded.

She wrote some gorgeous love stories, and she was quite clear-eyed and practical about her work. Wish she was still around (for many reasons) - I suspect she could teach me a thing or two about dealing with the publishing industry in general.

Wow I had no idea that's why I like romance....I'm a sexually frustrated housewife. I'm glad the newbie cleared that up for me.
ps. I have no problem writing for housewives because damn it they deserve a good romance! Nothing like reading a hot steamy love scene while leaning against the washing machine during the spin cycle I'm no longer a stay at home mom, but I tried it and my hats off to the women who stay home!

So not bad getting insulted because you may be a housewife and you read romance where there is a happy ending and what if your a housewife who writes sappy happy ending romance, double dig! Shit I better make sure my romance is a tragedy so it will be more grown up.

Here's a tip, many people read more than one genre! I love a good romance, a good horror, women's lit, mystery etc. But even if you only exclusively read romance that doesn't make you immature. Now that my feathers are no longer ruffled I'll be leaving this thread.

lizmonster said:

Now I want hot wings.

And dessert.

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You beat me to it. And if I go to a catered dinner with no dessert (and yes, dessert must be sweet), my expectations will be dashed. Even a fruit salad is pushing it dessert wise, imo, though it is within the letter of the law.