I was thinking back to the authors I read when I first started reading romance. I was one of those folks who found an author and glommed on, reading everything the author ever wrote. Still do that, actually. Now that I write for a living, I can see that I learned certain writing truths (can’t think of another word, so I’m going with that one) from these romance authors.

Here’s my sample list:

-From Julie Garwood - That romance novels could tackle tough subjects and never lose their sense of humor.

-From Nora Roberts - That romance heroines could be strong, complicated and real. While 19 year-old virgins were fabulous and all, the heroines I read in Nora’s books were much more relatable and real-life.

-From Lori Foster - That romance novels could be sexy and family-oriented. Her use of related characters reeled me in and kept me reading.

-From Jayne Ann Krentz - That romance heroines did not have to be model beautiful. Krentz’s heroines tend to be practical librarians and not buxom beauties who focus on external stuff. While some authors played up the whole she’s-stunning-and-doesn’t-even-know-it crap, Krentz was writing about women who were beautiful from the inside out, even if they did not meet the objective criteria used by society in judging these things.

-From Susan Elizabeth Phillips - That humor can be smart and does not have to rely on slapstick.

-From Linda Howard - That alpha heroes are the best.

I’ve learned more from other authors over the years, but these are the romance authors I read first. I’m grateful for what they showed me and the enjoyment they gave me…and continue to give me.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 10:26 am and is filed under About Authors, About Me, About Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.