I spent the last few days in Palm Springs at this awesome hotel called The Parker. The place was fantastic, but the point of my trip was work…well, sort of. I spoke to the MFA candidates at UC Riverside. They were a terrific group – smart, attentive, curious and respectful. The talk went well mostly because they were such a great audience. Elizabeth Crane, author and UCR professor, did the introduction and then hung around to hear me talk.
Here are some of the points of my talk:
1. genre/popular fiction is important and serves a purpose
2. popular fiction makes a promise to the reader, and the author’s job is to deliver on that promise while writing strong fiction
3. the promise of romance is a satisfying ending (sometimes that’s a happily ever after) that allows the reader to imagine a future where the hero and heroine enjoy a rich and happy life together
4. romance readers are loyal and buy lots of books and should be respected
5. smart authors should court romance readers
6. the external and internal conflicts in a romance have nothing to do with romance – ie, the heroine is not out there hunting a man and that’s all she’s about – no!
7. writing sex is hard if it’s done well
8. writers write
9. if you want to be a millionaire this might not be the right career path
10. I have no idea what “women’s fiction” actually is but it emcompasses a lot and all of it deserves attention
On a side note, if you’re thinking about an MFA program but can’t really afford to take two years off to attend a traditional program, consider UCR’s low-residency program. The ever fabulous Tod Goldberg runs it and the instructors are really impressive.
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