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Romance Author Roundtable
11.
AOTW: What do you think is the future trend for romance novels?
Mary Lynn Baxter: In order to keep up with the times, I see romances turning more risqué i.e. Sex and the City type stories.
Dorothy Garlock: The romance novel as we've all come to love and enjoy, such as Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights and others are being replaced by raunchy erotica published as romance. I cut down on my romance reading several years ago and now only ready a few now and then to see what's going on in the genre. I am constantly surprised and a bit disgusted with some of them. Place, time, conflict, characterization all give way to vulgar sex. The crude scenes may generate sales but should be classified as erotica. They are what is giving Romance, a bad rap.
Before I get off my soapbox I want to say that I am not a prude and do enjoy a good classy sex scene in a story, but the new trend is far too obscene for me and many of my reader friends and is in no way classy.
Julia Quinn: I wish I knew!
Gaelen Foley: I predict that in the future people will be buying more and more Gaelen Foley novels!!! How's that? [grin]. I don't really know what future trends may be. We'll have to wait and see!
Candace Camp: I think they will continue to be popular. I think they have more story elements to them than they used to; there are different sub-genres, as you mentioned. And they will probably continue to change that way; they may change in style. But people love love stories. There's something very satisfying about them.
Rachel Gibson: That's a hard question since I don't pay attention to trends. But I do hope that in the future more SF/F romances are published.
Teresa Medeiros: I hope the envelope continues to be pushed. I think readers may be wearying of the narrow focus on the Regency period and are ready for more variety in the historical field. I love hip, humorous romances, but I'd also love to see more sweeping passion in my reading --- more of a sense that the hero and heroine can't live without one another. As a reader and a writer, I crave choice. I think variety will keep the genre alive for another thirty years.
Leslie Carroll: I think it's safe to predict that there will always be a market for well-written stories with fascinating characters where love triumphs over all, but there will be a loosening of the categorical definitions of "romance." We've begun to see this happening already and I think the trend toward hybrids and more literary women's fiction can only increase readership. And maybe the trend toward broader definitions of what constitutes romance will enable writers to unleash their full creative potential as the readers expand their literary horizons.
Judith McNaught: They're going to get better and broader in scope and as they do, they'll become increasingly appealing to vast numbers of women who haven't read them in the past.
Jo Beverley: My instinct is to say, "More of the same," but meaning by that the changes that have happened in the past. Any genre is driven by writers and readers and so it has to change with the times. Romance will too, but I don't think it will ever change its essential focus and nature. It is about the human mating dance, and it is joyous and ultimately triumphant.
Carly Phillips: I wish I knew! I think the best thing about romance is the thing readers count on --- the happy ending. It's the how we get there that varies ... and I'm looking forward to seeing the shifts and trends in market over the coming years.
Shirlee Busbee: I think that the line between romance and uh, "regular" novels will become more blurred --- in fact, it's already happening. As more readers learn that the "romance" books are simply books that also happen to have a romantic element, they/the media will stop looking at them as just romances. So many readers don't realize that there is a rollicking good story involved and that the romance is only part of the book --- not the whole ball of wax. Before much is accomplished though, the publishers themselves have to quit labeling books as "romance" and locking writers into one type/formula books.
Kerrelyn Sparks: Everyone wishes they knew this. There are always rumors about what is hot at the moment. Comedy and suspense have been very popular lately. I've heard that comedy is waning, but haven't seen any evidence of it in the bookstores. I've heard that American-set historicals are not as desirable right now as British-set. But I've also heard that they're coming back. Who knows? Whatever is popular at the moment swings back and forth. I do feel confident to say that romances will continue to push the boundaries. I think fantasy will be strong, and love scenes will become increasingly hot.
Barbara Samuel: I think we'll see more and more angles on love and romance --- chick lit and mum lit and romances between older characters and romances between marrieds. But always the main focus will be on two people finding their soul mate. That's the meat of romance novels --- that deep, heartfelt desire we all feel to find Another with whom we can be ourselves, and grow, and love. Imagine if everyone in the world had that. It's something to think about, isn't it?
Christina Skye: As long as the writers stay true to their hearts, the readers will follow. Romance is so powerful at delivering stories that encourage and uplift, something that everyone is searching for right now. The challenge for romance writers is to keep growing, to keep flexing our creative muscles while expanding the strengths of the genre.
Brenda Novak: Boy, I'm not good at predicting trends. I think we'll continue to write entertaining stories and enjoy solid growth! How's that for an optimistic prediction! LOL.
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