2004 Romance Author Roundtable

11. AOTW: What do you think is the future trend for romance novels?

Lisa Jackson: I think the sky's wide open. Romance novels will evolve --- look what's happening today with chick lit, romantic suspense and adventure. I'm not certain the same kind of books we grew up on will sustain, but there will be fresh new kinds in their places. As long as there are women and men, there will be romance and an interest in romance novels.

Lisa Kleypas: I'm guessing there will be continued diversity, more experimentation, and lots more sensuality. And although humor will always be loved and welcomed, I think readers want depth and strong emotion in their love stories, so that will be making more of a comeback.

Jane Feather: I would like to think the genre would expand more into the mainstream. Maybe allow for a little more variety than the classic one-couple romance leading to a happy-ever-after ending.

Laura Lee Guhrke: I think historical romances set in America will come back strong --- westerns, yes, but also other settings, and later time periods. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, historical romances set in the twentieth century will start to gain in popularity. As to contemporaries, I think we might see more poignant stories coming back. The pendulum is always swinging. We'll see.

Nicole Jordan: Wouldn't it be great to have a crystal ball? I'd say the historical market has been on a downward slide for a number of years now, while single-title contemporaries have grown in popularity. And a lot of well-known authors have moved to romantic suspense. I suspect the romance genre will continue to expand its reader base with the rise of subgenres such as chick lit and lady lit. But at the core, readers will still want stories of love and relationships between great characters.

Linda Francis Lee: I think we are slowly moving back into a more emotional place. I used to write intense and somewhat dark, emotional historicals. After 9/11 I just couldn't go there. Maybe that's because I live in Manhattan, but I needed more light in my life. I wanted to laugh, and when I cried I wanted it to be because of a wonderful sense of poignancy, not because of darkness in a character's life. Now I think there's once again room for a broad spectrum of emotion that many of us haven't wanted to read for a while. I'm not sure that I'll ever go back to the dark books as a writer, but I see how in general we all are opening up again. I'm glad to see it.

Linda Lael Miller: I think the genre will continue to evolve and mature. For example, as baby boomers have begun to age, we've seen older heroines, and I think this trend will continue. In our stories, we are already seeing women grappling with the struggles of today's society --- single parenthood, etc. The stories reflect where women are right now --- as opposed to, for instance, the '60s, when it was considered admirable to be wildly co-dependent. The books reflected that. I guess the stories are mirrors of the time --- as in every other genre.

Beverly Jenkins: Now that publishers are recognizing the buying power of the African-American reader, I'm hoping we'll see more quality African-American romances being published by more houses.

Stephanie Bond: Trends are hard to forecast, but I predict that more subgenres will emerge, and I foresee changes in the packaging of romance, with more emphasis on branding a look for an author versus selling a generic "romantic" look. I also predict that romantic suspense novels and historical romances will surpass contemporary romances in the trade paperback format.

Cherry Adair: I see the market continuing to expand. Things come in cycles. Right now chick lit is popular, and so is the kick butt heroine. Fads are fine and the various subgenres will come and go, but the bottom line will always be a good story, well told.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips: Lines will continue to blur, not only because romance writers keep pushing the boundaries, but because writers in other genres know a good thing when they see it and are incorporating more romance into their books.

Susan Crandall: From what I've seen, I think romance novels are just going to keep getting stronger. It's a competitive market, and that makes everyone strive to put the best book out there. People (including men!) have always wanted to follow good characters to a happy ending (even if they won't admit it out loud) --- I can't see that changing. Unless . . . maybe we can get them to admit it out loud.

Karen Rose: More new stories, more new ideas, greater variety and diversity in the tales themselves. We're an imaginative bunch of writers. and I've never met a romance author who hasn't believed the sky was truly the limit.

Judi McCoy: Romance authors continue to 'push the envelope.' No topic is taboo, which is great. I truly believe we break rules and make trends much more often than we follow them.

Kimberly Raye: If I knew the future trend for romance, I'd be publishing novels instead of writing them! Truthfully, I don't have a clue, but I predict that the industry will continue to thrive. How fiercely, I can't say. A lot depends on the new generation coming up and how well society cultivates their love of reading. I think the industry could be even bigger than it is now with some effective marketing and promotion. But that's up to publishers and I'm anxious to see if they rise to the challenge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Mary Balogh: Since I do not read much romance, I really have no idea here.

Jill Marie Landis: I really have no idea. I don't get out much.