Reality Romance

My guest today is author Kathy Clark who has a great idea for reading and writing romance.

Is that book you just downloaded to your ebook reader or stuff into your carry-on for your next plane trip a romance, fantasy, suspense, or maybe erotica? Those are broad "genres" that publishers have established to categorize books. But what if a book crosses genres or isn't easily defined?

Real life romance doesn't fit into a genre. Almost everyone's everyday activities include romance, fantasy, suspense, and, yes, even erotica.  It's always been difficult to categorize my books because they, like real life, have elements of several genres. That inability to classify them has made publishers nervous because their bean counters like things in neat columns and rows. Just as people aren't one-dimensional, neither are my books.

So, as my husband, Bob, and I were brainstorming on our wine deck, we came up with a new classification, one that crosses the boundaries while reflecting the real world.  It’s called Reality Romance.  Not everyone falls in love with a billionaire or shape shifts into a dragon or sparkles in the sunshine.  But all of us know a gorgeous hunk that happens to be a firefighter, a cop, a soldier, a teacher, or some other normal occupation.  These people are complex, interesting, mysterious, sexy, dangerous, fun, intelligent, and all those characteristics that make wonderful characters in our new genre.
They are real people, living real lives, but with a twist. They are average... until they have to become heroes, heroines, or villains. Their days are filled with suspense and mystery just like yours, but maybe they have a body in the closet or handcuffs in their nightstand. And like you they work to address their challenges and take advantage of opportunities they didn't see coming. maybe the hero or heroine aren't popping blood pressure meds and Prozac like you are, but they have failures and successes and things that raise their blood pressure and threaten their lives... and oh yeah, sometimes they have relationships that may or may not work out. This is the very core of a Reality Romance.

It has been written that reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. Romance has been defined as a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love, a well-developed story that creates a feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life for the reader. It's clear that a true romance novel crosses all those invisible boundaries publishers have set. In actuality, a good romance novel should more closely reflect real life.

Our work, over fifty books and screenplays as of the end of 2015, have several common elements regardless of the trope or genre. Our stories have been classified as contemporary romance, suspense, romantic suspense, young adult, new adult, erotica, and even historical. In actuality they are:

* Realistic, with authentic and memorable characters
* About real people caught in new or challenging situations
* Snappy dialogue and genuine feelings that make a reader want to jump inside the story to hang out with or perhaps help the characters
* Believable story lines and fluid pacing that draw characters through their challenges, opportunities and situations and leave the reader cheering for the characters' success and survival.

The hero or heroine of the story can look back on the last page of any Kathy Clark novel and think, it didn't go as planned and that's okay.

Reality romance. A story that is well told, entertaining and has the unexpected blend of suspense, mystery, thrills, erotica, fantasy, romance that everyone has in their life at one time or another...only more, only better and with a happy ending.

Find out about all these novels and all our books on our website at
http://www.loverealityromance.com and here are the links to our books.

Romantic Suspense, New Adult [Indie published]

Due Datesamzn.to/1RG22gd
Killer Dateamzn.to/1VQiH6N
Worst Date Ever amzn.to/1LUTRQY

Erotic Romance [Loose Id and Indie published]

Master Suite amzn.to/22apRTb
Fantasy Suiteamzn.to/1TAc481

Mainstream romantic suspense [Random House LLC published 3 of the 6 to date]

After Midnightamzn.to/1ZGWCYs
Cries In The Nightamzn.to/1ftgfBA
Deep Nightamzn.to/1pFZeJu
After Love amzn.to/1RTJIq6