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[Repost] Welcome to my World!
PostDateIcon  March 19, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor

A few months ago, I was at a NaNoWriMo write-in, chatting with the author across from me about the king in her fantasy novel. As she described the rules of her story’s complicated world, complete with magic spells and mythical creatures, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

“Wow,” I said. “I can’t tell you how much I admire people who can write stories like that. I could never.” I found myself more than a little jealous that my instinct is to write realistic, contemporary worlds rather than the “fun” more imaginative worlds she creates.

Yet her response surprised me and immediately made me feel better:

“And I admire people who can write stories based in a realistic world. I could never do that.”

Huh. I’d never looked at it that way. I guess the grass truly is greener on the other side.

As chick lit writers, our job is to write realistic stories that women will relate to. Which means that most of the time, our stories are set in worlds without magic, kings or mythical beings. Our job is to add our own magic by injecting quirkiness, attitude and the strength of our own voices wherever we can.

And no matter now “simple” our worlds may be, our worlds have rules.

This got me thinking about my own personal world – Park Slope, Brooklyn.

I live in a brownstone that looks like every other brownstone in the neighborhood. I buy my coffee at the same place at the same time every day. I walk to the Q train every morning. I go to the park with my dog on Saturday afternoons.

Pretty boring, right?

Definitely. Until you get the details.

My brownstone? It’s old and possibly haunted. Sometimes, the ancient lace curtain on the front door moves by itself, even if there’s no breeze. Last December, the lock right next to the curtain broke and I was stuck outside until about 2 a.m. when the fire department and a hot, very sweet locksmith came to rescue me. Long story short, I got to see members of the FDNY in their boxers and t-shirts.

See, not boring.

The place where I get my coffee? The people there know I love iced coffee, only they won’t give it to me if the temperature is under 50 degrees or if they happen to feel cold. I accept it now.

But believe me. That kind of conflict? That quirkiness? Not boring.

The Q train, oh how I wish it were boring. There’s been track work going on for almost two years now. The Q is always, without fail, running late. And when it comes, it moves painfully slowly.

During the month of November alone, I had a homeless guy fall onto my lap and smash my bag of groceries, my wallet was stolen, and I had the train break down on my way to work.

That kind of torture? Not boring. And I haven’t even mentioned my fellow passengers or the double-wide luxury strollers I have to dodge just to get to the station.

My world also includes a mailman who knows my name and gets annoyed with me if I forget to collect my mail (try explaining to him that I get nothing interesting and I pay my bills online), a neighbor who has record sales on his stoop every weekend and is trying to find the album with the original cast of Annie because he knows I need it for a book, and the vet I visit more often than I’d like because my dog is severely allergic to just about everything, including (get this!) human hair.

A few months ago, I won a critique from a RITA award-winning author. The book I submitted takes place mostly in a small Greek village. That world, I built with tremendous effort and care. But the  critiquer correctly pointed out that I hadn’t put as much effort into describing the ordinary world in which my protagonist starts out. Both worlds were equally important.

Just adding a few details to the opening, like the tough jazz musician downstairs who loves his huge orange cat and keeps his eye on the building, helped tremendously.

After that conversation at the write-in, I realized what an important job world-building is, and that writing chick lit isn’t an excuse to take it lightly.

So, chick lit writers. How do you build convincing, realistic worlds that torture your protagonist and delight your readers? Do you go about it consciously, or does it just happen naturally? Do you notice the world-building (or lack thereof) in the chick lit books you read?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. You can learn more about her neighborhood, allergy-prone dog, and her affinity for locksmiths at http://melinakantor.com.

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Friday Un-inspiration
PostDateIcon  March 16, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor

Well, dear chick lit fans, I’ve realized something.

Every Friday, we here at the blog show up with the intention of helping you kick off a weekend filled with productive writing.

But, it has occurred to me that just maybe, some of you poor people are tired and just don’t feel like writing. Writing is hard and exhausting, so who are we to suggest you sit down and spend hours at it?

So here you go. 22 More Reasons to Stop Writing.

Enjoy! 😉

What are YOUR reasons not to write?

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

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Friday Writing Inspiration
PostDateIcon  March 2, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor

Hi Everyone.

Happy Friday!

It may be March, but here in Brooklyn, it’s still pretty wintry. And it seems many of us have had a tiring week.

So I thought we’d kick off the weekend with a bit of inspiration from Maeve Binchy, “The Mother of Chick Lit.”

Enjoy!

Here’s to a great weekend of writing. 🙂

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

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I Write It, But I Can’t Define It. What Is Chick-Lit?
PostDateIcon  February 29, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Shelly Bell

My name is Shelly Bell and I read and write Chick-Lit.

My friends and I began dabbling in the genre back in the early nineties, when hairspray and waterfall bangs were in style (which I never needed because I’ve always had naturally, big hair). The first Chick-Lit author I remember enjoying was Olivia Goldsmith, who is most popular for writing The First Wives Club, a movie which incidentally co-starred a friend of mine, Elizabeth Berkeley. But I digress.

I stayed up all night reading her book, Flavor of the Month. All eight hundred plus pages of it (Try and get a publisher for that these days!) I loved Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, Carrie Fisher’s Postcards from the Edge, Marian Keyes Rachel’s Holiday, Jane Green’s Jemima J, Jennifer Weiner’s Good in Bed, and Emily Giffen’s Something Borrowed. Imagine my shock when I entered the publishing world this year and learned that Chick-Lit is dead.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell my friends and me, because we still buy it, as do thousands, if not millions of readers.  Currently on the Kindle Best Sellers List, our very own Juliette Sobanet is ranked 1st on the Top 100 Free list for her book, Kissed in Paris. Sophie Kinsella’s latest, I’ve Got Your Number, is ranked 34th on the overall in the paid Kindle store and 3rd for Contemporary Romance.

While researching book trailers, I stumbled across one which immediately captured my attention. It Started With a Kiss by Miranda Dickinson. It is ranked 144,800th in the Kindle store on Amazon and 554th in the Kindle store on Amazon U.K. Whether her book sells better in the U.K. is because she’s a British writer or because they read more Chick-Lit there, is a study I believe would greatly benefit our genre.  At first glance, it appears as though Chick-Lit is more popular in the United Kingdom regardless of the writer’s country of origin.

When I wrote A Year to Remember, I didn’t give a thought to its genre. Eventually, I settled on Women’s Fiction, since at the heart of the book lays the theme of addiction. When I submitted it to agents, they classified it as Chick-Lit and politely declined (most of the time) based on the contention they’d have a difficult time selling Chick-Lit to the publishers. Then again, there’s the debate as to what exactly is Chick-Lit and how is it different from Women’s Fiction?  I’ve heard that Chick-Lit has a lighter feel, a more personal feel. I’ve also heard that while both concern women’s issues, women’s fiction only focuses on those issues which could actually occur while Chick-Lit contains situations which are unrealistic. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that one. I had a publisher asking me if my book was really Jewish Literature, since its characters are Jewish. My mother thinks it should be called Romantic Comedy. In the end, I’ve classified it as Chick-Lit/Contemporary Women’s Fiction. Although I’m thinking of creating my own genre- Jewish Contemporary Fat Chick- Lit with Romantic Elements. What do you think?

I’m reading a book called 150 Pounds, A Novel of Waists and Measures, written by Kate Rockland. I’m about halfway through and I still don’t know whether to classify it as Chick-Lit or Women’s Fiction. The websites selling books don’t help. Some will list books as General Literature, others as Contemporary Romance, others as Women’s Literature, and some as Chick-Lit. My publisher listed my book as Contemporary Romance. It does contain romance, but the point-of-view is limited to the protagonist, Sara and it does not have a traditional hero and heroine.  I do believe that unlike Women’s Fiction, Chick-Lit must have a happy ending.  In Chick-Lit, the boy and girl will get together and live happily-ever-after while in Women’s Fiction, girl will realize she’s better off without the boy.  They both have end happily but the women’s fiction is more introspective. Without giving the ending to my book away, I believe I satisfy the qualities of both Women’s Fiction and Chick-Lit.

Chick-Lit seems to be a sub-genre of Women’s Fiction, which is a more general term given to books written by women about women’s issues (We can save whether authors such as Nicholas Sparks  and Jonathan Franzen write Women’s Fiction for another blog). Of course, I’d argue that Romance is also a subgenre of Women’s Fiction.

In researching Chick-Lit on Amazon, I discovered a non-fiction book which is scheduled to release in June. The book is titled Chick Lit: The Stylistics of Cappuccino Fiction (Advanced in Stylistics) and is authored by Rocío Montoro. According to the book’s blurb,

In recent times, Chick Lit has risen to a certain level of prominence. This is the first book length study that looks into the distinctive features of this much-discussed genre.

Chick Lit is examined in relation to its linguistic peculiarities and their role as far as narrative, sociological and feminist issues are concerned, amongst others. Montoro’s stylistics includes a cognitive slant that highlights futher readerly aspects of the texts.

The approach illuminates how the genre works, and how it is set apart from others. In this respect, the stylistics of chick lit is understood in its contect of production and reception. Montoro evaluates reading processes and investigates readers’ responsive attitude to the genre.

This interdisciplinary work explores the boundaries of the stylistics of chick lit and works reflectively, looking at how exploring this genre can help the twofold aim of testing existing models of linguistic and cognitive analysis. It will be essential reading for those interested in cutting-edge stylistics.

I can’t wait to read it. I’ve contacted her to see if she would be interested in giving an overview of her findings. Until that time, I’ll define Chick-Lit like the Supreme Court of the United States defines pornography- “I know it when I see it.”

Shelly’s debut book, A Year to Remember, is currently available as an e-book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Soul Mate Publishing. In addition to RWA, she’s a member of Savvy Authors and EPIC. She indulges her reading addiction by reading Chick-Lit, women’s fiction, romance and all categories in between. 

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Review: The Language of Flowers
PostDateIcon  February 27, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Robina Grant

Thank you for inviting me to share a wonderful read. The novel, The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, touched me in so many ways. Not a romance, not quite YA, not really magical realism but with elements of all three. It was a glimpse into the foster care system and how that experience can color a youngster’s life forever. The story was for me a deep insight into what it means to have family, to be able to give and receive love, trust, forgiveness, and to embrace second chances.

Victoria is eighteen when the story opens and she is about to be emancipated by the state. She has spent her whole life in the foster care system and only once, at the age of ten, came close to adoption. She has definite self-sabotage issues and tends to withdraw, to run whenever she gets too close to overwhelming feelings that she doesn’t understand. Unconditional love is the one she has the most difficulty with, and she carries the burden of her upbringing as seen in her anger, guilt, and the overriding question of is she even capable of love.

Robena’s bougainvillea

The story is told with a strong narrative voice and the chapters alternate between Victoria’s past, as a ten year old, and her present, as an eighteen year old, and the transitions between the chapters are written with ease. In Victoria’s present situation she has three months to find a job. She chooses not to and lives for a while, homeless and sleeping in a park, where she grows and tends to plants. Later she finds work in a florist shop. In her past she sabotaged her adoption by telling a lie and has been running from her guilt ever since. At the florist shop she finds she brings happiness to customers by arranging flowers for them based on their needs. Jonquils bring desire back into a failing relationship, bougainvillea means passion, and the yellow rose means infidelity. I was pleased to find these Bougainvillea pull the necessary passion from my front windows into my office.  : )

The incorporation of the language of flowers, a symbolic language that dates back to the Victorian era, brings a magical tone to the story and is the basis of the communication in Victoria’s first romantic relationship. Like plants with roots that nourish and protect, her roots are in the flowers meaning, and caring for them awakens her nurturing, loving side.

I don’t want to give any spoilers here, but will say, while there are times in the story that you want Victoria to stop acting out, to be patient, to learn and trust, you also feel for her in these situations. You want her to be happy, yet you know there will be a long and rough road until she can learn to accept love. Toward the end of the story she learns that moss grows without roots, and that is a meaningful passage in so many ways. It helps her to move toward the future, to let go of the past, and to ask for forgiveness.

The ending was perfect for me. This is a young woman’s journey and not a romance, although a romance occurs, so while there is not a happily ever after it worked for me because the heroine is young. There is a strong happy for now, and the promise of a better future as the heroine moves in the right direction. In three words: enlightening, magical, heartwarming.

Ms. Diffenbaugh is no stranger to the foster care system, or the challenges that youths must face in their lives. She has taken in foster children and has written her story with a light touch and a tender heart. There is also an extensive dictionary of flowers at the end of the book. To find out more about the author, please visit www.vanessadiffenbaugh.com

Robena Grant is a member of RWA, LARA, and the Palm Springs Writers Guild. She is currently shopping her Romantic Suspense series, Desert Heat. Her current work is a Contemporary Romance, and no, she does not write while wearing fluffy pink bunny slippers, hers are leopard print. She may be contacted at www.robenagrant.com       

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This Week in Chick Lit
PostDateIcon  February 24, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor 

Hello Fellow Chick Lit Fans,

Happy Friday!

We hope it’s been a good week.

Here are a few of the chick lit / writing industry related stories floating around the Internet this week:

There was the “Is the Chick Lit Train Running Out of Steam” article in the Irish Independent that explored the decline of chick lit sales, and also discussed male authors writing chick lit under female pen names. According to the article:

Chick lit has turned into a kind of giant self-destructive and self-perpetuating dying star whose gravitational pull is taking down everything in its path, polluting the world with a landfill of pink high-heels and purple maribou feathers, spreading out from fiction and taking in film and theatre in its wake, with the likes of Girls Night Out and Sex And The City (does anyone even remember how good the TV series was?).

The article also raises another hot button issue:

While you can’t blame a man for wanting a piece of the sales success that chick lit enjoys, women may also be dangerously close to returning to the time where they wrote under male names just so their work will be judged on an equal footing. It is a serious issue.

However, with more men writing as women and women writing as men, perhaps there will be a neutralising effect on the issue of gender.

Thoughts?

When I came across this article at http://www.salon.com about the death of chick lit, I had to wonder – If chick lit is in fact dead, why are there still so many articles written about it? Why is the genre so controversial? What do you think of this theory?

Because chick lit (whatever it is — or was) provoked so many ideologically fraught arguments about the values placed on women’s vs. men’s tastes, high- vs. lowbrow culture, comedy vs. drama and so on, it’s tempting to read particular significance into its decline. As the first species of popular fiction to treat its heroines’ professional aspirations as seriously as their romantic prospects, chick lit flourished at a time when ambitious young women poured into a robust job market, seeking both love and success, often with a heaping serving of pricey commodities on the side.

Wait a minute here. They aren’t saying that women aren’t seeking love and career success anymore, are they? Or maybe they’re saying it’s not such a new idea so books with those themes are less popular? I’m not sure what to think.

Like road trip movies? Just for fun, check out this conversation between Kristan Higgins and debut author Ruthie Knox. Just make sure you heed the warning: “Warning: Make sure you’re not eating as you read this. We would feel really bad if you choked.”

And, lastly, what are your thoughts about The New York Times referring to Jodi Kantor’s book, “The Obamas,” as “chick nonfiction?”

As always, if you have any links to share, leave a comment and let us know.

Here’s to a fabulous weekend of reading and writing! 🙂

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

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Giving and Receiving Critiques
PostDateIcon  February 22, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor 

You can’t get very far in the writing world without learning, and quickly, that writers need to develop a thick skin. Our work is always out there for critique partners, reviewers, agents, editors, and readers to read and pick apart.

As scary as this may be, it’s actually for the best. Every writer, no matter how talented, no matter how famous, needs to be edited and critiqued. It makes the stories we’re dying to tell so much stronger.

Critiques are a necessary evil, kind of like going to the dentist. The thing is, no matter how harsh they may be, critiques should make us excited and eager to keep writing.

That’s why I think that knowing how to give and receive critiques is so important.

Here’s my list of the top five things I feel are important when giving and receiving critiques.

Giving Critiques:

1. This, I hope, is obvious, but critiques should always begin with something positive. No matter how rough the work is, there’s something in there to praise, and the author deserves to hear it. Without any positive feedback, the writer has no reason to continue working on the story.

2. Don’t argue. If you make a suggestion and the writer you’re working with doesn’t agree, don’t push. Remember, it’s not your story. Once you’ve made your suggestion, your job is done.

3. Don’t try to rewrite the story. Yes, if you were to write the story, you’d probably do things differently. But you’re not writing the story, so all you can do is point out what didn’t work for you and answer any questions the writer may have.

4. Focus on the craft and the story, and not your own personal taste. For example, you may not like a particular protagonist, but that’s your taste and not necessarily helpful information. What can be helpful is to point out specific issues you have with that protagonist, such as, “I didn’t understand her motivation for. . .” or “Her goal wasn’t clear to me.” Those are clear-cut issues the writer can go back and work with.

5. Don’t talk down to the person you’re critiquing, and keep your attitude positive. Don’t assume that they don’t know as much about writing as you do. Remember, all stories go through countless drafts and always need work, and your job is more about giving feedback than teaching.

Receiving Critiques:

1. Be gracious and thankful. Your critiquer has put a lot of effort into helping you make your story stronger.

2. Don’t argue. You have every right to disagree with what your critiquer tells you, but they have a right to their opinions. However, if a critiquer points out a valid issue with your story but you’re not comfortable with their suggestion as to how to fix it, it can be useful to politely discuss what you’re trying to do and talk about other possible solutions.

3. Get a second opinion. Two heads are better than one, and it’s funny how critiques differ. One reader may absolutely love a scene that another reader suggests you cut.

4. Listen to your gut.  It’s your story. You don’t have to make a change to your story just because one critiquer suggests it. But if more than one person points out the same issue, do take a second look and try to come up with your own way of taking care of the issue.

5. Please, please don’t take everything personally. Yes, we put a lot of ourselves into our stories, so critiques can feel extremely insulting. But remember that every writer gets critiqued, and critiques aren’t about you. They’re about making your story stronger.

So, dear readers. What do you think about critiques? Do you have any experiences to share? What, in your opinion, makes a successful critique?

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

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[Repost] Can You Really Make a Living Doing What You Love?
PostDateIcon  February 20, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Angela Kay Austin

Have you ever scrolled through the Amazon Bestsellers’ list and wondered, “Will my book ever be listed?”  Well, I have.  I walk through bookstores picturing what my books would look like placed on display throughout various points in the stores, or imagine picking up USA Today to find to my amazement…what, me #1!

But, what is the reality of the life of a writer?

According to Forbes, James Patterson topped the list as the highest paid author earning $84 million over the past year.  In order to amass those earnings, Patterson released 10 books in the last year, and branched out into young adult and e-books.

Number two on the list, Danielle Steele earned $35 million!  And, stay-at-home mom, Stephanie Meyer popped in at number six with earnings of $21 million!

Okay, so I know you’re asking, “What about J K Rowling?”  Well, she hasn’t released e-books of Harry Potter, yet.  But, Pottermore is coming soon, and I’m sure that will change everything.

The question is how do we do it?  Can we do it?

Patterson writes with a team of co-authors, has multi-media deals.  And we’ve all witnessed the success of Twilight and Harry Potter.

But, the reality is everyone is not Patterson or Stephanie Meyer or J K Rowling.  And everyone can’t have the internet success of Amanda Hocking.

According to Greenleaf Book Group, LLC, although there are some six figure advances, most advances are between $2,000 – $20,000.  But, in today’s market, a large percentage of new releases are self-published or POD (print on demand).  So, I don’t think everyone should rush to the bank opening new bank accounts in preparation.

Instead, we should understand that Amazon has approximately 800,000 Kindle books available, and nearly 2 million print books.  And although the Big Six may not be “all powerful,” they still have power which floods distribution channels, agents, and the booksellers that do still exist.

Author Solutions owns Xilibris, iUniverse, and AuthorHouse the CEO, Weiss, has been quoted as saying the average sales per book for all of his companies is 150.

Whether you are signed with one of the Big Six, or not, the world of writing is extremely competitive.  In order to be moderately successful, you need to be sure to have great writing, promoting, and packaging.  You must be courageous!

Can you do it?

After twenty years of practicing marketing: writing copy, designing layouts, developing advertising campaigns, Angela realized each piece of the plans she put together eventually told a story. And, since she was a tween reading her mother’s Reader’s Digest, and every teen magazine she could find she’d dreamt of telling stories.

Her first book, Love’s Chance stayed on Red Rose Publishing’s Best Seller list for 10 weeks.  Her second release, My Son, is available from Red Rose Publishing.  And was a best seller at All Romance Ebooks.  New releases:  Sweet Victory and Scarlet’s Tears are available from Vanilla Heart Publishing.

Angela has written for the Ezine Rithm ‘n Blues.

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This Week in Chick Lit
PostDateIcon  February 17, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Melina Kantor 

Hello Chick Lit Fans! Happy Friday.

We hope you had a great week.

This week has been unusually newsy for our favorite genre.

First, there was this article in U-T San Diego about the decline of chick lit. According to the article:

Then chick lit disappeared faster than Mr. Wrong the morning after. What happened? Did readers fall out of love with these books? Was the market oversaturated with chick lit? Or did those damn vampire books suck the life out of it?

Though sales figures are available only for individual titles, publishing insiders agree that the chick-lit genre has been hit hard.

The article also mentions that author Karen Quinn‘s books sell better in the United Kingdom. Any thoughts as to why that is?

Then there was the article in The Guardian titled “The Only Problem With Chick Lit is the Name.” The article states that:

What publishers know very well, and what the “chick lit is fluff” lobby often forgets, is that book jackets are decisions made by publishers. We decide what a book looks like and this is a complicated decision, influenced by what we think looks good, what we think will position the book most clearly in the marketplace, and how best to signal quickly to both retailers and readers what kind of book it is.

What do you think?

Last but not least, here’s an article from USA Today called “Reader’s Hearts Remain True to Romance Novels.”

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend. 🙂

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

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Let’s Hear It for Love After 50
PostDateIcon  February 15, 2012  |  PostAuthorIcon  Author:  admin

~ By Nan Reinhardt

I’m bugged. It seems that romance novels are the bailiwick of characters who are younger than 50. If 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40, then how come romance after 50 isn’t sexy anymore? Well, folks, I’ve got big news–sexy is timeless.  Excuse me, but two words, Pierce Brosnan. Sean Connery? Jeff Bridges? Denzel Washington, anyone? Richard Gere? And as far as sexy women are concerned–want to talk about Susan Sarandon? Sophia Loren? Goldie Hawn? Helen Mirren? Tina Turner? Me? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Hollywood is beginning to get it. I thoroughly enjoyed the film Something”s Gotta Give—a love story between two people well over age 50. Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson totally rocked that delightful movie. It’s Complicated showed us Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin as grown-ups in a love story that was fun and sexy. Streep and Stanley Tucci recreated the romance between Julia and Paul Child—an older couple madly in love—in Julie and Julia.

So what’s up with the world of romance novels? Why is it that if you’re a woman of a certain age, then nobody wants to read about your love life? All of us “oldsters” are still falling in love, rediscovering love, renewing love, and by God, we’re still having sex and probably doing it with way more panache. So why are most romance novels about girls in their twenties and thirties?

A few years ago, Harlequin nailed it with their NEXT imprint, but it didn’t make it, and I’m not sure why. Maybe we weren’t ready then, but I believe we’re ready now.  I’m ready for romance with a dash of maturity, two people involved in a relationship without all the nonsense of youth. I want conversations between grown-ups who are over the drama of coming-of-age and meet on the level playing field of self-knowledge.  I’m looking for sensual sexy love scenes written with that irresistible combination of  humor, passion, and life experience.

Baby Boomers, as writers and readers,  let’s put the romance world on notice—we’re here, we’re in love, we’re making love, and our stories are worth telling. Who’s in?

Readers, what’s your take on this? Can you recommend any books with heroines who are 40 or older? Leave a comment and let us know! 

Nan Reinhardt is a romance writer and an incurable romantic. She’s also a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and almost a grandmother. She’s been an antiques dealer, a bank teller, a stay-at-home mom, a secretary, and for the last fifteen years, has earned her living as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. But writing is her first and most enduring passion. Rule Number One is her debut novel. Two other novels are currently with her agent, Maureen Walters, of Curtis Brown Literary Agency in New York. Like Jo March, she writes at night, after the work is done and her household is asleep. Talk to her at www.nanreinhardt.com.

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