Genre Writers Can't Catch a Break
Genre Writers Can't Catch a Break
And yet, they sell better than anybody else
There’s been a couple of brouhahas about genre writers in the news lately.
Okay, admittedly I use the term news loosely here, because if you live outside the ecosystem of either the fantasy or romance genres, you’ve not heard anything about it. But I think these things are worth talking about because ultimately they affect all writers.
So, first up the thing that happened in Romancelandia, since romance writing is nearest and dearest to my heart. New York magazine ran a laudatory article about the novelist Emily Henry, proclaiming that she had “cracked the modern romance novel,” as if she were the only romance-writing human, ever, to sell millions of books. You can read that article here if you so desire.
I’ve got nothing against Emily Henry. I’m happy for her success and the fan adulation she receives. I’ve read one of her books, Beach Read and it was okay. I thought it went on too long and was disappointed that there wasn’t much beach about it. I live an hour away from the Oregon Coast, which features tree-covered landscapes marching right down to beaches that have real waves. This book was set on a lake, for God’s sake. But I digress.
The thing that had Romancelandia up in arms is that the article read as if Henry had single-handedly transformed the modern romance. As if she alone had made romance palatable to the masses. This conveniently ignores the legions of dedicated authors who have been doing this for years now. In case you live in a cave, romance (and all its permutations, such as women’s fiction), is far and away the highest selling category of book. The romance world is diverse and entertaining and already full of “strong women and sincere men,” (I quote from the article) which the article seems to think that Henry was the first to write about.
The article did delve into various aspects of the current romance landscape and the writer copped to enjoying dark erotic romance, so there’s that. But some of the verbiage was, well, cringy, deriding romance readers as “horny housewives.” And then there was this:
Love is embarrassing. Every aspect of it requires maximum humiliation. And while it’s human nature to love, to want love, it’s mortifying to be caught in the act of it: putting yourself out there for it, asking for it. It is embarrassing to receive it, to open yourself up to it. Love is like a high-school bully, poking at tender spots, forcing a response, reducing us to — what? Softies! Simps! People who want to gaze and smile and sigh and melt. Who feel a spark and sit with it long enough to let it catch fire. Who luxuriate in silences and sexual tension. Who exchange little kisses, not just in dark bars but on the street, in the grocery store, in front of their friends. Who hold hands. Who nickname. Who interlace fingers and stroke hair and make up excuses to brush their person’s eyebrow because they like to touch their person’s eyebrow, but that’s so weird, haha. It’s all so cringey!
This from a writer who claims to like romance? Nobody, least of all me, wants to decry Henry’s accomplishments. But this article has just a bit too much of a she’s NLTOG (not like the other girls) vibe for my taste. Whether that came from the article writer or the interview with Henry, I don’t know but my takeaway is this: we all float each other’s boats. And ultimately this reinforces my belief in fostering the work of others as much as I do my own.
And then there is the Brandon Sanderson story. I don’t read fantasy, but I’ve been vaguely aware of Sanderson. He’s one of the most popular and prolific fantasy authors of all time. And recently, Wired did an article on him that was the polar opposite of the New York piece on Henry. Instead of being adulatory it was derisive, talking about how boring he was and implying that his Mormonism had a huge impact on this. Fans were not happy and Sanderson, who is neurodivergent, wrote a piece in response that you can read here.
So, here’s the deal: when you’re a writer, boring is good. Boring means you are at your desk, day in and day out, writing. And most importantly—putting the drama on the page. You don’t need drama in your daily life because you have it in droves in the stories you are writing. When I am most productive, I am the most boring. Friends ask me what I’ve been doing and I have to stop and think. Because what I’ve been doing is writing.
And also, there’s this: genre is still derided in certain circles and that’s a shame. We don’t all have to have the same taste and thank goodness for that. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same. But please don’t feel the need to be all snooty and superior about my choices in reading.
Speaking of romance, you can check out mine here.
Amazon currently lists my oldest, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior as the most popular. But you might also like The Bonne Chance Bakery, or if you’re longing for Christmas, Let There Be Snow, or if you want something really quick to read, Blue Sky.
And if. you want to stay abreast of my new releases (another novel is coming this spring) and get a free story, you can subscribe to my author newsletter here.