A Rose By Any Other Name - Notes From the Bookroom

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Notes From the Bookroom

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Michael Scharf

A Rose By Any Other Name
February 19, 2008

Am wondering about romance. Or, rather, "Romance."

Into this category can go anything, it seems, from Jude Deveraux, to Mary Balough to, sometimes, even, at a stretch, Jodi Picoult.

Or can it?

Not sure where the lines are.

Too much violence = "romantic suspense" or "thriller"?

Too much psychology, interiority & character development = "literary"?

Not enough sex = "blusher"? (A subcategory, not a genre in and of itself.)

And is a prototypical romance still, always and undyingly, a mass market book? Are the books that are being "packaged up" and "packaged down" to suit varying demographics still romance titles? Or are they "fiction"?

And if so, do they still smell as sweet?

Posted by Michael Scharf on February 19, 2008 | Comments (6)

February 19, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
Ruth Axtell Morren commented:

Loved your fine distinctions. A writer of inspirational historical romances--how's that for sub-sub genres?

February 19, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
PAM JENOFF commented:

good question - I posted a blog with the same name on the same topic at booksquare last summer based on my own genre ping pong experiences as a first time author

February 19, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
PAM JENOFF commented:

good question - I posted a blog with the same name on the same topic at booksquare last summer based on my own genre ping pong experiences as a first time author

February 20, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
Will North commented:

It's all in the eye of the beholder. I thought my debut novel, The Long Walk Home (Shaye Areheart Books) was a story about love, grief, and fidelity. Turns out my fans think it's a romance novel. Who knew?

February 20, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
Ami commented:

There was a pretty lively discussion about this on Booksquare and Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books--those are the posts that Pam Jenoff is referring to above.

February 20, 2008
In response to: A Rose By Any Other Name
Marilynn Byerly commented:

Romance readers are the most eclectic of genre fiction readers. That's why there are some many subgenre categories and hybrid mixes within the genre. Everything from thrillers to science fiction and fantasy have been added to the basic romance story line, and romance readers love them. The best rule of thumb about whether a book is a romance and not another genre with romance elements is to remove the romance and see if the story still holds together. If it doesn't, then it's a romance. Or to look at it another way, if the story is about the relationship and everything else is window dressing, then it's a romance. Of course, any book is what the publisher says it is as far as how it is packaged, and increasingly that has more to do with marketing and the popularity of the market than it does with the actual content of the book. Several months back, many readers were outraged by a book series labeled as a romance which killed off the hero. The author was obviously writing urban fantasy with the emphasis on fantasy, but the publisher called it romance to get more readers. The author suffered the mislabeling backlash because she broke the one rule which must not be broken in romance -- she ruined the chance for the happily ever-after. Romance readers are eclectic, but they don't like to be fooled.