by Linda McLaughlin
I really enjoyed listening to Bob Mayer, last month’s speaker. He had a fantastic workshop, chock full of writing tips and techniques. I appreciate the great handouts, too, since he talked faster than I can write.
One of the many things he said that struck me as interesting was that romance, barring any paranormal or suspense element, is the most realistic genre. He said it’s because romance is about real life and it has to be really well written to be believable.
Now a statement like that will have the literary types reaching for the smelling salts. Or the bottle of whiskey. Romance realistic? When 50% of marriages end in divorce? To that I’d like to point out that the other 50% of marriages are successful, at least in terms of longevity. In any human endeaver, 50-50 odds are pretty good. What are the chances of winning the lottery? According to one internet site, buying one lottery ticket means your chances of winning Mega Millions are one in 135,145,920.
What are the odds of selling a book to a major NY publishing house for a six-figure deal? I’m not sure, but they’ve got to in one in who-knows-how-many thousands territory. A lot better than winning the lottery but still not good. Compared to that, finding a compatible marriage partner seems like a slam dunk! I’ll put my money on romance any day. How about you?
Linda
PS After the meeting, I went home and bought a copy of Agnes and the Hitman, romantic suspense by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer for my Kindle. I finished it last night and recommend it. The characters are great, the story is exciting and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. It may not be not realistic, but it’s a great read.
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Linda McLaughlin writes historical and Regency romance for Amber Quill Press. As Lyndi Lamont she pens erotic romance for Amber Heat and Amber Allure, the erotic imprints of AQP. Her personal blog can be found at http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/.
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Linda,
Thanks for the reminder about Bob’s comment. I was writing as fast as I could and still didn’t catch everything! 🙂 In addition to Agnes & the Hitman, I also bought his Nonfiction, DARE To WIN. I’d love to see him doing that workshop!
– Sue Phillips