In the last entry about Genesis press and allegations of nonpayment of royalties, a discussion began as to whether African-American romance, what some call “black romance,” is different.
Well, considering that much of the time, romance heroes and heroines are white, I’d say superficially it probably is.
One commentor stated that s/he doesn’t believe he/she relate to the racist/oppression themes that must run through black romance. Monica Jackson stated that “[t]he main complaint from racists about black romance is that it isn’t black enough. They expect a different experience and are shocked when the characters are just like them and have love affairs just like they do.”
Clearly, assuming that African-American romance is automatically going to feature victim heroines downtrodden under the weight of racism and generations of discrimination is a breathtakingly short-sighted supposition. In the black romance that I’ve read, and I admit the total is not as much as the historicals I’ve read featuring white protagonists, that hasn’t been a theme. The women have been strong, ass-kicking even, and discussions of racism didn’t enter the storyline.
However, is there a sense that romance targeted toward African-American readers maintains a patina of exclusivity that turns away readers who aren’t of the targeted group? Is it more than just where the books are placed on shelves and how the authors are categorized?
Minority culture maintains autonomy through preservation of elements unique to that culture. Language, food, social customs, sometimes religion. For Jews, it used to be Yiddish, and it’s still food and culture. And food. Did I mention food? And to anyone unfamiliar with the subtleties, it can seem bizarre, and exclusive. The same can be said for any minority, or culture you’re not familiar with.
Writing for that culture can often mean subtly including the signature elements, or piling them on to the degree that they become cliches. I’ve read both, much to my dissatisfaction: to wit, “I’m going to go home and relax with a big plate of ruglach and my cat named Oy Gevalt!”.
With African-American culture, I’m can’t state with authority what the unique elements are, but certainly a shared experience, particularly in this country, of exclusion, racism, and discrimination is in the top 3. How does that shared experience play out in books or films created for that cultural audience? Is it always a prevailing theme? Probably not.
When I consider the films I’ve seen that aim primarily towards African American audiences, there are several elements that establish cultural automony, most notably language and what linguists call “code switching”. I remember channel flipping and landing on a wedding scene in a movie wherein all the characters who were just meeting each other for the first time referred to one another as “my sister,” or “my brother.” And I don’t mean in the colloquial “brutha/sista” sense. I’d never seen that before, and couldn’t figure out if it was a unique character trait for that movie.
Sister in what? Siblings in what sense? And does that actually happen outside of the movies? And why do I feel bashful about acknowledging what I noticed in a film, and what I’ve noticed about language use among people of the same minority versus languaged used by the same people in mixed company? Language, written or spoken, changes based on who one speaks to; it’s true for me, certainly, and I can name countless examples I’ve witnessed.
Is language part of what makes African-American romance seem unique? Is it even different? Is it possible that there is a subtext, not just of acknowledged heritage but of multi-faceted shared culture, that runs through the stories?
Discussions of racism and racial differences are only productive if those doing the talking can put aside assumptions and inflammatory rhetoric to discuss the actual issues, and examine the prejudices that people hold for what they are, not what they represent.
Part of the reason I ask these questions is because much of African-American romance, until recently, operated in something of an exclusive industry, almost in a vacuum. Now that mainstream publishers have caught on, there are more options for authors who want to shop a manuscript, and who want to challenge other publishers on alleged nonpayment of royalties. But with the growth of African-American romance comes my question – is it different, or is that just misperception?
I wish I knew. As I stated before it went off, in erotic romance, interracial and black romance sells. I would LOVE to get hit with submissions in that genre, and other race genres. But I don’t.
I scout other pubs, and unless they’re specifically black romance, they’re pretty short on titles, too. So it’s not just me, I believe.
We publish primarily white folk because that’s what’s submitted to us. Perhaps that’s also what happens on other levels of romance publishing as well. You can’t market what you don’t have, and that may give an impression of preference.
I had no idea that erotica has interracial and black romance audiences.
I wonder why the submissions don’t come. I sat here a moment to think of whether I could come up with an interracial character in my mental plotting of stories I can’t write, but I don’t know that I could accurately portray an African American protagonist. I feel like I’d miss something important.
Is it racist for me to say so? Maybe. I don’t mean it that way. I do know more than a few interracial couples but maybe they aren’t writers, writing what they know.
Minority culture maintains autonomy through preservation of elements unique to that culture. Language, food, social customs, sometimes religion. For Jews, it used to be Yiddish
I’ll jump in and be pedantic. What about the Sephardim?
But to address the main point about different cultures, I think it’s interesting that people have got so used to the conventions of Regency romances. I’ve only just looked up the term ‘pelisse’, but I’ve read hundreds of regencies and it didn’t bother me that I didn’t know what it meant. I got the gist – it was an item of outer clothing worn by women. Similarly, I can’t tell a high-perch phaeton from a curricle. But I don’t think it stops me enjoying the books. And yes, it does take a bit of effort to get used to Regency cant, but again, you can work out a lot from context.
If there are cultural differences from ‘white’ culture (whatever that is) present in romances about black characters (and I think that will vary a lot, depending on both the background of the characters and the background of that particular reader) there’s a clear precedent for white romance readers overcoming that barrier and happily enjoying novels set in a very different culture and involving people who use words they’ve never heard before. I don’t think, therefore, that cultural differences pose an insuperable barrier, but people have to want to make the effort, and they probably won’t if they think the novel is going to be about issues which they’d rather not think about, or if they don’t consider that setting ‘romantic’.
You’re right – not just Yiddish.
I knew someone would call me on something in that entry but not on the Yiddish part! Heh.
I had no idea that erotica has interracial and black romance audiences
Zane, an AA erotica author, is one of the best-known names in the genre.
I don’t know that I could accurately portray an African American protagonist, because I’m not African American myself.
Why is it that nobody has these doubts when writing/reading vampires, European royality, Native Americans, Asians, or like the entire 19th century. “Accuracy” has nothing to do with what sells or embraced.
Anu, I think it’s because for the first two, not many are around to tell me in no uncertain terms that I got it horribly horribly wrong!
As for the others, I don’t know that I could write them, either. I’ve had it up to my dangly earrings with stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans, for example. And really, I’m not a writer so it’s not like I’m sticking to one genre. I’m sticking to Exactly zero genre.
Given the tone of the recent discussion, which is what I read prior to writing this one, it would seem to me that getting any portrayal wrong can result in a serious shitstorm. I have to ask why that is.
‘I had no idea that erotica has interracial and black romance audiences.’
Very much so. I published a couple of titles at my old house and had many emails asking for more…not from the authors, but simply for IR and AA books. That rarely happens, the request for ‘anything’ in a genre. Screams market to me.
‘Is it racist for me to say so? Maybe. I don’t mean it that way. I do know more than a few interracial couples but maybe they aren’t writers, writing what they know.’
That’s another squicky discussion. I think some authors of different races may see that as an attempt to take over the niche they’ve created.
What is upsetting is when people decide to write for the market, but don’t take the time to research it. A common example is Yaoi, a manga-style novelization.
It’s not just two guys going at it, it has tight writing rules and character styles that require practice to get down. It also helps if you watch anime. (FMA!)
It took off a year or so ago sales wise, and people started tacking anything with m/m action as Yaoi. The result was a lot of pissed off Yaoi fans, and a general distrust of erotica pubs producing Yaoi, which made marketing very difficult.
If you’re going to foray into a new medium or genre, take the time to do it right, and I think it can be done.
Which begs the question: how do you do it right? Regency authors who get the historical details wrong? Bam. Bitchsmack.
I want to clarify that I’m not saying you have to be the thing you are writing to get it correct.
But the fallout if you get it wrong is rather noticeable.
And as I ponder the depth to which I’ve inadvertently shoved my foot in my mouth, let me revisit my idiocy, here.
I’m not trying to make a blanket statement like, “All black people look alike!” and “Asian peopel are good at math!”
Feel free to quote me out of context, there, for fun and giggles.
My point was that I feel, personally, that it is difficult for me, who sucks at writing teh fiction, to craft a character from a culture that is so hugely rich and intricate when I know so little. This, of course, would be why I don’t write fiction. I worry too much about what I’m going to get wrong.
Or maybe I’m just a racist bonehead and didn’t know it. I’ll have to ask.
Why is it that nobody has these doubts when writing/reading vampires, European royalty, Native Americans, Asians, or like the entire 19th century. “Accuracy†has nothing to do with what sells or embraced.
Must I state that some of us DO wish that some writers had a few more qualms? As a Native American I avoid “Indian Romance†like the plague. I’m sure that there are tons of books that get it right and that I would love, but having to slog through a plethora of ones that enrage me to find them just isn’t worth it.
my word is “why47” how appropriate is that?
SB Sarah,
The fact that you worry so much about what you might get wrong makes you perfect for writing that interracial, interspecies gay romance that I know you have in you.
I think those who do try to write a multi-cultural romance who think they can swing it by just making the hero/heroine have caramel colored skin or some such are totally missing the mark.
Sure a person’s culture defines them, but so does class, whether you’re American or not, etc. I mean, wouldn’t it be difficult for a born and raised poor African-American chick to write about a born and raised rich Nigerian heroine?
Research is the key. Major amounts. Other than that I suppose you need readers willing to learn about a cultural they may know nothing about as well as getting the HEA.
Sarah, I’m not picking on you, and I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I know I tend to be too blunt, but I really am just conversing with you.
Anu, I think it’s because for the first two, not many are around to tell me in no uncertain terms that I got it horribly horribly wrong!
But even if somebody did say that, would that take away from your enjoyment of the book? If that book was a keeper before, would you rid it of it after? Historical accuracy is an old topic, but lots of readers freely admit that wallpaper historicals are fine with them. Wallpaper historicals sell. And we’ve all read books where we at least suspect that things aren’t exactly accurate, but we may love the characters or the sex or the dialogue or whatever, but we buy into the author’s world enough that the nitpicks fade into the background.
As for the others, I don’t know that I could write them, either. I’ve had it up to my dangly earrings with stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans, for example. And really, I’m not a writer so it’s not like I’m sticking to one genre. I’m sticking to Exactly zero genre.
Yeah I’m with you. And I am being hypocritical because I refuse to read Native American historicals or Indian and other Asian hero/heroines because everything about the way these “types†of characters are treated in romance screams “EXOTIC.†Either that or the brown characters exist solely to show how “tolerant†(how I hate that word) and open-minded the h/h are.
Given the tone of the recent discussion, which is what I read prior to writing this one, it would seem to me that getting any portrayal wrong can result in a serious shitstorm. I have to ask why that is.
So what if there’s a shitstorm? I guarantee you no author will give a shit about shitstorms if she’s wracking up sales as a result of it. And that’s exactly what happens when there’s a big fuss—readers are more likely to buy the book just to see what all the fuss is about.
What is there really to worry about? We dog each other out all the time for reading Mary Sues, for glorifying the hymmie, for alpha-jerks, for the outlandish HEAs, for the sex, the for the lack of sex, for deus ex machinas, for every goddamn thing in the genre to meat for a flame war, and the shit still gets sold, it still gets talked about, and the authors still churn it out. We’re all still standing at the end, and ready to get back into it again.
I think our hesitations over AA romances are really overblown. We’re complicating something that’s not complex at all. It’s a freaking story. And just like in any other group of stories, a handful of AA romances are awesome, some are truly godawful, most are just bleh and leave you wondering why you’re the one with good taste.
Same with “accuracy.†Some people will demand it, others will sneer at the idea, and still more just won’t give a damn as long as the story is good.
DISREGARD MY PREVIOUS POST, THE FORMAT IS HARD TO READ!!!
Sarah, I’m not picking on you, and I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I know I tend to be too blunt, but I really am just conversing with you.
Anu, I think it’s because for the first two, not many are around to tell me in no uncertain terms that I got it horribly horribly wrong!
But even if somebody did say that, would that take away from your enjoyment of the book? If that book was a keeper before, would you rid it of it after? Historical accuracy is an old topic, but lots of readers freely admit that wallpaper historicals are fine with them. Wallpaper historicals sell. And we’ve all read books where we at least suspect that things aren’t exactly accurate, but we may love the characters or the sex or the dialogue or whatever, but we buy into the author’s world enough that the nitpicks fade into the background.
As for the others, I don’t know that I could write them, either. I’ve had it up to my dangly earrings with stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans, for example. And really, I’m not a writer so it’s not like I’m sticking to one genre. I’m sticking to Exactly zero genre.
Yeah I’m with you. And I am being hypocritical because I refuse to read Native American historicals or Indian and other Asian hero/heroines because everything about the way these “types†of characters are treated in romance screams “EXOTIC.†Either that or the brown characters exist solely to show how “tolerant†(how I hate that word) and open-minded the h/h are.
Given the tone of the recent discussion, which is what I read prior to writing this one, it would seem to me that getting any portrayal wrong can result in a serious shitstorm. I have to ask why that is.
So what if there’s a shitstorm? I guarantee you no author will give a shit about shitstorms if she’s wracking up sales as a result of it. And that’s exactly what happens when there’s a big fuss—readers are more likely to buy the book just to see what all the fuss is about.
What is there really to worry about? We dog each other out all the time for reading Mary Sues, for glorifying the hymmie, for alpha-jerks, for the outlandish HEAs, for the sex, the for the lack of sex, for deus ex machinas, for every goddamn thing in the genre to meat for a flame war, and the shit still gets sold, it still gets talked about, and the authors still churn it out. We’re all still standing at the end, and ready to get back into it again.
I think our hesitations over AA romances are really overblown. We’re complicating something that’s not complex at all. It’s a freaking story. And just like in any other group of stories, a handful of AA romances are awesome, some are truly godawful, most are just bleh and leave you wondering why you’re the one with good taste.
Same with “accuracy.†Some people will demand it, others will sneer at the idea, and still more just won’t give a damn as long as the story is good.
I have to admit that I have read a few African American romances, but what holds me back from purchasing them in larger quantities is that I feel like a huge lame-o nerd reading them, particularly ones that tend to be heavy with slang. (It’s not an issue of people thinking differently of me, or being suspicious of me, it’s me.
I am a white girl who was raised in the suburbs of Texas and grew up to be a librarian. I’m not the most socially adept person to begin with, but then to feel even more like a schlub after reading a book can be intimidating.
I guess it’s a matter of getting myself acclimated to it so I don’t feel. . . awkward.
Interracial romances are not such an issue, because they tend to deal with the “nerdy white person” factor.
Does that make any sense at all?
How to get it right…
I was writing a story, and for some reason, my character decided she was a lesbian. I told her I wasn’t, but she insisted.
So I checked out some lesbian tomes, wrote it and handed it off to somebody who WAS a lesbian to see if I got it right. She said I did, and she was the type who would have told me in no uncertain terms if it wasn’t.
So what you need is a right bitch of a critter who is either the correct race or persuasion you’re attempting to write, and will rip you on what you mess up.
Anu: I fixed the formatting while you were re-posting your comment. No worries!
And you are so right that the story is more important than the possibility of shoddy characterization.
People. Get a grip. It’s fiction. The author is not giving the world as is, she’s giving you her version, slang and all. At their best, books take you to worlds, to ideas and people that you will never come across in reality. If you don’t like the world or the way the story’s told, that’s fine. You have nothing to justify or apologize for. But this other stuff is frankly bullshit.
Like, who’s reading J.R. Ward right now? If you can buy into a world in which vampires listen to rap, slang is all over the place, and dropping the letter “h” randomly into English words is the the extent of vampire language, seriously, you can deal with AA romance.
Honestly, y’all are hella smart women so you really need to stop and ask yourselves whether your hesitations and doubts are validly worth following.
Btw, I’m currently in library science school. Yesterday, while waiting for class to begin, I was reading a graphic novel called Preacher. And I almost start panting at the thought of the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica. Tell me about reading out of my element.
Wow, I see I need to invest in some Yaoi. Hominahomina….
And since we’re on the topic, or at least we were, why are all the Jewish people I’ve ever seen in romance novels portrayed as barely functional neurotics? Aren’t there mentally healthy Jews out there? When will they get proper representation in Romancelandia? Is this a function of the relatively few years I’ve been reading this genre, and there’s actually a whole body of literature with well-adjusted Jews that I haven’t tried yet? I’m just really, really getting tired of the “neurotic Jew sidekick” bit.
It’s the same in ‘mainstream’ fiction, too. 🙄
Maybe that’s what I’ll do—write a torrid little erotic novel with a Jewish hero who isn’t neurotic, not unnaturally attached to his Mamma and absolutely scorches the sneakers off some goy female with one hot, drawn-out, disrespect the ancestors kiss. Oooh. That’s almost got me as excited as Yaoi. 😉
Maybe there’s something to be said for writing about the world we wish we lived in. If fiction shapes people’s perceptions, maybe we should be using it in that fashion.
Kaite, have you been peeping in on my marriage?! Shame, shame!
Kaite: May I recommend Miss Jacobson’s Journey by Carola Dunn? The title character is not only non-neurotic, but is rather ass-kicking for a Regency miss. Unfortunately, the book is only in-print in electronic format (Fictionwise.com carries it). If you want dead-tree-ware, used copies are available on Amazon or check your local library.
Oooh, thanks. I’ll have to hunt that puppy down!
And SB Sarah—I haven’t been spying! Those little glitters of light in the corners of your rooms are…umm…well, not cameras, no, certainly not cameras. 😉
I think several people here have hit on a really important point. There is more than one way to be Jewish, or lesbian, or native American or any combination thereof. So rather than trying to capture the entire culture in one character, the writer can go for a really well-formed character. Sure there will be people who may feel your character’s experience doesn’t match theirs, but that’s true of all sorts of characters I read about.
But it’s an interesting point, I have read a lot of authors who have a nice cast of secondary characters, but very few authors who had main characters that were not of their same race. In fact – right now I’m coming up with two. And then we could talk about the dearth of multi-racial characters.
I think several people here have hit on a really important point. There is more than one way to be Jewish, or lesbian, or native American or any combination thereof.
Or even to be female. I rarely read Chic Lit because I find it very difficult at times to relate to stereotypically “girlie” characters, i.e. young urban professionals who wear heels, meet men in bars, use cell phones, etc. True, I may technically be a yuppy and met my partner in a bar, but it was in an underground bar above an Ethiopian restaurant, and I believe I was wearing a hoodie and boots and hadn’t showered in a couple days.
‘I rarely read Chic Lit because I find it very difficult at times to relate to stereotypically “girlie†characters, i.e. young urban professionals who wear heels, meet men in bars, use cell phones, etc.’
Same here. Those are the kind of women who always make me feel short, fat, and dirty, even if I’ve just showered. I totally can’t relate. Also, I really don’t care who I’m wearing.
Also, I really don’t care who I’m wearing.
LOL, you should. What would people think if you showed up with Fabio all over you?
Kaite—much as I hate to shamelessly promote my own work
, Captain Sinister’s Lady by Darlene Marshall has a hot Sephardi pirate as the hero’s best friend. And he’s not the least bit neurotic.
Gabriel Lopez was one of those characters who showed up and wouldn’t leave. And now his son Nathan is roaming around in my imagination, trying to charm me into making him the protagonist of my next story.
I’ve only read one interracial (Eric Jerome Dickey’s Milk in My Coffee)and it was more about issues than a love story. I only know what I see at my bookstore and black women read and buy ‘regular’ romance more than black romance authors—it’s about the story and characters rather than skin color. But the readers of black romances are a very loyal bunch, Zane readers especially. I don’t see non-black people buying romances with black people on the covers but a book by a black author with a cover without people on it will sell. I don’t know why but that’s what I’ve observed.
Exactly. I think it’s wrong to say that my experiences growing up as a lower middle class white woman in the Midwest are going to be identical to any other white woman in the country, regardless of class or geographic placement. There is no such thing as a universal experience, but we can find common ground by writing about things that everyone strives for, regardless of race, creed, religion or sexual orientation.
I would put forth that those include love, acceptance, success in our chosen sphere, familial accord, and supportive friendships. If an author writes about those things and writes well, it’s going to strike a chord with the reader because humanity carries certain inarguable similarities. It may take an alien invasion for everyone to see that; I just hope we’re not all vaporized by a giant space laser before we get to benefit from it.
Finally, readers might have some power to lobby publishers and bookstores to change the segregation of shelving status quo. I don’t know if that’s ever been tried. Has it? Maybe it’ll take a grass roots movement from a lot of people who have said “What can I do? I’m just one person” but if a lot of those people band together and start writing letters, maybe that would help?
anu439 –
I thought I was the only person sick and creepy enough to read Preacher. Preacher is so cool, but *shudder*, after a few of those, I run back to a nice regency cupcake to level out before going on a big old killing spree.
~Kiku
I don’t see non-black people buying romances with black people on the covers but a book by a black author with a cover without people on it will sell.
Hmmmmm, I can’t speak to that one. I discovered the marvelous Beverly Jenkins BECAUSE I spotted what was obviously an historical romance with AA protagonists (and I’m all for anything where I get to picture Denzel Washington or Gary Dourdan). I’d LOVE to see some romances set at the Emperor’s court in Feudal Japan (that’s my childhood crush on Toshiri Mifune and my current thing for Ken Watanabe and Takeshi Kaneshiro showing).
Thanks Sarah.
And you are so right that the story is more important than the possibility of shoddy characterization.
That’s…not what I said.
I’m saying that everybody has their own idea of “accuracy” and how important it is (btw, do you mean accuracy or authenicity?). All an author can do is make sure she does solid research and stays true to her characters and story. Everything else, the shitstorms, the flames, the accusations and the applause…it’s all out of your control.
All a reader is responsible for is giving a story as fair a chance as she gives any other (except for stories with Native American or Asian chars which just plain suck). And if the story doesn’t work for her, if she can’t buy into the world, the story, or the characters the author created, then that’s it.
Kiku, yeah Preacher is pretty gruesome. I’m only on the second one. Btw, I’m always looking for recs. Do you have any? So far, I’ve really liked everything I’ve read from the Vertigo line: Sandman, Fables, Lucifer, Preacher. I’m planning to read Planetary and Transmetropolitan, but haven’t gotten there yet. Also, I love Batman and WW.
Speaking as a writer, it would never occur to me not to write a character of a different race, religion or sexual orientation just because I am not (whatever it is I’m writing). I’m not a Freegan but my next novel will feature a heroine who is. I look askance at any dogma that limits my right to write. Sure, I may not write something that someone who is Freegan can nod and say, “Yes, that’s just like MY life,” but I’ll get the facts down before I start tailoring the character to who Darby is (that’s my heroine).
Beyond that, she is MY creation and if I want her never to wear shoes, although all other Freegans do wear shoes, then that’s my call. If I want to write a Ukrainian woman who is allergic to Borscht, I’ll do that too. And maybe there isn’t a Ukrainian woman in the whole wide world who IS but that doesn’t take away from the validity of my creation, does it? The point of fiction is that if we can imagine it, we can write it. The challenge then becomes writing well enough to persuade your reader, ‘Yeah, it could happen like that.’ I don’t know about anybody else but I never backed away from a challenge.
anu439 – if you like that stuff, try Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow stuff – it makes the most sense when you read at least one or two of the old Green Lantern/Green Arrow pair-ups where they go on a road trip together to find “the real America”. Lots of ‘70s fun, including cults and lots of lectures on race relations.
Mmm. The Green Arrow. Liberal superheroism at it’s oversexed best. Rowr.
*G* Rosemary. I’m black and the slang (not to mention the vampires listening to rap) in J.R. Ward’s novels turned me completely OFF!
So there you go: a black twentysomething who was raised by a single mother in impoverished situations, but speaks quite eloquently, loves reading and adores indie-rock music.
As a writer and an obsessive-compulsive researcher, getting a particular nationality, or mind-set of a time period, or different economic backgrounds ,etc is a must for me (whether it be a Highland chieftan or a Chinese empress)—and I still will never completely know what it’s like to walking in someone else’s shoes(that is simply where empathicalism steps in!).
Reading and writing are such personal things, and I know that the publishing world is run by dollar signs, but what’s the difference between wanting to try Indian food for the first time and reading a romance that features an Indian protagonist(or two) during the British Raj?
What a brave post—I’m just so delighted that you waded in there, up to your neck and are willing to start the discussion! I can’t think of a single thing that’s touchier to discuss in American culture than race.
To go to the original question: I’ve been reading a lot of AA romance, deliberately seeking it out because I’m interested in supporting the genre and the women I know who write it, but also frankly because sometimes, I like to read about a hero who has a particular kind of sweet chest and beautiful voice (it’s my fantasy, I get to pick the things I like). Or sometimes a Jewish guy who has thick black hair I can think of putting my hands in. Or a pirate who looks like Johnny Depp. Or whatever. I’m always going to go more for a lyrical, more serious read than a comedy or a romp. Not as likely to go for historical as contemporary. More realistic than escapist—that’s all taste.
I do think white readers are kind of nervous to pick up an AA romance sometimes, afraid to look dumb as one commenter pointed out. Or too earnest or too geeky or too *something*. It helps that there are more and more books out there, and more and more styles of writing, from sexy to sweet, romps and issue books.
As for interracial…if there are books featuring interracial couples who don’t have Race As The Main Issue (which, frankly is just silly in this day and age), I haven’t seen them. I wouldn’t mind reading more of them, but really get uncomfortable with a certain form of the connection.
Finally, I’m a writer who has written outside my culture quite a lot, and not with just one culture, but I have tried to stick to cultures I know and love and have some kind of connection to. My life has been very multicultural and it would feel more like a lie to write *only* about white people than to write about all the others I love.
Gosh! Great stuff in this discussion. THANK you!
“Reading and writing are such personal things, and I know that the publishing world is run by dollar signs…”
Okay, I know I’m totally going to be given the Bullshit Artist of the Year Award, but I’ve seen this like fifty times, and I gotta say something.
That’s the beauty of small press/ebooks—it doesn’t have to be.
We can actually publish stuff on it’s merits, not just pump what’s popular! How cool is that? And nobody tells us who or what to publish!
Now if you’ll excuse me, my unicorn is double-parked.
Reading and writing are such personal things, and I know that the publishing world is run by dollar signs, but what’s the difference between wanting to try Indian food for the first time and reading a romance that features an Indian protagonist(or two) during the British Raj?
With food, the worst risk is finding out you don’t like it… maybe some heartburn. With a book—badly written (Noble Savage, Best-Girlfriend Gay Guy with no sex life, Long-Suffering Uncle Tom—who was, after all, a thinly disguised Christ figure, not a subservient toady) it’s irritation at wasting the price of the book. But a well-written book like The Color Purple—that can be genuinely painful. I stopped reading Barbara Hambly’s mysteries about Dr Janvier, a free, educated Black man in New Orleans shortly before the Civil War, after about the third book. Not because they were badly written (I don’t know Hambly’s race but her research seems to have been exhaustive), but because I just could not tolerate the crap heaped on a character I liked and could identify with. And I couldn’t do anything about it or complain that it was inaccurate, because it was all true.
That’s why I don’t read much fiction centering on minority characters in the 18th to 19th century, actually. It isn’t that I think I’m superior, or that I don’t respect people of other races. It’s because if the book is well done, the story is invariably a tragedy. There was no HEA for anybody of color.
And I wonder if that might not be true for many casual readers. For a lot of us, the romance genre is vacation time, time to kick back and imagine that there’s a perfect (or near-perfect) match, that somehow the bills can be paid, that someone will bring tea in the drawing room, that life can be better than reality usually makes it. It’s probably a socially irresponsible fantasy, since the stories are invariably about people who have servants rather than people who are servants, but I think most readers realize it is just fantasy. (And I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t really want servants wandering around the house…I’d rather have my privacy even if comes with a few dustbunnies.)
Comfortable formula does seem to sell… I wonder if there’s a measurable endorphin rush from reading romances. When I’m having a difficult week or just feel cranky, sitting down with one of the old reliables is usually soothing. And the way some folks insist on a particular formula or heroine/hero type seems to suggest a bit of addiction. Offer a coffee-drinker a nice cup of herb tea first thing in the a.m. and run for your life… it may be the same thing with different flavors of romance. (I’m not saying this in a derogatory way—I know I’m addicted to reading, but I don’t smoke or drink very much and the side-effects are mostly beneficial.)
There is a racism factor, I’m sure. When Howard Dean was running for President, he talked about ‘unconscious racism’—the tendency of people to hire and associate with people who are similar to themselves. He was discussing the issue with a Black educator who said he was the only candidate who even seemed to know that existed. I’m sure that variety of racism is a part of the issue—not intentional disrespect, but moving toward comfortable familiarity instead of anxiety-producing uncertainty. Unfortunately, calling attention to the possibity in an accusatory way is more likely to create more anxiety.
Humans, gotta love ‘em. What other species is so smart—and so confused?
But The Color Purple isn’t a romance novel.
And I take umbrage at the assumption that there were no HEA’s for people of color. There were still marriages between blacks after the Civil War, marriages between the Chinese despite being forced into labor as coolies, marriages between Native Americans despite their land being taken from them, marriages between poor Irish despite themselves being compared to the “beastiality” of blacks, etc, etc. Yeah, their situations in society because of their ethnicity would be surrounded by sorrows, but I thought the main arguement for romances is that it’s about the romance?
Why can you kick back and relax with a novel whose setting was around the bitter tragedy of Culloden, or the devastation of the Black Plague, or just a romance where the heroine is dreadfully poor in a time where she couldn’t just get public assistance or get a job, but when the protagonists are be of color, their HEA is deemed too “tragic”? (Not to mention that there are wealthy societies of blacks, of mexicans, or chinese, etc that have existed for a while: take a drive through the super-rich parts of Washington D.C. and you’d be surprised to find that most of them are owned by african-americans whose families have been wealthy and educated since the end of the Civil War)
Mistress Stef said:
“As I stated before it went off, in erotic romance, interracial and black romance sells. I would LOVE to get hit with submissions in that genre, and other race genres. But I don’t.”
I reckon I need to hit you up then! 🙂 Honestly my two interrqacial books have sold more than my regular AA books (at least I think so) but it is because I know there is a more devoted following for those, same with erotica.
I don’t think the stories on the basic level are different. There are different flavors, sure. Some mannerisms (if a fight’s about to happen, the earrings and the heels do come off) but I don’t think they’re any more alien than say, an alien romance.