01.28.08
Why Romance?
As little girls we dream about princes, white horses, castles, and damsels in distress. In our minds we take on many roles, play many parts, and live happily-ever-after.
As “big” girls, we do more than dream: we write. The prince becomes the boy next door, the boss, the cowboy, the doctor, the policeman. His white horse morphs into a Porsche, an ambulance, a squad car… or stays a horse. The castle is a condo, an office suite, a beach resort. And the damsel? More than likely she’s a gal who can take care of herself–but knows her life won’t be complete without someone to help her live it happily-ever-after.
My name is Kay Layton Sisk and I write romance novels. To answer those who start their anti-romance argument with “but aren’t they all the same?”, I have only to take them on a tour of the local bookstore or library. Yes, genre romance novels are the same in their commitment to helping a worthy heroine find her worthy hero. We may all know the destination, but the journey–whether it be through time, space, the Middle Ages, Roman Britain, the American West, Britain’s Regency period, or a contemporary small town–is always unique. I know the destination. It’s the journey I crave, and the journey I want you, as the reader, to take with me as you read one of my books.
I started writing in grade school. My heroines bested monsters and saved their neighborhoods–filled with my school friends. In high school, I was writing “fanfic” (but I didn’t know it) with characters based on my favorite TV shows. In college, I had to write essays and papers based on other people’s work which meant reading it, which meant I didn’t write books. But about 15 years ago, I began to write again, this time with what the industry calls “romantic suspense”. A couple of those and then I was on a journey to lighter fare, finding my way with what I hoped was a comedic, high-spirited touch. I grew up on “Twilight Zone” and Alfred Hitchcock: I knew irony and a wink when I saw it. Hopefully, I knew how to I write it.
I’ve written 13 novels, 11 of which are published, one is in limbo, and the other is, as we say in the biz, under the bed. My heroines aren’t looking for romance when it comes and bops them over the head. Even then, they’ll try to ignore it. But the heroes, those guys with a twinkle in their eye who weren’t looking for it either, can be quite persistent. Together, they take the journey to their destination, the one we know as a satisfactory ending, a happily-ever-after.
Note: This essay first appeared in the North Texas e-News, www.ntxe-news.com, on Jan. 24, 2008, to promote a library romance program.