Only it’s a bit more complicated.
Just how much romance is required? And how much suspense? What kind of
suspense?
After you figure out your answers to
these questions, you still have to convince the acquiring romantic suspense
editor you have indeed written a romantic suspense. Light on the suspense? She’ll
tell you the manuscript is a romance with suspense elements. Get skimpy on the
romance and the genre editor will insist you submitted a mystery with romantic elements.
Meanwhile you’re screaming, "What’s
the difference?"
The answer is simple, yet very hard
to execute. In a true RS, each storyline (romance and mystery/suspense) must be
equally important. Think about that for a bit. You basically must write two separate
books, merge them into one novel, and make sure both storylines are equally
important and merge together seamlessly.
If that weren’t difficult enough,
you must have a kick-ass heroine. It’s no longer acceptable to have the
strapping FBI agent or the hunky cop rescue the damsel in distress. Your
leading lady must be equally responsible (if not totally) for resolving the
suspenseful situation.
What’s more, the romantic suspense
author must know a lot of things traditional romance authors never
consider. For example: what poisons can
kill a spouse without leaving a trace? What size hole does a 9mm Ruger leave
in a man’s head? And was the silencer really necessary if a tree falls in the
forest—eh, scratch the tree part.
Then, while you're engrossed in this
intense life and death situation, you have to insert a love scene—or three. Let’s
see you do that James Patterson. Writing believable love scenes that are more
than the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone is hard enough. Try getting
your characters in the mood while the bullets are flying.
Don’t even get me started on
writing a young adult romantic suspense… J
So why do we do it? Why write RS?
There’s a popular song (well, maybe
not so popular) that has the lyrics “…the
book of life is brief and once the page is read, all but love is dead.”
Those words pretty much sum up a romantic suspense (why didn’t I start with
that?). Every good romantic suspense author believes this, with every fiber of her soul.
But… She can't live without the life-or-death situation or the thrill of
resolving a whodunit either.
So the answer is simple. We write
romantic suspense because we must.
Robin Weaver
Author of Blue Ridge Fear, Artifact of Death, and The Secret Language of Leah Sinclair
Robin Weaver
Author of Blue Ridge Fear, Artifact of Death, and The Secret Language of Leah Sinclair
5 comments:
Robin, you've captured exactly an RS author's motivation AND frustration in trying to satisfy editor/agent/publishing house decisions on the proper ratio of romance and mystery/suspense. But I'll keep trying because I think romance ups the stakes for mystery/suspense plots and lets us see and understand our characters as fully developed people.
Very interesting post, Robin. A major frustration for authors is satisfying the "proper ration" a particular agent/editor/publishing house has. I think that's why so many writers are trying the indie route. They can write the story they want without fitting it into a particular square.
I once pitched to two editors at a conference and asked each whether they would consider my novel a Paranormal Romantic Suspense or a Romantic Suspense with Paranormal Elements.I got two different answers. Maybe it depends partly on what their publishing house publishes?
Thanks Robin for the breakdown. Very helpful.
With more writers blurring the genre lines, perhaps having multiple personalities will be more a blessing than not. At least, I hope so! Books that don't fit a pre-determined trope/plot/character arc are more fun to read - and write. Thanks for the breakdown of R/S. You were right on target, as always!
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