By Maggie Lynch
Though
there are legions of fans who love contemporary romance, outside of our fans it
doesn’t get a lot of cachet in the literary world. Historical romance gets all
the historical detail fun—beautiful dresses, castles, horses and men who know
exactly what they want, and women who are also very constrained by the roles of
the period. Paranormal romance draws from the fantasy world and that helps the
reader get lost in the magic or the paranormal or the creatures who live
forever. Romance and fantasy seem to go together well. Romantic suspense or
thrillers can cover those messy relationship moments by putting couples in
constant jeopardy. I call it the I-think-I’m-going-to-die-so-let’s-get-it-on
moments that help to propel the relationship forward and put their quarrels in
stark relief against life and death.
But
contemporary romance? It’s ALL about the relationship. It’s all about the
messiness of our minds, and the stupid or crazy things we say and do in order
to protect ourselves. Now that both men and women really do have more choices
in their lives, long-term loving relationships are even more difficult to
navigate. The power structure for decisions is not black and white.
That is why
Contemporary Romance is important to me, and I believe to thousands of fans. It
presents modern situations and ideas and presents ways to navigate all the
messiness.
Though
I love the other genres of Romance, and write in those genres, contemporary is
my favorite. You see… I’m a believer. I truly believe that love conquers
all. I truly believe that if we open
ourselves to love, love the person for who they really are—not trying to change
them—it can be so fulfilling and we grow in extraordinary ways. If we give
ourselves to a relationship and COMMIT to the daily journey together that
includes troubleshooting, renegotiation, forgiveness, and reconciliation, that
the reward to our lives is incredible. Notice I didn’t say easy. I said
incredible.
Of
course, as my friend Jessa Slade says in my favorite author tagline of all time: “Love conquers all, that explains the scars.” It is those scars that I love to write about—the
scars that we all carry from past relationships. Scars that happen as we travel
through life and it doesn’t turn out the way we want. Some scars are from
parents, others from siblings, yet others from friends. And if we have past
romantic relationships, there are likely wounds there too. Every time we enter
into a new relationship we walk that tightrope of wanting to trust but also
protecting our heart. Each time we must decide how much of the past we will bring
into this new relationship and how much we will let those scars hobble us.
Let’s
face it, Love is not passive. It takes a lot of energy. Sometimes the person or people you are
offering your love to don’t give any thanks for your effort. Sometimes you
think you have a two-way thing going, only to find out you were doing all the
giving and the other person was doing all the taking. Way too often, I’ve had to
love someone when they were being a pain in the butt. It’s pretty hard to love someone who is
angry, or someone who is so caught up in their own anguish that it seems no
matter what you do isn’t enough.
Love is
exhausting! Yet, even when we know how much love can suck, we still seek it.
Even when we believe we’ve found it and it’s a mutual sharing, we find ways to
screw it up. And no matter how much we say it’s just not worth it—no matter how
much we might try to move through life without love—we constantly YEARN for it.
That is
exactly what my stories are about. They are about the little choices we make.
Those choices can make love easier or harder. They can take us away from love
or running toward it, or very cautiously approach it. Even when we “fall in
love” it is often difficult to make the “heroic choice” of commitment—the
choice to love when faced with an imperfect person. But that is what we do
to stay in relationship. Share, negotiate, forgive, reconcile, stand up for
yourself, stand up for your partner, and then start all over again by
remembering why you love each other. To achieve that happily ever after, every
day we must recommit to make the choice to love one messy moment at a time.
Maggie Lynch
is the author of 20+ published books, as well as numerous short stories and
non-fiction articles. Her fiction tells stories of men and women
making heroic choices one messy moment at a time. Maggie and her musician husband have settled
in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she now enjoys the luxury of writing
full-time. If you are unfamiliar with Maggie’s Contemporary Romances, you can now
get the first book in the Sweetwater Canyon FREE at all vendors. 
5 comments:
I love this post, Maggie! The best part is your acknowledgment of the Heroic nature of the total commitment to the relationship i.e. to love him or her even with all the imperfections we mere mortals carry around with us. I would only add that one persons imperfection is not necessarily an imperfection to another which also makes for some interesting dynamics!
Totally urge anyone reading this far to Download and READ Undertones. It is a marvelous story. When I was recently at Jan's Paperbacks, I bought "Heart Strings". Saving it to read as a reward to finishing my new website! Better for me than chocolate or a banana split!
Thank you, Judith! I agree 100% that an imperfection to one is not an imperfection to another. Or to put it another way, what one perceives as a strength in one's self, someone else may be perceive as a weakness.
This series means a lot to me and I've been fortunate this year that it has started to find a fan base. Thank you Judith for buying Heart Strings, the third book in th eseries. I love the idea that someone buys it as a "reward." :)
Insightful post, Maggie! There are so many ways to look at why people read what they read but you nailed the reasons most people write contemporary romance. Awesome book you are giving to the readers!
Wonderful blog post with many interesting points on love and loving! You are a wonderful writer, and an inspiration to many people.
Thank you, Paty and Diana. As you know it does a writer's heart good when people let them know they were entertained or found meaning in their book.
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