I have decided to brand myself as the “alternative romance writer”. Even since I got my first publishing contract I have been struggling with the fact that my romances seem a little lost among the ocean of rather spicy (read: hot hot hot) novels out there. Every time I post a teaser for my rather mild love story in a Facebook promotion blog I am intimidated by those other teasers around me; there are practically naked people, some making lewd gestures, others in the thralls of a very intimate moment, others sporting snippets from the novel that would make my mother have a heart attack. Amidst all this is my love story with allusions to Cinderella and ethereal feelings that cannot be described in a physical way. I feel very out of place.
On the other hand I don’t fit with the sweet romance crowd either. My romances are mild but they do contain enough sexual content that totally cuts me off from sweet romance sites. I was told that in no uncertain ways by a popular blogger who refused to review my book. “You book doesn’t belong here,” were the words she used. And I agree with her.
So where does my sweet and spicy story belong? Nowhere, I guess.
As a member of a minority (sort of) and a female I refuse to accept my wonderful little romances don’t belong anywhere, so I am creating a whole new sub-genre; the alternative romances. This is how I will sell it:
You love romance. You love everything about it; the dreaminess of it all, that first touch, the first kiss, the whole swooniness (I know that’s not a word, just roll with it) in the process of falling in love and be loved back. But you want to go a little further. You want to explore and find out how it felt the first time they made love, the first time they lay together, legs and arms entwined. How did they feel? What were they thinking? What made them swoon in ecstasy?
You want some details but you think anatomically-correct words kill the mood. Or worse, the vernacular for certain more intimate parts of the body just don’t do it for you at all. You want the physical act wrapped up in poetry, vague enough that your imagination can fill in the blanks, but not so vague you have to go look it up in a sex manual. You’re definitely not interested in how big the male’s genitals are or which finger exactly he used to do whatever. You want the dream, the rather misty idea of the act, the romance.
If this is what you look for in a romance (on top of all the other plot themes be it suspense, fantasy, comedy…) I am your author. Look me up on Amazon and make sure you sign up for my newsletter so you can keep up with the news of my swoon-worthy upcoming romantic fantasy (okay, that was a crass commercial plug but a girl needs to sell her books).
Before I lose you (if I haven’t already) I have a question for you? What do you think? Do you think I’m delusional and there is no market for my romances? Do I hold a prayer in this business? What do you want to see in a romance? Comment to your heart’s content, dear readers. I dare you!
Author Natalina Reis 