Romance readers...

Skeezon

I need your help! I'm giving a presentation at a writers conference soon. The topic is "How to keep romance fresh." If you could answer any of the questions below is appreciate the help. So my questions are: 1. What are you tired of reading? What has been done to death? 2. What are you looking for that you can't find? 3. What cliches bother you the most? Thanks for helping me out, ladies!

CeeCeeSugaPie

1. I'm tired of reading the "Boy/Girl comes back to hometown and reconnects with long lost love" stories and the "Boy/Girl and friends go to Vegas and wake up married or have slept with someone".

2. Not sure about this one. I really love some witty banter between the MCs. I like when there is a lot of build up between the characters. I like for their to be some humor for sure. When I read some books, I'm thinking "Nobody can be this serious all the time.".  I don't mind a darker story but, for me, I need some moments of light-heartedness to break it up. 

3. I kind of answered this one in the first question.  I also am tired of seeing "Girl with effed up past heads to college/new town and catches the eye of the campus playboy, who somehow helps her work past her deep psychological issues in one chapter" type scenarios. 

dutchgirl76

Oh this is a fun one.

*Please note I read a lot of YA and Nicholas Sparks so my data will be skewed

1. I'm tired of reading one comes from an affluent family with a promising, yet planned for you future and the person they fall in love with comes from the "wrong side of the tracks" so we can never love but alas in the end we do hooray!

Medical issues or death are used too much. Someone always has cancer, or dies prematurely in a car accident. A lot of YA has suicide too. There's never just a story of we fell in love and live happily ever after.

2. I think I'm looking for a real life view, although that defeats the point of escaping to the romance genre. I guess I'd just like to see it didn't work out but it's ok you found love somewhere else (or gasp made it on your own), or the love interest isn't some perfect man who just saves you and fixes everything, but again that's the point, fantasize  about something you'll never have.

3. I also agree with CeeCee on #3, Not everyone needs to be fixed or have this beautiful transformation from the darkness thanks to this hunky man. Again my romance scope is limited, but the poor man from the wrong side of the tracks really drives me nuts, I don't know why but I think it's because that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be a felon and a jerk. 

CeeCeeSugaPie

dutchgirl76 said:

Oh this is a fun one.

*Please note I read a lot of YA and Nicholas Sparks so my data will be skewed

1. I'm tired of reading one comes from an affluent family with a promising, yet planned for you future and the person they fall in love with comes from the "wrong side of the tracks" so we can never love but alas in the end we do hooray!

Medical issues or death are used too much. Someone always has cancer, or dies prematurely in a car accident. A lot of YA has suicide too. There's never just a story of we fell in love and live happily ever after.

2. I think I'm looking for a real life view, although that defeats the point of escaping to the romance genre. I guess I'd just like to see it didn't work out but it's ok you found love somewhere else (or gasp made it on your own), or the love interest isn't some perfect man who just saves you and fixes everything, but again that's the point, fantasize  about something you'll never have.

3. I also agree with CeeCee on #3, Not everyone needs to be fixed or have this beautiful transformation from the darkness thanks to this hunky man. Again my romance scope is limited, but the poor man from the wrong side of the tracks really drives me nuts, I don't know why but I think it's because that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be a felon and a jerk. 

This! I love a HEA, but it would be cool if it wasn't with the love interest you expected. 

Skeezon

Thanks, ladies!