SPA Girls Podcast – EP012 – Genre Break Down Challenge
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This week’s episode is number twelve – that’s right, we made it to three months! This episode was a challenge show, and we each talked about the research we’d done on our particular genres – Trudi looked into the genre conventions of Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy (with a little bit of comparison between them along the way), Cheryl investigated Chick Lit and what makes it so good, Wendy waxed lyrical on the conventions of Historical Romance, and Shar rounded it all out by telling us about Contemporary Romance.
Challenge episode
Definitions of genres
Defining what is a romance – two elements comprise a romance.
- A central love story
- An emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending
The main plot centers around the characters falling in love. You can have as many subplots as you like, but the focus is around the main characters and their love story.
HEA – Happy Ever After
HFN – Happy For Now
Lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationships are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.
Series or Category Romances:
These are like the harlequin novels and are in the bigger stores like Walmart, and are printed monthly. They are also available in digital format.
Single title romance:
These are longer books, and are published in a number of different ways like digital, trade and mass market paperbacks.
Genre explanations:
Trudi- paranormal/urban fantasy.
Paranormal romance- is a subgenre of romance, and the romantic thread throughout the book is important, and this is the main difference is between it and urban fantasy. Has a HEA and does not tend to be as dark as urban fantasy. It’s written in third person and often more than one point of view.
Paranormal romance authors – Trudi Jaye, J.R. Ward, Stephenie Meyer, Larissa Ione, Charlene Harris, Nalini Singh
Covers- usually tend to be naked males or man and woman. Male is usually very alpha.
Urban fantasy – is often centered around the female’s journey. There is usually an element of romance. It is often written in the first person. Often there are several stories that follow the life of the main couple through a series.
Urban Fantasy Authors – Patricia Briggs, Lucy Thompson, Laurell K Hamilton, Judy Teal
Cover – silhouette of the female and more of a mainstream looking cover. Usually there is not couple in a clinch, and the setting is dark urban.
Cheryl – Chick Lit
Chick Lit can be just HFN or HEA. It can have a have almost comedic elements. Can be dark but funny, and sometimes with gritty, realistic elements. They can have romantic elements also, and the settings can be more everyday life. Varies in sensuality levels.
Authors- Marian Keys, Kathy Kelly, Elizabeth Nobel, Sophie Kinsella
Covers – they do not necessarily have people. It could be a caricature and have bright colors. The covers stand out and are often illustrations.
Wendy – Historical Romance:
There are many different eras’ that encompass Historical Romance (see list in links). There are the more traditional historical romance’s where the language and facts are accurate and then there the looser historical romances, that are factually correct, but are more sensual with varied plots and story’s.
Understand the genre you choose before you write it, because the readers know their stuff, and they’ll pick you up if you get it wrong.
YouTube is great for getting the feel for the era, for example; how to harness a horse.
Make sure you get titles correct. (See Burkes Peerage links below)
Make sure your slang or use of words are correct. Some of the words we use today were not around in some of the era’s we choose to write.
Authors-Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Anna Campbell, Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan
Covers- lush with bold covers, couple or single woman or man. Dress is for that era. Quite often they are sensual.
Shar – Contemporary Romance:
Definition of contemporary romance – romance novels that are set from 1950’s to current day and they focus on the primary relationship and have a realism to them.
This is an evolving genre due to the changes in the world we live. They are set all over the world.
There are a lot of sub-genres off contemporary, like rock star, sports, billionaires, romantic suspense, small town romances.
Covers – because of the range in this genre, each sub-genre can have differing covers to depict what the story will bring the reader. Covers go from couples in differing dress and backgrounds depending on where it’s set and the sensual level of the story.
Authors-Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lisa Klepas, Bella Andre, Marie Force.
Links
Paranormal Authors –
http://www.trudijayewrites.com/
Urban Fantasy Authors –
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/
http://www.laurellkhamilton.com/
Chick Lit Authors –
http://www.mariankeyes.com/books
http://www.elizabethnoble.co.uk/
Historical Romance Links-
Timelines for historical romance periods
http://www.burkespeerage.com/ http://www.eloisajames.com/
https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/
You Tube – Regency era hairstyles
Historical Romance Authors-
Next Challenge-finding your tribe.
WE want you to find other writers and groups, and begin to build your support community. Writing can be solitary and sometimes you need people to bounce ideas off, so go out there and find them, then let us know how you get on by posting on our FB page.
