Tears. Some characters (and real life people) can cry beautifully. For example, Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester in the popular Supernatural program) is an expert at producing a single tear to demonstrate his character’s manly pain and heartache. Others become a complete mess the instant their tear ducts open. Sometimes letting go of the tears releases tension or grief or some emotion that you’ve been holding in tightly; it’s a relief to let them out. And sometimes, letting them out just leaves you red-eyed and congested with no relief or resolution in sight.

Until recently, the only book to make me cry was L.M. Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside. No matter how many times I reread Rilla, two particular passages get to me: one because it leaves characters heartbroken, and the other because it leaves them emotionally fulfilled. The recently read book (not genre romance) surprised me with tears at the epilogue; surprised because the epilogue was not tragic or depressing, and I wasn’t sure what prompted the tears until I took a step back, emotionally-speaking. [Ultimately, while the epilogue included some sadness, its tone was one of happiness and acceptance, and the characters were left in a good place; my reaction was a function of a confluence of events and emotions that were largely unrelated to the book itself.]

For several years as I participated in a very large and very popular romance site’s annual reader poll, I was perplexed by the “Most Hanky” category. Cry? Because of a romance novel? What? Wasn’t the whole point of the romance novel the HEA? What was there to cry about? Why would crying be a good thing, a prized category in a poll for the year’s “best of”?

And does anyone reading romance (ostensibly for the HEA) really want tears to be part of their reading process? Obviously, some people do, because that category in the poll never lacked candidates or winners. Does the inclusion of the very lows, the heartbreak and pain of the characters that may prompt tears, make the HEA sweeter? Is it the contrast of emotions that appeals?

If you like hanky reads, what is it that appeals? And how do you find them? Is there a particular genre or subgenre that lends itself? (Women’s fiction presents itself to me as a prime possibility, but that’s not genre romance, really.) What are your favorite teary reads?

If you avoid teary reads, what is it about them that puts you off?

Karen H in NC

Karen H - send your mailing info to carrie AT accessromance.com

I originally planned an entire different topic for this month’s post. I even had my first line:

I am an author’s dream reader.

But something happened between then and now and I’ve had a 180° turnaround. Not that I’m still not an author’s dream reader. I expect that I’ll finish that post for next time and redeem myself with authors. But what happened to change the course of this post was I was reading along in a book I was quite enjoying and was abruptly and rudely jarred out of it by a (to me) huge error on the part of the author. And it pointed to the fact that the author didn’t really know the subject matter she had chosen to write about.

I’ve read many a complaint in the past about historical inaccuracies and how they take the reader out of the story and this is a big bugaboo for many a reader. But for the most part I’ve been fairly immune to them myself. Unless it’s a real glaring error – like the hero/heroine doing the waltz in 1745, chances are I’m not going to pick up on it unless someone points it out to me.

But the subject of the book that pulled me out is something I’m fairly well-versed in and after that first error, I started counting the blunders the author made and found myself getting more and more annoyed on a number of levels as there were a number of what I consider serious points on something the author failed to check out. You see, I was annoyed that the author didn’t really bother to do her homework. If you’re going to write about something, you better be sure to make it as accurate as you can because we readers have worlds of hidden knowledge and we will catch you. If you aren’t sure, don’t make it up!! Check with someone who knows the topic, even if they aren’t a romance fan. Be sure and be accurate,

Another part of why I’m so annoyed with this book in particular is because I really enjoyed it. The hero and heroine were engaging, I liked the both quite a bit. The secondary characters were interesting. But the fact that I felt myself counting the factual errors prevented me from full enjoying the book. And that ticked me off.

There is a lot I don’t know and a lot can slip by me, but when it is something I know about, and the author got it wrong, I feel cheated. A few years ago I read a book with such a huge error; I couldn’t read that author any more. It was the second book she wrote and I had quite enjoyed the first book. But the mistake the author made in the second book broke the trust I had with that author. And that is a big no no an author can make with her/his readers. Broken trust is hard to recover from. I’ve read enough books by the author that generated this particular topic and enjoyed them, that the trust isn’t broken, but it is damaged. And I will hesitate to try any more books in this particular series.

Now come the questions – because there are books to be won for commenter’s *g*

As a reader, does this bother you when you see inaccuracies, not just in historicals, but in other genres?

Do you think this can be a trust breaker?

Do you think there is trust between an author and a reader?

Have you ever stopped reading an authors books because you get so annoyed that they haven’t done their research enough?

I know it almost seems unfair to put this on authors – they can’t be knowledgeable in everything. But to me, it they are going to write a book about a certain thing, they need to know about what they are writing.

It was while I was preparing for two different presentations on the romance genre I was giving at work, that I was struck with a fanciful thought.

Does erotic romance still exist as it’s own separate sub genre?

I started seriously reading romance a little over ten years ago, which coincides nicely with the rise of Ellora’s Cave and the launch of the Kensington Brava line.  It seems odd now, but I remember when Brava launched the various romance-related message boards and e-mail loops exploding into a wave of indignation, frothing at the mouth, and “Oh noes!  The porn!  The porn!” nonsense.  Most of which I promptly ignored.  I mean, these were the same readers who went into apoplexy if their romance heroines weren’t virgins ::eye roll::.  I ran into the arms of Brava, weeping uncontrollably and mumbling something along the lines of “Where have you been all my life?” Then as time marched on, more publishers launched erotic or spicier imprints, more e-publishers joined the market, and the sexual revolution was in full swing.

Which brings me back to my original question.  Part of me thinks no.  Erotic romance is now so mainstream that it’s bleeding into other sub genres.  Historicals have gotten hotter.  Straight-up contemporaries have gotten hotter.  Those vampires in paranormals are certainly sexier and even category romance is spicier.

Of course once I had this notion of erotic romance no longer being it’s own sub genre - I immediately discarded it.  It’s nonsense really.  There are still publishers and authors out there doing what I consider “erotic” fiction.  Harlequin Spice, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain just to name a few.  What I’m wondering is, what will be next?  Will erotic romance proceed to get even “hotter?”  Can the envelope be pushed farther?  Or will the sub genre eventually bleed into the others, no longer being separate.  Instead of an author writing a historical erotic romance, will her book now simply be described as historical romance?  The erotic being completely incidental.

I’m not sure where the genre is really headed.  I think the next logical step is for gay and lesbian erotic romances to continue to move more into the mainstream.  I also wonder if eventually, as the genre heats up, if we’ll see a backlash of sorts causing someone to develop a “sweet” single title line of romances that dial back the sexy.  Traditional romances that feature G or PG rated sexual content that are not written specifically for the inspirational/Christian market.  A whole line of tender romances (with no “God stuff”), with a separate logo, and branded cover art.   And yes, there is a market out there for such stories.  Trust me on this one.

What do you think?  Do you think the mainstreaming of erotic romance has caused the entire romance genre as a whole to heat up?  What do you think is next for erotic romance?  And how does a line of traditional non-inspirational romances sound to you?

Kimberley Coover

Kimberley - send your mailing info to carrie AT accessromance.com