Why Do Women Read Romances?

The other day I was talking with a gentleman who is one of those distant relatives, the kind that is related by marriage twice removed or some such nonsense. I had a Johanna Lindsey novel in my hand as I had been devouring it and was quite taken aback when he asked me “Why do women read those things?”

It surprised me because it has been years and years since I’ve met someone with that attitude toward romances and I’m afraid I had become quite rusty in my response. My world consists of people who value romance novels and see the writers of such as almost heroes, or rather heroines. So this question caught me completely off guard. I stumbled through what I hope was a fitting reply, but realized I definitely need to update my arsenal for other people I may encounter who are ignorant of the beauty of romance novels.

If you have an idea for a good response, would you share? Maybe I could practice possible comebacks for that rare occasion when I run into a person who simply doesn’t get romance novels. All suggestions are welcome!

Alexis

Writing Fulltime Part II

First things first. I want to announce the winner of my May contest for commenting on my blog or signing up through my website. And the winner is . . . Jennifer Ashley. Jennifer won a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card. Congratulations, Jennifer!

I will have another contest again in July, so watch for it. For this week, I will continue my thoughts on becoming a fulltime writer.

Alone: I’ve decided that being a writer means being alone. It’s not like going to work where there are other employees, customers, vendors etc., constantly moving in and out of your space. When I open the computer up in the morning, I am alone. However, once I connect to the internet, I have a multitude of people to converse with, bounce ideas off, and work with. What is nice is I can control when I “talk” with others and when I need to be “alone.”

Now for me, I have another possible challenge with this. My husband is retired. Yup, home all day if he wants. Actually, my becoming a fulltime writer has cramped his space a little, but it’s working out well. He doesn’t insist I break for lunch. In fact, he generally puts my lunch next to my computer so I can eat as I write. But I always make time for him. Taking a break from the computer and the creation of exciting characters and events helps rejuvenate me. And taking a break with him is much better than stopping to do laundry :-)

Days: One aspect of writing fulltime that I did not expect was my obliviousness to what day it is. Monday or Saturday or a holiday, I find it’s all irrelevant. The new importance is on the number of days it takes to finish writing or revising. I’ve started putting the date on my daily “To-Do” List to help me keep track of the time passing, along with crossing out the days on the calendar, but it is still the date I have targeted for a submission to go out that motivates me.

I know some writers can work eight hours a day, five days a week and take their weekends off to be with family. I find myself using the weekends to catch up on the writing goals I wanted to accomplish during the week and didn’t. I may need to shorten my daily To-Do Lists because even writers need to take a break. Which brings me to another concern, how do I take a vacation? Right now, it’s not as critical to worry about because I’m not under deadline. But from other writers I’ve spoken to, this can be tricky. Any advice on how to go about setting aside vacation time? I would very much appreciate ideas. Do you have any thoughts?