Writers on Romance

This page is for articles/speeches written by romance writers about the romance genre but not published in academic journals or books.

From this page you may return to the main Romance Scholarship page or go directly to

• Academics Who Write Romance
• Academic Online Essays (not published in academic journals or volumes)
• Autobiographies and Biographies of Romance Authors
• Bibliography
  • Bibliography A-C - the first part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
  • Bibliography D-G - the second part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
  • Bibliography H-L - the third part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
  • Bibliography M-O - the fourth part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
  • Bibliography P-S - the fifth part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
  • Bibliography T-Z - the final part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
• Bibliography of Scholarship in Languages Other than English.
• Dissertation Abstracts
• Guides to the Genre
• Romance in the Media - lists news items/features items about romance.
  • Romance in the Media A-I
  • Romance in the Media J-Z
• Romance Resources for Academics - lists romance-related resources which may be of interest to academics.

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Many of these items are no longer available at the site on which they were originally published. If we've noticed this has happened, we will retain the original link and, where possible, add a link to the page as it has been preserved by the Internet Archive.

A

Amos, Robyn, 1996. 'Writing the Ethnic Romance'.[1] via the Internet Archive

Anderson, Gabi, 2005. ' Popular Fiction VS Proper English'. [2] This no longer appears to be available online.

Anderson, Gabi, 2005. 'Sexual Tension'. [3] This no longer appears to be available online.

AuthorsOnTheWeb.Com, 2004. '2004 Romance Author Roundtable'. [4] 'AuthorsOnTheWeb.com has brought together 17 romance writers --- Cherry Adair, Mary Balogh, Stephanie Bond, Susan Crandall, Jane Feather, Laura Lee Guhrke, Lisa Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Nicole Jordan, Lisa Kleypas, Jill Marie Landis, Linda Francis Lee, Judi McCoy, Linda Lael Miller, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Kimberly Raye, and Karen Rose --- to discuss the challenge of developing fresh plot lines and unique characters in this highly popular and ever-growing genre, the research they conduct for their novels, and memorable encounters they have had with readers.' via the Internet Archive

AuthorsOnTheWeb.Com, 2003. 'Romance Author Roundtable'. [5] 'Romance is more than hearts and flowers for this group of authors. As writers of a genre responsible for more than 50 % book sales it's big business. Mary Lynn Baxter, Jo Beverley, Shirlee Busbee, Candace Camp, Leslie Carroll, Gaelen Foley, Dorothy Garlock, Rachel Gibson, Judith McNaught, Teresa Medeiros, Brenda Novak, Carly Phillips, Julia Quinn, Barbara Samuel, Christina Skye, and Kerrelyn Sparks discuss creating and sustaining ongoing characters, writing love scenes and their thoughts on the romance genre in the world of publishing.'

AuthorsOnTheWeb.Com, 2002. 'Romance Author Roundtable'. [6] ' Romance. It's more than hearts and flowers. For these sixteen authors --- Shana Abé, Lauren Bach, Sherri Browning, Jacquie D'Alessandro, Madeline Hunter, Brenda Joyce, Donna Kauffman, Betina Krahn, Kat Martin, Glenna McReynolds, Nora Roberts, Sharon Robinson, Amanda Scott, Elizabeth Thornton, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, and Susan Wiggs --- romance is all about writing and it's big business. Read their comments about the genre responsible for more than 50% book sales each year. Now that's a statistic to flirt with!'

B

Bancroft, Blair. 'What is Regency?'. [7]

Beverley, Jo. 'Selling that Manuscript'. [8]

Beverley, Jo, 2003. 'The luncheon speech presented at the RWA Annual Conference, New York, July 2003'.[9]

Blake, Toni, 2000. 'Why I Open The Bedroom Door'. [10]

Bolen, Cheryl, 1999. 'The Sophistication of the Romance Novel'. First published in the Houston Writer in February 1999. [11]

Bond, Stephanie, 2000. 'MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: Conversing With the Unconverted (How to Deal With Uninformed People Who Put Down Romance)'. [12]

Bond, Stephanie, 2006. 'MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: We Each Are Responsible for the Image of Romance'. [13] Links to these and other articles by Stephanie Bond for writers can be found at her page for writers.

Bookbug-on-the-Web, 1999-2000. 'A Hero at Heart: Romance Authors Define the Perfect Hero'. [14]

Bowman, Valerie, 2015. "The Start of Happily Ever After: An Author Reveals the Sources of Inspiration for Writing Romances." Publishers Weekly 262, no. 46 (November 16, 2015): 80.

Bradley, Celeste. 'Fact or Fantasy?'.[15]

Bradley, Celeste. 'What's so Funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?'.[16] via the Internet Archive

Brashear, Jean, 2000. 'Writers Who Dare and the Editors Who Let Them', first published in Romance Writers Report. [17] [if that link doesn't work, see the archived version - you may need to scroll down the page a little.]

C - D

Carleton, Susannah. 'The differences between Regency romances and Regency-set historical romances'.[18]

Carr, Robyn. 2013. "Why I Write…." Publishers Weekly 260.22: 28.

Cast, P.C. and Showalter, Gena. ' Aliens Do It With Tentacles! (Alien Sex)'. [19]

Clare, Pamela, 2005. 'Romancing the Store: Why not give women what they want?', Publishers Weekly, 11/21/2005. [20]

Coulter, Brenda, 'What is "Inspirational" Romance?'. [21]

Crusie, Jennifer, 1998. 'Defeating the Critics: What We Can Do About the Anti-Romance Bias', first published in Romance Writer's Report, Vol. 18 Number 6. June 1998: 38-39, 44. [22]

Crusie, Jennifer, 2000. 'I Know What It Is When I Read It: Defining the Romance Genre', first published in Romance Writer's Report. [23]

Day, Sylvia, 2005. 'What is Erotic Romance?'.[24]

F - G

Forster, Gwynne, 2007. 'Culture and Ethnicity - The African-American Romance Novel', Affaire de Coeur. [25]

Fox, Karen, 1998. 'Looking Toward the Futuristic'. [26]

French, Liz, 2010. 'Unconditional Love: How Heroes and Heroines With Disabilities are Winning Readers' Hearts', RT Book Reviews. [This article contains quotes from a number of authors, including Jennifer Ashley, Mary Balogh, Eloisa James and Sabrina Jeffries] [27]

Glick, Ruth, 2005. 'Romance vs. Romantic Suspense'. [28]

Goodnight, Linda. 'Heavenly Days! What's the World Coming To?'. [29] [About Inspirational Romance]

Gracie, Anne, 'Romantic Myths', first in the Victorian Writers' Centre magazine, WriteOn, based in Melbourne, Australia. [30]

H - J

Hale, Deborah, 1998. ' Walking the Historical Tightrope: Giving Your Historical Romance 'Atmosphere' Without Making It Sound Like a Doctoral Thesis'. [31]

Hale, Deborah, 2005. ' The Secret Formula of Romance Fiction'. [32]

Hannay, Barbara. 'Believable Characters: Balancing Fantasy and Reality'. [33]

Haynes, Melinda Rucker, 2004. 'For the Greater Good: Writing Issue-Themed Romance'. [34]

Hewitt, Kate, 2007. 'One Writer's Defense of the Romance Genre: I Won't Feel Guilty!'.[35]

Higgins, Kristan, 2015. 'It's Not the Sex: An Author's Take on Why the Romance Genre Is So Popular. Publishers Weekly 262, no. 33: 76.

James, Eloisa, 2011. 'Bringing past sex to life is complicated.' CNN, April 25, 2011.[36] [Re sex in historical romance.]

Jameson, Bronwyn, 2006. 'Irresistible Heroes: Those Australians'. [37]

Jewel, Carolyn, 2002. 'Why Romance Novels Get No Respect'. [38]

Joyce, Lydia, 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T'.[39]

Joyce, Lydia, 'Defending the Genre that Needs No Defense'.[40]

Joyce, Lydia, 'Fighting Words: Why Romance Needs Accuracy'.[41]

Jump, Shirley, 2001. 'Make Them Laugh, Make Them Cry: Writing with Emotion'. [42]

K - M

Krentz, Jayne Ann, 2000. 'Are We There Yet? Mainstreaming The Romance', Keynote Speech at Bowling Green State University Conference On Romance. [43]

Lowell, Elizabeth (Anne Maxwell), "Popular Fiction: Why We Read It, Why We Write It." [44] via the Internet Archive

McClain, Lee Tobin, 2003. ‘Sweet, Savage Academe: True Confessions of a Pulp Professor’, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 August 2003. [45]

P - W

Palfrey, Evelyn, 2005. 'Romance at any age: a daughter's curiosity brings back a writer's long ago memories of sneaking Mama's romance novels from under the bed and urges her to write for every generation.' Column on 'the writing life', Editorial. Black Issues Book Review, 01-JAN-05.[46] [About African American romances and also about young romance readers]

Samuel, Barbara, 'Acts of Faith: Writing Romances as an Act of Courage', first given as a luncheon speech in Dallas. [47] at the Internet Archive

Satie, Erin. 'Escapism(s).' 25 Dec. 2012.[48] via the Internet Archive

Sebastian, Cat, 2018. 'Romance, Compassion, and Inclusivity (Or: How Romance Will Save the World)', Los Angeles Review of Books, 29 August 2018.[49]

Walker, Kate, 2005. 'Alpha Heroes', wewriteromance.com.[50]

Whiteside, Diane, 2006. 'Safe Sex in Erotic Romance'.[51] at the Internet Archive