Moderating the first Romance Roundtable at One More Page Books with authors Lori Ann Bailey, Mia Sosa, and Sharon Wray. Photo credit: One More Page Books.
I learned some amazing new facts last night when I moderated the first Romance Roundtable at our local independent book store, One More Page Books.
Romance novels are contraband in high-risk maternity wards because they make a woman contract prematurely.
Some well-known authors use the term “wood working” when having analytical discussions about sex scenes in their books while their children are around.
Not even a depressing news day and rain can keep diehard romance fans away from a premier Romance Roundtable.
I was honored to be asked to moderate this panel featuring phenomenal romance writers Lori Ann Bailey (Scottish historical, the HIGHLAND PRIDE series), Mia Sosa (contemporary romance, PRETENDING HE’S MINE), and Sharon Wray (romantic suspense, the DEADLY FORCE series). Since it was the first of what we hope are many romance panels at One More Page Books, we decided to talk about everyone’s “origin” story — how they came to and started writing romance — as well provide some foundational info about the romance genre.
Yes, the writers all agreed, a guarantee of a “happily ever after” at the end of a romance was paramount.
Yes, romance novels were more important now than ever, with their visions of an aspirational world where women are admired for being bad assess and men understand that consent is sexy.
Some favorite tropes for the authors are enemies-to-lovers, brother’s best friend, marriage of convenience, and star-crossed lovers. Sigh.
And all the writers agreed that they set aside a time and a place, a drink (wine or coffee) and a playlist to write the steamy love scenes that are important to the tale of two adults falling in love.
One More Page Books established a new romance section days before the event (watch video here). I’m thrilled to be part of this movement supporting the romance genre here in my home town!
