Happy belated Valentine’s Day. In honor of the season of love, allow me to speak on the title topic.
In every form of artistic expression, there appears the need to “define and classify” everything. Another truism is that creators hate to put labels on anything they create, and I’m no exception. But I digress.
I’ve always felt that THE FOURTH HOUSE was “mainstream fiction,” if I had to put a label on it. On the other hand, some people, including some in the publishing world, have tried to label it a romance.
That one stuck in my craw more than once and at times I tried to see how I could live with it. I write romance novels; I write romance novels. Kind of tough for a straight guy from the coal region to take.
Then I read the following the other day:
“Here’s a simple guide to the difference between romance and mainstream fiction: A mainstream novel works around a plot, often with a romance in the background; a romance works around a love story, with a plot in the background. If you find that your plot is taking precedence over your love story, then you are probably not writing a romance, after all.”
Having read this and agreeing with it, I say to those who enjoyed Fourth House as a romance, thank you very much and hope to see you soon when my next one comes out.
But it’s not really a romance. It has a plot and it also happens to have a love story, but first and foremost, it has a plot. Not meaning to sound defensive, but, I can now officially say that I am not a writer of romance novels. So there.
(This is not what I write, but it’s a great artist’s rendering of me)