Blog Versary: Lynn Kelling Author Post & Giveaway
Why I Write Romance
Lynn Kelling
It’s a question I’ve gotten a lot, and which I’ve run through my mind often. Why write romance? The quick answer is that it’s what calls to me. But… why?
My answer is a personal one, but which I think fits a broader understanding of the genre, its writers, and its readers.
In our world, our lives, the ultimate story is one of love versus fear. This is true no matter the particular subject. It’s a description that fits every book, every journey, and every tale ever written. Does the hero/heroine follow their heart, or give in to their terrors? This goes for every other genre, too—drama, science fiction, historical works, fantasy, comedy… you name it. Love contains hope, faith, dreams, wishes, and wants. Fear enfolds everything we dread, everything that might harm, disasters, misfortune and unfairness. The push and pull between them is the story of the ages. We fight that battle every day, every moment, in our own hearts, minds, and lives. When we read stories, we’re living vicariously through the characters. We safely explore our fears in a controlled way.
Likewise, stories show us all types of people chasing their wildest dreams, no matter how the odds might be stacked against them. When they win, it’s proof there’s hope for us too. When they lose, we see the lesson in the loss, which strengthens and drives the dreamer on to try again, and again, even if its seems foolish or pointless. Because hope lingers everywhere, in every situation. It’s the unquenchable spark that smolders in darkness, tempting with countless possibilities.
Why do I write romance?
Because romance is love. It encompasses all other genres, all types of tales. It’s there in drama and comedy, in other worlds, other times, and all the impossible places we might want to visit. Love is tragedy and victory. Love is growth, revelation, bravery and kindness. Love is everywhere if we know to look for it.
For me, there is no reason to write about history or trips through space, or creatures with amazing abilities, coming-of-age dramas or mysteries unless there is love there too. Love should be celebrated. It should be brought out to the front. It should be wrapped around every moment to warm them and help them shine.
Honestly, I don’t want to read a story unless there’s someone within it whose heart is touched, broken, healed, or revived. If there’s no heart, there’s no life. There’s only coldness and emptiness.
As a writer, I look for love. My favorite kind is when it’s unlikely and rare. When the odds are against our hero, and there seems no chance for them to find what they know they need. When love waits in the most unlikely of places to be discovered and given a chance to transform everything it touches. When it’s looked for endlessly with little success, until it’s realized it was hiding there, within, all along. We just needed to feel it to find it.
Every day in my life, I look for love. I hold onto it, while choosing to let go of fear. Fear is the illusion. It’s smoke and shadow without substance. It fools and condemns. Through my characters, I encourage the wisdom of hope and fearlessness. I look for that spark, smoldering, giving it air to feed on and grow, helping it to burn bright and shameless, banishing all shadows.
Giveaway
The giveaway is one signed paperback of the winner’s choice from Lynn Kelling’s entire back catalogue. Simply leave a comment below before midnight Oct 31st (US EST) for a chance to win. The winner will be notified within 24 hours of the draw close. Please contact us within 48 hours or there will be a redraw. (Always check your spam folder.) Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
Author Bio:
Lynn Kelling began writing in order to tell stories that aren’t afraid of the dark, don’t hold anything back and always strive to be memorable, forging lasting attachments between character and reader. Her inspiration comes from taking a closer look at behaviors and ideas lurking at the fringes of life—basically anything that people may hesitate to speak of in mixed company, but everyone wonders about anyway. Her work is driven by the taboo in order to expose the humanity within it. Lynn is an artist, designer and lover of any form of creative self-expression that comes from a place of honesty and emotion, whether it’s body art or opera. She has had multiple novels published, has written over fifty works of erotic fiction of varying lengths, and always has several novels in progress.
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Years ago I would never have read romance. I still don’t like chick flicks or rom-coms, yet now I am well and truly in love with romance books. I mostly choose books that promise me strong characters, storylines and diversity. There is not much I can’t find under the romance umbrella these days – crime, suspense, mystery, paranormal, urban fantasy, horror, sci-fi, spec-fic, psychological, the list goes on. It’s what keeps me coming back to romance. I still read out of genre, I don’t often review those books, but I’m an out and proud romance reader and you’ll find plenty… Read more »
Thank you for having me as part of the blog versary celebration, Kazza! The hope, inclusiveness, and broad possibilities of romance are so intoxicating as both a reader and a writer. I appreciate the way blogs like your own help showcase all that the genre has to offer!
Great post by Lynn! But even greater comment by you Kazza! I read romance for the exact same reasons!
Thanks, Katy 😀
What a coincidence that this post was published on On Top Down Under on the same day I published a post I wrote about how much I love romance and the reasons why. Even in the darkest books I read I look for that hint of romance. I’m a hopeless romantic and am always wanting to see two people come together. Granted, it’s not fitting for all books I read (I read a lot of horror) but a majority of the books on my Kindle are romance books. Unlike Kazza, I started my love of romance novels at a very… Read more »
I read a lot of horror too, Cindi! I always love to see a romantic element of some sort in there (or in any other dark book), even just to explore some of the MCs’ relationship in the midst of everything else. The “going it alone” stories always leave me wanting. Nothing snags my attention more than some strong heat and emotion. Happy 5th Anniversary to the blog!!
[…] so excited to share with you a post on Why I Write Romance that’s part of the Blog Versary celebration at On Top Down Under Book Reviews. This post […]
Thank you for the post. I didn’t always like romance but now I enjoy it and needs a little romance in any of the books I read. Thank you for sharing why you write.
Thanks for the post. 🙂 I love how romance gives us lots of ways people can find someone special for their heart.
I always look for some sort of romance in my books too. I just love the way you write yours with the imperfections and struggles. It doesn’t have to be an easy road, as long as there is that love to fall back onto. Who am I kidding, I love when it’s not an easy road.
I loved the post. I learn to love romance very recently when I discovered M/M. I really love your books and characters, there’s so much emotions in them.
I love the ‘Twins’ series and wish there were more published books similar yours. I keep hunting but you set the bar so high no one else has approached the love, sensitivity and sensuality you’ve brought to your characters. I love them!
I am a romance book reading junkie. I have been for what seems like forever. My tastes have certainly changed over the years, much more picky about what I read and certain authors I love. Lynn Kelling is definitely in my top 5. Thank you Lynn for this great blog post. I always like to hear what authors think about and why they write what they do. Thanks for the chance.
Thanks for your thoughts. For me, it’s more complicated, there’s more gray area, not just one vs. the other. In reality, you can also love multiple things that can be in conflict. And love is an emotion just like fear, so if that makes fear an illusion, then is that also true for love? But I think both are real, real feeling grounded in reality, and I think I see that in your writing as well.
for the longest time there was no positive gay-oriented fiction. Then slowly in the 1970s fiction began to appear (Joseph Hansen, Gordon Merrick, et al) — not really mm fiction, but MCs who were unapologetically gay. And now, finally, we have fully formed MCs dealing with realistic events in true mm romances. Thank you Lynn (and all romance authors) for putting love and joy, as well as trials and tribulations into romances.
Wonderful post, Lynn. I have always been a lover of romance books. It started when I was pretty young (teens) I would read my mom and grandmother’s romance books. They were pretty tame compared to what I read now, but I really enjoyed them. 🙂 Hope sums it up pretty well. I want characters to find that person that makes them feel special, helps them get through the hard times, and most of all loves being with them no matter what they are doing.
Thank you to everyone who checked out this post or left a comment. A big thank you also to Lynn Kelling. Congratulations to Katy who has chosen a copy of Becoming Kerry.