I suppose authors writing in the romance genre will disagree, but I consider romantic and thriller scenes different aspects of the action that might be contained in a fiction story. Sure, there’s the quiet build-up to the romance, but that also occurs for thrills. And it’s all a fictional representation of our human experience.

Romance is part of our lives, thrills maybe not so much. (Maybe that’s why rides in theme parks are so popular?) I’m not addressing thrills at the gym, on a sports field, or on the dance floor, which might also involve a bit of romance (although it’s hard to imagine sweating together being romantic as some gym commercials portray). Car chases, physical altercations, gun or knife fights, and other plot devices are common in thrillers, but they also occur in other genres too, including romance, especially historical romances where gallant knights battle to impress young maids, and so forth.

Yes, we generally have a dearth of romance and thrills in our lives, which led to people seeking it in books…before streaming video and computer games. This might be more prevalent now. Escapism sells. Avid readers still find romance and thrills in books, though, primarily because reading, especially minimal writing, allows readers to participate in the creative experience by imagining they’re taking part.

Romance is a more common human activity, and romantic scenes from flirting to torrid sexual encounters, are often found in today’s fiction, sometimes with a heat index that would go far beyond any movie’s X-rating. The romance genre is big on today’s literary scene, and some books have little else to offer the reader. But romance, as part of human nature, belongs in most genres. It just has to occur in the right place and at the right time. It must not distract or intrude; it must fit smoothly into the normal plot development; and it must not make principal characters become caricatures.

Similar things can be said about that other part of action, namely the thrills found in many genres, not just thrillers. Like steamy sex scenes, they’re often not part of our ordinary lives, but readers can immerse themselves in a book and participate vicariously in the thrills. Yet to seem real, thrills can’t intrude, characters must experience them seamlessly as part of the plot, and they must seem like possible experiences rather than prose that gratuitously seeks readers’ emotional adrenaline rushes.

I’ve seen reviewers state about a book, “A real adrenaline rush,” whether talking about romance or thrills, or “page-turning excitement.” Whether these are comments in a review or found in hype about a book, they do no service to a writer who manages romance and thrills skillfully. As a reader, I take such comments with a grain of salt. As an author, I’m a minimalist writer. That in particular means I strive to make my prose as realistic as possible.

Tom Clancy stated, “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” It doesn’t make sense or seem real when every page is full of steamy sex or fantastic thrills or any other action that represents extreme outliers in the spectrum of human experience. While there are genres where this is the norm (erotica and fantasy are examples), the more serious readers can relate to the action in a book, the better the book will be received. That might not motivate people who see reading as escapism, but is it possible that they have now migrated to streaming video and video games? Perhaps the best fiction books are both escapist and seem real? If so, that’s hard tightrope for a writer to walk, and represents a real challenge in writing genre fiction.

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Comments are always welcome.

The Last Humans. LA County Sheriff’s deputy Penny Castro surfaces from a forensics dive and finds the apocalypse—a biological weapons attack on the West Coast has sped around the world on prevailing winds and killed billions. Follow Penny’s adventures as she tries to survive in the aftermath. This novel and other books from Black Opal Books are great cures for readers’ winter blahs. In Penny’s case, they will learn that they don’t have it so bad! Black Opal and its authors offer readers a world of adventure “because some stories just have to be told.” All available in ebook or print format from the publisher or anywhere else books are sold. A sequel, The Last Humans: A New Dawn, is in the production pipeline.

Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!

 

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