Interracial Relationships in Romance

Since I blogged about why it's always some white dude on The Bachelor, both Karen Scott and Charlie Horse have chimed in with their takes on Interracial Romances, which brings me to today's post. Why aren't there more interracial relationships in romance?

Now, before you leave me a comment saying but what about romances with Native American heroes, I'm not talking about those. Or the plethora of sheik romances on the shelves thanks to Harlequin Presents. I'm talking about books where either the hero is AA and the heroine is white or hispanic or the heroine is AA and the hero is white etc.

Here we are in the year 2007 and of all the books that are published that are romances, how many feature an interracial relationship? I can name two Silhouette Special Editions that were published in the last two years that featured a romance where the romance was between either an African-American man and a white woman and vice-versa, and both those books were written by Barbara Gale, who is a member of RWA NYC (and was recently featured in an interview on this blog a few weeks ago). This book, The Ambassador's Vow won a Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Award for Best Silhouette Edition.

Suzanne Brockmann of course, after many fan letters, gave Sam and Alyssa their own book, Gone Too Far and Sharon Cullars wrote a novel Again published by Aphrodisia that featured a romance with an African-American heroine and a white hero. But that's pretty much it, that I know of. I don't read a lot of e-published books or small press books, so I could be missing out.

One of my favorite books is by Sandra Kitt called The Color of Love. Leah Downey is a talented black artist dealing with a loveless relationship. Jason Horn is a white cop trying to get over the traumas of his past. When they meet, sparks fly--but can they keep it together? If you haven't read it, I suggest that you run out and try to find a copy. It was optioned for an HBO Film but never made. It's too bad, I could totally see Christopher Meloni as Jason and Sanaa Lathan as Leah. She's actually written several books for Signet that featured interracial romances.

Soaps have finally started dipping their feat in the waters of interracial relationships, most notably Prince Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital. There have been several over the years, mainly between white men and African-American women, but they've come along way since the 70's.

Maybe it's because I live in New York, but not a day goes by that I don't see several interracial couples, not just black/white but black/asian, white/asian, Indian/white etc. It's like Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition moved to New York. Maybe in the rest of the country, it's just not as prevalent.

Is there just not an audience for this type of book? Genesis Press tried to do a whole series of books that featured interracial romances that didn't last long. I know I've featured several interracial romances in my novels, so I'm certainly interested in reading them. And I've been in several interracial relationships myself. Are publishers just not that willing to take a chance on them unless the writing is amazing?

I'm curious to know what other people think?

EKM

More Golden Apple Awards

I thought I'd share some more photos from Tuesday night's GAA awards reception that my chapter RWA NYC threw at the Pen & Brush Club here in New York.

This is the photo I had hoped would run on Galley Cat, me with all the honorees!

This is me looking on as one of our honorees accept their award. God, I look really thin don't I? I love this photo!

Here's a photo of me after I finished presenting all the awards!

Here are our members, Barbara Einstein who writes as Barbara Gale, Irene Weissman and past president Sylvia Baumgarten who writes as Sylvia Halliday.

And finally here are the lovely Leanna Renee Heiber, Katrina Tipton who writes as Isabo Kelly and Stacey Agdern, our bookseller of the year from Posman Books (check her out if you're in Grand Central Station).

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Welcome Barbara Gale!

Driving blind through a torrential thunderstorm, Maggie Tremont stumbles into a small New Hampshire village almost as lost as Shangri-La. But no paradise this! Primrose is a tiny hamlet the twentieth century seems to have forgotten, not even a dot on her waterlogged map. Only when its inhabitants grudgingly offer her shelter does she begin to uncover secrets the community would rather forget.

If they had their choice, Primrose would remain a simple farmland community, but they are wise enough to recognize that the future of their children is at stake. And it's looking rather drab. No one knows this better than Rafe Burnside, the grim-faced, unofficial mayor of Primrose. Nursing his own wounds, Rafe would prefer Maggie to leave town and take her new fangled ideas with her! The problem is, Maggie would take his heart when she left!

As a doctor, Maggie has been called upon to cure many things. But can she heal a town that isn't sure it wants her help?

The Lady Novelist is pleased to welcome romance author and RWA NYC member Barbara Gale. Barbara is the author of five Silhouette Special Editions, including The Ambassador's Vow, which one the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Silhouette Special Edition in 2002. Her latest novel, The Farmer Takes A Wife is out this month.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, what is your background and how long have you been writing before you were published.

I was a full time mother at the time of my first publication. I had just finished reading Georgette Heyer's Regency series and was bereft. I decided to try my own hand at writing and being young and ignorant, sent it off to the William Morris Agency. They sold it that month. Ignorance is bliss.

Q: What made you choose romance?

It was what I was reading at the time.

Q: What you do love about writing category romances?

Because it is contemporary, it flows more easily from my pen than Regency, which entails a great deal of research. It also allows me to give voice to present day issues in a way that is more natural. For instance, my novel, Down From the Mountain (2004), explored the subject of blindness. If I had to write about it from an historical point of view, it would have been a very different book because handicaps-historically-have been a subject of shame, hidden from view, more often than not.

Q: What do you like least about it?

I don't think I have a simple answer. Contemporaries are an easy write in the sense that I don't get sidetracked by unwonted research. The truth is, I could happily spend days researching quills pens. A contemporary forces you to focus on the plot line and character development almost at once. My books have very little description in them because…I guess because I feel that a few slashes of color ought to suffice the reader. But again, that's because my books are, for the most part, character driven. Very angst-y.

Q: What sparked The Farmer Takes A Wife? Was it a character? A scene that you just couldn't get out of your head?

The book was inspired by the northern Catskill mountains where I spend a great deal of time. My cabin overlooks a dairy farm, and the entire area is dairy country. Even the corn grown there is called cow corn (not for human consumption). The farmer down the road often spends whole days on his tractor and one has to wonder at the loneliness of it. I put that notion into a scene in the book.

Q: Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?

I had to slow down the love story when I realized that the heroine, who is a doctor, could not relocate to a small town and embark on a love affair. A romance yes, but nothing erotic, because as a role model she had to preserve her reputation. Burnt once, the hero balks at the idea of a romance. Their resolution is the story.

Q: Did you have to do any major research for this book? Did you stumble across anything really interesting that you didn’t already know?

Living in the country three to four months a year, I know a little bit about dairy farming, so my research was minimal. I did have to look at a few maps, though, to make sure the heroine's travels were based on real highways and was based in real time.

Q: Your first Silhouette Special Edition, The Ambassador’s Vow featured an interracial couple which is unusual in category romance. Was it a hard sell?

A hard sell to whom? Silhouette bought it in four weeks, about as long as it took the editor to read it. It set the benchmark for my future sales so I guess the readers likes it also.

Q: What/Who do you like to read?

I have just discovered Daniel Silva, who writes terrific political thrillers, and I'm reading his entire oeuvre. Reading outside my genre keeps me fresh.

Q: What is your writing process? Do you plot extensively first or do you tend to “fly in the mist?” Has your process changed over time? Do you write multiple drafts or clean up as you go?

I write off the cuff, not a habit I encourage. It leads to much rewrite, particularly in terms of plot. But I am subject to the whims of my characters and could not write any other way. Writing a synopsis for an editor is divine torture for me.

Q: What are some of the changes in the romance genre since you’ve started writing?

The concept of the bodice ripper has all but disappeared, at least from the mind of the writer. Erotica has replaced it, and liberated quite a few women, I might add. As well, the explosion on the scene of the vampire genre over the last few years is startling. I don't think paranormals enjoyed such prominence five years ago. And young adult novels have blossomed, too. I guess you can see that I've been writing a lonnnng time to see so many changes.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

Write

Q: There was a recent article called "Harm in reading romance novels," Do you think romance novels harm or empower women?

Romance novels have done nothing but serve women well. They have taught women much-about relationships, about integrity, about sex (to list their merits would take this whole page), that to dismiss them lightly would be a mistake.

Q: Romance has garnered the biggest market share in genre fiction, yet it gets the least respect in popular and literary culture. Do you have any thoughts on why that is? Do you find this prejudice changing?

My personal opinion is that the image of the bodice ripper cover had a negative impact on the entire industry. They clouded the fine writing between covers. But women loved them, and they sold books. They still do. All those handsome cowboys…vampires…FBI agents… I honestly don't know if prejudice against them is lessening, but I do know that romance novels garner the biggest share of the publishing market revenue.

Q: What are you planning to work on next?

I write contemporary series romance. Everything else is an adventure.