Is Stephen King really America's favorite novelist? I think lots of folks have seen movies based on his novels. I think King is famous enough to get his name before the movie title (i.e. - Stephen King's The Stand). But I really don't believe that he's America's favorite novelist despite the results of the new Harris Poll.
Don't get me wrong. I mean no disrespect to Mr. King. He's a fine writer and he's paid his dues. He deserves the money and the recognition. The other 2 writers who made the top 3 are James Patterson and John Grisham. Both of them also spin a fine tale and I know that I've read many of Grisham's legal thrillers. Heck, Grisham is sort of the red letter standard for lawyers (like me) who write. I've always been especially proud that Mr. Grisham is a Southern lawyer who writes. My home region is a proud place.
I'm just surprised that only 2 romance writers made the list: Nora Roberts at #4 and Danielle Steel at #7. I'm even more surprised at the overall genre numbers from the poll. According to Harris, the best read genre in the country is mystery, thriller and crime (#1), followed by science fiction (#2) and then literature (#3). Romance comes is at #4. Yes, #4. And I think that's flat out wrong.
How to explain those numbers? I think shame's to blame. I think too many romance readers feel guilty about reading romance novels. They've bought into the popular myths that romance novels aren't "real" books or that they're written for the dumb or the desperate. The largest popular myth that too many women have bought into is one often sold by husbands or boyfriends who convince women that romance is porn. (I'm grateful that Mr. Quack is NOT one of those men. He's the type of guy who'll design romance covers for his wife. Thanks sweetness!)
But despite my occasional accusations, not every woman can date, sleep with or marry Mr. Quack. And lots and lots of other guys have made their women feel guilty about reading romance by claiming that it's female porn. A case in point cropped up just last week. Over on the Smart Bitches blog, the women printed a letter from a reader on the topic. That reader's boyfriend claimed he was addicted to porn, but wanted to know why he should give it up if his girlfriend read "porn for women." (Frankly, I'm not sure why either of them need to give up anything for the other. I suggested that one night a week they go to the bedroom; she spend an hour trolling some of his porn sites, he spend an hour reading one of her romance novels and then they discuss how it made them feel. I'm betting the bedroom is where that conversation would end up anyway. And that's a good thing.)
Romance is not porn. Porn is written to make the naughty parts tingle. Romance is written to make the heart tingle. Yeah, some romance mixes the two and maybe (don't hit me) some erotic romance comes close to being "porn for women." But ultimately, romance is about the happy ending. Porn is about making the endings happy. Happy nerve endings do not a happily ever after make.
None of the other myths about the genre are true either. Reading romance doesn't mean you're dumb or desperate. It means you think that life is full of too much pain, sadness and separation. It means you think that more people deserve happy endings than get them. It mean you'd prefer to read about hope rather than horror, love rather than pain. And those are good things.
So often people answer polls the way that makes them feel better about themselves. I believe that people sat down to respond to this one and gave an "acceptable" answer. You want proof of that? Literature beat romance in the numbers. Literature. And that's just plain out silly. People think claiming they read literature makes them look smart. But the proof is in the pudding or, in this case, in the cash registers. People do not buy more literature than romance.
I'd also dispute that either mystery/thriller/horror or science fiction beat out romance. Especially these days, so much of romance contains elements of the other genres. If you're answering this poll and you want to respond the way society or your partner believes you should - then you're apt to say, well, so-and-so writes romantic suspense and I just read that one so I'll say mystery. Or, so-and-so writes paranormal romance and I just read that one so I'll say science fiction. And literature? There, I think they were either outright making it up or that they were thinking - well, I just read a Danielle Steel. She says she doesn't write romance, she writes about the human condition. And that's literature, right?
Geez Louise, how can we blame readers for not wanting to claim the genre when some its most well known writers won't own up to it?
What the survey says to me is that we need to do more to romance the readers. We need to teach them, to convince them, to come out of the literary closet. No one should be ashamed to say that they read romance and they prefer romance. Readers shouldn't have to think back to the last movie they saw to answer a question about their favorite writer. It's okay to say Julia Quinn, Diana Palmer, Johanna Lindsey, Debbie Macomber or Janet Evanovich. It'd even be okay to say Mary Anne Graham (a girl can dream).
I don't find it surprising that more boomers (age 46-64) than non-boomers answered straight out that they read romance. I'm on the younger end (it's nice to say that about an age range) of that spectrum. Readers in that age have generally fought (and won) battles with their non Mr. Quack-like spouses. They're more likely to have overcome fears of "but what will they think" and they're stronger and more secure as women. They've fought the fights to prove that they're strong and they're smart and they can read whatever they bloody well like. If they're reading it, then it's meant to be read by smart, secure women.
I think romance writers first have to practice what they preach. COME ON, IT'S NOT HARD, STAND UP AND SAY IT -- "I WRITE ROMANCE AND I'M DAMNED PROUD OF IT." It may be romantic suspense, romantic thrillers, romantic mystery, romantic literature, romantic sci-fi or paranormal but if it's about the relationship then it's about the romance. If the rest of the plot is a device to drive the relationship - then it's about the romance. If it's important to the story that the hero and heroine end up HEA - then it's romance.
Once the writers are strong and secure and confident, then we need to work on romancing the readers, especially the younger folks. I'd call on the boomer readers to fight the good fight alongside of the writers. Let's teach the younger folks - the men and the women (we can try) - that's it is okay to come out of the literary closet. Let's teach them that it's cool to read romance.
Romance isn't porn for women. It isn't the genre of the desperate and the dumb. Romance is food for the heart. It's the genre of the hardy and the hopeful. It's the genre of the strong and the secure.
And believing that you deserve your own HEA isn't dumb - it's damned smart.