Exploring Romance & the Modern Woman, part 2

In part two of this feature series (you can see part one here), we talk with authors Tamara Leigh (The Unveiling), Lizbeth Selvig (The Rancher and the Rock Star), Sharon Cameron (The Dark Unwinding), Rachel Hauck (The Wedding Dress), Anne Browning Walker (The Booby Trap), Kathy Tyers (Daystar), Sharon Hinck (Symphony of Secrets) and Shannon Hale (Midnight in Austenland) about how modern feminism and women's busy lifestyles affect our need and desire for romance and romance fiction — and how that translates into the books they write.

Serena: In our modern society, people are just plain busy. Why is romance fiction still so popular when entertainment that takes up less time per story is so readily available?

Tamara Leigh: Unlike television, reading isn't a spectator sport. It's one-on-one — just the novel and me holding hands as I venture into the story. Scene breaks rather than commercial breaks. Savor-worthy details vs. hit-and-run broad strokes featured on the silver screen. Glorious words that engage the mind and excite the imagination as opposed to a volley of visuals that represent someone else's interpretation of a story. The ability to walk in a heroine's shoes rather than watch an actress strap on Manolo Blahniks and parade around in those beauties as if she's all that. Need I go on?

Lizbeth Selvig: I believe romance fiction has always been the only entertainment medium created specifically for women that is 100% within our control. Women can watch TV, but we're beholden to the tastes and sensibilities of network executives. We can go to a movie (or rent one), but we have to choose from the handful of films in the theaters or be connected to something electronic, and a laptop or big screen is tough to bring along for a soak in the tub!

Because women today are busier than we've ever been, we crave our chances to escape and fantasize more than ever, too. In romance fiction there is endless choice. If we want a sweet love story — it's there. If we want a funny story, a vampire lover, a handsome man in a kilt, or a disinherited duke — we can find one. And if we want a sensual rock star or fire fighter, we don't have to wait for MGM to make just what we're looking for. We can grab an inexpensive paperback or touch a button on an e-reader and get instant gratification as a reader.

Sharon Cameron: For me the heart of the matter is that books engage the mind in a completely different way than movies or television. It's all story-telling, and a story that is audio and visual definitely fires the imagination, but a book allows the reader creative license, the ability to merge their own imagination with the author's. That is a unique, personal experience that I think people will always crave, no matter how sophisticated other forms of entertainment become.

Serena: How do you define romance? And what application does that definition have on the modern woman's life?

Sharon Cameron: My favorite romantic stories tend to be ones where little or no physical contact takes place and the romance builds from an emotional place (I'm thinking particularly of Austen and Bronte here, but a modern young adult example might be The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner). Those stories are all about the tension and the draw, about emotion and a dawning respect, maybe a little different than the "modern" take on romance for some, but absolutely what I wanted to portray in The Dark Unwinding. When all that mystery is left intact, I think the effect on readers has been the same from 1812 to today: it makes it impossible not to turn that next page!

Kathy Tyers: I agree! I tried to present the same kind of "emotion and dawning respect" in Firebird, where my hero and heroine are serving in opposing military forces. When you have two likable characters with good reasons to avoid physical (or psychic) contact, readers will see through the walls of reason and custom before the characters do. The only logical thing they can do is fall in love … but will they?

Rachel Hauck: Everyone wants true love. How I define romance is the person with whom you are most comfortable. Love, romance, is being with the person who sees beyond all your "stuff" and still loves you. The person who calls you to a higher place, who sees what Michael Hauge calls "your essence." In my romances, I always try to have the hero and heroine understand each other at the raw core. It may cause conflict, but the end is true love at its best.

Serena: What does it look like when modern feminism and romance authorship collide? How does that translate to a heroine's journey and character arc?

Anne Browning Walker: I strongly believe that modern feminism and romance authorship can be complementary, and that the marriage between the two is even now becoming more and more mainstream in romance fiction. In the course of a story, it means creating strong and empowered female characters who search for relationships based on mutual respect. It means making sure that the heroine can go toe-to-toe with the hero. And it means building a story where romance is primary, but the heroine finds fulfillment in her personal journey, as well.

Sharon Cameron: I think romance writing and feminism have been colliding for a long time, just sometimes within the confines of a different society than we live in now. In my mind, Elizabeth Bennett's refusal to marry for material gain was just as groundbreaking in her society as a woman joining the NFL might be now. Pushing the envelope of societal norms always makes for a fantastic story arc. We root for Jane to defy the classism of Victorian society and marry Mr. Rochester (like Katharine and Lane in The Dark Unwinding) just as much as we root for Katniss to defy the government in The Hunger Games. Those are the kind of journeys that turn protagonists into heroines, I think.

Sharon Hinck: Agreed! Leaving room in a story (or in life) for romance, for love, for focusing on relationship, in no way necessitates a "weak" portrayal of women. In fact, I'd argue that relationships take incredible courage. Love requires sacrifice and strength.

Serena: What level of importance do you think modern women put on romance (not just in books!) in their daily lives?

Rachel Hauck: Very important. Most women want to fall in love, get married, have a family. … While there are other options with career and extended relationships, the desire to be loved and to give love is just part of the human heart, I think.

Anne Browning Walker: I think that modern women value deep and meaningful relationships with a partner as much as they ever did. Also, romance as a translation for "showing someone how special they are to you" is something that humans, as social creatures, all crave. But romance today comes in a slightly different package; admiration of beauty, great sex and a comfortable lifestyle can't cut it alone. Romance is partnership, making decisions together and caring for and respecting your partner's intellect.

Shannon Hale: I think there is a common post-feminism sentiment that says too much focus on romance is unhealthy for women; that we need to be independent from men in order to be healthy. That has shamed a lot of women from being open about their desire for romance, and books are a private way of exploring that interest and need without shame. Romance is fun! And it's a way of discovering that lifetime partner that so many women desire. Research shows that personal relationships are the most important factor in happiness. I don't find it surprising that modern women still put a great deal of importance on discovering and nurturing a loving relationship.

Connect with these authors on Twitter:@LizbethSelvig, @CameronSharonE, @haleshannon, @sharonhinck, @LisaTBergren, @AnneBWalker, @RachelHauck and @TamaraLeighAuth.

Stay tuned for parts three through five, in which we dish about boys in (and out of!) books, sex and expectations, the Fifty Shades Effect on the romance market and more!

A writer, performer and accomplished partaker of dark chocolate, Serena Chase lives in Iowa with her husband and two daughters. Her reviews can also be found at the blog Edgy Inspirational Romance.