This is the cover of my very first book, published in November, 1983. I was green as a willow twig when I wrote it. I had read all of three historical romances at the time and was working full time and raising two kids and working on a home addition. . . oh, and trying to be a wife, community volunteer, and church-going citizen. I needed romance books to stay sane. Plus, they were a heckuva lot of fun. . . to read and to write.But that was a long time ago.
Three or four years back I had the opportunity to re-write this first book and bring it out again. Weird contract thing. So I spent six months revising the story and reworking the creaky early-eighties plot and breathing new life into characters I barely recognized. And I realized early on that this was not a book I would have written today. This book was written and published before I found my writing voice and viewpoint on life and stories. It just wasn't me in so many ways. It was quite a struggle to make it my story. . . or some version of my kind of story for the second time out.
This was the cover (and title) for the second publication of that same book. Much nicer. . . and personally I thought the story was pretty darned good. . . especially considering where it started. Not everyone agreed. Readers are a fickle lot. The book sold well, but there were a few "commenters" who skewered the book. My feeling was that if they paid for the book, they have the right to comment all they want. ahem. But I KNOW it was a much better book. Twenty years worth of writing craft and skill went into the revision. The dialogue was sharper, smarter. . . the characters were better defined. . . the conflicts were more believable. . . it encompassed more issues and ideas than the previous version. It did, however, end in the same place. . . a happily ever after in early America.I recently read books for the RITA contest. . . a whole slate of them. There were some surprises and a few disappointments. But overall, I enjoyed trying out new writers and wholly new genres and storylines. One thing that did surprise me was the quality of the writing. The tone and character development and depth of feeling conveyed was amazing compared with what I might have expected. Now, maybe I just hit a "good" batch of books, but I prefer to think that they were a representative sample of what is out there on the racks.
A number of the books from "smaller presses" surprised me with how vivid their storylines were and how well-drawn and likeable the characters were. My feeling was that most of them missed publication in a "big house" because of a quirk of setting or character that put them outside the mainstream. . . but did nothing to diminish the readability or the enjoyment of the story.
Mulling all of this, I went back to peek at a few of the golden oldies that I loved in the early days and was a little surprised. Some had characters that were not appealing to me at all now, some had conflicts that drove me crazy(that "Big Misunderstanding" plot, ugh), and some were just melodramatic, wordy, or florid to the point of being bizarre to a woman of my age and experience. I scratched my head, wondering what I had seen in the book. Personally, I think books are generally much better written today. Cleaner, more focused, more to the point.
You might say, it's just a different, faster-paced time that requires a faster-paced read. I would agree. But I also think we in RWA and across the Romance genre have educated ourselves as writers and have educated our readers to expect tighter, more realistic and resonant stories.
Occasionally, when I run across a book that violates my writing/reading sensibilities, I am actually shocked. And I try to analyze what it is that makes the book NOT work for me. It's often that the characters are unconvincing. . . or that someone has tried too hard to "hip" up dialogue and characters and in the process ignored the human part of the equation that would allow me to connect. And dialogue. . . it has to ring true on the ear and in the brain. Fortunately, there are many books out there that fill the bill for me these days.
What do you think? Are books betting better? Are they better than when you started reading romance? What turns you off on a book? Have you looked up a golden-oldie read lately and been surprised?
Also, did you judge the RITAs? Better or worse than in previous years? Does RITA finalist status influence you to pick up a book?
