I'm very happy to consider myself a feminist. I'm outraged that women still earn on average less than 80% of what men do, I'm ambivalent about marriage, and I'm looking forward to seeing a woman in the White House in 2017 (come on guys, we're fifty percent of the population, it's our turn already). I'm also a romance writer and a lover of romance. Can I be all these things?
Indigo Nights
I have girlfriends making minimum wage and others pulling in seven figures. Some of us are married. Some of us aren't. Some of us have children. Some of us don't. Some of us live in the city. Some of us live in the country. But one thing we all have in common is our love of romance as entertainment. In fact, I suspect most women enjoy romantic entertainment in one form or another (whether they're prepared to admit it or not). Wanna bet?
Let's deal with some of the obvious stuff- The Notebook. There aren't many women alive that don't love this book and/or movie, and it can't be all about Ryan Gosling's nice ass… or, then again, maybe it can. Who could possibly resist a guy who is only ever going to want you?
And it's not necessarily all about a happy ending. In Bridges of Madison County, it's the idea that a man would only ever love you, no matter whether you chose him or not. Forever love. It's gotta be out there, right?
Many of my male friends have taught me that men generally get to an age when they feel it's appropriate to be married and their loves lives essentially become akin to a game of musical chairs: the music has stopped, and whoever they're dating -- or whoever comes along next -- gets a ring. It doesn't really matter who you are, so long as you're ticking some boxes. Now, that's not to say all men make the decision to marry this way (or that no women do). But honestly, where's the romance in that? There isn't any -- and maybe that's okay in real life. Perhaps that's why we need it from books, from TV, from films. We get a top-up from fiction that provides a buzz to make "IRL" work. Romantic entertainment is like that evening glass of wine that makes getting the kids to bed, the laundry done, and your bikini line waxed seem not so bad.
In the publishing industry, romance continues to dominate, accounting for a whopping forty percent of all fiction sales. The genre encompasses a huge range from Danielle Steele (who is still knocking out four books a year and hitting the NYT bestseller list almost every time) to EL James and everything in between, including the classics of The Brontes, Margaret Mitchell and Jane Austen.
Of course, these days we can't talk about romance without talking about Fifty Shades. It's become fashionable to hate it, but numbers don't lie: over 125 million copies have been sold (which is to say nothing of the record-breaking box office success of the film). Clearly, it's not just hitting some niche audience. Its audience is women. A lot of them. It gets mainstream media attention because of the sales and because of the sex. But I loved it, like many women loved it, not because of the spankings and the blindfolds, but because of the love story. Because it was only ever her for him-they were soulmates.
It's not that I always need romance to be at the front and centre of my entertainment. I love the snappy dialogue, the pedo-conferencing and the wit of The West Wing… but really, what would have been without Josh and Donna? We knew they were made for each other, thought it may have taken seven seasons for Josh to realize it. And CJ and Danny Concannon-who doesn't love a guy who brings a gal snacks? The politics was great. The script was incredible. But it was the love stories that glued all the pieces together and made it come alive.
Buffy would still be a great TV series without her relationship with Angel, but it wouldn't have been as good. Where would Oliver Queen be without Felicity? Probably somewhere super-hot and leather-clad, kicking the ass of a badie, but without me as a viewer. Because as much as I love that show, a big part of the attraction is the love story-the romance.
The first book boyfriend I gave my heart to was Jane Austen's (/Louise Bay's) Captain Wentworth, when I was all of sixteen. He'd travelled the world to try and get over Anne Elliot's rejection of his marriage proposal. But when he got home, he realized that his journey had been futile-he would never get over her.
These days, I get to write my own book boyfriends (while still having the odd affair courtesy of Austen and EL James, Christina Lauren and Nicholas Sparks). My readers are a lot like my girlfriends: they are women from every walk of life, bound together by a desire to escape to a place where romance is alive and well.
About Louise Bay:
USA Today bestselling author Louise Bay writes sexy, contemporary romance novels - the kind she likes to read. Her books include Faithful, Hopeful, and the novella series' The Empire States Series, What the Lightning Sees, and Calling Me.
Ruined by the rom-coms of the eighties, Louise loves all things romantic, the rain, The West Wing, London, days when she doesn't have to wear make-up, being on her own, being with friends, elephants, and champagne.
Her latest book, Indigo Nights, is available as of February 9, 2016 via Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca,Amazon.com.au, iTunes and Kobo.
Connect with Louise Bay on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads and at her website,http://www.louisebay.com/