Suspenseful Romance: Please make this a Sub-Genre
An adjective is a descriptive word of a noun. The noun is the primary thing being described. The adjective is an attribute of that noun. For example, a red car is an automobile that has the color red. It is not the color red that is an automobile. We could also have a small car, a fast car, an old car. Again, the car is the key. The adjectives simply describe the car. It’s still a car without the adjective.
Why do I bring this up? Because in the publishing world there are genres. These are categories that books fall into. Within genres, there are sub-genres, which are generally an adjective describing the genre. For example, mystery is the genre. Within mysteries, there are cozy mysteries, private detective mysteries, etc. The key being without the adjectives, one could call them mysteries.
The genre my latest book is in is called suspense. A cousin to suspense is thriller. And the biggest genre is romance.
“So what?” you say.
Well, for some reason the romance genre has turned the English language on its head and decided that the important word in the adjective / noun combination is not the noun but is the adjective in one key sub-genre, which happens to be the sub-genre my latest book should be in.
In the romance genre there are many sub-genres, all following the rule of adjective / noun. Here are some of them: Tudor Romances, Amish Romances, Sports Romances, Gothic Romances, Fantasy Romances, Western Romances, Vampire Romances, Regency Romances, Medical Romances, Mystery Romances, Psychic Romances, Holiday Romances, Military Romances, Victorian Romances, Christian Romances, Historical Romances, Time Travel Romances, Billionaire Romances, Contemporary Romances, Multicultural Romances, Inspirational Romances, Science Fiction Romances, and Romantic Suspense.
Wait a minute. Look at that last one. There is a mystery and suspense romances category on Amazon. However, nearly all authors who write that type of book call their books romantic suspense novels. And in all cases except that last one, if we take away the adjective, the noun still applies. They are all romances. However, in the last case, if we take away the adjective, “romantic”, these books are not suspense novels. They are still romance novels.
For those of us who write suspense novels and want to have an important element of romance in those novels, we should be able to call our novels romantic suspense novels. However, we can’t because the market says a romantic suspense novel is a romance with suspense. And in many cases, with a little bit of suspense and a whole lot of romance.
We need a change in thinking. A romance with suspense should be a suspenseful romance, not a romantic suspense. It leaves books like my book, Killer Redemption, without a good sub-genre home since it’s a romantic suspense by the rules of English, but not a romantic suspense by current market standards.
Romance is already the largest selling genre. So please, romance writers who have some suspense in your novels, start calling them suspenseful romances so us suspense writers can have romantic suspense as a sub-genre.
Reader, please help support this movement. Tell your favorite romantic suspense writer to start calling their books suspenseful romances. #callitsuspensefulromance.
Thank you.
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