I Work A Little, I Write A Little/Why Romance?

This will be something of a two part post, as I wanted to briefly touch base on the third member of this blog triad, namely work.

As most of you know, I work in state government (please leave insult in the comment section. I'm dying to hear a new one, so I challenge people to tell me one I haven't heard yet). I'm a payroll clerk, and as much as I love me job, I get bored to tears doing it.

Main reason for that is quite simple: no work. At my previous place of employment, I was perpetually busy. So much so, that I was forced to learn time management skills in order to get my work done. And as you all know, once you learn a necessary skill for a busy environment, it's simply impossible to get rid of. Especially if you move to a slower paced employer.

Anyways, I find myself with scads of down time on my hands. One of the few ways I can occupy my time and not get into trouble, is to write. And I'm not talking about with the computer (so incredibly wrong on so many levels that I will not expound on it), but by using an old fashioned pen and paper.

I've read in other blogs and books, that one should always have a private space so as to have quiet time in order to maximize your output. Well, my private space is my cubicle, and my quiet time is my multiple days of down time at work. Doesn't matter what I write (most of the time), so long as I look busy while doing it. And that's the important thing, looking busy.

So in essence, this particular half post is how to look busy without actually doing what you're supposed to do.

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The second part of this post will attempt to answer the second question, "Why Romance?"

Why not? It seems that there are a lot of writers out there who either write in multiple genres (Nora Roberts, Laurie King) or write in genres that seem at first glance, completely at odds with who there are (example, people who write certain kinds of erotica; or Stephen King whenever he doesn't do horror).

As for me, if you ever had the pleasure of meeting me in person, or talking to me via the e-mail or phone, your first thought/comment would be in the vein of "Seriously?" And my answer would be, "Seriously." Then I would be stuck for an explanation, and the conversation would drift to something else.

For what it's worth, here is my explanation as to why.

Romance would seem to be an odd choice for me to write about, since up until during my vacation in June of this year, I never read one single novel in any romance genre or sub genre. Period. I'm sure there were/are good ones out there, but I could never get past the covers. Also, during my teenage years (young adult)/adult years, guys reading Romances were really looked down upon as being wimps.

{plug: Whiskey Road was the romance I read while on vacation. Read it two days as I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended}

In any event, I found that when I started writing my novel, it was easier to write it as a romance. It didn't start out to be one, just about a chance encounter between two people (which soon blossomed into four). From that chance encounter, it soon blossomed into a twin story about the darker side of relationships.

By the time I got done writing it, this particular story could not be classified in any sub genre of the Romance category. It was too non-traditional of a story. Whereas it some elements of a traditional contemporary Romance (strong yet vulnerable woman, handsome take charge kind of man), it had more of the makings of a normal real world romance (co-workers in an office setting, the taboo of an office romance between married and unmarried people).

In essence, this made it particularly hard to shop around to agents. It's a tough market out there and not too many people want to take a chance on an untested type of romance/love story.

In any event, I've found it much easier to write my stories in the same kind of vein: a bit dark, real world, slightly sexual, and somewhat pulpish. The short story you see here is a case in point.

I probably could write other things, stuff that would be more palatable and inoffensive, and I actually did as a challenge to myself last year (see the label called "Short Story"), but the reality is that I choose not to do so, because I don't think that's really me. One should always believe what they write and write in, and my genuine belief of the darker side of relationships is what fuels my writing.

I enjoy it and I believe I'm good at what I do. And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?