FROM THEDA: my really badly unbelievably unpopular viewpoint regarding HEAs
I'm Theda, and I write male/male stories. I love writing. I love going to that place in my head (falling down a hole, I think Stephen King calls it) where the characters and the plot come to life. Maybe this guy over here is a deep guy, a smart-ass because he's covering up that he's deep, maybe a little insecure, and then I figure out that the other guy is the black-and-white guy, the one that's by the book, believes in right and wrong and will live and die by those convictions. Maybe the second guy's also the one that loves the first guy to no end, because he knows what the first guy's made of underneath the bullshit, and because he trusts him with his life.
So then I try to bring them to life, try to give them a story that honors who they are and what they have to go through. I don't take anything they do lightly, and I don't let them get out of a situation if I can't find a way to get them out logically. And I call it romance, because to me their story is the very definition of romance - a story about two people who fall in love.
What it's not and will never be is a story that comes with a guaranteed ending. I don't guarantee happy or sad or something in between. I'm not giving it away. Bet on it.
I know that the RWA's standard of romance guarantees an optimistic ending. I'm not a member of the RWA, and there's only two or three ebook publishers who are so much as recognized by the RWA. But believe me, I'm not thumbing my nose at them - a lot of ebook publishers and NY publishers follow RWA's definition of romance. Not all. There are those like myself who think if the story fits the definition of the word 'romance,' then we have the right to call it that. I'm not going to call it something less or something different than what I believe it to be.
I know my view isn't a popular one. Believe me, I'm sure it's going to cost me in terms of readers, and for a newly published author especially, that's a very bad thing and possibly disastrous. I'm standing by my convictions.
I'll try to the best of my ability to make my work worth the ride, but you might not think it is. There's no guarantee that you'll like it. I won't reveal how my books end, not even just to tell you if they live together happily ever after or not. That's the crucial point in a love story, it may be the climax of the book, and for me it's too much like telling you the end before you ever even look at it. The idea of that tears me up.
As far as that goes, there's no guarantee you'll like ANY book you read, HEA or not.
I can't think of any other genre that demands that a story end a certain way. I just don't believe in it.
I'm glad there are so many authors who feel comfortable fulfilling the HEA requirement for those who need it, and mind you, I'm not saying my stories won't end with an HEA. I'm saying I won't tell you if it will or not.
So then I try to bring them to life, try to give them a story that honors who they are and what they have to go through. I don't take anything they do lightly, and I don't let them get out of a situation if I can't find a way to get them out logically. And I call it romance, because to me their story is the very definition of romance - a story about two people who fall in love.
What it's not and will never be is a story that comes with a guaranteed ending. I don't guarantee happy or sad or something in between. I'm not giving it away. Bet on it.
I know that the RWA's standard of romance guarantees an optimistic ending. I'm not a member of the RWA, and there's only two or three ebook publishers who are so much as recognized by the RWA. But believe me, I'm not thumbing my nose at them - a lot of ebook publishers and NY publishers follow RWA's definition of romance. Not all. There are those like myself who think if the story fits the definition of the word 'romance,' then we have the right to call it that. I'm not going to call it something less or something different than what I believe it to be.
I know my view isn't a popular one. Believe me, I'm sure it's going to cost me in terms of readers, and for a newly published author especially, that's a very bad thing and possibly disastrous. I'm standing by my convictions.
I'll try to the best of my ability to make my work worth the ride, but you might not think it is. There's no guarantee that you'll like it. I won't reveal how my books end, not even just to tell you if they live together happily ever after or not. That's the crucial point in a love story, it may be the climax of the book, and for me it's too much like telling you the end before you ever even look at it. The idea of that tears me up.
As far as that goes, there's no guarantee you'll like ANY book you read, HEA or not.
I can't think of any other genre that demands that a story end a certain way. I just don't believe in it.
I'm glad there are so many authors who feel comfortable fulfilling the HEA requirement for those who need it, and mind you, I'm not saying my stories won't end with an HEA. I'm saying I won't tell you if it will or not.