Fans of Interracial Romance discussion

I like paperback books. I like to have a book in my hands, but right now I can only do ebooks. I borrow them from the library or download them from my Amazon's account.

I'm trying to do more reading and I like to find new authors to me. I have been looking for books to read, but so many of them that I was interested in turned out to be written in first person and I couldn't read them. Some books, I've found out they were written in first person by reading their description and some books I had to find out after borrowing them or downloading them that they were written in first person and I've quickly returned the book or deleted the download, depending on how I've gotten the book.

I have been reading romance books for over 30 years and I do not recall authors writing romance books in first person. All the books that I've read were written in third person, the way I like romance books to be written in.

I wished that authors wouldn't write romance books in first person. They would never have me as a fan.

Unfortunately, some romance authors who started writing in first person ending up have some books that turned out to be very successful. Gradually, other authors started writing their books in first person. I seldom read any of them. The trend is so widespread now that practically all Contemporary Romance is written in first person. Used to be that Romantic Suspense was in third person, but even that is changing. I skip practically all new CR books now because they are written in first. I've been reading mostly Historical Romance, most of which--except maybe Gothic novels--is written in third person.

Well, as a writer of only one book, in my rookie experience, I'd say it's just easier to start in first person. If you settle into a character, and you get into their headspace, it's really easy to start with "I..." To me, it just feels more natural to start in first person if I really have spent time fleshing the character out.

It gets much harder when you alternate POVs or write action scenes or sex scenes, etc, or even deeply emotional scenes though... because then in a sense, you're too close to it? That's my experience with it at least.

I haven't written much, but everything I finished was in 3rd person. I start stuff in first from time to time but never finish them. I always get to a scene that doesn't work. If you're a good enough writer, I guess you'd just power through. I read first-person novels in other genres but not a lot of first-person romances, barely any, so when I run into something tricky, I don't have a lot to draw on for reference.

More generally speaking, first-person novels in other genres have become really popular as well. YA, cozy mysteries, chick-lit, so I guess it was bound to happen in the romance genre too.

Where you really need the third person is when you have a massive amount of worldbuilding to do. It wouldn't be feasible to have a first-person POV describing complex fantasy worlds and magic systems with a large number of characters and subplots in rotations and all that. So epic fantasy and sci-fi is dominated with third-person POVs. They're stable. Nobody's really trying to do something different over there. To try it any other way is the heights of bravery, imo. A lot of Patrick Rothfuss' claim to fame was being able to pull it off for his KingKiller series because it's just not done.

Also, for mysteries and suspense novels where you have to withhold information or show a villain coming up with a secret plan that the heroes don't know about, then you need to be in third.

But for a romance novel that generally doesn't focus on complex worlds or several subplots, and only has two POVs then you don't really have anything stopping you from writing in first aside from your own ability and comfort with it.

Lots of people don't like it, but lots of people do as well. I've read a few and found them a little jarring, but there's a whole generation of readers who see it as perfectly normal. If you look at places with young writers and young readers like Wattpad, it's probably 50-50 over there. And Tumblr is ruled by 2nd person reader inserts. Thousands and thousands of 2nd person POV stories. Very strange to me, perfectly normal to thousands of people. NK Jemisin wrote a whole epic fantasy novel in 2nd person and won a bunch of awards for it...

Romance is a much more flexible genre compared to sci-fi and epic fantasy. People are experimenting more, it's easier to get published - you don't need to go through traditional publishing and follow traditional rules if you don't want to and you can still be a bestseller. A large number of romance authors are generating their own hype, doing their own marketing and promoting, cultivating their own following on social media and so on... There's constant data being generated to let you know what sells, what doesn't, what trends are taking off...

I am glad that I am a writer. I know what I like and I write those kinds of stories.

I just hope Anne Stuart and Julie Garwood doesn't start writing first person romance. I will stop reading their books.

I am happy to read either so long as the premise interests me, I enjoy the plot, characters and the writing is engaging. And personally, there are many first-person narratives that I absolutely love because I really enjoy being inside the head of the character.

It wasn't even something I was particularly aware of until the dual POVs entered into things and began to stir things up. In fact, I love that there is such a variety of perspectives available these days in romance because it is yet another thing that suits my varied tastes so much. I've even read some that are 3 person and that spices things up even more!

But different strokes and all that.

First Person POV draws the reader into the character. It puts the reader directly inside of the story. Which is why one gets visceral reactions when the character is harmed, aroused, etc. It is also one of the main factors that trigger an addiction to the story. The reader goes through what the hero and heroine are going through.

THIRD creates a separation between the story and reader. It allows for a wall or viewing area. The reader is safer. They dont have to experience the emotions if they dont want to. This is why horror and darker novels tend to be in third person as to not destroy the reader too much.

No POV is more financially successful than another.

However, FIRST is easier to write for most authors. THIRD is actually a bit more difficult but not impossible.

Also, if you want to provide a great twist or truly keep a reader on the edge of their seat. . .FIRST is better because where as THIRD can give most of the twists and mysteries away.

Even more fun is SECOND person which is not done as much. The novel YOU is written in SECOND. (Now it's a TV show on Netflix) But I found the book difficult to read although I enjoyed. The SECOND POV kept throwing me off.

I write in First because its

Sorry. Im writing this on my phone. But I love this topic. I never knew there were readers that had set POV preferences.

Personally, I find the constant "I" this and "I" that annoying. After a while the story just sounds like endless "I's." I don't feel any closer to the characters. What draws me closer to characters is how well the author presents them; not whether the POV is first or third.

As a reader, I prefer third.

As an author, I also prefer third.

Like you, I spent most of my life gobbling up romance books, and they were all in third. All my books are written third person multiple POV (maybe even a case for omniscient), because that's what I prefer to write and to read. I hate when people start throwing around head hopping, like it's a dirty word. Shifting POV, deliberately and obviously, is not head hopping.

I understand where you're coming from. When I first noticed the trend toward first person, it took a while for me to fully accept it and get used to it. Even longer to appreciate it. Now, I do. I appreciate it, but only when it's done well. Unfortunately, in first person, a lot of the books I read I feel like I'm losing half the feels. Half the story. I hate that feeling. Or, having to read the same encounter twice, in order to get both the h and H POVs? I hate that, too.

Again, not to say I hate first. In fact, one of my favorite books ever, is first.

I guess all I'm trying to say is...I feel you.

It took me some time to get used to it, tbh. While I am ok with it, I am not a fan of first person because it becomes another version of third person limited. And one of the things I mainly disliked about early romance was that it was always written from the heroine's POV, even if it was written in third person. I always wanted to know what the hero was thinking/doing/feeling.

One of my biggest problems with first person, though, is more about how skilled the author is using it. By its very nature first person should be fairly limited and somewhat unreliable. You are in a person's head and you are seeing their view and aspects of things. Not necessarily how things really are. However most authors using first person give it the ring of absolute truth. And it shouldn't be.

George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones was very good about this. Different characters had different POV chapters and you'd get a version of events from one character's perspective only to read the same event from another character's perspective and it was different and put a whole different spin on events for you. So the reader has to sit back an reassess what they thought they knew.

Also, I have run into first person books with dual narrators, one chapter from the hero's POV and one from the heroine's and the voices are not distinct at all. Two different people whose heads you are in should think differently and have a different inner voice. Too often they are indistinguishable. I had one book I completely DNF'd because of this. It was an IR romance and the white hero's inner voice sounded like that of a black woman. It completely took me out of the story.

I'm not a fan of first-person storytelling either, although storytelling from a dual perspective is fine.
I find that writing in third-person subjective works for me. This way, I can tell the overarching story with an anonymous narrator, AND have individual inner thoughts for the characters as well.

With that, I do sometimes prefer to use first-person in many of my dark/horror short stories, when I want to convey how bat***t some of my characters are. :)

Tina wrote: "It took me some time to get used to it, tbh. While I am ok with it, I am not a fan of first person because it becomes another version of third person limited. And one of the things I mainly dislike..."

Also, I have run into first person books with dual narrators, one chapter from the hero's POV and one from the heroine's and the voices are not distinct at all.

Honestly, it happened to me. ~100k words into the first draft. Three-quarter done. I just casually slipped into the heroine's POV, and then I realized how close they were. derp level 10,000.

Nearly hit delete on the whole thing.

As readers, we are okay with either.

As interracial romance authors, we started writing our first book in the third person and will continue to do so. Our blurbs are also in third person too.

Wow. You stirred some stuff up for me, Arch. :)

Ever since you started this post, it's been in the back of my mind. The angst I experienced, the frustration, as I battled through accepting the predominant shift to first person in romance.

But it also brought up good memories of "the old days"... I started sneaking my mom's Harlequins to read, when I was seven. :) My love of romance was developed early. Those Harlequins I spirited to hiding spots started my romance genre interest. Garage sales/yard sales/rummage sales? Loved them! Always a good place to snag some Harlequins for a dime, with nobody the wiser. I'd just tell the person I was paying that they were gifts for my mom. LOL

Then I got a little older. I still remember the very first BIG romance book I swiped and spirited to a hiding spot to read on the sly. Johanna Lindsey's "Love Only Once". That was soon followed by Judith McNaught's "Whitney, My Love".

*sigh*

Those were the days.

As an author, I've had publishers suggest to me that first person is preferable for a romance, because it allows the reader to feel like a more immediate part of the story. I feel limited by it, because in order to give the points of view of both of the lovers, I have to either use alternating chapters, or some creative head-hopping. I don't like alternating chapters--too repetitive for me. BTW, I usually write Contemporary romance, and most of my romances are inter-racial. I've also written romantic suspense, and a few paranormal romances.

As a reader, I don't mind reading either style, as long as the story is good. Now that I'm also reviewing for a blog, I'm reading what they give me. Sometimes I enjoy it. Other times I can't wait to be done, and hit "delete" on my reader! But I must say, as an author, I appreciate that most review sites won't print the whole review if it rates less than a 3 out of 5. Authors have feelings too. LOL.

Josine wrote: "Wow. You stirred some stuff up for me, Arch. :)

Ever since you started this post, it's been in the back of my mind. The angst I experienced, the frustration, as I battled through accepting the pre..."

I've started with Harlequins too, when I was 11. We had a built in bookshelf and that is where an aunt of mines would keep her books. I loved reading, so I would read her books.

When I've started buying romance books, it was at the library in 1998 and their books were 10 for a $1.00 for paper backs, then they went up to 25 cents each and now 50 The large paperback is $1.00. When the library has their big annual book sale, small paperbacks be 25 cents and large be 50 cents. I bought books from thrift stores (10 for $1.00, 2 for 89 cents, 3 for $1.00 and 50 cents each). I bought books at garage sales for dirt cheap too. I am used to buying books cheap. My library also give away free books. I have gotten a lot free from them.

I do not buy ebooks. I get free ones or borrow them using my library card or download with my unlimited kindle account.

Fiona wrote: "As an author, I've had publishers suggest to me that first person is preferable for a romance, because it allows the reader to feel like a more immediate part of the story. I feel limited by it, be..."

Yes, authors has feelings too. I haven't written a review in a long time. I don't give out a lot of 5 star ratings. I look to connect with characters. I want to feel the tension. I want to see the chemistry and love between the hero and heroine.

As a writer (I am not an author), I like my readers to feel like my characters are present in their room. I know that I am not the best writer, but I think that I am a good storyteller.

I hope I'm a good story-teller. Some of my oldest friends have told me that reading my books are like sitting in the room with me and talking. They say I write the way I talk. I think that's a good thing. But I don't think you have to use first-person to give the reader that personal connection with the characters. After all, they're alive in my head while I write--I hope they live in readers' heads while they read.

As a reviewer, I try to look for positive things to say about each book I review, because I'm well aware that, as happened to me recently, the reviewer said she didn't like that one of my books was so long--she said she prefers shorter books. But one of the comments was from a reader who LOVES longer books, so she can lose herself in them.

That being said, I've only given out a couple of 5 stars, just because I loved those books SO much! But to me 4 stars is a great book that everyone should read. 3 stars is an okay way to pass the time, when you're tired of binge-watching TV.

Fiona wrote: "I hope I'm a good story-teller. Some of my oldest friends have told me that reading my books are like sitting in the room with me and talking. They say I write the way I talk. I think that's a good..."

I love when the hero catches my attention and don't let it go. Sometimes, the secondary hero catches my attention too.

Suzanne Brockmann:

Sam Starrett is my baby. I will not start on him, but he did grab my heart.

Other men that grabbed my heart.

Julie Garwood:

Cole Clayborne, my historical hero. I do not read historical books anymore. I fell in love with him from For The Roses, with his messy self.

Noah Clayborne is the contemporary version of Cole Clayborne. Messy too. Lol, and I love it.

Linda Howard:

John Medina . Very dangerous bad boy.

Iris Johansen:

Jock. Bad boy. Secondary hero.

Anne Stuart:

Kilian: Deadly.

Reno: Deadly.

All these heroes brought tension and I loved it. I love good tension. I am not talking about sex. i love seeing the love and romance in the tension.