by Kat Latham
“In contemporaries, community is key,” Selina McLemore, Senior Editor at Grand Central Publishing, told me at the Romance Writers of America national conference last week.
It makes sense, right? Those of us who love contemporary romance fall for books set in a particular town or city that feels as fleshed out as the hero and heroine. A place we’d love to visit, move to, or just immerse ourselves in for a few hours.
But community shouldn’t be confused with setting. It’s more than that.
It’s characters—oddballs who make a town unique and help the hero and heroine when they need it most; fast-talking city folks who are so savvy they make a reader jealous; and families who can overwhelm the most patient person but pull together when it’s most needed. It’s colleagues who challenge and sharpen you, while also making you howl with laughter, like in Louisa Edwards’s Recipe for Love series.
But community shouldn’t be confused with character development. It’s more than that.
It’s conflict—the heroine who thinks she belongs in a city but discovers warmth and friendship in a small town; the gossip that threatens the heroine’s closely guarded secrets; the struggle to fit in somewhere new, or reconnect with a place you left long ago.
But community shouldn’t be confused with conflict. It’s more than that.
It’s tone—the appeal of a relaxed pace those of us who live in major cities don’t often get; or the snappy dialogue and cosmopolitan feel of a story set in a city, like Julie James’s Chicago.
One reason community is key to contemporary romance is that it encompasses so many elements of a well-told story. A new favorite fictional community of mine is Jill Shalvis’s Lucky Harbor, which hits all the right spots for me. Jill Shalvis has created a community I return to over and over in my mind, but the only reason it works is that every element of the story fits together perfectly.
But more important than a beautifully crafted story, humans crave a sense of belonging. We build support networks to help us make it through life’s trials and share triumphs, and it makes sense that we’d want to see characters we love develop these same strong networks—or even stronger ones than what we’ve built in our own lives.
Last week I went to my first RWA national conference, and the sense of community was evident everywhere I looked. I feel so fortunate to have met some of my favorite authors and listened as they shared their wisdom. I got to meet amazing, talented, friendly people—like Ashley March, Roxanne St Claire, Shana Galen and Louisa Edwards—who I’ve become friends with on various online communities. What impressed me most was the emphasis so many successful authors placed on giving back to the community of romance readers and writers who have supported them over the years.
The authors I met are every bit as admirable as the heroines they create, and I am so proud to be part of a community of romance enthusiasts.
What fictional community would you love to live in, even for a little while? And what other reasons do you think community is so key to romance (whether contemporary or not)? What does being part of a community mean to you?
Bev: I saw Julie James again in NYC at the Berkley book signing, and she is lovely inside and out. Truly very sweet. Comment today and win an autographed copy of A LOT LIKE LOVE. 🙂
Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!
I would love to live in the fictional community of Fools Gold, California from Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series.
Forgot to answer the rest of the question – I think community is important because it either provides conflict or support to the characters – gives us a feel for the characters daily situation. Being in a community means that I’m part of a bigger picture – part of what is right in that particular area.
I think Jo Goodman’s live-and-let-live small Western town in Never Love a Lawman and Marry Me would be a pleasant place to live for a while.
To me, community is about support when you need it, and the opportunity to support others, which is good for the soul. In romance, I think it bolsters a happy ending. I once read a romance in which the end was that both characters completely lost their families and their society and it was such a total bummer. I suppose it was meant to be romantic, that they would give everything up for love, but it was just too sad.
I think someplace like Destiny Ohio from Toni Blakes books Sugar Creek and One Reckless summer. You would be close to a lake. I think the thing with communities is everyone sticks together and they are more like family then anything. People are a lot closer living in a community.
Interesting article. I grew up in a community setting-a small town in the midwest. We had several characters that people accepted and rejected depending on their actions. They included the smart librarian, the best judge in town, the town drunk, the fascinating new teacher, and the fluzzy. It was intersesting to see how they interacted with the rest of the people in the area.
I think it is important to include these types of settings in books. It helps to make make the characters believable.
I can thinkof one book where the community tolerated the heroine-ToniMcGee Causey’s BOBBIE FAYE’S VERY, VERY BAD DAY
I think cozy mysteries present a sense of community in their books.
Most of the contemporaries I enjoy have a strong sense of community without it necessarily being a strong sense of place. Relatives, friends, co-workers all come together to help flesh out the main characters. However, if I have to pick a new place to live I think I’d like Susan Wiggs’ Willow Lake.
Community is so important in romance, it is about the interconnected relationships with the characters and the shaping of their lives. How the characters belong to a community, interact with the people within it and contribute to it will define them. The community also makes for a wonderful support system where characters can find advice.
I would love to live in the fictional community where Susan Wiggs’s Lakeshore Chronicles are set or Lori Wilde’s Twilight town.
Community is important when the town or its citizens give a glimpse into the hero or heroine’s values. Whether it’s Chicago in Julie James’ books or Seattle in Rachel Gibson’s hockey novels.
I love the importance of community in books. It doesn’t matter whether it is a small town community or larger one. Community characters help definite who the hero and heroine are and help bring the story together.
I recently read Love Always by Harriet Evans where the primary setting was a tiny coastal village in Cornwall, England. The little village sounded beautiful and was a gathering place for artists of all kinds. I would love to live there at least for awhile. Community is like the garden that allows the romance to grow. It creates the fertile ground. The right setting and the right support characters also help to create the perfect escape that a good romance novel provides.
Aside from the hero and heroine, what makes or breaks a book for me is the secondary characters – the community the hero/heroine surrounds him/herself with. For some books, no matter how much I love the leads, if I can’t stand the quirky oddball supporting characters, the books don’t work for me. Any community that would put the heroine or hero through hell before acceptance is not worth anyone’s time, in real life or in fiction. Was it the author’s intent that I would feel sorry for the heroine because the crap the community put her through? And then feel that the heroine was an idiot for staying in that community afterward? There were times during which I felt the hero/heroine should just give the finger to the whole town and leave.
I don’t only like big cities though (no matter how much I love Julie James’ books), I just don’t like the narrow-minded gossipyness, masquerading as close-knit concern, of some of the small towns that I have read. If I’m really rooting for the hero/heroine to leave the place, something is not going well (unless it is the author’s intent to drive the hero and heroine together that way). On that front, Jayne Ann Krentz’s Scargill Cove is an ideal place – reasonably friendly but keep to themselves (because practically everyone has something to hide).
Gotta love Julie James and Chicago
I always love stories set in small towns, they always seem so warm and comforting, and even though there are always the nosy busybodies, they all stick together when there’s trouble. I’d love to live in Carolyn Brown’s Mingus, Texas (from her Honky Tonk series). I think being a part of a community is people looking out for each other, celebrating the good times and being there with caring and support during the bad times.
Great post Kat! I haven’t read any Lucky Harbor books yet by Jill Shalvis but I have one. I’m curious to read about Lucky Harbor. It sounds like a wonderful place! I don’t read many books with communites in them. I usually go for the books with big cities in them. Julie James book looks great! I’d love to read a romance set in Chicago!
The place I’d most like to live is in Virgin River, Robyn Carr’s setting for her fictional series. That’s partially because the setting sounds so beautiful, but also because of the way everyone looks out for each other. The saying “no man is an island” is a perfect summary of why I think community is so important, especially in romance.
A great community is definitely a reason for me to read a book. It shapes the characters in so many ways & it’s truly an escape, not just a love story.
She always replies to my tweets and that shows she’s is indeed super duper nice. Many big authors don’t do that.