Tropes in Romance: Good or Bad?

I can hear some of you asking now, what is a trope? Simply, a trope is a cliché, a common (sometimes overused) literary device. Some common romance tropes are the virgin, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, lovers torn apart, The Big Misunderstanding, The Bad Boy, the brooding vampire, insta-love, etc. There is an endless list of tropes easily found in just about every romance title, be it mainstream or gay romance, and every genre has its own special tropes readers either love or hate.

So, the question becomes, are these tropes good or bad? Do they add to a novel or detract? I know a lot of authors and readers who would say to bury the trope deeply, or subvert it in some way. And I agree, subversion of a trope can be an awesome way to bring something unique into a genre full of tropes. For example, vampires and shifters. The images of the brooding vampire or the dark alpha shifter are classics that can be found throughout the genre.

Imagine a vampire who has every reason on earth to hate himself. He’s a murderer, a thief, a seducer. But, because he has someone in his life that reminds him of all the good he has done alongside the bad, he remains optimistic about his existence. Instead of brooding, as a vampire might if he hates who and what he is, he instead revels in the positive aspects of his affliction, finding love and peace rather than endless angst and self-loathing. This would be a new take on an otherwise tired trope.

A subversion of the dark alpha shifter could be a headstrong beta who challenges the alpha of the pack for leadership, but then loses. Here, the main character has been built up as the big bad shifter, one who will take down the current alpha, and then fails spectacularly. The trope has been taken and turned on its ear, because he is the dark alpha-minded shifter, but he really isn’t alpha material. Not yet, anyway.

At the same time, though, taking a trope and owning it 100% is just as valid. The author just has to do it right, sell the reader on it from page one. Don’t half-ass your handling of a trope. That leads to unhappy readers, poor reviews, and a discouraged author. If you’re going to write your two main characters falling in love within the first four sentences of meeting one another, then take that up right to the end. Explore what happens with fated love, with soulmates, with what appears to be the loss of free choice. If you have a Bad Boy, keep him bad from beginning to end, even if he does have a heart of gold under all the rust.

Tropes are great literary devices, and no one can escape them. They creep into all writing, television, movies, plays, music. They’re just there, the undercurrent of the familiar. Tropes aren’t good or bad. They are what they are, and in the hands of a skilled author, a reader can be taken on an amazing journey.

Where you can find S.L. Armstrong:
Website: http://www.slarmstrong.net/
Twitter: @_slarmstrong

What is Wild Moon Books?

Wild Moon Books is the newest imprint from Storm Moon Press. We’ve branched out from GLBT and alternative lifestyle fiction and created an arm that will publish mainstream erotica and erotic romance. Wild Moon Books focuses on quality fiction, author-centric publishing, competitive pricing, and fun, exciting contests and giveaways for readers.

Currently, Wild Moon Books is scheduled to launch in January 2012, but we’re actively seeking submissions for anthologies, novellas, and novels. If you write heterosexual erotica or erotic romances, then take a look at the Wild Moon Books site where all the submission guidelines and anthologies calls are. Our contracts offer generous royalties, along with one of the first flip-point structures in the erotic romance industry, and we ensure authors are not bound to us through Right of First Refusal or non-compete clauses. We’re here for authors and readers.

Readers can look forward to discounted pre-sales of titles, fun contests, giveaways, and competitive prices. All our books will be available not only on the Wild Moon Books site, but in all major third-party vendor sites, so readers will be able to purchase Wild Moon Books at their favorite retailer. There are many surprises in store for readers during Wild Moon Books’ first year, and we can’t wait to start the ball rolling!

We’re excited to begin this new venture, and we can’t wait to work with some awesome authors to bring readers great reading experiences.

Where you can find Wild Moon Books:
Website: http://www.wildmoonbooks.com/
Twitter: @wildmoonbooks

Moving Beyond M/M

Every writer tends to have their favorite topics and themes, their favorite genre or sub-genre. They might go for years simply writing in one place or continuing a series of books to the exclusion of all else. This is very common, and rather than buying into the view 'Write what you know', I prefer to tell people 'Write what you love'. If we were to limit ourselves only to the topics we have personal knowledge of, I think fiction would suffer. Instead, it's important to just write what you love and explore different topics that you love.

My co-author, S.L. Armstrong, and I love researching new topics and being inspired by a broad range of themes in erotic romance. Ever since we started writing together, we've focused on gay (M/M) erotic romance, because we both love to read and write men falling in love, overcoming obstacles, and finding fulfillment with one another. We've always had a soft spot for paranormal and BDSM themes as well, so we love writing vampires/immortals and exploring different facets of BDSM. Heck, it was a love of both that led to the idea behind Catalyst, which follows the romance between a man with a blood fetish and his psychologist.

Despite our natural tendency to stay in our comfort zones, S.L. and I are always keen to push our boundaries. Because of that, we plan on moving beyond writing exclusively gay fiction (with the occasional dip into lesbian pairings). One of our current writing projects involves Lilith and Cain (of biblical fame), and it will be our first official foray into mainstream M/F erotic romance. We're really excited about the novella trilogy, which will follow Cain and Lilith from shortly after the murder of Abel to modern day London!

In addition to our M/F pursuits, we're also pushing ourselves to showcase more bisexual, trans*, and polyamorous fiction over the next couple years. We pride ourselves on keeping inventive, and sometimes inventive means moving beyond the comfort of M/M erotic romance. Bisexual men and women tend to be sorely under-represented in GLBT erotica beyond the familiar tropes of the 'hot bi chick' and 'one-time ménage', so that's definitely a corner of the market that S.L. and I would love to help expand. The same goes for trans* fiction, which may have a smaller market but is just as important to the spectrum of sexuality and identity.

For both our writing and our management of Storm Moon Press, we strive to find the themes in erotic romance of which we would love to see more, and then write what we wish were there for us to read! While we have plenty on our creative plates for the next few years, with everything from contemporary western to high fantasy to polyamory romance, Storm Moon Press has several anthology calls for all flavors of GLBT erotica and erotic romance, along with open calls for longer pieces with specific themes! Our new imprint, Wild Moon Books, will also be launching in January 2012 for mainstream erotic romance titles, so keep an eye on us these next few months!

We hope that our submission calls spark ideas for you writers and pique your interest as readers! Be it mainstream M/F or the LBT part of GLBT, Storm Moon Press is taking it up a notch and providing you with something that goes beyond the ordinary and beyond the M/M erotic fiction we specialize in!

Where you can find K. Piet:
Website: http://www.kpiet.net/
Twitter: @k_piet
Publisher: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/ and http://www.wildmoonbooks.com/