Some of us Think Dark

Yep.

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Lately, I've been spending time thinking about my genre. Selecting the keyword Dark Romance on Amazon made me wonder what that word denotes. To be honest, I've had other writers ask me what the term means. I always fumble around with my answer. It's embarrassing to say, "I write slutty, smutty, salacious, and scary stories." I've gotten push back a few times. "I thought you were a feminist," one friend said. I am, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good kidnapping story once in a while. I'm not alone in this. According to the article in Psychology Today Magazine, "Even Feminists Enjoy Surrender." Still, the article says that many people may see this as porn or freakish. I don't write porn. If I did, maybe I could write faster, or maybe not. I'll embrace the freak mantle, but don't assume I always want to be the victim. I could go either way, depending on the day of the week and the time of day.

To explain Dark Romance, it's helpful to look at popular tropes often found in these books:

• Kidnapping

• Bullying

• Dubcon (dubious consent)

• Stalking

• Power Exchange, BDSM (consent)

• Physical Injury, torture

• Sex Trafficking

• Sexual Tension (High)

• Taboo Relationships

No one explains the term Dark Romance better than Eve Vaughn. You can find her books on Amazon. If you like Dark Romance and haven't read her work, check her out. Vaughn explains it this way, Dark Romance has one or more of the following:

• A broken, emotionally damaged hero, often a villain, and characters that seem to have questionable morals.

• An extraordinary plot with desolate circumstances.

• A questionable ending that may make you question whether a HEA ending occurred.

• A tone of either danger, hopelessness, and or anxiety-inducing circumstances. The story often seems to zero in on the reader's fears.

You’ll find a range in how far each writer takes some of the above. Whereas I may see my writing as in the light shade of the dark romance spectrum, a reader may see something else. This is one reason authors of these kinds of books often include a trigger warning. Trigger warnings will be covered in another newsletter.

I do have a personal mission in my dark romance stories. My hero must remain redeemable, and the heroine must be strong enough to stand up for herself. No wimps allowed. Consent is a large part of my storyline, or someone’s going down, one way or another. Both people need to be better off after meeting one another by the end. There are a few more, but I thought I’d hand the discussion over to you, dear reader. Are there lines you won’t cross when writing in this genre? How often does your line shift? And have you ever had to defend your choice of genre, whether it be Regency, Sweet, Inspirational, Paranormal, or something else? Please share in the comment section. Have a productive week!