Romance is incredible isn’t it?

Both the genre, and romance in general. Being in love. Being romanced. Both are incredible in my opinion.

I’m always impressed by the depth and range of stories you can find within our genre and all the subgenres. There’s always something for me to read, no matter my mood. I appreciate that. I can find smart suspense, thrillers, romance that tickles my funny bone, feel good romance, hot steamy romance. Whatever I want. It’s there.

You know all this.

I’m also amazed with the wonderful, diverse population of folks who write romance. Lawyers, doctors, former military personnel, business professionals, teachers, professors, moms, and even dads.

Second Guessing Yourself

But every so often I come across a person who somehow makes me feel bad about my choice in reading and writing.

Eleanor Roosevelt, brilliant woman that she was, said “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” So why can’t I remember that? Readers might be surprised to know that authors can struggle not only with our books and characters, but with being an author.

Authors, me in particular, deal with plenty of expectations. I like to make people happy. I want them to enjoy what I write. So reader expectations are important. But like most things, expectations are a multi-faceted diamond. There are publisher and editor expectations. And expectations of your friends and family.

Struggle for Balance

It’s a struggle, I think, to remain in a balance. To make everyone happy. To meet and exceed people’s expectations. Authors (okay, me) constantly feel that they must write more, write better, sell better. We anxiously wait for submission responses, word from our editors, and even reviews.

Why do we wait for reviews, especially since the review could be damning? Simple, we want to know what others think of our work. We want a response. We want to know if we’ve met your expectations.

Silence is not Golden

That’s why silence is the worst thing an author experiences, in my opinion.

Silence…from a publisher. From an editor. No word on a submission for months, even years. Silence…from reviewers. Do they not like the book? Did they not read the book? Could they not be bothered? Silence…from readers. Did they not enjoy the book? Silence…from friends and family. What are they really thinking? Do they approve or disapprove? Have I met their expectations of me?

Silence leaves you hanging in limbo, unsure whether or not you’ve fallen short or leaped past what people expected of you and your work. Silence is worse than outright disapproval. The silence could be apathy (which is worse than disapproval). In this case, silence is not golden. It leads me to wonder if the other person is thinking “when will you write a real book?” Yeah, romance authors hear that sentence a lot.

Writing a Real Book

My latest book is a real book. 70,000 plus words, with real honest-to-goodness characters with problems and emotions and goals and desires. It has plot. Grammar. Three tough rounds of editing. And a cover. It tells a story. A story of love and hope and tenacity, the true meaning of friendship and family. Power of Seduction is most certainly a real book.

It’s as real to me as a baby is to any mother who’s given birth. This book was painful to write. Agonizing some days. It took a long time. It took a lot of Diet Mt. Dew, hours of writing and reading and proofing, more than a few tears. It took persistence and dedication because I wanted to get it right. Cassidy and Tor deserve to have their story told. They, too, are real. Real to me and I hope, real to my readers.

Disengage and Just Write

In the process of writing this blog post, I came across this other post and the timing couldn’t have been better. Jane, the author, came to the same conclusion I did. She says that it’s time to disengage. She’s speaking in particular of authors disengaging from reader expectations, but I’m speaking of the expectations placed upon me by, well, me… or what I perceive to be expectations.

And she’s totally right.

I can’t make everyone happy. I can, however, make myself happy and make many of my readers happy. That’s enough.

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About Madison

Madison Chase is an award winning author of short contemporary and paranormal romance. Her latest release, Power of Seduction, is available from Cobblestone Press (Oct. 31, 2008). Visit her online home at http://www.madison-chase.com.