I know it's crazy silly to say this, but I hope by the time you finish reading this post you'll understand what I mean.
The hardest genre to write is romance. Go ahead. Laugh it up. I know. Why then has everyone and their mother, aunt, sister, daughter written or read one? Certainly not because it's "hard" to do.
Let me be more specific. There is not one romantic story to tell which hasn't been told. Not one hero or heroine who hasn't been written. Not one quandary, not one separation, get- together, argument, trial, making up, etc. that hasn't been portrayed in words. As Solomon so rightly exclaimed eons ago, "There's nothing new under the sun."
Well, you say, that could be said about any novel, any story. And you're right. And, besides, you add, romance readers are the ones who buy those same stories over and over again, so what's the problem? No problem really, and you'd be right again.
But, really, there is a problem. For an original touch to penetrate the pages of a romance novel? Nearly impossible. And there lies the difficulty: originality. Who cares?! you ask. Well, as a writer, I care. And, as a reader, I care. I'm weary of reading just a few very sparsely spaced worthwhile romances. And maybe I'm in the minority. In fact, there's probably no "maybe" about it. And if originality is in short supply in any romance novel, it's exceptionally so in CBA romance novels. Christian romance novels typically include the church going lovers - who really aren't lovers in the sexual sense, the appropriate scriptures in times of trials and resisting romantic inclinations, the not-right-for-each-other until God intervenes and shows them they are the perfect match . . . Well, you get my drift which might contain a bit of exaggeration. It's just all so . . . predictable and formulaic. I know, I know: I always say that. Could be because it's true.
So. I reiterate. To write an interesting, atypical romance novel without the inclusion of gimmicky urban fantasy? Perhaps the hardest genre to write.
Father, help me. That's all I can say. In every way, in everything, in every endeavor: please help me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.