Theory on Thursday with Loretta Hill

After my Christmas and release hiatus, Theory on Thursday is back in 2012 and first up in the hot seat is fellow WA author Loretta Hill. Her book The Girl In Steel-Capped Boots released only this week. I cannot wait for my Kindle to arrive (hopefully today) so I can download Loretta's book. I don't want to wait until I head to Perth next week :) 


But what I'm really excited about is Loretta's topic for Theory on Thursday. So I'll stop rambling now and hand over to Loretta. I do hope after you've read Loretta's post, you'll stick around to discuss!

Firstly, thanks for having me on your blog Rachael. It’s a real pleasure to be here.  I wanted to talk about an issue that I stumbled over in the last couple of years and had to really nut through before I could move forward with my writing.  My question was, “What’s the difference Between Mainstream  Commercial Women’s Fiction and Genre Romance?”

I happen to be a reader of both these genres and since forever I thought they were one and the same thing.  They’re not. If you’re a reader this shouldn’t really matter to you. But writers need to distinguish them so they can figure out which publisher they’re supposed to be targeting.

I’m an engineer by day and for that reason I tend to like to deal in absolutes. Yes, I know - with writing there are no rules. So let’s just call this table below a loose guide. J There are no hard and fasts here.  I’ve just found these characteristics to be the case (in general) and it has helped me figure out where I fit.

Mainstream Commercial Women’s Fiction	Genre Romance
The story is all in the heroines POV	The story is in the hero and heroine POV
The main plot can be anything but a romance. Ie. suspense, mystery, family saga, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, historical etc.	Romance is the main plot
Romance is a subplot	Sub plot could be in a secondary genre. Eg. suspense, mystery, family saga, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, historical etc. But it can also be another romance (between a different couple)
The heroine’s journey is the focus of the story. Her character must achieve growth by the end of the story.	Hero’s journey and Heroine’s journey is given equal importance in the story.
The hero’s journey doesn’t matter, except in how it affects the heroine’s journey. His growth is optional. He can be constant through the book if you like.	Both hero and heroine must have grown and/or achieved change by the end of the book and their love for each other must be the catalyst for that.
Secondary characters are important. Some may be given equal page time as the hero.	Secondary characters are not so important.

To illustrate, how you can stretch these rules, or push the envelope, I thought I’d talk about my debut novel with Random House, “The Girl in Steel-CappedBoots” freshly out in stores this month! J  

This novel fits under the category of Mainstream Commercial Women’s Fiction. It is all in the heroines POV, the main plot concerns my heroine’s struggle to prove herself as a good engineer while living and working in the outback. There’s a lot of resistance to her goal from the people she works with, her own troubled past and her lack of knowledge. The genre for my main plot, I would actually say is comedy more than anything else.  It’s a light hearted tale of personal growth and driving yourself to the absolute limit and just praying it works out. Here’s where I pushed the envelope on the rules: the romance in this story is more than just a subplot. When I think sub plot, I usually think maybe 30% of the novel. I would say I gave Dan and Lena’s romance about 50%. Lena’s journey is definitely the focus of the story but Dan’s love helps her to realise her own strength as a person, so it’s valid to my main plot too, if you know what I mean.  My secondary characters are also very important. Like Dan, they too contribute to Lena’s self realisation, so I gave them plenty of page time.

While “The Girl in Steel Capped Boots” is all in Lena’s POV, I have seen commercial women’s fiction with many POV’s. However, usually they are other female secondary characters POV  rather than the heros. Sometimes there are even double or triple heroine stories. The focus is always on the female’s journey.

Anyway, I hope my blog has helped somebody else asking this same question. And thanks again for having me, Rach. 

Thanks Loretta. That was VERY interesting and informative. I know this post has been really helpful for me and I can see I most definitely write genre romance!

I'd love to hear from readers about whether or not you agree with Loretta's take on Women's Fiction vs Romance and if you have anything to add. 

BLURB - The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots

'Let me burst your city bubble for you. This is the Pilbara. And it's the Pilbara that makes the rules' Lena Todd is a city girl who thrives on cocktails and cappuccinos. So when her boss announces he's sending her to the outback to join a construction team, her world is turned upside down. Lena's new accommodation will be an aluminium box called a dongar. Her new social network: 350 men. Her daily foot attire: steel-capped boots. Unfortunately, Lena can't refuse. Mistakes of the past are choking her confidence. She needs to do something to right those wrongs and prove herself. Going into a remote community might just be the place to do that, if only tall, dark and obnoxious Dan didn't seem so determined to stand in her way ...