The Purrfect Romance - Why Romance?

Pepper Basham here! And guess what?

It’s February.

And you know what that means?!?

ROMANCE TALK!!!

Of course, as many of you know, I’m a big fan of romance-talk all year long, but February gives me a little extra excuse to celebrate big time! 

Speaking of big…the romance genre is the largest selling fiction genre out there – mainstream or Christian. So…maybe there are lots more people than just ME who find romance fascinating all year round too 😊…(Yes, I’m looking at all of you people who keep the Hallmark channel on 24/7 😉 #mypeople


Have you ever wondered WHY romance is such a "hot” commodity?

Well, here are a few of my thoughts, but I’d LOVE to hear yours too!
1.     We love STORY. It’s in our genes. For millennia, story has been the way to captivate, explain, inspire, capture memories, provide encouragement, and offer hope. Histories are made up of STORIES. Jesus used stories to teach deeper truths in a winsome way. So, while romances are stories about relationships, growth, and love…at the heart, they’re stories.

2.     Relationships without the everyday commercials - Most readers of romance are women…and we enjoy watching relationships happen. Even moreso, we like to see things turn out well (thus the reason why most romances are happily-ever-afters- HEA). If you’re like me and want to ‘fix’ everything, but know you’re human and haven’t been bitten by that radioactive spider yet, fiction provides a wonderfully condensed way for us to see broken people in broken relationships find fulfillment, community, and love within a few hundred pages and everything is FIXED (with all the mundane laundry, vacuuming, and toilet cleaning taken out to keep the pace going). 

3.     Escape – Stories provide a way for us to travel, experience, enjoy, and learn from worlds, people, and places that we’d never see in real life. And, most readers aren’t looking for a ‘real’ escape from their lives, but, similar to a vacation, romances provide a little bit of ‘magic’ in the everydayness of life. Instead of turning on the television to escape into a sports game, romance readers flip open the page. (or maybe they do both. Touchdown!)

4.     HEA – let’s go back to that for just a minute because there’s something to this! According to Psychology Today, readers of romance novels are not a population of women who are pining away for unrealistic or unmet expectations, but in fact, are people who are “happier overall” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-real-story-risk/201212/the-allure-romance) Why? Because, as Peter Pan so wonderfully pointed out to Wendy Darling…HAPPY THOUGHTS make you fly!!  So…in other words, the way of our thoughts goes the way of our behavior and perspective (hmm…that sounds Biblical! Philippians 4 for a start) 😊

      So, let’s get those thoughts shifted in a happily romantic direction!

We, here at The Writer’s Alley (affectionately called Alleycats), are so excited to celebrate this month of Purrfect Romance with you!! In fact, you’re so important to our celebration, we want to make sure you get involved. How, you might ask?

Let me count the ways 😊

1.     This Thursday we’re going to have our first Instagram Slam. What is an Instagram Slam? Well, it’s when we take over Instagram to post your FAVORITE romance books of all time!!! (okay…or of the last 6 months. “Of all time” is too big for some of us to handle). We’ll spend all day on Thursday, February 6^th, ‘showing the love’ of romance books that have left us feeling all the wonderfully romantic HEA feels. Don’t forget to tag the featured author, share it with us (@alleycatwriters), AND use some of the hashtags #PurrfectRomance, #AlleyCatWritersSlam or #InstagramSlam. We also have a graphic you can grab from down below to add to your post!!...check it out:

2.     Next week, we’re talking KISSES and I plan to host a FB LIVE, so bring some of your favorite fictional kissing books to the table for some lipsmacking conversations. You know I’ll bring mine 😉

3.     The week of February 17^th, AlleyCat, Angie Dicken, will be chatting about top romantic heroes and why we love them, following with a FB live later in the week. 

4.     And the last week of February, Angie will bring to light some fantastic romantic heroines and the two of us (Angie and Pepper) hope to offer a FB live together later in the week to discuss YOUR favorite heroines in romantic fiction.

Icing on top of the love cake?

We have an awesome giveaway planned for those who participate. All you have to do is comment on this post to be added to the drawing…and each additional comment you make on the other posts throughout the month will be an additional entry for you!

Now, let's talk! Why do YOU read romance?

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Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with southern Appalachian flair. Both her historical and contemporary novels have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inspys, and ACFW Carol Awards. Her historical romance, The Thorn Healer, was a finalist in the 2018 RT Awards. Her most recent historical romance, My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge, showcases her Appalachian heritage and family history, as well as her love for humor and family. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.

Pepper loves getting to know readers and other authors through social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. You may also learn more about her on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com