Escapism as a trend?

With everything going on in the world right now, I can honestly say, I have never been more grateful to live on an island in the middle of nowhere. I can’t fully escape seeing and feeling what is happening everywhere else, but I do get to walk on the beach and pretend I’m removed from it all for a few moments each day.

Home. The British Virgin Islands. 

Increasingly, people need an escape. This is reflected, in my view, in new trends in the world of romance books. We seem to be moving away from dark, angst-filled books, towards lighter romances, still with conflicts and tension but not as heavy as the sub-genres that have soared in recent years.

Another trend I have noticed is for shorts and novellas. Not necessarily as a replacement to novels but as alternative options. A fast escape from reality, whether they be enjoyed by readers lying in bed at night, during their lunch hour, or on a commuter train. See Carina Press’s call for erotic shorts and multiple anthologies, for example: http://carinapress.com/blog/submission-guidelines/ 

In terms of reading and writing, my own tastes are also reflective of the market. I am writing lighter books and dabbling in shorter books that are a little more removed from ‘real-life’ scenarios. My reading tastes are heading in the same direction. In fact, in the virtual book club I run through Facebook, my readers are choosing more fun reads and loving them. I am also listening to brighter music and watching rom-coms more often (together with eating copious amounts of chocolate but I’m not sure that’s relevant to the trend towards escapism J).

I want to make this blog interactive. So, tell me what you do to escape the realities of life, whether it be reading, writing, listening to music or something else.

I want to know whether you have noticed a shift towards less intense reads, and what you are reading of late.

Finally, I would love your suggestions for lighter books that I should read this summer and perhaps recommend in my book club.

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WHY ROMANTIC SUSPENSE - by Kathy Ivan

Somebody asked me the other day why I write romantic suspense. I thought about it for a few seconds, realizing there are really several reasons why I write it. Since it's a genre near and dear to my heart, I thought I'd share a few of them with you today. 1. I WRITE WHAT I LOVE TO READ. I've always been a sucker for a good mystery/suspense story. I was weaned on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, trying to figure out the culprit/bad guy or girl always set my heart pounding, my pulse racing and my brain whirling with the possibilities. There was nothing better than spending a Saturday afternoon curled up with these friends I'd made, living the adventure with them and knowing that good would always triumph in the end. 2. FIGURING OUT WHO DID IT. I'll admit it, I love a good puzzle. Figuring out the real clues from the red herrings that have been dropped along the way by an author, coming up with the usual suspects and the not so usual suspects while delving into the mystery is a big turn on for me. I love being able to follow along with the hero and heroine of a story, live out the adventure with them, and know who the villain is. 3. I GET TO GO ALONG WITH THE CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURE. How many of us in real life get to diffuse a bomb? Or land a plane where the pilot and copilot have been incapacitated? Find a missing child? Save the world from evil domination? Within the pages of suspense/mysteries I get to do all of these things and more. I can live vicariously, seeing through the eyes of the player on stage in the book and experience the kinds of things I'd never get to do in reality. 4. ESCAPISM. This ties in with #3 above. I get to go to places I'd never ever be able to afford when I get lost in the pages of a story. I can travel to Antarctica as easily as a tropical island. Wrangle cattle in Wyoming or tread the boards in New York City. Jaunt to Monte Carlo on the arm of a tuxedoed handsome stranger. All without leaving the comfort of my easy chair. Does life get much better than that? 5. ROMANCE AND HAPPILY EVER AFTER. In a romantic suspense/mystery in addition to solving the crime, thwarting the villain, and possibly saving the free world, we have romance. Unexpected yet inevitable. Your hero and heroine dance their forbidden dance of passion, fighting the inevitable attraction while chaos burns around them. Yet in the end, all the threads are tied up, all the questions answered. Everything is right with the world, and love always wins in the end. Could anything be better than that? Ask yourself the same question. Why do you like to read (or write) romantic suspense/mysteries? I'm sure you're reasons may differ from the ones I've listed. Tell me all about yours. I'd love to hear them.