In the World of Publishing

Pamela Tracy here. Yes, I'm standing on a San Francisco pier. This was taken a year and a half ago during the Romance Writers of America conference.

My first romance conference was in Anaheim, back when I was single, and I actually had 'time' to write. Back when... For the last week I've been thinking about back whens... See, an editor passed away last week. A well-known editor. One I'd met more than once. No, I didn't 'really' know her, but I knew enough. As I've been reading posts about Kate Duffy, online and one quote - apparently Kate said this years ago - really stood out and reminded me why I read romance. Kate said:

“Romance entertains me; it makes me happy. I like to say Nora Roberts got me
through my divorce; Suzanne Brockmann got me through my father’s illness;
Joanne Ross got me through my father’s death, and Lisa Kleypas got me
through yesterday.”

You know, Kate nailed it. I write romance because romance has always entertained me, too. It makes me happy. Right now, I wish I could be sitting on my back porch reading Bread Alone. Romance has also gotten me through some times. It was a romance book that kept my mind off the ground the last time I was in a plane (very, very afraid of flying). LOL, when I gave birth to my son four years ago, I was helping deliver romance books for a contest. They were in my hospital rooms so when friends dropped by to see Mikey ( they sure weren't there to see me) I couldgive them their books. It's the Rory Gilmore complex thing. The other day the air conditioning guy (you really don't want your air conditioning to go out in Phoenix, Arizona, not even in October) said MISS. He'd been talking to me for a few minutes. I didn't hear a word. That's right. A romance was getting me through waiting for the air conditioner to be fixed. How about you? What does a romance novel get you through.