Thursday, August 18, 2016

"Love Between the Covers" Film: "That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson

I am a romance author and novelist. Some of you may roll your eyes and others may stand up and cheer. All that I can say is that I am exceedingly proud and happy to be part of a community of women (and some men) who view the world through a fundamentally optimistic lens. Sure, we make our characters work for their HEA (happily ever after), in fact we purposely put them through hell (sometimes literally, not just metaphorically - shout out to all my paranormal and urban fantasy peeps). But at the end of the day, the story leads are either happy together or 'happy for now' which leaves both us authors and our readers all warm and tingly inside.

The documentary Love Between the Covers is a touching look at the romance industry from a reader, author, and publisher point of view. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. Romance Writers of America (RWA) gave Laurie Kahn (producer / writer / director) and her team unprecedented access to our billion-dollar industry...yes, that would mean that romance is bigger than science fiction, mystery, and fantasy fiction COMBINED. Laurie Kahn's body of work covers topics from midwives to Tupperware and all of her stories feature women seeking to help and uplift other women. In a world filled with reality television 'cat fights' I find Ms. Kahn's work extremely refreshing.


Plus, the documentary features one of my favorite authors - Ms. Beverly Jenkins. Seriously, if you haven't read one of her books....Get. On. It....like NOW. (Her latest book, Forbidden, is flipping AWESOME and is available in print, e-book, and Audible...just saying.)


Writing and reading romance is my escape from the day-to-day stresses that often feel like a never ending gauntlet. For those who've quipped "why read a book when you know the ending?" all I can say is "it's not the destination, it's the journey." Plus, unlike the real world, I know that in the books I love it all positively works out in the end. :D

"That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson

Wait... is that Jennifer Lopez in Janet's crew? Here is one of my favorite songs from this era. I mean really.... who wouldn't want to be chilling out with a lively and diverse group of beautiful people listening to great music? And dancing and lighthearted picking on each other...so much fun!



"That's the way love goes and goes and goes...."