Authors take pride in romance

They write fluff — and they are proud of it.

They write for fun. They write the books they would like to read themselves. They think there is a place in this too-busy, sometimes-depressing, often-hard world for something that takes you away from it all, that reminds you of the power of love.

Julie Quinn (her pen name), Laura Lee Guhrke and Victoria Alexander (another pen name) are among the top romance writers in the country. They perennially appear on the bestseller lists and have received numerous awards. On a recent book-signing tour stop in Utah, they talked about the genre and what they do.

Although it has come a long way in the past couple of decades, "romance writing is still the ugly stepsister of literature," Quinn said.

But most romance books these days are not the "bodice-rippers" of the past. "Hardly anyone gets kidnapped and ravished by pirates any more. We are writing for women like us, contemporary, modern women. And that's not what we want to read."

There's often humor, sometimes a mystery. And yes, some can get a bit steamy (but it's also easy to skip those parts, if you want). But there is a strong emphasis on character development.

"It all comes down to the characters," Quinn said. "I want heroines who are women I could be friends with. They don't have to be perfect."

In fact, "Perfect is annoying," Quinn said.

"You have to care about the characters or you won't care about the story," added Guhrke. But their books also deal with real issues and real emotions, she said.

And what's wrong with a happy ending? "Why isn't a happy ending more respected?" Alexander said. "We don't all get happy endings in life. Sometimes the bad guys win. Yet, it's what everyone wants."

People talk about these great romances, such as the Nicholas Sparks books, for example, "and you get to the end and the woman dies," Quinn said. "How romantic is that? You know the book was written by a guy if the woman dies at the end."

Even though romance books offer the "happy-ever-after," she said, "you don't know how they will get there. Sometimes it's very complicated."

The writers have done time-travel, dabbled with paranormal — that's very hot in the genre right now — but they have a definite preference for historical stories set in England's Regency period or Victorian Era or thereabouts.