"F***in' hell somebody stab me with screwdriver and a pixie stick!" Yup - you're back. I apologize for inflicting on you but I'm enjoying the resulting performance art. (I hope you're at least enjoying that part of it). And yes, David is a flying monkey. Also the horse with it's head through the wall is a great graphic choice. And I do agree that they seem to be repeatedly walking up to something potentially big happening and then walking it back. Eventually they need to let something actually blow up.
Yeah I'm definitely starting to understand why we caught flack for our selection early on (Hi @BayView and @LinnyV). Although I kind of am having an interesting time trying to figure out the actual plotting tricks to see what does and doesn't map against what I normally read - i.e. my questions earlier about the use of frustration instead of suspense, and my confusion over Bink setting off my "imminent character death" sensor.
Rather read Sophie Kinsella's I've Got Your Number it's silly and easy to read, but without these frustrating and over the top elements. Towards the second half of the book I found it very romantic and sweet her other books are less romantic, though still with romance as a key plot, and they always made me laugh. She actually got me back into reading at a time in my life when I was really down and just needed something to take my mind off things and these books worked a treat! Yeah I hate frustration and confusion in stories - also hate the mandatory miscommunication/misunderstanding. Or feel free to read my book, it's a dystopian romance I wrote with another writer Go on, tell me you will read one of these! You can't let a very typical and frankly what sounds like a terrible plot form your general impression on all romances forevermore! By the way, I have read the first page of the Three Body Problem. The Chinese is a bit tricky, I may well stick with the English haha. Kinda trying to read both (English first and then Chinese) but that sort of makes it hard to get into.
I'm enjoying this thread a lot. I get to suck up the comments without having to read the dreck. What is coming through strongly is: 1) Bet Me is not a good Romance, judging by the standards of people on this thread who actually like reading Romance. 2) People who read formula genres (as opposed to categories relating to subject matter) tend to want the same kinds of things to happen in the stories as happened in the last one they read. They had a fun experience the last time, and they just want to repeat that experience. Knowing beforehand how things will turn out makes this kind of reading relaxing and risk-free. Nothing wrong with this, by the way, but it's what makes 'formula' ...formula. That's where sci-fi is different, as a genre. You never know what will happen, or whether the ending will be pleasant or unpleasant. It's the only 'genre' that I ever read these days, although I've sampled most others in my lifetime. By the way, I'm not adverse (at all) to romance/love stories in the books I enjoy. However, these love stories can't be shallowly irritating and predictible—a la soap opera—if I'm to enjoy them. Wanting love is one of humanity's most consistent occupations. Refusing to read about love relationships in stories is silly, in my opinion. But to insist upon a formula for them? That seems even sillier. Ach well. Kudos to @Cave Troll, @Commandante Lemming , @Tenderiser, @Mckk and others for making this such an entertaining thread.
Yay somebody got it! And I wouldn't worry about us thinking all Romances are like this one - if nothing else we've been rather firmly educated by genre readers that they are not. Actually, that's been one of the more rewarding aspects of this project, talking with people who know the form, the expectations, and the assorted subgenres. Even if we're not dealing with a debatable Romance as our main text, it's fun talking with people who know why it's a debatable Romance. And to be fair to Jennifer Crusie - we're giving her a lot of invective because we aren't really into her type of premise to begin with, but there are some interesting things about this plot that have really gotten me thinking. She's put a surprising (to me at least) array of characters and complexity into a story that ostensibly is about the relationship between two people - and has built out the idea of how everyone around the main couple is really a part of their relationship. She's also given us a proper scheming villain, which is not something I expected. That, and the thing that's really gotten me thinking as a sci-fi writer is that she's mirroring structures I'm familiar with but not using the same emotions - for instance, in terms of building tension - the arc is the same, but where I use fear as my tension building emotion, Crusie is using frustration. That actually makes some sense to me because, in this form, threatening to kill the characters is not something you can do, and you can't really leverage fear the same way - so in that sense it's been interesting to see that sort of alternative emotional profile. I don't know if I ENJOY that - but it's interesting to engage with. That's also why I keep coming back to the whole Bink foreshadowing thing, because I recognize the play but I don't know what the payoff is in this structure.
Yeah, I think there is something to the idea that people who prefer "formula" plots do want varied repeats of the same emotional profile - whether we're talking about light romance, spy thriller, or cozy mystery. And the challenge as a writer in those forms is how to make it interesting along the way and still give the reader a sense that they're experiencing something they haven't seen before. And in Romance, that has to be particularly hard, given that (unlike thriller and mystery) there isn't a massive "whodunit" question hanging over the story. We know that it's about two people falling in love, and the question is how to plausibly keep the tension going long enough to make it entertaining. That sounds REALLY hard to me, so in that sense, I do not envy the task of someone like Jennifer Crusie. We all use formulas in some way - whether you're looking at the Hero's Journey (which is the template or a lot of fantasy and sci-fi) or some of the more basic stuff like Three-Act. I'm trying to write a story that isn't totally defined by tropes - but even I know exactly which templates I'm using - in my case I use the "Hollywood Formula" as a guide to how my action needs to go and Kim Hudson's "Virgin's Promise" structure to track the actual steps. But Romance gives you the extra challenge of dealing with the fact that everyone knows the ending going in. Actually, thinking about it, that might be one of the reason's that Pride and Prejudice is iconic. I've only seen movie versions, and it's been a while, but one thing I remember about that story is that there were very real questions about whether Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy would end up together by the end of the story. There were alternative options, and it wasn't always clear that Darcy was the best of those options. It would have been entirely possible to write an effective ending where they DON'T get together, and as a viewer I would have still bought it.
Another thing is that "genre" doesn't always mean the same thing. Sometimes it refers to motifs and settings - Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Historical. Sometimes it refers to plot structure - Romance, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Procedural. Most of your motif genres are easy to overlay onto plot-structure genres - there are plenty of sci-fi thrillers or sci-fi mysteries. You could even describe paranormal Romance as being within the Fantasy genre - actually it's in both the Fantasy and Romance spaces. So, with Sci-Fi, you can have a broad range of plots because the "genre" is defined largely by it's motifs rather than it's structures.
Yeah, that's what I was trying to convey by separating formula genre from 'subject matter' genre. I don't know if there is another name for that difference. I like your explanation: motif versus plot structure.
I was tagged into something here, so I popped on on see what now... Omg... I can't help but think this journey is, if anything, a torturous review on a bad romance novel. Which to me achieves nothing to be honest, other than vindicating those already with a negative view of the genre. I find that rather sad. While I can appreciate what you say about formulas and it's great that someone is separating the bitchiness I constantly read about people lumping formula with romance, I think it's also not right to say that some people 'prefer "formula" plots". People prefer a good read and that would apply to a romance reader. It's natural they do not want finally meet the hero six chapters into the novel, after we learn about the heroine, her dog, her daily hygiene habits and her posse of friends. So if it is formula, rather than common sense, to introduce the relevant parties sooner rather than later, then go formula! And why the hell does every romance discussion always end up saying "Pride and Prejudice, now there's an example of a good romance..." That in itself so diminishes what today's romance writers do. And is it my imagination that often it is the people who don't understand/appreciate romance that love to throw that gem in every debate. I have never read that story, nor have I read "North and South". I've seen the movies of both and loved them. I've tried to read both in print, but I've never been engaged enough to read on. It's out dated. Not relevant. And finally, the challenge of a good romance has nothing to do with the fact that everyone knows the ending. It is writing a love story so wonderful, that the readers do not want it to end. Anyway, please stop tagging me. If anything, this thread is beginning to annoy me.
@LinnyV I am sorry you're getting annoyed with this thread. I did not tag you, but I think you were tagged because you do shed light and knowledge on the genre. So if anything it should be flattering to be mentioned in good will, because you do bring something to the table. We all understand that this one book does not represent the entire genre. No one book represents a genre as a whole. As far as reading dated books that are not relevant. That is like going to an art museum and berating the many works throughout history for being 'dated' and 'not relevant'. It is something you appreciate or you don't. I have read Hotel Berlin '43, and it was a fun little read from 1944. It is dated but it was written well and had a good story. I have read the Count of Monte Cristo, and I enjoyed it. It is dated too. Movies don't do books justice, for the simple fact that they cut and add things as needed to be adapted to film. Religious people read texts that by your word 'dated', but does that mean that they should not be read? Again apologies for your annoyance, but try to have an open mind. That is part of what this whole thing is about, even if it involves a book written to pander to halfwits.
Nah, formula isn't just common sense. Formula is, for example, that at the end of a typical genre romance, the guy and girl get together. A happy ending can be assumed. The whole: heroine has the perfect life but ain't happy, perfect boyfriend but he's not the one, the guy is a handsome successful man, the mandatory misunderstanding near the end - I'd say those kinds of things are formula. It's about using the same or similar devices and story structure over and over again within the same genre. There are romances that don't fit into this, however - but now we would be going into the details of what are the typical elements of the romance genre and to what extent can it be generalised as something that exists primarily in the romance genre. I personally don't mind formulas in romances - what I mind is how some of these are quite OTT and quite often the heroine is neurotic. I have come across a number of romances that spent the first one or two pages or even a whole chapter making lists, detailing every little thing the heroine might have to do or is worrying about. Bridget Jones also started with a list. I have no idea why anyone would ever think starting with a list in any genre is a good idea. Since when have lists ever been interesting!!? And then there was once when an entire chapter was devoted to the details of planning a birthday party. Flaws in the heroine are also usually painfully obvious from the get-go, which is part of the OTT nature. I love a good romance. But in my experience genre romances / chick lits tend to be a little mindless, tedious, and not a little annoying and dull. Kinsella's was the only genre romance I actually liked. As for Pride and Prejudice - I've never read it haha for me, I loved Fault in Our Stars. Who would you recommend as a good romance author? Always up for a good romance but they are damn hard to find. As I said, I have not had much luck finding a good one.
I think every once in a while when I peek into this thread to look, I can't help but get cranky that we're still talking about the ever boring Cruise. Anyway, this is not about me and about your experiences. I'll put it down to a moment of insanity that I wrote the very bitchy post above. It's no excuse but I was having a shitty moment in another forum (nothing to do with writing and more to do with egos) where I lost all patience and probably took it out on this thread. I just saw a haze of red when I read another reference to Pride and Prejudice. Arrrgh! FWIW, I do actually appreciate that this thread has a much healthier attitude towards 'formulas' than other forums I have participated in the past. My opinion on formulas is irrelevant since I've written nothing. @Mckk , some romances I've enjoyed: Contemporary - Christina Lauren "Beautiful Bastard" Romance/Suspense - Linda Howard "Cry No More" Historical/Western - Ellen O'connell "Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold", "Dancing on Coals" Historical - Lisa Kleypas "Dreaming of You", "Devil in Winter", "Seduce My at Sunrise", "Married by Morning" Historical - Elizabeth Hoyt "The Raven Prince (Prince Trilogy)" Paranormal - Kresley Cole "A Hunger Like No Other", "Lothaire" and "Shadow's Claim" - she is hilarious. Paranormal - Nalini Singh "Heart of Obsidian" YA - I've also enjoyed Karina Halle, Penelope Ward and Penelope Douglas. However, more as a side mention as far as interesting romances, I found the hard to find novels of "Teresa Denys" to be fascinating reads. She has two "The Silver Devil" and "The Flesh and the Devil" which feature pretty awful heroes. The crazy kind that is "Oh, you looked at another man? Then I'll kill him" type, which he does go through with... So there are a lot of WTF? moments and the Silver Devil is demented to say the least. I believe these novels were first published in the 70s when bodice rippers were the thing. I only hunted them down to read when I noticed they were mention in some other sites. I remember being appalled but kept reading it like it was a compellingly bad soap opera. But still, how she can write such foul heroes and convince us there is a romance worth reading, in a world she has created that is so dark and oppressive, is impressive to me. And what is my point? I have no idea. I guess I'll just say that there is a market for darker heroes over the monkey men reviewed here. *feeling satisfied she stayed in theme with this thread that she doesn't understand* Anyway, have fun you all!
13 and 14...well there's action, and seeing as there's only 17 Chapters in the whole book, that's definitely needed. So, we ALMOST got that steamy, cathartic sex scene at the beginning of 13. Min and Cal were all about to go at it and...the phone rings. Min has a fitting for a rehearsal dinner dress - her mother has picked out something too small, the argument over Min's weight blows up, and actually sister Diana finally comes through and tells off Mommy dearest (proving that she is, in fact, a vertebrate). Cal picks out a better dress. Then Diana's stupid fiance Greg has stupidly forgotten yet another piece of wedding stuff he was responsible for - the food for the rehearsal dinner. So, naturally Min, Cal, Liza, Bonnie, Tony and Roger all pull together to cook and serve said dinner. Of course, they make chicken marsala (cute, but really?) Cal and Min repeatedly complain to each other how they'd much rather be having sex, Tony and Roger prove to be entirely too competent as servers - but everything goes well. Mostly a yawn chapter but okay - oh and Cynthie has now reached peak psychosis - she and David plan to show up at the wedding and break Cal and Min up by convincing Cal that Min has been playing him to string out the bet. Chapter 14 is the wedding - and seeing as it's been an obvious ticking time bomb since Chapter 2, Crusie really needed to deliver a spectacle here. She did so. In spades. Diana reveals right before she goes down the aisle that she caught Greg cheating on her the previous night with one of her best friends, Karen (previously referenced as "Worse", in the "Wet and Worse" girl-squad that follows Diana around). She also tells Min that she's going through with the wedding anyway because life isn't a fairy tale.. That may be true Diana...but in your case, life actually IS a romantic comedy. Tough luck, kid. Diana finally flips when she gets to the altar and ends up being the "I object!" at her own dream wedding. Min gets mad and spills the details - Wet takes a swing at Worse (arguably the most satisfying moment in this whole book). Cal has to prevent Min's dad from hitting George - trying to remember who actually did connect, because somehow Greg ended up on the floor and Mommy Dearest decided to kick the s**t out of him while vocalizing 37 years of frustration at her own (probably not) cheating husband. So - thank you, Jennifer Crusie for at least making that satisfying. I was expecting the wedding to end in tears, and frankly it was a pleasant surprise that it ended in fisticuffs. We end with the wedding party absorbing the shock in what is no longer the reception venue. Wet can't stop laughing, and has to be thrown out for being insensitive to Diana. Tony comes through as the comforting force. Meanwhile, Cynthie shows up outside and tells Cal that Min heard the bet and was only playing him to get a wedding date - and that everyone, including Min, is now laughing at him behind his back and declaring him stupid. Apparently calling Cal stupid is like calling Marty McFly "chicken", so he falls for it has a fight with Min and leaves with Cynthie. Cal is a gullible chump. A charming chump, but still a chump. Min and Diana decide to move in together because Min and Cal have broken up (right....) - Diana is officially invited to join the Min/Bonnie/Liza triad, seeing as Worse was screwing her fiance and Wet seems headed for the loony bin. Min and Cal both have conversations with respective friends (Bonnie and Shanna) about how they are being idiots. Cynthie shows up to "comfort" Cal (meaning attempt to seduce him, because she seems to think sex is the solution to everything), and Cal turns her down. ....and fade to black. Not bad on the whole. Wedding breakdown was good, but Min and Cal are both being too gullible for my taste. Three more chapters, so lets see how they get stuck back together.
Lol. I guess this is why I don't like chick lits in general, even though I could do with a mindless laugh from time to time. The drama involved in such books are just utterly absurd - the genre seems based on the absurd, and we're asked to believe it's possible for humour's sake. Same goes for movies really. Problem is most of the time the absurdity isn't funny, it's just like... que? Incidentally I'm still reading Three Body Problem. The epub version I converted was erroneous and 90% of each chapter was missing. So I'm backtracking and reading the mobi file instead on my kindle. I don't get the talk about relativity though...
I haven't read a lot of chick lit, but the ones I have read weren't at all absurd. Same for romance. I think you can tell from the blurb if it's going to be like that, so I avoid them. Bets are always a bit of a red flag to me, as they tend to signal this kind of book and be based on misunderstandings that often turn out a little farcical. There's a lot of good stuff to be found in the genre, to suit every taste
Yeah, I'm actually game for absurdity if it's well done. Discworld was absurd and funny but it was well done. Don't worry about the relativity bits in Chapter's one and two - actually the only thing relevant there isn't the science, it's the fact that the Chinese government at that time has politicized science. They're attacking that professor for teaching relativity (which is scientific fact) because it doesn't line up with their ideology. There's a lot of science-y techno talk in that book, but a lot of it is set dressing - worldbuiding. The only thing you really need to be able to grasp is the real-world "Three-Body Problem" in physics - which is both extremely simple and deeply unsolvable. It's the question of how to calculate the orbits of three objects that are all impacted by each other's gravity. And don't think about it too much, it'll come up on it's own. Just let the book run. I don't know squat about abstract physics and only heard about the three body problem because I read this book.
Out of boredom, I thought to peek back here to see if there were any interesting developments... Nope. But I can't believe I missed the @Cave Troll audio. Oh wow... I could only stand to listen to about 2 mins of it before I scrolled ahead to see the horse with it's head in the wall. Best part of this thread for me so far, and only because it was hilarious to hear an american guy talk about a bad romance novel... hehe *big thumbs up*
15 and 16 Well folks, we're into the home stretch, which means the final push toward resolving the conflict, right? So, yeah we got that. Also, given the subject matter, that means we also got lots and lots what I'm guessing was supposed to be cathartic sex. It wasn't terribly cathartic for me, but I'm going to chalk that up to the idea that I'm a bit of a prude with this in my reading to begin with (Not that I necessarily mind sex in my fiction, but the time spent dwelling on the emotional and physical anticipation grosses me out more than it turns me on). But that's the end, let's go back to the beginning. These chapters were relatively simple, plotwise. We open with Min deciding to call Cal, apologize, and basically use a blatant offer of immediate sex as a peace offering (a bit cynical there, Minerva). Cal likes the idea, although they have a brief phone-fight about whose fault it was. Cal brusquely says yes but that he wants to wait 24 hours - Min gets weirded out by this but then figures out that Cal is trying to be noble and wait to sleep with her until after the original bet with David had expired (even though he didn't make it in the first place). As such, Min gets mildly annoyed at what she perceives as Cal's need for control and decides to throw the book at getting him into bed before the deadline (oh, great...) Meanwhile, Cynthie has finally gotten the message, become depressed, and tells David it's time to give up (note: this didn't happen, but given this book's level of focus on food, Cynthie really need to be binging on chocolates during that scene.) David, being the reality-detached borderline-stalker he is, decides this isn't good enough for some reason - and decides to go kamikaze by calling both Min and Cal's families and telling them about the bet (Cynthie mentioned the Min and Cal are probably getting together that night so he's thinking he can get the families to interrupt them right in the middle of copulatory bliss). David is a an utter waste of protoplasm. He deserves to spend the rest of his pitiful life in the dilithium mines of Rura-pente. I'm not sure I like it that he, rather than Cynthie, delivered the big explosion at the end - but it works as a "minion goes nuts after villain is killed" moment. So, Liza and Min execute a plan to lure Cal to Min's place earlier than planned (bet expires at 9:30 PM by Cal's reasoning). Liza calls Cal, tells him something is wrong with Min and to come over immediately - then hangs up. Of course, he drops everything and rushes over, at which point Liza leaves immediately and dumps him in room with Min in a sexy nightgown (Oh dear...this can only go bad places...) Of course, Cal has no intention of violating his plan to lose the bet, but is quite happy to be there...and we have a long period of comic foreplay with Min trying to break down his defenses and him resisting. He wins, mostly by manipulating the foreplay in such a way that Min ends up tied to a piece of furniture using his belt - at which point he refuses to actually have sex with her and leaves her tied their while he tantalizes he with doughnuts and slowly undresses her during the hour or so it takes the clock to tick down. So, yeah, they went there. Wasn't really expecting this one to go Fifty Shades on me...oh well, YOLO! Meanwhile, David the idiot has been leaving voicemails about how Cal is sleeping with Min to win a bet - for Min's parents, Cal's parents, Min's sister, and Liza. That last one comes back to bite him in the butt because Liza knows more than David thinks she does, and she rushes home to head of the oncoming tsunami of angry parents. She happen's to be working at Emilio's now, where Tony is having dinner, and he comes along despite them having "broken up" (yeah, right). Meanwhile the clock has run out and Min and Cal are going at it like horny rabbits. I'll be honest, I fast-forwarded through a good portion of this...a little too much "Insert Tab A into Slot B" for my taste. That and I found it more discomforting than I expected to be inside the woman's head for that. To much focus on male anatomy, which I find gross. Anyway.... So, they finish up, only to have their afterglow interrupted by a knock at the door. It's David. Honestly Cal should have just decked him, but they have an argument - David, knowing what's likely behind him, informs Cal that the bet didn't inspire until midnight and cuts him a $10,000 check, which he figures will be evidence to horrify everyone who's about to show up. This is when Min finds out that the bet was for $10,000 rather than $10 - and gets a good line in that, if she'd known that, she would have slept with Cal on the first night and split the winnings (she takes it back, but good line). Of course, Min's parents roll in and her dad tries to physically attack Cal while Min protests, then Cal's parents show up right behind them (Min's Mom is starstruck by Cal's mom, who brushes her off). And then Liza and Tony round out the crowd and try to break everyone up. Min and Cal publicly profess their love for each other and protest about how this isn't just a fling, and Cal goes so far as to straight up ask Min to marry him to prove he's not going to chicken out...using a doughnut instead of a ring, which is just disgusting. And somehow Cynthie showed up, I think trying to get David to get a hold of himself...don't really remember. Min's mom takes out her frustration on Min's dad, who she thinks is cheating but isn't, so she gets made a fool of. Everybody makes up and leaves, leaving Min and Cal to reflect on what the hell just happened. It's a bit of a nice moment to breathe and reflect, especially given the crazy pace of most of the book. Min finally starts to process that she's done some pretty insane stuff, gotten herself hooked up and potentially engaged to a well-known "player" - and given that she's an actuary who reels off stats as a quirk, starts processing relationship horror-story statistics. This wakes Cal, who comforts her and tells her they'll do their best to make it work, be with each other, and try to live a good life together. So, now she feels better. We've clearly reached the end. There's one chapter left and it's not titled "Epilogue" - but I'm assuming it's mostly going to be denouement and tying up loose ends in the supporting cast. I'm still trying to figure out what to make of it. The tension did clearly go through the roof, and David did finally manage to come through with a truly villainous act, albeit a stupid one that blew up in his own face. The catharsis didn't work for me, probably because I didn't find either the bondage jokes or the abuse of doughnuts sexy. Both of those things were straight-up gross. There certainly was enough craziness for a "final battle" of sorts, and while the climax really was in the last section, I still never really felt that there was a significant obstacle to Cal and Min getting together permanently. We all knew that they were going to, but I still think that they should have been provided with more convincing things to push them apart. David and Cynthie were never really able to deliver on that. We have one more week of this stuff, and I'm thinking we can probably use next week's light reading load to focus on our opinions of the experience as a whole...which I'm still trying to process.
I read your post @Commandante Lemming with a perpetual frown on my face. Most of that sounded like whaaaaa? Anyway I am reading chapter 3 of the Three-Body Problem, but because I started and stopped and started again, I don't remember well what has actually happened previously. Not enough to write reviews the way you have anyway. Shall I do it anyway? I've never written reviews before... what should I include?
I can identify with the "whaaaaaaa?" Although in fairness I'm probably not doing the book justice seeing as I'm not the target demographic and normally don't go for this type of plot. I think my read on it would probably be that, if you don't like this sort of fluffy rom-com writing to begin with, you'll HATE this even worse. However, if you're the type of reader who likes fluffy rom-com writing, you'll probably LOVE this even more than your usual fare. It kind of throws the kitchen sink at the love-it-or-hate-it aspects contemporary romantic comedy. It was very similar in tone to a lot of Hollywood rom-coms I've seen, but I did feel that it had more complexity in it's storyline than those movies, and basically dialed the form up to 11. Everything was either doubled or more extreme. There were multiple couples, multiple off-putting families, an ugly cat, a wedding implosion - all in one story that, while crazy, more or less held together as a cohesive unit. But it definitely is a polarizing, love-it-or-hate-it read with a lot of craziness. Put up whatever you want, as long or as short as you want. This was a first for us, and I think @Cave Troll and I both kind of winged it and fell back on what we knew (me on what were essentially blog posts and he on YouTube audio reviews).
Well, I'm not a reader that gravitates to the most basic aspects of the overarching genre. And after this I'm certainly going to take lengthy break from any "scheduled" reading and knock out some stuff I've been itching to read. But, given the fact that this project accidentally stumbled into a subgenre that is deeply polarizing within the Romance community itself, I may come back at some point and purposefully try to look at something that's radically on the opposite end of the Romance genre. That, and I do have a romantic subplot near the core of my own work, so I'm genuinely interested in the best ways to make those work. But I'm definitely going to take a good bit of time off and binge on my own genre for a while
I think my next immediate read is going to be Lawrence M. Schoen's, Barsk: The Elephant's Graveyard - a far-future book set on a planet colonized by a civilization of uplifted elephants (which is a premise so absurd that I'd normally discard it, but this one scored a Nebula Award nomination this year and has gotten a lot of critical praise, so I really want to see how it's executed)
