Molly O'Keefe interviews Read-a-Romance Month creator

Today I am thrilled to be interviewing Bobbi Dumas, a respected romance reviewer and the creator of Read-a-Romance Month, which kicks off today.

Molly: You are such a great ambassador of the genre — you write with such affection and knowledge about romance. Have you always felt that way about romance? What was the first romance you read that made you want to tell the world about it? What was the last romance that made you feel that way?

Bobbi: Thank you so much for saying that, Molly! I try very hard to be a good ambassador for the genre.

I started reading romance pretty young, when I was 12 or so, and I don't remember talking to many people about it. My mother was disapproving, my sister didn't get it. I was a "brain" and in Speech and Drama all through high school, so I didn't discuss my romance obsession. (Though sometimes with closer girlfriends, I'll admit it, we'd talk about the sex scenes. I remember a couple of pretty breathless conversations over the book Lace. Does anyone else remember that book?!! Holy smokes ...) I went to college at prestigious Georgetown, where most of my friends were even more disdainful than my mother toward romance.

It was really when I joined RWA that I started having actual conversations about these wonderful books with other romance fans. It was a whole new world and so much fun! Then, when my family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, a few years ago, I became close friends with some writers who were even bigger fans than I was, and we'd meet over coffee and swoon over great romances we'd read. Last year for the HEA blog, I wrote about finding my tribe in the romance community, and for me, that's what it's really been like.

As for books? Well, if you follow the RARM Facebook page, you know that I've recently reread —well, listened to — Susan Elizabeth Phillips' full backlist, which I can never get enough of, and her August release, Heroes Are My Weakness, is terrific. Also Sherry Thomas' Luckiest Lady in London was possibly my favorite book in 2013, and her next one, My Beautiful Enemy, is fascinating. She calls it a mix of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Downton Abbey, and I agree. A really interesting and romantic read.

Molly: What made you want to start Read-A-Romance Month?

Bobbi: There were a number of reasons I wanted to do this. For one thing, there didn't seem to be any industrywide online event that brought readers, writers and publishers together around the empowering idea that the romance genre is amazing. And even "in-person" events are generally tied to a specific organization (RWA, for instance, or RT). Early in 2013 I did a Google search on "romance month," and nearly all the hits came up as "August is Romance Awareness Month." According to studies, more people feel romantic during August — vacations, the beach, summer relaxation, etc. — than they do in February. And I thought, well, isn't it time we created an event and maybe even "a month" that celebrates romance novels? A Romance Novel Awareness Month? August seemed the perfect time to do it. Not only do we feel more romantic and relaxed, apparently, but even some of the most literary readers I know pick up light romantic fiction at the beach.

Molly: This is the second year of RARM — what did you learn from the first year that prepared you for this year?

Bobbi: Last year was simply one month full of learning curves. I learned I have the most talented and patient friends in my graphic designer, Victoria Colotta of VMC Designs and my IT guy, a personal friend affectionately referred to as Super Tech Guru. I learned that I needed much earlier deadlines for RARM if I ever wanted to sleep again in August. And I learned that romance writers are lovely, generous people and the most ardent and eloquent romance champions — who occasionally need a gentle reminder or two, but also generally don't mind when you remind them nicely, and who tend to be flexible and kind when the unexpected happens.

Molly: How has the reaction to Read-a-Romance Month surprised you, from either the authors or the readers? Or has it been received as you expected it would?

Bobbi: That's a really complicated question for me. Last August was really something of a blur in many ways. It was so huge and so intense, and I kind of felt like I was in a cave for the month. I was interacting on the site, of course, and with writers and individuals, but I didn't have a clear sense of how it was being received on a grand scale, other than through analytics which showed good, steady growth. But I realized later that a lot of people had paid attention — and were impressed. The whole month was an incredible experience, and the reaction was touching and gratifying and very rewarding.

Molly: What made you choose the theme Celebrate Romance?

Bobbi: Last year the theme for Read-A-Romance Month was Romance Matters, which I had intended to kind of be a play on words, combining the ideas of "regarding romance" and "romance is important." But a few writers interpreted this in a sort of negative way, as if the theme itself implied we were starting out from a defensive point of view. And since romance writers, fans and advocates are continually put in this position, I could understand the point. So this year I decided to go full-throttle positive. Celebrate Romance. That's what RARM is about, so let's make it the theme for the year. I hope it becomes a universal rallying cry for every romance fan during each and every August to come.

Molly: What can readers anticipate?

Bobbi: To be honest, I have had so many deadlines over the past two months, I haven't had a chance to look too many of the essays over. I am fortunate to have some great interns from the University of Wisconsin this year (thanks Alli, Chelsea, Kenneth and Sara) who've done most of the posting and back-end work. But the few I've looked at closely seem to have a powerful emotional impact, similar to what we saw last year. It's going to be another August full of heartfelt emotion, interesting author tidbits, passionate romance advocacy and a plethora of great recommendations.

By the way, you can still read all of last year's posts. Check out the 2013 calendar of authors, with links to individual posts.

Thanks so much for interviewing me, Molly, and Joyce for letting us be here at the HEA blog — I am so grateful! Now it's August, so let's Celebrate Romance!

Follow along at www.readaromancemonth.com.

Molly O'Keefe is the two-time RITA Award-winning author of 25 romance novels. Her newest book, Between the Sheets, is out now! Find out more about Molly and her books at www.molly-okeefe.com, where you can also sign up for her monthly The Author Is ... Newsletter, which includes candid interviews with her favorite authors as well as book giveaways and news. You can also connect with her on Facebook.