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The big screens loss has been publishings gain, as a rom-com renaissance in books has exploded.
At St. Martins Press, Nancy Naigles upcomingDear Santais aYouve Got Mailretelling.
Berkley
And they appear to be doing just that.
Sally ThornesThe Hating Game, Christina LaurensRoomies, and Helen HoangsThe Kiss Quotienthave all been optioned in recent months.
Producers would rather do the 496th Jane Austen than something with a romance novel label, she says.
Illustration by Sonia Pulido for EW
With Rhimes influence, Quinn is hopeful for change.
Romance embraces the beats of film storytelling.
It is a genre that embraces form in the same way film does.
William Morrow Paperbacks
The creativity in writing novels is about taking the form and doing something fun and new with it.
People are definitely taking their inspiration from movies and other forms of pop culture, says Hwang.
So I really do hope we see a renaissance of these types of movies.
Gallery books
The recent flurry of projects going into development suggests that there are plenty of romance fans working in Hollywood.
Each of the projects is perfectly primed for its respective medium.
Hobbs says thatRoomies, with its NYC setting and Broadway elements, felt really cinematic from day one.
Avon Books
Its a sentiment many in the genre share.
Now is the right moment to pay attention to womens voices, says Hwang.
And according to Billings, The things women love [are] generally dismissed in society.
We need rom-coms with people of color, unrepresented LGBTQ pairings not just as supporting characters, Thorne says.
Let them be the stars.
Lets see characters that might be differently abled, or with unique looks and varied body types.
Everyone is worthy of achieving their goals and finding their true love, without undergoing that once-mandatory makeover scene.
Todays rom-coms are broader stories, she says.
They feature a variety of characters and situations, which reflect peoples experiences now.
Hobbs and Billings arent afraid to tackle these issues as they adapt their best-sellingRoomiesfor the screen.
Hobbs adds that it made for a seamless transition while writing.
It was the way it needed to be told, she says.
It unfolded so much more authentically this way.
Quinn admits she wasnt considering diversity when she began publishing the series in 1999.
But I am now.
A lot, she says.
There definitely were people of color in Regency England, and many of them moved in aristocratic circles.
Thorne calls the happy endings chocolate box perfection, and Hobbs cites romance novels as inherently hopeful.
Winfrey perhaps says it best: Romantic comedies provide hope, happiness, and escapism.
Those things dont ever go out of style.
