Romance Wiki

If you're beginning your research on the romance genre, the Romance Wiki is a good place to start. The Wiki contains a number of resources for researchers of romance, and the dissertation abstract section offers all the latest research being done by up-and-coming scholars.

Of especial interest, at least to me, is the listing of academics who write romance novels. Something I've also wondered about is how so many academics came to write their own romance novels, especially since there is a stigma attached to romance in academia. In September 2007 issue of the Romance Writers Report, Karen Hawkins commented that "I started writing historical romance while working on my Ph.D. in political science in an effort to break up the monotony of reading scholarly, dry books." Eloisa James created a stir a couple of years came when she 'came out' out of the romance closet. In an interview with the New York Magazine, which you can read here, she states, "The main reason I kept [my romance-writing career] separate in the beginning had to do with the sense of shame that American culture deals out to romance, to readers of romance. "