Kate George is in the House

My guest blogger today is Kate George. Kate writes mysteries filled with romance. I asked her to tell us about her work, and this is what she had to say. Welcome, Kate.

I’ve been thinking about romance lately and why I like writing romance into my mysteries. I’ve been a mystery fan since I was maybe eight years old. I was fifteen when my mom introduced me to The Moon Spinners. I loved that book with a passion. It remains my favorite Mary Stewart to this day.

My favorite mysteries tend to have at least a little romance, a love interest, or something to do with relationships in them. It tends to up the ante, and adds another level of interest so that if the plot isn’t exactly riveting the twists and turns of the relationships keep me interested.

But why is that? Why do the ins and outs of human relationships fascinate me? And not just me, romance is the top selling genre of books, so many, many people must like to read about relationships. I searched around the web a little looking for an answer that satisfied me. I didn’t find any scientific studies, although there must be one somewhere.

I couldn’t find a scientific reason why women read romance, but I know why I like them. First I like romances to be funny. Just like I like my mysteries. And I like the male lead to really like women. But mostly I like the satisfaction of a happily ever after. Even those of us with good relationships and marriages have to deal with the stresses of everyday life. When we read a happily ever after we get to forget the stresses and experience the rush of emotions that come with a happy ending. We (and by we I mean me) get to experience satisfaction of getting the guy – heart and soul.

Because face it, once in an established relationship we rarely get that rush. We get security and love, and those are good things and we wouldn’t want to lose them. So what do we do? We read books that give us that feeling without jeopardizing our relationships. It’s win, win!

Look at that. I’ve managed to ramble on for almost six hundred words with out really talking about why I set California Schemin’ in California. The short answer? British Columbia Schemin’ just didn’t have the same ring to it.

Award winning writer, Kate George, is the author of Moonlighting in Vermont and California Schemin’ (due out March 1, 2011). She lives in Vermont with Dogs, kids, and currently, snow. You can reach her at www.kategeorge.com. Her books are available at www.mainlymurderpress.com, amazon.com or can be ordered from any bookstore.