This week, we are all about multicultural, multiracial love, and celebrating diversity in every way. We live in big, wide world filled with so many interesting people. To celebrate each and every love story out there, every day this week we’re featuring a post by an author who’s written a hero and heroine from different cultures or races, and how that inspiration came about.
Come celebrate love with us!
First up is Robin Covington who believes, as we do, that love is simply love.
I Write Love Stories. Period.
I don’t intend to write multi-racial couples in my books. In fact, I’m running about half and half in having couples who are the same race and those who are not. Each character evolves on their own and they are who they are.
I am a mix of my white heritage and my Native American ancestors and with my dark skin and curly hair inherited from my Irish ancestors, I am often thought to be African American. My hubby, the Main Man, is white and practically has to wear a full body cover-up in the summer to avoid being mistaken for a lobster.
We have two beautiful kids and several times a year I am mistaken for their Nanny and not their mother. My husband and I are often asked if we ever dated in our race and what our families thought about our getting together (yes and they didn’t care). And I am always a little surprised in 2104 that for some people it is an issue – but those folks are few and far between –thank goodness.
So, when people ask me why I write characters in multi-racial relationships, the answer is simple: Love is love and race does not matter. I know it because I’m living it and I believe it.
I don’t love my hubby because he’s white and he didn’t marry me to make a statement. We fell in love with the color-neutral heart, mind and soul of each other. We stay in love because we are better together than we have ever been (or will be) apart. He needs me to find his car keys and I need him to mow the lawn (I hate doing that). We work.
And that, I think, is the fundamental basis of all the romance novels written about love in whatever era. Yes, race or social class or background might be an issue of the plot of our story but the central core is a tale of love between two souls. Two people who work.
So, I write love stories like my own—not because of the race of my characters—but because it’s about two people finding the one person that will make them complete.
I write love stories. Period.
Learn about all of Robin’s books!
About Author
From the moment I met you, I thought you were one of the cool kids. Then I read your books, and I thought, oh yeah, she’s also one of the very, very talented cool kids. Now reading this blog post, I know you’re also definitely fabulous. Thank you for sharing the beautiful way you look at story telling – and I can only wish the rest of the world could jump on this bandwagon. Stories are stories. Good stories are even better. I would never put down a good book (or not buy it, or try it) because the romantic leads, or other main characters don’t look like me. So, yeah, thank you for sharing.
Robin,
You’re a woman after my own heart, and so is Entangled, for that matter. I read stories that speak to me, regardless of who the characters are. But, I am thrilled to see so many diverse characters FINALLY being celebrated. LOVE is the ultimate “winner.”
As a Pana-gringa, (US Citizen born and raised in Panamá)for years I searched for characters whom I could relate to, especially in romance novels.
There weren’t any.
If there was a Latina, she was the sultry, raven-haired, seductress maid, sent to tempt the hero, but not have an HEA. And, while I aspire to be a sultry, raven-haired seductress – bootielicious, superhero-lovin’, sci-fi nut, glasses-wearing, hair-dyeing, snarky, nerdy chick is closer to my actual personality. Did I mention bootielicious?
Hubby is an All-American mutt from Philly of Polish, Italian, Irish, German, English heritage. If you saw him, you’d think “Polish dock worker,” because he’s rockin’ the Eastern European vibe, with his gorgeous blue eyes, stocky build and sadly, pale, pale skin. He’d be standing right next to Main Man, under the shelter, wearing 1000 SPF, long-sleeves and a hat – and still get a sunburn.
In olde tyme romance, not only would we not be a couple, we probably would never meet. In reality, technology (the “vintage” Love@aol) brought us together almost 17 years ago. We chatted online a few times and burned through MANY cell phone batteries as we discovered we had so many things in common. He actually knew where Panamá was and had unofficially “visited” during Operation Just Cause, courtesy of the US Army. Scored BIG points for knowing his world geography.
We both loved to travel and commiserated over our champagne taste on a beer/tap water budget. In fact, when we looked at our photos from trips to Barcelona, we figured out that we had taken the same picture from opposite vantage points. Our hotels were across the park from each other!
He is probably the only person on Earth who fully understands and accepts me, as I am. He is one of the kindest men I have ever known and my real life hero, so when I read I look for qualities in the male characters that reflect back on him. I WANT the men to be strong, smart, and not easily intimidated by equally strong, smart women. Not surprisingly, I WANT to read about successful, independent, strong women, who CHOOSE to be with a partner.
I think diversity has elevated the romance genre, in that ALL love is being showcased. I am especially happy to see middle-aged characters still exploring their sensuality, while juggling careers, families, cellulite, and the dreaded gravitational boob droop. Yes, I “escape” into books, but the closer they are to reality, the more I enjoy them. Along with the occasional alpha wolf shifter…because HELLO?! Alpha wolf shifter = yummy.
Please, please, please keep doing what y’all are doing, Entangled.
And, Robin, you already know I love your books, so I won’t get all mushy and just say – “messy is where the good stuff lives,” so keep on keepin’ it messy, Sister!
A Loyal Fan
Great post, Robin! As someone who has only ever been mistaken for a piece of paper, I can’t relate to people thinking you are your kiddo’s nanny, but I do feel for you. Strange world we live in…though I’m sure it gives you fodder for those books!
Love is love. Period. I love your stories, I love that your couples are varied in their pairings, it makes for more interesting reading. I just want a good love story, the color doesn’t matter. Besides which, it’s always good to learn about people who aren’t like me. I get enough of “white-bread suburbia” where I live (and where I grew up). Sad story. In college, two of my HS friends were afraid to tell me about their (then) boyfriends. One because he was Jewish, the other because he was black. I can only hope it was because of the community we grew up in and not because they thought that *I* would judge them. Both married those guys, and one couple is still happily married. The other isn’t, but they remain friends.
I couldn’t stop laughing at this line: “My hubby, the Main Man, is white and practically has to wear a full body cover-up in the summer to avoid being mistaken for a lobster.” It’s such a funny, matter-of-fact way to parallel the previous line where you state people often mistake you for something you’re not.
Fwiw, I can sooooo relate. My hubby laughs at me when I lube up with 70 SPF while sitting in the shade.
Great blog post.