Why I Love Time Travel Romance, or Why I Send Heroines Back 70 Years
I have always loved romance novels. Ever since I read those early bodice rippers like The Flame and The Flower and The Emerald Embrace, I was hooked. Of course, my first real romance was Gone With The Wind, though Scarlet didn’t really fit the mold since she came to a lonely end. But I was intoxicated by the handsome brave heroes and voluptuous heroines with their heaving breasts, as well as the historical details and the density of the writing. Being a chronic reader, I devoured those books along with mysteries, family sagas, and spy thrillers.
So when I started writing, romance always played a major role in the piece, whether I was plotting a mystery or a comedic screenplay.
Time-travel fascinated me, too. Sending a heroine back to an unfamiliar age and asking her to see the world through unknowing eyes added to a story’s tension. The morals of the new age, clothing styles, expressions, and different inventions could be either daunting or comedic.
My novel Night Jazz included all of these elements, when I sent my heroine Jeri Devlin back in time to 1929, to the end of the exciting Roaring Twenties. I chose 1929 because the world faced an alarming upheaval due to the stock market crash. The sequel, Night Glitter, placed Jeri a few years later during the worst of the Great Depression. Placing a character in the middle of a war or some other turbulent period can add immense dimension to a novel.
Night Glitter also broke with tried-and-true formulas because Jeri is torn between her passionate feelings for two different men on two different coasts. The book also depicts 1930’s Hollywood, both the glamorous side and the underbelly. A time when the young beauties who didn’t succeed in movies sometimes ended up doing another kind of acting in tawdry brothels, rather then return to their small town origins.
Yet, I made sure the reader found the book’s conclusion satisfying.
Because an upbeat ending to a love story is still a must.
Are there any other time-travel and/or historical romance fans out there? What do you love about romance that takes place in the past – or in the future? What time period would you like to go back to, and why?
********************
Learn more about Jill Shure, Night Jazz, and Night Glitter at www.jillshure.com. Visit Jill’s blog at http://jillshureis.blogspot.com. Follow Jill on twitter @jillshure, become a friend of Jill Shure on Facebook, or send Jill an e-mail at jillshureauthor@gmail.com.
CLICK HERE to order your copy of Night Glitter today! Also check out Jill’s other releases Night Jazz and Night Caps.
I really love a good time travel romance, too. Except I prefer futuristic settings. All of the convenience of future tech really appeals to me! For instance, in my new novella The Stem of Time ( https://amzn.to/frOQ2u ), the hero has a futuristic house complete with cleaning bots and a food console that will turn out luscious cheesecake without the calories.
Thanks for all the info, your blog is extremely helpful.
Anju – I’m so glad to see another fan of time-travel romance! Seeing my heroine adapt was really an adventure for me – I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
Jill
Hello Valerie:
Loved your comments. I actually adored the research as much as writing the novels. Guess I always wanted to be a flapper in the Roaring Twenties.
Jill
Hello Carol L.:
I like guys in kilts, too. But if you’ve never tried reading about a handsome guy in black tie from the 1920s or 1930s, you should!
Jill
Hello Lindy:
I also prefer when characters travel back as opposed to forward, and I love historicals for the same reason. And you’re probably right about the extended amount of time in another period…but I DO think it would be the adventure of a lifetime!”
Jill
Love Time Travel into the historical past. The Highlands of Scotland to be sure with all those beautiful kilted Scots.Exciting to read how they adjust to the time and their reactions to the men and women back then
Carol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
I enjoy a good time travel romance. Trouble is, I’ve read a few where the heroine goes back into medieval times or so, and the author, unfortunately gets it all wrong!!!!
But, I’ve read lots of good ones too, so I am still a fan.
I would love to go back to Elizabethan times myself!!!
I love time travel romances! I love historicals so I almost always prefer the ones that travel into the past rather than into the future. I like to see how the time-challenged character copes with the situation. If I had a chance to travel back in history… I probably wouldn’t, unless it was just for a quick afternoon jaunt & I had a chance to meet someone really cool. I wouldn’t want to go for an extended visit. 🙂
~Lindy
Why did I say Cathie!I meant Jill! Typing from my tiny screen in my phone!!
Hi Cathie,
Totally agree with you about time travels! Just love reading about how a character learns to adapt to their new settings and how they find love along the way!!
I have read some time travel books in the past but am not that into reading them anymore. If I had my choice I would like to back to the old west days as a cowboy. I think that would be fun.