Our Mother Writes Romance Novels, Part One.

The eldest and youngest of six discuss their mother's career as a romance novelist with her. What can be done with the Romance genre by a Midwestern mother of six? Romance can be pure escapist fantasy, and dream-like wish fulfillment, or it can be more about making relationships and beauty out of whatever, less-than-optimal cards may have been dealt by life's vicissitudes. Our mother chose the later as she did not want to just escape the disappointments of "real life" but also creatively imagine the "givenness" of our lives as a romantic challenge to make love wherever and however we find ourselves.