Romance novelist looks to give genre more credit
Chesapeake native Barbara Blyth is working on new manuscripts after taking a break
Chesapeake native Barbara Blythe is a romance novelist, and her plotlines are paved with twists and turns. Her settings take her readers to faraway places and an interesting array of time periods. Her two main characters are frequently brought together by an unexpected event.
Blythe’s theme throughout her novels is invariably the same — love — arguably among the most universal of all themes.
“I don’t think that people take romance literature as seriously as they should. They dismiss it. They say it’s frivolous. I don’t think that’s fair to the genre itself,” Blythe said. “There are some books that people would dismiss as romance that have good story lines, excellent interaction between the characters and are gripping and moving. You just don’t want to put them down.”
Blythe mentions the literature of authors Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and the Bronte sisters as definitely having substantial merit when viewed in the overall scheme of how their novels, such as “Pride & Prejudice,” “Jane Eyre” and “Little Women,” have played into romance and have been repeatedly immortalized in film and television.
“Well, the theme is love. That’s universal. Not everybody has a happy ending. I know that from real life. I lost my husband at a pretty early age,” Blythe said. “That really impacted me so I know there are not always happy endings, but I still like to read them. I still like to see things work out for other people.”
Influenced by her grandmother and mother, Blythe has always been a reader. As a youngster, she remembers reading “Nancy Drew” books, which featured a girl detective. In the sixth grade at G.A. Treakle Elementary School, young Blythe discovered that she had a talent for writing.
As a creative writing assignment, she and her classmates were given a list of words to incorporate into the writing project. Blythe, who was at that time fascinated by the Gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows,” chose to weave the assigned words into a composition in which she pretended to be Victoria Winters, the governess, who was romantically involved with Barnabas Collins, the show’s heroic protagonist.
“The teacher gave me a rave review and said it was really good.
I think that was when I decided that I wanted to write creatively,” Blythe said. “Once she gave me the praise, I guess I can thank her for making me look at writing a little more seriously.”
Blythe characterizes the novels she writes as “inspirational historical romances” that have a Christian base. Her novels are intentionally clean. There’s no explicit language. Blythe views her audience, almost exclusively female, as wide-ranging from young teens to 90-year-old great-grandmothers.
“They are not going to find any hidden secrets in the story that will turn them off,” Blythe said. “In other words, there is not going to be any unexpected content when they read it. I feel that that audience has a wide range.”
Blythe used to read a lot of historical romances written by author Kathleen Woodiwiss, who pioneered the historical romance genre. She also read Danielle Steel, a megastar in romance writing, along with Victoria Holt, who specialized in writing gothic romances with frightening twists.
Her mother was an avid reader who loved Westerns, Zane Grey in particular. Young Barbara “ripped” through her mother’s Grey novels, and she still treasures the hardbacks. Her grandmother enjoyed reading the romances of inspirational writer Grace Livingston Hill and of Emily Lauren, who wrote funny romances — not necessarily serious, but fun to read.
“My dad loved to read too. He was the history buff. He was the one who was into the Old West, battles and historic homes, and that sort of thing,” Blythe said. “I came from a home, a background, with a mother, father and a grandmother who all loved reading.”
Blythe’s first three romance novels, “Fire Dragon’s Angel,” “Dance of Life” and “Ransom for Many,” were published via Pelican Book Group. “Fire Dragon’s Angel” features headstrong Ceressa Quarles who has secretly admired Latimer Kirkleigh for seven years. Blythe’s “Dance of Life” presents the story of an American ballerina in Paris. In “Ransom for Many,” Lady Carolene Montross’ only salvation embraces the thing she fears most.
Currently, Blythe is working on two new manuscripts. “Far Grander Than Paradise” and “Stronger Than the Shifting Sands.” She has prepared taglines, back book cover blurbs and first chapters in hopes of attracting an agent and securing the interest of a larger publishing company.
“The last book I had published was in 2014. That was the same year I lost my husband. It was a little hard to write romance when you’ve just lost your husband,” Blythe said. “It was hard. It was traumatic. I was still working full-time. All this romance writing was put on the back burner. I would dabble in my stories. I’d start typing, but nothing got done. Nothing got completed.”
Blythe decided to return to her passion last spring. Romance writing has always been a hobby. She joined a local writing group after she retired from the Chesapeake school system and said she’s fortunate her retirement income is supporting her. Blythe often turns to historic sites and venues, such as the Great Bridge Battlefield Museum for inspiration.
“Getting rich or famous is not something I really want to do. I just want to see my book in print and have people enjoy reading it,” Blythe said. “That’s all I really want.”
“The last book I had published was in 2014. That was the same year I lost my husband. It was a little hard to write romance when you’ve just lost your husband.”
— Barbara Blythe
Note: Barbara Blythe is a member of the Chesapeake chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. The organization usually meets on the last Monday of the month at Panera Bread in Greenbrier. The writers group welcomes new members.