(sigh)
Now I'm tempted to start writing short , non-Solomani, romances
....

On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 11:20 PM Rupert Boleyn - rupert.boleyn at
gmail.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 19Oct2021 0816, Jeffrey Schwartz - schwartz.jeffrey at gmail.com (via
> tml list) wrote:
> > I disagree
> >
> > The Zho equivalent of romance novels are a lot like "Leave it to
> > Beaver" but without Eddie Haskell: they show a happy, well adjusted
> > family
> >
> > The difference is the Zho romances are a lot like "How to do proper
> > courtship rituals" docu-fiction. They have brief backstories of the
> > two people, how they have a longing for companionship that is normal,
> > but they talk to the Thought Police about it anyway. The helpful TP
> > discusses it with them, and they feel sure that there truly is a
> > person out there for them, and if they just follow the TP's dating
> > tips they'll find true love.
> > And they do.
> >
> > There's also "tragic lesson" romances, showing why it's unwise for a
> > non-psi to pine away for a psi, or vice versa. This becomes part of
> > societal knowledge and shapes how people act from the beginning, so
> > the TP's don't have as much work to do
> There would also be ones that seem more familiar to us, where the main
> character is dissatisfied and vaguely unhappy, thinking they'll never
> find the right person. Not to the point where the TP intervene, but not
> as happy as they 'should' be. They flirt with some dangerous ideas,
> maybe see some of the wrong people (there's bound to be some somewhere -
> maybe the novel is set on a relatively newly acquired world to make this
> more believable and acceptable) but then they meet someone who is right
> for them, and realise that their parents, the TP, & society were right
> all along. They probably tell the authorities all about the dodgy people
> they were about to fall in with who then get rounded up as well.
>
> I expect that, aside from the Thought Police, the Vilani romances mostly
> follow similar patterns, as they too had little time for
> non-traditionalists. That means that most Imperial worlds' writing and
> programming will follow this pattern too, outside of those parts
> strongly settled by Terrans (the Rim, parts of Diapsora, Old Expanses,
> etc.) and Imperial high society (thougb post Rim-war I expect Solomani
> style works were Not In Fashion).
>
> --
> Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
>
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