When his own romantic life was on the rocks, Avi Steinberg wondered if classical ideas about love still applied. As a compulsive reader, literary giants would be his guide. He went to Richardson and Austen, Tolstoy and Flaubert. But novels about relationships didn't go out of fashion after the nineteenth century, and Steinberg quickly realized he had to investigate the booming romance industry of today. As a writer as well as a reader, what better way to do that than to try his hand at writing romance himself?
The Happily Ever After chronicles Steinberg's travels in a brave new world of books. He offers a grand tour of romance, from major industry conferences to writing groups at the local bar, as he works and reworks his own idea for a romance novel. He gives the inside scoop from a major romance publishing house, follows a fan fiction writer on her quest to meet megastar Sylvia Day, and analyzes the epic rivalry between cover hunks Fabio and CJ Hollenbach. And along the way he meets many romance readers, each of whom sheds light on why we are so fascinated by romance fiction and what the vitality of this genre has to say about us.
With quirky wit and disarming honesty, Steinberg captures and elevates a literary culture often relegated to the margins, while also coming to better understand himself and realizing the possibility of loving again.
