β
I ask him about his novel. I fancy that Leo writes historical fiction, and for some reason I'm convinced his era is the Roman Empire. I have no reason to suppose this...it's just a fancy.
"Romance," he says. "I write romance."
My surprise clearly needs no words because he continues to explain.
"My agent will tell you it's a story about passionate friendships and reluctant relationships in modern America, but really it's a romance."
"Oh...set today?" I'm still thinking gladiators.
"Modern America, remember."
"Have you...have you always written romance?"
"Yes, and what's more, so have you. The mystery writers, the historical novelists, the political thriller writers, the science fiction writers...everybody but the people who write instruction manuals is writing romance. We dress our stories up with murders, and discussions about morality and society, but really we just care about relationships."
"You can't be serious. You're saying Stephen King writes romances?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Leo sits back in the sofa. "The killer clown is entertaining and all that, but what we're really interested in is whether the fat kid gets the pretty girl.
β
β