Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Kiss Quotient
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.helenhoang.com/
CITY: San Diego
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Helen Hoang is a novelist who grew up in Minnesota where she had crippling social anxiety and found solace in romance novels. It wasn’t until 2016 when she was in her late thirties that she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Her debut 2018 book, The Kiss Quotient, was inspired by her own experiences.
The Kiss Quotient features Stella Lane who has Asperger’s. By day her mathematical genius mind devises algorithms to predict customer purchases, by night she wishes she knew how to date, romance a man, and especially, be a great lover. Always analytical, she decides to hire a professional escort to teach her everything she needs to know about sex. Michael Phan is that man. Vietnamese and Swedish, Michael has his own story—he works as an escort to support his mother who has cancer. Neither Stella nor Michael expected their lessons would become less commercial and more romantic. “This title sits firmly in the erotic romance category, but the couple’s slow build” makes it worth the wait, according to Ashleigh Williams in Library Journal.
A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised Hoang for avoiding stereotypes and clichés and for Phan’s character who “never judges her for her neuroatypicality. The diverse cast and exceptional writing take this romance to the next level.” Aleksandra Walker commented in Booklist: “Hoang depicts Stella with empathy and honesty in this refreshing take on the classic romance.”
Saleah Blancaflor wrote online at NBC that Hoang created Stella because she “felt like there was a lack of accurate representation of people on the spectrum, specifically among women. From speaking to other women in the community, Hoang said she learned others also hide their traits and symptoms like she did.” Commenting on the Publishers Weekly website, Hoang said to Dionne Obeso that she mapped her experience with autism onto Stella’s character: “I kept Stella’s experience very close to mine. It’s been a consistent worry of mine that I might inadvertently harm the autistic community with inaccurate representation, and I’m most confident of what I’ve personally lived.”
In a review in Washington Post, Sarah MacLean observed: “Stella and Michael are beautiful, nuanced characters. Readers will delight in seeing themselves reflected in Stella and Michael.” Online at Refinery29, Elena Nicolaou commented: “It’s a perfect romance novel to read in a weekend, and it’s also an intimate look at dating (and living!) while neurodiverse.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2018, Aleksandra Walker, review of The Kiss Quotient, p. 66.
Library Journal, March 1, 2018, Ashleigh Williams, review of The Kiss Quotient.
Publishers Weekly, April 9, 2018, review of The Kiss Quotient, p. 61.
Washington Post, July 12, 2018, Sarah MacLean, review of The Kiss Quotient.
ONLINE
NBC, https://www.nbcnews.com/ (July 5, 2018), Saleah Blancaflor, author interview.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (April 20, 2018), Dionne Obeso, author interview.
Refinery29, https://www.refinery29.com/ (June 7, 2018), Elena Nicolaou, author interview.
Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since. In 2016, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Her journey inspired THE KISS QUOTIENT. She currently lives in San Diego, California with her husband, two kids, and pet fish.
A Very Personal Love Story: PW Talks with Helen Hoang
By Dionne Obeso | Apr 20, 2018
Comments
In The Kiss Quotient (Berkley, June), autistic econometrician Stella hires escort Michael to teach her about sex and relationships—and they both get an unexpected lesson in love.
Like your heroine, Stella, you’re autistic. What were your biggest obstacles in writing such a personal novel?
Photo by Eric Kieu
RELATED STORIES:
PW issue Contents
More in Authors -> Interviews
Want to reprint? Get permissions.
FREE E-NEWSLETTERS
PW Daily Tip Sheet
More Newsletters
The most challenging part of writing this book was devising the situations where Stella failed socially. I rewrote the scene where Stella meets Michael’s family more than half a dozen times, and the closer I got to the final version, the more frustrating it got. How do you write something you don’t understand? This is when my agent’s editorial experience really helped me. Her suggestions guided me in the right direction as I analyzed my own past social blunders, got a better grasp of what went wrong and why, and incorporated parts into the story.
How closely does your own experience with autism map onto Stella’s?
I kept Stella’s experience very close to mine. It’s been a consistent worry of mine that I might inadvertently harm the autistic community with inaccurate representation, and I’m most confident of what I’ve personally lived. With the next book in the series, I branched out somewhat, but only after further research, interviews with multiple autistic people, and sensitivity reads.
What factored into your characterization of Khai, another autistic character, in comparison with Stella?
I wanted Khai’s autism to be more “visible” than Stella’s. It’s my experience that outer signs of autism in women can be subtle (which I think contributes to the underdiagnosis of autism in women in general), and I hoped to illustrate this difference somewhat.
What was your approach to giving your secondary characters so much depth?
Many of the secondary characters were modeled after real people. Michael’s grandma is an exact replica of mine. She passed away years ago, and bringing her back to life on the page was special to me. His mother and sisters are also mine. Maybe my love for them shines through in the writing. The idea of that makes me happy.
What was the most interesting thing you learned in the process of writing this book?
Growing up, the stories I wrote all took place in historical or fantasy settings, and the characters struggled with grand problems like war and the fate of mankind in addition to love. These stories were a far escape from reality and the problems I faced. The Kiss Quotient was a turning point for me. Not only was it my first attempt at contemporary romance, but it was also the most personal book I’d written. Instead of hiding from my insecurities, I confronted and explored them on the page. That’s the biggest thing I learned from this book: When stories are personal, they’re better.
A version of this article appeared in the 04/23/2018 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: A Very Personal Love Story
In 'The Kiss Quotient', Helen Hoang uses writing to process her Autism diagnosis
Hoang began writing her debut novel because of her love for romance novels, but soon became a way for her to process her own autism diagnosis.
by Saleah Blancaflor / Jul.05.2018 / 2:35 PM ET
When Helen Hoang began writing her debut novel, she initially did so because of her love for romance novels. But soon, it became a way for her to process her own autism diagnosis.
“The Kiss Quotient,”released in June, follows Stella Lane, a math whiz with Asperger’s syndrome who hires an escort, Michael Phan, to teach her about sex and dating, and eventually finds herself falling in love with him in the process.
"The Kiss Quotient"Courtesy of Penguin Random House
Hoang said her interest in reading romance novels began in middle school after she read Johanna Lindsey’s “Gentle Rogue.” She also wanted to do her take on “Pretty Woman,” but a gender-swapped version.
And while the qualities of the character of Michael Phan were inspired by members of her family, she was most interested in the development of the character of Stella because she was able to give her the traits Hoang herself was concealing.
“I would tap my fingers when I was little, but I do have a pattern that I used to tap in, then I started tapping with my teeth because you can’t see it, and that’s something that Stella does throughout the book,” Hoang explained. “I gave her my mannerisms, my tendency to be logical and literal, and my social anxiety.”
She added that Stella helped her understand and process her autism more clearly.
“There’s a part in the book where she goes through a ‘fresh and fabulous’ phase where she tries to make herself like everyone else, and I was doing that too until I had a self-realization that I’ve been hiding myself,” Hoang said. “Having her realize how foolish that is was healthy and self-affirming for me. Going through that journey was good for her, but good for me as well.”
Hoang said another reason she created Stella is because she wanted to feature a heroine on the autism spectrum, and felt like there was a lack of accurate representation of people on the spectrum, specifically among women.
"The Kiss Quotient" author Helen HoangEric Kieu
From speaking to other women in the community, Hoang said she learned others also hide their traits and symptoms like she did.
Recommended
Why the July 27 lunar eclipse will be the longest one this century
Carr fire in California grows to over 28,000 acres
“From my own experience, women are under more social pressure to conform so even if we’re on the spectrum, we’re pushed to the max to fit in,” Hoang said. “For that reason, I think it’s important to build awareness and portray what it looks like so people who need the diagnosis can get it.”
Recent studies have found differences in how autism is diagnosed based on gender, including a 2012 study by cognitive neuroscientist Francesca Happ of King's College London that found girls were being diagnosed based on different criteria from boys.
Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, said while historically women are less diagnosed than men, it does not mean they don’t have the same symptoms as men would.
“The girls that are affected are much more severely affected,” Fournier said. “They’re less frequently diagnosed, but when they are, it seems like they have a much more severe form of autism in some cases.”
Related
Pop Culture
Julia, a Muppet With Autism, to Debut on 'Sesame Street'
Raising awareness through media, Fournier said, can be one way to help people better understand the autism spectrum. Children’s shows like “Sesame Street” have made the effort to introduce a character on the spectrum, which can provide an educational tool for younger viewers.
But shows aimed at broader audiences, she added, can have the opposite effect by portraying people with autism as having the same characteristics while ignoring the varying symptoms of different types of autism.
“The problem is with the more serious and severe side of the spectrum, none of this is funny.” she said. “I don’t know if we’re ever going to see an accurate portrayal because who would ever want to watch it?”
When it comes to media, not only is accurate representation needed, but also positive representation so that they know it’s not bad to be different.
Fournier, whose own daughter is on the spectrum, said if the media truly wants to accurately represent autism on screen, a documentary would be the best way to show it. For fictional representations though, she notes it’s important to have people behind the scenes who understand the autism spectrum, whether they have the diagnosis themselves or have done extensive research.
“For some of us, we’re not living in a sitcom world, we’re living in a never-ending frightening movie,” Fournier said. “We can’t allow the public to become complacent when they hear the word ‘autism’. We need more people who understand autism to show people what it’s really like.”
That’s something Hoang said she’s been aware of since noticing the limited portrayals of autistic characters in media. "Two stereotypes I’ve seen is that autistic people are geniuses. Some autistic people have average intelligence and I think don’t think that’s right to say they all are because those who aren’t might feel disappointed. Another is that autistic people lack empathy or heartless,” she explained.
Hoang said she hopes continuing to write these books will not only help her continue to understand her condition, and create a more inclusive and authentic representation of the Autism community.
“Growing up undiagnosed is hard and really lonely and I think I might’ve been given tools to better navigate life if I knew early,” she said. “When it comes to media, not only is accurate representation needed, but also positive representation so that they know it’s not bad to be different.”
How The Kiss Quotient, The Romance Novel Of The Summer, Sheds Light On Dating While Autistic
Elena Nicolaou
June 7, 2018, 7:35 PM
Stella Lane, the protagonist of Helen Hoang's charming and original debut novel The Kiss Quotient, out June 5, thinks things through. It’s what she does best, and it’s what made her a star in her high-powered Silicon Valley tech company. Though she's flawless at designing efficient systems, Stella is admittedly less adept at dating. Stella's Asperger's Syndrome makes navigating the nuances of interpersonal socializing — essentially, the entire basis of dating — a nearly insurmountable challenge.
At the start of The Kiss Quotient, Stella decides it's time to tackle her sex and dating problem in typical no-nonsense, Stella fashion: She hires an escort to walk her through a series of lessons in lovemaking. But Stella can't plan out everything. Namely, she never could've guessed what an utter dreamboat her escort, Michael Phan, would be.
Advertisement
The joys of The Kiss Quotient are twofold: It's a perfect romance novel to read in a weekend, and it's also an intimate look at dating (and living!) while neurodiverse. Hoang infused Stella's first person narration, which vacillates between earnestness, anxiety, and tremendous excitement, with her very personal perspective. Hoang was diagnosed with autism as she was writing the book. We emailed with Hoang about the The Kiss Quotient, neurodiverse fiction, and the challenges of writing about social interactions when you struggle with them yourself.
Photo: Courtesy of Eric Kieu.
Refinery29: Have you always wanted to be a writer? Why did you choose to write this book now?
Helen Hoang: "I first realized I wanted to write in high school, but it was strongly discouraged by my dad, so I got an undergraduate business degree and worked in finance after college, which was probably the worst possible career choice for me.
"I don’t think I can say I chose to write this book. I had to write it. It was a need. When I learned about the way autism spectrum disorder presents in many women and personally identified with the diagnosis, the story for The Kiss Quotient exploded in my head in full color. I daydreamed about it nonstop for a full week, running the story through my head from beginning to end over and over. After that, there was no question about it. If I didn’t write the story, it would be unbearable. I wrote the synopsis and began the process of translating daydreams into words."
Advertisement
How did you draw on your own experiences with autism spectrum disorder to create the character of Stella?
"I was pursuing an autism diagnosis while I worked on this book, and writing Stella helped me explore aspects of myself I’d always hidden and never understood: difficulty with relationships and intimacy, all-consuming interests, social awkwardness, routines, repetitive motions. Beyond that, her insecurities with regards to her label are also mine. This book (and Stella) helped me embrace my differences and find the courage to share my diagnosis with my loved ones."
Khai, Michael’s friend’s brother, also has autism. Why did you include another neurodiverse character?
"I thought it would make more sense if Michael had some exposure to other people on the spectrum. In addition to that, I wanted to draw attention to the different ways autism presents in different people, in particular women versus men."
How did you approach writing sex scenes for a character who doesn’t like touch?
"For Stella, I feel her intimacy issues stemmed more from lack of trust than a dislike of touch. Through her scenes with Michael, I tried to illustrate the importance of earning trust at her pace. When someone isn’t ready, there’s nothing to gain from rushing them, and a partner needs to respect that. That respect, in turn, creates trust, which enables intimacy.
Stella is comfortable with Michael, but her social awkwardness comes through when she meets his family. What were the challenges of writing about Stella in social situations — especially if it’s something you personally struggle with as well?
Advertisement
"Those scenes where Stella fumbled socially were extremely difficult for me to write. For example, I rewrote the scene where Stella first comes to Michael’s mom’s house more than half a dozen times. It was extremely frustrating, but my agent’s guidance helped to keep me on track as I analyzed and combined the worst parts of several of my past experiences to make one fantastically horrible experience for Stella."
How do you hope The Kiss Quotient impacts readers’ perception and understanding of neurodiverse individuals?
"I wanted to show that while a neurodiverse person’s thought processes may be slightly different, they still have the same fundamental needs and desires as anyone else and, more often than not, good intentions. I hope that this inspires empathy and better communication between people of varying neurotypes."
What can we expect from the next book in the series?
"The Bride Test is about Michael’s autistic cousin Khai. When he avoids relationships out of the misbelief that he has no emotions, his mom takes matters into her own hands and gets him a mail order bride. The novel follows these two over the course of a summer of forced proximity."
Are there any other books featuring neurodiverse characters, or written by neurodiverse authors, you recommend?
"Tracey Livesay’s Love on My Mind and Brenna Aubrey’s For the One are great romances featuring neurodiverse characters. As for books featuring neurodiverse characters written by neurodiverse authors, I recommend the memoir Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison and the young adult novel The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas."
Finally, what are you reading now?
"Because I’ve been so busy with writing and book promotion, I’m embarrassingly behind on current books, but I really want to read Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals books, Kate Clayborn’s Luck of the Draw, Christine Feehan’s Judgement Road, Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words, Nalini Singh’s Silver Silence, Penelope Douglas’s Birthday Girl, Penny Reid’s Winston Brothers books, and Lynn Turner’s Pas de Deux."
Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since.
In 2016, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Her journey inspired THE KISS QUOTIENT.
She currently lives in San Diego, California with her husband, two kids, and pet fish.
Helen is represented by Kim Lionetti of BookEnds Literary Agency.
The Kiss Quotient
Publishers Weekly. 265.15 (Apr. 9, 2018): p61.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* The Kiss Quotient
Helen Hoang. Berkley, $15 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-451-49080-3
Hoang knocks it out of the park with this stellar debut about an autistic woman who takes a methodical approach to learning about sex and accidentally gets a lesson in love. Stella is great at her job creating predictive algorithms, but she's not so great at relationships, which is why she decides to hire escort Michael. Stella's autism is presented as both a genuine challenge and a part of her that she knows how to use to her advantage, and Hoang gives her tremendous depth as a character, never reducing her to a walking diagnosis. While Stella's intentions toward Michael start out as purely sexual, his gentleness and compassion begin to nudge her in more romantic directions, and his sense of honor, along with her tendency toward obsession, soon complicate their tidy professional arrangement. The two of them do a beautiful job of navigating their insecurities and fears, transforming their commercial relationship into something emotionally meaningful to them both. Hoang carefully avoids stereotypes and cliches: Stella never judges Michael for his profession, and he never judges her for her neuroatypicality. The diverse cast and exceptional writing take this romance to the next level, and readers who see themselves in Stella will be ecstatic. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Kiss Quotient." Publishers Weekly, 9 Apr. 2018, p. 61. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A535099974/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0be79f7b. Accessed 27 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A535099974
Sarah MacLean picks the best romance novels to read this month
Sarah MacLean
Washingtonpost.com. (July 12, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Washington Post
Full Text:
The Kiss Quotient (Berkley)
Stella Lane, the heroine of Helen Hoang's "The Kiss Quotient," is keenly aware of her mother's disappointment in her personal life. Never mind Stella's career success, her mother wants a grandchild. But having a baby, of course, requires sex -- something with which Stella has little experience, and none pleasurable. (Like Hoang, Stella is on the autism spectrum; in Stella's case, physical contact is a particular sensitivity.) Stella sees a single logical path: hire a professional "with a proven track record" to teach her about sex. The professional in question is Michael Phan, a handsome, affable male escort who prides himself on leaving his clients satisfied and never seeing them again. When Stella offers him an outrageous sum of money to take her on as a repeat client and broaden her instruction to relationships as a whole, he can't refuse -- and finds he doesn't want to. There is much to savor in this book: Stella and Michael are beautiful, nuanced characters. Readers will delight in seeing themselves reflected in Stella and Michael and in their journey to understand themselves, each other -- and love.
It Takes Two (Forever)
Summer is the time for weddings and wedding romance -- and Jenny Holiday's "It Takes Two" is a delicious one, filled with a wild cast of characters. Maid of honor Wendy Liu is feeling the heat from her best friend with bridezilla tendencies to throw a bachelorette party for the ages. Even worse (or better), Wendy finds herself in party-planning competition with Noah Denning, her best friend's brother, the boy who broke her heart years ago. Competition isn't new to Noah and Wendy; they're notorious for going toe-to-toe, something readers will immediately see for what it is -- a desire to be close to each other. Now, the stars have aligned, and Wendy and Noah are finally together, single and mature enough to admit they want more ... maybe. This is romantic comedy at its best, complete with clever, sexy banter, a vibrant cast of characters, a wedding that is a character in itself (and getting bigger and bolder and more outrageous with each passing page), and a fabulous will-they/won't-they/just-do-it-already back and forth that will have readers staying up late to see the romance through to its inevitable, wonderful end.
Scoring the Player's Baby (Entangled)
"Scoring the Player's Baby" is the latest installment of Naima Simone's WAGs series, which follows the wives and girlfriends of NFL players. Ronin Palamo is the wide receiver for the Washington Warriors football team and a perfect specimen of athletic masculinity with a devastating charisma to match. (Simone thanks Jason Momoa for inspiration in her author's note). After his first love dies of cystic fibrosis, Ronin has sworn off relationships -- until Kim Matlock changes everything. A hotelier on an impossible mission to prove her business acumen to her father, Kim has neither the time nor the inclination to have more than a one-night stand with Ronin. That fact becomes only more certain after she realizes he's a football player. (Her philandering ex-husband was also in the NFL.) But this is a romance novel, after all, and fate reigns; two months after their night together, Kim discovers she's pregnant. The two agree to platonic co-parenting, which would work perfectly if they weren't so ridiculously attracted to each other. Sex isn't everything, though, and Simone never falters in mining the complexity of two driven, wounded, wonderfully decent people who grow and heal and eventually love together.
bookworld@washpost.com
Sarah MacLean is an author of historical romance. Her most recent novel is "Wicked and the Wallflower."
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
MacLean, Sarah. "Sarah MacLean picks the best romance novels to read this month." Washingtonpost.com, 12 July 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546377987/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3b096645. Accessed 27 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546377987
Going Beyond Boy-Meets-Girl, Romances Ignite Fans' Passions
Alexandra Alter
The New York Times. (July 8, 2018): News: pA1(L).
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com
Full Text:
Growing up in Minnesota, Helen Hoang suffered from crippling social anxiety and struggled to make friends. She found refuge in romance novels, frothy stories that allowed her to experience intense feelings that were clearly spelled out on the page, always with the promise of a happy ending. ''It was like I found a pure, undiluted drug,'' she said.
Many years later, as a mother of two in her 30s, Ms. Hoang began researching autism and realized that she's on the spectrum, a condition that makes it difficult for her to hold casual conversations, read emotional cues, have an office job and meet new people. She once again turned to romance. But this time, she wrote the story herself.
So far, romance fans have swooned over Ms. Hoang's debut novel, ''The Kiss Quotient,'' a multicultural love story centered on an autistic woman who has trouble navigating the nuances of dating and courtship. Readers have flooded the website Goodreads with more than 7,000 positive ratings, and the book, which was published in June, is already in its fourth printing.
The novel's unexpected success is all the more astonishing given the striking lack of diversity within the romance genre. Romance novels released by big publishing houses tend to center on white characters, and rarely feature gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people in leading roles, or heroines with disabilities. Even as the genre has evolved to reflect readers' varied tastes and fetishes -- popular subcategories include vampire and werewolf romance, military romance, cowboy romance, time travel romance, pirate and Viking romance -- the lead characters are often confined to a fairly narrow set of ethnic, cultural and aesthetic types.
''Publishers aren't putting out books by many people of color and they're giving us limited space at the table,'' said the romance writer Rebekah Weatherspoon, who has published some novels with small presses and self-published others, including ''Sated,'' which features a black heroine and a disabled, bisexual Korean-American hero. ''It's definitely not a level playing field.''
The landscape is slowly starting to change, as more diverse writers break into the genre, and publishers take chances on love stories that reflect a broader range of experiences and don't always fit the stereotypical girl-meets-boy mold. Forever Yours, an imprint at Grand Central, publishes Karelia Stetz-Waters, who writes romances about lesbian couples. Uzma Jalaluddin's debut novel, ''Ayesha at Last,'' takes place in a close-knit immigrant Muslim community in Canada, and features an outspoken Muslim heroine who falls for a more conservative Muslim man, a Darcy to her Lizzie Bennett.
Alisha Rai and Sonali Dev have expanded the genre with love stories that feature Indian and Indian-American protagonists. Priscilla Oliveras, who is published by Kensington, writes romances with Latinx heroes and heroines. Jeannie Lin has published historical romances with Harlequin that are set in China during the Tang dynasty era. And Mindy Hung, writing under the pen name Ruby Lang, has a series of contemporary romances starring Asian-American female doctors in a group practice.
''Readers want books that reflect the world they live in, and they won't settle for a book about a small town where every single person is white,'' said Leah Koch, co-owner of the romance bookstore the Ripped Bodice in Culver City, Calif. Last year, six of her store's top 10 best-selling novels were written by authors of color, Ms. Koch said.
Still, progress has been painfully slow. For the past two years, Ms. Koch and her sister Bea have conducted a study of leading romance publishers, and found that out of the 3,752 romance novels released by 20 major imprints in 2017, only around 6 percent were written by nonwhite authors.
Romance publishers say that they want to publish books with more diverse characters and settings, but argue that it's a challenge in part because the majority of submissions still come from white authors. The genre's largest organization, the Romance Writers of America, which has around 10,000 members, recently conducted a survey and found that nearly 86 percent of its members are white. The group has also faced growing scrutiny over its Rita Award, which has never gone to an African-American writer in the 36-year history of the prize. Black authors have accounted for less than 1 percent of finalists.
''It was eye-opening,'' Dee Davis, R.W.A.'s president, said of the survey results. ''We have a lot of work to do.''
The issue will likely be widely debated at the group's upcoming annual meeting in Denver this month, where some 2,000 romance writers will gather. Industry leaders will attend an invitation-only ''diversity summit'' at the conference to discuss ways to make the genre more inclusive, and the African-American romance novelist Brenda Jackson will co-teach a workshop on writing characters from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, age groups, abilities and body types.
Avon and Harlequin, two of the biggest romance publishers, have both taken modest steps to publish more diverse books, but despite those efforts, their lists remain overwhelmingly white: Books by minority writers made up less than 4 percent of Avon's list and around 7 percent of Harlequin's list, according to the Ripped Bodice.
A spokeswoman for Harlequin said the publisher was ''working to increase representation and inclusion in our stories, as well as in our author base,'' and cited recently published works that feature African-American and South Asian characters, gay and lesbian characters and heroines with disabilities.
An Avon representative noted that the company publishes books by Alyssa Cole, Tracey Livesay, Mia Sosa, Nisha Sharma, Cat Sebastian and Laura Brown, all authors who write about diverse couples. One of Avon's authors, Stacey Abrams, who has published romance novels with African-American characters under the pen name Selena Montgomery, recently became the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia.
''Some publishers are showing more interest in acquiring books from marginalized groups, but there are still barriers,'' said Ms. Cole, who has published romances set during the Civil War with African-American protagonists. ''Part of the problem is some publishers say, O.K., we need more diversity, we'll just have our white authors write more diversely.''
While a growing number of authors from minority groups are finally getting published, many say they still face more hurdles than their white peers when it comes to signing with an agent, finding a publisher, getting review coverage and convincing bookstores to carry their novels. Brick and mortar stores with limited shelf space for romance sometimes stock love stories that feature African-American characters in the ''urban fiction'' or African-American literature sections, limiting their visibility among avid romance fans.
Beverly Jenkins, a trailblazing African-American romance novelist who began publishing historical romances with Avon in the 1990s, said that plenty of diverse romance was being written, but too little of it was being acquired by major houses. ''There are hundreds of women of color who are writing romance,'' she said. ''The issue is getting them published so they're seen.''
With scant opportunities in mainstream publishing, many romance writers whose books feature diverse characters have turned to smaller presses, digital-only outlets or, increasingly, self-publishing. The best-selling romance writer Courtney Milan, who writes novels with interracial and gay couples and transgender and bisexual characters, left a Harlequin imprint around seven years ago and began self-publishing because she wanted to have more creative control over her plots and characters. She has since sold more than one million copies on her own, she said. Delaney Diamond, who started self-publishing romance novels with African-American characters in 2011, has sold around 370,000 copies of her books, and created her own imprint, Garden Avenue Press. She recently began publishing multicultural romance novels by other authors.
''People in publishing thought that black romance wouldn't sell, which blew my mind,'' she said.
That perception remains widespread, in part because romance imprints have traditionally published so few writers of color that there have been limited opportunities for those authors to break out. Big retailers like Target and Wal-Mart typically base their book orders on an author's sales track record, and are unlikely to take a risk on up-and-coming writers. So books that are seen as risky don't get picked up by retailers, and then fail to sell, and the cycle repeats itself.
There have been some exceptions, including Nalini Singh, whose novels have sold more than three million copies, and Jasmine Guillory, whose recent novel, ''The Wedding Date,'' became a surprise hit. But the majority of romance novels on the best-seller lists are by and about white, heterosexual people.
''We hear that readers want more diversity, but it's still the case that the most popular books are the least diverse,'' said Cindy Hwang, an editorial director of Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint.
That may finally be changing. When Ms. Hoang's agent put ''The Kiss Quotient'' on the market, five publishers made offers. Ms. Hoang signed a three-book deal with Berkley, which released the novel in June with a robust announced first printing of 100,000 copies.
Ms. Hoang gave her autistic heroine many of her own personality traits -- her love of math and numbers and logic, her tendency to drum her fingers when nervous, her aversion to loud music and parties and her struggle to accept herself. She was surprised and overwhelmed by the flood of responses from readers who connected with her nontraditional love story.
''I wanted to share the perspective of an autistic woman, because I don't think that's a perspective you see very much,'' she said. ''Why can't you make an impact with romance? It seems like the perfect place to do it.''
Follow New York Times Books on Facebook and Twitter (@nytimesbooks), sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast.
CAPTION(S):
PHOTOS: Helen Hoang's ''The Kiss Quo- tient,'' about an autistic wom- an, has won over romance fans. (A1); ''I wanted to share the perspective of an autistic woman, because I don't think that's a perspective you see very much,'' Helen Hoang said. More diverse writers are breaking into the romance genre. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM AMENGUAL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (A4)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Alter, Alexandra. "Going Beyond Boy-Meets-Girl, Romances Ignite Fans' Passions." New York Times, 8 July 2018, p. A1(L). General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A545736718/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=66bfb0f2. Accessed 27 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A545736718
The Kiss Quotient. By: Williams, Ashleigh, Library Journal, 03630277, 3/1/2018, Vol. 143, Issue 4
DEBUT Stella Lane, a successful 30-yearold econometrician with Asperger's syndrome, is feeling the pressure from her mother to settle down. But she doesn't like dating, or kissing, or what might come after. So she finds a practical solution: hiring escort Michael Phan for some unconventional education. When their first night doesn't go as planned, Stella realizes that her intended field of study should be relationships, not just sex. Michael agrees to be her faux boyfriend, but neither can deny that the feelings brewing between them are very real. Debut author Hoang, diagnosed with Asperger's herself, portrays Stella with honesty and tenderness. Michael's fraught family history is given lush attention, with a cast of endearing relatives who come together in a delightfully realistic portrayal of an unlikely couple falling in love. This title sits firmly in the erotic romance category, but the couple's slow build (and sizzling sexual chemistry) is certainly worth the wait. VERDICT A compulsively readable erotic romance that is equal parts sugar and spice. Highly recommended.
By: Walker, Aleksandra. Booklist. 5/1/2018, Vol. 114 Issue 17, p66-66. 1/6p. ,
The Kiss Quotient.
By Helen Hoang.
June 2018. 336p. Jove, paper, $15 (9780451490803).
Econometrician Stella Lane feels more
comfortable with statistics than people. Her
mother is pressuring her to focus on her love
life, but Stella has issues about getting intimate
with men. The solution? She decides to
hire an escort to tutor her in sex and dating.
Michael Phan becomes much more than a
detached date-for-hire. Michael works as an
escort to support his family. His father is a con
artist who left Michael’s mother and sisters
saddled with debt, and his mother has been
diagnosed with cancer. He wants to keep his
relationship with Stella on a purely business
basis, but, between their steamy encounters,
a surprisingly authentic connection develops.
Debut author Hoang’s romance features two
uncommon protagonists: a woman with autism
spectrum disorder and a biracial man.
Inspired by personal experience, Hoang depicts
Stella with empathy and honesty in this
refreshing take on the classic romance story of
an arranged, pragmatic relationship that turns
into true love. —Aleksandra Walker