— Zora Neale Hurston
“ There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you .”
— Zora Neale Hurston
The Hunger Games is a science fiction trilogy of Young Adult novels set in a dystopian world . Love is the central theme . Nora Roberts , writing as J . D . Robb , launched her In Death Series with Naked in Death in July 1995 — a detective story with crime , suspense , and mystery . And it creates the perfect conditions for intrigue and love . In Committed ( A Love Story ), Elizabeth Gilbert gives us the continuation of the relationship she found in the New York Times Bestseller-turned movie , Eat , Pray , Love and covers the path to overcome her vow never to remarry . She ends up finding love and marriage . See the pattern ? When it comes to love , the plethora of possibilities in literature is many and varied . Without trying very hard , one can find love at the core of many stories , no matter the genre . In fiction and all its divisions , non-fiction ( whether memoir or self-help ), or even poetry , love proves to be the most universal language . It ’ s the biggest common denominator across categories and in terms of writing . Love transcends genre . Most stories are relationship-driven . Romantic entanglements are at the heart of literary fiction , contemporary fiction , romantic suspense , science fiction , paranormal , erotica , and sometimes nonfiction . For example , books have been written about artificial intelligence and how it makes relationships between robots and humans possible . Love + Sex with Robots by David Levy is one representation of this aspect . The range of supporting subject matter is so diverse , it wouldn ’ t be far-fetched to assume love drives just about all stories . Of course , there are different kinds of love . In my collection of short stories titled , Where Love Goes , I included stories that demonstrated cultural love , family love , love of class / status , and heritage . Indeed , love covers a huge spectrum . Now that it ’ s been established that love can be applied to every kind of scenario , can we posit that nothing beats an old-fashioned love story ? No matter what the backdrop , one would be hardpressed to find a substitute for the right mixture of sexual chemistry , conflict , and the love that combination creates . Historically , authors have taken big chances to deviate from a predictable path to love . Mary Shelley ’ s Frankenstein is a prime example . It ’ s sometimes hard to find the perfect mate , but not all writers determine to create humans in a lab to ensure they find love . Regardless of the method , we find we can ’ t put a limit on love . One way of telling a love story has no more merit than another . What is more relatable to one reader , could alienate another . What may be entertaining to a large readership , like romance novels , might be too predictable to mystery lovers . But love always finds a way , in both books and life . Even though it is cliché , love knows no bounds and in literature , we have a variety of genres to prove that point .
See you next time in Zora ’ s Den .
Victoria Kennedy writes fiction . She contributed to The Dating Game anthology and wrote a short story collection titled , Where Love Goes . She is also the founder of Zora ’ s Den , an online writers ’ group . Her latest book is a novel , Sometimes Love , published by Brown Girls Books . www . victoriaadamskennedy . com
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