Julie Cohen: 'Every good novelist is a reader first'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
21st Sep 2023
Julie Cohen is an award-winning author and teacher of creative writing. Her novels have sold over a million copies worldwide, and she has twice been selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club in the UK. Julie runs an online school, Novel Gazing, is a Vice President of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, a founder of the RNA Rainbow Chapter for LGBTQ+ writers, and a Patron of literacy charity ABC To Read. In 2020, she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Inclusion Award. Her bestselling novel Together has been translated into eleven languages and optioned for television; The Two Lives of Louis & Louise was longlisted for the Polari Prize and has been optioned by Enderby Entertainment as a feature film. Her first historical novel, Spirited, was published in July 2020 and her latest novel is Summer People (Orion, 2022). Under the name Julie Mae Cohen, her first thriller, Bad Men, was published by Bonnier in July 2023.
We're thrilled that Julie is the tutor of our upcoming nine-week Zoom course, Writing Romantic & Commercial Fiction.
Julie shares her thoughts on genre classifications like 'commercial fiction' and 'women's fiction', reveals the inspiration behind her latest novel Summer People, plus her top tips for budding romance and commercial fiction authors.
When did you know you wanted to be an author?
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a child, and I wrote my first ‘book’ when I was eleven—a gender-flipped version of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin. It was about 150 handwritten pages and it had a map and everything. I’ve written for fun for most of my life, although I gave up when I was at university after a creative writing class that was very much less than encouraging. I didn’t pick it up again until years later, when I was a secondary school English teacher, and I decided it was time that I pursued novel writing seriously as a career. Like many authors, I got a lot of rejections but I kept going. Even though it was tough at the time, that discouraging class and those rejections taught me that failure is a normal and necessary part of being a writer…and that if you’re teaching creative writing, you need to respect people’s dreams.
Terms like ‘commercial fiction’ and ‘women’s fiction’ cover a broad range of books and writers are often confused about what the terms mean. What do the terms mean to you? Do you have any advice for writers who are struggling to work out what genre their book is?
Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate the term ‘women’s fiction’. Fiction is fiction, and I don’t believe in gendering it. The term excludes half of the population; it minimises and belittles the universal topics in the books; it implies that ‘normal’ fiction is written for and by men. I also feel strongly that books that are labelled ‘women’s fiction’ or ‘romance’ are under-rated and under-represented in popular discourse, because of misogyny. So I prefer the term ‘commercial fiction’ or ‘relationship fiction’ or ‘character-driven fiction’ or, if the genre applies, ‘romantic fiction’.
However, I’m aware that this is currently a losing battle, because publishing marketing departments and bookstores are committed to the term, and we live in a patriarchy.
‘Commercial fiction’, to me, applies to books that are meant to appeal to a broad range of readers, mostly for entertainment purposes, although they can discuss serious topics. ‘Women’s fiction’ seems to apply to commercial fiction written by women. Because many of these novels deal with topics such as relationships and domestic issues, and they focus more heavily on character rather than plot, I prefer to use the term ‘relationship fiction’. (NB: these same types of books, written by men, are called ‘fiction’.)
‘Romantic fiction’ books have romantic relationships at their core, as an integral part of the story.
I speak with a lot of aspiring authors who are struggling with what genre their book is. Often, they’re thinking too narrowly: ‘I’m writing a book about a blind single mother who runs a vineyard in France so I must be the same genre as other books about blind single mothers who run vineyards in France, but I can’t find any!’ Don’t think about details of plot; think about the feel of your story, the kind of readers it will appeal to, how you want your readers to feel as they read, the kind of tropes and hooks you’re using. Then do some research! Go to a bookshop and look for currently-published books that have the same sort of reader promise. That will give you more of an idea of your genre.
Your latest relationship fiction book, Summer People, is a love story that is as full of joy as it is heartbreak. How do you go about weaving together heavier themes alongside a love story?
Summer People in particular is about two women who are married to men, who fall in love with each other, and it’s set in an isolated working-class island community that’s invaded every year by rich summer people. So it was never going to be a light-hearted romcom—it deals with unhappy marriages, sexual identity, betrayal, tragedy and class. While joyful, funny love stories are absolutely wonderful (and they’re my medicine of choice when I’m sad or sick) I believe that romantic relationships aren’t easy, and they go hand in hand with some of the most difficult times of our lives. I’m interested in the conflicts and problems that love creates, and how these conflicts change us. So the heavier themes are woven inextricably with the love story, and drive it forward.
A lighter romantic novel wouldn’t necessarily touch on those themes in the same way, because the purpose of the novel is quite different. It’s important that an author knows what kind of story they want to write, and how they want to touch a reader—that drives all of the decisions that they make when writing.
You are a Vice President of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and a founder of the RNA Rainbow Chapter for LGBTQ+ writers, an initiative to encourage diversity within the RNA. What do you most enjoy about being involved with the RNA?
The RNA is a great place to network, meet other authors, and learn from professionals in your field. It is particularly useful for authors starting out. I’d encourage any writer of fiction that has a romantic element to it, to check out the organisation and see if it offers something that can help you.
Your writing career began when you were a finalist in an international writing competition, and got the attention of an editor. Do you have any advice to share with the aspiring authors reading this who are thinking of entering a writing competition?
If the competition is legitimate, and the prize is something that you would value, then you should definitely enter! Good competitions can be a way to get your work in front of agents and editors, and getting to the final or winning a prize is a wonderful addition to your writing CV. My two major pieces of advice: do your homework to make sure the competition is legit (there are some scams out there), and try to see the competition as something that will motivate you, rather than something that you must win in order to succeed.
You like to read (and write!) a range of genres from romance to crime (and everything in between) – why do you think this is important for novelists?
I think that novelists should read as much as they possibly can. Reading is how we learn the building blocks of stories, and it’s also how we keep up with the market. It’s most important to read within your genre, of course, but reading widely keeps you fresh and interested. Every good novelist is a reader first.
We’re so excited about the new Writing Romantic & Commercial Fiction course. What is it that makes these kinds of stories so special to you?
Commercial fiction, and particularly commercial relationship fiction, has enormous power to touch readers’ lives. We write stories that people can identify with and aspire to; we tackle the relationships that are at the heart of being human. If your novel is escapist, you are giving a reader valuable time to step away from stress and worry; if your novel is emotional, you’re helping a reader to feel that their own struggles are seen and valued. It’s a direct line between author and reader. There’s nothing more incredible than that.
Do you want to learn more from Julie Cohen? Applications are open for our upcoming Writing Romantic & Commercial Fiction course.
Summer People is out now!