I write both African-American and Interracial Romance that center Black women as the main character in the those stories. But I want to share that in the beginning of my romance writing career I focused on writing Interracial Romances because of a cynical calculation. I felt like there were even few books written for that audience and that it would be relatively easy to sell books in that space. I’m glad that I made that decision and it did pay off when I was regularly writing books. Then COVID happened, the active rise of Authoritarianism and a fall back to the blatant racism of previous had me rethinking everything.
This week we had a romantasy author dedicating their book to Charlie Kirk, yes she was, no I won’t ever buy her work. With all of this happening my own personal urge to write books, romance books has been growing. I can’t fight the urge and creativity that has been bubbling quietly behind the scenes. At the same time I’ve watched the conversations centered around writing Interracial romances vs. African-American romance. I have some thoughts as I begin working on my next set of series one that’s centered around African-American couples and the other that’s an Interracial Romance. I have some thoughts about why I will still write both-even if that’s a decision that will upset some.
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The Same Scenario Equals a Different Story
One of the most interesting things that I’ve experienced writing stories that center Black women is that changing the race of the Male (or Female) Main Character depending on the type of romance that you’re writing completely changes the entire story. The conversations between the characters, the expectations of the leads and the impact of their decisions-change fundamentaly. In fact, I’m in the process of working on two completely different books that are based on the same trope and changing the MMC completely changed the book’s setting from a contemporary world for the African-American romance to a Shifter romance with the Interracial Couple. The same premise could not exist in the same way because of how we as readers in this moment would react to the story. Remember, I’m a whale reader of romance. I have had very strong reactions to stories that just didn’t make sense because of the moment of time that we’re in.
Not Every Book is For Everybody
I have to always remember that not everything is for everybody and that as a creative, as a writer-people will either vibe with what you’re doing or they won’t. In fact, the fact that I write works centered around Black women being loved makes that point. There are readers out there who absolutely can’t stand and dislike the fact that these books exist and are in demand by readers who are looking to see themselves in fictional and non-fictional worlds. As a creative, I’ve had to develop a thick skin around who my work is and isn’t for and while I would love to have everyone read my work and love what I’m doing-that’s not how things happen and that’s ok. I have to admit that there are times when I get caught up in people hating either audience that I’m focused on. At the end of the day I have to accept that their issue with my work isn’t MY ISSUE. They can scroll past my work and similar author’s work. I’m ok with that. What I’m not ok with is not publishing works focused on Black women. I have stories and I plan on sharing them.
What About the Elephant in the Room
As a wildly pro-Black person, I do want to share some concerns that I have around how Interracial Romance sometimes can feel like fetishizing otwher races OR putting down Black men. While I’m a 100% a supporter of love, I’m very aware that those of us who write books that feature Black women have to also navigate any internalized feelings that we may have about Black men and Black. I feel like that’s a topic that we should reflect on as we craft our creative works. There’s one last thing, I recently read a social media post on Threads asking why authors who’re writing African American romances aren’t writing Interracial Romance based on their dating history.
When I saw this I thought-authors, Black can’t win. We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. In my view there aren’t enough books centering Black love, Black people and stories with Black people in them. If you’re a person who is not interested in Interracial romance-there have to be books available for you to read. If you love Interracial romance, it’s the same thing-there have to be books for you to read. I’m excited to write books in both genres but I won’t be upset if you prefer one over the other. Ultimately, I want to add to the library of works that serve and center Black women as the character and as the reader.
What I’m Excited About in 2026
If you’ve followed my work or listened to the Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone podcast, you’ll notice that I’ve taken a lot of breaks and time to get back to a moment where I can write romance again. I’m excited about the stories that I plan on sharing. Check out the following link: https://autumnstoreromance.com/books to buy a book today. I was hoping I could attend the Black Romance Book Fest but those tickets sold out FAST. I was just moving way too slow on that one. I can’t wait to see all of the posts, videos and more from that event. I’m planning on attending the One Love Reunion that’s being held in New Orleans this summer, one of my favorite places in the world. Most importantly, I’m excited about finally, finally feeling creative again and the prospect of publishing books after a long break from writing actively.
Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone
And lastly, I’m looking forward to the conversations that I plan on having on this show. What are my plans for the podcast? I plan on sharing my favorite romance books, shows and movies focused on Black women as the main character. My goal is to uplift, elevate and share these stories. My other goal is to help authors writing these works-make more money through books sales (I’m including myself in that comment) Next week’s episode is reviewing the following book: This Side of Beautiful written by Tiye. I’m obsessed with this book and I hope you will be too. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
