Background
The phrase “romantic love” contains both emotional (“love”) and narrative (“romance”) components. Almost all of my research focuses on the latter, seeking to understand the way we tell stories about love, particularly in popular culture.
My research covers popular romance fiction and reality dating shows (especially The Bachelor/ette), and I have published a considerable amount of scholarship on both. In Here For The Right Reasons (HFTRR), a romance novel set on a reality dating show, I approach these forms not just as critic but as creator; and work through many of the ideas expressed in my scholarly work in a creative arena.
Contribution
HFTRR thus complements a significant amount of my publications. In particular, it sits alongside my major body of work on The Bachelor/ette. In my scholarly publications, I critically interrogate the way franchise constructs romance narratives; and interrogate this in more granular detail in my episode recaps (cf. NTRO portfolio). Here, I put these ideas into practice and create my own romance narrative. This is also a method of communicating these ideas to a broad audience outside academia, thus taking up Gilbert Rodman’s provocation that “cultural studies needs to start working from the terrain of the popular, rather than simply writing/theorizing/teaching
Significance
HFTRR is published by Simon & Schuster, a Big Five publisher. The initial print run was 12,000 – very large by Australian standards. I have made many media appearances since its publication, including on television (The Morning Show and Channel Ten). In both instances, I have appeared as both author and scholar, allowing me to discuss HFTRR within the context of my scholarly practice and ensuring the ongoing impact and wide dissemination of my research.