Emily Henry on Writing Romance and Her New Book ‘Funny Story’

I’ve never read “One Day,” by David Nicholls, and probably three times a year someone makes me promise that I’ll get to it eventually. I will! I’m just afraid for it to wreak emotional havoc on me.

Why is it important for you to identify as a romance writer?

When I was growing up (and beyond!), romance, as a genre, was treated as the butt of a joke. That message was instilled in me so deeply that I’d never even read a romance novel until I was about 25. When I started, I was blown away by how frequently the prose, character development and tension were exceptionally written. Beyond that, they’re often filled with a sense of hope, an appreciation for beauty, and the pervading belief that love of all kinds is a worthy pursuit, no matter how dark or scary the world may be.

While technically my books straddle the line between romance and general fiction, it’s always been important to me to claim that romance title, because if non-romance readers like my work, there’s a very strong chance that they’d love a lot of romance novels. I don’t want other people to miss out on the wisdom and joy this genre has to offer, the way I did for so long.

What makes a funny story?

A while back, two of my close friends realized, on their first night in a new house, that raccoons were living in the walls. They asked the landlord to send someone out to rehome the raccoons, and he said he’d get “[his] guy over there first.” His guy showed up with his pregnant wife, son, dog, a saw and a BB gun, and proceeded to cut a bunch of holes in the ceiling and walls. He fired BBs into them at random, to try to scare the raccoons out. Then he left. The raccoons were still there, and there were holes everywhere.

A lot of times, bad things happening, in surprising ways, is what makes a story funny.

Do you have a favorite library or librarian?