Saturday, March 9, 2013

You sexy thing you


The romance genre seems to be immune to the contractions hitting the publishing industry as a whole and I suspect it has a lot to do with e-readers and other mobile devices. These allow people to discreetly indulge in their guilty pleasures.  I predict we'll continue to see the numbers of both male and female readership grow as time goes on for this very reason.

With electronic readers, people can quietly enjoy a book called Three Way Tie-up or Love Me Madly, Love me Deeply while they're waiting for an oil change or sitting on a plane.  No one will be any the wiser, and bringing your own reading material certainly beats what you'll find in most waiting rooms.

I have a confession to make.  I used to be a little embarrassed to admit that I read romance.  I kept the fact that I actually wrote it under my hat even longer.  Why?  Simple.  There are so many misconceptions floating around out there about what romance truly is.  It gets even more understandable when you factor in the face.  If you read romance, you probably know what I'm talking about; that expression of distaste, as if someone just farted in the elevator.  That kind of reaction tends to make a person a little defensive.  I've tried  on numerous occasions to explain how varied romance is, how it covers everything from sci-fi, fantasy, historical, suspense, paranormal, and comedy.  Has it helped?  Not much.  If they aren't picturing bodice- rippers they're sure I'm writing the next 50 Shades.  I can talk until I'm blue in the face, but I probably won't convince them otherwise.

Will romance ever earn mainstream acceptance?  That's the big question.  I'd like to think so.  In the meantime, I'm satisfied that e-readers are allowing us to reach more reserved readers who might have been hesitant to bring a romance up to their librarian or bookseller. With a click of a button, they can escape, into a world of adventure, love, and lust, and leave the blushes behind.


 

           

6 comments:

  1. I think electronic publishing has helped the romance genre make real strides towards mainstreaming. And I say Amen! Amen!

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  2. Love this! I totally agree. Just the other day, a lady at the gym asked me what I do. I had the bashful grin--you know, the one that almost has an apology in it--and said I write romance novels. She was actually impressed, which is not the usual reaction. Tell a random guy you write romance, and if they don't have "the face," it's only because they're doing their best to be polite and suppress it, which is almost worse.

    It's not that *we're* embarrassed of what we do. It's that we're so used to "the face," we're hesitant to say anything. We've been conditioned that way. Hopefully romance does get the respect it deserves eventually. Like you said, everyone's reading it. Time to admit it :)

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    1. It's like a naughty little secret. Why? It makes no sense to me, and yet, you're so right. We are conditioned to cringe with embarrassment because of that face.

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  3. Funny, I just read a blog post by a literary writer bemoaning the lack of female characters in books.
    Um, honey, do you ever look in the romance aisle?
    I commented that I rarely read romances that didn't have a strong female lead, along with some combination of best friend, sister, or mother to back her up. That's why I like it - and also might explain some of why it doesn't get the respect of more "serious literature". Romance has to do with the stuff women care about, and so still flies under the radar in the Big World.

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    1. Romance gets the same bum rap that chick flicks get. How are they any worse than say, action?

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