It never fails to amaze me how some people react to the concept of romance. True, I don’t want a diet of nothing but tear-jerker romantic movies, but at the same time, they are enjoyable to watch upon an occasion. The same goes for my reading habits. Sometimes I want a thriller, or a murder mystery, or a collection of good poetry. Other times I want a romance, be it an erotic one, a futuristic, a vampire/shifter one, or something else.
But the stigma attached to romances is horrible. And so totally undeserved. Romances aren’t any easier to write than any other genre. The require the same skill with dialog (although some of the really old ones do kind of make me wonder some times), pacing is still very important, characters still need to be fleshed out, and so on.
Yet romances are viewed as being illiterate, and romance writers as hacks without the talent to write anything else. Romance readers are viewed as “escapists’ unable to handle real life, with unreal expectations out of relationships.
It’s frustrating. And one of those things that makes me wonder how that view came to be.
When someone asks me what I write, I get the “oh, those kinds of books’ when I answer romances. When I answer erotica, I sometimes get a worse reaction, but sometimes oddly I get a better one.
This questions is for the writers out there (don’t worry, those that enjoy reading romances but don’t write ““ or don’t write romances ““ I have a post coming up for you in a just a bit). What kinds of reactions have you gotten when you have told people what you write? How about close friends and family?
If you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear about it “¦
4 COMMENTS
Jude Mason
16 years agoHi Michelle,
What kind of reaction have I gotten when I tell people I write romance or erotica? Ugh. Even from close friends or people who read my stuff, I get the, ‘when are you going to try mainstream’ question, and that bothers me enormously. I love writing erotica and honestly don’t know if I’ll ever want to try a completely mainstream novel.
From family: It’s run the gamot here. I have a twin who is terribly supportive. He doesn’t write, but thinks it’s great that I do. My parents are gone and they never knew I wrote, it was just something I never shared with them because I hadn’t dreamed I’d be published. My in-laws, another mixed bag. Some look down their noses at me, some confide they’d love to try it but don’t have the talent to do so. There’s also the, ‘when are you going to do something serious.’ comments and I try to let that slide.
I’d often love to challenge those who think it’s so easy to write the juicy bits. I mean, I don’t know about you, but there’s times when I really struggle to get those parts right. It’s not easy folks.
Hugs
Bobbie
16 years agoI love to read erotica if it’s got a story line and definitely has romance!! There’s a male author that writes for Ellora’s Cave that I have a problem reading his books. I guess because he’s writing from a male perspective. Anyway I tell my friends that I read erotica and that usually ends up with quite a discussion from ones that have never read it.
Remember when erotica was placed on the shelves in the back corner of bookstores if it was even there? LOL
MichelleHouston
16 years ago AUTHORI have been one of the lucky ones I guess. The people who really matter to me most have been supportive of my writings. Hubby pushs me to write longer works, but not to change my genre.
Then again, he loves having an “erotica author” for a wife. LOL Some of my friends know now, and have tried a few of my tamer short erotica stories. They prefer my romances, but enjoy teasing me about the erotica.
I still can’t find the erotica in most bookstores. It’s often shelves under ‘relationships’ or some such. I’d love to see the day it has its own header right up there on the top of the shelf life romance and mystery and all do.
Michelle
Michelle
Desirée Lee
16 years agoI answered in another post but I’ll reiterate it here.
My biggest critics have been my parents who equate erotic romance with porn.
Then again neither of them like to read novels so I don’t care. *LOL* I tell them that they won’t read it anyway so why bother commenting on it?
Carpe Noctem,
Des
Desirée Lee
Putting the Romance Back in Necromancy
http://www.desireelee.com
des@desireelee.com