For any readers of our blog who don't know - Molly and I were interviewed by Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches during one of her RWA National Conference podcasts. It was actually one of the highlights of the conference for me because I’m such a huge fan of the DBSA podcasts in general.
I love listening to really smart people talk about romance seriously. And sometimes not so seriously. The jokes are there about romance novels no doubt, and to truly have an intelligent conversation you have to accept the good with the bad. But for the first time listening to those podcasts, I really appreciated having someone legitimize both what I write and what I read.
Then Molly and I got to be the smart people talking and that was fun too. We chatted for almost two hours about books, and sex, and the impact of sex in romance novels on women and their lives and I thought YES! This is so cool.
I’m done with being maligned for reading what I love. I’m done thinking that romance books can’t be smart and worthy of serious discussion. I’m done listening to men chuckle behind their hands when they bring up 50 Shades of Gray and how all books like that are just porn. Then I have to explain how it is a romance, but it isn’t a romance and what does it matter?
I read plenty of books by men that have sex in them. But when a woman writes a book about sex suddenly – it’s there. Molly made such a good point about why women aren’t more educated about sex, aren’t more open about sex. It’s the judgment.
I know it seems cliché to say there is a double standard but flippin’ A there is a double standard. And listening to our conversation back and hearing us talk I was reminded again how much I love reading these books. I love writing these books. I love talking about these books!
6 comments:
It was a lot of fun - I totally forgot we were being taped and the conversation is very loose and candid - three big fans of the genre, having drinks and talking about romance novels!
Here's the link if anyone is interested
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/31.-rwa-interview-with-molly-okeefe-and-stephanie-doyle
you guys were both really, really smart and hilarious on the podcast... loved it.
Stephanie, it drives me up the wall. Everyone I know has read 50 shades of grey, usually they talk about it with a giggle, but when I recommend Sherry Thomas who writes books about flawed, complicated adults falling in love, they tell me flat out "I don't read romance".
What doesn't help are the titles Ravishing the heiress doesn't express how beautifully written those books are...
you guys were both really, really smart and hilarious on the podcast... loved it.
Stephanie, it drives me up the wall. Everyone I know has read 50 shades of grey, usually they talk about it with a giggle, but when I recommend Sherry Thomas who writes books about flawed, complicated adults falling in love, they tell me flat out "I don't read romance".
What doesn't help are the titles Ravishing the heiress doesn't express how beautifully written those books are...
Sinead - I know. I recommended Black Hawk for my book club because I wanted to showcase what really good romance could be.
Only 2 people bothered to read it. The rest "just not into that sort of thing." Ugh!
And I give credit to the one guy who did buy it - despite the chesty man guy on the cover. He had some issues - but overall he said he did enjoy it by the end.
It's really just about having an open mind to everything.
Open mindedness. Yes. That's what bothers me about the people I know who deride the genre. If you've read a sample of good, well-reviewed romances and it's not your fav genre. Fine. But people who tell me romance sucks, who've never even read one. They make me crazy.
Even people who like it feel a need to deride it. How many times have you heard, "Well, it's trash, but I enjoyed it."
Post a Comment