“Romance is Bigger than Me” - Jenny Crusie

Thanks to the many who forwarded me a link to Jenny Crusie’s rant about those who seek to ban rape from all romance on the basis of one book.

Of particular note:

Romance novels do not determine what readers think; readers determine what romance novels get published. Glen pointed out that the romance industry is more responsive to reader feedback than any other genre. Through reader boards and blogs, listserves and e-mails, and even snail mail, readers let publishers know what they think, but the biggest message they send is what they buy. Readers determine what a successful romance novel is, not writers with a political or moral agenda, and they do that by reading. The books they buy in stores, the books they check out of the library thereby encouraging the libraries to buy in great numbers, send a clear message in the only language publishing speaks: Sales. So I’m annoyed by the people who want to make some topic off bounds for me as a romance writer; they should get their cotton-pickin’ hands off my genre. But I’m not worried about it. I know romance readers too well to think they’ll let anybody push them—or me—around.

As usual, I bow to the sharp wit of Crusie when she’s got a bee in her bonnet. Well played, ma’am. She never leaves her clue cake out in the rain.

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  1. angel says:

    so, what’s the book?  i’m out of the loop.

  2. I believe the book is Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell.  I read it last week after hearing all the screaming about it, and thought it was interesting.  It did not make me want to start bonfires of books, rather it reminded me a bit of To Have And To Hold (although I think that’s the much better novel), being about two seriously f*cked up people in an unequal relationship where he forces her to have sex with him.

    And the older I get, the crankier I get on this topic.  If the book is well written, the characters are engaging and the reader wants to find out what happens next, then I’m not going to tell anyone it shouldn’t be published because of the subject matter.  I like Darkly Dreaming Dexter, which is about a serial killer hero.  Does that mean I want to cozy up to a serial killer?  No, it means I found this particular novel entertaining and the protagonist engaging.  That’s what I want from a novel, and the author delivered.  End of rant.

  3. Michelle says:

    My favorite part of Jennifer Crusie’s post was her book title: That Bitch Is Trying To Take The Secret Baby Some Arrogant Asshole Left Me With But God Is On My Side!!!! I bet she could pull it off.

  4. Yvonne says:

    Off on that tangent. You know, they made Darkly Dreaming Dexter into a tv show on Showtime. I have not seen it, but I have read the second book, Dearly Devoted Dexter and I am waiting for the third. The reason the books are so good is because the hero is so far outside what is considered normal that it shook me up. Perhaps not so much of a tangent. It is the kind of book that people debate for the same reasons that Claiming the Courtesan creates such a buzz.

  5. Infogenium says:

    Tangent – Dexter the tv show is very good. I have read all 3 of the books and wondered how they would get the Serial Killer as Hero across the line and I think they did it…

  6. Amy E says:

    My critique partner has a series of several books, as yet unpublished but oh I am hopeful, about a hero who could only be described as a serial killer if you were in a kind and forgiving mood.  He’s mean.  He’s nasty.  He kills anyone who looks at him wrong—but first he plays with them in horrible ways.  He’s utterly evil… except that he loves this one woman and will do anything for her.  When she leaves him in one of the stories, he literally tears apart the world to find her and get her back.  I adore this hero.

    Maybe it’s because these books are set in a fantasy world that this is so acceptable and sexy to me?  I don’t think I’d be so hot for a murderous hero without any form of conscience whatsoever if he were, say, a drug lord instead.  It’s an interesting thought.

  7. Cat Marsters says:

    No, it’s because he’s so hot.

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