From the A to the H to the REF, these internet links are funky fresh. (This is why I am not a rapper.)
This past week was the RWA conference – that’s Romance Writers of Australia, obviously. Philippa Borland, who is awesome, blogged many of the sessions at her site. What I found particularly interesting was the different responses from Australian branches of big six publishing houses in the editor’s panel, and in how the Australian discussion of ebooks by necessity had to focus on the fact that most ebooks aren’t for sale there. If you’re curious about the conference, it’s fascinating reading. Good on you, Ms. Borland!
Hold up, is this positive coverage of romance in the press? Why, yes, yes it is!
The Salt Lake Tribune has an article about Mormon romance readers challenging the previously-published ideas that romance is bad for relationships:
LDS leaders have condemned romance novels as “soft porn,” and literary critics long have railed against these fictional yarns as “dope for dupes.”
So why are so many self-described Mormon feminists drinking from such a theologically poisoned well?That’s easy, say three panelists at a recent Sunstone Symposium. It’s because church leaders and critics are missing the messages of independence and empowerment embedded in a genre written largely by women, for women and about women….
“My women felt they deserved to have a great sex life with their spouse. They were willing to say that their sex lives matter,” she said. “If the books contributed to that and to the health of the marriage, then they didn’t accept those negative pronouncements.”
Simply put, the steamy novels heated up their bedrooms and warmed their marriages.
Sing it, y’all. I’m holding a lighter up.
Graceful curtsey to Brooke for the link.
Finally, the quest to raise money and awareness at Limecello’s Social Media for Social Good continues with over 500 comments made. If you haven’t left a comment, there’s still time, and many folks are standing by ready to pledge their local currency to help the effort.
The deadline is Sunday, 21 August.
