Links: Odd Statistics, Deals, and Being Classy

I normally don't read the email that lands in my inbox dealing with 50 Shades and all things tangentially related to it. For example, this picture. No, wait. Before you cilck the link, I warn you, you can't unsee it once you've seen it. So be sure you want to know about this book. Ready? Ok. Have a link

Yeah. I know. 

So I'm a little weary of slap-a-black-and-white-photo-on-it and ride the wave that's running out of tide, but when I received this information in my inbox (and heaven only knows how I got on this publicity list) I thought it was interesting and worth sharing with y'all. Ignore the puns. Really, you'll run out of integers if you try to count them all.

Leading adult entertainment website, YouPorn (NSFW) (DUH) – which 50 Shades author E.L. James once cited as a research tool – has been pounded by an enormous surge in views for terms such as “domination”, “sex slave”, “master” and “sadism”, with people from the UK and US leading the way. The spike in erotic searches coincides with the novel’s meteoric rise to fame over the past several months.

Here’s just a small sample of the mind-blowing statistics from YouPorn:

BDSM-related searches went up 67.65% worldwide from April to June 2012. The Country that saw the biggest increase was United Kingdom where searches grew by 145%, followed by United States at 86.4%

The Term “bondage” showed the biggest increase in the US with a 397% spike. In the UK, “sex slave” jumped 287%. And in Germany, the favorite was “slave”, up 52.6%

On a global scale, YouPorn has released these findings:

Search Terms         Worldwide increase %

Domination              82.06%

Sex slavem             78.96%

Master                     71.91%

Sadism                    71.81%

Slave                       61.56%

Wax                        54.07%

BDSM                     54.04%

If folks are learning about kink and sexual possibilities, that's pretty spiffy. And since we can learn about things from the privacy of our own homes and phones (at least, I hope that 86% US increase in search terms weren't coming from public library computers), that's a lot of curiosity being satisfied. 

I'm at Kirkus this week talking about Olympic romances, with help from Katie Dunneback, Maili, and Cassandra Carr. After I submitted the article, more Olympic romances appeared in my tweetstream, including a m/m romance from KA Mitchell.

I love watching the Olympics for the same reason I like reading romance:

In that way, the Olympics function similarly to romance for me, as each novel presents a similar opportunity: to relate and empathize with people very different from me, and to understand the emotions we all have in common across those differences. Just as romance can make certain experiences the centerpiece and blow them up more-than-life size, so do the Olympics take everyday expectations and nerves and blow them up to internationally broadcast proportions.

Any Olympic romances you recommend?

There was some discussion on Twitter about the new Harlequin line, Heartsong Presents. The new description of the line is online at the Harlequin site, and it emphasizes, “Main characters must be Christians or convert to Christianity by the end of the book,” and “Sweet love stories with a conservative, evangelical Christian worldview.”

Now, I know Harlequin does consumer research and clearly there must be a market for these romances. However, reading the description makes me think of a question:

Would you read romance where Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Taoism, or any other world religion was a primary focus? I would. I remember reading HelenKay Dimon's Impulsive and being very curious about the Japanese hero's religious rituals, such as a memorial service for his grandmother who had died years prior. I'm not saying Harlequin needs to do a line for every religion – not at all.

But as someone who is curious about different religions and faith customs, I would love to read more about something other than evangelical Christianity. That would be one hell of an anthology: family dinners with different families who keep very different customs? Awesome. As long as it wasn't all “As you know, Bob,” explaining everything obviously, I'd love that. 

But then, I get tired of the nonstop Christmas in romance, and it's almost time for the Christmas anthologies to hit the porch. 

Anyway. 

Via Scrinn: a Reddit thread created the best combination of music and sound effects, which was then posted to GrassCity, which is all about cultiaving the best front lawn money can buy:

Open 3 tabs in your browser, and open these three links in each tab:

Endless video  Fireplace

Rainymood

Turnabout Jazz Soul: Godot – the Fragrance of Dark Coffee

Now, relax and feel like the coolest person ever. Lawn optional.

Sales! 

Carina Press has all contemporary romance on sale for 15% off for a limited time.

  • Confessions of an Improper Bride by Jennifer Haymore * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S |
  • Sins of a Highland Devil by Sue-Ellen Wellfonder * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S |
  • Montana Glory by RC Ryan * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S |
  • Where the Heart Lies by Michelle Garren Flye * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Red Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Only Fear by Anne Marie Becker * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • By Royal Command by Laura Navarre * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Big Boned by Meg Cabot * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot * $7.99 * A | BN | K | S

 

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General Bitching...

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  1. bitchin_witch says:

    I’m working on writing a novel series with a strong religious milieu (can you say milieu in romance-speak? not as snappy as mantitty). It’s a different religion: modern Paganism. Think “Mists of Avalon” as a contemporary. Nary a vampire or werewolf in sight, no dark fantasy. Instead, modern priestesses, wiccans, shamans, psychics, nature-worshipers, pantheons of Goddesses and Gods, glimmers of faery, and real magic based in the real world—with an interesting courtship and HEA in each book, of course. Pagan religion is a world I know a lot about. But romances I need to research. I’ve ordered both your books, Sarah. And I’m interested in recommendations of A-list romance novels. I have a lot of catching up to do.

  2. KzoeT says:

    I would LOVE to read romances that explore different world religions or inter-faith relationships.

  3. bitchin_witch says:

    PS: Just ordered up a bunch of Nora Roberts’ books on the theme: Donovan books, Three Sisters Island, etc.

  4. Kim says:

    I would love to read more inter-racial, or inter-cultural romances.

    I’m white and my husband is Indian and I’ve always thought our relationship would make a perfect romance novel.

    We met randomly in a store.
    I was a graduate student and he was in community college.
    He was Muslim, I was a Religious Studies student.
    I was a lesbian (now I am bisexual), whereas he had never had a date, much less sex.
    When I met his family it was quite stressful.  They only spoke a blur Hindi/English and I could never follow a sentence.
    He met my very conservative family.  Upon asking him about his immigration status over desert, he passed his green card around the dining room table.  I thought I would die of embarrassment.

    And more!  It is amazing we worked-out.

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