Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

cut the station some slack.  When the VP is out shooting his buddies in Texas, you have to write about something.

That should be “not shooting” not “out shooting”  Although the latter may be truer than the former.

There’s an interesting implication there that normal, average women are not into sex or don’t know much about it.

For instance, they point out that one is a mother.  Where do they think her kids came from?

O.M.G.  Shoot me now.  “We did talk to some readers, but *understandably* they didn’t want to be on camera.”  Yeah, screw you.  I find that difficult to believe.

And the letter from the husband?!  Nothing about the statistic that women who read romances usually have more sex and happier marriages than the “general” population.  My DH hunts out my favorite erotica authors.  He loves it when I read the stuff—especially M/M erotica, because that gets me the hottest—because he knows he’s gonna git some that night!

Wow. It must have been a REALLY slow news night. That’s like when Fox 5 in NYC pulls out the “Health Hazard In the Microwave Popcorn Bag” story and runs it as the lead….

“Gabrielle’s Woman”???????

oy vey

At least there will be some folks who read the article and say, “Hmm…a juicy hot erotic romance sounds just like what I need. I think I’ll go to Waldenbooks/Borders and pick one up!”

I go in streaks with my reading. I’ll burn through a lot of romances and then switch to Sci-Fi or mysteries to clean my palate. I had a long stretch where I wasn’t reading any romance at all just because I felt like I’d read every dogone plot there was and there didn’t seem like there was anything new. Then someone gave me a Lisa Kleypas and I was hooked back in.

Sometimes knowing there is something really different and appealing out there will hook readers. While the “Sex Sellers” article is obviously flawed, hopefully some good might come out of it.

This is marginally off topic - but I was surprised to see a new erotica column in Elle (Canada) magazine.

Oh, gag me!

This is news?  To whom?

I used to be a former tv news assignment editor and news producer. Not only is this not news because these books have been around for over 10 years, but you can clearly tell it’s sweeps week based on stories like this.

And, I don’t think Robin was the first.  Jayne Anne Krentz’s Ladies Choice, ISTR, started with a sex scene.

Yeah, but Robin Schone’s book started with orgasm by masturbation, you see, so that makes it special.

I liked Schone’s books for a while—they certainly opened my eyes about erotica about seven years ago, but right now, she’s a little overwrought for me.  Esp. the romance about the eunach (is that spelled right, because it looks wrong).

Whenever I hear a bizarre promo like that, I always turn to the hubby and say, “Is it sweeps month?” And not too surprisingly, it almost always is. Sweeps month is when the viewing audience is calculated and advertising rates can be set accordingly. So it’s in every station’s interest to get as many people watching, no matter how they do it.

Sweeps months are February, May, and November.

So now you know how THAT silly thing got on the air.

There’s an interesting implication there that normal, average women are not into sex or don’t know much about it.

For instance, they point out that one is a mother.  Where do they think her kids came from?

Silly, she doesn’t enjoy it, but does it to carry on the family name. She just lays back and formulates the grocery list.

I write erotic romance, which has made my husband a bit of a celebrity at work because I thanked him for being my favorite research tool in a dedication. I do it in my own name and I am damn proud of it. I still get the comments though about writing porn, and some people do ask the hubby if he is embarrassed. His reply is that he reaps the benefits.

But, you are right. The implication is that we should not enjoy sex and those of us who do should be ashamed for the harlots that we are. If we read about sex, learn about satisfaction, uptight holier-than-thou types will have to figure out how to satisfy a woman. And that could lead to anarchy.

All I can say is that erotic romance better not jump the shark until after my book is released.  and i’m sorry, but i’m so sick of this line:  “these aren’t your grandmother’s romance novels.”  when i was 13, i started raiding my grandmother’s romance collection.  Know what author I discovered? Bertrice Small,who wrote about gang bangs and double penetrations.  oh, and Susan Johnson who wrote about glass dildos and women with come streaming down their legs.  So seriously, when my book comes out (huh huh, i said come) my grandmother won’t bat an eye.

I just love the bit about the husband who so carefully pointed out “unacceptable passages”, but his book was “very dog-eared”.  Hmmmm…wonder who got it so worn out? 

And as for me, I’m kinda’ glad this came out since it gave me a few new authors to look out for.  That is why the media does these little stories, isn’t it? 

/sarcasm

Something weird happened with my eyes, so that at first I read, “Last I checked, there was a physical end point to the vaginal candy.”

And I thought, They’re making vaginal candy now? Like I need any more incentive?

What’s that deafening noise?  Is it the ka-ching of bookstore cash registers across the Chicago metro area?

The line about the husband’s dog-eared copy was very sly.

What really cracked me up was the scary-ass logo they made up (see the right-hand column of the article, under the pull quote). 

SEX SELLERS: How you can protect your wife from dirty thoughts and high expectations…tonight at ten.

oh, and Susan Johnson who wrote about glass dildos and women with come streaming down their legs.

Johnson… um… enlightened me in high school.  The Outlaw is a nasty little piece of naughty.  Fantastic reading!  Forget about plot - go straight for the sex on page 60-ish.  Why wait?

I love the coverage.  Although it’s been around for a long while, erotic is just starting to hit mainstream.  One of the Angela Knight’s books finally hit the NY Times Bestselling List, I think that may be the first erotic/romance that has.  It’s okay now for the bookstores to prominently display it, and talk about it, and promote it…before it was in the back in the erotica section…

I just wish this attitude would come north to Canada….we’re much too prudish up here and need to shake things up a bit…

And I love how my book SEXY BEAST got so much play.  I haven’t gotten that much play in longer than I care to admit…

Erotica can’t[\i] jump the shark. It’s been around and selling like hotcakes since before moveable type (three things have and will always sell: sex, politics and religion. Sometimes all three at once) even though at the time it was written by men. All that’s happened since the first naughty book got put through the press is that they’ve taken out the woodcuts.