And he’s updated his reader submissions page! Go check it out now—some of them are as good as the ones Longmire came up with himself.
One of the readers had this stunning insight into romance novels:
As a female, I think the vast majority of romance novels are total garbage that are as formulaic as their covers. They are ridiculously anachronistic – in fact they wouldn’t exist if not for anachronisms. It always amazes me when I find out that anybody I consider half-way intelligent considers bodice ripper romances to be well written. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in reading overwrought pseudo-historical lite porn – just admit that that’s all it is.
Anyone else think the lady doth protest too much?
What I find interesting is that she has to preface her statement with “As a female…”
Uh, okay. But when you read them as a male, you find out that you really do like them? And the covers?
No wonder some of those cover scans looked kinda sticky.
Sigh…slamming romance readers and writers is soooo last week. I think the main cause of her trouble is that she isn’t getting any. Plus, she seems to have an unnatural attachment to the word “anachronism.”
See, I don’t get the anger. The person’s tone almost makes it seem as if romance novels were directly responsible for raping her mother, getting her brother hooked on smack and turning her beloved younger sister into a crack whore. I mean, god knows there are genres out there I don’t enjoy reading (New Age spiritual guidance books like The Celestine Prophecy come to mind) but my dislike for the genre borders on snarky irritation, not the full-body vitriol this woman seems to be experiencing.
And yeah, I was annoyed by the “As a woman” comment too. Oh how NICE that you’re different from the rest of us inferior specimens. Here, have a cookie.
I have to agree – the whole “as a woman” thing is just ridiculous. That qualification and the copious use of “big words that make me look all smart” makes me think, “Hmmm. Insecure in your intellect much?”
Hubby once said that he loved lowbrow entertainment like “Beavis and Butthead” because he wasn’t afraid to laugh at something stupid, and in his opinion, you needed to be smart in order to appreciate how funny it really was.
I think a similar point is true of romance novels. You have to be intelligent to appreciate them for the subversive feminist pieces of writing that they are. What this high strung pseudo-intellectual dismisses as “porn” is really a celebration and caring acknowledgement of female sexuality.
As a woman, I find that a wonderful thing.