You Write What?

What is so wrong with what we do?

I've been pondering this question quite a bit lately. What is so bloody wrong with being a Romance author/reader?

A friend of mine (You know who you are) recently spoke of this and I've been thinking about it, off and on, ever since. A Romance Writer gets a bad rap, and we get painted with the smut brush for writing... trash. For some reason Romance is not considered a respectable fiction genre to write. I don't understand the reasoning behind this opinion. What is better than the give and take of a couple as they find their way in the world together? To me there is nothing more beautiful than a couple in love, whether they are made up of a man and a woman, two women, or two men... Or any other combination thereof. There is still the romance, the give and take and compromise and the utter romance of getting to know someone so intimately. Are these critical people unaware that Romance sells? Why when Romance sales are astronomical does no one seem to want to admit that they read them? So, who IS reading them? How do they explain that at a recent book signing I attended there were over 300 people in attendance? Shouldn't they get a clue that we're not going to agree with them, so stop harping on us about it.


Now, as Erotic Romance writers we face an even nastier stigma. We not only write "smut", we write "Pornographic Smut". Again, I ask, what is so wrong with what we do? I personally enjoy romance, and sex (much to my hubby's delight) and I am very comfortable in my sexuality (see hubby's previous response). Maybe it was the way I was raised, but I don't see what is so wrong with that. That being said, I don't really see me telling my inlaws what I write anytime soon. They're not bad people, just... conservative.

And while I love them dearly, I don't think they'd take it all that well. I refuse to let someone make me feel dirty because I'm comfortable with sex and everything THAT entails.

So, what do you think? Why do Romance writers, and more specifically, Erotic Romance writers get such a bad rap?

So, that's mini-rant today. I love what I do, it makes me smile and keeps me busy between ... well, life stuff. So, I dare them to come at me... I'll come right back at em with guns blazing. Yes, yes, a little militant, but I just spent the weekend with people who turned their noses up to Romance novels in any form and it got my Irish up.