Here in Australia we're in the depths of winter (it's cold and wet as I write this!!!) but happily I'm joining in a sizzling summer party over at The Romance Reviews during the month of July!
All month there's going to be fab contests with awesome prizes and the chance to chat with amazing authors. I'm over there on 11th July with an easy-peasy question to be in with the chance of winning a copy of Forbidden. The answer to the question (you'll have to pop over to TRR on 11th to discover what it is!!!) can be found by reading the excerpt of Forbidden on my website (told you it was easy!)
All you need to do to join in the summer fun is register at TRR and that's it! I hope to see you over there on Monday 11th July!!
8 comments:
Of course GLBT is over with Erotic and separated from Romance, because everyone knows that GLBT is always about the smutty sexxorz and is never romantic.
[sigh]
Nothing personal to you, Christina, but clearly whoever's organizing this event, or at least whoever designed the poster (and then whoever approved it), has fallen into a common bit of bigotry about GLBT people and fiction. I wish we could've left all that crap behind with the 20th century.
Angie
Angie, I understand what you're saying. In fact I always think of my books as romances first and foremost even though they're categorized as erotic romance. I also wonder where the 'erotic' line is drawn at times, as I've read wonderful romances that aren't marketed as erotic and yet they're more explicit than my books.
While entering my novel (73K words, 1.5 sex scenes, nothing beyond vanilla) to the EPPIEs last year, I made the mistake of asking, in the official Ask-Questions-Here loop, where EPIC drew the line between romance and erotic romance. After getting some well meant but specifically useless suggestions, and quite a big of snark and sarcasm, the bottom line was that they don't; each author puts their book wherever they think it should go. Entering a book in the wrong category (in the opinion of the judges, who aren't given any more guidance than this -- I know because I've judged) is an automatic three point deduction, which effectively eliminates a book from the finals, but still, we're supposed to go with our gut feeling, which might or might not bear any resemblance to the gut feeling of any or all of the people judging. This has left a sour taste in my mouth on the subject.
And even before that, I've been annoyed by the insistence of many people (and publishers, and far too many vendors of e-book) that GLBT = erotic, regardless of the level of heat in a book. My publisher, a GLBT niche press, publishes books all the way down to the "Bell Pepper" heat level, that is no sex at all, but they're all filed under Erotica at places like Fictionwise and ARe. And plenty of individuals (like the person who made that poster) assume this too. It's nasty and bigoted, assuming that gay people are all about sex and nothing else. [sigh]
In a way, it's nice to know writers on the het side face some of the same garbage. :P I definitely empathize with you, though, if you find your books tossed into the smut bin when they don't qualify. :/ Maybe we should start a club or something.
Angie
I think GLBT falls into the erotic category because "we" (as a society) define GLBT by their sexual preferences. Therefore any romance in GLBT is going to "offend the sensibilities" of anyone who judges people, so it's lumped into erotic, where people are more open minded.
I like being an erotic reader/author because in my mind, it means I'm fair-minded.
Just my humble opinion.
Cath
Catherine -- you're probably right about what people are thinking, but that doesn't make it okay. Why should anyone be catering to the bigots?
Defining who a person is in their core as inherently offensive, even without any mention of actual sex, is in and of itself offensive. Forty years ago, the same "inherently offensive" labels were applied to mixed-race couples, that they should hide, should be "discreet" in public, that it was only to be expected that there'd be negative reactions. (And hey, guess where Fictionwise files its mixed-race romances? [sigh])
Most people today would agree that racists who don't like seeing a black man and a white woman (for example) walking down the street holding hands need to suck it up and deal, and at least pretend to behave like decent human beings. Homophobes need to do the same -- suck it up and deal, because GLBT people are real, they're natural and normal, and they have the same right as anyone else to hold hands, or exchange a quick peck in public, the same as mixed-sex couples.
We, and vendors, and publishers, shouldn't have to pander to the outraged sensibilities of the bigots among us. Doing so offends and demeans every GLBT person out there. (And every person in a mixed-race relationship, if you're shopping on Fictionwise. :/ )
Angie
At a family wedding recently my sister in law, who writes sweet romance, was approached by a group of guests and asked if she was the one who wrote 'porn' *sigh* Seems like it's always the ones who never read a particular genre who have the most to say about it.
Christina -- oh, good grief. :/ Definitely the truth about people who never read a genre. [sigh]
Angie
The question is:
What color are Carys's eyes?
The answer (b. Amethyst and jade) is not in the excerpt.
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