Snarky Sunday: A Rant About Labeling Books

September 25, 2016September 24, 20168 Comments

I have a pet peeve.(That doesn’t surprise anyone who knows me.) And I might offend some people. But the label or classification some people apply to certain books offends me.

It all came to a head when I read this advice in a recent article: “write a clean book”.

A “clean” book.

Well, my books are trayf–which is Yiddish for UNCLEAN.

Examples:

In my upcoming Halloween novella–there’s a shrimp appetizer in the form of a human brain. Definitely trayf.
Pulled pork sliders put in an appearance, too.(Now there’s a dish with some double entendre built right in.)
Andouille (Cajun pork sausage) is eaten in the Mardi Gras novella I’m currently writing.
I’m sure one of my characters in one of my books eats a cheeseburger washed down with a glass of milk.
And bacon! Pages are spattered with bacon.

Why are Jewish dietary laws even a consideration in romance writing?

I don’t have a problem with sweet romance. I like reading sweet romance. And if the story I’m writing doesn’t call for a sex scene, then I won’t write one.

Labeling sex-free books “clean” is a passive-aggressive way of judging books that do contain physical love scenes. And it is insulting to the authors of those books by implying sex-free books are somehow better than others. They are not.

Insults, no matter how subtle, are not what the romance writing community is about. We lift each other up. We support each other.

So let’s get rid of the label “clean” and find a category description that is less polarizing.

The Future Is Now

August 24, 2016August 10, 2016

I was at a drive-thru window getting breakfast one morning and didn’t understand a word the cashier said to me. Not. One. Word. I periodically have this problem with my 20-something children and a couple of 30-something co-workers. They speak too quickly and don’t enunciate.

I couldn’t help but think of Linda Howard’s Killing Time, in which an FBI agent from the futures comes to the present to solve a crime. Part of the future world Howard created included people speaking much faster than they do now.

This past winter, I (re)read JD Robb‘s “In Death” series from beginning to newest release. Naked Death came out in 1995. Robb set her series in the not-terribly distant future-2058.

One thing that struck me with the re-reading was how of the technology she created for her books has come to pass. Palm Link anyone? Try your smart phone. We didn’t have those in 1995.

Can the Urban Wars be far behind?

Stealing Home

July 27, 2016July 26, 2016

My second contemporary baseball romance, Stealing Home, came out yesterday.

It’s actually the first baseball book I wrote about the Syracuse Saltboilers, but I didn’t submit it to my publisher until after Summer Fling came out. Mostly I was worried my publisher wouldn’t like all the movies referenced in the manuscript. The heroine grew up on movies, which helped shape her life.

In fact, there are at least seventeen real movies referenced or named in the novel. Oh, and one made-up title.

My publisher never blinked.

Here’s the cover by artist GD Leigh.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

She went to Cooperstown for the opera . . . and stayed for the baseball player.

Chelsea Lyndon isn’t about to let a minor thing like being abandoned by her date in a strange town get her down. Maybe she grew up on romantic comedy movies, but she’s a self-reliant realist. No man is ever going to control her . . . not even a too-sexy-for-her-peace-of-mind retired baseball player. But Tripp Shaneybrook is determined to rescue Chelsea, whether she wants his help or not.

Reluctantly accepting Tripp’s assistance when she discovers her bank account is empty and her credit cards maxed out, Chelsea lets herself enjoy being pampered and seduced. The weekend plays out like one of her favorite movies: pure fantasy. And the sex is incredible. But she needs to go home and resume her dreary life.

Tripp has other ideas about that, too.

And when that life begins to fall apart, Tripp is there to help pick up the pieces. Chelsea begins to trust the man whose actions backup his words.

Until his past collides with her reality in a series of incidents that threaten to rip them apart forever.

Buy links for different formats and retailers are gradually becoming available, but my publisher, Loose Id, has all formats available on their website.

Get Caught Reading

May 11, 2016May 8, 2016

It’s National “Get Caught Reading” Day.

So, as I type this (when I’m supposed to be finishing up the first round of revisions on my next book), I’m re-reading Stephen King’s The Dead Zone. My husband watched the movie a couple of weeks ago and remarked how it reminded him of current events. That aside, Stephen King can write.

If I caught the characters in my current release, Omega Moon Rising, reading, the hero (Luke Omega) would be surfing the net, reading whatever he found there. Or, more likely, looking at pictures. The heroine (Abby Grant) doesn’t have time to read for pleasure so she would be studying Songwriting for Dummies or The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Songwriting. She’s a young woman focused on her goals.