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First….for any of you who posted a sentence last week –email me your address (cindykirk@aol.com) and, as promised, I’ll send you my March Silhouette Special Edition, Romancing the Nanny.
Okay….for this week’s topic….anyone watch Gray’s Anatomy? Even if you don’t you’ll be able to get my point. Several weeks ago they had a scene where Derek and Meredeth were in bed together. He told her she snores, she told him he had morning breath…..hold it! TMI! Ruined the romance for me.
It’s the same way in books. Yes, people go to the bathroom but we don’t want to see it on the page. Yes, they have morning breath but I don’t want to be reminded of it.
I read a romance novel where the hero passed gas (I’m not kidding). It was a western and it so startled me (and pulled me from the story) that I still remember the scene.
Anything ever shock you like that? Or am I too sensitive?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Feb 24th
2007
7:11 am
Mary Said:
Passed gas???? EWWWW!!!
But I actually always think about the morning breath thing.
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Feb 24th
2007
8:24 am
Maggie Robinson Said:
I read romance for the sheer unreality of it. It doesn’t always have to be light and fluffy…but I sure don’t want it gassy! I’m always amused, too, by the luscious love scene as they first wake up. I guess it would kill the moment if they got up to relieve themselves first, which is the first thing on MY mind when I awaken. Oops, TMI right there…but I’d never write it in a book!
I think we expect and can accept different things from movies and TV than romance novels. Reading is a more idealistic endeavor and we want to be removed from “real” life.
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Feb 24th
2007
8:40 am
AndreaW Said:
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like that. Like Maggie said, sometimes that “morning breath” is in the back of my mind, but not so much that it ruins the story.
Passed gas?!?! Cindy, apparently that author wanted to get your attention and it sounds as if she/he did and that you’ll never forget!
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Feb 24th
2007
10:22 am
Isabel Said:
Yeah, really, Passed gas????! Again morning breath is something I think about too, but not enough that it’ll pull me from the story.
Like Maggie said, I too read romance for the “unreality of it”. Let’s keep it that way!
Passed gas? Unless the goal of the book is to do product placement for Malox or Gasx then I don’t think so!
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Feb 24th
2007
10:40 am
Pat L. Said:
Passed Gas? I cant believe it. I could have done without that. Did he do it in front of anyone? What was the reaction?
I can do with morning breath too.
I too read for enjoyment and to get away so to speak. Dont need the reality of passing gas – my husband and I both do enuf of that. LOL.
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Feb 24th
2007
11:22 am
Margo Maguire Said:
These little pieces of reality plague me when I write. I’m conscious of these issues for the h&h, and I want my characters to deal with them. But not *front and center* in the story! I’m always looking for ways to hint that they’re taking care of things without getting detailed about it. It’s a challenge!
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Feb 24th
2007
12:51 pm
Cherie Japp Said:
Reading is an escape for me. I don’t need realistic things like passing gas or morning breath being dealt with by characters.
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Feb 24th
2007
1:50 pm
Shana Said:
Too funny, Cindy. Like Cherie, I want an escape from reality. No bodily functions, please.
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Feb 24th
2007
3:14 pm
Lois Said:
I’m with all of you, I read for the fantasy of it. But boy, I never would have imagined that in a novel!! LOL
The most surprising thing for me (but it was quite welcome though!) was three words – Lisa Kleypas, rasberries. Whoa.
However, that’s not what you’re really asking. . . but yeah, I’ve read books where someone went to the bathroom in the morning or whatever, but hey, they aren’t supposed to in romance novels — they’re supposed to have terrfic sex when they wake up in the morning for crying out loud!!!
Lois
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Feb 24th
2007
3:16 pm
Lois Said:
Actually, I think it’s raspberries. For some reason I can’t spell right now. . . but I think you know what I mean.
Lois
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Feb 24th
2007
6:59 pm
Cindy Kirk Said:
>
Pat L, Here’s what I remember. He was standing with another man on a boardwalk in town when he reached down, pulled one buttocks aside and passed wind (or whatever term the author used. YUCK
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Feb 24th
2007
9:07 pm
Jenni Said:
He not only passed gas, but he moved a buttock aside to do it???!!! WAY TMI! Please…. I run across enough guys like that in real life. I don’t want them in my romance novels as well!
The morning breath thing always is in the back of my mind too. In one book I read (I think it was from the “Only” series by Elizabeth Lowell), the heroine always had some spearmint leaves on her, which she chewed regularly. That got rid of the element of bad breath!
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Feb 24th
2007
9:08 pm
Isabel Said:
He was standing with another man on a boardwalk in town when he reached down, pulled one buttocks aside and passed wind (or whatever term the author used. YUCK
NOooo! OMG, that’s just not right. I’m sorry things like that should left out.
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Feb 24th
2007
11:14 pm
Rainy Said:
Passing gas! No way, that kind of stuff just knocks the wind right out of me!
It’s one thing in an Elizabeth Berg reality/romance kind of book, but not in true-to-form romance book where we don’t want unsavory reality to interfere with waves of passion,
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Feb 25th
2007
3:41 am
Lacey Said:
OK, so I’m cracking up reading everyone’s first line–HE PASSED GAS? REALLY??
Except…except…folks, I’m having dinner right now. Or maybe I should say I WAS having dinner right now…grrrrrooossssssssss…the only thing worse than a hero passing gas is a hero passing gas while I’m eating……
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Feb 25th
2007
11:03 am
Jan Said:
Good grief, mentioning he passed gas was TMI, but showing how he did is taking realism too far. I read to escape the crudities of reality. And Cindy, that scene from Grey’s Anatomy was a turn off for me as well.
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Feb 25th
2007
1:06 pm
Clarisse Said:
Please, God, no passing gas, bowel movements, details on menstrual products or vomit. I have no strong objections to snoring or hiccuping if they are used for humor, but there are lines I do not want my romances to cross. Heroes do not fart!
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Feb 25th
2007
3:35 pm
catslady Said:
I wasn’t thrilled with that morning breath comment either. I now think of that when they are together – yuk.
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