What I find most provocative about your post is how… ahem… your husband is such a wise and loving guy he “understands” how romance novels need to be displayed just like any other genre fiction book in the living room of any house! I mean really… if a hubby wants to find a little romance in his own bedroom, he might want give in to a few simple things the wife wants. It’s only a book, after all…

It reminds me of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when (totally can’t remember names) the mom says to the daughter… “the man is the head of the house, but the woman… she is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants…”

LOVE that movie…

Adele

And the thing about Oprah is funny. Someone brought her up in my book club last month, and there were some giggles about her books being so… dreary. Like, once you’re done reading, why… go… on… Okay, so there’s a time and a place for tough books with ambiguous, even horrific endings. I just don’t want to spend my minimal free time reading books about real Holocaust survivors who go through EVERYTHING and then end up dying a slow, tortured death in the end. (I made that up, but you know what I mean.) Really. Why… go… on…

And you know, I do think historical romances are probably more fairytale-ish than contemps, but in both cases the h/h do go through some pretty decent conflicts, and when we’re done reading one, at least we can sigh and sleep through the night without nightmares!

And thanks for your lovely comments about my RITA win! That was my first RWA conference as well, so that whole week was a total blur for me, but it really was a pretty magical time.

Speaking of Oprah – I heard her once say that she doesn’t ever recommend romance novels b/c they’re just not realistic enough. Well, I know more happily married people than I do who aren’t and it’s sad that that isn’t her reality.

And thanks for joining us today, Adele. On a personal note my very first RWA conference you won a RITA for Best First Book and I just sat in the audience and cried with you. I’ll never forget that night. You gave me hope to keep going with my own writing.

Yesterday, I took a copy of My Darling Caroline to my daughter’s middle school to give to one of the counselors (who was expecting it) along with some paperwork. I left it in the front office with the thirty-something receptionist — who did a double take on the cover. Embarrassed, she quickly turned it over, then said, “Wow, the back is worse.”

Geez. You’d think I was handing the book out to sixth graders! And where has she been living, a cave? But of course it suggested “sex, sex, and more SEX!” therefore… naughty! But I have to wonder if I wrote horror novels or true crime and the cover displayed a big knife dripping with blood if she would have had the same reaction.

Several years ago, I happened to be in Washington D.C during the National Book Fair, which was sponsored by the First Lady. Canopies lined the mall, each one featuring different genes and categories, with featured authors, etc. I went in search of the romance tent and didn’t find it. Romance was not represented. Just about everything else was, including crime and horror, but no romance. It struck me that society is okay reading about serial killers who torture and dismember, yet sees something shameful or “trashy” about falling in love. Wow. I’ve always thought that double standard was twisted. Gosh, would you rather read about a sicko who hurts people or experience the feelings of falling in love? To me, the choice is simple.