You hear the horror stories. The one that starts with my friend in RWA's cousin's sister's crit partner's former chapter member's best friend ended up being stalked by a reader. Yeah, cause it's so likely to happen. What most people don't understand is readers/fans whatever you want to call them start off as strangers, but soon enough end up as friends. In the age of the Facebook, websites and emails it's easy to meet and befriend people halfway across the world. Of course I do have a sneaky motivation for that...free lodging when I travel...lmao!!
I'm easy. No really I am. Readers send me emails saying how much they love my books. And now I'm leaving all my worldly goods to them :) If someone takes the time to let me know they enjoy my writing then already we have something in common. We both love me, sarcasm, hot men & shiny sparkly things. Hearing someone else's take on my characters, plot or hot love scenes feeds my muse. Readers are amazing, smart people and I'll take as many as I can get.
What does tick me off? People assuming readers (at least my readers) are ignorant. Yep, you read right. There was some cable talk show on at a weird hour I happened upon discussing the decline of women's roles in the home due to romance novels. Mostly the show dealt with two men discussing how these hypothetical women read my books & it rots their brains. Like you can't learn anything from romance novels. Huh, guess all that book learning I did all the way through college was wasted too?
Umm, hello have they even read a romance novel in the past twenty years? Do they know the amount of time and research I put into each book (BDSM club anyone). My Erotic Escapes series, even the quickies, take a ton a research alone. Why do I take so much time to get every little detail right? Because if I don't my readers will know! Think I'm lying. HA! Pleasure Me in Petra, the charming story of a nature demon & mouthy American? A very nice lady emailed me after she read the book. Said she bought it for the title alone because she'd just come back from Petra & wanted to see how many mistakes I made. Yep, I got all mentally offended & got ready to slap the battle tiara on my head. Then she went on to say how amazing and detailed my descriptions were & how I nailed the essence perfectly. Almost brought a tear to my royal eye...sniff sniff.
Plus, I have a really good friend & awesome roomie Cerise Deland. She writes hot, sexy, mysterious historicals. You will never catch me writing one, sorry, but the details of that research boggles my little ADD mind. Anyway, seeing and hearing what she goes through to get everything right...WOW. She's got research books out the yang yang & still double checks herself with historical societies.
Every writer worth their laptop does this for the reader. I do it because I'm that nosy & for the readers :) These men and women want to learn about different lives, cultures & experiences. Granted some places are from the bottomless realm of my warped imagination, Poseidon Series, but others actually exist.
Readers are not stupid people. They don't waste their money or time with an author not willing to put in the work to make the story all that it can be. Why should they?
So forgive me if I don't understand the fear & freakiness that some writers complain about. My readers are awesome, demented but awesome so I have no problem meeting them. Granted I'm not sharing my cell phone number 'cause you know some drunk fool will call me at 3am wanting to talk heros & hot sex. Ummm, unless you're offering cash or tiaras I don't do 3am anymore.
Now you show up at my house wanting to babysit my bunny or something I'm running for my gun. I'm a Texas girl so I have a gun & I know how to use it. Side topic I'm working on getting a pink 9mm. Think I can bedazzle that?
The moral of this slightly warped & twisted story? Don't fear the readers, fear normal people. Now they scare me!
Kudos,
Allie
25 comments:
Don't you just love those people (mainly men) who put down romance and erotic romance? I guess I should send my college degree back to the university, huh? I have been amazed at the lengths that writers go to to research their books. They have taught me alot and sparked my interest to learn more.
LOL, Allie,
I'm easy too--as evidenced by my yahoo group "Ashlyn's New Best Friends."
However...a friend of MINE (not a friend of a friend) who was a nurse at a prison told me about "Prisoners of Love." It's a group of convicts who can't get Hustler in prison, so they make do with romance novels. One writer I know personally did wind up with 2 stalkers from said group when they got out.
99.9% of readers are awesome! But it's a shame there's even .1% that make it scary to give out your real name or phone number.
It took me a while to let Sherry (#1 fan of our yahoo group fame) to know my deets, but now she's met my family, my friends, and everyone considers her a dear friend. I'm willing to bet that happens more than the opposite.
Men are jealous of women now. We are not barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen anymore. We actually can think for ourselves and gasp...form coherent thoughts beyond, yes dear. Grrr!
Great post Allie and I would hope that as a Texas girl, has soon as you figure out how to bejewel the 9mm, that you will share your knowledge.
Even non-romance authors get corrected by readers when they get a detail wrong. I heard stories direct from some big name authors back in my bookstore days.
It's not just the prisons, Ash. I know that during the Vietnam war, romance novels over as reading material for the troops. I used to have some male customers that still read romance 30 years later because of their war time reading. No stalkers that I know of, though.
Fan/Freak/Friend? Me...why I am all of the above! Perhaps a lil stalkerish, but in all do sarcastic fun and love! I may just show up at your door to see that bedazzled 9mm! And , ahem, I don't need no personal deets to find you, Princess. You'll be trapped in a hotel with me soon enough. LOL!!
Thank you, thank you, for not thinking I'm dumb because I read and was extremely fortunate to be born with lady bits! That only took my mom the whole of my 35 years to realize. How silly of her really, I had scissors in my hand!! The point of that...we can add her to that group of men. I mean seriously, how rotted can our brains be, or how "dumb" are we? We READ!! LOL!! And since I've barely traveled as an adult, I very much appreciate authors who take their writing and research seriously. I have to live vicariously through their settings and stories! For right now, that's the closest I'm getting to a life. And since I love your sparkly, witty and damn good writing...write on, woman!!
I'll be seeing you...;0) LOL!!
I'm so glad that authors go through so much trouble to research their work and make their books authentic to the time and period that their books are being set in. I appreciate the book more because it makes me imagine what it would be like to be there. I fell in love with Scotland and the West because of books that were set in those places.
Thanks for another good post on Wednesday! I look forward to hump day and you make me smile and LOL!
I have an ex-idiot who sneered at my Danielle Steele collection. Apparently, his brother dated an airhead who used romance novels as 'research' for her quest for love, and proclaimed whoever her chosen author was at the time 'God'. The brother was rather 'put out' because he didn't 'measure up', and my ex-idiot took that to mean all women did the same. Give me a BREAK! Some of us are actually INTELLIGENT and don't take our romance books as 'gospel truth'!
Kudos. You are so right! It ticks me off when you offer information about something and when asked where it came from you tell them in a romance or erotic novel they don't believe you. Grrrr. With some folks I've started saying, "I don't know, I read it somewhere." Dumb, they trust it without a source, but not from a romance.
No, you can't bejewel a gun. But I do know a ajeweller who can add real bling!
Thanks for the work: keep on educting us!
Love this blog, ladies.
So far my readers have been great. One of them keep me informed of her impressions while reading each of my books. I love her, especially when she emails at 3 am saying she's still awake cause she can't put the book down. My books takea a lot of research. Imagine I even went all the way to Egypt to research, Osiris' Missing Part. The fabulous trip was well-spent research time.
www.monarisk.com
Ladies, thank you once again for your amazing support! Love me some Wednesday too!! Ash, it's always the 1% that screw the curve for the rest of the group. I'm kinda squicked out about the prisoner thing though. Ummm Nasty!!
Elece, two words...tranq gun!
Virginia, why is it the thought of soliders reading my books doesn't squick me out. Inmates however oh boy....yuck!
Eilenn, you made my Wednesday! Research isn't always easy or fun. It pays off in the end when someone lets you know how much they enjoyed the background & felt like they were there.
Great post Allie. Loved the last line. I have to say that as a reader most of the people I've met online are generally nice people. As far as meeting up, it all comes down to common sense. You wouldn't (shouldn't) give out your number to someone you just met so why would this be different?
Anyways, I appreciate the research you put into your books. It really does show when authors don't. :)
Ladies, whenever anyone sneers at my writing I give the a cat & canary look. They wonder what the hell I know & I'm not telling. Drives people crazy which is pretty much my goal in life :)
Most people don't know what they're missing out on with romances. Their loss, right?
I will never understand why anyone would put down someone who is actually reading. No matter what it is the person is intelligent enough to read and want to expand their mind. I don't tell other people that they are stupid or will be because of something like reading.When a person does that it just shows me how stupid they are.
Sing it, Gabrielle! I don't bash others because they love Spiderman comics. So why trash me & my IQ because I enjoy happily ever afters where I know something good is going to happen.
Personally I question the intelligence of those who make light of the romance genre and those who write it. Bet they can't string more than 3 words together & if they do, it turns out to be incomprehensible gibberish.
Margie Hager
Yep definitely bedazzle that 9mm. And normal is just no fun. Enjoyed the post.
The 1st winner of my Wednesday blog contest is ....Gabrielle Lee! Email at allie@allie-standifer.com
Second winner of the 3 WW Wednesday blog is....
wlynnchantale
There's one more drawing before the day is up. Keep those comments coming!
Being a reader I am offended as all you authors opened the whole world to me. I am a fan of the genre, and so many of you have accepted me to your chats and blogs. I would still be offline hiding because of a troll who has made my life a living hell in the past if not for all your wonderful kindness and friendliness.
I never felt comfortable posting on blogs, entering a contest, writing a review or even asking a question of any of you.
Your all are so intelligent and wonderful writers to create the magic that you. You've been more than generous with your knowledge of how your world operates that it take a genius to battle a system that you work in. You have to promote your own craft, work 2 & 3 jobs, maintain a home, family and your very existence and some nut has the stupidity to insult the authors, and readers both?
Oh this just makes me furious.
You work harder than anyone I could imagine and someone needs to give that man a good knock on his head.
Thank you for writing the books that I and many readers enjoy...and the idiots can go get an education themselves or ....I can't even think of what more to say as their idiots.
Darcy
Darcy,
You are a jewel and a strong woman for not allowing anyone, troll or not to guide you life & choices.
Please feel free to post, write a review, email and ask me any questions you want. As the rest of the loon-toon posse will attest I have an open drawbridge policy.
Drop by FB & join the insane brigade & you'll be promoted to a lady in waiting. But the guards are off limits. You can thank Margie for scaring big Scottish warriors into hiding.
So jump in anytime you are always welcome!
Research makes books richer and more interesting. In my current series I've researched Native American folklore, several New Age and mythology books and two on quantum physics (for my alternative universe). :) But I make sure not to overload the reader with details, I hope. It is an erotic romance after all.
And the winners are......
Harlie & Darcy!! Ladies, I'll post this announcement on FB as well, but shoot an email to Allie@allie-standifer.com & we'll get the details sorted out!
Congrats!!
I have posted a few chapters of my first book online and to my surprise men have read it and liked it! After they have teased me about writing romance they have discovered they kinda like it. What do you know?
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