Guest Blogger Kaily Hart..You Read WHAT???

You Read WHAT!?
You wouldn’t believe some of things I’ve heard people say or those that have been said to me about women who read romance. Or perhaps you can J. Can you imagine what’s said about the women that actually WRITE it? With all the talk this week about Judy Mays and her situation this seemed like such a worthy topic to bring up. The disparaging way the romance genre is viewed overall still confuses and frustrates me and not much really ticks me. Actually, I don’t often get ticked off at all, but this really does it for me. Yes, it’s probably primarily from men, but I’ve heard a lot of very disparaging remarks from women as well, women who “wouldn’t lower themselves to read such trash”. LOL. Sure, not everything is for everyone. But when it comes to romance, it’s not just that some people choose not to read it, it’s almost like they have to belittle those that do as well. It doesn’t seem to be the case with other genres of popular fiction. In fact, quite the opposite, so what gives??



Here are some things I’ve come across and my thoughts on it:



Women who read romance are fat, ugly, unmarried women who can’t get a guy – Wow, generalize much? I know for a fact this is not true!



Women who read romance just need a good lay by a real guy - Ah, great defensive comeback, usually masking your own deficiency and every woman everywhere could do with a good lay now and again J, romance reader or not.



Romance is not serious fiction – Oh, and science fiction and urban fantasy are? And by the way, many, many books from other genres have an element of romance in them. Almost every blockbuster movie does as well. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but what genre outsells more than any other? Huh?



Erotic romance is basically porn – Oh, honey what kind of porn have you been watching LOL?



Romance is so predictable – I love this one. You mean when you read a mystery you don’t know by the end it’ll be solved and you’ll know who did it? That sounds pretty predictable, but that’s just me.



Romance encourages women to expect something that’s not real. It sets unrealistic expectations about love and marriage – OK, this is probably said by guys who don’t…er…shall we say, measure up? Why shouldn’t women or anyone for that matter, have high expectations when it comes to the person they’ll spend the rest of their life with?



Anyone can write a romance novel - Oh, really? I get this ALL the time. People think writing romance is so much easier than writing any other type of book. Couple meet and fall in love. They boink and declare their undying devotion to each other. The people don’t think they really have to come up with any ideas, that they just have to write it. Alrighty then. Have at it!



That’s not all of them. Not by a long shot, but it gives a flavor. Romance isn’t just the 50 pound gorilla in the publishing room. It’s more like the 1000 pound monolith that aint going anywhere anytime soon.



So…have you come across some of these asinine comments and thinking? Why do YOU read romance?





About Me:



Kaily Hart, a seemingly straight-laced mother of four left corporate America and a high-powered, lucrative career to be a stay at home mom. Ha! That lasted about four weeks, during which time she realized she had a deeply repressed dream —to write. And romance at that! By day, Kaily plays conservative wife and soccer mom, but at night crafts hot and steamy tales of romance and love with gorgeous heroes who wouldn’t dream of leaving the toilet set up. Ever. She’s smart and sassy, at least in her own mind, and is trying her best to bring the alpha male solidly back to contemporary romance, one hot story at a time. Two years ago she never would have thought she’d be doing this, but now that she is? Well, you couldn’t pay her enough to do anything else.



Kaily’s books, PICTURE THIS, PAY UP & PLAY ME are all currently available from Ellora’s Cave and other ebook outlets.



If anyone would want to contact me (which I would love by the way) or just keep up with what I’m doing, you can find me all over:

Web – http://www.kailyhart.com/

Blog - http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart

Twitter - http://twitter.com/kailyhart

Welcome our guest- Kaily Hart

Please welcome our guest, the incredibly talented Kaily Hart who will be sharing her views on TATTS. Super sexy??? Hm. Guess it just depends. Read what Kaily has to say on the matter.


TATTOOS



I’m fascinated with tattoos. Just flat out fascinated. Of course, there’s tattoos and then there’s…tattoos J. There’s not much else that gets my attention more fully than a hot guy sporting a tasteful bit of ink. Does he have them anywhere else, like…somewhere I can’t see them? When did he get them? All together or over time? Why did he get them and what do they signify, if anything? Does he know how damn sexy they make him look? Probably, huh? And the writer’s mind is off, building scenarios and possibilities and yeah…weaving fantasies. And if you’re thinking what I consider ‘tasteful’?



Something like this…





not this J





That leaves a lot in between that kind of has to be assessed on a case by case basis and if you’re wondering..nope, I don’t have any tattoos. But I probably would if I could. I know exactly what it’d be like too. I’ve been known to search the internet for designs (all in the name of research, of course J) and have a pretty good idea. I’d pick something discreet, small, meaningful or symbolic, as well as something pleasing to look at. But I can’t. You see, I have a severe needle phobia ::takes a deep breath::. There I said it. It’s not like I haven’t had my share over the years—I have—I just can’t voluntarily sign myself up for having a million tiny needles every second. Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but it’s still A LOT, okay? Plus, there’s the real fear factor, not just of the needle itself, but of the high degree of probability that the tattoo artist would start and I’d chicken out after the fact. Who wants to have a partial design of something tattooed on their body for the rest of their lives LOL? I have enough “I love Lucy” moments as it is. Anyway, it’s funny and embarrassing, but whenever we’re up in Orlando at Disney with the kids? I always get a ‘tramp stamp’ at one of those temporary tattoo places LOL. Shhh, don’t tell anyone, all right?



Maybe one day I’ll find the courage from somewhere. In the meantime...I’ve pretty much discovered that the next best thing to having a tattoo is having the characters in my books have them. It has to fit the character and story above all else, but I think there’s a great deal of opportunity to build aspects of a character through a ‘quirk’ or an attribute like this. It’s fun to answer the questions I posed above for a character and it can become an interesting story element, another layer of the onion. I’ve got a few stories in the works where the heroes have tattoos. Adds another hotness factor to an alpha already doing okay in that department, but what the heck?



So…tell me what YOU think. Do YOU like tattoos? Do you like to read about heroes who have them? Heroines? Hot or not? Skank or swank?



Web – www.kailyhart.com

Blog - http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart

Twitter - http://twitter.com/kailyhart