Romance novels are not trash-y

Romance novels, either you love them or you hate them or you feel indifferent.

I have written twenty-three romance novels and I’m proud of it,  I have also written several novellas and been part of romance anthologies, and I have won a national award.

Christmas Blessing by Maria Greene
Romance novel

It’s damned hard work to write a 300-500 page manuscript. Ask any writer of any genre.

Today I got triggered by reading an email from a well-known online entrepreneur who sent out her list of favorite books in 2016. She freely admitted that she read tons of TRASHY romance novels. The word came up four times in her email and that is really offensive in my opinion. No one ever says trashy mysteries or trashy westerns. She did not use that word for any of the other books she mentioned.  She sent this newsletter out to maybe 50k subscribers, perpetuating the literary “racist” view of romances.

If they are such trash, stop reading them! By the way, it’s the most popular and lucrative genre of all fiction.

Another point was that she would not buy them new but buy them used and then trade them back in. An author does not get any royalties from that. I know it’s very common practice, and I have bought used books myself, but I try to buy new as much as I can.

A book genre is a genre is a genre and they are written in a certain way. That is how the reader expects them to be (especially the ending) when they read them.  That does not make them trashy.

If she alluded to sex there is plenty of mainstream fiction with sex that is not romantic in the least.  Romances focus on the feelings rather than the graphics.

There are books that are badly written in every genre, but any savvy reader would not buy from those authors. Any savvy reader buys books from authors she likes and whose writing she admires.

So, anyone who reads this, please stop using the term trashy romance novels. There are some excellent books out there, and the writers worked VERY hard at making them so.

Stepping off the soapbox….

I’m not writing much at the moment. I’m mostly focusing on art, but I’ll always be a writer! My last romance was published in 2005.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. I have a year-long FREE art journaling journey coming up in 2017.  if you want to follow along, please register HERE.