Coming Out

Not what you're thinking..."not that there's anything wrong with that!"

For years, over a decade I imagine, I've hidden my love of romance novels. My experience is singular, but probably experienced by all romance readers to some degree. During the past year, I've been a lot more vocal, and to be honest, I've received a wide array of responses. People who know me to be the Ivy League educated, highly professional, widely read person all of a sudden thought I was a bumbling idiot with as much sense as Paris Hilton. Others rooted me on as if my acknowledgement was a fight for some great social cause.

Really? Really.

I don't know why they just can't understand it. It's rather simple: I like them as I occasionally love a great mystery thriller (Greg Iles is fantastic and is the male Suzanne Brockmann; his love scenes can be very steamy as well and fascinating as it is totally written from a male point of view) or a horror novel (check out the new Guillermo del Torro "The Strain") or even a wah-wah memoir ("The Glass Castle" is both fantastic and just so...so!). It's also how I like Philip Roth (dude can be raunchy too), Harry Potter (told my husband not to come home early from a business trip as it would collide with the on sale of the last volume and I wouldn't pay much attention to him anyway), W. Somerset Maughm (totally dig him) and think Junot Diaz is overrated (it's all in the packaging) and refuse to read Jodi Picoult for some unknown reason (well I know, but I won't reveal here).

What's the big deal?

Perhaps its the covers - I'm sure a big portion is, but publishers swear that they don't sell if the cover is not right - but the social stigma associated with reading (and writing) romance novels is pretty harsh. I don't judge if I see a man reading a Tom Clancy on the subway or if you rush out to buy the recent Dan Brown - and both men are celebrated as smart men writing entertaining books. Both probably true, but being smarter and more entertaining is highly subjective. I'm a proponent of all reading. If you're reading, particularly a book, I don't care what it is: good for you.

My two cents.