More dribs and drabs...

In the past two days I've received more email about my blog and my, erm, controversial comments that I felt I needed to make a comment or two.

A publisher representative implied that many of their authors were questioning my motivation for posting the information I did. Was I mad / bitter at someone, did I do it for attention or to embarass someone...

Uh, no. If you look at the old blog entries here you will find I comment on RT every year. I usually post blow by blow accounts of events and I have done so since at least 04. It's what I do - this blog is to entertain first. If you read through the entries I'm not a 'newsy' or gossip blog at all. I think this year's commentary caught on because it was more newsworthy. Models running amuck, copious breasts on display (which really isn't new), public floggings...authors behaving badly...its more of the same.

Ever since the Cassie Edwards story broke on Smart Bitches, it has become fashionable to snark the romance world so people are looking for that dangly bit to latch onto. Let's face it, that aspect is now a part of our every day life whether we like it or not. The reason romance is such a great target is because our books deal with sex and touchy feely issues and that makes some people uncomfortable. IMO, it is because we (readers and authors) are willing to put ourselves out there for love while others just see it as being weak or a softie.

I say BRING on the huggy stuff because I want the fantasy and the romance... I will take honest emotions over car crashes and international espionage any day.

The distinction between cover models and the cavemen.

There are actually two distinct groups of models who attend RT each year. First there are the RT Competition Contestants. This group of models are usually your every day Joe. They are nominated by friends, family etc and they come to the convention for a little fun or to launch their careers. They, in general, are very normal, nice, considerate guys.

The next group are the Cavemen from Ellora's Cave. Rodney, whom everyone adores, is a normal man with exquisite manners, a kind smile and a great personality. He is also married with a beautiful little girl and when his wife walks into the room (now THERE is a beautiful woman, inside and out) no other woman exists for him.

Happy Sigh. Isn't that what we want from our heroes?

Then there are the rest of the cavemen most of which are strippers. Now I don't have an issue with strippers but I do have an issue with common courtesy. If you can't have a conversation with a stranger without them putting their arms around you, or touching you (or them) inappropriately, that IMO is a problem.

Do we go to the grocery store and grope the cashier? I certainly hope not. :)

I lost count of the number of people who approached me at the con and thanked me for what I blogged. They were uncomfortable with what happened with regards to the men (and a few model comments) and they weren't happy with it.

Do these men really believe that being groped (or groping) a woman in the bar is what we want from our heroes? My heroes treat their women with respect and dignity, they don't simulate oral sex for a crowd. They don't hoot and holler when someone is being flogged (they were willing floggees) in the middle of a bar. Our heroes aren't meat and many of their actions were not heroic. If someone wants to put on a strip show during a venue at a conference then it needs to be labeled as such.

I have a stack of email from authors and readers alike telling me their experiences of being touched inappropriately, of incidents in the bar (most talked about the flogging) and some bad behavior of the authors.

I spoke to the Fallen Angel Reviewers who were lambasted for trying to help distribute sale material (related to the ebooks) during the ebook fair. Because the information wasn't available in a timely fashion, it was these lovely ladies who took the brunt of it from cranky authors.

What? When did professionalism go out the door? Then again, if you surf the internet you'll see authors behaving badly all over the place so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I really loved the one where the author hired a PI to track down a reviewer who gave her a bad review. She gathered the woman's family information back to her grandparents...and for what? I don't even want to know.

So now onto more fun things...

The conference season is in full swing so below is a list of fun, romance friendly conferences you might want to consider:

Lori Foster's Reader and Writer Get Together

Celebrate Romance

New Jersey Romance Writers

Central Ohio Fiction Writers

Moonlight and Magnolias