Friday 3 June 2011

Romance is Healthy- On the Page or Off...

I've been reading romance books for many years - all I'm admitting to is that it started a long time ago...

My long term relationship with romance novels really began when I picked up a Mills and Boon in my city centre library, from then on I was hooked.

Recently Sally Quillford highlighted an article by Claudia Connell that featured in the Daily Mail. Sally rightly called it patronising and I agree with her, romance writers don't automatically wear twin sets and have blue rinses, or any of the other suggestions.

Now the Guardian has an article discussing claims made by a religious Psychologist on the effect that reading romance books has on women- "women can become as dangerously unbalanced by these books'  entrancing but distorted messages as men can be by the distorted messages of pornography".

Romance books have always suffered disparaging comments, and the term 'bodice-rippers' usually features as it did in the Daily Mail article. Ripping bodices to me suggests aggressive sexual violence, that isn't romance.

I don't see Psychologists suggesting that authors of crime novels are all balding nerds, dressed in black who really want to go out and murder numerous people in the most horrible ways possible...

(Okay, I know I got carried away there, but you know what I'm saying.)

Romance writers are inventive-I'm not even going to try counting how many sub-genres there are. They're smart, helpful, very knowledgeable and they like a happy ending.
(In this current world that's something that should be applauded and encouraged.)

Romance writers took on the challenge of e-books early and are getting the sales to prove it was a wise move.

Your choice of romance reading can have the intimacy go on behind closed doors or in full view of the reader, but it is never tacky- porn is.

To paraphrase something someone else said on the subject, what's so bad about love and monogamy?

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Poetry and Me...

As anyone who knows me well will tell you, I don't write poetry. (I have read and enjoyed poetry by Byron, Keats, Tennyson and the occasional piece by Robert Frost.)

Now I admit I did try writing it last year. One of our best poets in the Writers' Club held a workshop to encourage more potential entrants to the monthly poetry competition.

I foolishly said I would try. Even more foolishly I promised that I would finish the poem and enter it into one of the 'open' category competitions that had a deadline of two months hence.

The entry went in and the judge made a few positive comments, but I think he was just trying to be encouraging- at least he didn't say it was rubbish...

Now you may wonder why I'm talking about poetry. Well tonight I am in the Chairman's seat at the writers' club, and the guest speaker is poet Carole Coates.

Viv, who arranged the booking, mentioned something about everyone needing pen and paper. I think there might be a practical element later in the evening.
As I will be sat beside the speaker I won't be able to hide, so I think I'd better quickly brush up on my poetry terminology. :-)

HOURS LATER...

I survived.

I enjoyed the readings, and then after the break we did a number of simple exercises. The free writing pieces did actually give me ideas and I'm sure once my brain has worked on the phrase I wrote- " The curse of DNA" I might be able to construct something. Though I suspect that will turn into a story-eventually.

But to be honest, I will never be a poet...