please stop trying to convert me, I've already accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior
At the booksigning on Saturday, I was accosted by a little old lady who, of course, thinks I'm going to Hell for writing about sex. I don't even write the really hot stuff, but I still get this a lot. Even my own grandmother never misses an opportunity to criticize & sermonize about the fact that what I write is pornography. (Hey, I say if she--or anyone else--thinks what I write is porn, they've never seen real pornography. Believe me, it's much worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it. LOL) I've even been handed literature, in the hopes that I would change my wicked, wicked ways, so I can only imagine what kind of flak actual erotica or romantica writers get.
But what I want to know is, what makes these people think it's okay to come up to me, get in my face, & tell me I'm evil? Who told them that their beliefs are right & mine are wrong? And why do they even bother stopping at my table if they A.) don't read romance (or at least not the type of romance I write) & B.) disapprove so heartily?
The woman on Saturday stopped, looked at, & touched all my books, but when I asked if she read romance, replied, "I read the inspirational kind." Hey, good for you; to each his own. "But not the dirty stuff," she added. "Yeah," I replied, pretending it was a terrible shame, "these do have the dirty stuff in them." Then she wanted to know why I have to put the dirty stuff in at all. I don't know, that's just what I write, I told her. "Well," she informed me, hands on hips, "sometimes you just have to take a stand." Since I figured smacking her was out of the question, I smiled, looked her right in the eyes, & said, "I have. This is it." And--epitome of maturity that she was--she actually stomped her foot, made a harrumph sound, & said, "I'm leaving!" before storming off.
Bye-bye. Adios. Why the heck did you bother stopping in the first place? Don't let the mall door hit you in the ass on the way out.
After that, the incident pretty much turned into the joke of the day. I mentioned it to a couple of die-hard romance readers who showed up & they just rolled their eyes & said, "Hey, those are the good parts!" And the bookseller, who also rolled her eyes at the older woman's antics, told me that the sexy stuff sells way better than the un-sexy stuff, anyway.
I'm glad to hear it, but either way, I have no intention of changing the way I write. Or what I write, for that matter. For one thing, I love writing Desires. I suspect the love scenes I write for them are hotter than some, not as hot as others...which pretty much sums up the sensuality level of all my books. And just because my grandmother, or grandmothers all over the world, disapprove, that doesn't mean I'm going to hightail it over to the Inspirational market. Nor am I going to triple the sensuality level in all my books just to hop on the Erotica bandwagon. To those who write in both genres, I say, More power to you! If you've found your niche & you're happy writing it, go for it!
I've found mine & am extremely happy here, so I have no intention of leaving. No matter how many dirty looks you give me...no matter how many lectures I have to endure...no matter where you think I'll be spending Eternity...no matter how many pieces of religious literature you hand me.
My name is Heidi Betts--I write steamy, extremely satisfying love scenes & am damn proud of it. So sue me.
