Comments on: Chill Out!

By: Stargirl

Stargirl — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:02:56 +0000

Lauren…all I can say is Amen and Hallelujah! I absolutely agree with what you said in your post. I actually enjoy both inspirational romances and erotic romances. (Do I need therapy?) I discovered erotic fiction last year when I read Megan Hart for the first time. She has to be one of the best authors, of any genre, I’ve read in a long time. I just picked up a few of your books from the library. I enjoyed What Happens in Vegas. Can’t wait to read the project you and Megan have cooked up together.

What matters to me is the quality of the writing, and the story.
I say that as a reader and as a writer hoping to be published someday. I have quite a few things in the works, but I hope to make my first submission to Spice Briefs before the summer is over. Yes Lauren, I am a “submission virgin” :oops:. (That kind of has a funny ring to it, huh? LOL)

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:39:54 +0000

Lauren,

Very well said!! I am a Romance reader of 25 years & with purchasing a Palm in January have since found erotic romance. It is a whole new, wonderful world. I went from having 1-2 had to buy authors ( long time Johanna Lindsey fan) to having ~10 faves and another 15 or so close 2nds. Those 25 consist of what I consider erotic authors -at least for some of their books. But the are all on the new excel spreadsheet of must haves. I didn’t even keep a list before. My book budget has been exponentially enlarged. It had to be.

I agree with you in “I don’t put my money with things I don’t agree with” ( I hope I made sense I’m not good with quotes). If I don’t like somewhere, someone, or someplace I don’t shop there, eat there, or spend my money there. Much of this is new to me (I’m technically challenged). I didn’t know you could go to author web sites, check things out, e-mail them, & have them return e-mails. It’s a wonderful experience. But by far, the erotic romance writers on my list are the ones that stay personally vested in their clients/fans. They actually answer questions & look at the opportunities for the freebie stuff. I didn’t even know that their was such a thing as an ARC.

Keep writing please! I stand on my issues/concerns/soapboxes pretty firmly also.

Thank you,
Susan B.

By: Professionalism « AJ’s Place

Professionalism « AJ’s Place — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:25:50 +0000

[...] 9, 2008 at 9:25 am (Uncategorized) Tags: lauren dane, professionalism, writing I was reading Lauren Dane’s Blog yesterday and saw that she raised a very valid [...]

By: Feisty

Feisty — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:07:49 +0000

I heart you, Lauren.

By: Karen Templeton

Karen Templeton — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:18:18 +0000

Thanks, Lauren! I look at it and go, geez, that’s a lot of books.
Makes me tired to just think about it!

By: laurendane

laurendane — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:15:03 +0000

Thanks Karen. It does tend to make me a bit crazy, LOL, but all I can do is hope that in five years this won’t be an issue.

BY the way, your books page at your website is awe inspiring!

By: Karen Templeton

Karen Templeton — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:54:58 +0000

Great post.

And just for the record? I was on the last RITA reformation committee, or task force, or whatever the heck it was called, and except for one person we all recommended that there be a separate erotic romance category in the RITAs for the very reason you mentioned — they’re NOT just regular romances with hotter sex scenes, they’re structured entirely differently.

As you can see, our recommendation wasn’t accepted. And because of that, erotic books are being sent to judges who don’t get/like them and consequently don’t have a clue how to grade them, because they’re being told to judge them against “standard” historicals or contemps or paras or whatever, and that simply does not work.

To me, not exactly rocket science. But as you said…takes a long time to shift an organization with ten thousand pairs of legs.