It's amazing how boring genre romance novels can be after you've been reading outside that field. Thrillers. for instance, can be arson or kidnapping as well as murder or escape. Family saga or adventure type stuff is as varied as people.
Not that there aren't outstanding romance writers, even those that follow the formula. There are, and most of them grow away from the formulas and let their skills shine. It doesn't matter if the skills are character development, plot, description, or just a convoluted mind. Good story telling is good story telling.
The reason I'm bringing it up is because the genre publishers are really slipping up. Recent romances that I have read are full of typos, grammar errors, and just plain silliness. The problems are almost worth the reading. A recent novel referred to the smart guy and the tough guy pair as the brain and the bronze. Another book from the same publisher informed me that the man's heart raced, and then his pulse did too. (That one struck me as so funny I texted it to many of my writer friends.)
Why read, you might wonder, if the stories and story telling are so bad.
These books, these (incompetent) authors have been published. Like any Unknown Author, I would like to be published. The best advice is always to read what is getting out there.
But do you know what? I believe I'd rather remain an Unknown than to publicly display my idiocy, my editor's inattention, and my publisher's uncaringness for the whole world to see. There's nothing noteworthy in my people's pulse keeping up with their heartbeat, and my brains guy is the one who's bronzed. It might bake his brain, but he's still pretty. and the story is about the brawny guy anyway. He's so much more interesting!
There's an old saying about keeping silent and being thought a fool or opening your mouth and removing all doubt. I think that should apply to being published, too.
In the meantime, I have a list of publishers who are really good for a laugh.
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