Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Archive for March 28th, 2007
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
When I was growing up I was never on a team, never in a group, never part of a special community. When I first discovered the online romance community I was amazed. Here were people, just like me, chatting about the books I loved and hated, swapping recommendations, mentioning authors I loved. Hell, even some of my favorite authors were blogging. It was an incredible discovery. (Yes, I’m pathetic). Those first few months were a dream. Commenting on posts I found interesting, reading in-depth reviews of the genre I love, entering contests while I was kept awake at night with insomnia.
I lived in this marshmallow sweet world for almost a year before I learned of the dark currents which ran beneath. It was only recently I heard of this ‘gap’ between readers and authors. I think it was on SFC or Dear Author. And I was so surprised by some of the passionate comments. It was almost as if one side hated the other.
Huh?
I though we as romance readers loved romance authors. Why? Because they provide us with our romance novels.
Yes, I know I’m naive but that’s how I perceived it. As the issue was raised on many other blogs I began to see why there was so much tension. Some authors were offended by some of the harsh reviews they’d received from readers. Some readers felt the authors were know-it-alls and intruding on reader territory (how masculine does that sound?) Another problem readers complained about was that authors weren’t commenting on readers’ blogs.
