Fans of Interracial Romance discussion
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The one book no-no that will turn you off
Tina wrote: "My book peeves include:- H/H argue throughout the whole book and suddenly all is forgiven and are in love in the last couple of pages. I need the journey to be as wonderful as the destination.
..."
Tina I know what you mean about sequels. I have a book that I enjoyed so I decided to look up the author and see what else they may have to read. I found a book featuring the hero from the book I had just finished reading only to find out that he and the heroine had broken up and the sequel was his new gay relationship with some man. I was done after that. I just pretend that I never saw that follow-up book.
Danielle wrote: "Nowadays I breathe a sigh of relief when I buy a book and it's plain old sex. It's become underrated. Romance has lost its charm if I have to look for kink to enjoy a romance story (JMHO). It's ..."a lot of times the author is told to spice it up...i once had an editor complain that hte book didn't hae any sex until page sixty...i responded that the h/h didn't know each other so why would they have sex before that...while j and i write some straight out banging sex scenes, there needs to be a reason they're having sex...b/c we won't whore out our character...so to satisfy the editor (publisher) and myself...i made it a dream sequence where she fantasized about him loving her...
that is why j and i don't write for a pub anymore...too many compromises...it's hard doing it yourself b/c you have to wear all the hats...but immenently (spelling?) more satisfying.
Mod
That's horrible! I don't blame you at all. Sometimes it really is like teeth pulling with pub companies indeed. The change of names and titles without the author's consent is over the line for me. Companies that do this are writing themselves into a closing corner. That's so true that many of them just want to sell, sell, sell at any cost. I feel so bad for the authors & readers who are subjected to this type of misleading.
Danielle wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "and another thing that i loathe is the identical twin no one knew about coming in and mucking things up...grr."OMG, I would kill my spouse..."
to be fair to the pubs though...about covers...while j and i can spend eight hours on our covers b/c we only hve one or two releases per month, a company with hundreds of releases per month or even thirty cannot feasibly do that.
Rae wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "you really don't have control of your title (even academic books almost always the title changes), even the names of your characters can be changed, etc. you do NOT have cont..."yeah and that is sad...it's not about the story, it's abotu the sales...and that leaves so many peeps out...while allowing so many authors who write crap to be on the best sellers list b/c pubs will pull out all stops for them...
i am not being ugly but sometimes i look at the best sellers list especially on epubs and i'm like 'are you freaking kidding me?'
Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Rae wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "you really don't have control of your title (even academic books almost always the title changes), even the names of your characters can be changed, etc. you do N..."It's all about the mighty dollar. Look at the music out nowadays. You have talented singers who rarely get any airplay or recognition, but the barely talented wrapped in pretty packages get heavily promoted because they bring in the money.
*I don't read erotica stories which include menages. I believe 3 is a crowd. True love and romance for me can only be between two people.*Generally BDSM turns me off. I've read mild BDSM, but can only tolerate them in very small doses. I don't like to see people being anyone's slave and being chained, wiped and degraded. No bloody golden showers and the like either.
*Anal sex (with no mention of blood!) in small doses I can tolerate, but no rimming (licking of the anus) for peace sake!
*I have a different viewpoint and mentality when it comes to what contitutes "equality" between male and female so I want gender politics to remain neutral. No feminist jargon or agenda, bitchy heroines or females with a victim mentality. Basically, undevoted heroines who don't love their men as much as their men love them. In fact, I want little to no politics of any kind at all.
*Uber alpha, psycho heroes (I guess these are really called gamma heroes?). I love alpha heroes, but even though he's alpha and will kick a dude's arse, he should still be a good person. Most of all he should have a soft core, love his woman deeply and will do anything for her.
*Doormat heroes and heroines really piss me off. I have very little respect for males who allow themselves to be whipped or castrated. I can't stand females who're just waiting on a man to solve all their problems. This will actually make me quit reading an author's work.
*I don't read homosexual stories of any kind, and no I don't have anything against gays. I'm heterosexual so I prefer to read heterosexual stories.
ETA: I can, but prefer not to read stories with little or no sexual intercourse, unless its a book directed at young adult audiences.
Mod
I definitely want the heroine to be as devoted to the hero as he is to her. I hate when one person loves more in the romance book.
Loni wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Rae wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "you really don't have control of your title (even academic books almost always the title changes), even the names of your characters can be..."preach...preach...and that is a bad thing...watching idol, tht thing with jennifer hudson still bothered me...and looking at daughtry and other peeps i wondered how the heck a record exec turned them down.
Danielle wrote: "Davina, you've read anal (with blood)? Eek!I definitely want the heroine to be as devoted to the hero as he is to her. I hate when one person loves more in the romance book. "
me too...they need to be equally yoked
In several Lora Leigh (and other authors too now that I've thought about it) stories there's usually, though not always, mention of a trickle(sp?) of blood during the heroine's first experience of anal sex. Not sexy, erotic or anything other than gross.
Davina wrote: "In several Lora Leigh stories there's usually, though not always, mention of a trickle(sp?) of blood during the heroine's first experience of anal sex. Not sexy, erotic or anything other than gross..."omg...
Mod
Mod
EWWWWWWW! More reinforcement not to read that author. (Shuddering).
Mod
That's why I get annoyed when it gets snuck into a book and I didn't expect it.
Danielle wrote: "Arch wrote: "anal sex will turn me off. If I read a book and find out there is an anal sex scene, I will throw the book away."That's why I get annoyed when it gets snuck into a book and I didn'..."
we list our books under erotica so peeps know that there may be situations they won't like...
we do have a few books where that is a scene, and books with menage etc but we don't stick it in...it's part of the story...
we will make sure peeps know that our erotica books may contain those scenes though...
Mod
I don't buy erotic books and if I make a mistake and buy one, they are history. I have bought a couple of books from the library, not knowing they were erotic books. That's why I think there should be a warning on the book.
I know that a huge percentage of ebooks are erotic stories and I don't buy ebooks.
Mod
If you know of any books on my shelves that have anal sex in it, please let me know, so they can be history.
Arch wrote: "Jeanieandjayha,I don't buy erotic books and if I make a mistake and buy one, they are history. I have bought a couple of books from the library, not knowing they were erotic books. That's why I..."
we have a warning right in the book...that it is erotica so peeps know that before they read it.
Mod
That's why I get annoyed when it gets snuck into a..."
I really appreciate that. Nothing worse than not being warned.
Danielle wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Arch wrote: "anal sex will turn me off. If I read a book and find out there is an anal sex scene, I will throw the book away."That's why I get annoyed wh..."
well we do the erotica warning b/c yeah, it's erotic...so peeps know what they are walking into...
message 73:
by
Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jul 21, 2009 10:39AM)
(new)
Mod
I don't buy erotic books and if I make a mistake and buy one, they are history. I have bought a couple of books from the library, not knowing they were erotic books. That's why I..."
Unfortunately this has made me leery of buying just any interracial book, Arch. There are some ebooks that are not erotic, but it's hard to tell the different sometimes. I wish that the epublishers would consistently list those elements. That's why I like about Phaze is that they do have a rating system that tells you if the book has menage or anal or BDSM in it. You have to be careful with some of them like Samhain. They just say explicit sex. Not all books with explicit sex have anal in them. I didn't know the difference, and I bought one and got burned. I never finished the book and I never will. I feel cheated as a matter of fact, and I wish that people would be frank in their reviews and say that's present. I do have friends here on GR who do and I certainly appreciate it.
Mod
If you know of any books on my shelves that have anal sex in it, please let me know, so they can be history.
"
If any come up, I'll let you know. We both know to avoid Lora Leigh!
Danielle wrote: "Arch wrote: "Jeanieandjayha,I don't buy erotic books and if I make a mistake and buy one, they are history. I have bought a couple of books from the library, not knowing they were erotic books...."
anal isn't what makes the book have to be classified as erotic...language, number of sex scenes, use of toys etc...
we have categories: erotic, romance, gen fiction, etc
anything under erotica has language and situations even if those situations aren't anal...the language is still strong enough to warrant it (our opinion)...when i purchase from certain companies...i purchase considering that the books are erotic...even though some are quite mild...
Mod
Yes, so true!
Mod
Danielle wrote: "My whole thing is with stuff like BDSM, anal, and menage. If an erotic book has those elements, I'm not interested. If it's just explicit sex (but has a plot and a strong romance and no multiple pa..."LMAO b/c i have someone vet almost every book i read...not for menage but for suckdom...
also it is difficult for me to read historicals often (even though my major was history with a concentration in af-am history)...real hard for me to read that...sometimes it can ruin the whole story for me b/c my anger rises up..
i also hate ghetto-fabulous novels...omg i hate that crap...and yes, i know peeps love the urban fiction but that is not my cup of tea at all...
so when someone tells me to read one...they've already read it so i know it should be a good read.
message 79:
by
Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jul 21, 2009 11:17AM)
(new)
Mod
I'll buy a book based on the blurb, and I have gotten pretty good at being able to pick a book based on the the blurb. Usually most of the books I pick, I like. If I'm not sure, I'll read reviews on Goodreads and other sites. I just get burned with
the ebooks because there's no real way to know how erotic they will get.
I feel you on the historicals. They are writing a lot of wallpaper historicals with silly 'modern girl' heroines. It annoys me to no end. So I have slowly cut down on my historical buying and reading. I will only buy tried and true authors or books that have been well-received by people who are historical romance fans (and have similar tastes). I really dislike those wallpaper historicals. Incidentally, there are a lot more erotic historicals coming out, so I scratch those off the list of to be reads too.
Danielle wrote: "OMG I despise the thug lit genre. I haven't read one, but I sneer at the sight of the books. I'm so wrong for that. I especially hate when they have a section of thug lit and call it African Ameri..."i know peeps like the ghetto/urban lit...but i just can't stomach all of the stereotypes...it galls me on a level b/c there doesn't seem to be trailer park lit/barrio lit...and the fact that it is a section in afr-am bothers me...i know there are some good stories but there is only so many times i want to see new jack city in print...that is my bias...so yeah...
historicals i have to be really careful with...but it bugs me b/c you CANNOT claim to love someone you own...grr...
Mod
I avoid the historicals that deal with the Old South for that very reason. To me I can't get past the immorality of slavery to like a character who has owned slaves. There have been a handfull of antebellum books that dealt with it very well and I could like the characters. You might like The Horsemaster's Daughter by Susan Wiggs. I thought it dealt with the slavery issue very well. The heroine is an octoroon.
cool, thanks for the suggestion...i will check it out.
You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you would guess that every Southern girl or British girl was best friends with her slaves or servants? Uh... what? I guess there's no way to make a character likable who treats her subordinates, for lack of a better term, poorly.I don't like the modern girl in HR either. There were not nearly that many running around in trousers.
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Debbie wrote: "I read this one book where the guy on the cover looked bi-racial but there was nothing in the story that said what he was."unfortunately unless you publish..."
it's a learning process...for all parties involved...but in my opinion, pubs need to remember that they are also consumers and treat their customer like they would like to be treated...
Mod
That's a tricky thing with the European historicals for me, as well as the Antebellum books. How does the h/h relate to the servant class. Are they kind and respectful.
Mod
Sex doesn't sell my way.
Eugenia wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "OMG I despise the thug lit genre. I haven't read one, but I sneer at the sight of the books. I'm so wrong for that. I especially hate when ..."why don't you go for it...start with a short story and watch it grow...the fact that they had to make laws to stop IR romance back in the day proves that IR was going on back then...
our latest book started in 1930s south carolina...omg that bit was tough but it gives the story so much more meat...
Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you would guess that every Southern girl or British girl was best friends with her..."as nice as a person may be it is kind of hard to be kind to someone you own...that's one cliche i hard find to deal with (although i have) is the boss-employee story b/c of the power imbalance.
Arch wrote: "If Interracial books are heading to erotica land, then I guess I will no longer be reading interracial books. I know that a lot of interracial books are in ebook form and many of them are erotic bo..."lots of ebooks about IR are not in erotica land...savannah j frierson writes IR...we even have IR books that are straight romance (wild wild nothing less: victorious)...the trend may be to sex everything up but to me a good story is written in the way the characters speak to you...so there are some out there...they just don't get as much play...but you guys have a great forum for those books...and we are now reading a submission that is IR and romantic...and i'm totally crushing on it...
the thing with erotica/romance it doesn't have to be all or nothign...it can be both/and...
pubs just have to realize that...
one of my fav books is being plumville by savannah j frierson...loved it...just loved it.
Mod
I like the boss/employee storyline. I haven't read that many though. It depends a lot on the personalities. They have to sync very well in order to like each other outside of work too, LOL.
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you would guess that every Southern girl o..."not the jerk part...the power imbalance part bothers me...b/c if it goes bad...the one not in the power position suffers and it is not fair to the colleagues b/c when you are with someone you really aren't as impartial as you think you are ...
Arch wrote: "I also wish that more interracial books were written in print. I like holding a book, when I am reading a book. Plus, I don't want to have to go out and buy a machine to read an ebook. "tell the companies that you want that...if readers don't say anything the pub doesn't know...as far as ebooks b/.c the cost is so high to print, it is not feasible in many cases...we offer ours in print but they are not cost effective for the reader...b/c the book price (via lulu and other pubs) is decided by page number...now messing around and trying to get the book as cheap as possible meant that we had to use small font and single space...readers hated the small size so we put it in 14 font 1.5 space but that makes a LOT more pages and makes a book in the twelve dollar range before we make one dime off of it..
print books authors are lucky to get thirty cents...per copy and the most we've sold of a print book is 25 or so copies...we keep them in print so we can take them to the library...so peeps can check them out...
but there is no way we can get a print book in the five dollar range.
new_user wrote: "I like the boss/employee storyline. I haven't read that many though. It depends a lot on the personalities. They have to sync very well in order to like each other outside of work too, LOL."it's okay if it goes well but being in the workplace i read those stories and think the entire time i'm reading how many ways it can go bad...smile
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you would guess that every Southern girl o..."peeps like to gloss over that bit...he might've been cheating on his first wife with her...still not all that clear on that but i didn't study him a lot...that bit pissed me off...b/c it eludes to him having this relationship with this woman earlier on...
just fking leave your wife...hten kick it with whoever you want....
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you..."it's a good rule...omg the number of crazy a** significant others who've wilded out at my job...
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that were treated well, but to read HR, you..."he's an awesome figure but i really don't care why the adultery...that is simply one of my pet peeves turns me off a person real quick...
i am all about delving into stuff, especially when peeps are preaching morality etc...and also b/c so many peeps in histiography have decided what makes the history books...
even in religion (my second major) to read karl barth and his words/questions/concerns and then to have that whole side with his completelyinappropriate relationship with his secretary...
to read luther and how upset he was when he nailed the theses to the church door and then to read how much of a religionist/racist he was towards arabs, turks, etc...
i have to take in the whole person...especially when they want me to drink their koolaid...doesn't mean i totally trash their accomplishments...just gives me a better pic/fuller pic of the person
you will often find religion and history in my books...ex: victorious' brothers are named: denmark, gabriel, and nat...
smile
i love history.
Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves or servants that..."i can't do that...of course that is why every paper i sub in history and religion has the following remark: i've never heard anyone argue this point before...
when i write papers on slavery and adultery and beating kids and judges 19, genesis 19 i will insert info on the cultural context...but i do judge them by my standards...i don't see that changing, of course, i also decided not to get my masters in history...getting it in another subject before going back and finishing my udnergrad in engineering...i am tough on peeps and what i expect...
while i understand that peeps can make mistakes...there are some things i don't consider mistakes but willful acts of hate and i can't excuse them because of context...because as a woman i realize that a disproportionate amount of human context has found ways to excuse treating women like crap and finding a group of beings to treat like crap...
but that is just me and my soapbox...i am climbing off...
right now, i know peeps judge me ... and i'm okay with that b/c i am comfortable with my stances and i can defend them...even to God Herself/Himself...
that often makes me the neighborhood weirdo but i can live with that...it's kind of fun at times...smile
Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Eugenia wrote: "Jeanieandjayha wrote: "Danielle wrote: "new_user wrote: "You know what's funny? There were some slaves ..."three undergrad working on my grad...
this is my third year... and i apply either to law school or mba this year...
in the summers i am going to finish my engineering degree
unfortunately unless you publish your own books where you have control of the cover...you really are at the mercy of the publisher...even my girl beverly jenkins cover didn't match the description...her book INDIGO...clearly stated that galon vachon was golden colored...but he is dark on the cover...probably so peeps realize it is a story about two black peeps....
when you have lighter skinned cover models you often cannot tell...
there are two things i have to say in defense...a) for our covers we spedn about eight (Yes eight) hours going through stock photos trying to find women and men of color...the problem is that there are so FEW photos and then once you eliminate the photos with the inappropriate pose (the classic prison pose or the i'm trying to get in a rap video pose), then you have to eliminate the photos where the age of the character is not right...for female models it seems as if so many of the girls are quite young...fifteenish is not an appropriate age for a cover model for a romance/erotic book in my opinion....then you have to eliminate the pics of peeps who are inappropriately dressed..you know the swimsuits, the game jerseys or nude...depending upon cover...that leaves a small pool of pics...so you will notice the SAME peeps on almost every cover....my first cover the heroine was on no less than ten books...same pose...
when we get a cover, it is often a combo of five different pics (background, a male, two females (because often the body and head are from two different women)...sometimes there is a third female b/c we need the hands or something else posed differently...u have to pay for each photograph separately so five pics at four to twelve bucks a pic on average is too much money for many peeps to pay b/c u still have to pay the cover artist to put them together...even after all that, the hair is either drawn in, the eye colors are changed the lipstick color is changed, things have to be edited out like jewelry, tattoos, etc...if you have cover artists who get paid not per cover but by sales...they are doing thirty or so covers a month...but if that book doesn't sell, they don't get jack...b/c they are often paid on royalty..and when you do so many, the variety starts to suffer...
you really don't have control of your title (even academic books almost always the title changes), even the names of your characters can be changed, etc. you do NOT have control of the final edit...i had to argue and threaten to pull a book b/c the editor was upset that i used a God reference..as in 'what God has brought together let no man tear asunder'...i had to argue about that...
i actually had to ask why it was okay if i wrote the character having sex with ten men that'd be okay but it wasn't okay for a God reference after the hero and heroine married...
authors want to get their books out so bad, just to get their foot in the door...and i think so many don't understand how little control the author has...
i even had to change the title of the vampire king...i wanted him to be called regent and they changed it to king...that was the last straw for me...
so often the pub just wants to sell books...period and anyway they can do that they will...even if it is misleading covers...even the books geared to white women that have ww/wm are often misleading.