So yes, I’m thankful for my family and my health and a roof over my head and a good job, and all those things, and believe me, I don’t take them for granted, BUT Alpha Heroes is about reading romance, so here goes the Alpha Heroes Thanksgiving Thirteen:
1. Never need to worry about artwork for the walls: floor to ceiling bookshelves!
2. It’s educational: I bet I know WAYYY more about the proper forms of address for dukes, earls, marquesses, and plain old Misters than the average 21st century American, not to mention bits and pieces about running a medieval castle, the Napoleonic wars and the Khyber Pass.
3. Escapism: diving into another time and place, or hobnobbing with jet-set celebrities in the almost-here and now is a great way to de-stress.
4. Simple and easy way to avoid eye contact with weird people on public transportation.
5. I never feel awkward about eating a meal alone. In fact, sometimes I get annoyed when someone from work joins me for lunch – that cuts into my reading time, dammit!
6. I’m never bored in line at the DMV.
7. High standards: some people like to postulate that reading romance gives women unrealistic ideas about relationships. I like to postulate that in terms of desireability as a mate? those people are at best, the Alpha Hero’s wacky neighbor. Think George Kostanza.
8. Challenging stereotypes: I actually get quite a kick out of it when people ask in disbelief, “You read romance??” in tones reserved for things like oozing sores and dogshit. I like to try to make them come right out and say that romance is for airheads. Try it, it’s fun—I suggest leading with “Really? And what do YOU read?” They tend to stammer a lot.
9. This essay. I have linked to it before, about a year ago, but it’s worth a re-read every now and then, for both die-hard romance readers and folks who are honestly wondering why people read romance. This essay articulated for me a lot of feelings I had about romance books but hadn’t quite figured out how to express, so I am grateful for it.
10.The way that writing about romance and fictional relationships has made me really think about the nature of romance and relationships and marriage.
11. Cover art like this:
12. The sex. It’s true, I admit it. If it were the Thursday Twelve though, I might not
13. Last but not least, happy endings: if I want to feel saddened or angry or depressed or terrified, all I have to do is pick up a newspaper or tune in to Fox News. For entertainment, I want a feel-good story.
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
7 comments:
It's always funny to me when someone tries to teach me something I'd already learned from a romance novel.
It sounds like you and I have the same taste in interior decorating -- wall to wall bookshelves all the way to the ceiling!
Oh ... and I am definitely up for your banned book meme and challenge. I'll post in the next few days.
LOL - try adding erotic in front of the romance when you're explaining romance to puzzled people. They get all sorts of ideas! I'm a huge fan of romance for many of the reasons you listed.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. :-)
I'm currently reading a classic horror novel, BUT this list certainly makes me want to pick up a romance :) Happy TT and thanks so much for stopping by :)
So nice to see some new faces!
I'm enjoying the blogs I've found through T-13 and hope I've entertained a few folks as well.
Great list! And thanks for the heads up on that essay by Crusie. Wonderful!
Post a Comment