42 Responses to “Richelle Mead on the Literacy of Heroes”

1. Jackie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 6:38 am

   1 But I’m positive there’s at least one guy in her worlds who couldn’t name ten subordinate conjunctions if his life depended on it. Maybe those men simply aren’t into BDSM grammar. Definitely Strunk & White men. Definitely.

2. bam Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 6:38 am

   2 Author Comment Rich, that would be a deal-breaker for me too. I like to be able to discuss literachur with the men I date. If he says, “dude, I don’t do a lot of book readin’,” I’m thinking, “Check please!” Jayne Ann Krentz heroes are very smart (some of them read classic literature in its original language, like, say… Latin). Sometimes they’re so smart, they’re socially retarded.

3. Heather Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 6:45 am

   3 Hell no, I’m right there with you. I had the dazzling good luck to marry a guy who could, in my biased opinion, be a pro writer if he were so inclined. And yes, that’s part of what makes him so damn sexy!

4. Jill Myles Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 6:55 am

   4 I confess, I do the same. Though I’m happily married now, my main requirements for dating once upon a time were: 1) Good written communication skills and 2) Teeth. All of them. My husband actually corrects me when I tend to use southern slang. Sigh. Sometimes you go too far on one end of the spectrum. *g* This post seriously cracked my shit up, though. Much love.

5. Ashley Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 6:56 am

   5 I’m personally all for saying “hell yeah” to your lament on grammatically challenged men but, I can’t impose a double standard when my grammar sucks as well. Your lament on fictional men in books made me laugh this morning and now I’m heading out to buy one of your books. Thanks for the insight!

6. T.M. Thomas Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:12 am

   6 I googled “subjunctive conjunction” because my knowledge of the terms of proper English is pretty weak. While I could not name ten, I can now use them correctly.

7. T.M. Thomas Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:13 am

   7 And by “subordinate” I meant “subjunctive.” Sigh. So much for attempting teh witty.

8. Bonnie Dee Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:50 am

   8 Am I selling myself out for sex? I’m afraid it’s too late. I’m sold. My husband isn’t illiterate exactly, but he’s not an honors student in English either. He’s more of a math guy. However, he hasn’t kicked me out of bed for not being able to add simple numbers without using my fingers so I can’t complain about his shortcomings.

9. K. Kincy Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:54 am

   9 I’m rather grammar phobic myself, though I can spot bad writing a mile away. I never gave it much thought before, but it is very unsexy. I burst out laughing at your wereferret example. (crossing fingers and toes for copy of VA)

10. Kimberly Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 8:07 am

    10 I am definitely a grammar snob. The best looking guy in the world in the world becomes unsexy to me if he opens his mouth and everything that comes out is grammatically incorrect. I’ll grant an exception to those for whom English is a second language, however; I believe bilingualism should be encouraged.

11. HelenKay Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 9:08 am

    11 Just wanted to chime in and say SUCCUBUS BLUES was amazing. Very excited to see the cover for SUCCUBUS ON TOP!!

12. Lorelie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 9:21 am

    12 It seems I’m in the minority with Bonnie up there. In the first couple years of our marriage, I had to help my husband with any paperwork he had to do and I have a sneaky suspicion he’s hoping I’ll write his English papers this fall. But he’s a loving father and a wonderful husband. He’s also a sexy-as-hell Airborne soldier. So he’ll never write a book on the things he’s had to do. I’ll keep him anyway.

13. Charlene Teglia Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 10:37 am

    13 If he brought me donuts, I’d overlook the spelling/grammatical issues. Theoretically. But it’s much better being married to a guy who’s literate AND brings me donuts. *g* I do have to admit that I lost a lot of interest in and respect for men who couldn’t spell or talk well in my dating days. Donuts only go so far.

14. Cherie J Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 10:51 am

    14 My husband is by no means illiterate but his strengths do not lie in spelling and grammar. Yet I could care less. He is a good husband and father. He is loyal and hardworking. That more than makes up for any mistakes he occasionally makes.

15. Bettie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 11:51 am

    15 I’m with Bonnie in that I lurve me the math/computer geeks. My husband never replaces words with numbers, even when texting. But he reads more slowly that I read, he isn’t that into fiction, and (gasp!) he thinks English grammar is dumb. We have had serious arguments about this. I love the complexity, the trickiness, the nuances of the English language. He thinks it’s imprecise and could take a page or two from the better-organized programming languages. It would be nice if he didn’t think I’d been “brainwashed by the Anglo-grammatical Industrial Complex,” but he’s so cute when he’s passionately arguing for rational language reform that I’ll forgive him anything.

16. Jaime Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 11:56 am

    16 Okay, for me it goes both ways…my husband is an engineer and probably one of the smartest men I know, but his writing skills he really has to concentrate on. His area of expertise is mathematics. So my baby can do what ever the hell he wants as long as he makes me happy! When I read, however, I want the lead guy to be smart, well read and have his linguistic skills together. I will say, when I was in college, I dumped a guy because of the way he talked and wrote and he was ffffiiiine. Peace.

17. Babz Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

    17 I am grateful that my partner actually reads and write properly. I guess he has to, being a lawyer. Living in a third world country you would be hard pressed to find people who master any one language. It’s a big turn off for me if he can’t speak English or spell properly. I am by no means a grammar snob, but bad spelling drives me nuts. And atrocious accents! Egads! I know successful men who actually can’t freaking read, by lack of education or dyslexia, so I guess I shouldn’t measure intelligence with linguistic capabilities, but it is one of my pet peeves. Which is why geeky heroes floats mah boat. P.S: Hilarious article! Love the Dark Hunter joke.

18. Karen Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    18 My SO is not bad at grammar and spelling, but not great. Personally I’m not perfect at either myself, thank goodness for spell check. While he doesn’t read fiction, he does enjoy the occassional good book. He is however very mechanically inclined and is great with those “honey do” lists. Does it bother me that he doesn’t read much or that his grammar and spelling are not perfect? No. I’ll keep him just the way he is. Oh and the sex is hot so I guess I am trading in grammar for HOT sex.

19. Shannon Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

    19 It would probably annoy me after a while, but then I’m not one to complain. I try to talk faster than I can physically form words in order to catch up with wherever my mind is running away to. So I dont sound all that grammatically intelligent (or generally intelligent) when you speak to me. Plus, I dont think I can do some of those things you mentioned…I’ve had some lacking English teachers in my middle school years. So I’d probably choose the mind blowing sex and start giving him gifts of grammar books.

20. Suzee Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:49 pm

    20 I can’t believe I fell so behind on when VA comes out…luckily though the hotel that I get to be stuck in (and while sick as well) has internet… I’m sure though that I’m making plenty of grammatical mistakes today I’d probably go nuts with someone who didn’t know their grammar, no matter how great *anything* else was…I’d spend all my time worrying over correcting them–in my head if nowhere else

21. Teresa W. Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

    21 I also love Sherrilyn Kenyon, she is my favorite writer. The Dark-Hunter series is awesome. Went to her recent release party in Ann Arbor on the 6th and she is hysterical. Didn’t know that she has dyslexia what a great accomplishment for a writer. looking forward to your new release also.

22. SweetNSourGirl Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 1:09 pm

    22 I’ admit to having high standards for guys. Grammar isn’t a HUGE deal breaker, I mean I shorten words and such, especially when texting (who wants to push all those damn buttons?) Besides even if he has some minor grammar issues, there’s no English test during our realtionship.I mean am I going to give a pop quiz before we start making out? Hell no. My beef with guys is ones without brains. Yes no brains! Idiots. Morons. Guys with no upstairs lightbulb. If he can’t at least speak intelligently about a topic, that’s a deal breaker. What’s more important than speaking intelligently is that he’s passionate about something. That’s sexy to me.

23. Josie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 4:08 pm

    23 My husband has an incredibly witty and engaging writing style, some of his stories completely crack me up! His punctuation and spelling however? Just. Appalling. So I’m with SweetNSourGirl - not so brilliant grammar? That’s cool. But the no brains / no common sense bloke? Seeya later!

24. deemer Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 4:48 pm

    24 I used to be a huge grammar snob. . . until I had children. Now I find myself talking to everyone like they’re three years old, I give the “high five” gesture of approval to my peers, and generally stopped reading anything more complicated than a Harry Potter book. So whereas I used to sneer at all those idiots who emailed me with the smiley faces and “ROTFL”, now I’m lucky that my husband still considers me mildly intelligent. Loved this post, by the way. Reread it three times!

25. Shiloh Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 5:09 pm

    25 went down teh street 2 buy doughghnuts Wellllll… I’m kind of glad the DH isn’t a lit snob. Because I write ‘teh’ all the time instead of ‘the’. Fortunately there is a spell checker on my word program. I’m also slightly dyslexic and when I’m in a hurry or stressed, it’s worse. Much worse. Now I doubt I’d be attracted to a guy that’s a total moron but uneducated doesn’t always mean stupid. I’ve come across a lot of people in my line of work, or just in life, that while they couldn’t spell too well, they aren’t stupid. They are simply uneducated and a lot of times, a lack of education goes back to things they had little control over. As an adult, yes, they have control and I’ve got to admire a grown up who does something overcome things like that. A lot of learning disabilties as we recognize them now were considered ’special ed’ when I was in school and that wasn’t all that long ago. Or too often, the kid just needed a little more one and one and for some reason didn’t get it. But too often, many of the uneducated people I know come from a background where they didn’t have a lot of people caring for them. I’m not going to fault them for that. As I said, I admire an adult who can put pride aside and do something about it, but adults aren’t always so good at asking for help with something like that. Soooooo… social commentary aside, nope, I guess I’m not much of a snob. If he makes me laugh, if he cares, hey…that’s good enough for me.

26. Catherine Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

    26 Bad spelling is a huge pet peeve of mine. However… I married my husband despite it. If I see him writing or typing something I can’t help but go over and hover. I’ll start out timidly suggesting corrections, but within a few minutes I’ve made him get out of the chair so I can type for him. I make him dictate to me so I can make it look and sound better. It drives him nuts so he’ll send me texts or leave me notes that are wrong! He know’s it will drive me nuts until I correct it and show him how he was wrong. Despite all that he’s a great guy and very intelligent. He just doesn’t care how it looks. He knows how to do it correctly, but he won’t!

27. Catherine Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    27 I once got into an argument with one of those door to door salesmen. He used a word incorrectly and I couldn’t help but call him on it. He would not believe he could be wrong so we argued about it until my husband made me shut up so the guy would leave our porch. Wow, I sound bitchy when I read that back to myself. I didn’t mean to be! I just couldn’t help myself. It’s the OCD in me I swear!

28. Shiloh Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    28 *G* I was just reading over Catherine’s comments and it reminded me of a doctor I worked for. Yep, a doctor. One of the smartest men I’ve ever met in my life, but he wasn’t the world’s greatest speller. His grammar was decent and I would have trusted him with my health, and did, but I wouldn’t have let him write a report for me. He also knew he had issues with spelling and would make jokes about it. Some people just don’t have strengths in reading, writing, or spelling. Me, I suck at math.

29. catie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    29 Hee! Richelle, you’ve attained an entirely new plane of admiration and respect in my book!

30. Karen W. Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

    30 I’m a bit of a spelling and grammar snob, but it’s not a deal breaker for me in relationships. I do like someone who can speak properly, though, since that’s more readily apparent than literary skills. I loved SUCCUBUS BLUES, Richelle, and I look forward to VAMPIRE ACADEMY.

31. Tez Miller Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    31 Would love to be in the running for the contest, please. Have a lovely day!

32. Julie Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 8:27 pm

    32 My husband has wonderful grammar, and if he doesn’t know something, he looks it up. I love him for it. But hypothetically speaking, if I were single and in the market for mindblowing sex, I don’t think poor spelling would be a dealbreaker. Well, maybe it would. I imagine there would be a sliding scale with literacy on one end and hotness on the other. An average guy would need some mad grammar skills. Jared Padalecki, on the other hand, wouldn’t need to speak at all.

33. Katie Ann Posted: Aug 15th, 2007 at 9:30 pm

    33 Wow, lots of engineering/math/computer type guys we seem to associate with…myself included. DH has a good grasp on grammar, though he write veeeerrry sloooowly, doesn’t read anything that isn’t about computers or programming, and has to ask me how to spell words every now and then. That said, I am a grammar snob, and he somehow makes it above my standards, because poor grammar would definitely be a deal breaker. (Easy to say when one is getting some, no?) I just don’t think I could love a man who used numbers for letters…

34. Grammar Geek Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 6:29 am

    34 Hm, yeah, I’m a bit of a geek for grammar, but when the bf told me he was afraid to leave me love notes because he didn’t want me to correct them, I decided that I’d take the love notes. Really, it’s a pick your battles kinda thing. If it’s a note that says “hey, I luv u”, then it’s not something worth freaking out over. If it’s a business letter, well… then we’ll have to have a chat. I guess not nearly as funny as the instructor who tried - in front of the whole class - to get to my blog and spelled it grammergeek, and then mocked me about spelling grammar wrong. Um, yeah. Sure I did.

35. Jen Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 7:00 am

    35 I’m an English teacher, so grammar and spelling are always important to me. It especially drives me nuts when people don’t use apostrophes, but students today seem to think they’re optional. Anyway, I suppose if Rhage and Tohrment can’t spell Rage and Torment correctly, we can’t hold out much hope for the rest of their writing. Anyway, awesome post- I laughed out loud! I haven’t read any of your books, but I’ll definitely add you to my TBB list.

36. Julie Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 7:50 am

    36 ^^ Hehe! I lhuv u. I think Rhage and Tohr would be at the Jared Padalecki end of my grammar-exemption scale.

37. Gareth Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 12:40 pm

    37 To be honest I tend to blame the standards of education slipping where its not so important in regard to the three R’s but about “expressing the imagination and thoughts of the child concerned.” Yup, I’ll admit that Im not the worlds best speller but if I’m not sure about a word I will look up how to spell the thing correctly. Except I cannot accept the concept that many a person who wishes to be an author believes that having no real understanding of either the use or understanding of language makes it acceptable to believe that all errors are discovered by the computer when they hit that magic F7 button, its bloody ridiculous is what it is. Anyway, think that paragraph keeps me in line for a date with Richelle, now off to work on my oratory skills. I sense a speech in the making.

38. Shveta Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 2:36 pm

    38 Ooh, I want a chance to win the book! *jumps and up down* I also happen to care a good deal about good grammar and spelling. Now, how do I feel about the lack of them in terms of a romantic relationship? Let’s see. I used to correct my boyfriend when he would say “somewheres,” because that’s the dialect he learned growing up. I also used to groan about his omission of apostrophes in e-mails (due to laziness, not a lack of understanding). Then I realized that in the greater scheme of things, neither of those issues really matters, especially because he writes well, can spell (although he prefers British spelling), is extremely intelligent, and he’s sweet. I’ll be the grammar girl, and if there’s a time I need to correct his–tiny–mistakes, I will. Otherwise, why worry? There’s so much I have to learn from him, and he has many things to learn from me, and that’s how I like it.

39. fiveandfour Posted: Aug 16th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

    39 Oh this is a touchy topic for me. Because I’m right there with you with the turn off when it comes to not being able to write. And yet my husband… ::Sigh:: To put it nicely, he’ll never be mistaken for a language geek. Thing is, we were far gone in love before this was revealed to me so he got a pass. I shudder to think how our relationship would’ve been cut short had I found out sooner because this was such a huge deal to me - I would’ve missed out on a wonderful man. I admit I still struggle with putting it into perspective sometimes even though I have the evidence that lack of writing skill doesn’t necessarily translate into lack of intelligence (or many other positive traits you’d want in a lover).

40. Katherine Hazen Posted: Aug 17th, 2007 at 9:11 am

    40 I guess I must be with you on this one. The first guy I dated who could write well and was well read I held onto. We’ve been together for 6 years now and I can’t imagine being with anyone else, he is my ideal. So, yeah, my ideal, apparently, contains good grammar and vast book knowledge.

41. Kayla Hill Posted: Aug 17th, 2007 at 8:43 pm

    41 “And honestly, pavlovian cream? WTF? Does he mean Bavarian cream? Is it erotic code? Is he a psych major?” I very nearly spit out my drink there. Fortunately I didn’t, because it would’ve landed directly on my laptop screen and keyboard, but the impulse was definitely there. Great post, Richelle.

42. Nora Roberts Posted: Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:28 am

    42 I’m not sure any of my guys (or girls) could name ten subjunctive conjunctions–because I’m not sure I can. But they don’t wear leather pants,and know the difference between it’s and its. However, a lot of them probably like doughnuts.