Found this on Wired Magazine. It’s old—November of last year, but it’s new to me. You can read the entire article right here. It was really the title that caught my eye and compelled me to read it: Ten Reasons I’d Rather Marry a Robot. Ain’t that some shit?

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I recently blogged about my disenchantment with contemporary romance, and concluded that it was the lack of compelling conflict that was the problem for me. For me, believable conflict is thinner on the ground in contemporary romance than in any other sub-category of romance. Whereas in historicals - disapproving governesses, slutty rakes - and in paranormals - blood-suckers, death, immortality - the conflict is right there, bred into the bones of the story.

I should have added to my post that M/M romance is another sub-genre with built-in conflict. If I had done so, I could have neatly quoted Jay, one of the protaganists from Bonnie Dee’s new novel, Undeniable Magnetism:

“Daring to trust is hard enough in any relationship, but for a gay man it’s compounded. There’s a lot more at stake than two guys who happen to like each other and want to become involved. There’s a whole raft of outside issues impacting them.”

With M/M romance, you don’t need to manufacture a WTF storyline or a Big Mis to provide the conflict. You can have your Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo and Mercutio) doing their ‘You And Me Against The World, Baby’. Conflict - sorted.

And so, in this book we get two rather lovely men - Jay and Simon - who fall headlong for each other but who have a few obstacles to negotiate on the path to their HEA.

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Okay, this video made me cry a little…

Lorelie Brown is a frequent commenter here at It’s Not Chick Porn and a good friend to our blog. In fact, you might remember her from her awesome entries into those writing contests I used to throw (and I will again, I promise, once I find the time… and the dough). When I asked her if she could oblige us with a novella and she gave me this one, I squee’d. So fun. So sexy.

If you haven’t already, please read chapter one here.

Two years ago, Corrine McQuade was desperate to escape her father’s house. In a perfect world, she would have run to Adam Springton, handsome owner of the Gilded Angel saloon and the man she’d daydreamed about for years. Believing he saw her as only his sister’s best friend, Corrine struck out on her own, finding employment and creating the best life she could. Suddenly Adam is paying attention to her – the kind of attention that makes her skin tingle and heat and she’s tempted by a new chance at love.

But who ever heard of a happy ending for a whore?

Presenting the second chapter of Lorelie Brown’s Tarnished Angel…

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And the winner of Susan’s contest is… limecello! Limecello, you get your very own copy of She’s on Top. Please email me your info and we’ll hook you up with the prize. To everyone else, thanks for all your insightful and intelligent comments. You people rock.

Do Plus-Size Romance Heroines Sell Books?

That’s the question on my mind today. Yes, I write fiction – sexy contemporary romance, to be exact – and I know that in part it’s about the fantasy. After all, none of us wants to read about a hero who’s 5′2″, weighs 125 pounds and has a receding hairline that’s met up with his bald spot.

But, folks, tell me the truth. Do you always want to read about the heroine who is so slim – yet perfectly curvy – she could grace a men’s mag centerfold?

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