Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fifty Shades of Funny

On the way home from a business trip recently, I sat next to an older woman and her granddaughter on the airplane. The woman was just a little ways into Fifty Shades of Grey, while her granddaughter was reading a YA novel. I asked the woman if she read much romance. She replied that Fifty was her first one! While I was absorbing that, she said, "Actually, I hardly ever read, maybe one or two books a year."

I explained to her that romance novels vary in the level of heat from sweet up to erotic and that she'd jumped into the deep end of the pool by picking this one up. She seemed a bit comforted by that, the thought that not all romance was at this level. I chatted a bit with the younger girl about YA novels, and then settled back in my seat for the remainder of the flight.

Grandma wasn't a very fast reader, I noticed, as I peeked over from time to time to see how far she'd read. By the time the five-hour flight was over, she'd made it to about page 200. Unable to tame my wicked curiosity (having read all three Grey books myself), I asked her what she thought of it. I'm not sure what I expected her to say, but the words out of her mouth about make me choke with laughter.

She frowned a bit and said, in all seriousness, "I think MEN should read this book."

Go, Grandma! LOL
Posted by Unknown at 2:45 PM

4 comments:

  1. Andrea RobbinsJuly 2, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    LMAO! Go, Grandma is so right!

    I have to wonder, though, if a guy could actually READ the books, without getting all caught up in the *ahem* 'scenes'...if you know what I'm sayin'.

    As I begin writing my second NA/mature-YA book, I can't help but wonder, how detailed should the sex scenes be? Certainly the scenes in Fifty Shades are over the top, but just how much heat do twenty-something readers enjoy? Do they want every little last detail spelled out, or would they prefer if some things were left to the imagination?

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJuly 2, 2012 at 10:33 PM

      Andrea,

      Congrats on writing your second book!

      Your question is tough to answer because there is no hard and fast answer (no pun intended). It's going to be different for every story. The detail of the love scenes should be consistent with the rest of the book and move the story forward. For YA-Mature/New Adult, I think there should be a happy medium between what you'd normally see in YA versus an adult novel. That being said, it isn't just the level of heat in the love scenes that makes a book fall into this category, but rather the life experience and situation of the characters.

      Good luck with your book!

      Cyndi

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  2. ReneeJuly 2, 2012 at 10:26 PM

    I agree I wish my husband would read it:)

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  3. Jessica LemmonJuly 21, 2012 at 3:03 PM

    Hahahaha! Perfect! :)

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