Friday, November 21, 2014

Author Kristy Tate!


Ana welcomes Kristy Tate, today's Friday Friend!

Sweet Romance


 I had an uncomfortable experience a number of years ago when I attended a workshop where a writer brought in pages and pages of sex scenes to be critiqued. She read one steamy passage and then said, now, skip 70 pages and then she’d read another libido boosting scene. After the workshop, after I stopped blushing, I asked her why she’d saved and clustered her sex scenes just for us. Her answer, my agent said the reason my novels aren’t selling is because they need the sex scenes so I’m adding them. Since then, this writer is self-publishing her novels, sweet romances, sans sex scenes, and she’s sold thousands of her books. I think she’s financially doing much better than she would have had she published within the traditional romance industry AND she’s able to look her grandmother in the eye.

This reaffirms my belief that there’s a giant gaping hole in the publishing industry. I believe in the power of words. I believe in the power of stories and I also believe not every story has to be powerful. Entertainment is as valuable as enlightenment. Sometimes we just need to get away. Go somewhere else--take our mind off of the nitty-gritty of everyday. And even if we can’t afford an African safari or romp in the Amazon, those experiences are available to us, FOR FREE, at the public library. We can have romance, mystery and intrigue if we possess a library card.

I’ll admit I cried when the Border’s Bookstore closed. Whenever I felt sad I’d go to Borders and buy a book and a chocolate. It didn’t happen often, I’m usually upbeat, but when I’d feel trampled upon and world weary, I knew that I could be lifted up just by going to the closest bookstore. Chocolates and books were there, waiting. My son couldn’t understand my loss. You made your choice when you bought your I-pad, he said. I want libraries, bookstores AND books in the clouds, I replied.

I want books with romance, mystery and intrigue, but I don’t want books with titillation,excessive violence or gore. And that’s the genius  of Autumn's Kiss: Ten Contemporary & Historical Sweet Romances. Ten sweet romances by ten authors. Now available for pre-order on Amazon! http://amzn.to/1whXZj5

Long live sweet romance. The books in the clouds have set us free. Good books are there—we just need to know how to find them.

BIO
Kristy is the mom of six incredibly brilliant and beautiful children, and the author of several novels. Although many of her novels have won awards and have ranked on Amazon's top 100 list, Kristy has yet to realize her lifelong dream of owning a Schnauzer farm. Kristy studied English literature at Brigham Young University and at BYU's International Center in London. 

For updates on Kristy's upcoming novels, please visit her blog at kristystories.blogspot.com

4 comments:

  1. Welcome, Kristy! I feel you are absolutely correct when you note that emotion makes a good story. Love scenes can't read like assembly instructions.

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  2. Hi Kristy, welcome to Heroines with Hearts. I, too, miss the bookstores, although I miss the independent little ones, the ones that had almost as much character as the books they carried. The good thing about the rise of small publishers, indie publishers and self publishing is that now there are so many more options for people who want to read and write different kinds of books.

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  3. Hi Kirsty. I agree with you about the pages of sex scenes that are graphic and/or crude, or the ones that describe in detail who put what where! However, I don't object as much to 'bedroom scenes' where the emphasis is more on the characters' emotional fulfilment than on their physical satisfaction.
    P.S. I miss Borders too!

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  4. Hi Kristy,

    Welcome to HwH.

    I too lament the loss of Borders. I do own a tablet and a Kindle, but I still do most of my reading the 'old fashioned' way...there's just something about holding a paperback or hardcover book in your hands. And, I make do with Amazon and B & N but it's not the same as walking into that Borders.

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