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So. Let’s have a brief hop, skip, and a jump down memory lane.

When I was about twelve or thirteen I discovered my grandmother’s stash of Harlequin Mills & Boon romances and became hooked on the genre immediately. So much so (and also due to my love of Jane Austen’s novels) that I wrote a short love story for an English assignement when I was about fifteen or sixteen. It was the best thing I had ever written. Or so I thought.

I got a ‘B.’ My English teacher told me she had downgraded my assignment because although it was well written, it was too “Women’s magazine-ish.” I was puzzled by this attitude, because what was wrong with a great romantic story followed by a happy-ever-after ending? I mean, Jane Austen published happy-ever-after romances, and my English teacher didn’t consider her too “Women’s magazine-ish.” She didn’t consider Jane Eyre too “Women’s magazine-ish,” either. You know, I had serious issues that Mr. Rochester intended to commit bigamy with poor, unknowing Jane. Still do.

Some time later I discovered that the school library had a stash of Harlequin Mills & Boon romances, and proceeded to work my way through the shelf. One day, just as I was choosing my latest books, the librarian pulled me to one side, took them away from me, and told me that I should read “proper” books, instead (oh, like Emile Zola? I rented a video of his novel, Nana, to try to improve my knowledge of his work, and that turned out so well, didn’t it?).

Yes, Michelle, I hear you all cry. But you’ve already covered this on your website. Why tell us again, here?

Because I still don’t understand why the romance genre is considered to be somehow inferior to other genres, and fortunately, my fabulous web design genius, Emily Cotler, of WaxCreative Design has written a great, positive piece about this very thing over at The Huffington Post.

“This looks sexy,” the President said, looking at the book the author had just handed him.

Geri Krotow blushed. “It’s a World War II romance. I signed it for Michelle.”

It continues:

Will Michelle Obama read Krotow’s A Rendezvous to Remember? The traditional literary establishment might not want to picture the First Lady of the United States spending her down time reading genre fiction, especially a romance. Said Joanne Rendell earlier this month here on The Huffington Post, “popular romance fiction has long been shunned, ignored, and seen by many in the ivory tower as the errant and sex-craved stepdaughter of ‘real’ literature.” And as a high-profile role model, shouldn’t the President’s wife be reading The Grapes of Wrath or some other canonical classic? Or something by a present-day literary star like Toni Morrison or Michael Chabon?

Emily goes on to say:

First of all, I hope that Michelle Obama reads a wide variety of work, be it high-brow or genre fiction. But as a role model, let’s hope she is reading at least a sampling of what the populace is enjoying. And even an unstudied glance at the New York Times list of bestselling paperback mass-market fiction assures us that if Michelle Obama reads a romance novel this week, she would be in good company – two of the top five spots are romances. And of the other three spots, one is a thriller and another a mystery. Only one of the top five would be shelved in ‘general fiction.’

Hear, hear!

And to all of those people who still consider romances somehow to be “improper” books, and that anyone can write one? Well, go and have a try! Good luck with that. And if you are persistent enough and keep writing through rejection, and are eventually fortunate enough to secure an agent, and subsequently obtain a publishing contract, let me know and I’ll buy the book.