Controversy in the world of Romance Novelists....

[scoobdog]

I have no idea who this is or that she supposedly killed her self before she apparently didn't.  Nonetheless, the whole thing is fascinating - how does one come back from the dead like that and what could she have possibly expected would happen?

[Seight]

Having your daughter tell people she killed herself because of how mean the ROMANCE NOVEL COMMUNITY had been to her, while asking them to help publish her last novel, WHILE PRETENDING TO BE DEAD...are certainly all choices.

[The_annoying_one]

All about book sales, plain and simple.

[scoobdog]

16 minutes ago, Seight said:

Having your daughter tell people she killed herself because of how mean the ROMANCE NOVEL COMMUNITY had been to her, while asking them to help publish her last novel, WHILE PRETENDING TO BE DEAD...are certainly all choices.

I mean, Shakespeare raised doubling down on bad choices into high art,  but this... this is following a really really bad choice with even worse choices.

[André Toulon]

Ah, this will be an excellent distraction from sleep in a few hours...thx

[Gemini]

4 hours ago, scoobdog said:

I mean, Shakespeare raised doubling down on bad choices into high art,  but this... this is following a really really bad choice with even worse choices.

All I can say is I'm glad I don't read romance novels. Just not my thing. (Now writing them on the other hand would be a trip. I'm sure I could come up with all sorts of ways to describe "being romantic" and such.)

Edited January 11, 2023 by hornedlizardman

[DragonSinger]

12 hours ago, scoobdog said:

I have no idea who this is or that she supposedly killed her self before she apparently didn't.  Nonetheless, the whole thing is fascinating - how does one come back from the dead like that and what could she have possibly expected would happen?

LOL so this story made it here. I'm glad I didn't know her. There may have been a GoFundMe for funeral expenses, so folks are wondering how that plays out in this.

[scoobdog]

3 hours ago, DragonSinger said:

LOL so this story made it here. I'm glad I didn't know her. There may have been a GoFundMe for funeral expenses, so folks are wondering how that plays out in this.

It made it to the top of CNN, so apparently this shit is a big deal.

[Gemini]

10 hours ago, hornedlizardman said:

All I can say is I'm glad I don't read romance novels. Just not my thing. (Now writing them on the other hand would be a trip. I'm sure I could come up with all sorts of ways to describe "being romantic" and such.)

(Only quoting myself because reasons.) Now then, I never said I'd be good at it. lol

[DragonSinger]

5 hours ago, scoobdog said:

It made it to the top of CNN, so apparently this shit is a big deal.

Honestly, this is kinda mid for Romancelandia drama. It's weirding us out how this is getting national attention so quickly. We're pretty much like, "I guess those dingleberries faking cancer will get a break from folks talking about them." Or, "At least it's not an author smashing a wine bottle over a reviewer's head. So anyways, you think we'll get a movie out of it like How to Murder Your Husband chick?" 🤷🏾‍♀️

[scoobdog]

10 minutes ago, DragonSinger said:

Honestly, this is kinda mid for Romancelandia drama. It's weirding us out how this is getting national attention so quickly. We're pretty much like, "I guess those dingleberries faking cancer will get a break from folks talking about them." Or, "At least it's not an author smashing a wine bottle over a reviewer's head. So anyways, you think we'll get a movie out of it like How to Murder Your Husband chick?" 🤷🏾‍♀️

That was my impression after reading the article, a real letdown after expecting this elaborate tale of faked proof-of-death pics, a mock funeral, and a shit load of conspiracies on the side.  The only thing that stood out was this: 

Quote

“I think the best way to explain it is, we all have to work together. We all have to market together. We swap releases and information, and hold launch parties online,” Adams told CNN. “Some of my best friends in the world are authors I’ve met during my writing journey, and we talk almost every day.”

I don't recall you ever mentioning this kind of camaraderie between romance writers and it certainly rings hollow given none of them, including the woman that supposedly reviewing her work, went to a funeral for a friend.

[DragonSinger]

40 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

That was my impression after reading the article, a real letdown after expecting this elaborate tale of faked proof-of-death pics, a mock funeral, and a shit load of conspiracies on the side.  The only thing that stood out was this: 

I don't recall you ever mentioning this kind of camaraderie between romance writers and it certainly rings hollow given none of them, including the woman that supposedly reviewing her work, went to a funeral for a friend.

Easy to fake by saying it's a family only funeral, but it's hard in general to go out to something like that because most of us can't afford it. Writers are a bunch of social groups kind of like Reddit, and the type of relationships we have depends on what we're actively looking for. Sometimes it's only a business relationship, a parasitic arrangement around popular writers, or genuine support groups of friends that can get you through your next book and nudge you to stay in the industry. The latter you can get from experience of learning who to dodge on sight. Susan Meachen would have been a no off the bat because she sticks mainly to Facebook(or did). Facebook centric authors tend to be the white moderate to conservative crowd who want to be insulated with yes people on private pages or are part of large communities who pride themselves on making sure the minorities in their groups never feel included enough to get all uppity. 

Twitter is where most of the outcasts go but has its own pitfalls.

[scoobdog]

41 minutes ago, DragonSinger said:

Easy to fake by saying it's a family only funeral, but it's hard in general to go out to something like that because most of us can't afford it. Writers are a bunch of social groups kind of like Reddit, and the type of relationships we have depends on what we're actively looking for. Sometimes it's only a business relationship, a parasitic arrangement around popular writers, or genuine support groups of friends that can get you through your next book and nudge you to stay in the industry. The latter you can get from experience of learning who to dodge on sight. Susan Meachen would have been a no off the bat because she sticks mainly to Facebook(or did). Facebook centric authors tend to be the white moderate to conservative crowd who want to be insulated with yes people on private pages or are part of large communities who pride themselves on making sure the minorities in their groups never feel included enough to get all uppity. 

Twitter is where most of the outcasts go but has its own pitfalls.

Who would have guessed Facebook was full of white moderates?  That was the variable that was missing from the article, though, that “friend groups” certain types of writers flock to lack true friendship intimacy.  That particular group didn’t sound like a bunch of friends, it sounded like a trade group.