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In the News: Sex, Sin and Scandal

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Rosalie Stanton - Cara Sutra Author Spotlight

When I first began writing erotic romance, I didn’t know that was what it was called. The entire genre was somewhat mystifying to me—it wasn’t until I picked up my first honest romance novel that I realized explicit sex wasn’t something avoided by all publishers. Before that, I thought all romance stories with explicit sex were relegated to the darker corners of the internet. Granted, I was a teenager at the time, and had grown up in a somewhat repressed bible-thumping environment. For me, erotic romance was a safe way to explore my sexuality—to fantasize without being threatened. I didn’t do the whole sexual journey in college, as I was a shy girl with body issues.

Rosalie Stanton - Female First feature

Why Reading Romance Novels Isn't Trashy

The subject of female sexuality is tricky, namely because we have done our darndest to make it that way. Whereas men get the pass (e.g, 'boys will be boys'), women still live in a world where romance novels are considered tacky, shameful, an intellectual waste, and a bunch of other really nasty things. Yes, the world has become more progressive and every day, more women are comfortable standing out and speaking their mind. However, even the most enlightened areas of the globe maintain this stigma that women should, for some reason, be ashamed of themselves for what they enjoy doing. Writer friends of mine have been told they're not "real" writers because of their chosen genre. My own mother calls what I write "porn" or "smut" and doesn't seem to understand why this is offensive.
 

Rosalie Stanton - BTSemag feature

Star-Crossed Lovers

Star-crossed lovers have been a consistently popular theme for just about ever. Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, Catherine and Heathcliff, and so on. It doesn’t always end in tragedy, as it did so often in early literature—Romeo and Juliet being the prime example—and the trope has morphed as trends change. Sometimes the couple ends up together (Edward and Bella), other times it simply Isn’t Meant To Be (The Doctor and Rose) and all that delicious angst is washed down the toilet.

 

 

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