Fred Head - Do you Believe in Love?

If Fred Head has his way, all romance novelists will be considered pornographers, and I suppose by his way of thinking, all suspense/murder/mystery writers will be considered criminals, and he'd probably want to burn JK Rowling at the stake. I'm not even going to try to guess what the man might think of Stephen King.

I read his rant. I read how he used Black's Law Dictionary's definition of pornography to determine his opponent's status. (Which although he said was on his site, I never found it. So, since I happen to have a BLD handy, here it is: "That which is of or pertaining to obscene literature; obscene; licentious. People on Complaint of Savery v. Gotham Book Mart, 158 Misc. 240, 285 M.Y.S 563, 367." -- Black's Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Edition.) Make of it what you will.

One of the first things that caught my eye while reading his website was this line:
"...which has her name at the top of every other page - - - a clear testament to Susan Combs’ insatiable ego and desire to see her name in print."

Has the man ever read a book? Apparently not. Go ahead, check all your books; Poe, Shakespeare, Nora Roberts, they all have the author's name on every other page, with the title opposite. From his statements, it seems all authors are aggrandizing with insatiable egos.

However, his lack of knowledge on the subject of books is far less appalling than his knowledge of the subject matter of said books. Romance, with or without implied or explicit sexual content, is about love, empowerment, trust, insecurities and believing in yourself and your partner enough to overcome them, and yes, even passion. It seems as if he zoned in on "the good parts" just like the guys in my 11th grade history class, (Johanna Lindsay historicals were very popular in my history class) and never took the time to actually read the story. Romances, by their very nature, have a "happy ever after" ending.

I could quote all the stats which state romance readers are educated and spend lots of money on books (all genres, because we read more than romance) each year, but, to me, it's not a money issue. He has managed to insult me as a reader and author, along with millions of others, because of his WILLFUL IGNORANCE. This should not be tolerated.

And while we're skirting around the money issue, as comptroller, he should be aware of a few more facts: Romance Writers of America's (RWA) headquarters are in Texas; RWA's national conference is being held in Texas next year; Romantic Times' Readers and Booklover's Convention is being held in Texas next year. Can you say a boatload of money coming into his state from readers and authors of romance? I'm pretty sure he's not screaming "pornographers go home."

I'm not ashamed of what I read or write, but I am ashamed for this man. A man who has had to stoop to a smear campaign in order to make himself look better in the eyes of voters. A man who cannot stand on his record or the issues. He has earned my pity, but will never earn my respect.

Jessie