Guilty Pleasures

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This last weekend, Southern Magic had an exhibitor booth at the Alabama Book Festival. The foot traffic at our table was heavier than I expected. Most of the people smiled and shared with us their favorite romance novels and asked about our chapter’s authors.

A few joyless souls wrinkled their noses, said something snotty about romance, and skulked off into their miserable existence to absorb books about death, misery, or some other boring and depressing topic.  Their reaction didn’t bother me too much. If they don’t like what we write, oh well.  

It was the third category that rubbed me the wrong way. The people who leaned forward and whispered romance novels were their guilty, secret pleasure. What the what? Guilty, secret pleasure?  Like Easy Cheese on crackers?  Reruns of Saved by the Bell? Lady Gaga? I own my guilty pleasures, thank you very much.

We like what we like. Why keep it a secret? Or feel guilt? I make no bones about the fact that I like to read urban fantasy and paranormal romance (or that I write both – for a funny story, ask me about opposing counsel’s reaction earlier this week when I explained why we couldn’t schedule depositions in late June). Believe it or not, one of my lawyer friends and I continue to exchange recommendations on paranormal romance reads. We are currently in the middle of a race/challenge to see who can finish all of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. (tee hee – what my friend doesn’t know is the fabulous SK writes much faster than we read – we’ll never be done! Muahaha!).

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Don’t keep it a secret. Tell us what it is. You may be surprised how much company you have.