1. Poor grammar. If you're an author who gets paid for what you write, then you should have a good grasp of the English language (or whatever tongue you happen to write in). An editor should not have to remind you about capital letters, punctuation, it's/ its or using an apostrophe s for a plural. Oh, and nothing gets my back up worse than a disregard for subject/ verb agreement. I've found myself participating in conversations on writer mailing lists detailing lessons on basic grammar. Here's a news flash, publishers-- if the author doing the submission is making glaring grammatical errors, then they aren't ready to publish. If the story is so good that grammar doesn't matter, that's what the "revise and resubmit" letters are for. That's not to say that we all don't make mistakes, but a disregard for grammar diminishes us all.
2. Ignoring plot points in favor of more sex. I've been writing in the romance genre for a while now and I've noticed that in a lot of instances, romance writers get slammed for writing "fluff." We get accused of having weak plots that center on sex and lovey-dovey drivel. For the most part, this is a slippery-slope arguement that has no basis in reality (i.e.-- bullshit). However, I have been the "victim" of a PWP-- a porn without plot. And if that's what you're looking for, that's great. More power to you, but that's just not my thing. I like romance novels that center on the relationship between the lovers, but that also have an intricate, interesting plot woven into it. After all, there's only so many ways that the characters can get it on. After a while, there has to be something more if it's to hold my interest.
3. Insulting the intelligence of the reader. Romance readers often get a bad rap. Actually, genre-readers often get a bad rap. It is as if the world thinks that anyone who reads horror, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. are adorable little morons. I can't tell you how many times I've had complicated sentence structure or vocabulary edited out of a story. One of my biggest peeves is the myth of "head hopping." Writers are often not allowed to write in third-person omniscient POV nowadays because we're all so scared of confusing the reader. I, for one, would like to think that my readers are intelligent folk who have no trouble following the points of view of the characters. As a reader, I enjoy varied and complex sentence structure and vocabulary that ignites the senses. That's not to say it should be pretentious, but you know what I mean...
Now comes the part where I give the shameless plug. If you're reading this blog, chances are, you're a Mocha Memoirs reader. CONGRATULATIONS! Mocha Memoirs writers are among the best in the business. I've read lots of books from the MMP authors and I've never been disappointed. Writers like Selah Janel, Siobhan Kincade, Nikki Prince, Nikki Winter, Drea Riley, Billy London and so many others grace the MMP store with their amazing abilities. If you haven't checked out the MMP team, I urge you to do it now. You won't be disappointed.
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If I’ve piqued your interest or if you just want to come point and laugh, I can be found at the following locales:
My books can be found at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks and anywhere quality eBooks are sold.
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