Have your parents, relatives, spouse, or the parents of your children’s friends read your books?
Vi Keeland – – My mom read Stuck-Up Suit, which I co-wrote with Penelope Ward. She was more of James Patterson fan than a romance reader and had never read a book with graphic sex. So, I told her Penelope wrote all of our sex scenes.
Penelope Ward – – Oh, yes! My daughter’s teachers are the worst culprits. They will stop me in the halls and whisper in my ear, “I read your book.” I have no idea typically how they find out I write–I’m not the one that tells them. But people talk, and it only takes one person to tell those at school that I am a romance author. Then they Google me, and the rest is history.
Robinne Lee – – Sometime very early on in writing The Idea of You, chapter Four, to be precise, I came to the conclusion that my parents should never ever ever read it. But by the time I’d completed it and sold it to respected publishing house, I’d become proud enough of my story that I wanted to share it with the world. Except for maybe my dad. So I told my mom she could go ahead and read it. It took her maybe 4 months to do so, because as she claims, she had to close the book after every page and say to herself, “Did my daughter really write that???” But in the end, she LOVED it. She was unbelievably complimentary. And like many others, she’s now waiting for a sequel. No pressure. No pressure at all.
R.K. Lilley – – My mom reads all my books first. It should be weirder than it is, but it’s her fault I’m hooked on romance (I read all her books when I was in my early teens), so it’s just sort of normal for us. On a much more awkward note, both of my brothers tried reading my books before they really understood what they were getting into. I forbade them from ever doing that again, and we’re all still recovering from it lol!
Adriana Locke – – My mom demands ARCS like she’s somehow entitled. 😉 Most of my books aren’t really dirty, but there’s one chapter in Sway that deals with grapes and … you get the picture. I squirmed little when I thought about my mom reading it. Naturally, she called me, “Addy, I loved Sway! Especially Chapter Eighteen.” I died a little that day.
K. Webster – – Yes! Most of my family has read some, if not all, of my books. They’re insanely supportive, even when I go little outside of the box. My grandmother read my first book and said, “It was a really good book, but some scenes were more graphic than I was used to. I hope the stuff you wrote was from your imagination and not your memory.” I replied with shifty eyes, “All from my imagination, Grandmother.”
Tracey Garvis Graves – – So, my dad and I have an agreement: he doesn’t read my books, and I promise not to ever be upset about that. Neither of us likes the thought of my dad reading a love scene I’ve written (I’m even more mortified at the thought of this than he is). People are often shocked by our arrangement, but it suits us both just fine. LOL. My stepmom always reads my books, and so does her ninety-five-year-old dad. Various other relatives read my books, and so do the parents of my kids’ friends. Mr. Donahue, my eighth-grade English teacher, reads them all.
J. Daniels – – My Mom started Sweet Addiction and never finished it. Not because she didn’t like it. She just couldn’t imagine her little girl writing something like that. 🙂 (Fair. There is SO MUCH SEX in SA.)
Ginger Scott – – Oh my gosh…yes! All of the above. For my more teen titles, I have had lot of my son’s friends read them. There was one time when I saw him pulling copies of The Hard Count out of my office, and I asked why? He said he was giving them to girls who wanted to read it!
Now, as for the naughty parts…my mom reads EVERY book I write. She’s actually one of my proofers because she has an eagle eye and proofed massive things for most of her life. When she marks my document up, she works on a PDF. Sometimes, it’s hard to read what her marks are, so we go through them on the phone together. Every now and again, she’ll find something in a steamy love scene. She thinks it’s funny that I want to just move right along, and she’ll say things like “now wait…don’t you want to talk about that one?” She’s evil like that!
T. Gephart – – Yes. My mum, one of my sister’s in law, and parents of my kids have read my books. It was weird at first, but now I don’t even think about it. Although one of the endings of my books (The Fall—IT IS NOT A ROMANCE and I tried to be very clear about it up front) upset my mother so much she refuses to accept it and demands I write her an alternative ending. Sorry, Mum, it’s not a choose your own adventure. The ending stands LOL.