It happens time and time again. Sooner or later, someone out there in the big bad world is going to make a disparaging comment about the romance novel industry whether it's on the producer side or the consumer side or both. What inevitably follows is about as predictable as a presidential debate between a Republican and a Democrat. A romance reader will pick up on the disparaging comment and broadcast it on the 'net. Then we're off to the races.
Readers get in a lather trying to defend the books and stories they love.
And, sure enough, one person will invariably utter the dreaded Rodney Dangerfield quote. When I first discovered the various romance communities on the 'net, I would be right in the thick of things with other outraged and indignant readers. With lemming-like enthusiasm, I would add my two, four, ten cents to the rhetoric chewing up bandwidth on the internet. I'll even admit that I have wielded the dreaded Dangerfield query more than once. After several similar incidents occurred, I started questioning the purpose, the usefulness of vilifying those individuals who dare to denigrate romance novels.