Posted by Robin Lee Hatcher on April 16, 2002 at 17:51:03:
In Reply to: An article about Robin Lee Hatcher that may surprise you posted by LLB on April 11, 2002 at 13:25:16:
FYI, I have sent the following letter to the features editor of the Idaho Statesman:
Dear Ms. Ashwill:
While I appreciate the feature article about me by Mike Butts that appeared in the Statesman on April 11, 2002, I feel I must write to correct a few misunderstandings that appeared in it. In the course of not including some things I said during our interview and taking some things out of context, I'm afraid some wrong impressions have resulted.
The article states: "Hatcher said women can develop addictions to sexual fantasies in romance fiction, and that writing them seemed to her almost like serving a drink to an alcoholic."
I remember the discourse from which the above was taken. I was relaying the comments of some of my readers, women who had reported to me that this was *their* experience. At the time I spoke strongly on behalf of the romance genre, stating my belief that it is often unfairly criticized. I stated that romance fiction, as a genre, is about women winning and about men and women forming committed relationships. Unfortunately, by virtue of what was omitted, probably due to article length restrictions, it seemed I was criticizing the romance genre as a whole rather than supporting it.
The article stated: "Still, she lists her romance books on her Web site under the caveat that she does not recommend them."
What my web site says is: "My career as a novelist (and my life) took a sudden turn the day I recognized God's call on my heart to write for Him. The stories I've written since and the ones I'll write in the future are decidedly different from those I wrote prior to that significant moment. Many of my earlier novels contain elements that are contrary to what I hope to share with readers today. Therefore, the following list (in order of release dates) is provided simply as a record of publication and not as any sort of recommendation."
Nowhere on my site do I criticize the romance genre. My lack of recommendation for my older titles is because I have something different to say to readers now from what I said to them five or ten years ago. It has nothing to do with my older titles being romances. Some of my new novels are romances as well (including the one I am currently writing), just with a different focus, and my Web site clearly displays my affiliation with Romance Writers of America as well as my romance writing awards.
The author started off the article by saying that I "kept a secret." In actuality, my discomfort with writing love scenes in my books was never a secret. My friends knew it. My editors knew it. My agent knew it. I did feel pressure to include scenes I wasn't comfortable with, so I did, indeed, compromise my own values. For those choices I made, I take full responsibility.
Again, I do appreciate the feature article and the work of the author, but I hope that these corrections can be made to the record.
Sincerely,
Robin Lee Hatcher
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