I'll Be The First to Admit It! Yes I Am Prejudiced!!!

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi All,

(Oooh boy, I hope the guys don't get mad at me).

I was recently discussing different books with some more ladies. They all explained how they do not like to read male authors. They said they are prejudiced against them and as I looked at myself. I had to admit, I am too.

I mainly read women authors. I feel bad for admitting that, but I do. The only male authors I read are the classic writers. Hitchcock is my idol and I love Poe, Twain and Wilde. See how long ago that is? I have not been able to complete ONE book from a male author I've read that's been in this century except for a couple of King's books and I sweated through those. Hey I think King's a genius but his writing style isn't my cup of tea. Oh I take that back. I loved Alex Gardner's The Beach! I loved Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. But that was written over forty years ago!

One of my main problems with male writers is how they write their romance and sex scenes. I'm not trying to lump them all together, but when a man writer writes a sex scene, you can tell. It seems to be more of the physical and not enough of the attraction, seduction, heart and romance. That is one of my biggest turn-offs with some male writers. Other than that, I just can't get into a man's book. It's so hard for me to get into a man's voice. I also have a problem with a lot of male authors and their unnecessary cursing. It's fine to have cursing in the books when it fits a character, but a lot of male authors have cursing in the narrative and it gets excessive.

Do any of you feel the same way? Most of the women I know rarely read male authors unless it's nonfiction, but fiction, nope. They only read them when it's a big book with buzz like say, Dan Brown. A friend of mine recently read a romance by a man. She said it was horrible. She said it was 300 pages of "a stupid, big-busted woman who couldn't live without her man". In all fairness though, a lot of women write these types of "set women back 1000 years-romances too". We can't blame that on men but she said the main thing was the voice. The voice was rigid and unemotional. When I read a man's book I can tell immediately that a man wrote it. I've read some books where male authors wrote under a female pen and I still could tell. You go, "This seems like it's written by a man".

If I caught onto a male author's voice that I truly enjoyed, I'd continue reading his work. But so far, it's the women that are writing the books I love right now. And I love mysteries and suspense. I'm not a romance reader either. So, even though mystery's got a lot of male writers in the genre, I still rather read the females. There's just something about how a woman writes that makes me feel closer to the story and the characters. When I read a male author, I always feel like I'm being held back at arms length. I can't get in deep.

It's not like I haven't given men a fair chance. I've tried to read many, mostly new authors and unknowns. But I've also struggled with the biggies. Koontz, can't finish him. I tried two Grisham books and gave up in the middle due to the voice and style of it. Patterson, hmm. Now I never read a Patterson book. Might give him a try. Ken Follett, love his plots but I can't get into his writing. I only read The Third Twin because I saw the TV movie. But believe me, I've tried to read many male books but...just can't connect with them.

Sorry, men didn't mean to offend, LOL.

[Michelle]

i thought i was the only one with a male author aversion. i avoid authors like james patterson and nicholas sparks... men who write anything romance. i also can't get into their writing... although I tried because sparks is really popular with my friends. however, i've been trying to get over my prejudice and try reading male authors again (like neil gaiman [coraline] and i have a john connolly book [the book of lost things] on my tbr pile) but nothing romance. great post!! :)

[Kimberly Hulst]

I have never really thought about it.
My main genres are vampires, horror and Jane Austen-style (the boom in making sequels of her books)
Some of my favourite books are On the Road, Hard Core Logo, Naked Lunch, and Hard Core Road Show.
I have read alot of King's stuff and loved it, H.P. Lovecraft has half a shelf in my book case as well as Hunter S Thompson. But none of that are romances at all.
I usually write my novels from the men's side of the issue. But again, that just comes from my influences.

(Michael Turner's Hard Core Logo )
(Noel Baker's Hard Core Road Show )

[Amy Jacobs]

If we could all just sit the male authors down to read harlequins as a base on how to write love scenes, then maybe I would read them...lol...I don't even know of any male authors that write romance! LOL

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi Amy,

There are a few trickling into the romance and romantic suspense genre, but a lot of them are under female pen names. I discovered this from reading some recent reviews on a site. One lady reviewed this book, and said she could tell it was written by a man despite the name, LOL. She did some digging and she was right. I don't think there's many men who have been doing this but now, since the romance genre and romantic suspense is so hot, a lot of male authors probably trying to capitalize on that. So, I believe we'll see more of an influx of "new" female writers in the genre who are actually men.

A reviewer just outed a man last week who's writing for Harlequin, LOL. She said the same thing, it was the love scenes that set her off to thinking it had to be a men. The book glorified the "penis" constantly as if it were an ego trip. So she knew it was a man and she was right. I see it's not just me who can tell a male author from the words alone. That's kind of amazing when you think of it. I know male writers feel they are discriminated against in certain genres but come on, it's a big difference in the writing most times. Romance is not just about sex and the physical. Erotica is a different thing but a lot of men aren't accepted for writing that either.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Karoline]

Considering I don't read romance, and if I do come across a romantic scene that I find unnecessary and utterly stupid 90% of the time I just skip it so I can't really truly answer the question. I think I have an equal number of books my male and female authors and I like both. :)

Romance scenes annoy me. I'm really all about action, romance stuff is like a speed bump...a real big unnecessary one. That's just me though.

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi Karoline,

I'm not a romance person either. I am a mystery suspense hound all the way. Now, I don't mind a little romance in mystery but as far as reading a straight romance, I can't do it. I gotta have conflict, sleuthing, some kind of mystery or puzzle to solve and a little violence with what I read. That's what I write as well. I do have relationships and a little romance in my books but they are 85%-90% percent mystery. Now-a-days, some pubs want mystery writers to curb into the romance suspence genre because it's popular so they are pushing for mystery authors to include more romance. I only write love scenes (not often), when they are necessary but I do have characters who care for each other.

I'm more like a man in that respect, LOL. I'm not into romance like most women. Funny, but all of the mystery suspense novels I read now are women too. I might give James Patterson a try. I've yet to read him. I would read more from Ken Follet. He has great plots and I'd give his style another chance. I like how his mind works. He's very clever.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Anysia]

I have no preference one way or the other. I don't even consider the author's gender when choosing a book.

I would like to know how you know that you are reading a male author though. Your prejudice (preference?) is not unique and many male authors use pseudonyms or initials so that the readers can't tell their gender in genres that are primarily written by women. You may be reading male authors and not know it.

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi Anysia,

With me, lately I've been sticking to my favorite types of authors and I know they are females. I know this because I've been reading them for years, have even corresponded with some of them, know their bios up and down and I am a big fan of the ladies I read. You can't be a huge fan of someone and not know their correct gender, LOL. They also have their pictures on their books.

As for "how do you know they are male", I was speaking in terms of when I am reading a book by a male writer, who I know is male, I can tell by how he writes certain things compared to a lot of other male writers. Could I always tell if he has a different pen name? Not saying I could, but I've never read a male that wrote under a female pen name. I read mysteries and thrillers so the men don't have to write under different names. If I was a romance reader, I probably would be tricked a couple of times.

The reasons the book reviewers know is because they look up the writer's pen and find out that they are a female writer. At least that's what they say they've done. They also have access to the author and publisher so that might be how they already know as well. Most times authors pen names lead right to who they really are, which seems to defeat the purpose to me. Also, other authors know because we are in the industry and we know what's happening behind closed doors.

Like I said, I love a lot of male authors, but not a lot of the modern ones.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Christy Pinheiro]

Most romance writers use a female pen name. Most writers of technical books use a male pen name, or at least a name that is sexually ambiguous. I only use my first initial on my technical books, and I have seriously considered using the name “Chris” on ALL my books, instead of Christy or Christine. My readers always assume I’m a man anyway.

But when I read, I usually don't care what the author's sex is. I read almost all non-fiction anyway, so I don't think it makes a difference.

[Zaria Garrison]

I am prejudiced in the opposite direction. I actually prefer male authors to females. Carl Weber, Eric Jerome Dickey are two of my absolute favorites.

[Linda]

I tend to prefer male authors too, although with the pen names authors use, sometimes I may not know which gender I am reading!

[EclecticBookWorm]

I barely ever read male authors either, with some exceptions. I love Charles de Lint and a few others. But the majority of novels I enjoy reading are written by women. Your friend was spot-on about the male voice sounding rigid and unemotional when it comes to romance.....at least, this seems to be the case with most male writers. I suppose I can't make such a sweeping statement about all of them. ; )

Even Dan Brown had a scene in the end of The DaVinci Code where Langdon has this strange romantic moment with the woman lead (her name escapes me now). But they kiss and then plan on meeting at a later time....Well, the whole thing was really awkward and forced and was tacked on at the very end of the book. He hadn't really given any indication that the two were romantically inclined at any other time in the book. Maybe he felt his women readers would expect the two to become involved? I'm not sure where he got the idea for that particular scene.

I completely understand the feeling of being held at arms-length. Men just don't seem to have the emotional investment in the characters that women have and it comes through in the story...at least in romance that is.

Which brings me to a related subject....I recently read that many more men are getting into reading Harlequin novels (Mills & Boon in the UK)! So maybe we'll have a whole slew of new male romance authors!