Julia Barrett's World

Isn’t he handsome?

This is why my hubby has to ask who do I like better? Louie is the best dog I’ve ever had!

I had this dream that Amber Skyze went to a writing conference in Mexico and she came home telling all of us that our books were being translated into Spanish and we would all sell like hot tortillas south of the border - Amber…is it true??? Say it’s so!

Here’s my question…sex or violence?

Which do you let or did you let your kids watch? Or was it both or neither? There’s an internet kerfluffle on Dear Author, Read React Review and Karen Knows Best about teens reading erotic romance.

I have this big fat rule against gratuitous violence in my house. Mommy, can we watch Halloween 987? No! Can we watch Saw 5? No! Can we watch Scream 34? No! Can we watch The Exorcist? Oh hell no! No violence, no horror. You can ride the upside down roller coaster and get your thrills, but you may not watch slasher films in my home and don’t think you’re sneaking over to Johnny’s to watch at his house either! My kids have nightmares all on their own, thank you, they do not need to see Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 101.

My own parents were the exact opposite - violence okay, sex - not allowed. I suffered nightmares for years and slept with a ceiling light on until I was fourteen. Christ, I didn’t know about sex until it was being done to me and even then it took me two more years and a wise ass boyfriend to explain what it was that happened with that nasty clergyman! I entered the 8th grade still wondering how women got pregnant. Did they like…kiss 50 times in a row? Did it have to be with the same guy? Did it have to be 50 consecutive kisses or could they take a break and then pick up where they left off? That is how naive I was.

So, I say my kids can watch normal sexual situations on TV and at the movies. Slasher and horror both have a big red line drawn through them at my house.

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There is a fascinating

discussion going on now over at Dear Author regarding society’s double standard about male vs. female sexuality and how it may be reflected in romance novels. It’s worth it to read the original post and then follow the comments.

On a personal note, my heroines are not virgins. They’ve had sex with one or more men in their lifetimes. Perhaps if I wrote historical romance, they would be inexperienced, because that would be appropriate according to the mores of the time period.

One of the comments, i.e., mine, has to do with experience vs. promiscuity. I understand sexual experience. I also understand promiscuity - this is my take on the matter, feel free to disagree. I equate the term promiscuity with risky sexual behavior - frequent unprotected sex with multiple partners IRL, not just in books. Having sexual encounters with complete strangers, the use of drugs with sex with complete strangers…sexual behavior that can actually endanger your life. Sexual experience does not necessarily equal risky behavior.

I encourage you to head over to Dear Author and check out this animated discussion.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/ The second post down.

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The Cougar Anthology - Logical Lust

Cougars are all the rage - on the big screen, small screen, in the news, on the internet…and I guess all I can say is…it’s about time! The older man/younger woman dynamic has existed forever…now it’s our turn.

Of course, historically speaking, in some cultures it was common for younger men to be paired with older, more experienced women so that they could not only learn the social norms of sexual behavior, but so a wiser, more mature woman could manage his household. Unfortunately, our culture hasn’t placed much value on older women - as the saying goes - men grow distinguished, women just get old…one of the more disgusting sentiments I’ve ever heard - The words devalue women, dismiss our contributions to society and negate our sexuality or sexual identity.

My only personal experience as a Cougar occurred when I was nineteen years old and I dated a sixteen year old. We became great friends, working together detassling corn and hoeing soybeans one summer. He was a mature sixteen and I was between boyfriends, so…Not that we did anything other than laugh a lot. We had fun and we’ve stayed friends.

So when I saw the call from Logical-Lust asking for Cougar Stories for an anthology, I decided - What the heck! Go ahead and write one! I submitted it, sent it off, and low and behold, was informed that my story was one of twenty-three stories accepted. Yee-hah!

So click on my pages and read an excerpt from You Might Just Get It, from The Cougar Anthology, coming Valentine’s Day, 2010!

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