A boy's eye view of Making Waves

Back in December, I wrote a blog post titled This One's For the Boys.

I expressed surprise at the number of male readers visiting this blog in spite of the fact that I'm a romance author and this blog is...um, well, pink. I wondered how many menfolk would actually end up reading Making Waves, and how their reactions might differ from my more likely female readers.

I'm pleased to report I have an answer.

Since the book hit shelves, I've seen a delightful flood of messages from male readers informing me that in their opinion, the book does not suck. Females clearly make up the majority of my readership and have been wonderfully kind with their praise, but many have shared that their husbands and boyfriends ended up reading Making Waves after demanding to know what was so funny.

I love this dual-gender perspective!

Curious to know more about the male response to my book, I enlisted the help of a trusty friend to share his insights. Without further ado, I give you a guest post from Mr. Mark Simpson, a regular blog commenter and, to the best of my knowledge, possessor of a penis...

Singing about my feelings, not that I have any.
Okay maybe just cool ones–like anger.

Who is this person and why are you reading this instead of Tawna's latest batch of dirty-fun penis euphemisms? Because I genuinely enjoyed Making Waves, apparently bending some unwritten man law in the process. So for men everywhere, Tawna asked me to explain why.

I'll preface by disclosing that even though I've seen her but once in fifteen years—yes, I do in fact know Tawna. At Montana State I was a sportswriter while she was editor of the school newspaper. So yes guys, Tawna was and is sexy. It's not just good marketing. I even recall her once winning a ski-bikini contest.

And I’m a guy’s guy. I watch the entire length of Lonesome Dove at least every couple of years for spiritual guidance. My heroes also include Han Solo and Josey Wales. At different points I’ve been a big-game hunting guide in the Alaskan bush, lead guitarist in a very loud rock band, college athlete, and even once fared respectably as Mark “The Shark” Simpson in a Toughman tournament.

In other words, I am not her target market.

And I don’t hate romance novels; I’d have to actually read them in order to hate them. It’s just not my usual bag. I know this can be a tender subject for Tawna, but just as she won’t apologize for writing romance, (nor should she) I won’t apologize for seldom reading it.

But I am a big believer in the idea that all excellence is equally difficult, and that principle applies to romance writing as much as it applies to quantum physics or darts. Of course I was looking forward to reading Making Waves mainly because I know the author, and while I did expect to enjoy it—it turns out I enjoyed it more than expected.

It’s in our nature to try to quantify and analyze why something works or doesn’t. But with art this is a tricky game as individual appreciation is so subjective. But there’s an old saying in music, “If it sounds good it is good” —or in this case, if it reads good. The unmistakable fact is Tawna can flat out write, as you probably already know or you wouldn’t be reading her blog in the first place.

The 2nd amendment and problems with authority–
chocolate and peanut butter

No it isn’t Wuthering Heights (thank heaven) just as Angus Young isn’t Joe Satrioni. But I can tell you what I’d rather listen to—give me three chords and explosions on stage any day. I believe far more skill lies in creating something new and interesting from proven fundamentals than in one more failed attempt at reinventing the wheel.

And that is exactly what Tawna has done with Making Waves. It has well-formed and interesting characters, fluid-yet-bouncing prose, intriguing-without-being-too-outlandish plot formation, hilarious surprises punctuating a steady flow of dry wit, and yes—lots of sex. It occurred to me while reading one such scene the irony that while guys love porn, most of us wouldn’t be caught dead reading a romance novel. I have no answer for that. 

Making Waves stands on its own two feet even without the sex because it has the basic elements needed for a quality read in any genre. There’s good reason Star Wars is such a classic while dozens of other space sci-fi adventures have long been forgotten. Yeah, it’s about the lasers and x-wing fighters, two foot tall snow walkers in powdered sugar that legitimately seem fifty feet tall... but that's not why it worked. It worked because Han, Leia and company are compelling and interesting characters. This is also why the later prequels with all their CGI movie magic and ballooned budgets left nerds everywhere sobbing with disappointment.

You know how there’s always a couple songs on stations other than what you usually listen to that you actually like? Even people who never tune in to country music have that one they’ll pause on. It’s called the exception to the rule—and that’s what Making Waves was for me—a great change up pitch with universal appeal. Indeed, if it reads more gooder than it is more gooder.

So nice job, Tawna. Making Waves definitely does not suck. I’m officially giving it the Mark “The Shark” Seal of Approval.

***

Thank you, Mark, for your insights and your very kind words. Er, most of them. Use of the word "porn" will make me mighty popular with the spammers, but what's new?

For the rest of you, I'd love to know more about the role gender plays in your reading choices and responses. Please share!