As I am a reader and not a writer, I lurk in the background of my favorite authors’ social media chatter. Learning that the author who created a feline fae character is a devoted Maine Coon parent only adds to the enjoyment of that character. There’s one writer who occasionally tweets a line from her day’s work and it is sheer joy to recognize what she is doing with the next book in her series. Most of the time, it’s authors interacting with each other like they are teammates. They share reference sites, swoon over historical clothing photos, post advice for other writers and discuss good and bad fan behavior.

Yesterday, the conversation was singularity focused on an article written by someone who applied for and won a scholarship intended to support and encourage new romance writers. The winner reciprocated by writing a snarky article bad mouthing the entire genre. She sandwiches her article with a line about the burning rain forest as if that makes it ok to attack something other people enjoy. The ice caps are melting, how dare you continue to live life and find happiness. People don’t have clean water to drink, but I’m gonna sit in this coffee shop and mock other writers.

Her weekend of condescension took away a scholarship that could have helped a writer. The author she deceived has an entire series themed around the consequences of separating head from heart. It’s optimism in the face of bleakness and if you *censored out the sex, you’d still have a clever and fun set of books. Lying to and stealing from a writer who believes in hope is not something you brag about in an article.

*Why would you want to eliminate the sexy stuff? Sex is great. You know what might help with your eye rolling snobbery when other people are talking about sex at a romance writers gathering? Reading more romance books.