The Dirty Parts

"As technology exposes the author to the fans, there's an ageism that comes into play," Brockway says. "You have to look hip and edgy on your website. Your books shouldn't rely on your age or your socioeconomic class or where you shop. But honest to God, it's working that way now." Although she chooses not to disclose her age, Brockway reveals that she'll have been married for 30 years this fall. This hint of real-life romance seems like a better endorsement for the genre than a lace corset or flamboyant image.

At the very least, crossing over to the women's fiction genre may provide Brockway with a welcome respite from writing the dreaded dirty parts. "They're boring," Brockway says of sex scenes. "I'll be the first one to admit that [writing them] gets boring. If you're writing a love scene and it comes naturally in the book, and it's going to somehow inform the relationship that you're trying to develop in the romance, then it works. But if you're putting them in there because of reader expectation, I think you can tell every single time.

Diana Watters

Connie Brockway: "I think it's interesting that in romance, the relationships are always totally monogamous. Once the hero and the heroine get together...that's it."

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More About

• Connie Brockway
• Charlotte
• B.S. Johnson
• Dizzy Carlisle
• Romance Novels

"I've written 17 books, probably about 25 love scenes." She laughs. "Part A is going to go into Slot B every single time. There aren't many other ways to say it!"

Twin Cities Reader Summer Books Issue:

The Barnstormer A few years ago, Doug Ohman was a theme-park executive with 600 employees. Today, he photographs barns. What happened?

The Dirty Parts Romance Novelist Connie Brockway Wants to Know Why People Can't Look Past the Unbound Bosom and Love-Swollen Member

Fixing a Leak What happens when a reporter doesn't keep his word to an anonymous source?

From the Beauty Parlor to the Barricades! Her Warmhearted Characters Feel Good About the World. Lorna Landvik Doesn't.

Love and Marriage To Most of Us, Nothing Sounds Worse Than a Loveless Marriage. According to Stephanie Coontz, It Wasn't Always That Way.

Life of Johnson It wasn't fun bringing up the rump of the avant-garde. B.S. Johnson felt compelled to do it anyway.

Review: Joe Coomer: Pocketful of Names