Writing Romantasy As An Act of Resistance
Working Title: Sometimes the most radical act is speaking your truth when the powers that be would prefer silence.
Hello Readers of the Realm ♥
As you may realize by now, I avoid publishing pieces that might be considered negative. I do not write reviews for books I did not enjoy. Even if it’s not for me, I respect the time and effort the author put into their writing, and there is someone out there that resonates with those words. I do not focus on the mainstream news, because as far as I can tell, their model is to gain views through fear and outrage. These emotions are valid, but I don’t see the benefit in stoking them for ad revenue. I vote the same way I speak: from my heart. I try to uphold my values and feel others deserve the same courtesy, but I’m also not opposed to marching in a protest.
Before my turn as a librarian and novelist, I was a student of history. The past can offer fascinating insights into the human condition. I ended up focusing on art history during college because it allowed me to study a broad swathe of the past: myth, religion, politics, aesthetics. Because of my mixed Italian, Austrian, Dutch, and Polish heritage, I was drawn in particular to Europe. One of my research topics for my M.A. focused on how Mussolini utilized the art of ancient Rome to promote the idea that the glorious past would be created anew in his Italian Empire. His government became involved in the arts as a part of the fascist propaganda playbook.
I did that research in 2005 and 2006, and haven’t really thought too much about it since. Then I saw a headline that the current President of the US has decided to head up the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in D.C. My alarm bells began to ring, and I had to take off my blinders.
Despite avoiding the news, I can see with my own eyes we are in the midst of an upheaval. While I admit the system we have in the US is not perfect and some form of shake-up is needed, the means to this end being undertaken at this time does not adhere to our Constitution. Many of the actions of the current administration are opposed to our shared belief in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In my little corner of the world, the pursuit of happiness includes reading and writing. Romantasy is my favorite genre, but I also read romance and contemporary women’s lit. Within the pages of these books I’ve found all facets of what it means to be a woman—to be HUMAN. I’ve laughed, cried, found hope, been devastated, even got a little hot and bothered because I was emotionally connected with scene. I’ve befriended characters of all ages, races, and gender identities in the pages of books.
I love these stories, and I believe they are in danger.
Yes, this sounds alarmist. I decided to read portions of Project 2025 for myself to make sure I fully understand what I might be facing as an author and librarian since the highest levels of government are now interfering with the arts. Here is a passage that I cut and paste directly from the Project 2025 PDF:
Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.
What? I can’t tell you how many times I have read this paragraph. Where do I even begin? The dictionary usually works for me.
Pornography: noun. Printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.
Nowhere in this definition do I see a correlation to propagation of transgender ideology or mention of children. There is an assumption in the mind of this writer that they are linked together like a Gordian knot. But that type of knot is used to describe a difficult or involved problem, which this is not. This sounds like hate and transphobia to me, dressed up in academic verbiage, meant to promote fear and outrage.
Also the whole “no first amendment protections” threat being thrown at schools and libraries are the promises of a bully. There is no school or library in the United States that carries, purveys, or promotes pornography. Period.
Threatening technology firms that promote their version of porn with being shuttered is extreme, since what that call porn does not fall under the defition. According to them, Substack would be taken offline for hosting sites such as Romantasy Realms.
I vehemently protest what they are advocating. I do not write pornography. A small portion of my writing focuses on the love and pleasure aspects of sex as a natural and healthy part of the human experience. Most of the books here are listed as YA or Adult to get them into the correct hands. Even if someone under 18 happens upon these pages, I do not for a minute think my words are going to corrupt or harm them in any manner.
Threats of jail time will not stop me from writing.
Queen Ivy of Romantasy Realms loves to read and promote a great love story. That does not make me a child predator or a misogynistic exploiter of women. If you want to rid the world of rapists and sexual predators, search the White House and halls of Congress for your culprits.
With all due respect to the folks implementing Project 2025, fuck you.
Here’s a final quote from Carlos Ruis Zafron. "Books are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you."
If you see porn everywhere, maybe you need to ask yourself why that is. Even better, discuss it with a therapist.
If you’re still here reading this instead of unsubscribing, thank you for supporting me. More importantly, thank you for supporting love and diverse voices. I love my fellow writers and I want you all to know that I will do whatever it takes to help you get your story into the world. Now more than ever, our stories matter. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️✊🏾
P.S. This was really tough to write, and I apologize for not publishing last Friday. I had to sit with all my emotions amid the tumult. I promise next week you will have some fun here. I’m doing a spoiler free review of Kimberly Lemming’s That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon.
What’s happening right now in the US incites so many feelings in me. One being deja vu. I am Indian and as part of the rise of the right wing in this country a false narrative has been set on what it means to be “Indian”, which basically translates to repress all discourse on sexuality and gender freedom. This in the land where the major religion has prominent gods who are worshipped in queer forms, where history and mythology have had powerful women embracing their rights and needs.
It feels like a fire raging through the world right now.
Yikes, yeah there's no end to their madness. :( I really hope there's some way to stop this. I hope they won't try to shut down libraries or ban books all over America. (Or even try to ban books at online retailers, omg.) Trump may be president, but his power isn't supreme, right? He acts like a dictator and believes he's a king. But legally speaking, he's only a president, not a king, so there are some checks on his power, right? I don't know enough about politics to say. Just that democracy is not like this. They don't get to say "free speech" and then try to silence transgender people, for instance.