For decades, romance was a tried-and-true avenue for talented, creative women to bring in some extra money. (Or, in some cases, a fucking fortune.) But the business has changed, with the proliferation of digital publishers and self-publishing options. How's one author handling it?

Here's a question: How filthy do you like your leisure reading? Does anything more than a meaningful look inspire squirming discomfort and blushes? Or do you routinely read novels with detailed descriptions of the act of coitus? I'll go first: I like 'em raunchy.

Let's just get something straightened out: The average romance novelist probably has some sense of what fisting is. Also, generally, they know plenty about The Sex. More than the average layperson, even!

Mac will soon debut its fall 2014 makeup collection. The inspiration: the timeless style of retro romance novel covers. Somebody in their marketing department clearly has a massive collection of vintage Fabio covers.

Friday is Independence Day, so if you're American I assume you're planning to park your buns in a lawn and/or lounge chair for 72 hours straight. Which makes this the perfect time to get into romance novels!

Attention, Cool Teens who are like already totally over Valentine's Day: The Toronto Public Library has planned an event just for you! The Anti-Valentine's Day Anti-Party, as originally planned, would give prematurely jaded pre-adults the opportunity to vandalize romance novels. Totally punk rock, right?!

NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden gave up his freedom to leak classified and critical government secrets that warrant our utmost attention. He relinquished his own privacy so we would know that ours is under attack. But naturally, media outlets are much more concerned with tracking down Lindsay Mills, his…

Here is a woman loves romance novels so much that she made a pair of shoes out of them. Check them out at Smart Bitches Trashy Books, where Rudi, a graduate student studying romance novels, said, "They are entirely functional and I have plans to wear them ... pretty much everywhere." They are the equivalent of ruby…

There's a new-ish sub-genre of romance novels written by and for ladies who love to get dirty — both literally and figuratively. Deemed "Rural Romance", the novels are most popular in Australia, where publishers are furiously adding collections of agricultural sexiness to their rosters.

If you've never read a historical romance novel — sometimes called "bodice rippers" — you might think they are full of retro and regressive tropes: The woman is almost always a young, delicate, virginal flower; the man is almost always older, experienced, a scoundrel and dominant brute. If you have delved into the…

Everyone knows that only women are qualified to write romance novels, right? Men are supposed to be writing books about sharks or beer, DOY. Sadly, we're not so far from the days when Mary Anne Evans had no choice but to take on the nom de plume George Eliot in order to be taken seriously as a writer (although this…

You knew Fifty Shades of Grey was bad, but did you know that it's so bad that it's actually ruining other novels with its success? Clandestine Classics, a publisher of erotic e-books, will soon be releasing all of your favorite romance classics, such as Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes, with added …

Ladies, be careful. Your romance novels may be driving you insane.

America's collective jubilation over the death of the leader of al Qaeda has evolved into fascination with the men (and dog) who successfully pulled off one of the Jason Bourne-iest operations in recent memory. Of course, now everyone wants to know what it would be like to have sex with them*.

It may get no respect, but romance remains the unshakable backbone of the publishing industry, has stayed adaptable and current, and is moving confidently into the digital age. Says one analyst, "it's such a huge category with such a loyal following. I'd be very surprised if the category ever dropped out of the top…

I'm not saying some of them aren't gross — but there are great ones out there, oh yes indeed.

"Talk to them like humans and don't be a jerk," conclude the writers, "Just like dudes in romance novels."