Have I got a treat for you today. Sam Cheever is on my blog today. Take it away, Sam!
When asked why they love reading romance, one of the most common responses is that it gives the reader an escape from real life. Especially with today’s financial and social challenges, it has never been more important to be able to escape into fiction. This need for a diversion also applies to movies and television, where our favorite storylines are vastly different from what most of us experience day to day and the endings are almost always happy.
So how does that mesh with the reality TV obsession? On the surface it doesn’t make any sense. If our biggest hope is to escape harsh reality for a time, buried in the pages of a great novel or transfixed by stories being played out on a screen before us, why would we embrace the idea of reality based television?
The answer, I believe, has three parts:
First, reality TV is not, in fact, real. Some shows are at least based on real situations, even if their content is completely staged. But other shows are about as close to reality as I am to looking like Elle Macpherson, which, unfortunately, isn’t even close.
I mean, Naked and Afraid? Really? The idea of being dumped somewhere without clothes and food and told to survive in any way you can is far from an everyday occurrence. Aside from the fact that a camera crew is there filming the whole thing, it would be unusual in the extreme for two complete strangers to meet up naked and work together to survive nature and their own biological needs. So despite the classification as reality TV, this type of show is actually more fiction than reality.
The second form of reality television is more real but it’s not scary or depressing. It’s fun and entertaining. This kind of real is easy to enjoy. Shows like American Idol and The Next Top Model take us into worlds we might not otherwise get to visit and gift us with people to root for as well as people to hate in a fun, non-threatening atmosphere.
The third kind of reality television is realish and inspiring. Duck Dynasty would fall into this category. It’s also a whole lot of fun. But the show is based on a fun-loving if slightly eccentric family from the South that embraces the traditional values a lot of us hold and has realized the American dream, making a success out of their duck call business. They could be anybody, anywhere, following their dream while embracing life and holding family, community, and their religious beliefs close.
My new release, The Biggest Poser, is based on another inspiring reality television show. Millions of us struggle every day with the need to lose weight, with limited success. The Biggest Loser takes us into the experience with people we can relate to, root for, and sometimes want to smack upside the head. But whoever they are, we get to share in their successes and lament their failures with them.
The Biggest Poser is an interracial romance that offers the reader mystery, laugh out loud moments, and sexy encounters that will steam nearby glass surfaces! I hope you’ll check it out.
BLURB
May the biggest liar win. Or die trying!
Personal trainer for the ever popular, Lose it! reality show, Jillie Maxwell is up for the most important award of her career. And she’s competing against the biggest b-eye-itch she’s ever met. Fortunately for her, she has the sexiest man alive in her corner. Problem is, each and every one of them has a dirty little secret that could tank a career.
For the contestants, the race is on to lose the most weight and win everything. For the staff of the popular weight loss show, the clock is ticking to the culmination of their lies and the possibility of losing it all.
Will the Biggest Poser win? Or will the lies just grow and grow until they sink the whole show? Only one thing is certain. Whatever happens, it’s gonna be an entertaining ride!
AUTHOR BIO
Sam’s published work includes 50+ books of romantic suspense and fantasy/paranormal. Her books have won the Dream Realm Award for fantasy and The Swirl (interracial romance) Award. They’ve been nominated for and/or won several CAPAs, have been nominated multiple years for “Best of” with LRC and The Romance Reviews, and have won eCataromance’s Reviewer’s Choice award. Sam is published with Musa Publishing, Changeling Press; and Ellora’s Cave. She also publishes as Declan Sands, writing m/m fiction, and under her own imprint, Electric Prose Publications.
In real life, Sam lives in a cabin in the woods with 13 dogs and one husband. A self-proclaimed dog-aholic, Sam insists she’s holding at 13…maybe…
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Thanks so much for hosting me today, Elke!
My pleasure, Sam! Thanks for your interesting article. All the best with your writing endeavors.
Dancing with the Stars I watch sometimes, but that’s about as much reality as I can handle. Prefer to escape into fiction…LOL