If you are a long time Victory Girls Blog reader, you know that failed Gubernatorial candidate and racial flamethrower Stacey Abrams has a past as a romance novelist. Our Nina told you about the eight books that Abrams wrote as Selena Montgomery towards the end of the 2018 Georgia Campaign, which Brian Kemp won handily. You can read here. Seeing an opportunity to make money, the publisher has reissued three of the long out of print books.

Stacey Abrams eight romance books sold over 100,000 copies and the first was written 20 years ago. On Sunday, May 9, Miss Abrams talked to CBS Sunday Morning:

Correspondent Erin Moriarty said, “If you don’t know the name Selena Montgomery, here’s a hint, It’s the pen name of a bestselling author who has written eight romance novels, and now, her first thriller.”

She added, “And this book, ‘While Justice Sleeps,’ bears her real name: Stacey Abrams.”

Abrams said, “I think people will be surprised. If they don’t know that I’ve written fiction before, they will be surprised,”

Moriarty asked, “How do you have time for not only just writing these books but the research that’s involved?”

Abrams said, “I’m the daughter of a research librarian. I grew up not only writing, but learning how to research, learning how to dive in and think strategically about how to learn new things.”

Moriarty asked, “Your main character is always a woman of color who’s smart and gutsy and cool under pressure, in short, Stacey Abrams?”

Abrams said, “Well, I try to emulate my characters, and I try to have my characters reflect who I am.”

I have a familiarity with romance novels. Two years ago, I went through a wonderful Edith Wharton period, but for the last year I have been in a Regency Romance shame spiral. The Regency period is generally 1780-1830, just so you know. The best of all is Belgravia by Julian Fellowes. Napoleonic Wars and family dynamics, count me in. Deeply researched information about the way people lived in those times draws me in. The whole Upstairs/Downstairs tension rocks me.

Bodices ripping and a woman finding out who she is after one night with a man and I am out of there. Sex scenes are gross and either too mechanical or too fantastical. I want love, not sex in my books. Which brings us to Stacey Abrams. This excerpt is from the inside flap of her first novel “Rules Of Engagement”:

A plan formed as Adam remembered Raleigh’s reaction to their embrace. In their kiss, he tasted passion, forgotten chemistry, and her alarm at the loss of control. He felt her tremble as he kissed her hand in the moonlight. And today, when he moved too close, he witnessed the mixture of fascination and trepidation. If insults didn’t chase her away, perhaps fear of his touch would.
Adam turned from the window to find her standing a few feet away from him. “Lovers, Raleigh?” Adam took a deliberate step toward her and studied her intently. “Is that the plan?” Her eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed in suspicion. He reached out and tilted her chin, angling her face toward his own. A small smile played on the corners of his mouth as he slowly stroked the perfect oval of her face. He felt her pulse quicken and waited patiently for her reply. Yes, he thought, this will work. “Lovers?”

“Yes.” Raleigh forced the words out calmly, cursing her own unwelcome reaction to his nearness, his touch. Her breath backed up in her lungs. Had he always pulled her like this?

Toni thought of her reaction to the writing. In it, she found cliches, juvenile words and a lack of deep thought. The biggest insult of Stacey Abrams writing was her lack of respect for her audience, and Toni shuddered, stroking the dry scales of her own elbows. She cursed the publisher who bought Stacey Abrams dreck.

Look, I have known women who would probably enjoy this, erm, writing. The women I am talking about think that Oprah is deep thinking. They still miss Sally Jessy Raphael and Phil Donohue. Y’all know who I am talking about.

Tucker Carlson had a staffer do a dramatic reading of the Abrams/Selena Montgomery book “Hidden Sins”.

Toni’s stomach heaved like that time she got bad lobster at Ruby Tuesday’s. In case you didn’t watch the video, here are two samples from it.

and

That writing demands that I go read something that doesn’t insult my intelligence. Something from a Doctor. Something like Green Eggs and Ham from that well-known racist Dr. Seuss.

Don’t these writing samples tell you everything you need to know about Stacey Abrams. They really are a reflection of who she is. She’s not that deep, doesn’t really do her research, and has zero respect for the public. However, we would all be better off if she stayed out of politics and stuck to writing bad romance novels.

Featured Image: Ted Conference/Flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)