So I don’t mind people coming to my blog to comment without registering. I’d prefer it because I know that registering is annoying. However, spammers hit me with about 60 spam comments over the holidays, most of them in a single 12-hour time span. Had to turn off anonymous commenting until I could figure out how to filter out the spam. I’ll turn anonymous commenting back on soon.

Today’s subject is a bit…icky. It’s TMI but hell, I’ll share it with you anyway–I recently got an IUD. The procedure was painful, the cramps in the following days were annoying, but worst of all? The constant bleeding. Clinicians call it “spotting”, but they neglect to say that it’s constant. I don’t get a day or two where I can safely snuggle with my guy without fear that something mood-breaking will happen.

It sucks… :(

It got me thinkin’, though… Often romance novels avoid the obvious: basic human functions. I know we don’t need to know all the time how a character answers nature’s call–it’s basic writing sense to only write the relevant details, such as ones related to character development or plot. Writing a useless scene about a character’s boring morning routine is an exercise in futility.

But let’s say your character is in a position where she cannot get fresh “women’s products”, and has been away from civilization/her home planet/her original time line for a long time? Do you ignore this recurring need in your writing? Would you also ignore the time frame when she’s fertile and could get preggers?

In pursuit of a hot story, should writers ignore biology?

Granted, writing romance means glossing over some realities, but I’ve always wondered… how the hell did women deal with periods before the maxi pad or tampon? Just before writing this, I Googled for a bit to find the answer.

All I’ve gotta say is yikes…