Of course, there were romance novels long before Fifty Shades of Grey started flying off bookshelves and ended up as a Hollywood movie. The tawdry tales that litter drugstore aisles have been around seemingly forever, distinguished mainly by cover photos featuring hunky, bare-chested,musclebound men who are about to ravish innocent young maidens. But thanks to today’s eagerness for explicit expression and an apparent abundance of horny housewives, it seems the once-respectable romance novel has transitioned into full-fledged soft porn and created a booming industry in the process.
So credit Skye Michaels, a 65-year-old Davie grandmother, for taking advantage of that trend while adding a healthy dose of local flavor. Having adopted that nom de plume to protect her real identity — and presumably prevent her bridge partners from furrowing their brows in disdain – Michaels has become one of today’s more successful porno provocateurs. Her website, skyemichaelsbooks.com, leaves little to the imagination.
“Since there was no Naughty Books 101 courses offered at Broward College, I had to learn the craft on my own.” – Skye Michaels
So far, she’s managed to keep the grandkids from finding out how Grandma indulges her imagination. “I went to my daughter’s house for dinner one night,” Michaels recalls. “And my 13-year-old grandson met me at the door all excited. ‘Grammy, is it true you wrote four books?’ he asked. ‘Why yes,’ I answered modestly. ‘Can I read them?’ he wanted to know. ‘No,’ I said. ‘They’re for grown-up ladies.’ ‘Can I give one to Miss Mary at Catholic school?’ he asked. ‘Oh no!’ I replied. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say after that. But he kept asking me. Finally, I pulled out a chapter about cave-diving from one of the books I’d written, one that had no explicit material, and I let him read it. He seemed satisfied with that and never asked again.”
By Lee Zimmerman, Broward Palm Beach NewTimes, SouthFloridaReporter.com, Mar. 17, 2016
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