Smexy is happy to have Molly Maddox, author of Alpha here today!
Nerd love is always one of those things portrayed with extreme stereotype in mainstream media. Two bespectacled labrats smirk over brown paper bags and Star Trek lunchboxes in the company breakroom. Two awkward kids slump at movie festivals until, gently, gingerly, they touch hands in the popcorn bucket. Libraries and computer labs fairly crackle with silence and unrequited lust. Sighs, lingering looks, and daydreams abound. As a nerd, myself, I have to say that these romances, while blatantly inaccurate, have their unseemly, simmering, and delightful qualities to them.
“Nerd” isn’t the pejorative term it once was. Compare with the Japanese slang word otaku, which roughly translates as “superfan”: while a badge of honor for those it describes, in mainstream Japanese culture it’s still considered an insult. “Nerd” or “geek” have been similarly reclaimed by Westerners, and, while the dislike of the connotations aren’t as stringent as in Japan, western culture views nerdery as a largely introverted, and thus unproductive, label.
Not true, to any of us who know better. Being a nerd is about community, it’s only natural one would seek out a mate from the inside. That’s true of my wolfman Seamus, an alpha male with some very otaku interests. He’s one of those strapping, feral types, but instead of a Babe-arella she-wolf he lusts and loves after a nerdy human woman who’s fought for years at his side in the struggle against the undead. His love-object, Janey, is a brainy little firecracker who thinks more about movies and killing zombies than about hitching herself to a man, but she has the type of vivid wet dreams that nerds probably invented. Comics, classic cinema, and sci-fi tropes mash up in their bondage-laced romance.
I learned from firsthand experience that nerd-love is the sweetest, it encompasses interest, fantasy, and life all at once. It’s great to not have to mute yourself when you’re with your nerd lover. Like watching hentai? Nothing beats your lover picking it out with you. Like dressing up as a sexy Cylon? It’s fun when your lover can help you get canon-correct costuming.
I’m sure you all know that, though. I know I do.
Alpha by Molly Maddox is available now through Circlet Press.
“Alpha tells the tale of the tempestuous alliance between humans and werewolves fighting to survive after the zombie apocalypse has come to Manhattan. Romance is no fun without some obstacles to overcome, and Janey and Seamus–the leaders of the human resistance and the werewolf pack–have plenty of them in their way, including their groups’ mutual distrust, not to mention zombie attacks.” (Taken from Patricia’s Vampire Notes)
Molly is offering to give away an E-Book of Alpha to one commenter. To enter, just tell us your take on nerd love. Contest open through March 20th and I will announce the winner on Sunday. Thanks Molly!
I often feel like a nerd but whenever I have such a moment and tell/write about it there's always someone who says: OMG, you too, which makes it such a fun moment. One of my nerd moments with my hubby was when we were both prescriped glasses. I was determined to look sexy with glasses but when we each first put them on we looked at each other and laughed…I love shared moments like that :)
What a great discussion!
I too adore "nerds". My hubby is one. I dont look at it in the stereotypical way some might. I look at it as introverted, smart, insightful…the quiet leaders. My husband is all of those things. Which is totally funny b/c Im NOT! lol Well at least on the outside. Im a bit prim and proper and TOTALLY not introverted! I can probably relate to Janey…I love the typical nerdy things…video games, PC games, reading etc. :o) Like my husband I'm just attracted to the smart/quiet types people call "nerds". I love my men smart as a whip! Now nerd love…well lets just say they are the BEST! Ive been with the jock-ish type guys and Ive been with "nerds" lets just say that when the nerdyness flys right out the door! lol Its like the beast awakens! LOL!!! ;op~
Alpha sounds like such a great book! Ive gotta try this one out. Thanks for the chance at the book!
I married a self proclaimed nerd. He's shy, smart and does his own thing. Best of all he embraces my nerdy tendencies. I like that. :)
Was born a nerd…will die a nerd. lol But that's ok. My hubby is more of the jock type but it just shows that opposites do attract. My hubby thinks it's really sexy when I have my BC glasses on and start talking code to him. :P
My name is KC and I am a nerd.
I love that hubs allows me to be nerdy, I mean who reads their Kindle on a Friday night? Me. It's okay I let him play with his xbox and watch the military channel.
I am a nerd and my husband is not. He has no problem when I have my nose stuck in a book more hours of the day than not. He just wants his meals on time.
My nerd love is personified in Sheldon from the Big, Bang Theory. I absolutely love him! I love his obsession for BSG (and am jealous of his Cylon toaster), WOW, comic books, and all sci-fi movies and tv shows. I love finding others who can talk BSG and our love for Captain Tightpants from Firefly. It's like an extended family who are all in on the same secret.
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a nerd who likes spending Friday and Saturday nights reading and watching SyFy channel.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
I was flipping through an issue of Readers Digest the other day – and tell me, what is more nerdy than that?- when I stumbled upon a quote. It made me smile, and made the up-coming Doctors visit (I was in a waiting room, so of course this issue was about five years old) less terrifying.
"Normal is just a cycle on the washing machine."
Really – what is normal? It's a person that fits in, that is part of the crowd, that has nothing unique, interesting or fun about them! They are BORING!
Likewise – what is a Nerd? They are someone who loves something. Who have fun and pursue what they love even at the risk of being ridiculed by others. They stand out, dance to their own beat, an don't care what other people think.
I am a nerd (and proud of it). I love romance books; I play videogames, I have a level 80 character on World of Warcraft, I have lived in Japan, and I am not afraid to stand out!
My boyfriend is a nerd! I love and want that, because it means he will love me when I brag about how I fell down at the arcade when trying to play Dance Dance Revolution, when I check Smexy's blog on a daily basis (you never know when something new will come up! :P), or when I go nuts waiting for the next Doctor Who season to start. And I will love him when he does equally infuriating and nerdy things (like ship Jim and Pam on The Office, or wait on a street until well after midnight so the Moroccan sandwich truck restaurant will come out and he can eat one, or claims that sport videogames are the best one's ever made when they are clearly RPGs! :P)
So that, my friends, is Nerd love.
Long live the Nerd! :P
I loved the post. I am a total nerd..cripes I'm working on my Ph.D. in science..I get excited when talking about my research and I got the glasses to further cement my nerdy nature. Thankfully hubs is a nerd too so we can be nerdy together.
Oh nerd love. I think, at its heart, every relationship has an element of nerdity to it (yeah, I made that word up.) I think one of the best things about my dearly beloved is that he knows all about my quirks and interests and shares them most of the time. But then, I know his too! :D
I completely consider myself a nerd, although I prefer geek. :) I think the joy of nerd love is having that person in your life that is just as passionated about all the craziness like you are. Someone that you are not embarrassed to admit how much you want to go to the comic book convention or some other convention. :)
heatwave96(at)hotmail.com
Nerd love is absolutely the best kind of love there is. Nowhere else will you find someone who drools at the sight of comic books, who lusts after the same anime characters, who is willing to let you have the ultra-rare item that just dropped. Words can't even describe the joy that accompanies discovering that your guilty passion (vintage X-Men comics?) no longer needs to be guilty… although you may have to fight over who gets to read it first. ;)
And the sex life is AMAZING. As you all know ;D
The only thing I have to say about nerd love is that I am obsessed with Chuck and Jake 2.0. I would totally stalk Christopher Gorham.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I'm so glad to hear that so many readers love and understand the draw of nerd sexiness!