Running The Taboo Business

There are plenty of romance novels
with no sex between the pages.
I don’t write those novels.
My characters have sex.

There are some readers
who think sex is wrong
(but babies are okay???).
I’ll never appear on some talk shows,
never hang out with Oprah,
never be accepted by some writers
or win some awards.

I’m fine with this.
I’m writing stories I believe in
and there’s a huge demand for my stories.

Noel Biderman,
the founder and CEO
of Ashley Madison,
a website catering to marital infidelity,
will never be accepted by
proper society either.

When asked if his stance on infidelity
(which he, ironically, doesn’t participate in)
or the business came first,
he shares

“To be fair it was the business
– I wasn’t seeking a Nobel Prize
or trying to turn the world on its head.
People were going on dating sites
and posing as someone they weren’t,
causing collateral damage
and angering others.
So we created a site
where both people put their hands up to do it.
I saw it as a net societal win.”

That, I believe, is key
with running a taboo business.
We have to believe
we’re changing society for the better
by starting it.