Erotica

So, the topic of the day, at least for Kate Rothwell, Teresa Bodwell, and some of my other Deb friends, is erotica. OK, I didn’t mention this before, but in addition to contemporary, my editor has been urging me to try my hand at writing erotica. My publisher, Kensington, has an imprint called Brava that is one hot-selling line.

For me, there are a few problems with this. For one thing, I’d have to write under a pen name, since I’m trying to brand myself as a character-driven author. I just feel odd about writing something that I can’t put my real name on. For another, I read a Brava novel and wasn’t at all impressed. Now, I have friends who say it was just a bad example, and that may be perfectly legitimate. I’ve read some really bad romance novels, but obviously still love the genre. Finally, and maybe this is the most important to me, I think that sex in a romance novel should be like sex in a marriage—important, but not the substance of the thing.

If you’ve read my books, it’s obvious that I don’t have a problem with sex scenes. Truth to tell, I feel a little cheated if there isn’t at least one in a romance novel. I think they should be passionate and emotional, but I don’t see how you really get the emotions if your characters spend half or more of the novel in bed (which is the case in erotica). When do they talk? When do they fight and make up? OK, well, obviously, between sex scenes. See? This just isn’t working for me.

I’m not saying that this doesn’t have its place. I know several people working on books for Brava, Ellora’s Cave, and other publishers, and these women are all fine writers. At the same time, it’s frustrating to me to keep hearing that this is where romance is going. Maybe it’s the difference between a quickie and making love. I really don’t think that most women read romance novels for the sex. Well, certainly not exclusively for the sex. We want a story. We want that all-powerful happy ending, and we want to feel like those characters had to work for it! To me, sex scenes are so much more gratifying (using the word quite intentionally) when I’m really invested in these two people coming together. Am I being too much of a romantic? Isn’t that the point?

Then again, I’m no expert. I can’t fathom why historical sales are so flat. I read romance for escape. I don’t want to read about somebody’s life that’s just like my life. I have my life. It’s great, thank you. A little hectic, but I can’t complain. I want period clothing and castles and tall ships and alpha males and—oh my—dare I say it? A little repression! Yes, indeedy—a little, “Oh my, we mustn’t!” so that temptation can truly carry my lovers away. If they jump into bed first and then fall in love, isn’t it a little, well, anti-climactic? (Sorry, I just had to.)

So that’s my take. I’d love to see a few comments on this one!