(Still on the discussion of erotic romance) ...........
(Still on the discussion of erotic romance)
................... But, publishers want and expect more sex in an erotic romance. I suppose that's because erotic is synonymous with sex. That's fair and yet it does often cause some complexities from an authorial stand point. Far too often the "number" and "type of sex" is the litmus test for a good erotic romance. That brought about the "fap fodder romantica" that populated the indi publishers trying to attach themselves to the game changer of Ellora's Cave. (Hereafter identified as EC) But EC also early on delivered "fap fodder" books to feed the ravenous readership. Remember Black's The Empresses New Clothes? The entire plot was centered around the number of orgasms produced by the central protagonist, with just a momentary interruption (a chapter's length?) for when the author tried to include a plot. All around fail if you ask me, but kudos to EC for changing the game and giving The Bird to the outdated "Decency Clause" of the 70s.
So, erotic romance has had it's ups and downs--I remember a book that spun a chick around a dude's finger, doable since they were in a nil gravity (zero G) and that brought her to orgasm after orgasm. so erotic! So romantic! (All bad)--and is the norm for the the publishing industry, it fell to the authors to define the genre. The authors of erotic romance began producing plot driven novels that were unashamedly sexy.
The hardest task beneath my hand at the moment is the manuscript I wrote for my Seton Hill thesis. I chose to minimize the erotic content of the book in order to "fit in" with what I thought would be acceptable for Seton Hill's program. It is Catching Her Balance by Brenda Thatcher. While, yes, it was once published with Amber Quill--who closed in Jan '16--but I always struggled with my Jenna due to the shift I'd forced upon her story. It wasn't authentic and therefore it wasn't a true representation of Jenna's (my) struggle. With AQP's closing, the rights of the book were returned to me. I found a place on Loose ID's roster and, after much struggle, I offered them Balance. Loose ID wants me to spice it up," which was my original vision of the story. I could "spice it up" be returning it to what it was originally supposed to be...except that its a story of kidnapping and a desperate race for survival.
Not a lot of energy available for sex, imho. But, *shrug*, both of them are healthy and attracted to each other, so all I had to do was find the time and a safe place. And then there was the need to have the freedom (for them as well as my readers) to dwell on the experience because that's the soul of the erotic experience. Any Why not?
There may not have a tomorrow, so why not go for it? Bond! Take his/her breath away. Tomorrow will arrive soon enough.
The complexity of an erotic romance was/is very much the complexity of modern life: finding an emotional and physical partner that fits one's life both emotionally and physically. And as is so often the only course of our modern, daily life they/we snatch what bits of happiness they/we can when opportunity arises. And from this reviewer's perspective, that's what makes a romance erotic.
................... But, publishers want and expect more sex in an erotic romance. I suppose that's because erotic is synonymous with sex. That's fair and yet it does often cause some complexities from an authorial stand point. Far too often the "number" and "type of sex" is the litmus test for a good erotic romance. That brought about the "fap fodder romantica" that populated the indi publishers trying to attach themselves to the game changer of Ellora's Cave. (Hereafter identified as EC) But EC also early on delivered "fap fodder" books to feed the ravenous readership. Remember Black's The Empresses New Clothes? The entire plot was centered around the number of orgasms produced by the central protagonist, with just a momentary interruption (a chapter's length?) for when the author tried to include a plot. All around fail if you ask me, but kudos to EC for changing the game and giving The Bird to the outdated "Decency Clause" of the 70s.
So, erotic romance has had it's ups and downs--I remember a book that spun a chick around a dude's finger, doable since they were in a nil gravity (zero G) and that brought her to orgasm after orgasm. so erotic! So romantic! (All bad)--and is the norm for the the publishing industry, it fell to the authors to define the genre. The authors of erotic romance began producing plot driven novels that were unashamedly sexy.
The hardest task beneath my hand at the moment is the manuscript I wrote for my Seton Hill thesis. I chose to minimize the erotic content of the book in order to "fit in" with what I thought would be acceptable for Seton Hill's program. It is Catching Her Balance by Brenda Thatcher. While, yes, it was once published with Amber Quill--who closed in Jan '16--but I always struggled with my Jenna due to the shift I'd forced upon her story. It wasn't authentic and therefore it wasn't a true representation of Jenna's (my) struggle. With AQP's closing, the rights of the book were returned to me. I found a place on Loose ID's roster and, after much struggle, I offered them Balance. Loose ID wants me to spice it up," which was my original vision of the story. I could "spice it up" be returning it to what it was originally supposed to be...except that its a story of kidnapping and a desperate race for survival.
Not a lot of energy available for sex, imho. But, *shrug*, both of them are healthy and attracted to each other, so all I had to do was find the time and a safe place. And then there was the need to have the freedom (for them as well as my readers) to dwell on the experience because that's the soul of the erotic experience. Any Why not?
There may not have a tomorrow, so why not go for it? Bond! Take his/her breath away. Tomorrow will arrive soon enough.
The complexity of an erotic romance was/is very much the complexity of modern life: finding an emotional and physical partner that fits one's life both emotionally and physically. And as is so often the only course of our modern, daily life they/we snatch what bits of happiness they/we can when opportunity arises. And from this reviewer's perspective, that's what makes a romance erotic.
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