Entering the tunnel of luuurve

Get it on!Image courtesty of http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyz/2893...

As part of a promotional virtual "tour" to try to convince readers to check out Cage Life, I've signed on to the Neverending Blog Tour, which means hosting a random indie author each week on my blog. Last week's guest spot was allocated to romance writer Darlene Gibbs, writer of hot romance novels such as Love's Slave and The Heir to Terror. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask her about writing love scenes.

Love scenes are always difficult to write and can be a source of derision, depending on whether they are open door, closed door or "door ajar." I tend to avoid writing them as much as possible myself, but as I'm hoping to finish off a chick-lit romance I started 18 months ago, figured that I better go straight to the source and ask someone who writes them frequently. So here goes:

Darlene says:

Questions my readers often ask are:

Is it hard to write sex scenes?

How do you manage to make your sex scenes so real and yet not vulgar or coarse?

My answer is that, like any scene in my stories, I have to feel it. Sex to me is the icing on the cake of a true love story—as much a part of love as love itself. So when I'm writing a sex scene I try to feel the kind of love that makes a man want to be joined with a woman in a way only a man and a woman can be united. The kind of love can't be expressed by words alone—it needs arms, legs and lips to express it.

When I'm writing a sex scene I think of how a woman feels when the only man she wants to be with wants to be with her, and her alone. I tap into the passion, the excitement, the pure exhilaration of sharing something only true lovers can. And when I write a sex scene, I think of my own life. I think of how much sex means to me, and of how special it is, how intimate. I think of becoming one with a sexual partner.

So, to all my readers, every sex scene in each of my books is well thought out, purposeful and concocted to communicate an intimacy that words struggle to convey.

I love "love" and sex is a part of it, which makes it easy for me to write about. It's love, so to me it can't be coarse or vulgar, only be beautiful and magical.

So there you have, straight from the mouth of a saucy, sexy hotstuff herself. You have to feel it and live it. And with that, I best take myself off for some … err … research!

If you of you have any great tips on how to write steamy romance without any thrusting prongs or moist love tunnels involved, please share them in the comments. Alternatively, if you've read some truly cringe-worthy metaphors for "getting it on" feel free to share so we can all have a giggle.