Writing Hot Scenes with Louisa Masters

Writing Hot ScenesYou're reading a book. The tension between the hero and heroine has been slowly building over the last few scenes. They're ready to have sex, you just know it...You're writing a book. You've slowly built the tension between the hero and heroine, and it's time for them to do the nasty...crap. Now you have to write it.A lot of writers can scribble off a hot scene without a hitch. Not me. For me, it takes concentration, focus, and a whole lot of self-encouragement. The problem: balancing the what-goes-where with the sensations and emotions the character is experiencing. Hands can stroke, lips can caress, other parts can clench and/or throb...but then what? How does the character and the recipient react? Do they shudder? Does their skin tingle? Muscles tremble?Plus, there's the whole repetition thing. How many times can a person shudder in one scene?I've been told to draw on personal experience. It's a great idea in theory, but in practice, if you're doing it right you're not taking notes. So when I sit down to write a hot scene, it's usually after I've done some research. What have I seen, read, heard about that I find interesting, that I might like to try myself. What have I done before that was...erm...fun? Even if I can't remember the details, I can remember how I felt afterward.Next, I think about my characters. Are they adventurous and open to new things? Shy and need coaxing? Are they with a new partner or someone they've known intimately for years?Now I have the overall scene hashed out, and it's time to focus on the technical. Whose hands go where, when does tab A go into slot B—or whatever else they might do.I hate to admit it, but generally I go back after I've written the scene and add in the reactions and emotions. I find it easier after the mechanics have been taken care of!My question to you: how would you write a hot scene? Could you do it all in one go, or would you need to build the components in stages?
A born reader, Louisa discovered her love of romance at an early age and began sneaking her mother's romance novels by age twelve. A sucker for a happy ending, she was often disappointed by the lead up–not enough sexy stuff. Where was the anticipation, the flirting, the tension? Her solution? Write it herself.
Living in Melbourne, Australia, she is renowned for complaining about the weather and the calories associated with eating ice cream, but has learned to ignore both and enjoy life anyway. Visit Louisa at www.louisamasters.com
With her resignation submitted, Jeannie Price has one last task she's itching to perform before leaving her job. After months of sitting next to hot, sexy colleague Tim Harding, it's time to turn fantasy into reality with a scorching invitation to collaborate on matters of the flesh in Conference Room B. Then she can walk away without regrets.
Tim's dreams of wild, sweaty sex with Jeannie come true when he accepts her offer, but he's stunned to learn she doesn't want to see him again after their steamy tryst. She may be trying to brush him off as just one more item on her To-Do List, but he's determined to convince her there's nothing taboo about inter-office relations.
Excerpt :"Do you want to have sex in Conference Room B?"Tim Harding jerked his head up from the cost analysis on his computer screen. Jeannie Price was leaning on the partition between their desks, her dark eyes fixed on his face. He took a moment to admire them as he pondered her words."Is this a hypothetical question?" he asked finally. "Because—" "It's not a hypothetical question. It's an invitation." Her words slammed straight to his cock. Was she joking? Had she guessed that she was the star of his late-night fantasies? He'd even pictured taking her in the office—okay, he'd imagined the boardroom, but he was flexible.He swallowed, hard, his cock twitching. She'd been very flexible when he imagined her on his balcony. And in his shower. And... "I'll tell you what," she said. "I'm going to be working in Conference Room B for the next half hour. You think about it, and if you decide to join me..." She shrugged, and her long brown hair slid forward, drawing his eyes to her breasts. In his dreams, her hair flowed over her naked breasts, her nipples peeking through the locks, and when he drew her down over him, it would swing forward, surrounding them like a silken tent...She straightened, gathered up her laptop and notepad, and handed him an inter-office envelope. "This may help you make up your mind."He watched her walk away, the sway of her hips and the way her dress slid across her ass making him shift uncomfortably.
Louisa will be giving away three $10 Amazon GCs to randomly drawn commenters during the tour. Follow the tour here.