writer to reader

[Rebekah]

I have a question one of my main characters is a prostitute before she is turned into a vampire (she live on the streets; it's her only way of money). . . my question is how much "sex" is too much, before the book sounds more erotic than occult?

[Krysta]

My opinion is that if it's not important to the story, it's probably not needed.

Even though the character is a prostitute, I don't think you need much sex to get that point across.

Others may disagree with me, but that's my two cents.

[Rachel Annie]

I second Krysta's remark. If it doesn't move the plot forward, leave it out.

[Sonya]

If it's sex for money, rather than sex to develop a relationship, I would just mention it rather than cover it in detail. I'll take a guess and say most people aren't going to be all that interested in reading details of her prostitution work.

[G.G.]

I agree with all of the above. If you want to present her as such, before she is turned, maybe you can do one scene, but that's about all I would do. One should be plenty enough for the readers to understand where she comes from. However, realize that by doing that one scene you may cut out potential readers. So it's a thought. Is it worth it? Or can you find other ways to show the readers her past life?

[Teya]

Keep in mind, that prostitute from necesity may not be so eager to have sex once she's turn. If she finally have a choice, she'd propably choose not to.

[Kiersten, Mod]

Is this a PNR or UF? Honestly, I would minimize her "client" interaction as much as possible, because it could turn readers off. But it really depends on the atmosphere you're going for. Does she suffer through the interactions or does she enjoy them? Does she like her job or is it something she does to put food on the table because she has no other options?

If it's a PNR, most of the sex scenes should be focused around the H and h. If it's a UF, you could probably get away with showing some of the sex scenes between her and the paying customer as long as each scene reveals something about the heroine; either her personality or disillusionment or her sex addiction...what have you. =)

[Jocelyn]

The sex should help move the character forward in some way. If she's just having sex to have sex then it's leaning more towards an erotica instead of the way you want it to go.