F/F Romance-Erotica discussion
Introducing
Nice to meet ya Tricia,I'm trent and live in Pearl River, La (outside of New Orleans). I live with my wife and two kids and love horror and paranormal/supernatura.
Hi Tricia and Trent, I am Tracey. I live in the UK with my husband and 2 teenagers. I read most genres but I am a m/m, f/f virgin.
Hey Tricia, Trent and Tracy- I live in North Idaho, with hubby and two daughters. I read and write all genre romance.
Mod
I started this group in hopes that it will grow (keeping fingers crossed). Tricia, I've never read any of her works but I've heard that Beth Wylde is pretty popular, so you might want to check out some of her stuff. I'll keep my hear to the ground and see what other names pop up.
My books are lesbian vampires stories, you might enjoy that.
Welcome everyone and if you have any suggestions on how to get this group rocking, please feel free to post it. :)
I look forward to spending more time with you all.
Oooh you write? I didn't realize :DCan you link to some of your work (either free or to purchase, am not picky! lol)
Mod
www.anniealvarez.net
I have a buy link there from my publisher eXtasybooks but you can purchase the ebooks at Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, ARE and a few other places. For The Love Of Blood is book 1, followed by Cheating Death and Dying to Live has a release date of, Oct 31, 2009.
I have tried to incorporate a storyline into my books becuase sex, sex, sex just gets boring after a while. :)
If you do get them, I'd love to hear what you think of my stories.
I will indeed pick one up and let you know. I used to be bad about reviews, but I turned over a new leaf and have made it my everlasting goal to write a review about every book I read.So you can watch for that once I read it :) I will pick one up today and start tonight :D
I am in between books atm so its great timing!
Mod
hey i'm ashley and i live in ny. I was wondering if we could have a rolplay here? Like a f/f romance. or a m/m romance?
Mod
Forgive my ignorance but what is a rolplay? That is something I'm not familiar with.
Annie
www.anniealvarez.net
Its when you make character and you rolepleplay them. They can be anything and anybody.
Mod
Forgive my ignorance but what is a rolplay? That is something I'm not familiar with.
Annie
www.anniealvarez.net"
Ashley,
I have no problems with it as long as the other group members don't mind. Put it up to a group vote and we'll go with what the majority vote. :)
Sounds interesting, not sure how it works but sure.
Mod
Hey y'all! My name is Draken. I am a little cagey about telling people my real name and where I live, but I live in Utah.
Mod
Well, Hello Draken and welcome to the group! :)
Mod
Don't be shy, tell us something you're comfortable sharing. :)
Hi everyone, my name is Norris ... well, thats what people call me, and I live in the UK with my partner Holly, and love f/f romance. I am particularly interested in Annie's books, and will have to order one off Amazon me thinks.Take care
Norris
Mod
Thanks Norris. I hope you enjoy the books as much as I enjoyed writing them. :)
I cant seem to find them on the Amazon UK site ... where can i get them?
Mod
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_kin...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/book...
Thanks again :)
Mod
Can I get them and just read them on a computer? Or does it have to be on a kindle etc? Sorry, never got an ebook before ... is it in pdf?Sorry and cheers.
Mod
I hope I was able to help.
Hi, everyone, I'm CW and I found this group through Tricia's posts on the M/M Romance group. (Hi, Tricia!)I'm currently trying to write an F/F romance, which is slow going, since I'm more familiar with the reading and (the attempt of) writing M/M. I'll be combing through the discussions and the bookshelf to find recommendations for reading.
Carvedwood wrote: "Hi, everyone, I'm CW and I found this group through Tricia's posts on the M/M Romance group. (Hi, Tricia!)I'm currently trying to write an F/F romance, which is slow going, since I'm more fami..."
Hi CW, author Kirsten Saell and I run a blog specifically for reviewing and discussion of f/f books or topics both bisexual and lesbian.
http://bi-curious-romancenovel-chat.b...
It would be nice if there were more discussion of f/f here or anywhere.
Hello, LVLM. I appreciate the link to the review blog, because I use mostly review sites to decide what to buy when I'm looking into a new genre. I really appreciate the link to that blog, since you do more than say "Oh, I hate it," or "Oh, I love it," neither of which tells me a damn thing about the book. So I'll be looking through that more in-depth before I whip out my debit card.However, I've already been checking out Lacey and Jessica's vlogs that you've linked on your blog. I don't know that much about being lesbian, since I'm straight, so I really liked their vlog on identity. That's a resource I'm glad to have been introduced to.
It would be nice if there was more discussion. For one, I'd like to know if the difficulty in finding good F/F is because it's not published, or it's just not that easy to find.
CW- most of who hang out or comment on LVLM identify as straight or bi although lesbians are always welcome. I'm straight but love to read f/f and lesbian romance/erotica. I post whatever strikes my interest on LVLM about sexual identity and that does include lesbian issues at times. But mostly we started out because Kirsten, I and a few others were tired of the lack of f/f romance available outside of straight up lesbian romance. We wanted books that catered to the bi curious or bi woman. About the difficulty in finding f/f, well, that's a topic that's been discussed at length. Whether there's a perpetuation of the idea that women/romance readers don't like it therefore it's not widely published or that actually there is no market for it, is something we've talked about.
I have linked on the side bar of the blog two blogs posts in which I linked many discussions of it on main romances blogs.
The main problem I see because I read a lot of f/f, is that there really isn't much out there and what is out there is not well written. Plus, it's just hard to find as it's not labeled correctly. It's mixed in with the general gay/lesbian, which usually means mostly m/m and you have to wade through it. Or it's labeled lesbian, which many straight/bi women aren't too attracted to even if the book has no lesbian character but characters who are bi or gay for you.
In many stories, the straight women who ends up with a lesbian or bi person suddenly declares they are gay, which pushes the buttons of the bi or straight- gay for you loving reader. And many lesbians don't want to have a man in their romances, which bi's like. And then many lesbians prefer to read m/m or m/f. Many bi or straight women don't like to read lesbian stories because of the socio-political-lifestyle they can't relate to that is present in many lesbian romance books.
So it's not an easy thing to please everyone like with m/m, which is so outside of straight/lesbian women's reality that it's easily desired to read.
Oh. Well, when I said "I'd like to see more discussion of..." I actually meant as a topic of conversation here. With this group. Something I could actually participate in. The frustration of finding f/f is, to me, like my frustration with vampires vs. werewolves. I hate vampires and love werewolves. Yet publishers feel that the market demands vampires, which leads to a flood of poorly-written vampire stories and one or two well-written vampire stories that still don't interest me, while I'm stuck wading through the junk to find just one halfway-decent werewolf story. Just one! ACK! *tears at hair*
"Many bi or straight women don't like to read lesbian stories because of the socio-political-lifestyle they can't relate to that is present in many lesbian romance books."
This reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend of mine, when I told her that I was drifting out of the M/M ebook waters and looking for GLBT lit. She disliked the phrase "gay literature" because to her, it sounds like Great Classical Literature That's Boring And Depressing. Like Dickens or Tolstoy if, you know, they wrote about gay men. Which I had to agree with, because if that's all that was available, I wouldn't read it, either. Yuck! If I'm going to read something that's not only depressing, but it weighs more than a dictionary, I'll save it for the history books and non-fiction.
But I pointed out to her that James Lear (one of her favorite authors) was Gay Lit, and she liked him just fine. So did I, for that matter.
Have you ever made a point in a discussion just to be contrary, not because you actually knew what you were talking about, and realized, "I'm right!? OMG, I am right!" Yeah, that's what happened to me during that conversation.
So that's why I've been wondering if the good F/F is harder to find because I'm looking in the wrong places, the same way that I wasn't looking in the right places to find M/M.
CW, when I pointed out the link on my blog about discussions on why f/f is hard to find was not to detract from discussion here but to let you know that it's been a topic of discussion for a while now amongst those of us who like to read it. Was just letting you know where you could find more discussion about it from all over.I'm not quite sure now what you are asking. Do you want to find more f/f literature or romance/erotica?
As far as finding it, I scour through most of the more popular and not so popular epubs for it. Of course, some have better labeling than others.
If you want quality f/f then your safest bet is with more established publishers like Clies Press or Bold Strokes books. But they mostly publish lesbian romance, lit, and erotic. Not so much stories of with bi or straight characters.
The are some epubs that put out a lot of f/f, lesbian or bi in nature, but they suck. Loveyoudivine puts out a lot of f/f but the few books I've bought from them really suck in writing quality.
Phaze has a fairly good offering with clearly labeled f/f, f/f/m, and the quality is mostly pretty good, with a lot of clunkers though. Same with eXtasy books.
Most books geared towards the lesbian romance reader are well written, some that are erotic and some just lesbian romance, but that's a particular preference.
If you're looking for more lit, I haven't read Sarah Waters, but I've heard people who like f/f rave about her. Then there are the retro lesbian stories from Ann Bannon who wrote lesbian stories during the 50's.
Finding f/f has been a major problem. More and more I do see it put out. And I know that former epubs like Ellora's Cave who refused f/f submissions before are now asking for it, but unfortunately the quality of writing is still a crap shoot. Which is why I buy and it and review it, to give others an idea of what they are getting into with some books.
Hey, CW, I think it's a question of "what is f/f"?I mean, say what you want about m/m and "gay" romance, there's a lot of crossover in readership because the tropes common in m/m romance don't bug the crap out of gay romance readers, and vice versa.
This doesn't hold even remotely true about f/f and lesbian romance.
I mean, there's all sorts of people who wonder what the eff I'm whining about, because there's plenty of f/f out there! Uh...yeah, but it's lesbian romance, and there are things about lesbian romance and lesfic(other than the sociopolitical, lesbian/feminist thing--things like egalitarian relationship dynamics, or butch/femme dynamics, or bisexual erasure) that get my back up in lesbian romance. This is not to say that all lesbian romance and lesfic embraces tropes that annoy me, but I really do want to read about characters that are like me:
I am bisexual. No, I don't like chicks just to turn on my boyfriend (if I had one, heh), no I'm not just kidding myself, straddling the fence, or pretending to be half-straight so I can hide in a crowd, no I'm not just indecisive and can't make up my mind what I want, no I'm not "transitioning" to my true orientation as lesbian, no I'm not still half-way in the closet.
No, I don't like guys because it's "easier" to be with one (anyone who knows men will tell you it ain't easy being with one), no I don't like men because I'm clinging to a straight mindset, no I don't like men because my parents are more approving of heterosexuality.
I'm bi, but I'm not pansexual. It's not just about falling in love with "the person"--for me, my bisexuality is all about gender. I'm attracted to masculinity in men, and femininity in women. A woman who behaves like a man is not going to attract me any more than a man who behaves like a woman.
I'm also a little genderqueer--I liken it to the "switch" that's prevalent in BDSM stories, the one who switches from dom to sub depending on who they're with.
That's my reality. It would be nice to read about a woman falling in love with another woman who didn't suddenly discover she's actually a lesbian (OMG, I've been a lesbian all along, who knew!!??), who might have had a fulfilling relationship and smokin' sex life with a man (or men) at some point in her life. I'd like to read f/f stories that have a subtle D/s power dynamic--not egalitarian or full-on "butch/femme".
I'm also of a polyamorous bent. Contrary to what many believe, this does not mean I will bonk anything that moves. Sex parties and swinging do not appeal to me at all. However, I don't have a jealous bone in my body, I take joy from knowing the people I love experience joy--even if it's sexual joy, and even if it's not with me, but with another person. I want books about love and relationships as well as sex, centering one women who are sexually fluid, like me.
It would be nice to read f/f/m menage romance that places one of the women in the center of the relationship, instead of making it all about two hot chicks seeing to "his manly needs". I want to read characters who reflect--not negate--my reality.
Which means I find maybe five books a year that do it for me--and maybe one or two that "blow me away".
If you're all about lesbian romance, well, there's plenty of well-written stuff out there (it's expensive, but it's there) from Bold Strokes, Cleis, etc. If you want something that reflects a different reality than a lesbian one, well, good luck, lol. There isn't much out there, and frankly, publishers bury it. If they don't bury it, they mislabel it, so that f/f/m menage books featuring a man, a straight woman and a bi woman only show up when you put "lesbian" in the search engine. Way to kill a book...
Dude! I think you hit it, with the question of what is f/f. I could crossover between M/M and gay lit because my favorite stories of either had a lot in common. I wanted romance (+ plot) between two men, and I found a lot of chicks-with-dicks on the M/M side, and a lot of incomprehensible erotica on the other side. Oh, but now you tell me that crossing over isn't as easy with f/f! That sucks!
My story is, I'm a straight woman. Even if I fell in love with another woman, I'd still consider myself a straight woman. A lot of people seem to have a problem parsing that, they think it means I'm open to bisexuality, when it doesn't mean that at all. I'm not attracted to women, but I know my body would follow where my heart leads, and I'm not going to discount the possibility that I can fall in love with someone who happens to have all the same parts as I do. That would be a waste, to me.
And that's the sort of thing I want to read: romance, love, happily-ever-after. I'm not usually political, and I don't want to read a story that's all "Rawr, I am lesbian, hear me roar!" when I could be reading "Let's count the world well lost for love!"
But if it comes down to it, I'd still rather read the "Rawr!" books than the sorority-girls, pillow-fight type of novels that may have a lot of sex, but not much in the way of thrilling romance.
That's my reality. It would be nice to read about a woman falling in love with another woman who didn't suddenly discover she's actually a lesbian (OMG, I've been a lesbian all along, who knew!!??), who might have had a fulfilling relationship and smokin' sex life with a man (or men) at some point in her life.
And that's the sort of thing I want to write.
But if it comes down to it, I'd still rather read the "Rawr!" books than the sorority-girls, pillow-fight type of novels that may have a lot of sex, but not much in the way of thrilling romance.And I'd rather read the sorority girl one, lol. Vive la difference!
Well, to be honest, I'd rather not read either, but any port in a storm, as they say.
Mostly, I'd like to read f/f/m with believable characterization and motivation and sex that inhabits both the "down and dirty" and "joyfully loving" ends of the spectrum (perhaps at the same time), but it's a fine line between what will work for me and what won't. I mean, I'm a porn aficionada (certified dirty old man in a woman's body, really), and 95% of the girl-girl-guy porno out there just makes me want to rip my hair out, because it's produced to appeal to men, and it just doesn't work for me. Likewise, the pure f/f porn is created either for a straight guy or lesbian audience, and it leaves me just as cold.
And you may say "What does porno have to do with romance?" Well, it has plenty to do with it. I mean, the "gender/relationship" dynamics are boiled down to pure sex, but they're still dynamics, aren't they?
In lesbian-produced f/f, there's often a lot of cuddling and stroking and not much getting down to business. In straight-guy oriented f/f, there's a lot of giggling and petting and paying more attention to the camera than the body in front of them. The one is egalitarian, the other is all about the dude, even if he isn't onscreen.
There's very little out there that appeals to the bi or bi-curious woman. And the same is true of f/f(/m) romance. We're not an audience anyone feels is worth courting. I've had to content myself with writing it in order to get my fix, and I'm hoping as more stubborn sorts like me refuse to abandon f/f in favor of more lucrative subgenres, the general quality will improve over time.
But it's frustrating, because I think a lot of women might try one and stumble across a book so poorly written it's a turn-off, and if they aren't "aware" of craft issues to the degree that writers are, they may feel it's the orientation of the sexual content that's putting them off, instead of crappy writing or poor characterization or wonky dynamics. And will those women ever pick up another f/f?
Hello all,For those of you looking for a very interesting and unusual f/f book that is a love story, thriller and erotica all wrapped up into one, I highly recommend Secretly Bound by Jade. It is only available on www.destinypursuitpublishing.com
It is not available in bookstores and is more of an underground book. There are a number of reviews listed on the website that you can read. The book is a little pricey because it is shipped from the Netherlands but worth it. Even more interesting is the questions around the author of the book (who incidentally is the main character as well) and has not yet made her name public.
Have a look.
Lesley
Hello all. I am Kim from Alabama. I am married to the love of my life and we have 3 beautiful children and I am 100% bi-sexual. love my life and my family and love my husband very much for putting up with me and all ov my ventures...Started reading and then took real life from my books so to speak. I agree we need more f/f books and ofcourse some with f/f/m in then. Because in my world that is just what makes life wonderful. If anyone has any great books to read please let me know..
Kim here are some F/F/M- They are all ebooks.Bound by Steel by Kirsten Saell
Healer's Touch- by Kirsten Saell
La Bonne by Michele de Lully
Rules of Attraction by India Masters
Secrets Revealed: Eldritch Legacy I- by Katrina Strauss
Birthday Girl- by Paisley Smith
Meghan's Playhouse I: Seducing Kat- by Adrianna Kraft
Open Proposal by Rosemary Gunn
Restless Spirits by Christian Black
Writing Skin by Adriana Kraft- I didn't like this one but you might
Burn by Ann Rainey
Total Eclipse of the Heart: In the Heat of the Night, Book I by Crystal Jordan
Kim- here are some f/f with a bisexual character but without men.Heart of Change- by Roxy Harte
Snowfound by Connie Wilkins
Beyond Curious by Paisley Smith
Je Me Rends by Kai Lu
Where Angels Dare to Tread by Leigh Ellwood
Southern Rose by Mary Winter
Lady Legger by Carol McKenzie
Jesse's Girl by Amber Scott
Blood Creek Haunting by Derek Musgrave
Nashoba's Hope by Moondancer Drake
Widow's Weeds by Beth Williamson
The Cliche by Lillith Payne
Ghostly Desires by Keziah Hill
The Wrong Valentine by Dana Littlejohn
The Garden House by Mia Cherish and Jaqueline Quaid
Thank you very much for all of the good reads..I am very excited about reading every single one of them. Thanks again.
Hi all!
I'm Shoshana--and may I just say, what a fascinating thread! I love the range of opinions here. :)
I love both gay and lesbian romance, as well as some polyamorous fics. I'm also an aspiring writer of the same.
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
I'm Shoshana--and may I just say, what a fascinating thread! I love the range of opinions here. :)
I love both gay and lesbian romance, as well as some polyamorous fics. I'm also an aspiring writer of the same.
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
Hi, I'm Roxy and I write M/M, F/F, polyamorous, LGBT, and BDSM erotica...Looking forward to hearing about what everyone is reading:)
Hello, everyone!I'm K. Piet, and I pretty much write all the types of fiction Roxy listed above! XD Though my current projects are primarily M/M, I do have a couple stories on my to-write list that are F/F, polyamorous, and/or BDSM related.
I just thought I would post up here to introduce myself as well as promote an anthology at Storm Moon Press. The anthology is F/F and involves werewolves (which might be of particular interest to you, Carvedwood)!
Here's the basic information. If you're interested in submitting or know someone who would like to submit, please use the link to the specific submission guidelines!
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Daughters of Artemis
Editor: S.L. Armstrong
Werewolf lore has been long dominated by the strong alpha male, but what of the strong alpha females? The Storm Moon Press anthology Daughters of Artemis explores this long neglected aspect of the werewolf mythos.
In this anthology, we're looking for female/female erotic romance stories with at least one partner being a strong werewolf in a position of authority. This may be a pack leader, a council member, one of the tribe elders, or any other similar position. We would prefer urban fantasy or urban horror in a contemporary or historical setting. Please, no sex scenes in which the characters are in full animal form. Full human or partial shift is all right, but nothing more bestial than that. The stories do not need to be explicit in nature, but romance is required.
Length of submissions should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words.
We are accepting submissions from August 1st, 2010 until November 30th, 2010. Acceptance notifications and contracts will be issued during the month of January 2011. All content to be featured in Daughters of Artemis will be edited. Planned release for both the e-book and print book is July 18th, 2011.
***
I hope this is the right place to put all this info! Just let me know if you'd rather I start a new thread to keep you all updated on the anthology as it moves forward. ^_^
~K. Piet
Hello everyone - I'm Lucas and I live in London. I work for a British publishing company (Xcite Books) and am editing their gay and lesbain list. We mostly do erotic short stories and some novels. There's weekly free downloads on the website http://www.xcitebooks.comLooking forward to meeting new readers and writers - love getting feedback!
Hi there :DCant wait to read with everyone and get to know ya
Happy Reading from Royse City Texas
Cat
F/F Romance-Erotica
Books mentioned in this topic
In the Service of Women (other topics)In the Service of Women (other topics)
Curious Wine (other topics)
My name is Tricia and I live in Mesquite, Tx., I live here with my boyfriend and our animals. I am bisexual but I do like to read all sorts of things. My favorite Genres so far have been anything Paranormal and UF :D
I see its fairly new as you do not have many topics. I hope this group will grow as I am very much interested in reading F/F Romance and I was hoping a group like this can enlighten me on what is good and where I might find new talent for this genre.