Lets talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me, lets talk about all the good things and the bad things...
Well, not the bad things. And lets try to keep it clean!
So many ignorant people think romance novels are just about the sex and that they contain no story line at all but there is a rule of thumb so many publishers go by, even erotica publishers. If you take the sex away, there still has to be some substance.
Even the hottest books I've had the pleasure of reading (J Hali Steele) still have a story line and damn good ones. Whether it's a rake taking a virginal miss, or a cowboy making love to a saloon girl or a twenty first century career woman dominating a stranger or even a vampire changing a human, the passion has to be real. If the reader can't imagine herself in the hero`s arms at that moment, then you`ve done something wrong.
Romance novels are about the ROMANCE, not the sex. The sex just makes it more interesting for people who want the spice. Every story must have a happily ever after (HEA) or a happy for now. Why would we want to read it if the hero dies and the heroine commits suicide to be with him in the afterlife (unless the story is about their HEA in said afterlife).
Some famous authors drag their sex scenes out for pages and pages. I won't name any, but personally I get so bored, I skim through it and get back to the story. My love scenes are just that. They are about progressing the story and getting to the realisation that my characters love each other. All good stories are about someone's journey, they have a beginning a middle and an end. There is no compromise on these three levels.
So what makes a good sensual, sex scene? I'm not entirely sure myself. Someone told me that my scenes are very sensual but I can't see much of it. I just write what seems natural for my characters. If I have a shy mousy heroine who is a virgin, she isn't going to suddenly turn into a dynamite in the sack. Sure, I can throw away her inhibitions and make her really enjoy herself but only because I think that's how it would play out. I always try to see myself in the room with the characters (I kow how weird it sounds). I wonder what they can smell, what they can hear, how they feel to each other. And then I take it deeper. What would his chest hair feel like against her sensitised nipples, how would the weight of her breasts feel in his hands with her hair tickling his throat. What would her skin taste like to him? What would she taste when she tentatively licks his neck and how does it make her feel the first time he... Well, you get the point.
Sex is a natural progressor of a relationship but it has to happen at the right time and for a good reason. Throwing together two strangers for a one night stand is interesting and new but why does it happen? Has she just been told she only has a few months to live? Is he trying to forget a recent break-up? Are they doing it for a dare or a bet? To be honest, I can't read Sweet or the kind of stories where anything intimate happens behind closed doors. I like the door wide open for all to see which is why I write Blazes. Great story lines, great characters and even greater sex.
Now if you're a guy who is reading this, you are asking yourself where I get my inspiration? No, I haven't had sex on a super yacht, I haven't been laid down on a 18 person dining table and had my mind blown. I am a woman with an overactive imagination and I read heaps! I'd like to say that I have sex in public places all the time and everywhere but that isn't reality for anyone I know. When it comes to me and my man, my door is locked, deadbolted and barricaded.
The point of a good read is to escape reality. I don't want to know about about a mum of two kids working part-time, studying and pulling her hair out with frustration that she has trouble paying the bills. I already know that story! Give me a hunk of spunk with an amazing body who is romantic and sensitive but still as rough as guts. *Sigh*, never going to happen but next time you want to escape reality and jump into someone else's life, or bed, go down to your local bookstore and find something that will make you smile and laugh and be happy. Or better yet, read my WIP's and let me know what you think or what you want to see. I reckon I could write on demand =)
As always have a great weekend and do something that will make you happy!
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