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The Problem with Rushing the Sex

5/15/2012

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Wild RaspberriesWild Raspberries by Jane Davitt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Problem with Rushing the Sex

There is a growing tendency amongst ebook erotica publishers to want, if not demand, that there be a sex scene within the first three chapters. Apparently sex sells and (some?) readers are impatient if they have to wait too long for it.

Re-reading one of my favourite m/m romances, Jane Davitt’s “Wild Raspberries” proves how wrong that concept can be.

While the couple have a few brief sexual encounters about halfway through the book, these and the rest of the plot only heighten the tension so when the full-on main event finally does occur, it becomes so much stronger for the reader and the participants themelves.

To quote Tyler: “He loved doing this. Loved feeling the self-imposed frustration build, deepening the intensity of his arousal...”

Similarly, Jane’s lead up to this act, deepens the intensity of the encounter. I’ve read a lot of m/m books in my time, but the next ten or so pages have to be the best written sex scene I’ve found so far. There is just the right amount of physical description to allow you to picture the moment, but also you’re right there in Tyler’s head, feeling everything he feels. Every reaction he has to Dan leads on logically from what has come before.

Recently, I participated in one of Linnea Sinclair’s online classes on how to write kick-butt action. Amongst the many helpful hints she gave was to use prequels and sequels (scenes not stories) to provide the reader with all the facts they need to prevent these details slowing the pacing down when the shit starts hitting the fan.

In many ways, this is what also has to happen to really make a sex scene mean more than slot A into slot B in a step-by-step description.

If we know why Tyler is holding back, if we can picture Dan’s eagerness, if we are familiar with the house and the setting, we only need to glimpse these briefly in the sex scene to pad it out mentally.

Similarly, we don’t need the full on emotional reaction within the scene, these can come afterwards in the “sequential” scene.

Similarly, within the scene, there has to be good balance between the reactions to what is happening and the actions themselves. To sum up, the actual sex scene needs to follow the rules of writing action, full speed ahead, then a pause for a second before continuing. In Jane’s case, before resuming the action, she inserts some more description of the setting, then ratchets the action up a notch to an even more scorching level.

It’s not just mundane description either but more the way the character reacts to the setting rather than just describing the scene: “The room was lit only by moonlight and the glow of the forgotten lamp still burning in the main room, and Tyler decided to keep it that way. There was enough light for him to see what he was doing and enough darkness for Dan to feel less on display.”

Hardly prize winning writing, but just the correct weight of words and context to suit the purpose. Breaking the action with description, mirrors the momentary downturn in intensity as they relocate to the bedroom.

Writing good sex scenes is akin to writing good action scenes. The same rules apply.

Recently, I’ve been reviewing my m/m collection, sorting out which ones have stood the test of time and a re-read. “Wild Raspberries and its must-read-as-well sequel “Wintergreen” together make a great story. But they will always stay near the top of my re-read pile purely because of the way Jane has written this great sex scene.

Perfect.

I'd blogged an interview with Jane a while back. This can be read here: http://www.abgayle.com/1/post/2011/09...

Okay. I admit to being a fan. But with good reason. As an author, I've learnt a lot from her writing. As a reader, I'm always interested in what she's going to come up with next. Her books are definitely not just variations of the same premise or writing style. Compare these ones with "Hourglass" and "Spoken fron the Heart". Each has that little touch of difference that will make her writing last when many other, more popular writers fade from memory.

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Striking a Different Chord – The Perfect Third

5/10/2012

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To date, most of my interviews have been with established writers. Here's one with someone new on the scene, Morticia Knight.

AB: Hi, Morticia. Welcome to the hot seat. Let’s start by finding out a little bit about you. When did you start writing?

MK: I’ve been writing since I was a little girl, but I was led astray by the lurid siren call of rock ‘n’roll, so concentrated on my music career for 15 years. In that era, the only writing I did was lyrics to songs. It was odd – I would have these crazy sci-fi or paranormal romance stories running around in my head – but if I tried to write anything down, it would come out in a rhyme scheme! I guess I just needed to be in that zone during that time.

AB: It’s always fascinated me that there seems to be a special mystique about male rock musicians. There is almost a cliché about the beautiful actress and the definitely less attractive male rock star. What do you think is the appeal?

MK: Definitely the bad boy persona. I’ve always found myself more attracted to that than the classically handsome guy. I’m sure a psychotherapist could work that all out for me – but I’m happy with my bad boy (it can be an illusory image) husband of the last 6 years – so I wouldn’t want to change it!

AB: Men are often accused of not being romantic or not being able to express their emotions well, yet by far the majority of the ballads that tug at the heartstrings are written by or sung by males. Is that the secret? They feel it is permitted for them to express these sorts of feelings in song, but they could never speak or write these words normally.

MK: Absolutely! I fear I might fall in that category as well. I look back at some of the things I would write and then sing about on stage and I think “No way would I ever actually say that to anyone!” There’s a weird sense of freedom of expression that you get when you take on that rock singer persona on stage; you feel as though you can hide safely behind it. I feel that way as an author too, but I believe it helps my writing to be more truthful.

AB: What exactly was your involvement in the scene? Were you in a band?

MK: Two, actually. But the last one was the one that burned me on the business. We got some college radio airplay and charted, did some regional college tours, sold a few CD’s, but the business aspect of music destroyed it for me.

AB: You mentioned getting “burned out by the music business in L.A.” Was that from the back stage people eg promoters and managers or the performers. Do you miss those days?

MK:  – Sometimes I miss the synergy that you can achieve with other musicians on stage or in the studio. It can be like a very spiritual human connection moment. However, the beauty of that gets degraded by the record companies, distributors, etc, behind the scenes. It takes something pure and magical, and turns it into a commodity no different than a box of cereal. I get that we all want/need to make money – but there was a special type of viciousness associated with the music and film business that I haven’t encountered elsewhere.

AB: Would you ever write a romance novel based on the music scene?

MK: I actually have a few bouncing around in my head. There’s a rich well to draw from that subject matter!

AB: I gather that your path to writing stemmed from ghost writing or helping to write someone’s memoir. Care to elaborate?

MK: I had been involved more in the behind the scenes aspect of the music business and found myself working in P.R. with a crazy ex-music journalist who had interviewed everyone from Bowie to Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin. I collaborated with him on his memoir, and that was when the writing juices got flowing again. I got out of the music business, moved to the mountains 2 hours away from L.A., and began to focus all of my creative energies on writing.

AB: How long ago was this? What sort of writing did you do in those days?

MK: This was about 10 years ago. I hadn’t gotten to the point yet where I was ready to start writing fiction again, like I did when I was a kid, so writing about other people, other fellow musicians even, helped me to flex my writing muscles.

AB: What prompted your re-location to Oregon?

MK: Two hours was still too close to Los Angeles, so a couple years ago I moved to the northern Oregon Coast. It is savage and dreary and gorgeous and peaceful here. In this environment, I have been able to get to a wonderful place where I can write down my romance stories. It was a little over a year ago, while I was laid up for a little while, that I discovered Total-E-Bound Publishing. I researched the internet; discovering that there was a huge market for books and stories of erotica. For some reason, it clicked for me. It felt like I could write some of my wild stories down under the erotica genre, and not worry about whether it was too questionable for a mainstream audience or publisher.

AB: Did you have any background in Creative Writing or are you totally self taught?

MK: I began to study towards an English degree before I left L.A.. I wanted to make sure I was grammatically coherent before I made a complete idiot of myself. But after I’d devoured all of the writing, literature, philosophy and history classes – I was done. I’m still not a hundred percent sure why I need a lab science class to get an English degree. Especially when they charge you so much money!

AB: What appeals to you about writing romance?

MK: I like it when romance (whether erotica or not) tackles the real challenges that all of us go through - we all have some physical or emotional block to believing we’re the perfect partner. So what happens when we have a very intense block – such as a massive injury like your hero Ethan did in “Isolation”? Does that mean we are no longer deserving of love and sexual fulfillment?

Sure - some readers might be uncomfortable with that, but I think it’s a worthwhile subject. There are plenty of women who read, write and enjoy rubenesque romances for that same reason. I think you should write what moves you, and the right readers will be moved by it.

 Also, I like literature to push boundaries the way books like American Psycho, No Country For Old Men, and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty have done. I’m not at the stage of my erotica career where I could even hope to compare my writing to such illustrious authors and works, but I am striving to remain creative and true to the craft of writing. At the very least, I want my characters to be real and vibrant, and a part of stories that have a strong arc and remain with my readers. This is my hope!

AB: What sort of stories do you write and why?

MK: It seems as though my erotica writing has remained in a contemporary setting, primarily using BDSM and ménage as a back drop. But I also have several sci-fi and paranormal storylines in the works, and am currently working on an M/M contemporary men in uniform series. So I suppose I’m going where my heart takes me at the time!

AB: BDSM and ménage seem to be the flavour of the month or even year, and is even come to the attention of the NY publishing scene. Do you have aspirations to write the next “Fifty Shades of Gray”?

MK: Not at all. Unless you mean it in the sense of reaching a wider audience with my writing. It’s ironic – and I know several erotica authors who feel this way – I have a BDSM series “Bound by Pleasure”, that has been on Amazon since last summer, and the scenario is very similar to the one in Fifty Shades. Since I never even heard of Fifty Shades until a few months ago, and have never read it, I find that interesting. I truly believe there’s a little of the collective consciousness out there when it comes to that sort of thing. But I do hope that the success of Fifty Shades will help other erotica authors such as you and I to get our books seen.

AB: Bondage and bit of lightweight caning with a paddle can be seen as healthy kink, but have you ever had any contact with or desire to write about the full-on BDSM scene with its rules, safe-words and protocols?

MK: I was in rock ‘n’ roll, remember? (*wink*) I had a little contact with the scene back in the day, and the “Bound by Pleasure” series is fairly hardcore, and might be too much for some readers to handle.

AB: What writers inspire you?

MK: Stephen King was my first (*blushing*). From there, it’s been an eclectic swirl. Cormac McCarthy, Karen Marie Moning, Charlaine Harris, Phillip K. Dick and Hunter Thompson, to name a few.

AB: You mention that you have had scifi and paranormal stories swirling around your head, would you ever write these? Would they be erotica, or would you be aiming at a different market?

MK: I would like to write some sci-fi/paranormal erotica. I started one about an evil djinn during NaNoWriMo, but I have had other deadlines I’ve needed to attend to. I have a few sci-fi’s outlined that I may try to pitch to a mainstream romance market. We’ll see!

AB: I gather you have a new story coming out soon with Total E Bound. Tell me about it.

MK: I have an M/M/F story, “The Perfect Third” included in the new ménage anthology All Together Now that has just been released by Total-E-Bound Publishing.  There are a total of six scorching hot ménage stories included in this anthology set in all different settings, and it’s available by clicking on the cover at the botom of the page. 

I’ve also included a little excerpt from “The Perfect Third” for your enjoyment!

Adult Excerpt from “The Perfect Third”, a contemporary MFM Menage that is included in the All Together Now Anthology available May 7th from Total-E-Bound Publishing. All rights reserved.

After a large swallow of wine, Lorne set his glass on the coffee table and leaned into Alexa. He looked directly into her eyes, and locked his lips on hers once again. She melted into him, allowing herself to shut her eyes and feel the moment. Lorne used both hands to explore her body, sliding up and down her, briefly fondling her breasts, stroking her hair, petting the side of her face. Alexa began heating up again, and reciprocated by rubbing his broad, muscular chest, and caressing the stone-hard tops of his thighs.

Abruptly, Lorne pulled back and stood up. He looked down at her as she leant back against the arm of the sofa, and began to unbutton the white tuxedo shirt he was wearing, throwing the bow tie to the ground. His chest exposed, Alexa feasted her eyes on just how well built he was, with just a light smattering of golden hair. He undid his belt and slacks, which were also then cast aside. He was left standing in black briefs that strained under the hardness of his generous cock.

“Would you like to do the final honours?” he said to her, a mischievous tone to his voice.

Alexa wanted to rip the fabric from his body to get at what was being held prisoner beneath. She leant forward so that her face was even with his crotch. Feeling lightheaded from the wine, and maybe a little dangerous, she grabbed the elastic waistband with her teeth and began tugging it downward. He was so hard, it was difficult to get the underwear to cooperate, so she gave it an extra tug with both her hands.

Finally his large prize was free, and she immediately caught it with her lips, licking and tonguing the shaft, teasing the tip as she eased it in and out of her mouth. Lorne placed both hands on her head, moaning, and began to thrust his cock deep into her, pushing at the back of her throat as she opened up to take as much of him as she could.

Lorne held her head fast in his hands, so Alexa was free to begin sliding out of her silk dress. As it fell to her waist, she lifted up slightly to get it the rest of the way off. She sat perched on the edge of his white couch in a red satin lace bra and thong panties. She saw Lorne looking down at her and hoped that the sight of his thick prick ramming into her face and her full C-cup breasts bouncing in the red push-up bra was bringing him true delight.

She was briefly unsure of herself as he pulled his dick out of her mouth, but he reassured her. “You are way too sexy in this outfit, with a sweet, sumptuous mouth. I’m afraid I won’t be able to contain myself.”

He knelt down in front of her and began to kiss her again, and she could feel that her mouth was sloppy and her lips were swollen from the recent assault of his shaft. Her cheeks were flushed, and he watched as her chest rose alluringly with fast breath. He began to explore her again, and he made it clear it was time for the rest of her clothing to come off. He undid her bra, and she helped move things along by sliding her panties off.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” he said, locking with her eyes again. “I plan to reward it.”

If you would like to learn more about Morticia or some of her other available titles, you can find her at these usual hangouts:

Blog: www.morticiaknight.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/morticia.knight

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MorticiaKnight

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Gay fiction with a romantic element or m/m romance?

5/2/2012

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Desert RunDesert Run by Marshall Thornton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to a Facebook "share" from Kayla Jameth of a blog he wrote on the difference between m/m romance and gay fiction: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_..., I discovered Marshall Thornton's books.

Impressed by things he said, I bought and read "Desert Run" and am glad I did. The book hit all the right notes of the action, suspense genre. It also includes a "gay for you" scenario (or rather an "out for you", taking into account the POV character's reluctant recognition of his attraction to guys in the past). There is also gay sex in it, love and a HEA.

However, it doesn't fit the "Harlequinized" m/m romance agenda. For starters, there is explicit m/f sex at the beginning. This is necessary, because it fits the plot.

The presence of this scene has provoked at least one reaction which exemplifies the problem Marshall discusses in his blog. To quote a reviewer on Amazon:
"Heavy on the action, but it also has a pretty sweet romantic element:
The writing is a little wooden at times because it focuses so much on relating the things that happen rather than the character's emotional reactions to them, but the plot is quite good. I'm afraid that the book might have a limited audience, though: those looking for gay fiction might be put off by the straight sex, and others might be put off by the gay scenes."

Once again the expectations of the reader as to what they will find in the genre are seen as being a negative.

From a quick scroll through Goodreads booklists of males who I know are gay, many are not averse to reading books with heterosexual characters, so it's not the guys who might be put off by the straight sex scene. Which only leaves the females. In real life, many men have had sex with women before becoming "out for you" or being happy to be gay, so why shouldn't that be included in books if it fits the plot?

Marshall's writing is fluid with good cadence and flow. All kudos to Torquere for publishing the book as is and not demanding that the sex scene be cut to pander to females who want their m/m girl cootie free. I'll even replace the star I took off for the typos. But, hey, get a copy editor folks...

So how to classify its genre? M/m romance or gay fiction?

In the blog Marshall states: M/M at its core is about the formation of a committed relationship

A committed relationshp develops but this happens rather than being sought after, a by-product of the plot rather than the plot. So this might tend to swing it away from m/m romance.

Furthermore, if m/m romance readers demand emotional reaction to plot developments and insist on no m/f sex being depicted then again it's not an m/m romance.

Are these factors enough to preclude it from being m/m then? Perhaps the problem is that so many readers automatically tag the word "romance" after the initials, whether they are appropriate or not. Are the Adrien English mysteries m/m romance? In fact, the story is reminiscent of Josh Lanyon at times without the emotional angst (although there is some). There is a raw grittiness which I think fits the story and suits the characters. They're certainly not chicks with dicks.

Perhaps it's best to describe Desert Run as action/suspense with gay protagonists who develop a committed relationship and admit they're in love. That's enough of a romantic element for me.

If this makes Desert Run gay fiction rather than m/m romance, then fine, give me more.


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    A.B.Gayle

    This is a collection of reviews I've posted at Goodreads and
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