Don't tell me what to do!

Freedom means a lot of different things to me, depending on my mood and the context.

In general, it means the freedom to make choices -- whether that's how to vote; where to go to church or if I go to church at all; what to watch on television; what to eat; what to read; and of course, what to write.

I was once asked about my choice to write romance. The exact question wasn't put so nicely and I remember that moment well. It was asked, not with curiosity so much as with judgmental derision. She might as well have asked me: "What are you thinking?"

Yes, most of us know that romance -- in any form or sub-genre -- has a bad rap. Honestly, if I hear/read one more reference to romance novels as being "mommy porn", I might throttle someone.

I. HATE. That. It angers and frustrates me to no end.

But back to my brief confrontation: I smiled; bit back a mixture of hurt and anger, and replied: "Because I'm a romantic at heart."

Which is the truth. I believe in love and romance -- although I admit 'romance' often takes a backseat in everyday life.

I crave the happy ending that isn't always guaranteed in other literature or in life itself. Steven King is a master storyteller, but you can bet most of his characters will not live happily-ever-after. I'll still read his stories because, well, he's amazing. But I can only take so much before I turn back to romance.

It's my choice what I read and what I write. Freedom is a wonderful concept.

Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

Once More, with Feeling

For me, love scenes are tough to write (gasp!) and sometimes tough to read. It seems there is, in some quarters, the feeling that erotic romance is basically stringing a succession of sex-scenes together. Yet it is, like any other genre, subject to rules. Yes, there is a heightened sexuality and frank language, but just as in any other kind of book there has to be a cohesive plot. Without one, you might as well be reading a bunch of those “true confession” letters in a men’s magazine.

And also each scene must serve a purpose—including the sex/love scenes. For me, when the love scenes are really hot you can almost bet your sweet bippy there is a new and thrilling shift in the relationship going along with it. Yes, the characters are having sex, slots and tabs as per usual, acrobatics, dominance etc. not essential (although sometimes welcome and even necessary, depending on the characters), but they’re also discovering something about themselves or their partner at the same time. While they’re doing that, the reader is learning about them too, and the heat is ramped up.

For me there has to be emotion, whether acknowledged or fought against, and relevance, or it’s just sex.

It could be the thrill of finally realizing the dream of having an encounter with the man the heroine’s been lusting after forever. Or perhaps the moment when a man looks at the person he’s having sex with and thinks, ‘Mine.’ Even the second when, scared spitless, one of the characters recognizes the very thing they didn’t want—love—has entered the equation. There are a bunch of different scenarios, instant attraction, resurgence of floundering love, angry sex, make-up sex, etc. that we use as plot devices, but the bottom line is if you don’t have emotion behind it and a reason for the sex, it just isn’t hot to me.

And let’s not forget there are scenes in books where the characters never even get undressed, much less get to actual sex, that can be hotter than the desert on a mid-summer day! The slow seduction scene that gets interrupted or is curtailed because one character knows the other isn’t ready is an example that comes to mind. Again I bet it's the heap of emotion behind it that makes the temperature rise.

So up the stakes, up the feelings behind the action, up the revelations and discoveries through the lovemaking and, in my estimation, the heat quotient rises too!

Anya

Journeys Through Seduction

Anya Richards/Anya Delvay books available from Samhain Publishing, Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters Indigo.

Midnight confessions...

First confession: I don't write erotic romance.

Still with me? Good. Because I do write great stories -- they just happen to be what is, I believe, termed 'vanilla' when it comes to sex. Interesting how we classify things, isn't it?

I began my love of the romance novel many years ago. At age 13, I discovered the local drugstore sold paperback romances: Harlequin and Harlequin Presents -- the latter being the more sexy of the lines in those days. ;) I fell in love with... love. The whole idea and nuance of it all... the forbidden passion. I suppose my favorite part of it all back then was the tension -- that spark and sizzle when the characters are dancing around their attraction. It could make any young, inexperienced girl sigh.

Want to know a secret? It still does. That flirty, does-he/does-she moment. The first, accidental touch. That first time the heroine looks into his eyes. Yes, it's still my favorite part of the romance. The sexual tension. The sizzle before the actual kiss or, um, other stuff. ;)

It's also my favorite part to write, if truth be told. Sometimes, writing the 'love scene' is a chore. It can be the most difficult part of the story for me. I have to find just the right mood; just the right atmosphere (no children under foot); just the right everything.

But the tension that leads them there? For me that is oh-so-easy. Oh, yes, that's where I shine, smack-dab within the literary foreplay.

What part of the romance do you prefer? The sizzle? The cuddling? Or more?

~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com