Erotica is Not a Dirty Word

 

With Guest post from Dr. Charley Ferrer

Romance authors, especially erotic romance authors often get the ‘frown’ when we tell people what we do. Even family and friends would prefer we write something else: perhaps travel guides, medical textbooks, literary fiction, murder mysteries, anything as long as it doesn’t have sex in it. And there’s nothing wrong with writing the other books I just mentioned, they all take talent and hard work.

But somewhere along the way, the idea of two people who struggle to overcome obstacles in their lives, fall in love and express that love sexually is a bad thing, or something we shouldn’t talk or write or read about. That’s the impression I get by the feedback from people who condemn the romance/erotic genre. Maybe out culture should have more of this on prime time TV and less of the serial killers, murders, abductions, body parts, and fights. Kids can watch this violence during the dinner hour too, or practice violence in their role-playing video games.

Since the 50 Shades of Grey came out, some of the negativity improved. Women (and some men) who never read an erotic romance book before, thought, Hmmm, this is pretty good, to the tune of over 70 million copies. And they started reading more. But there are a lot of wonderful erotic romance authors out there. Check out the authors on http://www.ellorascave.com  What I’m not crazy about, is a new term going around: “Mommy Porn”. I think that’s negative. First women of all ages read erotic romance, not just young mothers. And porn is derogatory and objectifies women.

Last month the mayor in my town objected to an interview my community paper did on me. He felt it wasn’t appropriate for young people. The article discussed how my husband and I are restoring our 100 year old Victorian home and a little about the books I write. No excerpts. The details of the issue are here if you’d like to read more:

http://easton.patch.com/articles/future-of-west-word-paper-uncertain

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2013/02/west_word_must_change_or_risk.html

If anyone wanted to send a Letter-to-the-Editor of the West Word paper giving their support of the interview and the paper write to: editor@thewestword.org

#

Dr. Charley Ferrer responded with the following Letter-to-the-editor. And I’d like to share her views with my readers. I took Dr. Charley’s BDSM Writers Workshop for Authors in NY City last August. It was a weekend long-workshop with detailed lectures, visits to leather/fetish/lingerie shops and also a two-night visit to Paddles, a BDSM club in NYC. If you’re an author who wants to write accurately in the BDSM genre, this is a valuable workshop. www.doctorcharley.com

HATE CENSORSHIP by Dr. Charley Ferrer

 

Burn all the papers. Restrict residents from owning radios. Dictate the sermons churches can discussion with parishioners. Ban all books. And provide residents with a list of appropriate topics to discuss in public!

Perhaps by ensuring the above, Mayor Sal Panto can foster the Steppford Wives mentality in his community he seeks to foster by censoring the voice of the media.

It always amazes me that politicians will talk about defending our morals and
“what’s good and decent” while they tell us their version of what is acceptable. Mayor Panto’s comments sound like the Comstock Law all over again. Censorship at its most insidious!  Isn’t that what the Mayor is doing by demanding only his approved articles and topics and threatening to replace the West Words editorial leadership?

In reviewing the articles in question, I find they only endeared me to the location. Imagine meeting an author who’s restoring a 100 year old Victorian home with her husband. Or learning that a community can evaluate where it can improve its efforts in serving its members. I’m lucky if my next door neighbor says hello as he passes me in the hall.

Life isn’t black and white. We all live in the gray where situations arise and our children are influenced by others more so than ourselves. Should I mention the movies our teens watch or the videos they spend hours playing; movies and videos filled with violence and discrimination; which foster the unconscious belief that another person’s life isn’t worth much and can be easily disposed of? Ironic how we’ll cover our sons and daughters eyes at the movies when there’s a kissing scene, yet we have no objections when the kids watch Jason Myers stab campers to death or criminals kill and rape women. Isn’t it hypocritical how we allow our children to be inundated with killing and rape in their movies and video games and yet object to the mention of a woman who writes erotica.  

Personally, I like to know all the aspects of a place I plan to move my family to.  The good and the bad this way I can make my own decision. That’s my right as an adult. Besides if the paper has something in it I find objectionable, I’ll use my God-given and government approved rights to TURN THE PAGE…as I do with the sports section.  

Live with passion,
Dr. Charley Ferrer
Clinical Sexologist, Educator
TV/Radio Host & Producer
Award Winning Author
Sex Expert for Fox News Latino
(718) 916-4124  

 

 

The Write Stuff of Writers

Unexpected Sychronicity at a Writers Conference

Writing conferences are a valuable resource for writers if you attend with enthusiasm and an openness to learn. Many opportunities and surprises arise when meeting other writers and writing professionals. Every conference I learn something new, meet someone interesting and enhance my writing career. At a recent conference in NJ given by the Liberty States Fiction Writers, I was contacted after the conference about an editor's appointment I had that was rescheduled and that I had missed. I never requested an editor's appoint because I was submitting to agents with my current project. I was told because of the mix up that day, the editor would welcome a partial submission from me. I did have another polished manuscript available so I submitted that one. Never let an opportunity pass by.

 

This past weekend I attended the The Write Stuff Conference given by Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. One speaker, http://bonniescalhoun.com/aboutme.html Bonnie Calhoun, said writers should never stop learning. She gave workshops on Snark and Suspense and Dialogue. Many times I hear writers say they don’t take craft workshops anymore because they know enough craft. That’s a writer who will never improve in my opinion. I continue to take craft and business workshops. Some parts may be a review of what I know, and sometimes the review is a good reminder to make sure I’m not getting lazy in my work. Offen times, I'm learning something new to enhance my writing. And many times a speaker gives great examples like Bonnie did with the Dialogue lecture, and I have fresh ideas on how to improve my writing.

The keynote speaker and lecturer, Jane Friedman, http://janefriedman.com/ completely amazed me with her knowledge of the publishing world. She’s the current editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, http://www.vqronline.org/  and former publisher of Writer’s Digest magazine. Besides her broad understanding of what is going on in publishing, she has an enormous reach and knowledge in social networking and the online cyberspace. She gives free advice for writers on her website and has an awesome blog which I started following. http://janefriedman.com/blog/

She recommended a couple author sites to check out to see how some authors are using creative ways to reach readers. John Green and his (vlog) blog videos have a huge following. He’s entertaining and doesn’t get into the “Buy my Book” push.  http://johngreenbooks.com/ . Also CJ Lyons http://cjlyons.net/ has created a Thrillers With Heart group on Goodreads that promote other Thriller authors like Tess Gerritsen, Sandra Brown, and Lee Childs. She’s gained readers by helping other authors.

The graph Jane showed demonstrating the number of traditionally sold books over the last several years, compared to the self-published books was mind boggling. Traditionally sold has remained pretty constant, while the self-published has shot up over the last couple years. Online sales for ebook and print have increased while book sales in book stores and dropped. Not a surprise.

The detailed workshop on Friday for Editing and Revision with Ramona DeFelice-Long http://ramonadef.wordpress.com/  was excellent. Perfect timing since I'm in the middle of editing/revising my manuscript.

I also met a few other people who were interesting to talk to and were kind enough to take the time to answer some questions. Don Helin  http://www.donhelin.com/ writes military thrillers. He’s served in the military and also worked at the Pentagon. He gave me great advice for a scene in my current book. Also author Jeanette Windle http://www.jeanettewindle.com/ has lived an interesting and exciting life as a daughter of missionary parents. She grew up in the jungles and mountains of Columbia, now guerrilla hot spots and lived in six different countries. And her research skills have stumped CIA and other government organizations. She also gave me some ideas for my currents book.

Besides all the speakers, it’s always great to hang out and talk to fellow writers in my group from the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group www.glvwr.org , visiting writers, editors and agents. Check out some of the sites in this post or all when you get a chance, you’d be surprised by how much valuable information is available to writers.

Delicious Burn From Anything Goes @lynn_lafleur

Fabulous author and friend, Lynn Lafleur, has an awesome new release that you have to check out.
DELICIOUS BURN by Lynn LaFleur
Book 3 of the Anything Goes Series
Release Date: March 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-30154-133-1
Genre: Contemporary MFM and MM
Length: Short Novel
Smashwords
ARe
Available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon tomorrow, March 12th.

I thought I'd share a sneak peak.



BLURB:

A love worth the wait.

Drew Severson is honored to be included in his best friend's wedding, yet seeing Gabe so happy makes Drew dwell on the emptiness in his life. When Gabe suggests an evening at Anything Goes, Drew decides sex is exactly what he needs to rid him of his depressed state. Man or woman doesn't matter to him, as long as the sex is hot and sweaty.

The attraction Everett Payne feels when he sees Drew at the sex club is instant and explosive. What starts as a night of sexploits between Drew, Everett, and a female club attendant morphs into a private weekend at Everett's house for the two men.

Drew is hesitant to become involved with the younger man due to his Army obligations. It doesn't matter to Everett that Drew has a minimum of six more years to serve his country. He's found the perfect man and is willing to wait for him…no matter how long it takes.

EXCERPT: (Over 18 y/o please)

Everett had wanted to taste Drew's mouth all evening. The reality topped his fantasy at least one hundred times. Soft, firm lips caressed his, a tongue peeked out to tickle the seam of his mouth. Everett gladly parted his lips to accept the other man's exploration. Drew sipped at his lips, nibbled at the corners, swiped his tongue across the gentle bites. Everett returned each caress, until his breathing became as labored as right after his last climax.

Drew ended the kiss with one last soft graze of his lips. He leaned back, but didn't release Everett's nape. "Does that answer your question?" he asked in a low, gravelly voice.

"Yeah." Everett's voice came out as gravelly as Drew's.

He set his bottle of Pepsi on the nightstand. "Do you have any other questions?"

"Yeah," Everett repeated. "Kiss me again?"

Taking Everett's bottle from his limp hand, Drew set it on the nightstand next to his. He tunneled his fingers into Everett's long hair and covered his lips again.

Heaven. Everett swore heaven couldn't be any better than the taste of Drew. He laid his hands on the firm muscles of the man's chest, not moving, simply absorbing the warmth and smoothness beneath his palms. He parted his lips, accepted Drew's tongue inside his mouth. The tang of Vella's pussy lingered on Drew's breath.

Pulling back, Everett peered into sky blue eyes. "Do you prefer women?"

Drew's hands flowed over Everett's shoulders and down his arms. "I enjoy everything about sex with a woman." He ran his hands back up Everett's arms and into his hair again. "But I love sex with a man."

Feeling the exact same way, Everett nodded. "I know what you mean."

"So do you want to keep asking me questions, or do you want to fuck?"

"I want to fuck."

"Bottom or top?"

"I'm flexible."

Drew flashed a wicked grin. "Flexible is good."

For this man, Everett would be as flexible as necessary. He'd never felt such a strong, instant attraction to anyone. "How about you?"

"Both are good, but I prefer to top."

Everett stared at Drew's cock, once again completely hard and standing up against his stomach. His anus clenched at the thought of all that firm flesh pounding into his ass.

Unable to resist, Everett wrapped one fist around Drew's dick. Drew hissed in a sharp breath between his teeth. Taking that as a sign that the other man liked his touch, Everett slowly slid his hand to the base, then back to the crown. He repeated the journey, this time adding a gentle squeeze to the tight orbs. Hissing again, Drew arched his hips.

"What do you want me to do?" Everett asked.

Lust-filled eyes met his. "Whatever you want to do."

###

 

Find out more about Lynn and her books: http://www.lynnlafleur.com/index.htm

 

Once Upon a Time in the West Ward #erotica

Erotic romance author meets college arts festival and a strange political controversy begins.

Stranger than fiction, but this isn’t fiction. Several months ago, Ghen Zando-Dennis, managing editor for The West Word, a local community magazine about my neighborhood—the West Ward of Easton, PA, offered to do an interview on me. I was flattered and excited. The focus of the paper as Ghen explained was to talk about the residents, businesses and events in the neighborhood to improve the perception of the area.

She came to my house for the interview. I live in a 100 y/o Victorian that my husband and I have been restoring for over 11 years. She took photos of the house and was interested in our original carriage house garage that was constructed from rejected tombstones. We live next to the cemetery where many Civil War veterans are buried. She also asked about my day job as a Cytotechnologist and my part time writing as an erotic romance writer. There was nothing lewd in the article and no excerpts from my books. I thought she did an excellent job.

Because of that article and the one criticizing the college arts festival, the paper has received complaints. And the editor fears the paper could either “lose its funding or have its leadership replaced.” According to Easton Patch

http://easton.patch.com/articles/future-of-west-word-paper-uncertain

Who’s complaining? The mayor of Easton objected to my article. He said it “goes out to all age groups.” In the Express Times, he said it was too racy. The paper is funded by the CACLV (Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley) and the WWNP (West Ward Neighborhood Partnership). Last month the paper learned that the CACLV wanted to begin editing its content. The mayor did say he didn’t want to see the paper end but wanted a different focus.

“The mayor has been very critical and, frankly, I need the support of the mayor in order to do meaningful community and economic development in any community,” said Jennings, executive director of CACLV to Dennis.

Ghen says the paper is getting a lot of support from the community and that people loved the interview article and appreciated the honest reporting of an arts festival that needs improvement.

To read more:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2013/02/west_word_must_change_or_risk.html

Personally, I feel the article was a relevant human interest piece. I’m sure there are women in the West Ward who like to read timely books. And if you notice on the bestsellers list many of the books now are erotic romance. In addition, the West Ward has beautiful, old historic homes. I’m sure some readers of the paper would be interested about a resident restoring an old home. Not every article will interest every reader. If erotic romance books or restoring historic homes isn’t your thing, turn the page. I’ll admit I don’t read the sports section of the newspaper.

The next committee meeting is in May.

If you know anyone who wants to write a letter-to-the-editor for print in the next issue regarding all of this controversy, or support for the paper, please feel free to forward the email address: editor@thewestword.org