Do erotica writers try out sexy, kinky encounters for inspiration for their books? Their sex scenes may be based on true-life experiences, some are embellished and some are just made up. When authors openly admit to their kinky love lives, do readers prefer their books over those who keep their bedroom doors closed?
I love to read and write erotica and erotic romance, the
hotter and edgier the better. Although with the exception of a couple stories
or scenes, I think most of my erotic sex scenes are moderate. I could easily go
much darker and intense, but my fan base seems to prefer the lighter side of
BDSM, ménage, two-somes and more-somes.
As I try to expand my career in erotic romance, I’m
studying my peers—authors who write in similar genres and are hugely
successful. These authors I love to read and I’ve admired their work for years.
So I want to see what they’re doing that I’m not. I know I can learn from them.
One thing I’ve notice with a number of the top selling
erotica authors (not all), is that they are very open about the sexually explicit
details of living an alternative lifestyle. They frequently discuss their
personal sexual escapades. Some are involved in a D/s (Dominant/submissive BDSM
relationship), others admit to being swingers or having experienced ménage—threesomes
or more sexual encounters or having particular fetishes. I completely support
them and admire their freedom to do so!
Personally, I think our culture has taken a few giant
steps backwards toward the Dark Ages in respect to their archaic views on sex.
Don’t people LIKE sex anymore??
***Now,
do readers believe authors open about their adventurous, kinky sex lives have
extra SPICE in their stories??? Do
they think their books are better?
***Conversely,
if these authors had never admitted to their adventurous sex lives, would they
still be selling as many books???
I think there are a number of romance/erotica authors
keep their love lives private, but still have adventurous and even kinky sex
lives. Perhaps their jobs and family issues prevent them from having the
freedom to ‘come out of the closet’. Or they just prefer to keep their private
life—private. There was a school teacher from central Pennsylvania who writes
erotic romance under a pen name. She never gave her real name because she
taught high school and was worried that her conservative town would have
issues. Then with the power of the internet, someone found out. Just that she
WROTE erotic romance. A group of mothers whose teenagers were in this teacher’s
class, tried to get the teacher fired. The students supported the teacher and
so did the school board, thankfully.
In my town, I was interviewed by a couple local papers.
One small community paper was shut down by the mayor (he pulled the town’s
funding), because he received so many negative letters about me being featured
in the paper. In another online newspaper, the nasty comments were flung around
between those opposed to my work and the lovely writers supporting me. Names
like pervert, porn writer, and one even called my husband a cuckold. The name
calling didn’t upset me at all. On the contrary, the sales that week on my
books were pretty impressive. What upset me terribly was the paper being shut
down. I asked the editor if there was anything I could do. She was one of my
lovely supporters. She said, it was a blessing in disguise and she would move
on to better things.
With every interview I have, I can guarantee
one question always will be: Do you do all the kinky stuff in your books? What
if instead of saying: Everything in my books is fiction, I decided to tell the
world that YES! I LIVE A KINKY SEX LIFE TOO? I’ve been active in BDSM for
years, have had several ménage encounters, have a closet full of kinky fetish
wear and sex toys, and all the ‘research’ for my erotic books are hands-on to
some extent. Hmmm. How would readers respond to that? Seriously, I’m curious if
an open kinky sex life gives credibility to an erotic romance author.
This is not a criticism toward readers. I love, love my
readers. They rock! And I love when they tell me what they like and don’t like.
Perhaps people with medical backgrounds might write better medical thrillers,
those with a science background might write better science fiction? So as
readers or authors, I’d love to hear your opinion.
*Do
erotic romance authors have to open their bedroom to entice readers to their
books?
*Do
you think kinky writers write better books?
