Showing posts with label erotica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label erotica. Show all posts

Saturday, December 16, 2017

The Westerman Affair #NewRelease #HistoricalRomance #Erotica by Regina Kammer

The Westerman Affair is out!!

An acclaimed painter. His provocative muse. Her obliging husband.
The Westerman Affair.
A tale of spanking and polyamory in the Victorian art world


This is my first new full-length novel in a very long time and I am really excited to share it with you! (Isn't the cover gorgeous?!)

Amazon USA * Amazon UK * Amazon Canada * Amazon Australia

Barnes & Noble/Nook Press

Google Play

iBooks/iTunes

Kobo USA * Kobo Canada * Kobo Australia * Kobo New Zealand * Kobo UK * Kobo South Africa

Loose Id

The Artist
Charles Westerman, Victorian England’s most sought-after landscape painter, is finished with love affairs. Yet after a taste of forbidden passion at a private art exhibition, he knows he’s met his muse in Rosamund. Problem is she’s married. For the sake of his career, Charles simply cannot afford to be distracted by another disastrous entanglement, especially one with a married woman.

The Muse
Art curator Rosamund, Lady Threxton, needs a man to satisfy her predilection for spanking. Her husband, Jeremy, does not relish the role of chastiser and, besides, has his own mistress to please. Jeremy, however, is quite amenable to Rosamund seeking out another. Hired men from her favorite erotic club provide her with only a modicum of relief. The furtive fling with Charles, though, leaves Rosamund certain she’s found her perfect match.

The Arrangement
Rosamund and Jeremy’s marriage is curiously modern for stodgy Victorian society. Together, the couple try to entice Charles into an unusual arrangement. Will Charles risk the threat to his reputation to explore passions and proclivities he never knew existed—and discover desires he never knew he had?

The Westerman Affair
A tale of spanking and polyamory in the Victorian art world.

Add The Westerman Affair to your Goodreads shelves!

For excerpts, reviews, and more see the book page on my website!

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, Loose Id, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website
Subscribe to her newsletter Kammerotica News
Read her blog
Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica
Like her on Facebook
Connect with her on Goodreads
See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Friday, June 3, 2016

Excerpt From SEX WAX by Tamara McHatton

Part of the NAUGHTY HEATWAVE boxed-set, available now.

Purchase the E-book:
amazon all-romance-buy-button googleplay kobo_button nook

Purchase the Print Book:
amazon

Blurb:
Enchanted by a sun-kissed Adonis that sweeps her off her feet, both figuratively and literally, Brooklyn is willing to play on the ever changing tides of her life.

Genre/Theme:
Contemporary Romance, beach, summer, erotica, surfing, romantica

Copyright © Tamara McHatton, 2016

“So I’m gonna ask again, wanna see my G-Spot?”

She thought what the hell so said, “Sure, lead the way.”

“Grab your bag.”

She did as he asked and followed behind him.

He led them over to a dinghy tied up underneath the pier. “Hop in.”

“If this is some kind of a joke—”

“No joke, hop in.”

So she did and threw her bag to the middle of the little boat then settled on one of the seats. This should be interesting.

He untied the dinghy and jumped in. They began to float out a bit before he started the engine.

It surprised the hell out of her that he steered it toward the yacht she’d seen moored offshore for the last week or so. “Won’t the owners get upset if you commandeer their luxury boat?”

“I think he’ll be okay with it since I know the owner.”

“Just hope y’all are good friends.”

“We are.”

They drew closer and she saw the name G-Spot. Now his gabber made sense but she still wondered about the owner. All this time she’d thought he was kidding.

He pulled in close to the backside of the vessel, grabbed a rope hanging from the rail, and then pulled the dinghy right up to the back, and tied it off.

His nimbleness surprised her.

He stood on a flat deck and leaned over to her. “Toss me your bag.”

She did.

“Now stand up slowly and give me your hand.”

She obeyed and he got her onboard.

“Welcome to my humble, but expensive, abode.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Oh damn. You don’t like it, do you? I mean it’s not much but…”

Over the last couple of days she’d learned he liked to tease and kid around so she figured this was another example of his humor. “I like it just fine. Are there any dead bodies on board I need to worry about from where you confiscated their boat?”

Swede threw his head back and laughed. “Nope. No dead bodies.”

He grabbed her hand and guided her through the cabin to the bathroom. “There’s a shower in there with everything you need. Only about twenty minutes of hot water in case you’re one of those long shower girls but I need one as well so leave me at least five minutes worth.”

Disappointment coursed through Brooklyn. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve got to take care of some boat stuff. Check batteries, fuel level, bilge, that kind of stuff. Living on a craft ain’t all vacation. Besides, it’s really more of a one butt shower. Two might be cozy but you’ll never get the sand out of your...er...whatever women call their lady parts these days. Plus I need to make arrangements to get a ride to and from the event tonight.”

“No need. I’ve got my car.”

Within an hour and half they were back on the beach with the dinghy secured. They took her car to the Pelican Club, and Baker was correct. The tandem surfers stood around for a bit before called onstage to give a demonstration. She’d learned a couple new lifts that day so they tried them with success. After they finished the tandem group headed back to the beach.

It didn’t take long to build the fire pit, logs to flame up, and portable chairs and coolers to be set around the perimeter.

Swede pulled up a log and set a blanket in front of it. “Care to join me?” He opened his legs and patted his invitation.

Brooklyn didn’t hesitate. She went over and settled in front of him. It just seemed natural to set her arms on his knees and lean back into him. “I can’t believe we made the semi-finals.”

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I told ya that could happen.”

Shivers ran over her body from his heated breath fluttering across her cheek. “It just all feels unreal, like a dream. Thank you so much.”

Swede chuckled. “I like to think of myself as a dream maker, so it works.”

Brooklyn turned to face him. “So tell me more about this boat of yours. Do you just live on it?”

“Au contraire, mon ami. I charter my boat to the islands. It’s for those semi-rich who can’t afford their own yacht but still want to have the experience.”

“That sounds really cool. Islands? Does that mean you go down to the Caribbean?”

“Sure do, probably a dozen or more times during the year.”

Brooklyn sighed. “I’ve never been.”

“Then I’ll have to fix that.” He placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

She settled back against his knees, listening to everyone. When Swede’s breath tickled her ear she jolted awake.

“Okay, tiger, time to go home.” He pulled her up and led her over to the dinghy.

Her heartbeat thudded against her chest in anticipation of what she knew would happen when they got back onboard, and she had to be truthful with herself. She wanted this. Weekend fling or not, she would have no regrets. Brooklyn sat in silence as Swede steered the dinghy to the yacht.

Like last night, he tied the smaller craft to the larger one, then hopped onboard. She became transfixed on the way his muscles rippled underneath his skin in the moonlight as he performed his task. She could watch him move around forever.

“Earth to Brooklyn.”

She snapped out of her reverie. “Sorry, I was just admiring the view.”

A devilish grin cocked up one side of his mouth. “As much as I like your appraisal I have to take care of some things first. Give me your hand.” He leaned over and helped her onto the boat then led her to the back deck. “Sit.”

Brooklyn hid her amusement at his Neanderthal command but bit her tongue instead of arguing. When he took a step over to the side and grabbed a hose she wasn’t sure what to expect. Foreplay, definitely, but his idea might be a bit different from what hers was.

Swede turned on the spigot and kneeled down in front of her, lifted her left foot, and placed it on his knee.

She braced herself for the shock of the cold water as he raised the running hose. The warmth surprised her. “Damn, that wasn’t what I expected.”

Swede let out a hearty laugh. “Living on a vessel you learn to improvise. I’m allergic to cold, hence my warm water bath for getting sand off quickly.” He let the spray splash over her lower leg as he used his free hand to gently stroke the grit away from her skin. “Besides, I don’t want to bring the beach to my bed.”

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

#Free Roman Imperial Historical #Erotica by Regina Kammer

Hadrian and Sabina: A Love Story is free for a limited time!

My Imperial Roman historical erotica epic, Hadrian and Sabina: A Love Story, is free on Amazon for five days only: May 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7!

Hadrian and Sabina is pretty intense historical erotica – heavy on the history and the sex. There are definitely romantic elements, though. In fact there are four different love stories involving five different people (so, yeah, some crossover there with the pairings). And there is a nod to the paranormal with brief appearances by gods and goddesses.

There is also a dastardly over-sexed villain so some of the erotic scenes are not for the faint of heart. The villain is an entirely made up character to satisfy my exploration of a centuries old question: why did historians and writers in antiquity believe Hadrian hated his wife Sabina?

There are plenty of real-life historical personages in the story. First and foremost, of course, is the Roman emperor Hadrian (born 76 CE, reigned 117-138 CE), plus his wife Sabina and her family, Hadrian’s beloved youth Antinous, the emperor Trajan, the librarian and biographer Suetonius, etc., etc. Let’s just say if you love multi-character historical epics with lots of sex, you’ll love this book!

After this freebie five days, Hadrian and Sabina will continue to be free under the Kindle Unlimited program but only until May 29th. In June, I’ll be launching the epub edition of Hadrian and Sabina on all retailer platforms. I will keep the paperback edition of Hadrian and Sabina in Amazon’s Matchbook program where you can buy the paperback on Amazon and get the Kindle edition for free.

So if you’ve ever been curious about why my author tagline is "Erotica for the Hardcore Historian" you’ll discover the reason by reading Hadrian and Sabina: A Love Story. This epic novel is quintessential Erotica for the Hardcore Historian. It even includes a bibliography. And for five days it's free!

Sign up for Kammerotica News

I now have a newsletter of my very own! Sign up for Kammerotica News and you’ll get an exclusive Victorian erotica freebie!

Of course if you want to keep up with the Naughty Literati, sign up for Naughty News!


About the Author


Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website
Subscribe to her newsletter Kammerotica News
Read her blog
Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica
Like her on Facebook
Connect with her on Goodreads
See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Monday, February 29, 2016

Story Potpourri ~ Writing in Sub-genres #Romance #Craft #Humor

Happy Leap Year day, everyone! While you're enjoying this extra day in our 2016, I want to spend this bonus time giving a shout out to The Naughty Literati... I really do, yes, and a loud shout, at that.

Here's why:

At the end of 2014, while endeavoring to have my story rights returned to me by my former publisher, I was in the same leaky boat as a lot of authors I know - fairly bursting with ideas of all sorts but under contractual agreement to give right of first refusal of the next story to the very publisher from whom I was in the throes of separating. I couldn't see waiting, lingering, standing by, delaying - you get the idea - proceeding with my stories until my contractual release deigned to arrive. There was a real chance it would never come. Then what? 
Dire Wolf at the Door accepts CASH only!

The good news was that the Writer's Block from which I'd been suffering for ages suddenly vanished. The bad news: I was in Writer's Limbo, located just around the corner from Writer's Block and maybe even in a little worse neighborhood. You see, with Writer's Block you WANT to write and are ABLE to publish, but you CAN'T write for the life of you. When you're in the Seventh Circle of Writer's Limbo, you're DYING to write and you CAN write, but you CAN'T show it to anyone you want to. At least not for money. And the mercenary dire wolf that scratches perpetually at my door demands that writing be a cash-on-the-barrelhead kind of endeavor rather than something non-lucrative, like knitting (seriously, you should see the sweater I've been trying to make for the past five years; NO one is going to pay me one thin farthing for that cashmere piece of crap.)

Meantime, while I was dawdling, lollygagging, meandering, and loitering in Writer's Limbo, my pen was practically leaking heroes with bulging, er, muscles, and lurid, hot-as-Dante's-hell sex scenes all over the place. I was scribbling down hawt plot ideas wherever they struck me and on whatever surface I could find. I have an insatiable need to hand write all my stories in their germinal phases, the computer won't do. I'm a tactile writer and I love hearing the soft scratch-scratch-scratch of quill tip on parchment (or Bic to spiral notebook paper, gum wrapper, whatever's handy) and watching my fingers manipulating the bleeding pen to form the letters of each word using my muddled Southpaw clawmanship that rivals a doctor's handwriting. Seriously everyone besides Mom and me needs an Enigma machine to decrypt the eccentric flow of my cursive.

To stop my thumbs from twiddling whilst haunting my inbox for Ye Olde Reversion of Rights Letter to pop up in my email queue, I filled up all my notebooks with outlines and ideas. When I ran out of blank pads of paper, nary a Post-it note or damp cocktail napkin was safe in my proximity. I was sullying the inside leafs of telephone directories with my hero's slaked sexual thirst. I was doodling post-coital dialogue on the insides of both my forearms (I'm ambidextrous in a pinch).


The problem was growing inconvenient. I had to hide my forearms and the telephone directory from my mother when she'd visit. I was running out of random, available writing materials to the point where rolls of toilet paper were on the line. 










Show me the Fancy Feast and no one gets hurt, see?

Evil Feral Cat was not amused by my preoccupation since it often meant I was scribbling on the back of a barroom coaster while plumb forgetting it was Fancy Feast o'clock already. Do we see the issue here? I was getting worried.

I knew I wanted to indie publish in order to have more control over my own intellectual property without anyone telling me what I could and could not write. I wanted to write in any and all genres that I love to read myself. But for the time being back then, I was contractually able to write only stories under 10k words. My publisher didn't care about seeing any of my work under 10k. It's not very lucrative to publish those, so what was the point? My dire wolf at the door howled in agreement.

Remember those other authors in the same leaky boat I made mention of before? Well, this is where they enter stage right and we all decide to start bailing and paddling together. The Naughty Literati was formed in a romance writers' Yahoo Group and suddenly I found myself roosting in a new literary nest where I could write anything I wanted... as long as it was no longer than 9,999 words in length. The plan was we'd all publish our high heat level short stories together in a few bundled box sets per year.  It would keep us writing and keep our fan bases stoked until our other contractual obligations were resolved.

And just like that, I was released from Writer's Limbo. The only thing left to decide was which of the many stories I'd squandered a mountain of Post-its, napkins, and TP on would be first story up.

"Shifter!" The dire wolf at my door howled. Yes, I had a shifter tale outlined but it wasn't really a winter holiday themed story, which was the only loose perimeter for our first boxed set, Naughty List. The title How the Alien Stole Christmas took up residence in my head and refused to be evicted. It was seasonal and featured a sexy-as-hell alien hero who realizes the Earth woman of his dreams with whom he's lustily engaged in cybersex for months is in trouble alone on a deep space station. He's determined to be the intergalactic calvary and, while he's at it, steal her for his own. Before you could say, "Close encounters of the hot kind," I'd written not only my first sci-fi/futuristic romance but my first romance short story, to boot. I created a Naughty List book trailer if you wanna peek!





Next, I always loved Somewhere in Time and The Lakehouse and wanted to write a period time travel romance set around Valentine's Day. Valentime, about a contemporary woman who finds a Valentine addressed to her from over 150 years in the past sealed up inside the antebellum plantation house she's renovating fit the bill for our Valentine's boxed set, Naughty Hearts. Voila! I'd written my first time travel romance.


Since everyone knows in the spring a vampire's fancy turns to finding his blood mate I wrote How to Blackmail a Vampire for Naughty Flings, our spring antho. When your cousin has been brainwashed by a sleaze-bucket vampire, what do you do? You find the richest, most powerful (and drop undead gorgeous!) vampire around who also happens to be your boss, and blackmail his sexy ass into helping you! Before you could say "Vlad the Impaler" I'd written my first vampire romance.














"Shifter!" my dire wolf reminded me. To appease him, I wrote not one but two (2!) sexy twin shifters vying for the passionate love of an amnesiac she-shifter stranded together on a deserted island in The Bermuda Love Triangle for our summer boxed set, Naughty Escapes. This wasn't my first shifter romance, but it won't be my last. There's a follow up to this one coming soon, because my readers tell me in insistent tones that BOTH of these sexy shifter brothers deserve to find the hot she-wolf of their dreams!

And there you have it, how I came to write whatever the hell I wanted in multiple romance sub-genres while lifting myself out of Writer's Block and Writer's Limbo whilst appeasing the grumpy dire wolf at the door. All in a rather large, picturesque nutshell. I have The Naughty Literati to thank for that. Big time.

For my one year anniversary with The Naughty Literati, I compiled all of my NL stories into one handy collection, ABSOLUTELY ALPHA  ~ now .99 on Amazon!

"If you are a paranormal romance lover then this is a must read collection! ...Each story is a masterpiece!" ~ Roxie's Romance Reviews 



Four magical romances from Belle Scarlett's enchanted quill. 

Alien Seductions: How the Alien Stole Christmas EXCERPT
On board a deep space station Capt. Christmas Trent learns her sexy cyber lover, who may not be human, wants to steal her for his own. 

“Our heroine is a willing submissive engaged in cybersex with an alien. Beautiful imagery, fascinating premise. I’ve always wondered why there isn’t more good science fiction romance. This story is good.” ~ Lizabeth S. Tucker, Geneflections 


Timeless Lovers: Valentime EXCERPT
Valerie buys a South Carolina plantation and discovers a Valentine addressed to her from a previous owner who bids her to return to him in 1865. 

“I loved this hot and romantic time slip tale and with not just time but danger threatening I was willing the couple to find their HEA. Super read.” ~ Tina Williams, A Reader’s Review 


Blood Mates: How to Blackmail a Vampire EXCERPT
In the spring, a powerful vampire’s fancy turns to the blood lust mating hunt. A pretty, human blackmailer becomes the object of his thirst, but she’s not into vampires. Yet. 

“Hot and steamy. Couldn't put it down.” ~ Kristi Cisneros, Amazon reader 


Pack Masters: The Bermuda Love Triangle EXCERPT
Castaway in the Bermuda Triangle, Trista finds herself torn between two (2!) sexy shifters. Neither will share her so she must choose between them. Decisions, decisions… 
Note to reader: This story is not a ménage tale. 

“Quite the steamy read.” ~ MAustin, Amazon reader 

Note: All stories were previously published in The Naughty Literati anthologies ~ Naughty List, Naughty Hearts, Naughty Flings, and Naughty Escapes. 


***



PLUS! I'm thrilled my former publisher did eventually revert my rights back to my very first romance! My dire wolf howled in delight...

WHAT IF THE BIG BAD WOLF... WAS THE GOOD GUY?
Red Riding Hood never had it soooooo good...


Get THE WOODSMAN for only .99!

Watch the book trailer



Ciao, bellas! Please don't forget to leave reviews on Amazon for any book you enjoy ~ it's the nicest thing you can do for any author!

Happy reading, 
Belle




Connect with Belle Scarlett:
Belle is also a proud member of The Naughty Literati ~ www.naughtyliterati.com 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

An American Revolutionary NaNoWriMo by Regina Kammer

2015 will be my 10th year doing NaNoWriMo and I’m revisiting some of my favorite characters I’ve created during the event, plus adding another hero and heroine into the mix. Back this year are Clara, Sam, Constance, and Pat from The General's Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale. Joining them will be Clara's brother – Oliver Hastings, the Viscount Thornton – and a family friend, Lady Eleanor Ormundsley.

The story takes place in 1784, six years after the end of The General's Wife. It will also be a historical erotic romance, with a male/male relationship at its core. The working title is: The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale.

For more about the project you can visit my NaNoWriMo author page, or my NaNoPrep blog post, which has a couple of "inspirational" photos of the hero Oliver.

If you want to keep up with my progress I’m planning on having updates on Twitter and Facebook, but probably not so much on my blog. You can also check out my NaNoWriMo author page to see how I'm progressing in my word count.

The General's Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale and The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale both tie in to what's coming up next from me and the Naughty Literati! My upcoming story for our winter anthology Naughty Chances: Take a Chance on Romance will be "Winter Interlude: An American Revolutionary Novelette", a sort of prequel to The General's Wife. "Winter Interlude" is also a male/male erotic romance wherein we discover a little bit more about the relationship between Captain Samuel Taylor and Lieutenant Patrick Hamilton. (There's a little hint of this in the excerpt.)

Need your American Revolution erotic romance fix now? The General's Wife is available in mobi, paperback, and epub at these retailers:
Amazon USA, Barnes & Noble/Nook Press, All Romance eBooks, Kobo, iBooks (iTunes), CreateSpace (paperback), Amazon USA (paperback).


About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.
Keep up with Regina on her website
Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica
Like her on Facebook
Connect with her on Goodreads
See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Definitions: What is Erotica? by Regina Kammer

Riffing off Suz’s post A Few Words About Writing Erotica, I’ve decided to offer definitions of erotica, erotic romance, and such. You can read the extended version on my blog.

Introduction

People frequently make broad assumptions about what it is I write. Friends, family, and acquaintances snicker about my "porn". Romance writer colleagues imbued with the cadence of traditional romance often bandy about the term "erotica" as if to signal the ugly otherness of erotic romance.

So I will attempt to answer the provocative question What is erotica? and by doing so answer corollary questions about misunderstood erotic-like literary variations: Erotic romance, steamy romance, smut, porn, and Romantica®.

Kammerotica Definitions, or The What is Erotica? Cheat Sheet!


Erotica
Erotica is a literary form where the core of the story is sexual in nature. As a literary form, erotica has plot, themes, character development, goals and motivations, conflicts and resolutions, and all those elements that make up a story. But all those elements deal with something sexual in nature. Typical themes include the erotic development of a relationship (e.g., a Dominant and submissive), or an innocent’s journey of sexual discovery, or a character’s exploration and development of their true sexual nature. One could not strip out the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex is the story.

But, blasphemy of blasphemies, I do not think erotica has to necessarily be arousing. Sometimes the erotic development of a relationship or a character’s journey of sexual discovery is sad, lonely, and depressing. Sometimes it is shocking. Sometimes it is sweet and romantic. And sometimes it is arousing.

Erotic romance
In order to define this, I have to define "romance". I'm not talking le Roman de la Rose or Arthurian chivalric knights, which are the roots of the idea of romantic love. No. I'm talking Romance Writers of America (RWA) romance.
Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.
Erotic romance takes all the elements of erotica but has a love story at its core. An optimistic resolution to a relationship—a Happily Ever After or a Happily For Now—is essential in an erotic romance.

Sex scenes are not gratuitous in erotic romance. Sexual elements form the foundation of the plot, themes, and characters. One cannot simply strip away the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex scenes drive the plot and character development and push toward that culmination of a HEA/HFN.

Steamy (or Sexy, or Graphic, or Gratuitous, or Explicit) Romance
Steamy Romance is a romance with a lot of sex in it. Generally, there is a very good reason for at least one of the sex scenes—the moment when the hero and heroine (or whatever permutation of H/h the story has: two men, two women, three people, etc.) connect deeply and emotionally. But in a lot of steamy romances, one could tone down the sex scenes or fade to black before the sex scenes and the story would be sound.

Unfortunately, some steamy romance novels have too many purely gratuitous sex scenes. Personally, I find these sorts of stories rather boring. I want the sex in a story to have purpose, to move the story forward. Characters should change, relationships should develop, conflicts should increase or resolve — something has to happen because of the sex. I find it interesting that erotica and erotic romance is often criticized for having gratuitous sex. It’s actually the steamy romances that too often fall into that pit.

Romantica®
Romantica® is a registered trademark of the erotic romance and erotica publisher Ellora’s Cave. The term is exclusively used for their line of erotic romance. Because it is a trademark one should never use the term unless discussing an Ellora’s Cave erotic romance. Maybe one day it will be a generic term, but until then I strongly urge people not to use it out of context.

Smut
Depending on who is using it, this word can mean "erotica" or "literary porn" or "just plain porn". It’s a cute word that seems to be used mostly by erotica authors from the UK.

Pornography / Porn
In pornography sex scenes exist purely for the purpose of sexual titillation. Plot, character development, theme, and all other literary devices are generally missing in pornography. In fact, such literary effects are irrelevant and unessential. The entire emphasis is on sexual acts. "Literary porn" is really just well-written porn, but once the story starts to have some of those literary devices, porn starts sliding toward erotica.

Pornography starts with a set-up, e.g., pizza boy goes to a sorority house and sexiness ensues. Characters remain the same after the act is finished: there is no character development, no character growth, no conflict resolution. There is just pure sexual satisfaction—although I suppose that is a resolution of some sort!

What I Write

So, what is it I actually write? I write all of the above except porn—despite what my friends think. I offer a few examples below.

Erotica
My story in Naughty List, "A Night at Valley Forge", is erotica because a HEA is not an element.

Erotic romance
Most of what I write can be categorized as this. I like a happy ending! I like my characters to explore their sexual natures! My favorite novel of mine, The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale, is pretty much textbook erotic romance.

Romantica®
Because I’ve written for Ellora’s Cave, I’ve written Romantica with my Harwell Heirs series. The Pleasure Device, Disobedience By Design, and Where Destiny Plays are all erotic romance novels under the Romantica brand.

Steamy romance
Yes! I’ve actually written steamy romance! It surprised me too, because I never thought I would. My story in Naughty Flings, "Hot As Hades", is a story with hot sex and a Happily Ever After. I think the story would not be as good without the sex or with toned down sex, but I hesitate calling it erotic romance. Maybe you can convince me otherwise in the comments?

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.
Keep up with Regina on her website
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See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

A Few Words About Writing Erotica by Suz deMello (#iamwriting #erotica #writingcraft #MFRWAuthor)

Writing erotic fiction is much like writing other fiction, but unfortunately it isn’t always viewed that way, possibly due to what we could call the Playboy/Penthouse effect. In these magazines, we rarely find quality erotic fiction, but instead are subjected to snippets of empty, dull sexual encounters that might, like a one-night stand, satisfy us for the moment but do little to feed our hearts or minds.


image USN via Wikimedia Commons
Most people need love, not just sex, and find that sex plus love is much more satisfying than just sex. Erotica minus romance is porn. Erotica minus the essentials of good storytelling is boring garbage unworthy of anyone’s time, especially since so many quality entertainment options are available these days.

So neglecting the essentials of good writing might get an aspiring author a sale to Penthouse Variations letters but never a book contract or even an indie-published novel with decent sales—unless you offer it for free. A freebie here and there may stimulate sales of your other books, and that’s good, but eventually a writer must gain the skills s/he needs to garner paid sales, if s/he aspires to be a professional.

What are the essentials of good erotica? They’re the same as the essentials of any good story. In brief: likable characters who resolve interesting conflicts in a setting that heightens the emotional content of the story.

Let’s look at an example: Anne Rice’s Exit to Eden. Set in a BDSM-focused resort, Lisa, the Dominatrix manager, finds herself attracted to and then falling in love with Elliott, who has come to the resort to experience true submission. Lisa and Elliott are undeniably likable, relatable characters even though their desires may be foreign to many readers.

But their conflicts aren’t. In her twenties, Lisa has it all: a cushy job at an island resort where everyone bows to her will, plus wealth and beauty. Nevertheless, she feels separated from reality and can’t understand why she’s drawn to vanilla sex and normalcy. Thrill-seeking photojournalist Elliott desires to explore his darkest sexual self for the undeniable danger enslavement presents.

Exit to Eden is a BDSM-laced, sexy, sensual read that no one would ever call porn due to its excellent craftsmanship. I’ve written in my writing primer,
Plotting and Planning, that the writer must know his or her characters down to their souls. It’s clear that Rice knows Lisa and Elliott, and by the end of the book, we know them almost as deeply.

However, erotic writing must include sex, and a lot of it. How can we get a lot of sex into our writing without it being gratuitous, as sex is in porn?

Step one is creating likable characters with interesting conflicts. Those conflicts have to be the sort that doesn’t keep them apart physically, so they’re less romantic or external conflicts than they are internal conflicts. Let’s look at Lisa again. Her conflict isn’t with Elliott—it’s with herself. She has everything but can’t understand her discontent. This conflict pops up frequently in modern literature. As our lives have become more comfortable, fewer external conflicts, such as getting our next meal, are the subject of books. When writers examine modern life, they often analyze our dissatisfaction in the midst of plenty. In fact, one of Freud’s most famous works is Civilization and its Discontents.

Step two is getting your likable but conflicted characters naked as soon as possible and as frequently as possible within the limits of the story. In Exit to Eden, Rice does this via the setting as well as the characters. The setting allows Lisa to choose and use Elliott as her personal sex slave. This takes place early in the book and is preceded by several sensual scenes, including the unloading of the new batch of naked slaves delivered to the resort she runs. And it’s followed by many erotic scenes as the characters’ pasts are shown to the reader and the course of their romance is related.

So, in order to load erotica with a lot of sex, start with a sexy premise, which will lead naturally to a lot of sex-filled scenes, without the lovemaking seeming forced or the sex shoehorned into the book just to give the reader a chance to get off or, worse, to increase the word count.

Another tactic is to begin a story in the midst of a relationship. Here’s the beginning of one of my short stories, Gypsy Witch:


Ben propped himself up on his elbows to better see the naked woman beneath him. Sheened with sweat, Elena’s lush curves glowed in the reddish half-light of her bedroom, curtained in exotically patterned swaths of gauze and silk. A curl of smoke from a lit incense stick scented the air with sandalwood. Otherworldly New Age music flowed out of a boombox in the corner, irritating the hell out of him.

Not only did I start off the story with a bang (pun intended) but there’s quite a bit of characterization and even a little conflict—and this is only the first paragraph. We see that Ben is very “feet-on-the-ground” while Elena, his lover, is exotic and New-Agey. So character is described, setting is related and the romantic conflict is shown.

Step three is developing the plot so that the characters’ romantic relationship grows along with their sex life. Sex may be an everyday occurrence, and even mundane to many, but if you’re a character in a book, having sex will change your relationship. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong in the book. Nothing belongs in your story except events that move the tale along. The entire purpose of a romance—which is usually the fiction genre that erotica falls into—is to show growth and change in the characters as they grapple with their conflicts and gain their happily-ever-after, or at least, happy-for -right-now love. If you’re at all tuned into the basics of plot, you’ll place those life-changing events right where they should be—at turning points in the story or perhaps at the midpoint.

There’s more, of course...  Enjoy the journey!

Here’s where you can find the books I wrote that are referenced in this blog:


Plotting and Planning, included in About Writing: 





About the Author:

Best-selling, award-winning author Suz deMello, a.k.a Sue Swift, has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A freelance editor, she’s held the positions of managing editor and senior editor, working for such firms as Totally Bound and Ai Press. She also takes private clients.


Her books have been favorably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, won a contest or two, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.

 

A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.


Check out Suzie's site: http://www.suzdemello.com

And her blog: http://www.TheVelvetLair.com