Confessions of an Erotic Romance Author. Pt 1

I don't hide the fact that the vast majority of the books I have out, or that are due out in the coming year, are spicy in nature, and down right raunchy at the best of times. That information is on my website, my cards when I hand them out, I warn readers that my work isn't to everyone's taste and I'm quite content with my choice in genres. I dabble, on occasions, in horror, science fiction and fantasy, to the point where my fantasy series is due to eventually become a D6 table top RPG.

But no one could have prepared me for the assumptions that my choices in writing have appeared to trigger.

Now, keep in mind that I write fiction. I clearly state that I write fiction. I don't write tell all confessionals, I'm happily married, we're not swingers, though we are a little on the kinky side of life. But, apparently, writing erotic romances means I am obviously some, if not all of the following.

A swinger. An adulteress. Addicted to cyber sex. A prostitute. Writing from real life experience. Available for sex with anyone who wants it. Oh, and apparently unhappy in my marriage.

Wow. All this because I write spicy romances? Well, I never realized it said so much about me, personally?

Funny. You don't heard of crime writers being accused of murdering people in their spare time in the name of research, do you?

Or science fiction writers sneaking on board the space shuttle for a quick look see.

Oh, or historical writers finding a time machine.

Yes, we have to research but research can take many forms and for erotica and erotic romances it doesn't mean going out and bopping passing strangers. The thing a lot of people forget about these two connected genres is the story content. That's what carries the book, that's what keeps the readers coming back for more. Sure the sex scenes have to be well written, enticing, dramatic, but if they just wanted sex they'd be buying porn, not picking up a $12 book, or a $7 e-book. Heck, they don't even have to go out and buy porn, there are enough stories on free sites for people who just want sex, sex and oh yeah, sex.

My research tends to take the form of reading up on time periods. Double checking weapons information. Checking out police procedure. Reading up on survival manuals, language usage or paranormal phenomena. Oh, and the occasional trip to the local lingerie store for descriptive purposes. I chat with other authors, and readers of the genre to find out what they're looking for in a book, keep up to date with calls for submissions and read books in the same genre- partially for enjoyment, but also because you can't submit to a house unless you know what type of books they publish.

So in this first confession I must sadly announce - that I'm a nice, happy, stay at home wife and mother - who just happens to write raunchy books in between doing the laundry.