Guest Post: Author Tiffany Reisz on Why Erotica?

First, the contest winners from last Friday's Win- a Crit contest are at the bottom of this post! :) 


Now, today I have the pleasure of introducing you to one of my agency-sisters, debut author Tiffany Reisz. Tiffany is an amazing erotica author whose first novel, Siren, will release from Harlequin Spice in late 2011. She also has a little e-book nibble releasing TODAY from Spice Briefs, so if you want a little (okay a lot) of sexy in your day, go check it out! (over 18 crew only)


Now I know most of you probably lump erotic romance and erotica into the same category. But even though the two genres have a lot in common, there are also a number of differences. I'm a romance writer by trade, so I figured why give my take on the erotica genre when I can get an expert who's writing it to do so instead. So take it away Tiffany....

Why Erotica? 

by Tiffany Reisz 

First of all, thank you Roni for letting me worm my wicked way onto your blog to pimp my novella to your darling readers. You are a saint, at least in public.  Thank you for letting me ramble. And yes--warning--I’m about to ramble.

I asked Roni what topics her readers might be interested in hearing about. She told me her blog readers were mostly writers so I could talk about the call from our agent Sara Megibow (she called, I said ‘yes’, I danced, I got my eyebrow pierced in celebration...the usual) or about the writing process (I sit, I type, I talk to the cats, I put on Latin music and samba in my loft when I’ve got writers block...the usual) OR I could talk about why I write erotica.

Bingo!

Why erotica?  First of all, let’s define erotica. It’s easiest to define erotica by what it isn’t. If a book has both a romance in it and graphic sex and you can take the graphic sex out and still have a love story, it’s romance. The graphic sex doesn’t make it erotica. If you write a book and it contains both romance and graphic sex and you take the romance out and still have your basic story, it’s erotica. Erotica is about the sexual journey of a character. As the great Tina Turner said, “What’s love got to do with it?” Nothing if it’s erotica. In can include a love story, but it doesn’t need it.

Sidebar: My business cards read, “It’s not erotica until someone gets hurt.”

So why write erotica? Because sex is awesome.  Truly unreservedly obnoxiously ridiculously gloriously wickedly awesome. Love requires patience, sacrifice, slogging through all the muck and mire of egos and money problems and child rearing and trips to the hospital.  Love isn’t pretty.  But sex is hot and powerful and life-altering.  I’ve heard people refer to sex as the icing on the cake of love. I hate this analogy.  Icing is all sugar and ridiculously bad for you.  Sex isn’t bad for you. People who have frequent sex live longer, they look younger, they are healthier.  Women who are frequently exposed to their male partner’s semen actually have more stable moods and less incidence of depression (this is real phenomenon). A bad marriage can destroy a woman’s self-esteem and sense of purpose and direction.  A great sex life can put her on the top of the world.

Let’s talk about sex some more.  I’m fascinated by it. I like sex, I love sex, I have sex, I write about sex. And God knows, I sure talk about it all the damn time. I’m the bad relative you don’t want hanging out with your kids.  I’ll put in uncensored Eminem and the Beastie Boys in my car.  I’ll swear in front of your kids and make dirty jokes.  I told my fourteen year old cousin this weekend, “Sex is awesome. Just don’t do it in high school. But if you do, use birth control. Lots of it.”  She said, “Wow, you’re the only adult who ever told me sex was good.”

Really?  I’m the only adult who has ever told a super smart beautiful young woman that sex was good?  That’s troubling.  Sex IS good. Why is that a secret? Marriage is good too. Nobody hides that fact from kids. Nobody thinks that by telling a fourteen year old girl that marriage is good, that fourteen year old is going to run out and immediately get married. So why all the secrecy? Why all the shame? I want her to know sex is good so she’ll know it’s worth taking seriously, it’s worth thinking about, it’s worth doing right. 

My first piece of writing I ever sold is coming out today at www.eHarlequin.com.  It’s a novella entitled Seven Day Loan.  The story is simple--a Dominant lends his submissive lover to a friend for a week. Since his wife’s death, the friend has been a recluse in his home and the Dominant hopes his feisty little submissive will help the widowed friend with his grief. It’s one week of pure sex between the widower and the submissive. Feelings do get involved but this is not a love story.  It’s the story of a man who is healed by the power of sex, not the power of love.  Did I write this story to change hearts and lives? No. I wrote it to give my readers fantasy fodder so it would improve their sex lives. 

I guess I really don’t have one answer to the question of why write erotica?

Unless it’s, you know, why not? 

Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with two roommates, two dogs, two cats, and one hedgehog which doesn’t belong to anyone who lives in the house and no one is actually sure how he got there. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing erotica under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice. When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher. There is little to nothing interesting about her. If she couldn’t write, she would die.

www.tiffanyreisz.com

www.twitter.com/tiffanyreisz 

Thanks so much to Tiffany for stopping by! Now if you want to download her novella, you can get it here or on Amazon. It's less than $3, so don't you owe yourself a little naughtiness today? :)


Now for the two winners of my and Miranda Kennealy's Win-A-Crit contest....


Congrats to Tahlia Newland and PK Hrezo!!!!


I'll be contacting the winners to see who wants which crit. Tahlia gets first choice. :) 


Thanks to everyone who entered!

So, back to today's post? Have you ever read erotica? Why or why not? And feel free to throw out any questions you have for Tiffany. This is your chance to pick a debut author's brain! :)

Bom Chicka Wah Wah: Types of Love Scenes

Photo via The U.S. National Archives

I promised on Wednesday that I'd post about heat levels in love/sex scenes and how to decide which level to go with for your book. This is an updated post from earlier in the year.

This information was pulled from two classes I attended at the DFW Writer's Conference on writing sex scenes--one by author Jenni Holbrook and the other by author Shayla Black.  (Great conference btw, if you're looking for a conference to go to DFWCon is coming up in February and is going to be huge. I think there are like 10-12 agents already confirmed to be there for pitches, plus the workshops are always great.)

Now on to the sex (or not as the case may be)! As most of you have figured out, I write and read sexy and erotic romance, so love scenes are an integral part of my stories.  Now, I know many of you may cringe at the idea of writing sex on the page and think this isn't for you.   But even if you're writing clean cut YA, you should know what the components are because a simple kiss IS a love scene if done correctly.

First, let's get the main rule out of the way:

DO NOT put in a love scene unless it changes the character(s) and moves things (usually internal conflict) forward.  Just like any other scene, it must serve a purpose.

Okay, now let's identify the types of love scenes (care of Jenni Holbrook):

1. Closed Door/Fade to Black

--This is where the sex is implied, but not shown.

Use this:

--When the change in the characters does not happen during the actual act.

--Think of old movies where they kiss and then the camera pans to bedroom curtains fluttering in the breeze.

2. Glossed Over Sex

--This is where a little more is shown--maybe a little touching and buildup, but then that door slams shut.

Use this:

--When the change in the character happens during the intimate moments leading up to the actual bom-chick-wah-wah.

--Ex.) Dirty Dancing (one of the hottest scenes EVAH), when Baby and Johnny dance in his room.  (YouTube won't let me embed the video, but here's the link, if you'd like your daily swoon.) They take off shirts and touch and kiss while dancing, but that is where the change happens--when she says "dance with me" and he accepts the invitation.  Then we see them in bed, kissing, and the scene fades.

3. Full Sex Scene

--This is what you'll see in many mainstream romances and other genre fiction.  The sex happens on the page, door open.

Use this:

--When the change in the characters or revelations about the characters happen during the actual sex.

--Ex.) The Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books.

4.  Explicit Sex Scene

--This is most often used in erotic romance and erotica.  A full sex scene, like above, but everything is described and the language used is no holds barred.  (Yes, you know what words I'm talking about.)

--FYI: the difference between erotic romance and erotica is that e. romance has a primary relationship and there is a happily ever after.  Erotica is more about sexual exploration, doesn't necessarily need to be relationship based, and doesn't require HEA.

Use this:

--Just like a full sex scene, the character change happens during the act.

--If you are using kinky sex acts

--This is not for the faint of heart.  Make sure you read lots of erotic romance to get a feel for exactly what explicit means, lol.

So, how do you decide which level to write at?

1.  Comfort level has to be there.

--If the idea of writing a sex scene makes you squeamish or if you are one of those people who (*gasp*) skips past the love scenes in books, you're probably going to want to fade to black or gloss over.

--The reader will be able to tell if you were uncomfortable about writing it.

--If you think you want to write sex, then make sure you read widely in your particular genre to get a feel for what works and where those lines are. 

--And as I mentioned in the comments on Wednesday, I think it's helpful to read one level of heat above what you're planning on writing. So if you want to write sexy, read erotic. It will help you get more comfortable about what you're going to write, desensitize you a bit to the embarrassment factor.

2.  What does your character/story need?

--According to Shayla Black, if you can pluck out a sex scene and it won't change your character's arc or transformation, then you probably didn't need the scene in the first place.  Do not put it there just to have one (see main rule above).

3.  Know your audience

--You have to know what you are writing and who you are writing for.

--If you put a full sex scene in an inspirational romance, your readers would be appalled.  If you're writing erotic romance and you fade to black, your readers will want to string you up by your toes and beat you with your book.  :)

--And if you're writing YA, you have even more of a challenge.  Figure out if you're writing edgy or traditional and how far your want to push.

And one last Public Service Announcement since this came up in Wednesday's comments:

Even though it's hard, try not to let the "my mother/grandmother/father will read this" factor hold you back. I get it. I've had the same thoughts about what I'm writing BUT here's the thing--will you keep yourself from writing the story you want to write, a story that could entertain thousands of readers because of ONE or two people in your life?  If you're not comfortable writing love scenes because you personally aren't cool with it or it's not your thing. That's fine--you shouldn't do it if that's how you feel. However, if you like to read/write sexy but are stopping yourself because of what others think, then you're letting other people dictate your passion. Don't give others that much power over you.  (Just my humble opinion. Take it for what it's worth.)  

Alright, so I hope this helps.  Writing love scenes is one of the most challenging things to get right.  If you want to know more, I also have posts on sexual tension and writing sex scenes you can check out.

So, where do you fall on the levels in your story?  And are you a person who loves to peek past that door or do you skip those scenes?  (For the record, I'm fascinated by you scene skippers.  How do you do that and why? lol)