What I Love About Erotica

It’s easy to criticize.
It’s easy to pick out in the writing of others “what I’ll never do when I write my novel (disdainful sniff).”
It’s easy to be snarky and hateful and pick apart other people’s creations.
I’m certainly guilty of it.
And with the internet it’s easier than ever for this perhaps ill-considered disparagement to reach farther than ever. It’s all the more reason to consider carefully what we say, especially in a public space. We can offer criticism, but they should be well-founded and well-argued, rather than harried rants of someone spouting off publicly.

Don’t be that guy.

I’m sure I’ve been guilty of this as well, so I’m writing to myself as well here. I don’t apologize for my opinions, either in life or in e-verse. But I also think making a practice of focusing on the good instead of the bad is a worthwhile pursuit. We see what we want to see in the world, sort of a glass is half empty or half full scenario. And if all you put out in the world is negative and the critical, guess what your glass is going to be filled with?

In that spirit, I wanted to end with the week with the top three things I love about erotica.

1. It’s honest and raw. The best stories are meant to get under your skin, to make you think, make you feel. Popular literature too often gets away from this, or resorts to the sensational. Erotica is naked by nature and as such works harder to build that connection with readers and get a reaction. I love stories that make me think about something a different way, that challenge my preconceptions. Erotica takes risks and I admire that as a reader.

2. The authors are friendly, innovative, genuine, and funny. Since I started submitting stories, everyone has been amazing to work with—happy, friendly, even sending upbeat rejection letters. The world would be a better place if everyone was this positive.

3. Who doesn’t like reading fuck stories? I mean, seriously.

Have you checked in with the Forbidden Fruit blog tour? Why not??? Head over to the website and catch up now!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

The Cowboy Problem on WTF Wednesday!

Its WTF Wednesday, so that means a new story on the Weekly Dose of Smut page! Please go over and check it out, I love this story. Have a great day everyone!

P.S. 
Want more? Head over to Delilah Devlin's site and check out what's up with Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors. It won't be just the summer swelter that has you fanning yourself! 
http://hothighlanders.delilahscollections.com/

WTF Wednesday

It’s a WTF Wednesday again this week, but lacking time to go into it, check out the weekly story under the Weekly Dose of Smut tab. It’s only up for a week (I swear this time!), so be sure not to miss it. Have a wonderful day and happy reading!

Dirty, Happy Interlude : Adventures of an erotica editor

As a break from reviews, here’s a glimpse into the life of an erotica writer, editor, and mom. 



With one hand, I type notes into the comment box for track changes on the Microsoft Word doc I’m editing while with the other elbow I fend off the blue dump truck, a tractor, a teddy bear, and a piece of petrified peanut butter sandwich, all wielded with deadly accuracy by a teething toddler. He’s already lost his toddler-sized Camelbak once today for throwing it at Mommy’s computer, and we keep having to come up with games that involve toys flying away from the lazy boy and laptop on my knees that don’t result in the Immediate Toddler Bursting Into Unaccountable Tears Over Nothing Response. Meanwhile I’m trying to determine why Reginald’s left hand is traveling without his knowledge down the Lady Beverly’s thigh and whether the paragraph ends in the same tense it began in.

It doesn’t.

Sigh.

A talking book goes skidding across the floor.

“It’s story time!” it squeaks in an overly enthusiastic electronic.

“No shit,” I mutter back.

Baby gym comes on the baby channel and the toddler gives a squeal of excitement, goes skidding across the floor, slides into the chair, and falls down in his excitement. He scrambles back up and staggers to stand in parade rest, mesmerized by the talking sock puppets on TV.

Wow.

Anyway, back to Reginald’s left hand…

Dirty, Happy Book Reviews: Anthologies

Variety is the spice of any relationship. It’s a bit too personal to go much into the variety we enjoy as a couple, but I will definitely recommend it for anyone. How do you know you’ll like something until you try it? (Damn open-mindedness is showing again, isn’t it?) But of course, you have to both be secure in your relationship to try anything. You have to be with someone you trust, and trust in an adult way. The best way I heard that kind of trust articulated was in a self-help book by an author I can’t place right this moment, who said (paraphrasing here) you can’t say to your partner “I trust you not to hurt me.” That’s immature and will get you hurt. But if you can say “I trust what you do with me,” then that opens a huge number of doors.

Having have experienced both of these types of loving, I can definitely say the latter is better. I trust my partner, I trust what he does with me, and I trust that if I say I’m uncomfortable that he will stop. Because being together is about growing and changing together. About pushing limits and learning about what you’re comfortable with. That’s one reason I love anthologies. You can explore a whole variety of scenarios and learn your limits, or at least decide on a limit you might like to explore further, in the safety of your own reading area. And it helps give you the vocabulary to have that discussion with your partner.

So I’ve touted this book before, but I just can’t recommend it enough. And I have a feeling it’s one of those books I’ll return to again and again through the years to draw on the decades of experience these authors share about their emotionally and sexually satisfying marriages. Of course, this book is Bedded Bliss: A Couple's Guide to Lust Ever After by Kristina Wright. This is a self-help/erotica and it’s fantastic. The erotica is hot, the advice is solid, and it helps so much in giving a sense of community to those of us who are in happy relationships. Being happily together is something that almost flies under the radar in our society, but just because you’re happy doesn’t mean you can be complacent. You have in continually invest in your relationship to keep reaping the benefits and I love this book and how it discusses, among other things, how to do that. So even if your relationship is fantastic, this book is still worth checking out, even if only so you can read it and smugly smile, saying to yourself, “Yeah, we already do that.”

Dirty, Happy Book Reviews: Remittance Girl

One author that continually haunts me after the story has ended is Remittance Girl. I’ve encountered her work several times over the years, and this will be more of an author review than a book review, since I think she is one of those writers who if you spend any time at all around the erotica genre, you will encounter her work.

What’s most mesmerizing about the work of Remittance Girl is the raw emotion in her work. And how she’s not afraid to go to dark, sometimes extremely dark, places to explore. It almost borders on erotic horror sometimes. (I’m thinking especially of the short story called “Nathalie’s Tailor” here.) But when you think about it, it makes sense. What horrors are more frightening than the ones we can face in our own minds?

Looking very forward to her forthcoming short story "Veiled Girl with Lute." I was lucky enough to get to listen to it on podcast (oh my god, did the narrator have the sexiest voice!!). Will be sure to post here when I see "Veiled Girl" has been released.

Writing Snippet

Every story has to start with something. Not sure what this one will evolve into yet, but I like it. Happy Monday, everyone!!

 

The true intimacy comes when his mouth devours mine while he’s balls-deep in her. And I know that all his thoughts aren’t on her, but on how much he loves us, him and me, together, and that we can share another woman like this. And afterwards, when she leaves, and my ass is cradled against his spent cock, his arms wrapped around my body, when I can say that I miss our daughter in this moment, that’s true intimacy.