The “Meh” Factor: Is it better to write a bad book or a “meh” book?

I encounter an obscene number of books on a yearly, if not weekly, basis. Free books, bargain books, books to review, books at the library, books for adults, my kid’s books, books that cover something I want to read, books that cover something that I don’t—there’s just So. Many. Books.

Something I found myself pondering while writing the last paid review I did was, is it better for authors to write a book that is bland, one that doesn’t win legions of fans but doesn’t piss anyone off either, or is it better to write a book that everyone says is awful?

Now, ideally, we’d all be J.K. Rowling, but the marketplace is simply too diverse and will never be big enough to support that, even if everyone in the world read. There’s always going to be someone out there who hates the same book you love.

So with that in mind, I wondered if I preferred to hate a book, as in read bits aloud to my spouse because they are so deplorable, or feel “meh” about it, as in can’t find anything in particular to characterize the work that’s worth reading to anyone.

After some consideration, I’d rather hate a book—I’d rather see one with spelling errors, racism, blatant disregard for grammar and style, sexist comments, and factual errors than be faced with a book that’s best described as “nothing really wrong with it, it just didn’t do anything for me.”

The latter experience is what bad sex is to mediocre sex: at least with bad sex you know you’ll have a kick-ass story to tell at the end of it, whereas with mediocre sex the best you can say about it is… “meh.”

Recommended Reads

There's a lot of hot erotica out this summer. (Have to confess, I only just made it through Fifty Shades, but these are actually good, I promise.) Some reads I've really enjoyed so far are:

• Twice the Pleasure edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
• Voracious edited by Violet Blue
• Best Sex Writing 2013 edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
• Girls Girls Girls by Lynn Lake, Jaye Raymee, Sadie Spiller

Looking very forward to reading:

• Duty and Desire 
• Fairy Tale Lust, both edited by Kristina Wright

If you have suggestions for erotica, please leave me a comment. :)

Keep smiling, it makes them wonder what you’re up to. 

Rosa Erotica

Why I Write (Erotica)

I think I’ve been writing sex scenes since I was twelve. Granted, they’ve gotten a bit better since then (I hope). I don’t admit to a lot of people that I write erotica. And when I do, it generally surprises them. As my boss’s son put it, “she’s too cute to write that stuff.” Instead, I say I write fiction or that I write about relationships, because it seems like a lot of people who don’t read erotica think it’s all about getting off.

Erotica is about sooooooooooo much more than that.

My son is nine months old as of this writing and my significant other and I talk a lot about how we want to deal with various issues as they arise, such as discipline, diet and exercise, etc. This includes sex. During one of these casual conversations, he mentioned that when our boy starts asking about sex that we should tell him that it’s about a very close connection to another human being and should be respected as such.

Revelation: me.

I’d never thought about it quite that way, but that’s why I love reading and writing erotica. It’s all about connection and feeling connected, or not. That’s what sex is. And that relationship, that connection, in all its forms, functions, reasons, motivations, manifestations, and feelings fascinates me.

Too bad it took me until my late twenties to realize that sex is about connection, but that’s a whole personal life issue. :)

I still probably won’t tell many people that I write erotica. But I will probably change that awkward “Oh, ummmmm I write… er, about relationships,” to “I write fiction about relationships and human connection. Usually with a cowboy hat and a saddle involved.” (Unfortunately, I’m so vanilla the saddle really is for the horse.)

So happy reading, happy writing, and remember, keep smiling—it makes people wonder what you've been up to. ~Author Unknown~

From: Dreamstime