Just because you can…

Doesn’t mean you should.

I write really sexy romances. Really. Although, the ratio of romance vs ‘other story element’ seems to be in flux. But it’s a safe bet to say there will always be a (very hot/explicit) romantic subplot in anything I write.

Here’s the problem. Very sexy/erotic manuscripts are prime commodities in romance-publishing-land at the moment, and have been so for a couple of years now. I keep wanting to take advantage of this fact, since I write very sexy, very naturally. But every time I try, I get stumped, er, bored.

Cause it’s not the sex, it’s everything else—it’s the plot, the angst, the emotion, the fear, the conflicts, the external forces, the humor, etc—that goes into the story and the characters that interest me. It’s playing with words and phrasing, and story structure. It pushing myself. And not repeating myself (hopefully). The sexual tension just happens. And the sex is never just about body parts, or how they move and are described. It’s about sensations, emotions, truth, lies, and all the baggage (mental/emotional) that the H/h bring into the act. But that all gets flipped on it’s head when I start ‘targeting’ my writing to ‘fit’ somewhere.

I’ve been angsting about this for awhile now as the novella progressed. It’s been feeling like something was missing. Like more plot was needed. But more plot meant more book; meant no more novella, but something longer. And then I hear about a new imprint that is hungry for erotic romances of various lengths, and I feel like the novella has a shot, except…. do I really want to go there? I mean, do I want to write *another* erotic romance (of whatever length?) after this one (if I were so fortunate, that someone wanted to buy the work). Do I want to establish myself in that subgenre and have to satisfy editor/agent/reader expectations in that format for whatever length of time? The answer is no.

I want to write the way I want to write— Very sexy, very naturally, but with everything else (listed above) being the important factors; and not having to feel like I hafta keep the focus on the sex. To that end, the novella looks like it’s going to expand, with a secondary storyline/romance, and I’ll get to explore what makes certain characters ‘tick’, plus throw in an interesting twist here and there. It just feels a little more true to myself.

Btw, I’m *not* saying writers of erotic romances do not take those other elements I listed seriously, or don’t strive to achieve more/better in their labors; only that I’m a head case, and for better or for worse that’s how I’m wired when approaching *my own* writing. It’s an either/or thing. I choose ‘or’.

And on that note, I better get back to the work-in-progress (and start praying that there's a home for my 'my way' stories when the time comes).