The Rise of Mainstream Erotica

As an erotica author (in my spare time), I keep an eye out for projects that can utilize these specialized skills.  Ten years ago, women from 20-50 years old – who are the primary demographic – hid erotica and barely confessed to reading romance novels.  Today, published erotica by authors like Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Shelly Laurenston sit on the shelf beside traditional romance authors like Beatrice Small, Stephanie Laurens, and Nora Roberts. 

Excellent.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term erotica, allow me to assure you it is not porn.  Romance is all character/plot development with an emphasis on a building relationship but never going beyond ‘purple prose’.  Sex scenes are carefully written to exclude possibly offensive language – even if the scenario itself is edgy.  It is at the vanilla end of adult fiction.

Porn is at the opposite end with no true plot or character development.  The entire story is about the sex and you have no connection or loyalty to anyone involved in the “story” – a word I use loosely and with great reluctance. 

Erotica sits in the middle.  The people and the story are integral, just as with romance novels, but the sex scenes are steamy and explicit.  When I was a teenager, I wrote romance and I was very good at it.  As an adult, I found myself slipping into erotica writing before I even understood what it was or how it differed.

I posted examples of a very short romance (the length of a blog entry), a short romance of 2,500 words, and a slightly longer short story in the erotica genre.  I could write like this all day long and maybe one day I’ll have that option (when paying bills and raising children don’t take quite so much of my time).  In the meantime, I’ll continue to add to my dozens of short stories and novellas.  Maybe I’ll be able to carve out time to get one of my five full-length novels an agent. 

All writing is an art form because words can be so beautiful.  I use mine to make money…but using them to entertain is even better.