Erotica is NOT Porn

When I tell people that I write erotica most answer with a snicker, "Oh, you write porn, huh?"

I take exception to that. I write erotica, it’s a different genre. Although it may share some similarities with porn, it is literature first and foremost.

In my eyes, Erotica is:

·         Literature that includes detailed erotic scenes

·         Guaranteed to excite (see, hear, feel, taste, and “experience” the couplings)

·         Created to invoke a response - whether it be romantic or sexual in tone, you should have a physical reaction to the words on the paper

·         Respectful of the reader, giving a plausible storyline that carries you to each sexual scene

·         Geared more for women although men read and write it

I am proud to be an erotica author and stand behind the stories I create. If you were to take out the sexual details, you would still have an engaging romance. It just wouldn’t be as “exciting” to read. I like the extra details that take it from entertainment to an experience.

What is Erotica?

Is it Erotica or Romance?

I have a friend and fellow writer, R.E. Butler, who recently wrote about the difference between romance and erotica, Classifying Romance and Erotica. Reading her blog made me think. I know the publisher norms for romance are that it must have a likeable heroine, a problematic romance, and no matter what there must be a HEA (Happily Ever After) or at least a HFN (Happy for Now) ending. I also tend to see romance novels as having sex throughout, but using silly or flowery words to convey it.

Now erotica is more about the sexual encounters. It may have romance, but you know that as you read it you are going to get HOT. It is not safe to read erotica around family or employers (unless it's your spouse), because you are going to get horny if it is well written. The storyline requirements for erotica is not limiting and the words used are real words spoken in the bedroom.

There have been a few short stories that I have read on Smashwords that were labeled as erotica, but in my opinion fell far from the mark. Just because you say the characters had sex does not make it erotica. If you don't take me into the mindset of the character and detail what they are seeing, doing and feeling then it is not erotica to me.

I do like romance with my erotica, so I am happy to read a storyline that sets up the characters and events. But don't leave me hanging! I recently read an erotic storyline between a police officer and an FBI agent thinking, "Oh yeah, oh yeah. This is going to be good!" The author kept hinting at this delicious and naughty scene and then did not deliver at the end. She skimmed over it and I was left panting and desperate for more. Grrr...

When I write erotica, I want you to experience what my characters are experiencing and I design it to excite you. If you read my work and it doesn't get the juices flowing, then it is not a successful story in my opinion. Now, if you don't care for my endings - hey, I'm sorry. I'm not 100% sold on HEA endings. :) Just saying...