Sybil's Questions - My Convoluted Answers

Oh yeah. It's that time again.

Leave now if you value your sanity.

Damn, I wish I could leave but that's a whole other story for another blog session. You can consider that a warning.

I'm not sure I am all that qualified to answer some of these questions but since I do have a definite opinion about romantica I figured, what the hell.

Let's get to it!

1. How do you define erotic vs erotic romance in your personal reading or reviews?

Okay, I'm taking this question at face value and not going to over analyze what I *think* it might be asking.

I believe that erotica is just plain sexual fantasy. It may have emotions attached but for the most part it is not about love or romance and is about sex. I'll be honest and say that I have not read a published erotic novel. That said, I was searching for independent romantic stories on-line one day. This was before e-publishing and I had just discovered fan fiction. Anyways, I ended up on a site with erotic stories. In reality the story I read was quite tame but I realized that the writer and reader were looking to experience a stranger fantasy. It was about a woman during Mardi Gras who meets a masked man in the street, they have sex and then they part and she heads home. That's it that's all.

Now, for me, this doesn't work but then I don't have stranger fantasies because I am a huge scaredy cat and even while reading the story I was worrying about 'what if he is an axe murderer!'.

I think erotica could be wonderful for woman and men to experience their sexual fantasies without reality intruding. There is a part of me that thinks I should try some erotica but I have heard that S&M can dominate that genre and I also have a mind block to that. At least I think I do. I'm not into dominate / submissive stuff but I do enjoy power stuggles. Hmm, S&M doesn't equal D/S though, does it?

An erotic romance would be a romance with sexually explicit encounters. In all honesty, I think this would work for me better if the H/H were married or have been friends or lovers for a while. That way, I know there is a trust that allows for some of the more erotic types of sex. I'm not sure I buy into two people meeting, stripping their clothes off and then falling into a dominate/ submissive sexual relationship right off the bat. Oh and D/S makes me loopy. Not only that, I think if an author is going to tackle an erotic romance that the relationship alone should be what the story is about. One of the so-called erotic romances I read had a romantic suspense plot weaved in and then the book ended with them deciding they should get married and have kids after knowing each other for 3 days. And not so much knowing each other in 'where you been all my life?' but in the 'sexual gymnastic event' with a few words like 'harder' thrown in. I guess great sex equals great marriage. *snort*

There are two books by Jayne Ann Krentz called Gift of Gold and Gift of Fire that have a recurring H/H and I believe in the sequel, the hero ties the heroine up and it was just a very hot bit of sex because the reader knew they loved each other. Nowadays it might read tame but it was definitely a scorcher when it was written and it was not labeled erotic romance.

2. Do you have any personal examples of authors you feel fit the two?

Okay, straight erotica, no. Erotic romance I have read some Secrets Anthologies and not one of the stories I read in 3 of these books worked for me.

MJD had one that was a blatant rape fantasy and it didn't work for me. I don't mind forced seduction scenes but, this was a rape and I now know that's not for me.

Oh, now wait. I think the second one was about the female werewolf and although the H/H fell on each other the moment they met there was a scene at the end of the book that did blow me away. Definitely had not seen that done before. Yep, me likey.

Shannon McKenna - being published in the Brava line I knew they were supposed to be HOT. There was lots of sex but it wasn't hot for me.

3. Where do you feel romantica fits in between erotic vs erotic romance?

Here, I was using romantica and erotic romance to mean the same thing.

4. Is the sensuality rating something you even pay attention to before you read a novel? Or do you look after? Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing?

Hell yeah! I don't even bother to read books characterized as sweet or subtle. For a while, I wasn't even looking at books that had a warm rating but in truth, I find that books that have a warm rating are normally hotter than those with a hot to burning rating. Anne Stuart gets rated warm and I find her books hot! Suzanne Brockmann's books have run the gamut from sweet (uh, no) to hot. Geez, Linda Howard's Killing Time is rated as hot and it was so bland in the sex department that subtle may have been a better way to describe it! Also, Cry No More was rated hot but I don't really remember any sex between the H/H. Weird.

So I do look at the sensuality ratings but they are subjective to someone else's thoughts on what would be hot, warm, cool, or kisses. It's almost like we need a different rating system but then, it would only be interpreted differently by everyone again! I'm not really sure you can call them sensuality ratings as much as sex ratings. There have been romances rated hot because the villian has skanky sex in the book. To me, sex isn't the only thing that should come into play with sensuality ratings. But then again, I love Stuart and find her writing very sensual. Others read her and find her harsh.

Before romantica hit it big, the ratings for sensuality held more sway. Now that romantica has come around, I find they are there to let a reader know that they may encounter sex of the non-vanilla kind.

5. If you do look at the ratings before - you are looking for hotter stories? Or are you looking for the sweeter ones?

I am now looking at warm to hot levels. If an author I have not read gets a burning rating then I probably won't try them unless there is buzz about the book.

6. If you write, is the level or page amount focused on sex something you even think of when you plot out a story (if you outline) or do you just 'let the characters lead?'?

Oops, not a writer. As a reader, I like the sex but I need there to be lots of sexual tension. Not just a 'oh I have an itch and you have an itch so let's scratch' kind of sex scene. I almost need there to be drama. Not 'fiddle-dee' drama but conflict about how each person feels. Or maybe it's a vulnerability. I love it when a character says something I wasn't expecting, a surprise emotionally.

7. Do you think we are flooding the market with too many hotter books? Or are you happy to see so many new erotica lines?

I think there is such a push for sex in books that publishers are not looking for proper characterization, realistic time frames or romance for all that. It's too bad because I do like hotter books but maybe what I consider hot has nothing to do with sex and something to do with how the characters feel about each other. Oh, on that note. I read Passion by Valdez and I found that book very sexy and hot but 'lo and behold the book had a plot outside of the sex. I could also see how these two people were infatuated with each other through the sex scenes.

8. Where does BRAVA fit in with erotic vs erotic romance?

BRAVA is not erotic or erotic romance. It's just sex with a HEA tacked on. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I've tried a few Brava's and have been left out in the cold. Now I see the Brava ensignia and I run!!

Well, there you go. My thoughts on erotica and erotic romance. I'm looking forward to reading how other people feel about erotica and erotic romance.

Maybe I will find some authors to try!