What turns you on?

As I dive deeper into the world of writing erotica, new questions are arising. I had intended to write short erotica. However, as I write my first series of Eleanor and The Healer, I find myself more involved with the characters; their backstories, their future, and how they all relate to each other.

The sexy scenes in this series are hot. I don't shy from the ways that lovers pleasure each other. But is this all you, the reader, want? Is it enough to flow from sex scene to sex scene with a brief development of the plot weaving them together? Or would you like to plunge deeper into the depths of their humanity; their desires, their frustrations?

Does too much plot interrupt the purpose of reading short erotic romance? Or do you need the plot to really appreciate when lovers do find each other in gardens, on desktops, and in unfamiliar beds?

I want to write what you want to read, the words that will urge your hand to drift down between your legs or seek out another willing body to explore. What kind of erotic romance do you like to read?

What turns you on?

Please feel free to comment below with any insights or suggestions. I'm listening.

Where my erotica writing began...

I finished the final edit on my first story in the Eleanor and the Healer Series. This series is a sexy tale of a young widow from 1750's England who is taken in by a friend of her husband. Contrary to what history would have us believe about women during this time, Eleanor relishes her physical intimacy with men, even ones who first appear to her in dreams. 

I first sat down to write this story while staying at a haunted B&B in Northern California. I was there on a mini, solo retreat to finish work on another writing project. My dream the first night was a very steamy, erotic dream, so real that when I woke there was a stranger's name on my lips. After starting my day with a shower and breakfast, I sat down to write. Oddly though, I could not pull my attention away from the bed. And every time I looked towards the bed, a blush rose in my cheeks. Before I could continue with the writing project that brought me to this room, I first had to write this scene from Eleanor and the Healer. Only then was I able to move past the dream and get to the work at hand. 

Months later, I came back to the story I had begun and from there grew the idea that perhaps I could write erotica as well. More months have passed and I am gathering an arsenal of stories for publishing. Each one has triggered my arousal, whispered seduction into my ear until I am squirming in my seat. Each character is respected, in control of their own bodies, and loves to share intimate and erotic touches. 

My forage into writing erotica began over a year ago with the tantalizing dream of a well-skilled man. Perhaps I had tapped into an old story, one recorded onto the ethereal film of this place many, many decades ago. Or possibly, my creative mind was just ready to write something different. Either way, this first connection between Eleanor and the Healer, the first sex scene I ever wrote, will always feel like a friend. And, I imagine, will continue to arouse me for many years to come. 

Excerpt from "Eleanor's Predicament"; Book 1 in the Eleanor and the Healer Series:

"She squeezed in sudden ecstasy, wanting to draw him in more. Never had a man’s touch reached her so deeply, so intensely. She rocked her body towards him, trying to draw more of him in. He chuckled then, a deep, resonant sound full of desire and satisfaction. She rocked her body to the rhythm of his hand. Together they found a steady pace that quickly began to crescendo. She could feel the ache growing, the swelling of the flesh between her legs, and thought for a moment she would swoon."    

Poetic Seduction

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines poetry as "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm".

No, I am not writing poetry here. Nor do I urge one to compare my erotica prose to the defined build and constructed beauty of poetry. However, I do believe this definition leaves us wiggle room to look at well-crafted erotica with a tint of the poetic. My writing aims to bring you into the seduction of the moment. I want the reader to feel the whisper of touch on the tender skin of yearning, see the depth of a man when the longing of flesh strips away his arrogance, feel the power of a woman unleashed by arousal. I want to provoke your desires with a pause, a sigh, words written on the page in a rhythm of temptation, longing, and satisfaction. 

I write the fantasies that arouse me. With these tales, I intend to dive into the deepest sinews of instinct where culture and religion and shame do not exist. In this place, I hope to remind us that coming together with another human, in desire and longing, respect and sometimes even love, is a powerful and liberating experience.

No, I am not writing poetry here. But perhaps if you follow the temptation, you'll find yourself spent in a fog of tantalizing imaginings and satisfying endings.

This blog is my journey to writing erotica.