Friday, January 06, 2006
My books don't have a plot? ..... Really?Erotic romance is probably one of the most maligned subgenres. The reasons for this are clear, since the books are filled with sex...*kinky* sex, even. This is Bad, as we all know. ;0)
Lately I have come across several comments regarding erotic romance that have given me pause. They've basically inferred that erotic romance novels don't contain plots. This hasn't come from just one source, so I'm not writing this as response to any one person. I'm just responding in general. Everyone has a right their opinion.
Most of my EC books are very plot heavy. Not only do they contain a substantial romance plot, they also (usually) contain a large action plot. These two plots are generally interwined in my books. Actually, I've been debating whether or not this is a mistake on my part. Don't readers mostly just care about the romance and not necessarily any of the rest of it? I'm not sure. All I know is that I like writing my books this way. :)
I see no reason why a book can't have it all -- a emotionally engaging romance, a gripping action plot, AND scorchingly hot sex scenes...*kinky* sex scenes, even! I see no reason why erotic romance novels can't have a great character development, be smart, be funny...be anything they want to be.
I'm still mystified by the notion that just because a book has hot, kinky sex scenes that they can't be anything but a book with hot, kinky sex scenes.
Now, I KNOW there are lots of erotic romances out there that really are nothing but sex scenes, and I'm sure they do great sales-wise (that's the market, folks, sorry). I have nothing against these novels at all. However, not *all* erotic romances are written this way and making generalizations about the genre just isn't fair.
In the end, my plot-heavy erotic romances do very well sales-wise. Readers enjoy them. There is a market. I am happy about this, because I plan to keep writing them. :)
