Michelle Cary

A variation of this question was kicked around by me and my fellow critique partners the other day, when I whined about needed to finish two love scenes in my latest WIP. I’m the only one of the group who dares to venture out of the Erotic Romance niche and found myself the other day desperately trying to put together a love scene for my WIP. The problem is I want it to be a romantic suspense and I’ve made a rule with my writing that my romantic suspense would not be erotic romance.

Not that I have anything against erotic romance. It’s a genre that I often enjoy writing in, but for my RS works I wanted something more. There in came the debate. To write a good, I mean really good, love scene not only requires covering all the senses, but the thoughts and emotions as well. You wouldn’t think this would be a difficult task, and for some I’m sure it isn’t. For me however, switching from graphic sex to eluding to the sex can sometimes be a challenge. And I don’t believe I’m the only one who thinks so as one of my critique partners generously volunteered to write the scene for me, until I told her the requirements. I believe her reply was something to the effect of “I wouldn’t have a clue how to even begin.” or something along those lines.

While I think we’re all in agreement that writing any good love scene takes skill, I’ve recently decided that because of the restrictions placed on non-erotic love scenes, its more difficult to write than a graphic scene. In erotic romance you’re allowed to use all those ‘naughty’ and ‘taboo’ words to described the male and female genitals. Oral and anal sex, while still slightly taboo (and highly erotic) are written out in almost painful detail, leaving little to the reader’s imagination. Bondage and domination are easily considered acceptable topics.

With non-erotic romance, all those freedoms don’t exist. That’s not to say I’m complaining as I enjoy books that leave something to the imagination as much as those that don’t. However, as a writer I’ll readily admit that I’m challenged by the rules. Ultimately, I believe it makes me work harder, thus honing my skills and making me a better at my avocation. I’m sure not everyone will agree with my thoughts on the matter and personally I think it’s a great subject for debate. What’s your thoughts on erotic vs non-erotic romance?

November 11, 2008 is the tentative release date with Loose ID for my erotic romance Novella entitled Sophie’s Secret. It will come on the heels of my first release from Wild Rose Press, which is a romantic suspense novel entitled Ransomed Heart due to release on October 24th.

Keep checking back here for more information on both titles!

I’ve been working to finish a joint project I have with Author Amanda Young. I still have a way to go, but I’m getting there.

Now that the contracts are all signed and it’s official, I’m very happy to announce that my latest work Sophie’s Secret has been picked up by Loose Id.

Sophie’s Secret is a erotic romance novella about a woman who is looking to fufill her secret desires and her room mate/friend who volunteers his services.

Also I’ve finished my romantic suspense novel entitles Northern Lights and have sent off a query to one publisher who at this time shall remain nameless. Wish me luck with that one because if they pick it up it will be a huge boost to my resume.

Now I’ve decided to go back and finish another romantic suspense story started by my critique partner and good friend author Amanda Young (when she was still writing heterosexual stories…lol) who after deciding it wasn’t her ‘cup of tea’ handed the story over to me to work my suspense magic. It’s a great story with lots of bones and is tentatively titled Don’t Look Back.

And thats about it for now, but as you all can see my plate is pretty much full at the moment. Stay tuned for more info…

Michelle

I’m happy to announce that a good friend, fellow Jerseyite has just celebrated her first book release with an erotic romance novella entitled “Beyond Boundaries’ over at Whispers Publishing.

http://www.whispershome.com/book_pages/beyond_boundaries.html

From the blurb on the website it looks to be one HOT title and I absolutely love the cover. So be sure to add Ginny’s title to your TBR pile. If you’ve ever thought about pushing your own boundaries I’m sure you’ll enjoy this title!

Sorry I haven’t been around folks. I’ve had quite a bit of personal stuff to deal with lately. However, I did want to let you all know I’m just about finished with my next WIP.

More info to come soon…I promise!

After a very long wait I’m happy to announce that Loose ID has offered me a contract on my latest erotic romance novella entitled Sophie’s Secret. I couldn’t be happier.

Now I’m generally not one to rant on my blog about things. In fact the last time I climbed atop my soapbox and touted accusations was well over a year ago. Last night however, I had a revelation about something that the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became.

A couple of days ago one of my stories was rejected by a publisher. That’s not new or surprising considering I have more rejections than acceptances under my belt. I did what probably most authors do when they face a rejection. I pouted for awhile, doubted my abilities then moved on to something else. Only this time I couldn’t quite let it go. It was what the editor had said that kept my mind spinning. She’d called the story too narrative, too telly. Now, while I don’t doubt that it was probably more telly in places than I’d like and probably had many other faults that made it unacceptable, I couldn’t help but compare her words to stories of my writing idol, Nora Roberts.

In my humble opinion, Ms Roberts knows how to tell a great story, though I’m sure there are those of you out there who would disagree. Still, as I read and reread her work, I have to wonder if she were starting out today how many rejections she’d receive. Show don’t tell, well, Ms. Roberts can delve into the psyche of a character and bring it to life in a way that you don’t noticed she’d just spent an entire page inside the characters head, telling you the reader exactly what that characters thinking. Don’t head hop. Again, Nora Roberts is the queen of head hopping and she does it with such skill that it’s a pleasure to read. Her stories are based entirely on the emotions of the characters. The physical is secondary and subdued in a way that much is left to the imagination of the reader. She doesn’t need graphic language or raunchy sex to make a story hot. No her stories bring out the love, the heat of passion between two characters simply by conveying their thoughts and emotions. I read her work and I find myself asking where have the days of those type of stories gone?

Too often in today’s writing, the emphasis is on getting the characters together quickly then throwing up some conflict after to keep them apart. And although I love e-books and the future it represents for the book industry as a whole, I can’t help but blame them for the faster, raunchier, more attitude that has overtaken the industry, creating an invisible need to push authors to write faster instead of better. I, unfortunately, have allowed myself to be caught up in this need, thinking that the more books I have in print the better. Well, after thinking long and hard about it, I’ve decided no more. Yes, it’s true if you want to make a living writing e-books, you need to have a backlist of books and the bigger the better, but at what cost to the integrity of the stories themselves? No, I think from here on out my focus will be on making the best story I can and not worrying about the timeframe. I will continue to read Ms. Roberts work with a critical eye and learn from her as only she can teach. If one day I am half as good as she is I’ll be happy and if the editors out there don’t like it, then it will be their loss not mine. I write for the love of writing, not the money.

Stepping down off my soapbox now…

For Better, For Worse pulled me in from the first line and help me until the end. Readers interested in an enchanting, amazing read should pick up For Better, For Worse by Michelle Cary. I look forward to reading more of Ms Cary in the future.

Read the full review here. www.nightowlromance.com