Round Robin for February, 2019

Here we are, already in February – the month of St. Valentine’s Day denoting love. It is, therefore, most appropriate that our topic this month is on love, sex, and relationships. What seems acceptable, what do you think current readers want, and what (for you) is going too far?

As a reader, I enjoy a broad range of genres from my own Regency romance preference to out-and-out thrillers and bits of this, that, and the other in between. I wonder if others, like me, look back on their reading history and realize how much their tastes have changed over the years. When I was much younger I quite enjoyed horror stories, now I hardly touch them and am more likely to go for a cozy mystery.

It doesn’t matter what genre I turn to, love, sex, and relationships, in one way or another, come into all of them. It’s a bit like playing the shell game, it doesn’t matter what cover you lift you're sure to find one of them there. It's entirely possible to have love without sex, sex without love, and relationships of one kind or another everywhere.

When I started writing, I was very wary about writing sex scenes. Did I need them? Could I or should I write them, or should I write closed door sex scenes because I write Regency romance? In fact, on that topic, has anyone read any of the steamier Regency romances lately? It seems to me there are more and more of them which makes me ask, are those authors writing more sex into their stories because they are looking to attract new readers or keep existing readers, or is because that's what the market (and maybe their editors) demand?

I read a few Regencies while on holiday recently, including two books by the same author and found the sex scenes repetitive and boring. Ho hum, rinse and repeat. I will not name the authors as my opinion is merely that. That both titles were New York Times bestsellers, indicates that many, many people think very differently to me. In my own writing, I let my characters tell me what they want and go from there.

This aspect of writing confuses people who don't write, and I'm often asked, as an author don't you tell them what to do? Well, no I don't. I don't like writing sex scenes without commitment between the couple and the hope, even the expectation, of a fulfilling relationship to come. That is something we don't very often get to see in romances. You get the meet-cute, the growing attraction (usually shown as dislike), misunderstandings leading to a breakup before the couple declares their love for each other (or at least admit it to themselves) which may or may not lead to a sex scene. The actual relationship develops later, and I think this is why so many series have become popular. Readers want to know what happens to that couple they have become so invested in.

I have a mix throughout my books. Hardly any sex in my Edwardian trilogy, the main characters are already married. Some steamy moments in my contemporary western romance, and varying degrees of sex in my Regencies. However, the third book in my Regency series will have a much lower key on the sex scenes, because that is what my characters are currently dictating. None of what I write is out and out erotica. While I don’t mind reading it occasionally, that’s something I leave to authors who are more comfortable writing it.

So now you've digested my take on the subject, hop on over to these excellent authors and discover how they feel.

Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1vP

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com