Tag Archives: writers

Definitions: Erotica, Erotic Romance, Steamy Romance (Reprise)

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In a couple of discussion forums I’m on, the question of what is erotic romance vs. what is steamy romance has come up yet again.

As a writer of both, and of erotica, I know the answer. I wrote a blog post about it way back in 2015. Since some parts of that post are no longer relevant (especially the bits about a now-defunct publisher), I decided it was time to reprise my definitions post, with some updates.

I’ve been writing erotica, erotic romance, and steamy romance for well over a decade, and am mystified (and annoyed) that our industry has not yet solidified the definitions of these genres. Does definition diminish creativity? Not at all. What it does is help industry professionals better understand what is being written, marketed, and sold. With definitions, the industry as a whole would be on the same page. Continue reading →

NaNoPrep2018: A(nother) Victorian spanking novel! #NaNoPrep2018

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I have a title! A hero and heroine! Plus a fake cover! I’m still working on the blurb and the outline!

That’s right — it’s October and that means NaNoPrep2018 (also called Preptober and NaNoPlanO) for National Novel Writing Month 2018!! Continue reading →

Republishing Madness: Two steps forward, one step back, but still moving

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For the last three years of my author life I’ve felt like Sisyphus pushing a stone up a hill, only to have it roll back down, thus negating any progress. It has been very frustrating, to say the least. Instead of writing, I’ve spent time and energy (and money) republishing novels and stories. Too often, I think I have given a story a good home, only to find it orphaned.

Republishing involves: re-editing (sometimes editing out a publisher’s style and reasserting my own); new covers; possibly new blurbs; ebook formatting; paperback formatting; new ISBNs (stupidly expensive in the US); uploading to retailer sites; plus promotion, promotion, promotion.

Basically everything an author has to do when self-publishing, except all of that stuff had already been done and now you have to do it all over again. Sigh. Continue reading →

Sex Scenes: Who, What, When, Why, and How Many

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“How many sex scenes?” is a perennial question in the National Novel Writing Month Erotica Forum. Meaning, how many sex scenes should an erotica or erotic romance novel have? Just this week, I saw the same question asked on a private Facebook group and felt compelled to write this blog post with the answer and an explanation.

The answer? Wait for it… Continue reading →

I Met My Cover Model

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In July, I went to San Diego for the annual conference of the Romance Writers of America. I attended sessions on the craft of writing, the business of promotion, and opportunities in publishing. I hung out with friends at the pool bar, watched a 19th-century fashion show, and attended the Hamilton sing-a-long.

I also watched a faux romance cover shoot. With the guy who’s been on three of my covers:

Imperial Warriors Cover ReginaKammer_TheGeneralsWife200 The Pleasure Device 2013 cover

Continue reading →

Ex-EC Titles Re-Released: Part Three #notchilled

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For an explanation of what I’m doing here, please see Part One and Part Two of this blog series. More authors and their re-released reverted titles are listed below (with another “thank you” shout out to reader Cayenne!). Let’s do something positive to support your favorite author and their ex-EC titles! Buy their books! Review their books! Spread the word about their books on social media! Continue reading →

Ex-EC Titles Re-Released: Part Two #notchilled

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For an explanation of what I’m doing here, please see Part One of this blog series. More authors and their reverted ex-EC titles are listed below. This time around I received help from a reader who had an extensive library of books purchased from the Ellora’s Cave website — a library that vanished during EC’s website “upgrade” (many readers had this happen). This reader, Cayenne, started keeping track of reversions and re-releases for herself, and shared the list with me. Readers are awesome. Authors would be nothing without them, and publishers should do more to recognize readers’ importance.

Now for the list. Let’s do something positive to support your favorite author and their ex-EC titles! Buy their books! Review their books! Spread the word about their books on social media! Continue reading →

Ex-EC Titles Re-Released: Part One #notchilled

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The publisher Ellora’s Cave has been having problems for the last couple of years. They’ve had massive layoffs, late and missed payments to authors and contractors, then, when they sued a blogger for defamation, all hell broke loose. There was mudslinging and accusations and a boycott of Ellora’s Cave books led by some pretty powerful people in the field of romance. EC authors themselves begged their fans not to buy their EC books so they could request reversion of rights based on low sales.

I want to go beyond the negativity, the “don’t”-ness of a boycott, and instead explore positive actions to support authors still trapped in the EC quagmire. Let’s get some love for your favorite EC author!
— Buy non-EC books by your favorite EC author!
— Write a review for a non-EC book by your favorite EC author!
— Blog or post on social media about non-EC books by your favorite EC author!
— Recommend non-EC books by your favorite EC author to all your reader friends! Continue reading →

The Card Never Arrived

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I got a card today. I had wondered about that card because I had sent it out myself. I had sent it the moment I heard a colleague was very sick and dying. I had sent it to the hospital.

Today I got the card back stamped “Return to sender. Patient discharged”. Continue reading →

Definitions: What is Erotica?

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[UPDATE: Please also see my reprise blog post “Definitions: Erotica, Erotic Romance, Steamy Romance”]

People frequently make broad assumptions about what it is I write. Friends, family, and acquaintances snicker about my “porn”. Romance writer colleagues imbued with the cadence of traditional romance often bandy about the term “erotica” as if to signal the ugly otherness of erotic romance.

So I will attempt to answer the provocative question What is erotica? and by doing so answer corollary questions about misunderstood erotic-like literary variations: Erotic romance, steamy romance, smut, porn, and Romantica®. Continue reading →