Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Accidental Menage

Have to say I hadn't given much thought to writing a menage until recently although I like reading them. Menage, for those of us who have a very....um, tame lifestyle, it's pure wicked fantasy and there's not a thing wrong with that. But honestly? That's how I look at menage. I don't think it's the norm although I'd be interested in seeing statistics on how many people live that lifestyle or just indulge on occasion.

As a writer of erotic romance, I have to say I've always been kind of vanilla, I guess. One woman, one man...very hot, but there you go, VANILLA. That's okay. BDSM, menage, f/f, or m/m isn't for everyone. Thing is I find I'm branching out these days. Maybe my comfort level as a writer is expanding and that's a good thing because, as writers, we want to grow and try doing new things.

Well, finally, I moved to the next level, crossed over to the dark side, and I've written my first menage and currently I'm working on another. And it all happened by accident! Not long ago, I was seriously stalled on a work-in-progress. This wasn't brain surgery. It was an erotic romance. But for some reason, my mind just froze. I talked with a friend about the whole stalling-out thing and she suggested an exercise that seemed a little different so I decided to give it a try. She told me to write something completely "different" from what I'd done before. Didn't have to be long or anything...just different. She suggested writing a story about a love affair between a were-rabbit and a were-tiger. Okay, rolled my eyes and laughed over that one, but she had a point. I got it.

So just to give myself a break from the stubborn work-in-progress, I gave it a try. I had the flash of an idea for a paranormal and jumped in with both feet. I've NEVER had so much fun writing a story. This was another genre I hadn't tried and yes, it definitely took me to another level in my writing. The story flew and before long, due to the paranormal element, I was injecting menage into the plot. It was an accident, but it worked. I finished the shifter story in about four days, incorporating what I've been calling a MENAGE plus ONE. Guess I could've called it a foursome but that just sounded too much like a bunch of guys planning a golf date.

Now I've never been much of a fan of "stranger sex". You know...hot woman walks into a bar and spots a couple of equally hot guys. She stops and points...you and you. Come with me. We're gonna have wild monkey sex. Uh-uh. I don't find that appealing in anyway but I've found that injecting a bit of paranormal into the mix frees the writer up to deal with any morality qualms nicely. You have a world to create and diffent standards crafted exclusively by the writer. You can get away with just about anything.

For what it's worth, I sold the paranormal with the menage plus one to Ellora's Cave and now I'm onto another. It was so fun that I just had to do it again. Sometimes it takes a gentle nudge to try something different and some accidents can be good things.

21 comments:

  1. Oh yeah--welcome to the dark side, honey!

    ReplyDelete
  2. From your mouth to God's ear! I hope I have the same success you've had...to be honest, I'm a bit excited about it (no pun intended). My first erotic...wish me luc. I've been writing "heavy" stuff for two years now...it will be nice to do something a little lighter...scary, though. Menage? Hmmmm....:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep, moved to the dark side, Cindy. bwah hah hah. It was FUN doing something new.

    Huggers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Minnette! I'm like you. I wrote HOT for years but kind of thought I'd like to spread my wings a little. Who'd u thunk I'd love writing erotic romance sooo much. I've never had so much fun and yeah, I really balked at the idea but when I added the paranormal element it helped me get past any qualms I had. Good luck with yours. Be sure and let me know how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heh-heh. Glad you tried it--and found out you liked it! So...when ya gonna write that were-tiger/were-rabbit story?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmmm...I'll have to think on that one for awhile, Anny! LOL. That tiger could sure mess with that poor little bunny.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It has been suggested to me that going menage is the author's attempt to find a higher thrill now that the daring of writing erotica has waned. That each step away from the norm is a deviant step to increase the stakes for the writer and the reader. This same person suggested that our moral compasses have been skewed to the point where we have decided the menage or other erotic writings are okay and by allowing paranormal to dull the line of morality, we are essentially giving ourselves permission to continue a downward spiral of depravity.

    I won't tell you who said this. I'm in Texas, figure it out for yourselves. Hint.

    I know what I think and have said them. What are your thoughts on that?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well, color me DEPRAVED then because I LIKE IT. LOL. Yep, I can make a pretty good guess, Kell.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is pretty much the standard public viewpoint of the "moral majority" but I would give good money to have an accurate count on how many of the men and women who moralize about such standards secretly read or watch erotica. And I would like to know how many of them are secretly involved in affairs or use erotic toys behind closed doors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Maybe I'm part of the moral majority. I can't read or write menage story. I have always liked alpha hero, and an alpha man will never share his woman. Maybe, just maybe, I may get myself to write an erotica with the opposite menage. The alpha man and the ladies around him, sort of a harem. Still I would rather have them frolicking one after the other, then all at once.

    ReplyDelete
  11. & I have often wondered... can one be in love with two people at the same time...

    Like they say.. "torn between"...

    to Anny> the so called moralists ALL secretly read and enjoy erotica. It is one subject that naturally draws you in... even if you justify it with the word "curiosity" . No wonder then, that we have holy men/women & grandfathers/ mothers all trying to discover their sexuality via, erotica.

    I myself enjoy reading erotica, it is invigorating.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Excellent post, Regina. I'm glad you've found your way to the dark side and liked it. :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, James. The Dark SIde...I love it. snicker. I must since I'm already writing another. There's something really FREEING about just indulging in the fantasy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Interesting question...I think most women (men, too, maybe?) READ erotica/menage because it helps to put a little hot-cha-cha into their marriage... or gives them something to fantasize about on those cold and lonely nights. I love reading a good menage, but only with two men and one woman...I'm a bit of a prude that way (Ok, I guess I wouldn't be a prude if I read menage)...I've even thought about what it would be like for real...like most people, I don't think I'd ever act on it. But it's fun to play, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, I know that even my mainstream books make my parents' hair stand on end. The word disgusting was bandied about at one point. I wonder how they would handle a menage story. LOL.

    I don't have any answers and I won't pretend to. Seems like whether you write or read a menage is completely up to the person. It's not up for judgement because even the most "perfect" individual has things they don't want discussed openly and for judgment purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yep, Minnette. Bottom line is it's FUN to read about this stuff we maybe fantacize about. I wonder how many couples might read this stuff together? Here I go again with the survey thing...but I wish I knew. A really funny "chat" friend says she and her DH read hot excerpts together all the time and it's great for their love life. Hey...cheaper than therapy and more intimate than a porn movie for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  17. My house hunk reads my stuff and then wants to try it all.... all.... well, he hasn't brought an extra guy home yet!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anny. Another advantage of writing paranormal. I told mine we could act out all my scenes AFTER he grew wings and a tail. That shut him up...for a while. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Soooo, HH Dan has barbell piercings up the length of his "wonder stick"? You let him tug on your nipple rings? TMI TMI TMI alert!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh,that's good. Thank you ladies for the advice!

    ReplyDelete
  21. LMBO...wings and a tail, Cindy??? Yeah, that would be a good trick, huh. Tell him he must assume his DRAGON FORM. snicker.

    Barbell piercings???

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.