It's a peach...

As most of the readers know, I write for Ellora's Cave and Cerridwen Press. Up until fairly recently, Ellora's Cave had a heat level rating system. Depending on who you talked to, some authors felt that their books sold better it they had a hotter rating. That hotter rating was generally based on "how soon", "how often", and possibly on "how kinky".

Now there is no rating system, but rather a genre listing the types of sex in the book. So if m/m or menage is the reader's preference, they have only to look at the listing to find out if the book will suit their needs. Because one of my books is about domestic violence, it had a special advisory to warn readers. Otherwise, there is no rating.

Personally, I am pleased by this. It takes some of the pressure off the writer to perform early in the story when there's no logical reason to do so. Yes, I'm aware that couples have one night stands. But every book doesn't have to start with them immediately jumping each other's bones before they've even exchanged names!

As far as I can tell, most readers would like a combinations of interesting positions or combinations with sensual, emotional feelings. As they say about the cowboys...long, slow touches. Everything doesn't have to be a flash of heat. Unless it's a true, up against the wall lunchtime quickie, then it should be a sensual slow motion dance.

It seems to me that is the best of both worlds. In our world sensual just indicates that sex is less frequent and perhaps less adventurous. It doesn't have to mean that it is less heated or less emotional. One of the sexiest, most erotic scenes I've ever read in a book involved peaches. Uh-huh. It was a Cerridwen Press book titled Speechless by Elissa Abbott. As one reviewer said, "You'll never look at a peach quite the same way again."

Anny