By Lisabet Sarai
Hello!
My name is Lisabet, and I write smut.
Oh,
sometimes I call it erotic romance, or literary erotica, or even
speculative fiction, but as far as the world is concerned, those fine
distinctions don’t mean anything. As long as my work focuses on the
experience of sexual desire and includes explicit depictions of
sexual activities, I’m simply another pornographer. Certainly
that’s Amazon’s position. Unless I’m especially careful, clever
and/or duplicitous, my work is likely to be shuffled off to the adult
dungeon where it will languish forever in obscurity. (Of course, that
may happen even if my stuff doesn’t get quarantined, but the adult
label is the final nail in the coffin.)
Meanwhile,
in the enormous, financially powerful romance genre, so-called
“steamy romance” is still viewed as the red-headed step child.
This is the attitude of authors as well as (I assume) readers. Plenty
of my romance colleagues won’t host me as a blog guest because my
characters get down and dirty, even if I offer to create a purely PG
post. Indeed, I’ve read (and fumed over) ignorant comments on
romance writers' forums that dissed the entire erotica genre as
nothing but gratuitous sex with no plot or characterization.
Then
there’s my brother, also the creative type, who tells me I’m
incredibly talented and wants to know why I don’t write a “serious”
book. Oh, he also says he doesn’t want to read something that
arouses him.
Well,
guess what? Lots of people do. And I’ve decided that maybe I
should be courting those readers.
After
years of feeling embarrassed and apologetic about my chosen literary
niche—although I often feel it chose me rather than the other way
around—I finally decided it was time I really did write some porn.
Last
year I released my first book that I’d say was pure stroke fiction.
Hot Brides in Vegas actually does have a plot, and lots of
characters (mostly bodacious babes, with a few insatiable studs), but
it’s a pretty big stretch from my more “literary” endeavors.
Set in the outrageous world of strippers and swingers created by my
ERWA colleague Larry Archer, Hot Brides tells the story of
three young women who come to Las Vegas for Francesca’s lavish
wedding.
While
Fran’s fiancé
Jake
and
his
buddies
set
out
for
a
stag
night,
exploring
the
fleshpots
of
Sin
City, she and her
bridesmaids
Laura
and
Chantal
are
stuck
at
the
resort
under
the
watchful
eye
of
her
stern
Aunt
Giulia,
who
has
promised
Fran’s father
that
his daughter
will
come
to
the
altar
a
virgin.
Frustrated
and
annoyed
by
these
double
standards,
the
girls hatch
a
plan
to
escape
their
chaperone
and
have
some
fun
of
their
own.
With
the
help
of
a
susceptible
concierge,
a
butch
ex-cop
limo
driver
and
a
scandalous
French
couturiere,
they
find
their
way
to
The
Fox’s
Den,
the
most
exclusive
gentlemen’s club in the city. Owner Larry Archer and his crew of
strippers, bouncers, voyeurs and sluts are more than happy to welcome
the delectable trio as contestants performing at the club’s famous
Amateur Night.
Writing
Hot Brides was a breath of fresh air for me. I turned the
censors and critics off and simply wrote the wildest scenes I could
think of. I produced the 30K novella in record time (for me), banging
out (so to speak!) 3-5K words at a sitting. Furthermore, it’s
remarkably good—in my
own unbiased opinion!—for
fiction with no redeeming social value whatsoever.
My
reviewers agree. One called it “pure wicked escapism”, which
really sums up the story well. Meanwhile it has sold better than
anything I’ve written in quite a while (though I wouldn’t say
I’ve really conquered the obscurity problem).
In
fact, I enjoyed writing Hot Brides so much that I’m working
on a sequel. More Brides in Vegas reunites Fran, Laura,
Chantal and their swains with Annie, another contestant they met at
Amateur Night, for Annie’s wedding to Jake’s friend Ted. Since
Annie and Ted don’t have a lot cash, they’ve organized the
wedding at a vintage eighties motel on the outskirts of town, one of
those sprawling places where the rooms are arranged around a
courtyard with a big swimming pool. The newlyweds don’t realize
this is a favorite site for swingers’ parties.
I’m
hoping to finish the first draft of More Brides this weekend,
and to publish it by early June. And I’m proud to say that it has
even more sex than the first book.
I
think it’s about time I lived up to my bad reputation!
You
can check out a couple of excerpts from Hot Brides in Vegas
at the links below.
And
if you’re actually interested in buying a copy...
Barnes
and
Noble
-
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-brides-in-vegas-lisabet-sarai/1127452565?ean=2940154622568
