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
I have to agree, you are a dirty girl and a great writer of smut. It's been fun having you visit my world of perverts and you've been away far too long. I can't wait to read your latest sequel, if it has even more sex then it'll be twice as good.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of offending other writers of "erotica," I think an erotic story should be about doing it and not alluding to it for 99% of the story and then tacking the nasty part on at the bottom of the last page.
P.S. On a personal note, it's nice to find another author that I can jerk off to!
I'm flattered LOL.
DeleteI actually think that your definition is too narrow. Sometimes I enjoy writing stories where the eroticism is more in the mind than in the body. But it's also fun to let my hair down.
I am all in favour of a good one-handed read. Though I really like it when the story is so good, I have to book mark the filthy bits to get back to when I come to a break in the tale.
ReplyDelete
DeleteOne advantage of ebooks is that they don't get sticky and dog-eared LOL.
Lisabet, you've had me as a guest on your blog many times, in spite of the fact that I'm a guy who writes erotic romance. Let me be clear: my books have plenty of plot, but also plenty of hot. The sex in my books isn't gratuitous but a natural part of the story flow. In spite of that, and some really good reviews for my spy and private eye thrillers, I still get that "dirty book writer" tag. I have a few family members who, while happy for my successes, won't read my books because of "those things you have your characters do." Their loss.
ReplyDeleteI think the sex scenes help to explain why my books are almost as popular among men as they are among women. It does have it's drawbacks, though. When my sig other introduced me to her family, one of them asked me "Are you the one who writes all those perverted books?"
Some days you just can't win, ya know?
You've hit the nail on the head. It doesn't matter how effective and engrossing your story is, or how irresistible your characters. People just get hung up on the fact that you don't close the bedroom door.
DeleteWhat's perverted about having your characters do what people do all the time?
I have more on this over at ERWA:
https://www.erotica-readers.com/blog/2018/05/21/sexual-rehabilitation-frustration-violence-flasher/
If I had any successes to speak of, maybe a royalties check, my family would just smile, off-handedly. My husband says he supports my writing, but he doesn't like to read my books where he says I put "too much sex." HUH? Honey, it's me, hello? My kids just smile indulgently at me, "Oh, Mom!" Except for the one son who read my books and says I write tasteful sex scenes, with a literary style. He's the one I had to talk out of getting an English degree!
ReplyDeleteLisabet, more power to you! I hope you make buckets of money, selling what folks apparently want to read! This series of yours sounds like a whole lotta fun to write! I love imagining myself in sex scenes! Though like K.D.Grace, I do like when there's a good plot also, so I have to bookmark pages to return to, whenever I'm "in the mood." Smirk.
I'm a bit surprised at your husband's attitude. I thought most guys would agree there's no such thing as "too much sex"!
DeleteShocked me too, let me tell you! I blame his Catholic upbringing. He used to get upset when I'd tell him what his mom had told me about her sex life, and he refuses to even consider the fact that our grown children have sex lives. One son is married, with a baby, and still he doesn't want to think about it.
DeleteIn my opinion, once you are an adult, your parents are fellow adults. And once your kids are grown, they are also fellow adults. Why the hang-up, due to familial connections? If anything, you should be happy that good sex is being had by all.
Sometimes I'm so happy that I was raised free of any religion, by a couple of atheists. We raised our kids to seek their own answers...as we have. No religious teachings equals a more reasonable and egalitarian view of sex.
Great post, Lisabet. Lately, Laura Antoniou posted a whole list of contradictory comments on Facebook that reviewers or random critics have made about her series of BDSM novels. Apparently some critics say the books contain too much sex, some say there's not enough. Some complain about her transman "butler," Chris Parker, some say too many of the characters are gay, too many are lesbian, or there are too many hetero characters in books that should be queer from beginning to end. Some complain about the BDSM in an international organization for the training and leasing of voluntary slaves, which serves as a framework for the whole novel series. It all goes to show that no one can please all readers.
ReplyDeleteJean,
DeleteAs a writer of stories that typically have too much sex in them, I see the same comments. If everyone wrote the same type of story, it would be a dull grey place for sure. As an avid reader of erotica myself, I have a list of favorite authors who write smut that I enjoy reading. There is nothing wrong with "too much sex" or too little, it's what you the reader likes.
Lisabet, I love this premise! It sounds hot as hell. I'm glad you've been having a good time with these. :)
ReplyDeleteLisabet- you're always pushing the envelope. I love that you're so excited about your new books. Sex is a funny thing no matter what times we live in. I was listening to a blog about British phone sex workers. The youngest girl, who was putting herself through college with the phone sex dollars, went out to meet her friends at a bar and the two guys were kinda giving her crap for what she was doing. I lost out on a $5,000 grant a few years back because one of the stories I submitted was about an affair.
ReplyDeleteAlways great to read your posts...