Erotica

Isn't it funny how some of your best ideas come to you in the middle of the night? At around 4am this morning I woke up and it took me ages to fall back asleep as ideas for blogs filled my head and prevented me from finding the land of nod again. I really should have given in, switched on the laptop and got writing. Instead I struggled with the thoughts and ideas before eventually falling back to sleep and when I woke to the alarm every good idea, like my dreams, had faded. Except for the theme. The theme was writing.

My laptop has died, after a short life of just 18 months. On telling my friend C about this she told me about her dead laptop which has the first two (very long) chapters of her book saved on it. Apparently we all have a book inside us. C's book is fiction, involves a disaster which leads to a brave new world and from what she told me it would make a great movie. C tells me she had set the scene, introduced the characters and worked out the plot. Then life took over and her book just lay dormant waiting for her to wake it up and bring it to life. Before she had a chance to pick up from where she had left off her computer died and, without having done a back up, her book was lost. Or at least the first two chapters were.

In a previous blog I mentioned one of the books inside me - 'Can I Have The Skin Please?' - a book about my years working in a primary school. At 4am this morning I vaguely remember having an idea for a book called 'My Comeupance' a book about Karma catching up with me for past bad deeds and 'The Guardians Of Pride' a Mills and Boon romantic novel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_%26_Boon M&B books appear to follow a formula. Man meets woman. Although man and woman fall in love with each other at first sight some misunderstanding prevents them from getting together until the last few pages of the book. How simple does that sound? Certainly easier than recalling all the funny, poignant, interesting moments from a 17 year career working with children, or revisiting the darkest corners of my psyche and staring guilt in the face. Or is it?
M&B have were among the first publishers to issue guidelines and it is for this reason they are perceived to have a formula:
Word Count » 50,000—55,000 words. That is manageable. In fact it is likely to be tricky keeping the work count under 55.000.
Setting & Time Period » Limitless settings within a contemporary time frame as long as the location is sophisticated, glamorous and international. Naturally the working classes can't be romantic. Oh no. Working class misunderstandings are 'I thought I couldn't get pregnant the first time' and 'I don't know who the father is'.  To be fair if its a toss up between love in Monte Carlo and love on Canvey Island I know which one I'd choose to read.
•Although grounded in reality and reflective of contemporary, relevant trends, these fast-paced stories are essentially escapist romantic fantasies that take the reader on an emotional roller-coaster ride.
•Each book should contain a "strong, wealthy, breathtakingly charismatic" alpha-heroe who is tamed by a "spirited, independent" heroine.

•The focus of the story should be on a "provocatively passionate, highly charged affair, driven by conflict, emotional intensity and overwhelming physical attraction, which may include explicit lovemaking."
Which brings me to, for me at least, a totally unexplored genre - Erotic Romance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_romance_novels
Here's a review for 'Hers For The Night'
http://www.eroticaromancewriters.com/review.cfm?reviewID=9915
PORN ALERT! THOSE OF A SENSITIVE NATURE OR UNDER THE AGE OF 21 STOP HERE
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'Annabelle took another furtive look at her watch and sighed. If there was one thing she hated it was being kept waiting. Catching the waiters eye she ordered another cocktail. She noted the way he stared at her large firm breasts when he brought her drink over. His hand accidentally brushed hers as he handed her the tall icy glass but before Annabelle could thank him the door of the restaurant swung open and in strode Dexter. As always, when Dexter walked into a room everything else faded into the background. His striking dark good looks, his tall muscular physique  body and musky aftershave was all that filled Annabelle's view and she forgot to be angry at his tardiness and jumped up to greet him. Reaching up to throw her arms around his neck, Annabelle's lips sought his and pressing her body tightly against his she immediately felt the hardness of his cock as it pressed against her pussy.'
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Setting the scene isn't difficult. Using sexual words isn't difficult. What is difficult is making the reader care about Annabelle and Dexter. When I say reader I guess what I actually mean is female reader because I imagine erotic romance is mostly read by women. Otherwise it would be called Porn Fiction and would just be different versions of a plumber getting his spanner out for a bored housewife.
If you would like to know how things turn out for Annabelle and Dexter keep an eye out for a book called 'Passionate Encounters' a series of short stories featuring Annabelle and her search for love and sexual fulfillment.
If I can get the bloody laptop to work!