Hello there! Thanks for stopping by the blog! Today we have the awesome and talented author Jess Michaels! She will be taking over the blog for the day! So make her feel welcome :p
First I’d like to say thanks to Ana for letting me be a part of her blog today! If you have no idea who I am at this point, I write erotic historical romance set in the Regency period. I love alpha males and strong female characters who I’d like to be friends with. And lots and lots of steamy stuff.
Now Ana actually gave me a topic, so I’m going to post the questions she asked because I’d love to answer them directly. :)
What's your take on smut in books? Is it easy to get down and write those steamy scenes? Are they as steamy as you imagined them in your head? And of course, do you have someone that reads them before you let them get shipped to the printers?
So I guess I’ve never considered my book to be smut. Like porn, I‘ve always considered “smut” to be a bunch of sex without a story. Not a bad thing, but not really something that sticks with you. I write erotic romance. To me that means I’m still telling a story of two characters, but they may have a sexual conflict that is strong enough that it is a driving force in their book. In AN INTRODUCTION TO PLEASURE, my bestselling first book in my Mistress Matchmaker series, my heroine is being trained sexually by the hero. So yeah, they’re going to get it on, but there’s still a lot of story there between the love scenes.
As for writing, I’m not sure any of it is easy. Sometimes sex scenes come a lot easier than other times. I don’t have to ‘get in the mood’ or anything because it’s my job. This is what I do. Lucky me. But I’m always trying to use every scene I write, sex or not, to forward the plot, the character development or the tension. If I can do all three, then I’m super happy. I’m never writing sex just for the sake of sex and I hope I’m writing love scenes that readers can’t skip.
There is some discomfort, of course that comes with question number three. I am published, and have an editor, so she always reads my books before they hit shelves. In fact she reads them multiple times. There is also a copyeditor who reads them to catch any final mistakes. It is a little weird when someone makes a comment or correction in a love scene. It really does hit home that someone is READING this. But the panic subsides and after almost 40 books (many of them very sexy), the idea that people are reading my books isn’t as shocking to me as it once was.
Sexy books are fun! They are fun to write, they should be fun to read. 50 Shades definitely didn’t invent this genre of erotic fiction and I hope readers will give the rest of the talented authors in erotic romance a chance to show you what WE’RE working with.
Thanks again for having me! :)
Concluding this post, Jess is throwing in a giveaway! *happy dancing here* what's up for grabs you ask? ONE lucky winner will get the chance to win a PAPERBACK copy of Nothing Denied (Book #3 in the Albright Sisters series) by Jess Michaels
Good luck!
Jess Michaels always likes the "good parts" when she reads romance, so it makes sense that she writes erotic books. She is a nationally bestselling and award-winning author of nearly 40 novels and novellas. When not writing, she enjoys being a geek, designing jewelry and trying to keep the cats from scratching the furniture. She lives in Tucson with her husband.Jess Michaels is a pseudonym for author Jenna Petersen (historical romance) and author Jesse Petersen (urban fantasy)
