Writing Erotic Science Fiction

So yesterday I submitted my first erotic science fiction novel to my wonderful editor, Grace. Since my first short novel was set in the 19th century, science fiction is quite a departure for me. I've been reading it for as long as I can remember, though, and my favorite books are always those that combine science fiction and romance.

Lois McMaster Bujold is an author of space opera who always injects some romance into her stories. I've read her entire Miles Vorkosigan series and love it. Start with Cordelia's Honor if you aren't already a fan. I also like Orson Scott Card and David Weber's Honor Harrington series. All of these authors also create strong female protagonists.

I've tried to write the sort of science fiction that I like to read, so my story features a military hero (gruff, battle-scarred, and devoted to duty) and a heroine who comes from a world where women are no better than chattel. There's a feminist subtext here as well, which I hope readers will recognize and enjoy.

My favorite part of writing SF is the chance to "world build"--create another species or world with its own rituals, language, and social organization. This is where my background in anthropology comes in handy. The novel I've just submitted revolves around language and the idea that language structures thought. In the Antaren language spoken by the heroine, it's impossible to think of herself as a subject. In other words, there is no first-person I or me or my, so the heroine is incapable of putting herself first, asking for what she wants, or asserting authority.

The hero, Avar Rákōsy, is a linguist and he literally gives the heroine the language to express herself. I hope readers will enjoy the exploration of language and self that I've tried to work into the story.

My editor has promised a four-week turnaround on the manuscript, so I'll be counting the days until I hear from her. In publishing time, that's the blink of an eye. But right now, it seems like light years away.

E-Book Piracy

So my first erotic romance was released on April 14th (yay!). Since I've heard a lot about book piracy on list servs, I figured I'd find out a little bit more about it. I was really surprised to find that four days after my book was released, it's already been pirated! I found it available for (free) download at two separate websites and it had been downloaded at least 30 times already.

It's incredibly discouraging to find that something I just spent four months working on is now free to anyone who wants it. While I'm gratified that several people were interested enough in the book to download it, it's disappointing to know that what they've done will make it more difficult for me to produce future books. After all, the more money I make from writing, the more time I can spend writing. I'm far, far away from supporting myself by writing fiction, but it's something I hope to do in future.

Something else to think about--it's not just authors who are being shortchanged by book piracy. It's also editors, cover models and artists, publicists, agents, and publishers. Pirates make it more difficult for all of us to make a living.

Romance Cover Models

I have to admit that I haven't given much thought to cover models on romance novels. Once I got a look at the cover of my own short novel, Not Quite a Lady, I began to pay more attention. I absolutely love my cover--the male cover model conveys all the intensity and barely-restrained passion that I imagined in my hero, Sebastian Dare. I'm ashamed to say that it never occurred to me to find out who the model was.

I got a surprise earlier this week when I got an email from the cover model, Jimmy Thomas. He told me that he is having tote bags made for the upcoming Romantic Times conference and he wanted to use my cover on the tote bag. Wow!

Jimmy was kind enough to say that my cover, designed by Syneca at Ellora's Cave, was one of his all-time favorites. While it occurred to me that he might say that to all the authors whose covers he poses for, it still gave me a thrill. It's certainly my favorite cover. I even had it framed. Now it sits on my desk and provides inspiration.  : )

More importantly, Jimmy's email gave me the chance to tell him how much I loved the cover and to thank him for capturing my hero so perfectly. He conveys some incredibly smoldering passion in just a few hundred pixels. Pretty impressive if you ask me!

I feel really fortunate to have gotten so lucky with my first cover and model. And now that I'm working on my next novel, I find myself imaginging Jimmy as the hero--scorching those pixels in a black dress uniform with platinum trim. To see more of Jimmy's work, check out his website.

Romance Reading for Writers

One of the things that I find most inspiring as a writer is reading. I don't think it's possible to improve as a writer without reading, both for pleasure and with a critical eye. Right now I'm reading The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle. It's historical fiction set in the Tudor era with a healthy dollop of romance. I've been really impressed by the author's research and how she's developed the relationship between the hero and heroine. But as I read, I also realize that it's not the sort of book that I could write. At over 500 pages, it has a complex plot and follows the characters for several years. What keeps me reading is the pace. (Though I have to admit that I skipped ahead to make sure that it had a happy ending--it does!)

As a writer, I feel most comfortable working on much shorter projects--novellas or short novels. I've written two (unpublished) novel-length romances, but in both cases I lost a lot of steam after the first 100 pages. I also felt as though I was losing control of the characters and the plot. This is probably in part because I don't write using an outline. For me, outlining seems to lead to mechanical, rather than organic, plotting. That certainly isn't a problem that Barbara Kyle seems to have.

If I do eventually move on to writing novel-length romance, there are a few authors that I would like to emulate. I await their new releases eagerly and always buy them new (as opposed to getting them from the library or buying them used). Three romances that I can't wait for are:

Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran (April 27th)
His at Night by Sherry Thomas (May 25th)
Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt (August 1st)

These three writers consistently deliver stories with great characterization, strong plotting, and swift pacing. I'll be reading their new releases in order to enjoy great romance, as well as to improve my own craft.