I Don't Write About Sex (OK I Do)

Sex isn't a theme, it's a way to express a theme.

A writer’s mind is an odd place. This could be writing advice or reading advice.

I don’t write about sex. That sounds like a stupid thing for an erotica author to say. I write about relationships (relationships that include a lot of sex, I admit). My stories are not misty romances, there’s no candlelit dinners or hunky heroes. My characters fight, fuck and try all sorts of fetishes.

Behind the sex in my stories, there is often a theme: relationships evolve, characters change, they grow, become more confident, they take charge. The sex in Painted Stripes is very graphic, as realistic as I can make it on paper. The reader is welcome to read it as, to quote one publisher I spoke to, “A jerk off or panty wetting book,” or to enjoy the themes and developing relationships as well.

I began writing Teach Me as an excuse for a sexy BDSM romp but Erica quickly developed into a typical Simone Francis character. She began writing to her husband and the dynamic of different relationships for different needs explored in Painted Stripes appeared again. Without giving too much away, Erica also swings between submissive and dominant within these relationships.

After writing one episode I read, Having Sex With Multiple People Keeps Me From Getting Bored by Mary Carter (available on Medium) in which she talks about an autistic woman who is honest about sex and relationships. She has different partners for different needs.

Mary’s article brought Erica’s story in Teach Me, into sharper focus - it gave me a theme to work on, which expanded and deepened the story.

This theme also permeates Painted Stripes. Jocelyne is stuck in a marriage that is floundering. The painting she commissions forces her to explore more hedonistic sexual experiences. She experiments with lesbian and bisexual partners but, like Erica, swings between submissive and dominant. Her relationship with her husband changes, as his needs have also matured since they married as teenagers.

In my supernatural erotica many of my preternatural entities are female. In The Confession and Satanic Vigilante they are avenging angels bringing retribution to misogynistic, violent men.

When the entities are male their interaction is with strong, confident women. These stories are not about fighting monsters, unless those monsters are human: my heroines use the supernatural to explore and develop their sexuality. They are quite literally, playing with their demons.

In The Invitation three women bow down in front of a demon. They may appear submissive but their ancestors have been in control of him for centuries, and that is not going to change now. As in any relationship, there are fights, negotiations and make ups. This series is still expanding both into the future and the past.

Why Include Sex?

Humans interact in many different ways, but sex takes that interaction to a deeper level. In many older books and films the lawyer/policeman/husband/wife will ask, “Were you intimate with them?” In my mind, being intimate, which does not have to include penetrative sex, is a perfect way to describe why sexual acts transform a relationship and why I often include them in my stories.

And people like reading about sex.