I recently wrote a post as a guest blogger on Night Owl Reviews about the difference between lust scenes—those with loving but not very explicit physical content—and sexy scenes with much more explicit descriptions. The scenes in my own books are not too detailed when the hero and heroine climb between the sheets. Though I don’t mind reading sexier books (and even enjoy it if the writing is good), I have to write what I’m comfortable with. Instead of focusing on the physical relationship between characters, I like to spend my words with drama, suspense, and mystery, as my three books show.
Perilous Love takes place in Belgium at the beginning of the first World War and tells about a husband and wife who have grown apart but who find themselves trapped as the Germans invade the country. While their physical relationship is not the emphasis, the suspense and danger in which they find themselves pulls them together. The question is, do they find love or just a respite from the hazards surrounding them?
Trafficking of slaves and gold smuggled to Napoleon carry the day in Lies of Gold. Again, the main characters are drawn together due to happenstance but their physicality takes a back seat to the intrigue and mystery behind the gold and murder. It’s not that going to bed together is unimportant, it’s just that intimate details are left more to the reader’s imagination while they sort out who is a treason to England.
Finally, The Proposition is another tale of World War I and centers around lies, a family’s dysfunction, and murder. While the main characters fall into bed, the door is closed with the Do Not Disturb sign pretty clear. That doesn’t mean that their sexual attraction is ignored, just that it’s not the main focus of the book.
This is a taste of my blog post. I hope you will hop on over to Night Owl Reviews and read the real thing!
Thanks–
Jan Selbourne
When history whispers, I pass it on!
Perilous Love
Lies of Gold
The Proposition
received calls. I laughed smugly at all those people glued to their Blackberrys and iPhones. I mourned for all those lost conversations when people sat across the table from friends and spent their time texting. I glared at those who unthinkingly knocked people on the sidewalk while playing Candycrush.
person.
I had to give up all apps, this is the one I would go of last. I am a sad, sad person.
happen in the first chapter because you have to be concerned with character introduction and plot hints. But using a prologue, the author can spend all of his/her time engaging the reader with emotion in what follows. You know me—I’m all for engaging!
examples and see where the author might have gone wrong. As for me, I never skip prologues. I might not read the rest of the book if the prologue is terrible, but at least I’ll have a good reason for it.
protagonists become engaged? Once they’re married are they happy? Do they have children? It seems that children or the announcement of a pregnancy are routinely in the epilogue of historical romances, and I like that little bit extra. It’s like biting into a chocolate—really good in itself—and finding a caramel filling that you didn’t expect. A step beyond satisfying and into the realm of happy.
is what I long to read. I have used them myself, and even enjoy reading them then. 😉
days where she would lie in her bedroom away from distraction and get lost in the world of make believe.
an example of how I look when I go into the office for a couple hours at the keyboard. Hair coiffed, mani/ pedi done to perfection, fuck me stilettos, and designer gown. And let’s not forget the special illumination that shows off the highlights in my hair.
and bunny slippers. Because after all, what’s the point of working from home if you can’t be comfortable?? When I give up the pajamas, I like loose-fitting pants, a tee shirt, a wrap over my shoulders and upper arms, and yes, slippers. This is why I don’t hie off to Starbuck’s to write—they frown on bunny slippers.