First things first, if explicit, adult language offends you, then you had probably better skip on down to the interview as this article will be full of offensive words. How HOT is it? How HOT do you like it? What makes it HOT? As I was reading recently, those were a few of the questions I asked myself, and some others, and I found some very diverse and interesting results. Personally, I began reading erotica many years ago, before the advent of the Internet and the increase in availability to all things erotic. Now, back in the dark ages of the early 80’s *shudder* it was kind of hard for a nice girl to find good HOT reads. But darned if the Doubleday Book Club didn’t know that we women wanted more from our books and I discovered Anais Nin! Whew! That was a whole different set of reading material than what I was used to, and I liked it. Later, I discovered some Black Lace titles and an obsession was born. However, until I discovered the Internet and e-books, I didn’t read much because the good books from the book club were few and far between. Once I discovered e-books, I was swept away by the new wave of erotic romances and great erotica publishing houses. Now, I rarely read anything else. Nothing else gives me the HOT explicit sex I am looking for. Well, almost nothing! I do have a few mainstream favorites that I still read, but they are on the more explicit side of their genres. At the present, I feel the erotic romance genre is on the upswing. It is becoming more and more popular and more and more acceptable to mainstream readers. As I continue to read though, I am baffled at the wide range of material that is now being called erotic romance. So, this led me to my quest! What is it that makes a good erotic romance HOT! What makes you want to throw down your hubby or significant other on the floor and take him where he stands…errr lies??

Terminology plays a huge part in erotic romance. Yes, a love scene can be erotic without all those “dirty” words but is it going to make you want to jump the bones of your significant other, NOW? So that was the first question I ask. What words do you like and what don’t you like? Well boy did I get some answers. 40 pages worth! Sandra Webb from the EC loop said “Erotica tells it like it is, and uses the words that are both titillating and now in the common vernacular. Since I started reading erotic romance I haven’t seen a single heaving bosom! Which is fine, because you know you have to watch those <g>. You could put someone’s eye out. So yes, I want to read about tits and boobs. About cocks and pussies, somehow it just doesn't work to "insert his penis in her vagina". You can call it a shaft, a rod, a hardened manhood. You can call it moist depths, honeyed heaven, womanhood. I'll read it anyway, but it just won't have the same impact.” Amen sister! Barbara Marshall added, “As a reader, I just can’t stand euphemisms. It is what it is, call it that! I’m a grown up person reading grown up literature and I don’t need to have the language prettied up.” Yes!! I am liking these girls. These are my kindred spirits. Battie says she likes the word cock for the male, “truthfully, I find it hotter than penis. Not that love scenes without those words aren't hot--they are! But I find I prefer the rawer terms. Particularly when the male character is using the words. I just think it's sexy, especially if the characters are in a relationship!” That’s it… we girls love dirty talk! Are you surprised? Not me, I knew that was it. We may or may not be the type to say those words in general conversation, but reading them in erotica turns us on. Sometimes, that turn on spills over into real life and what we are reading in the books might come out in our bedroom. And isn’t that the point? We as readers want to spice up our lives a bit, so we read an erotic romance and get erotic ideas. So, now I am wondering, why the sudden influx of euphemisms in our erotica? Let’s ask the authors…

This is were things start to get strange. Not being an author, I can’t say that I understand the concept of the character’s voice, but it plays a heavy role in what your hero or heroine is saying. Most authors wholeheartedly agree that if the character wouldn’t say it, then they don’t write it. Celeste Anwar, author of several erotic, paranormal books including Born Of Night, says “It depends on my characters and the story. Some women say pussy, others are more restrained. Some men say cunt, some would never dare. If my heroine wouldn’t say it, she’s not going to think it either so I won’t or will use certain words based entirely on character and which POV I’m in.” Author of soon to be her twentieth book, Ann Jacobs says, “My personal preference would be to never use some words in my writing, particularly those, like cunt, that have a derogatory connotation to me. It’s my characters, though, not me who determine the language they use in thought and words, so if the character wouldn’t shy away from a particular manner of expression, then neither would I when writing his/her story.” This isn’t a strictly female perspective either. Master Nage, author of the newly released Scorch admits that out of sensitivity to some of the female audience he will almost never have a male character use the word cunt. “I do have a female character that uses it in my book. However, she is a BAAAAAD girl and it fits her personality to a T. To use anything else would be just…wrong.” Okay, so I can see that characterization is an important factor to what a particular character will or won’t say. However, even though the author says it’s the character’s voice they are writing, the authors mind is still creating the piece, and here is where I found some most interesting information.

Many erotic romance authors are shy when it comes to using these words. Some actually admitted to blushing as they write. Now that for me was a real revelation. I mean come on ladies, you are writing explicit, graphic sex scenes. Blaise Kilgallen says after writing less explicit romances it took her a while to get in to the habit of using words like cock and pussy and seeing them on her screen. Ellen Fisher, who admittedly doesn’t write erotica, says she tends to avoid using those blunt “c-words”, and wonders if it’s “a matter of practice and of writing what your comfortable with.” A perspective that I hadn’t thought of, Myra Nour told us that using certain words is getting easier, “but I really protested cock at first. To me growing up on a farm it always brought pictures to mind of strutting roosters - not a sensual image. But I was told that the word dick was considered less sexy. I never thought about it. And I never heard cock used, only dick. Using pussy has been hard, but I use it some. I too have had a southern lady upbringing and these terms are hard to be comfortable with.” Not all the authors feel this way. There are authors like Jaci Burton, author of the Passion in Paradise series, who says she was taught never to use the explicit words in her Catholic upbringing, but admits “being the rebellious girl I am, I use them anyway. I don’t like being stifled or told that I can’t speak/write in a certain way. Sex is sex. The words are there and they’re spoken in real life and I use them in my writing.” Now we’re talking!!

This brings us to the mood or the feel of the scene. All of the authors and readers agreed that certain words can and do set a mood for the scene, which, in turn, sets a mood for the reader which, in turn, leads to their arousal and enjoyment of the erotic romance they have chosen. Lena Austin, author of the soon to be released The God’s Wife, says her biggest criteria is “can I visualize exactly what is going on? As a writer it is my job to go beyond the vague descriptions available elsewhere and give the reader something exciting and different. No missionary positions and slamming bedroom doors for me.” Jaide Fox, author of Intergalactic Bad Boys says, “If it’s a slow scene I draw out the build up, or sensual torture <g>. It’s not so much the words as what you reveal and how much you reveal.” Jaci Burton adds that “as a reader, I want to be excited by the lovemaking scenes. Many times the terminology and phrasing used will create the mood for me. If it’s tender and sweet, then the words should reflect that, if it’s primal and heatedly sexual, then the words should also reflect that mood.” That is a very true statement. But just as the terminology can effectively create that sexy mood for the reader, so can it burst your bubble and ruin the mood of what could have been a great story and a good evening for your significant other.

Some other observations…Time period and whether it is a futuristic, Sci-Fi fantasy, a contemporary or even a regency type setting, most authors felt that being true to the time period and what the hero or heroine might say in that setting was important. Overusing any word in a scene is like a death sentence. Repetitive wording is distracting and even can, in some instances, make the reader throw up their hands and give up on a book. So what I am hearing from authors and readers alike is that there is a fine balance between the “sexy” words, the clinical words and the euphemisms. And what about those clinical words? Cheyenne McCray told us that she personally doesn’t find clinical names erotic at all and she prefers the more direct terms, even though she admits that she still can’t say them out loud. Overwhelmingly, most readers and authors don’t find the clinical words erotic. Except for the nurses (hmm, should we worry). However, many still say they use them sparingly in an attempt to keep variety in the particular scene they are writing. There was some suggestion that the word fuck was overused and that not enough use “making love” instead. Here again, it would depend on the particular scene and the tone of what is happening. I mean, sometimes we want to make love and sometimes we just want to fuck!! And then there are those euphemisms. Isn’t the love channel a 24 hour cable soap channel? That’s what Shyan Autm thought. Myra Nour thinks of roosters when you say cock. How about the love canal, tunnel of passion, her core, her sheath, her sex, her flowering portal?? Sheesh! And then there is his sword, his staff, his length, his member, and please don’t let his dick, his peter or his prick any where near me, but above all never, never let him spew his lusty fountain! It’s just not right!

Stay tuned to the next issue for part 2 in which we talk to some representatives of some of the major erotic romance publishers today for their opinions and requirements on what makes a good erotic romance HOT!

© Amber Taylor - November 23, 2003 Issue of the Just Erotic Romance Review Newsletter

Back to Articles