Erotic Romance...What It Is, and Is Not.
Erotic romance
first crept into the publishing industry at the turn of the millennium. Fast forward nearly fifteen years, and it’s
one of the hottest genres in town, thanks to books (and now movies!) like Fifty Shades of Grey.
But despite fame, fortune and a decent
dollop of notoriety, there are still a huge number of readers and even authors
and editors, marketers and agents, who still don’t fully understand what erotic
romance is.
…and what it is not. The most common misconception about erotic
romance is that it’s just romantic (read “emotional” or “sappy”) erotica. It isn’t.
Erotica is a quite separate genre with very little in common with erotic
romance.
Erotic romance is many things, but it is not a sub-genre
of Erotica.
Erotica is a specialized form of storytelling
with very different aims from those of erotic romance.
Its primary function is to arouse and
titillate the reader using language, metaphor, imagery and more. Everything in the book, including
word-choice, is designed to provoke a physical response in the reader, and to
stir their sensuality.
Erotica may have a coherent, linear
plot. Then again, it may not have
anything resembling a story at all – it could be a series of vignettes, scenes or
“moments” all compiled with the sole objective of stimulating the reader’s
physical responses. Viewpoint characters
can change without notice, and there may not be a lead character at all.
There is a strong argument in favor of
classifying Fifty Shades of Grey as
Erotica – and not erotic romance.
Why?
Erotic Romance is a sub-genre of Romance
Erotic Romance began as a (very) racy sub-genre of romances. Romance authors were drawn to the freedom of
story-telling available within erotic romance, as well as the unique (back
then) method of telling a romance via the sexual sub-plot, plus all the very different types of stories that could now be told
with the bedroom door wide open. Broad-minded
readers loved them.
There are a great many rules and conventions
that the Romance industry and its devoted readers expect to find within the
pages of any romance. Erotic Romance
meets every single one of those expectations…and delivers more, besides.
1.
There is always a hero and a
heroine. Sometimes there is more than
one hero, but there is always at least one.
2. A
romance always develops between the hero and heroine…and it always, always, always ends happily. (Thus disqualifying a huge number of stories
that the non-romance reading public consider to be romances, including Gone with the Wind, and the Fifty Shades series).
3.
There is romantic conflict. The
happy-ever-after ending is always put in jeopardy in an Erotic Romance, just as
it is within the pages of a “normal” romance – although often, the conflict is
played out via sexual issues (but not always).
4. The hero(es) is/are always to die
for. J
5.
And often not acknowledged: Just
like any other popular fiction genre, romances tell a story. There is a coherent plot, conflict, and a
happy resolution.
Then there are the bonuses that Erotic
Romance brings, including:
1. More adventurous story-telling. There are very few limits on what erotic
romance readers are willing to try.
2. Sex!
In all its steamy glory, described in loving detail.
3. Because the bedroom door is left open,
the reader gets to see the romantic relationship developing through all its stages, from awkward (often
hostile) strangers, through all the intimacy and trust that develops through
sex , to the final conclusion of the romance.
All the little by-plays and fun relationship building stuff that happen
in a bedroom (or anywhere else!) the reader gets to share, too.
Erotic romance is a mature market
Erotic romance, when it first became
popular, inched its way into the hearts and minds of romance readers a step at
a time. The very first erotic romances
(including a few of mine) were considered racy and risqué, and for most of the
romance industry, quite shocking with their frank language and imagery. But now, fifteen years on, those early erotic
romances are just sexy romances. They
don’t qualify as erotic romance anymore.
Those tamer, older erotic romances’ frank
sex scenes barely raise eyebrows, while the other
end of the erotic romance spectrum has extremes of BDSM, multiple partners, and
much, much more. Erotic romance authors
keep pushing the limits, experimenting and having a great time telling new,
fresh stories.
Erotic romance has been absorbed into
romanceland and now, quite often (and especially for the milder version), there
are no warnings about hot sex, and the erotic romance is shelved amongst its
tamer cousins, instead of being stuck in a discrete corner with plastic wrap
and R-Rated labels slapped on it.
In other words, erotic romance is now just
another sub-genre of Romance, like paranormal, romantic suspense and
historicals. You get to pick and choose
according to your personal reading tastes.
Makes you wonder what the inventive writers
of romance will come up with next, huh?
______
Tracy
Cooper-Posey writes erotic vampire romance series and hot romantic suspense.
She has been nominated for five CAPAs including Favorite Author, and won the
Emma Darcy Award. She published 35 titles via legacy publishers before
switching to indie publishing in March 2011. She has published over 45 indie
titles to date. Her indie books have
made her an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author and have been nominated four times
for Book of the Year. Byzantine Heartbreak won the title in
2012. Tracy has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she
taught romance writing at MacEwan University. An Australian, she lives in
Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she
moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line. Her website can be found at http://TracyCooperPosey.com.
If you're a erotic romance author and you like to write an article telling everyone the difference between Erotic Romance and Erotica please email Laurie at bittenbyromance@gmail.com
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