tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post6169386117565863510..comments2024-03-28T08:43:04.825-04:00Comments on Seduced By History: Historical Romance - How Much Heat is Too Much?Seduced by Historyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196314920956478724noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-71027795113417430122010-05-16T15:13:49.903-04:002010-05-16T15:13:49.903-04:00While I like the steamy and erotic, I don't go...While I like the steamy and erotic, I don't go for the crude. So I don't know. It can be tricky to get my point across sometimes without stepping over my self-imposed line. Of course, that's just me. Plus, I tend to like a story that does not follow a formula. I know, I know. There is nothing wrong with a formula. I agree. Lots of people like more romance with their erotica, some like less.Gina Maginihttp://www.lulu.com/product/item/the-gypsy-pall/10808565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-22974258003017160652009-04-06T19:59:00.000-04:002009-04-06T19:59:00.000-04:00AND THE WINNER IS....I took all the names of every...AND THE WINNER IS....<BR/><BR/>I took all the names of everyone who commented and used the list randomizer on randomizer.org. And the name that came out on top is...<BR/><BR/><B>HELEN SCOTT TAYLOR</B><BR/><BR/>Congrats!!! :) Send me an e-mail at Evangeline@EvangelineCollins.com and let me know if you'd prefer an ARC of HER LADYSHIP'S COMPANION, or e-book copies of OBJECT OF HIS DESIRE and BOUND BY DECEPTION, and I'll send them winging on their way to you. If you pefer the ARC, include you snail mail address since paper doesn't travel through the internet very well. <BR/><BR/>Thanks bunches to everyone who commented!!!! :) <BR/>--------------------------<BR/>There were 23 items in your list. Here they are in random order:<BR/><BR/>Helen Scott Taylor <BR/>Allure VanSanz <BR/>Virginia <BR/>Tracey Devlyn <BR/>Cheryl <BR/>Stephani Hecht <BR/>Shawn Lane <BR/>Susan Macatee <BR/>Cindy Spencer Pape <BR/>Housemouse88 <BR/>Keena Kincaid <BR/>Hanna Rhys Barnes <BR/>Maureen <BR/>Louisa Cornell <BR/>Eliza Knight <BR/>Kytaira <BR/>Natasha <BR/>Jina Bacarr <BR/>Keira <BR/>Francesca Hawley <BR/>Sage O'Thomas <BR/>Kit Donner <BR/>Carol JoEvangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-68259295708016584852009-04-06T19:53:00.000-04:002009-04-06T19:53:00.000-04:00Kytaira - I bet that was some James Bond-style boo...Kytaira - I bet that was some James Bond-style book! ;) It is nice how publishers now, especially e-pubs, indicate what's in an erotic romance, so a reader isn't caught off guard by something they don't expect. <BR/><BR/>Hey Jina - Thanks! :) I took a class on 'Writing Red Hot Erotic Romance' from you about a year and half ago. Fantastic class! I'm so glad you liked the blog post.<BR/><BR/>Maureen - I agree, those dropped in scenes to just add heat are rather annoying. The heat level needs to match the characters and plot, else it doesn't work for me, no matter how hot the book is.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-74022737004340955382009-04-06T12:26:00.000-04:002009-04-06T12:26:00.000-04:00That's an interesting topic. I have read some gre...That's an interesting topic. I have read some great stories that are very mild and others that are very hot. For me, it just depends on the story. If a scene doesn't seem to fit with the story, like it was just added to make the book hotter, than it's annoying but when it adds to the story and the characters' relationship then it's great.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16392692656456938856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-71231449157275515422009-04-06T02:26:00.000-04:002009-04-06T02:26:00.000-04:00Excellent blog and follow-up comments, Evangeline....Excellent blog and follow-up comments, Evangeline.<BR/><BR/>I write erotic romance and I love having the freedom to explore all areas of sexuality--including M/M/F--in historicals. <BR/><BR/>JinaJina Bacarrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07858018049423464275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-35881665648716099552009-04-06T01:40:00.000-04:002009-04-06T01:40:00.000-04:00I love hot books. And if I have warning, I enjoy a...I love hot books. And if I have warning, I enjoy a wide variety of kink in books as well. By that I mean, I don't want to pick up a Harlequin Present with kink - ever. Love Ann Rice's Beauty books though. I don't think that's really a change with me so much as a wider variety of books are easier to find now. Just as there is a wider variety on the erotica side, I think there is more on the tamer side. While I read everything except f/f, my sister in law reads inspirational. The internet has made it easier for both of us to find what we want. And ebooks/small publishers have made a wider variety easier to find.<BR/><BR/>I think the wider variety of books has been there for decades, it was just too difficult to find easily. It was probably just as difficult for authors to find the right publishers. The first time I read a book with fisting in it was about 35 yrs ago. It was in a James Bond style book. I have no doubt my uncle bought it in a plain old store because we were from a farming community in the heartland. There is no way my uncle ever set foot in an actual bookstore. Later, I worked at a UBS that closed. As a result, I carried away stacks of books all from the late 60s and early 70s that normally I wouldn't have looked at. They were mainstream style books but surprisingly diverse when it came to sex acts. The problem was you never knew what you were going to find. The flip side is you couldn't find what you wanted either.Kytairahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16576643429768224440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-7637827514936217642009-04-05T22:18:00.000-04:002009-04-05T22:18:00.000-04:00Hi Cheryl and Susan -Thanks for your comments and ...Hi Cheryl and Susan -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments and for stopping by! :) Allure mentioned that she thought authors wrote what they liked, and that really does seem to be the case.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-73491990153675486392009-04-05T22:14:00.000-04:002009-04-05T22:14:00.000-04:00I would quibble that m/f "vanilla" sex isn't reall...<I>I would quibble that m/f "vanilla" sex isn't really erotic anymore.</I><BR/><BR/>Hey Francesca, that's just my personal opinion and it's likely due to what I write and my reading habits. If I'm in the mood for hot m/f sex, then I'll go to my fav historical authors like Kleypas and Foley. If I'm in the mood for erotic, then I go with a m/m from Langley, Mitchell or Lane. There are authors that do m/f vanilla ER books very well (and judging from your 4 1/2 star review in RT, I group you in that mix), and they sell like hotcakes, which indicates there are many readers out there that crave hot erotics without a lot of kink thrown in to the mix.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-35633782319378611672009-04-05T18:48:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:48:00.000-04:00Interesting topic! While I don't mind a few explic...Interesting topic! While I don't mind a few explicit sex scenes in the books I read, and this is also the type of romance I like to write, I think there's room in the romance genre for whatever readers crave. I think there are many readers on both ends of the spectrum from sweet to hot, and ones like me who like a happy medium. I believe there should be books out there that satisfy everyone's taste.Susan Macateehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07476340887041053638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-44333872159922933462009-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:00Keira, Good point about language. I'll go for the ...Keira, <BR/><BR/>Good point about language. I'll go for the more graphic terms in a hero's POV, but usually won't go there with a heroine in a sexy romance. But in an ER book, I let the heroine's use all those graphic terms if it fits her character. <BR/><BR/>I read your blog post (very nice!), and I think you're right about menages and spicy historicals. I can see same sex books eventually becoming more mainstream in spicy romances, but the 'one soul mate' thing will likely keep menages from becoming more mainstream. Plus, as Louisa pointed out, I suspect a lot of romance readers are greedy and won't want to share. LOL.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-38414379032704795042009-04-05T18:31:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:31:00.000-04:00Thanks for dropping by, Virgina. I, too, get bored...Thanks for dropping by, Virgina. <BR/><BR/>I, too, get bored if there is just sex for sex's sake on every page of a book. Then it's more erotica than an erotic romance. And I prefer erotic romance over erotica. I crave the romance in a book - the whole 'falling in love and finding your other half', and all the conflict and angst that goes along with it. Oh, I'm a sucker for angst. I just love it!Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-43232410406717552562009-04-05T18:24:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:24:00.000-04:00Hi Sage, Interesting comment. Made me think of how...Hi Sage, <BR/><BR/>Interesting comment. Made me think of how I bought my first couple erotic romances online at Amazon. At the time, I would have never thought to buy one in a bookstore, for fear that the check-out clerk would think I'm a perv. LOL. I think the same thing can be said about the kinkier ER books and menages and m/m - readers are probably more comfortable buying them online. Of course, I've long since lost any worries about buying any type of book at a bookstore. I'll go right up to the clerk and ask them for a title if I can't find it on the shelf. ;)Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-71503211304518125232009-04-05T18:19:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:19:00.000-04:00Hiya Allure!I think you're right on about a relati...Hiya Allure!<BR/><BR/>I think you're right on about a relationship between the increase in heat level in romance books and the changes in acceptability.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-10366289633373214492009-04-05T18:16:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:16:00.000-04:00"the sex scenes have to serve a purpose besides ge...<I>"the sex scenes have to serve a purpose besides getting the reader hot along with the characters (like further the plot and reveal character) otherwise even hot sex scenes can be boring."</I><BR/><BR/>Totally agree, Natasha! Even in my Ava books, I'll drop a sex scene if it doesn't do much to advance the plot. I can take a couple of just fun sex scenes in a book, but after more than 2, they start to get boring. Sad, really, when one fines herself skimming the sex scenes in an erotic romance. But it's really all about drawing the reader into the book, and if the scenes aren't revealing something about the plot or characters, then they just don't work much for me.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-37512099155966441632009-04-05T18:04:00.000-04:002009-04-05T18:04:00.000-04:00Evangeline, This is a great post. For me, the h...Evangeline,<BR/> This is a great post. For me, the hotter the story the better. I love reading and writing erotic romance. I think the lines between the two are blurring somewhat and there's a place for the entire spectrum of heat from sweet to erotic. There are certainly readers for all levels. Diversity is a positive thing. I would quibble that m/f "vanilla" sex isn't really erotic anymore. I think it is, but I also think that there is more tolerance of alternative relationships too and I'm glad.<BR/><BR/>FrancescaFrancesca Hawleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09280521929025352600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-6197755463217675422009-04-05T17:29:00.000-04:002009-04-05T17:29:00.000-04:00I'm not a M/M reader but I don't mind hotter books...I'm not a M/M reader but I don't mind hotter books. I love that there are choices for everyone. I do write more erotic short stories but my single titles are sexy with no kink. I do love a big sweeping romances! CherylAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-81475985683357160352009-04-05T16:16:00.000-04:002009-04-05T16:16:00.000-04:00This got me thinking so I wrote a blog post in res...This got me thinking so I wrote a blog post in response.<BR/><BR/>Shameless plug: <A HREF="http://www.loveromancepassion.com/sexy-romance-verus-erotica-romance/" REL="nofollow">Sexy Romance verus Erotica Romance</A>Keira Gilletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07331468391417189912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-11739819352452515902009-04-05T15:36:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:36:00.000-04:00I totally tweeted this post. Very well done indeed...I totally tweeted this post. Very well done indeed. I agree that the sex lines are blurring for what is sensual and hot and hotter still. Personally, I feel erotica uses a harsher language when it comes to describing sex scenes and that's where the real difference lies. <BR/><BR/>For instance sexy romance novels have commandeered cock and it is used just fine. In fact dick now reads as awkward and harsher and has been reappropriated to erotica even though old romances are littered with that term because cock was way too explicit. <BR/><BR/>Erotica loves to use the more colloquial sex terms like fucking, pussy, twat, dick, cock (because it's versatile), etc. For this reason it's deemed hotter and has more chance at offending people than a sexy romance which still uses on the whole tamer terms like core, sheath, center, cock, manhood, erection, etc.<BR/><BR/>It's a total bonus just to have a chance to win Her Ladyship's Companion. I've been waiting for a chance to read it so I really hope I get it!Keira Gilletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07331468391417189912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-18324857010701421102009-04-05T15:15:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:15:00.000-04:00Hi Shawn,Um...the blogging wasn't so easy last nig...Hi Shawn,<BR/><BR/>Um...the blogging wasn't so easy last night at 2am when I was fighting with blogger. LOL. But I finally got it to post correctly. <BR/><BR/>And thanks...you make me blush. I get the best of both worlds with you, too, so we are even. :)Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-91594179951967506042009-04-05T15:13:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:13:00.000-04:00Hi Hanna - Oh yes, even the grocery stores are sel...Hi Hanna - Oh yes, even the grocery stores are selling the spicier books now. I think your right on about advertising and defining erotic romance and erotica. Thanks for stopping by!<BR/><BR/>Hi Louisa - I'm with you on the 'make it romantic' comment. I have to feel for the characters, want them to be together, for the sex to really work in a romance book.<BR/><BR/>Hi Kit - thanks for the comment and thanks for stopping by!Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-60787129121853454042009-04-05T15:08:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:08:00.000-04:00Hi Cindy, I totally agree - erotic romance is more...Hi Cindy, <BR/><BR/>I totally agree - erotic romance is more available now than ever. Years ago, it was hard to find a real erotic romance on the shelf in a bookstore. Now there are tons of them. Plus, e-publishing has really expanded the market. Definitely a plus for both readers and writers who like spicier books.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-21925829222414503582009-04-05T15:06:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:06:00.000-04:00Hi Steph,I would never guess that you lean toward ...Hi Steph,<BR/><BR/>I would never guess that you lean toward the spicy side of books. LOL. Thanks for stopping by! :)Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-3719852223218200092009-04-05T15:05:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:05:00.000-04:00Hi Housemouse - Don't worry about stepping on anyo...Hi Housemouse - <BR/><BR/>Don't worry about stepping on anyone's toes. :) To each her own. And there are certain things even I do want to read about, so I understand where you are coming from. The good thing is that there are books out there for all of us.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-47905227291913742532009-04-05T15:02:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:02:00.000-04:00Hi Tracey,Regarding language in books - it's like ...Hi Tracey,<BR/><BR/>Regarding language in books - it's like what Lousia said, men think differently than women. I use more blunt language when I'm in the male POV, even in my Evangeline books. I even use the 'c' words. Both the guy one (which is my fav word), and the female one (no, not that nasty one, but the other one, a shortened form of the more clinical word). I've seen the words used in other spicy romances, so I went with them. Above all, the language needs to fit the characters. So if you feel it's the right word for your hero, then I say go for it. ;)Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353479285769121899.post-90376612295936826272009-04-05T14:57:00.000-04:002009-04-05T14:57:00.000-04:00Thanks for the welcome, Keena! And I agree with yo...Thanks for the welcome, Keena! And I agree with you on the heat level and books - it has to match the characters, otherwise it throws me completely out of the story.Evangeline Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18367194375278264137noreply@blogger.com