I'm new on the site so I've come to this thread a bit late, but in the interests of never saying no, Erotica is a subject I'm interested in. Alternatively, people are my muse, so avoiding sex is nigh on impossible.
Did you know 70% of recognised Erotica authors are men writing for a female dominated market ?
The general concensus amongst those in the know seems to be that the majority of current Erotica offers nothing new for women and is not in the least empowering, but literature is the form of pornography women respond to best.
The dictionary definition of pornography is: obscene writing with no artistic merit. Time for a change in thinking perhaps before anything good about the genre is damned for perpetuity. It is, after all, important to women or they wouldn't read it in such vast numbers.
Shirley Conrans 'Lace' was written from the standpoint of explaining sex from a female viewpoint within a story and was seen as 'surreptitious sex-ed at its most entertaining' (Stylist.co.uk - Do women need erotica).
The difference between 'Lace' and current male dominated Erotica writing would seem to be that men associate Erotica with porn and something that is the story and women associate Erotica with education and something that enhances a story.
I do write Erotica and I have co written Erotica with a guy to view a given scenario from both viewpoints. It was educational, immense fun and surprisingly romantic in feel. But importantly the co written Erotica was only a necessary element of a plot and the guy I was writing with was equally interested in providing valuable input to the rest of the story. Men are remarkably romantic - so why they insist on dwelling on porn is a mystery. Perhaps they are misled into so closely associated Erotica with porn because perceived market forces tell them thats how it should be.
My view (and apparently those in the know) is that Erotica needs more female influence, it needs more female authors to become a more credible genre with something worthwhile to say.
While I'm here I should add that I was invited to write for bodice buster fiction publisher but I turned it down. The thought of writing to such a strict set of formualic rules put me off - I was sure I would soon get bored.
Bodice buster fiction is one thing, porn another, but Erotica is something completely different.
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Hi 
Very pleased to be here.
A little about me. Old enough to have grown up kids but not really ready to be called grandma any time soon. Been writing around 20 years: short stories, poems, prose, novels, articles, but mostly on the quiet, not really put much effort into being published until now.
Just became the proud owner of a website with the aim of moving into the world of freelancing so that I can ease off on the 9-5. All in all its a pretty exciting time for me, making plans to move into a cottage in the country (dogs, cats, chickens, roses round the door) with my new man early next year now the kids are settled in their chosen careers as well as kick starting my dreams of being a legit writer.
What do I write about? Well people mainly, that kind of leaves the door open to most genres, horror, humour, nostalgia, erotica, though I'm far too much the cynic to tackle bodice buster romance. That's not to say I'm not romantic of course, I'm female and an optimist.
Looking forward to meeting you all.
Suzi
Very pleased to be here.
A little about me. Old enough to have grown up kids but not really ready to be called grandma any time soon. Been writing around 20 years: short stories, poems, prose, novels, articles, but mostly on the quiet, not really put much effort into being published until now.
Just became the proud owner of a website with the aim of moving into the world of freelancing so that I can ease off on the 9-5. All in all its a pretty exciting time for me, making plans to move into a cottage in the country (dogs, cats, chickens, roses round the door) with my new man early next year now the kids are settled in their chosen careers as well as kick starting my dreams of being a legit writer.
What do I write about? Well people mainly, that kind of leaves the door open to most genres, horror, humour, nostalgia, erotica, though I'm far too much the cynic to tackle bodice buster romance. That's not to say I'm not romantic of course, I'm female and an optimist.
Looking forward to meeting you all.
Suzi