Let's talk about the sex, shall we?

I don’t know much about the hierarchy of erotic fiction, hell, I don’t know much about erotica at all, despite having written a novel that is scheduled for publication by the UKs leading publisher of erotic fiction.

I find myself saying adult romance rather than erotic fiction because it feels more apt. Inspired by Night is more of a nerdy romantic comedy than it is porn, but I did consciously write sex scenes so it does kind of need it’s own parental advisory sticker!

But I can’t pretend to be an expert in erotica. My Twitter feed, much like my blog, is filled with references to pizza and cake and I just can’t do the whole innuendo and saucy jokes thing. My mind doesn’t look at a situation and naturally see something phallic to give a leering grin and a cheeky wink at.

Inspired by Night does contain scenes of a sexual nature. But there’s a very good reason for that. Although when I try to explain the reasoning behind some of the sex scenes, I feel a bit like Jack Davenport trying to explain the plot line to his favourite porn video erotic art film ‘Lesbian Spank Inferno’ in the TV show ‘Coupling’.

You can watch it here

I didn’t want to write sex scenes for the sake of it. I didn’t really set out to write erotica but I did want to have some kind of development. I wanted my character to grow. I was largely inspired by an article I read about Fifty Shades of Grey and how sex shops had seen a huge boom in sales of vibrators and love eggs. Whatever criticism anyone has of the series, it did reach an audience that wouldn’t normally have read BDSM erotica and it, perhaps, gave women some ideas for spicing up their sex lives and showing people that it’s okay to enjoy sex, it’s even okay to enjoy kinky sex without feeling like you’re some kind of sexual deviant. So I suppose in my own way I wanted to address something too. I went with masturbation. I remember many years ago having a conversation with a friend who was quite sexually active to the point where she needed to have sex regularly but was downright disgusted by the thought of doing it herself. No man, no orgasm!

Thinking back on it, I’ve had many conversations with men who all giggle and show wide eyed shock and wonder at the mere suggestion of a woman masturbating, despite the many hours they’ve probably spent pleasuring themselves over that very scene in numerous erotic art porn films!

So Inspired by Night addresses this issue. Under Chris Knight’s “expert” guidance, Olivia learns to explore her body, find out what it responds to and lose the associated feelings of guilt and embarrassment at enjoying the sensations she’s been missing out on in the wilderness years since she last had a relationship.

There is an overriding theme of anonymity, given that Chris is just a voice coming out of her laptop because his webcam broke and she can’t see him. There’s something almost (unintentionally) ‘Catfish’ After Dark about the whole thing.

But anyway, there you have it, the nature of the sex scenes in Inspired By Night. It’s practically a self help book… One that I really don’t want my Mum to read!

Now then, that’s enough mucky talk, think it’s time for a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake…

Let's talk about the sex, shall we?