Why erotic romance?

I've spent my life writing. As a kid I would make up tales about the little cutout scenes I created, then I moved on to poetry and essay-style stuff. For years I wrote a newsletter for my family and friends. Wrote some things for a local newspaper, and also had some short sweet romances published in now-defunct small press magazines.

Of course, writing isn't only about what we create, it's also about what we read. What we are drawn to when we have a few minutes of free time. I've been an avid reader all of my life, and a romance reader since my early teens. First YA (excellent stories that left me craving so much more), then Loveswepts and Desires (beautifully written stories that tried to push the envelope of the times, but still restricted in what they could contain), and also some single titles that were allowed a more liberal canvas. Penthouse and the like were okay for getting down and dirty fast, but lacked the emotional content I enjoy in a romance.

I read Twin Peaks in the summer of 2007 and loved it...so much I thought I'd spontaneously combust. All I could think was: Women really write like this? But I'd borrowed it from the library and one of the authors that I really enjoyed, Jasmine Haynes, didn't have any others available at the library. Now that I've read nearly all the books of my wonderful friend, I'm not surprised that the library doesn't carry them, though I'm sure not the only one in my community that would enjoy them!

In November 2007, I participated in the NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month, and won...which is to say I reached the goal of 50,000 words in thirty days. It was a huge cluster though that has yet to be untangled. What the NaNoWriMo showed me in the last twenty pages that month is that I like to write love stories, yes, but not with sweet or even mildly hot sex. The stories that I needed to write would be filled with playfulness and love, but also darkness and kink. Not always dark, but always lusty.

Why erotic romance? Because I love sex. It's fun and should be explored with all the senses, including the largest sex organ of all--the brain.