Okay, so I didn't mean it quite the way it sounded. Let's talk sex in the literary sense. My series contains several brief yet relatively explicit sexual encounters. None last more than a couple of pages and all play integral roles in terms of plot development. Using the movie system, I would rate these scenes a soft R, but my wife blushes and says hard R. I'm not sure how others would rate them.
How do you feel about explicit sex in novels? All of us would agree that it is not appropriate for young readers. But how about college level and above? Or is college level even too young? And are there a lot of adults out there who would find descriptions of sexual encounters offensive?
-- Jim
About Me
- Jim Melvin
- Clemson, SC, United States
- I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.
The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.
5 comments:
If you have such scenes in your books, then I think you are ahead of the curve. Writing SF, it never occurred to me to have some good healthy sex scenes. When I started to write urban fantasy and include female MCs, our agent, Uwe, suggested that I definitely "sex-it-up." I was a bit soft and lacked the daring. Keep in mind that (I believe) most of our readership might be women and, they've always enjoyed, if not sought out, great passion and physical interplay. With today's social mores, and paranormal romance going so strong, sex scenes and relationships have gotten almost down right kinky. Humans entwined with semi-mortals. Interspecies couplings! I say go for it. Though I have to admit that I must get past my own blush factor at times.
Chris
I was at a sci fi conference one time, and a similar question was brought up. Every single panel member said that they keep sex out of their writings, except for very vague references (like "the next morning, they woke up in each other's arms with smiles on their faces" kind of stuff). I was surprised! And I started wondering, "Is there something wrong with me? Am I oversexed?"
Ha!
It doesn't bother me, really. I mean, I won't put a book down just because it has sex scenes in it. However, I don't see the point in getting excessively graphic unless it moves the plot along in an essential manner. Maybe it is just a failure of imagination on my part, but I can't think of very many circumstances it which that would be true.
Ima:
I've heard many people say things that are similar to your comment, so I'm thinking your point of view is in the majority.
In my series, a wizard and sorceress are madly and magically in love. For complex reasons, they are kept from each other. When they finally come together, I describe certain specifics of their love-making -- not to tantalize but to capture the enormity of their passion.
At least that's my reasoning!
That makes sense to me.
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