Something odd happened.
A review came out for The Midnight Man which complained about the graphic sexual content. I was confused as the opening chapter has the only sex scene. It’s not a scene which titillates because its purpose is to show the reader how unhappy the main character is in his relationship. There are no descriptions of what bits go where. And the few sensual scenes which follow are all fade to black.
Yet when this reviewer emailed me with the link, she wrote how graphic sex scenes weren’t her preference. And even though her review praises both the narrator’s talent and my writing, this sex comment still irks me.
In the past month I was also ejected from a Bookfunnel promo.
Apparently I added an erotic novel to the promotion. That was the response I got from the organiser. When I wrote to Bookfunnel about it, they responded with concern but didn’t chase it up.
Which leaves me to wonder if this is a growing trend when dealing with American sites. I know there’s an idiotic backlash against gay literature in that nation, but when it affects those of us in other countries, we find ourselves either shaking our heads or laughing at the immature nature of the conversation.
On the flip side, I had a totally different response to another novel.
When Social Media Central came out, one blogger was disappointed by the lack of originality in the sex scenes. I can’t argue. There were none in that book. There’s mention of one character ready to make love while their partner would rather talk about a pressing issue, but the very few mentions of sex don’t play out on the page.
In fact, few of my books have sex scenes but all have a romantic subplot. The editor for my first novel insisted on erotic scenes which I still feel add nothing to the plot. Its sequel has one sex scene. The Midnight Man has one. I also have an erotic novella. And in a yet unpublished work, I challenged myself to write a scene where a character pushes his own sexual boundaries. It’s more raw than anything I’ve written.
In a response to the recent audiobook review, my narrator wrote,
“I do find it unusual what they wrote about sexual content as I didn’t think it was particularly that vivid or detailed. There’s certainly more graphic writings. That being said I’m very grateful for their kind words both towards my narration and towards the depth of your writing.“
Yes, it’s still a good review. And as I’m writing the final words to this blog an odd thought came to mind. I’m a believer in show, don’t tell.
Perhaps what she imagined was more graphic than what I wrote?
kevin klehr 