Like Berengaria, a lot – well, most – of the books I write are hotter than hell. A good many of them are my favourite of the erotic romance genre: MMF Romance. Two make-your-teeth-ache-alpha heroes, a snap-your-spine-strong heroine, a storyline on steroids and a happy ending for all three.
My latest book, released April 1, Terror Stash, is the last in my big Romantic Thriller collection. It’s MF romance: bedroom shut, sensual only.
A good friend of mine, who knows what I like to write, raised a brow at this and asked: “Why even bother?”
Good question. I thought I would answer it in public as I’m sure he’s not the first to wonder, as my MMF romances out-sell anything else I write by five-to-one, they garner the most five star reader reviews, gather more critical acclaim, and win more nominations and awards than anything else I write. So why in hell would I bother writing anything else?
Not all my readers like menage romances
I didn’t always write menages, and some of my readers have been with me for a very long time. I like to keep them happy.
Not all my readers like erotic romances.
Some of my readers have been with me even longer than that. They’ve been with me since the beginning, before I started writing erotic romance. My most faithful readers and I go back to the dawn of time (and some mornings it feels like the beginning of evolution, and I am the primordial ooze). Some readers found me when I first started out writing erotic romance, when erotic romance was what is now just a hot romance. Again, something for everyone.
It’s a change of pace.
I love writing MMF Romance, but I suspect that if that was all I wrote, I might eventually get sick of it…and I don’t want to do that. So, I mix it up.
It’s a challenge.
I’ve been writing erotic romance and MMF romance for over a decade. You can get very comfortable writing the same genre and sub-genre for that length of time, even if your style and technique are evolving. By changing genres, I’m challenging myself to concentrated just on story and produce something highly entertaining, emotionally moving and page turning, without the distraction of hot sex and body parts to gloss over any potential plot weaknesses. (Although, that is not to say that writing hot sex is easy – it’s not. I’ve just had a lot of practice writing it.)
I like straight MF romantic suspense.
I like both writing and reading romantic suspense. It doesn’t make me a lot of money (alas), so I don’t write a lot of it, but I still like writing it every now and again.
This is the ONLY stop on Tracy's book tour where she will be giving away a copy of a menage story, BLOOD KNOT, to one lucky commenter. You must comment here, or on my Facebook page, to be entered into the draw.
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A stash of terrorists in a tiny town? No one believes her.
American diplomat Montana Dela Vega, posted to laid-back Western Australia, discovers a band of known terrorists hiding deep in the bush. Laughed at by superiors, she must find courage and her own resources to expose the ruthless zealots.
The only people who believe her wild story are Caden Rawn, the mysterious and physically intimidating man with a terrifying reputation, and a bloody history that dogs his every step; and Steve Scarborough, a local police officer with an instinct for the truth and a secret of his own.
Caden and Montana’s private investigation entwines them in tragedy and fear, and teaches them the meaning of friendship...and love. They must face the cost of truth and the courage of their convictions for Montana’s terrorists are very real and very deadly indeed—and they want Montana for themselves....
Available in print and ebook at retailers everywhere.
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Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes erotic vampire romances, hot romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasy romances. She has published over 50 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys sewing, history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Catch up with Tracy at her website…Amazon…All Romance eBooks…Smashwords…Kobo…Facebook…Twitter
"no comments"?? WHY?? It's a great thought-provoking commentary! And THIS is from someone who rarely reads erotica!!
ReplyDeleteBUT ... you have to understand, readers are hypocrites. I should know - I'm a reader, too! "Dear author, why is Book B so different than the Book A I loved? If I wanted the couple to break up in the end, I would have selected a different author!" "Dear other author, why is Book B so similar to Book A that I loved? I didn't need to buy that 2nd book 'cause I already had the first!"
To me, the FIRST thing you need to do is please your primary reader - YOU! If you're not happy with it, you can't really expect others to be. If you ARE happy with it, then SCREW what others are thinking of it! (OK, that's a little harsh, some DO have good points you can build upon, but I hope you get my point!!)
I also love a challenge. Good for you for stretching yourself and doing what you love too!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew:
ReplyDelete"Readers are hypocrites"??? Really? It's a bit harsh, I think, but I see your point. I don't think it's individual readers who change their minds like underwear, but taken as a whole, trying to provide what readers want can give an author a headache, because what readers want can be incredibly contradictory across the spectrum.
However, if by writing what I like first and foremost doesn't please any readers at all, there's no point in writing it. So I do have to keep readers in mind at some point in the process.
And I do like to eat. Occasionally. :)
There's no easy answer to this one. I've reached a point where I have an "ideal" reader composite made up of what I think is the general demographics of my readership, and I keep her in mind when I'm writing. If I can please her, I'm reaching the majority of my readers.
I think.
Sometimes, like with TERROR STASH, I deliberately aim for the fringes for one reason or another. I'm going to take a hit in sales on this one because it's not menage, not vampires, not erotic and not a lot of things I usually write, but I have some dedicated fans who really like all the stuff that TERROR STASH *is*.
Next month, the vampire, MMF, Menage, erotic groupies get theirs. :)
Cheers,
Tracy
Hi Melissa and thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow do you challenge yourself?
Cheers,
Tracy
Hi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI love that you don't always write the same thing. I'm a writer too and I also like to challenge myself with a different genre.
Good luck with your latest release. It sounds like a great read.
Janice~
Thanks, Janice!
DeleteHere's a question -- for you and for anyone who is a writer here:
Is there a genre you haven't tried...because it scares you?
Why?
t.
I like to mix it up, too, Tracy. Best wishes with your new release!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anny!
DeleteNice to see you here. :)
Cheers,
Tracy
I like variety and I think it would get boring to read the same mix all of the time. I definitely prefer and expect a happy ending (somehow) but I like the journey to change. I do know of readers who only like menage but there are also subcategories there as different people like different types of menage just as there are those who don't like explicit love scenes. I think the challenge is to not get stereotyped if you do write several different types of heat and I understand that this is why authors have different pseudonyms. Thanks for the post and good luck with your release.
ReplyDeleteHi Elf2060:
DeleteThe use of pseudonyms for different genres is something that New York publishers encourage more than indie authors practice. These days, authors are much more closely in contact with their readers, and they also understand that their readers can sort out different (sub)genres for themselves without the need of disguising pen names...and that readers might like to be able to make the choice for themselves.
So for indie authors, the use of pen names as a way of sorting out different genres is diminishing rapidly. Tags, categories, covers, labels and product descriptions, as well as talking to readers, is being used instead.
The different types of menage is an interesting observation -- I've written exclusively in the paranormal menage arena so far, although I know that contemporary menage is hugely popular and I have been toying with the idea of branching out in my infinite spare time. :)
Cheers,
Tracy
I like to challenge myself by writing stories that are different than I've written before or incorporating new lessons into my writing. I also love to do flash fiction. Try writing a story with only 300 words! What a Challenge!
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa:
DeleteI've been told I have disability: I can't write short.
Mark Twain was quoted as saying "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead" -- it's far easier to write long than short. I'm quite sure flash fiction is a genuine work-out.
I believe there is a fiction contest out there for fifty word short stories. See if you could pull that one off!
Cheers,
Tracy
Hi Janice, Anny, and Elf. Thank y'all for dropping by. I agree, Tracy. I write all different genres, because I read pretty much everything. I understand some readers might be upset if they thought they were reading a simple, little, sweet, MF romance and found themselves deep in an erotic menage, but that's what a good cover is all about. I'm not sure I could cope with multiple names, multiple websites, multiple Facebook pages, Twitter and all the rest. But that's a decision each author has to make for herself.
ReplyDeleteBerengaria