Time for erotica to grow up?

Erotica.

It’s a genre as old as story-telling, yet in some ways that particular form of writing is in its infancy.

What I mean is that when someone mentions erotica, one of two things often come to mind: creative ways to describe sex, often with no storyline other than sex, all for the sake of describing sex; or more recently – thanks to the popularity of Fifty Shades – some sort of story laced with BDSM, most for the sake of writing about BDSM.

That’s a gross simplification, I understand. But it’s true. Peruse most titles on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. Check out the websites with erotica fiction on display. Most of them will have thinly disguised porn or people being tied up and whipped without hint of any larger story arc or plot line.

If there’s a third incarnation of erotica, it would be romance with rather explicit love scenes, sometimes filled with what’s best described as purple prose, in which everyone eventually lives happily ever-after.

Maybe it’s time for erotica to take another step toward maturity. Why can’t a science fiction story be a cross-genre work, with main characters whisking through the universe while engaging in explicit sex scenes that are integral to the story rather than tacked on for a little shock value? What about a coming-of-age novel that includes a healthy dose of bondage?

Or, just maybe, a murder mystery that doubles as an erotica BDSM tale?

My novel, LETHAL OBSESSION, is just that – a dark suspense story that delves into the world of loneliness, the search for love, exploration of bondage, and a serial killer who’s getting closer and closer to the main characters.

The novel will be out March 1, but I’m curious to know what you think – can bondage and erotica successfully cross into other genres? Or is erotica cursed to always be alone in its own little corner of the literary world? If so, is that because the larger readership of the world won’t accept it in any other genre, or is it because writers simply refuse to stretch themselves and change the genre?

Don’t be shy – go ahead and put your comments below!

Thanks for stopping by.

Shandra

xoxo