Welcome back, leiblings! Sorry for the gap between postings. Life gets in the way sometimes! If you’re just now joining us, here are parts One, Two, and Three of this series. I’m sharing how I wrote my first erotic horror, in hopes that someone will find this interesting. If not, well, just skip to the bottom, comment and tell me so, and you’ll still be entered to win stuff. Sound good? Thought so.
So when last I blathered on, I’d told you about building the ideas. I’ve got a half-formed hero, a mostly put together heroine, and a creepy giant question mark for the villain. But this is an EROTIC horror. By definition, there needs to be an erotic journey to go along with the horror journey. I’d spent all my time thus far on the horror, so it was time to focus on the erotic side.
I’d gotten Verum and Bryerly alone in the same room. In order for the bow-chicka-wow-wow to begin, something had to change pretty drastically, and fast. Bry has just witnessed the brutal killing of a woman. She’s not in the mood for love, if you know what I mean. BUT Verum has a weapon at his disposal, and I had zero problems utilizing it- the truth.
What if, I thought to myself, Verum’s presence had sort of a truth-uncovering-aura about it? What if Bryerly was more aware of things just by being near him? What if the physical attraction she felt when meeting Verum couldn’t be hidden? What if he reciprocated that attraction?
If a normal person cannot suppress how turned on they are, wouldn’t their inhibitions fly out the window? Why yes, I thought. Yes they would. So a girl like Bryerly, who isn’t the type to fall in bed with a man she just met, would have less of a problem following her instincts. Luckily for Verum (and me!) this technique worked. When she started focusing on the way she was feeling instead of the horrifying memories, the intimacy turned into a life-affirming self discovery.
Okay, love scene problem solved! We had a gory murder, and now a smexy bedroom scene. So let’s get back to the scary, eh? I still have Rafe to think about. Why is he such an asshole? Why did he and his friend kill a woman in the woods at night, and have blood on their faces? What could it have to do with Bryerly and Verum?
It’ll be tough to explain without spoilers, but I’ll give it my best shot in part 5, the final section of this series!
And don’t forget, be sure to leave a comment below! To show how much I appreciate each and every one of my blog commenters, I’ll be adding each of your names from now until SINFUL TRUTH releases into a hat. Comment on multiple blog posts? Receive multiple entries. The winner will be selected via Random.org, and will receive a Scarily Good Gift plus a free copy of SINFUL TRUTH! So comment below and share with your friends!
Tags: amwriting, Bryerly, contest, ebook, ellora's cave, erotic, erotic horror, Erotica, free, free ebook, free romance, gina lamm, giveaway, horror, plot, process, Publishing, read free ebook online, regina cole, shivers, Sinful Truth, Verum, writing
Writing Scary that’s Sexy- How I do Erotic Horror (part 1)
3 AprSo since SINFUL TRUTH releases in about, oh, seventeen days (GULP) I thought it might behoove me (yes, I used “behoove” in a sentence) to talk a little bit about erotic horror, and my process for writing it.
Then I realized in order for me to talk about the process, I’d have to actually have had one.
Then I realized that I did write it, so even though I didn’t think about having a process, I must have had one. Ergo, this blog to help me (and you!) figure out how I created this scary yet sexy brainchild.
It all started when my loverly editor Carrie said, “HEY. Write me an erotic horror. Kthxbai.” It might have been a bit more involved than that, but not a helluva lot. Erotic horror? Well, I’ve read and written a good bit of erotic, and I’d read a lot of horror in my teenage years, but I’d never read anything that combined the two before. But since I heart Carrie, and would grovel across fiery shards of broken glass just to please her, (it’s amazing what those tiny editor-shaped nuggets of praise will do for a writer) I jumped right in.
I started SINFUL TRUTH as I’ve started my last few books-with a blurb.
Huh?
Yes, that’s what I said. A blurb. Like the blob of interesting text on the back of the book? I write that first. It’s a lot easier to expand a three-paragraph blurb into a novel, short story, or novella, than it is to condense a 100K-word monster into three paragraphs.
So, for your delight and edification, this was the blurb that popped into my head at CarrieJEditor’s command:
Bryerly Keats did a bad, bad thing. Her boyfriend, Rafe, told her to stay with the car, but when she heard those screams, she couldn’t stay put. The murder she witnessed that night was just the first.
Rafe and his friends know Bry saw what they did. They can’t afford to let anyone know about their plans. They’ll silence her for good. When a whole town turns against Bry and her tales, she’ll have to depend on a complete stranger to save her life.
But the stranger doesn’t work for free. And his price is the one thing that Bry isn’t sure she can face:
An Eternity with the Truth Keeper
I sent it to Carrie with a “is this kind of what you were thinking?” note, and she fired back a yes, with a ton of questions, one of which was “What exactly is a Truth Keeper?” Well, yanno, I thought, I have no bloody idea.
Check back tomorrow for part TWO of the How I did it: Erotic Horror series. And be sure to leave a comment below! To show how much I appreciate each and every one of my blog commenters, I’ll be adding each of your names from now until SINFUL TRUTH releases (April 20th!) into a hat. Comment on multiple blog posts? Receive multiple entries. The winner will be selected via Random.org, and will receive a Scarily Good Gift plus a free copy of SINFUL TRUTH! So comment, ask questions, harass me, and generally have a good time.
Tags: blog, Bryerly, comment, drama, ellora's cave, entertainment, erotic, erotic horror, Ertotica, free, Free stuff, giveaway, horror, How to write, literature, Novellas, novels, scary, sexy, Sinful Truth, Verum, writing