The best in erotic literature

[hardtaskmaster]

I agree with Stella and ameliajax as regards the Beauty series. Terribly written, terribly repetitive, but quite arousing to some of us with strong BDSM inclinations. Hope you enjoy.

 

[Bramblethorn]

By far my fav books have been The Kushiel Series by Jacqueline Carey.

I loved the first one, enjoyed the second, but felt it really got bogged down by the third. Too much recapping, too much Everybody Loves Phaedre (see also: why I lost interest in The Vampire Chronicles when the focus shifted to Lestat).

 

[dexwebster]

One of the most extraordinary stories I've read recently is this one; Tell Me To Stop based on some guys from some band that I have no idea who it is actually-- M/m, slow burn and would read absolutely well if it were written as hetero, IMO.

Y'know, sometimes I feel like the only person in fandom that Tell Me To Stop fell flat for, and I was in bandom.

 

[graceanne]

And what about the Laurel Hamilton? Is that the Vampire Hunter series? It is well written?

I wouldn't call all of Laurel's books erotica, but the vampire hunter series (also called the Anita Blake series) has some hot, kinky scenes in her later books. There's also some kinky scenes in her Merry Gentry series, but later on. The thing is, from what I understand, when Anita ends up as leader to the were-leopards (even though she's not a were-leopard herself) she (Anita) began to research BDSM because her were-leopards are kinky. In the course of the Laurel began to research BDSM herself and as a consequence it started showing up in her stories more often.

As for well written. Eh. Her style of writing takes some getting used to. She always writes in the first person, and her characters tend to go into huge spaces of thought in the middle of fast paced scenes where you're going WHAT HAPPENED?, but first you gotta wade through whatever the character is thinking. However, she grows on you and I've come to really enjoy her books.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Y'know, sometimes I feel like the only person in fandom that Tell Me To Stop fell flat for, and I was in bandom.

Really? Can you figure out why?

I have to say, one reason I liked it was because I could envision Brendan being female-- it seemed all the way through, that the dynamics would model really well onto a het couple.

Needless to say, when I asked permission to remix it that way, I got an earshattering no response.

 

[dexwebster]

Really? Can you figure out why?

I have to say, one reason I liked it was because I could envision Brendan being female-- it seemed all the way through, that the dynamics would model really well onto a het couple.

Needless to say, when I asked permission to remix it that way, I got an earshattering no response.

It was way more accurate technically than a lot of fic is, for sure, but the characters just didn't feel like real people to me. For one, honestly the initial premise bothered me, not the newbie top/experienced bottom thing, but Spencer's "scared away" five partners in two months let alone before that and hasn't thought to change his approach or seek out other kinky people, or you know, anything other than springing it on new partners? It felt forced and weird. The first time I tried to read it I backbuttoned the first time they played together; it felt like Brendon was mocking Spencer's inexperience in the way he corrected him and it totally turned me off. I tried it again later after everyone was raving over it. Finished it, but still wasn't a big fan. None of the choices they made seemed like anything real people would do, it all felt shoehorned in to serve the plot, and the actual kink seemed simplistic emotionally (which admittedly is a problem I have with a lot BDSM fic).

Out of curiosity, how could the dynamics have been so different that you couldn't have read them as het? Unless they're relying on strongly gendered/stereotyped traits and relationship patterns, which I think tends to happen more with het pairings to start with, I'm not sure why they wouldn't translate. That's the whole point behind always-a-girl fic, yeah?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Good points, dexwebster, thank you

Yeah, those first few paragraphs are typical failings in fanfic-- the writer flailing around trying to get the story started. I'm pretty forgiving on that count, we are reading amateur writing after all. But I did think "What, he couldn't get on the internet?" and if I had been her beta, I would have asked her to fix that.

The reason I think it would have been excellent to model a het story on, (I think you misread me, maybe?) is because it didn't rely on strongly gendered behaviors, no Biology is Destiny.

Brendon's character could easily be read as a confident woman who enjoys bottoming. There simply isn't much of that out there in fictionland. There's way too much 'She' finding her rightful place under 'He' type shit. Too much Christian Grey, Arrogant Man Tames Tempestuous Woman. I want to see a model of two people who consider themselves equals by default, before the power exchange.

Spencer's need to dominate and own isn't out of male privilege, it's presented as something that is unique in his experience and that he has to process.

And needless to say, the story was written by a woman in the first place. AS far as I know, she is het. And there's a reason why she wrote that story.

 

[MichaelWest]

. . . confident woman who enjoys bottoming. There simply isn't much of that out there in fictionland. There's way too much 'She' finding her rightful place under 'He' type shit. Too much Christian Grey, Arrogant Man Tames Tempestuous Woman. I want to see a model of two people who consider themselves equals by default, before the power exchange.

Interestingly, that is the larger work I write as I spin off short stories to hone my voice. I wanted to write a story with a confident, intelligent and secure female bottom and male dominant, both without childhold trauma, or other such tropes as excuses, but explore the emotional quandries of submission, masochism, dominance and sadism. After Fifty Shades I began to wonder if where I wanted to explore was not fictional or trivial or dismissive enough to be of interest.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Interestingly, that is the larger work I write as I spin off short stories to hone my voice. I wanted to write a story with a confident, intelligent and secure female bottom and male dominant, both without childhold trauma, or other such tropes as excuses, but explore the emotional quandries of submission, masochism, dominance and sadism. After Fifty Shades I began to wonder if where I wanted to explore was not fictional or trivial or dismissive enough to be of interest.

Oh I certainly think it would be of interest! You do, of course have to provide conflict and stuff.
Do you have beta readers?

 

[sarel101]

Here's what looks like an interesting book about erotica.

Mighty Lewd Books: The Development of Pornography in Eighteenth Century England (Palgrave Macmillan) by Julie Peakman

Read more: http://www.cdispatch.com/robhardy/article.asp?aid=20265#ixzz2LVBohWFK

 

[GreenBubbles]

Interestingly, that is the larger work I write as I spin off short stories to hone my voice. I wanted to write a story with a confident, intelligent and secure female bottom and male dominant, both without childhold trauma, or other such tropes as excuses, but explore the emotional quandries of submission, masochism, dominance and sadism. After Fifty Shades I began to wonder if where I wanted to explore was not fictional or trivial or dismissive enough to be of interest.

I would say that its a reality. I am a educated confident woman that happens to also be submissive. I have had no childhood trauma. Thats my thoughts. And I can't be the only one.

 

[GreenBubbles]

I would say that its a reality. I am a educated confident woman that happens to also be submissive. I have had no childhood trauma. Thats my thoughts. And I can't be the only one.

And I believe it would be highly interesting... ..

 

[MichaelWest]

For me, the real story hides just out of sight. The multitudes of kinky folks who aren't stereotypes.

I think there are strong, amazingly strong, confident, very confident, intelligent, secure, creative and unbroken, shall we say normal, men and women who choose to submit or to dominate, to be dominated or submitted to. That is not to say they do not face conflicts or trials or drama or pain, but they also find joy, pleasure and satisfaction. I want to write about them, write for them, submit fiction that does not pass off BDSM as a disease, an affliction or rely on the crutch of pasts filled with abuse, disfunction or insanity to explain "why."

What distressed me was how many very popular books concerning BDSM are written by the curious gawker peeking in through the windows, playing to the pornographic imagery, building on the fantasy, the illusion and the play as if it were real, ignoring the realities. It was my opinion that BDSM would be swamped by the curious taking porn fiction as a manual and porn pictures as maps to obtain the sexual nirvana kinky sex was promised to deliver.

Thus I write fiction for me, I hope to keep writing and finish it faster, share it and give it to others who might want to read the same dirty stories I enjoy.

 

[dexwebster]

I want to see a model of two people who consider themselves equals by default, before the power exchange.

Spencer's need to dominate and own isn't out of male privilege, it's presented as something that is unique in his experience and that he has to process.

I agree that it would be nice to see M/F stories with similar dynamics, it just struck me as odd as something to single out here. Would that not be the case with a lot M/M stories? (I actually also would like M/M explorations of gender in terms of male submission vs. the culture of dominance as masculinity, but that's a lot more nuanced than I've seen most fiction let alone most fanfic get).

I think I'd have been more forgiving of Tell Me To Stop if it hadn't been universally praised.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I agree that it would be nice to see M/F stories with similar dynamics, it just struck me as odd as something to single out here. Would that not be the case with a lot M/M stories? (I actually also would like M/M explorations of gender in terms of male submission vs. the culture of dominance as masculinity, but that's a lot more nuanced than I've seen most fiction let alone most fanfic get).

Yes, it would be the case with a lot of M.M stories, and because those stories are written by women, mostly, you have to think that there is a reason why women write them. And in my opinion-- and this is an educated opinion-- it's because the dynamic is not modeled in het fiction, which is dominated-- not to say Dommed-- by Romance tropes, and those were created back in the day when men were unquestionably the rulers of the world. Much of Romance has moved onawrds, but BDSM Romance seems like an excuse to backslide, for most writers. If they don't want to go back to those simpler days, they map the whole thing onto two men so as to avoid the fucking tropes.

I have to admit that I almost always bring up gender issues in these discussions. It's the bee in my bonnet.

This woman explores the issues of masculinity and power alll the time-- litgal in her original fiction and her fan fic-- especially the 'Sentinal' fiction.

I think I'd have been more forgiving of Tell Me To Stop if it hadn't been universally praised.

yeah, I understand the feeling

 

[dexwebster]

Yes, it would be the case with a lot of M.M stories, and because those stories are written by women, mostly, you have to think that there is a reason why women write them. And in my opinion-- and this is an educated opinion-- it's because the dynamic is not modeled in het fiction, which is dominated-- not to say Dommed-- by Romance tropes, and those were created back in the day when men were unquestionably the rulers of the world. Much of Romance has moved onawrds, but BDSM Romance seems like an excuse to backslide, for most writers. If they don't want to go back to those simpler days, they map the whole thing onto two men so as to avoid the fucking tropes.

I think that's the case for some people, but it's hardly universal. I think a lot of them (and by them I mean specifically slash/yaoi--there's plenty of M/M in other traditions and styles, much of written by men) write it because they want to see two dudes fucking. I know that's my reason. And frequently they're doing the opposite of escaping gender roles; seme/uke and weepy passive "feminine" bottoms abound. They write M/M stories and still map traditional gender roles on them; that stuff's not any less of a backslide than het would be.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I think that's the case for some people, but it's hardly universal. I think a lot of them (and by them I mean specifically slash/yaoi--there's plenty of M/M in other traditions and styles, much of written by men) write it because they want to see two dudes fucking. I know that's my reason.

It's not universal, indeed. But most of the time, women don't write many stories that focus on the fucking alone, they write context and relationship around the action-- even the kink-bingo short stories will usually include either specific or commonly assumed relational context. We don't only want to see two guys fuck.

The way men (in general) write and depict sex is qualitatively different. If you just want to see two men fucking-- that's almost all you'll get. Also, if all you want is to see a woman get fucked, go look for male product... That's your best bet.

And frequently they're doing the opposite of escaping gender roles; seme/uke and weepy passive "feminine" bottoms abound. They write M/M stories and still map traditional gender roles on them; that stuff's not any less of a backslide than het would be.

Well yeah, that's what I said?

Yaoi does mimic heteronormative dynamics-- famous for it-- but it's still mapped onto men not women, and it's still the case that a passive uke still has male privilege outside of his relationship. There's a sense that he's taking on this role by choice or by force, not because Biology Is Destiny. Placing these norms on a couple of men can allow women to explore them at a little bit of a remove.

 

[Cmay]

One of my favorite authors is Kitty Thomas.
Some of her books are:
-Comfort food
-The Last Girl
-Tender Mercies
-Submissive Fairy Tales
-Guilty Pleasures

Another author That explores every taboo is Laura Reese.
The books that I have read of hers, which is the only ones I think she has written so far are:
-Topping From Bellow
-Panic Snap
But a word to readers, these books are not for everyone!

Some softer authors are Maya Banks, her "Breathless Trilogy" Also,
Sylvia Day and the "Crossfire" series. These are a little more like Fifty Shades.