Not Fading to Black

In romance writing, “fading to black” is when the two love-interests are about to have sex. We know it. They know it. But . . .

For my money while I think Elizabeth Bennet was vocal during sex with Mr. Darcy, I’m sure that her sister Jane probably blew the roof off the joint with Bingley. I wrote in one story about the Dom natures of both Mr. Rochester and Diana Rivers. As to the latter:

take a look at how Charlotte Brontë described Diana Rivers: “If in our trio there was a superior and a leader, it was Diana. Physically, she far excelled me: she was handsome; she was vigorous. In her animal spirits there was an affluence of life and certainty of flow, such as excited my wonder, while it baffled my comprehension.” And the kickers: “Diana offered to teach me German” and “mutual affection—of the strongest kind—was the result.” Jeez, Charlotte, get a room! 

I started writing after enjoying romances on Literotica.com. The site runs the gamut from smut to tender romances. You find the latter by using the “romance” tag for the type of stories you like. So you have as an example Lesbian Romance. Here are my favorite authors and stories. There are a tremendous number of wonderful stories on the site.

What I saw in the stories I like, such as Carey Thomas’s “A Ghost of a Chance” (and she kindly helped me with “The Heallys,” my first book, and I used but renamed some of her characters) was the integration of sex as a natural and fundamental part of the characters’ relationships. When I write my stories, I go where the characters take me. It is true that erotic parts are important on Literotica (and that I get many more readers there than I could get elsewhere). But I found them important to my characters as well.

My stories tend to have long build-ups before anything happens. Once characters fall in love, they’ll have sex. Sometimes it will be “making-love.” Sometimes it will be “fucking.” I think individuals do both, and the language I use to describe what is being done—and on what it is being done—varies depending on what the characters are themselves experiencing at that moment.

I describe how the characters learn of their partners’ likes-and-dislikes. Some characters have hook-ups. Some characters engage in role-playing. My job is to tell stories. How I write and what I write about is not to everyone’s taste. I read every comment I get and many, including from my Beta readers, are helpful.

For me, the enjoyment comes from following my characters and recording where they go and having readers enjoy my characters and my telling of their lives.