Two Middle-aged Introverts write a Sex Scene (and ruin my childhood)

Catriona writes: Two swerves today, Mind Readers. One - I am bunking off. Two - honoured guests Jess Lourey and Shannon Baker aren't even answering the question! I can't imagine there will be any complaints because, instead, they are going there. Yep, it's fluttering curtains and tumbling puns as the double-booked tour tackles sex scenes..

And now over to Shannon and Jess.

Thanks to Catriona for inviting me, Shannon Baker, and Jess Lourey back for our Third Annual Lourey-Baker Double-Booked Blog Tour. We love you guys because your couch is the most comfortable and you don’t complain when Jess eats all the cheese. (Jess here: cheese is more addictive than heroin and I’m okay with that.)

Shannon’s newest page-turner in the Kate Fox mysteries, Bitter Rain,  and Mercy’s Chase ), the latest in Jess’ feminist thriller series that Lee Child calls “highly-recommended,” are available for preorder and will be released within days!

Make sure to read to the end for a chance to win a signed copy of both.

Shannon: One of the best things about being in a joint tour, apart from the fact that Jess is so darned fun to hang with, is that we take turns coming up with topics. And since this is our third tour, we’re trying not to revisit issues we’ve already covered. Which brings us to today’s topic, chosen by Jess. I don’t know what prompted her to think of this, but, as it turns out, writing sex scenes is a very real problem I’m struggling with right now. Jess, what is the real reason you came up with this? And did it involve wine?

Jess: I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that, but here’s the truth: I HATE writing sex scenes. I get squirmy and ashamed when I do it (not that it; the writing of it). I know you also struggle with writing them, Shannon, and so I figured we could talk it out and get each other over the hump, pun totally intended.

Shannon: Okay, so Immuna ‘fess up here. Not that it really needs forgiveness or confession. I’ve ventured into the romance genre and I’m not ashamed to say it. I’m of the opinion that writing romance is like having an affair. If you can’t say it out loud, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Even if I do write under an alias: Shanen Black.

Having said that, I’ll admit that my books make me blush. I don’t have any trouble channeling my inner romantic side, and even writing to market by using the tropes romance readers expect. But I accidently fell into writing steamy romance because a friend encouraged me. Steamy makes me squirm. (Jess here: I have to note that we both used the word “squirm” in talking about writing sex scenes. Any therapists reading this? Please diagnose us below.)

A friend tempted me with writing romance because she’s so successful with it and because I told her I want to learn to write better emotion. She offered to  partner with me, mostly to teach me the ropes about indie pubbing. It’s a good thing she did because, turns out, writing steamy sex scenes is not my strong suit. It’s like in real life for me, I’m much more comfortable closing the door. What about you, Jess? Do you write good sex?

Jess: I recently got the rights back to my Mira James Mysteries, and reading them over, I was delighted to find that while it was incredibly uncomfortable to write the steamy scenes in those books, they’re pretty awesome. I loved rereading them! So yeah, I think I do write good sex. I now need to figure out how to write more of it. Do you have any tips?

Shannon: My writing partner read my first sex scene and told me that until I was comfortable using the words “p*ss*, and *co**,” I’d never make it in the steamy world. She insisted I could not use Mr. Happy and “my secret place,” instead. (True story.) I tried, bless my heart. Finally, with infinite patience (in email, because I don’t know what kind of fits she was throwing in real life) she said just leave the spot blank and she’d write those scenes.

Sometimes, when I can’t bring myself to find different words for “hard” and “wet” (seriously, think about it) I’ll leave the scene blank for her and write “pound, pound, pant, pant,” and move on. She’s pretty good at filling in the blanks.

Because I don’t want to give up, I still try to write most of those scenes, though. She edits them and makes them… more robust.

Jess: Okay, it’s hard to type while I’m laughing. I think “Mr. Happy Goes Camping in My Secret Place” was a popular children’s book back in the day? To be fair, I’ve never written explicit sex scenes and would have no idea how to do it. I’ll have to read your upcoming release to see how to do it. (Shannon here: not upcoming at all. One released at the end of June, one at the end of July, the next at the end of October, a novella in November, and one planned for January. I’m (ahem) pumping them out.)

Shannon: A writer I know said to me once, “Did you notice how I write my fight scenes? I write them like sex scenes.” I walked away confused by what she meant. But I’m wondering now that since I’ve written lots of fights and action, if I ought to write my sex scenes like fight scenes. Still not sure what that means, but it might take me from the label of steamy romance into BDSM.

Jess: Do you think she meant to write it like a dance, with give and take and tandem movement, rather than to literally throw punches? In any case, I’ve begun outlining April Fools, which is to be the final book in my Mira James Mysteries. I make a promise to myself (and to you, dear reader) that I will put at least three sex scenes in that book. And…drum rollllll…I swear to god I’m going to use “Mr. Happy” and “My Secret Place” because that’s too beautiful to waste.

What about you, dear reader, do you enjoy reading/writing sex scenes and on the scale from closed door to erotica, where do you make your bed?

GIVEAWAY

We are each giving away three signed books on the Lourey/Baker Double-Booked Tour. To enter to win, sign up for our newsletter!

●       Jess Lourey newsletter sign-up (when you sign up, you’ll automatically receive a free copy of May Day, the first in Jess’ comic caper mysteries): BookHip.com/KJNSXH

●       Shannon Baker newsletter sign-up (when you sign up you’ll receive a free Kate short story): https://mailchi.mp/d5ccfe1840ea/shannonsbooknews

For every comment you make along our tour stop, you’ll get another entry in the contest. Don’t be shy; we love talking to you.

DOUBLE-BOOKED BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

August 23: "Two Middle-aged Introverts Write a Sex Scene" on Criminal Minds

August 26: "Write What You Fear" on Writer Unboxed

August 27: "The Five Stages of Author Grief" on BOLO Books

August 29: "Tools and Tricks that Changed the Game" on Femmes Fatales

August 31: "Write a Great Scene" on Fiction University

September 2: “Author Interview” on Jess Lourey

September 4: "The Unexpected Places Authors Get Their Ideas" on Wicked Cozy Authors

September 8: "A Day in the Life of Our Characters" on Dru’s Book Musings

September 13: "Most Embarrassing Author Moment" on Jungle Red Writers

September 26: "Create an Author Persona" on The Creative Penn

TBA: “More than the Sum of Our Parts” on Career Authors

ABOUT SHANNON AND JESS

Shannon Baker is author of the Kate Fox mystery series set in rural Nebraska cattle country, and the Nora Abbott mystery series, fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder. Now a resident of Tucson, Baker spent 20 years in the Nebraska Sandhills, where cattle outnumber people by more than 50:1. She is proud to have been chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 and 2017 Writer of the Year.

 A lover of the outdoors, she can be found backpacking in the Rockies, traipsing to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, skiing mountains and plains, kayaking lakes, hiking, cycling, and scuba diving whenever she gets the chance. Arizona sunsets notwithstanding, Baker is, and always will be, a Nebraska Husker. Go Big Red. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com.  Bitter Rain is an August release.

Jess Lourey (rhymes with “dowry”) is an Anthony, Lefty, and Agatha-nominated author best known for her critically-acclaimed Mira James Mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a regular Psychology Today blogger, and a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 “Rewrite Your Life” TEDx Talk. Mercy’s Chase, the second in the feminist thriller series Lee Child calls “highly recommended,” releases September 8. You can find out more at www.jessicalourey.com.

Plus ça change...? by Cathy Ace

Reading: What difference do you notice between the prose in crime novels that were written twenty years ago and current ones?  Do you think the writing has gotten better? Are the subjects different?

My first response to this question was to work out what year it was 20 years ago. Apparently it was 1998, but that can’t be right, because 1998 was just yesterday, wasn’t it?

There was all that talk about Y2K being the End of Times, so we’d better all spend the whole of 1999 partying like the artist formerly known as Prince, just in case we went out with a Big Technological Bang at the end of the century. And, while we were at it, we were told to squirrel away cash at home just in case the world didn’t end, but all the ATMs and electronic tills didn’t work any longer. That was just a couple of years ago – right? No? Hmm.

So, to this week’s question. I’m going to give my response a British spin, because I think I’ve got a better basis for comparison that way.

When it comes to the use of language, I don’t think there’s been a huge shift in the prose between the dialogue passages, but there has been a gradual emergence of different voices over the past twenty years, and those voices have been allowed to speak with an authenticity of vocabulary that I believe was – often, though not always – lacking. I don’t mean that just colloquialisms are now more prevalent, but that also what’s being spoken about and the characters doing the speaking have changed. It’s more realistic, more “current”. And that’s a good thing.

Crime fiction tackles some truly dreadful topics – and that applies to even the coziest of cozies, as well as the expectedly visceral thrum of a Martina Cole novel. So why not allow “real” voices to speak of such things? Rather than the massaged vocabulary of BBC Radio 4, let’s have the East End of London on the page (the old one, not the recently gentrified and sanitized one). So many British authors have taken this route, and moreso within the past twenty years.

And when it comes to topics…yes, murder is still there, but I enjoy the contemporary twists on motive and method that we see these days, as well as still having a soft spot for “Golden Age” poisonings at dinner parties.

Is it “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” (roughly translated: The more things change, the more they stay the same)? Maybe. But let’s not forget that Christie used the language of her day, and tackled contemporary topics (eg: Poirot is a refugee from Belgium; much is made in many of her books and stories of the scourge of drug addiction, the class system as she saw it through her lens) with her readers in mind, so maybe change is what’s required to allow authors to achieve that same end – relevance to their readers.

I'd be honoured if you'd consider reading my work - you can find out about it and me here: cathyace.com 

 

Has Crime Writing Changed?

What difference do you notice between the prose in crime novels that were written twenty years ago and current ones?  Do you think the writing has gotten better? Are the subjects different?

Terry Shames. I’m in a new spot this week, moving from Monday to Tuesday.

I recently had a bookseller tell me that the quality of crime fiction was so good these days that she sometimes couldn’t decide whether to shelve them in the Mystery section or the mainstream fiction section of the story.

Oh, really? I’m not sure how much that has changed. At the heart of many “mainstream” novels is a mystery. Try reading Jane Eyre without the mystery of the madwoman in the attic. Try reading Faulkner’s The Wild Palms or The Sound and the Fury without their puzzling center themes. Many so-called serious works of fiction aren’t only about the mystery of the human heart, but of a real, substantive mysterious happening.

In the past few weeks I’ve dipped into a few mysteries I read several years ago. In particular I’ll note James McClure. His books are police procedurals. I was happy to find that his writing not only holds up, but fairly sizzles with all the elements that make a crime novel stand out—great setting, characters that leap off the page, dialogue that sounds real, an intriguing mystery, and conflict on every single page. In addition, his prose is absolutely breathtaking. He writes in the backdrop of apartheid South Africa and there is anguish on every page. I sometimes feel when I read his books that the pages can barely contain his descriptions of place and characters. That’s serious writing.

And I compare him to crime writers writing about Africa today: Kwei Quarte, Malla Nunn, Michael Stanley, and Alexander McCall Smith come to mind at once. That’s four to one, and that’s a narrow field. McClure is solidly in with this modern group of writers.

Storytelling is the bottom line. You may think Agatha Christie was “just” a little lady writing mysteries, but her stories were always intriguing. If a book doesn’t tell a good story, it doesn’t matter how elegant the prose is. Or how simple. No one would argue that Dick Francis is a wordsmith. His writing was formulaic and straightforward. But he knows how to tell a story that engages the reader.

 It isn’t so much that the writers are better across the board these days, but that there are so many more to choose from, especially with the ability of authors to publish their own work. There is sometimes a complaint that to many self-published authors publish before they have done enough editing. But that isn’t always true. I’m currently reading a book recommended to me by a bookseller, Outlaw Road, by Billy Kring. I’m finding hard to put down. About midway through I wondered who published it. Billy Kring published it. Same with an author named George Weir, who writes swashbuckling stories with depth and breadth that remind me of Patrick O’Brien—and he publishes  them himself. He’s a writing machine. If he had to depend on mainstream publishers, there would be a lot fewer of his books available.

Of course I also run across books written years ago that seem dated. These days readers expect a crime novel that is faster-paced, that gets you into the story at once. Readers are used to more down-to-earth prose and sometimes earlier writers were more stilted—maybe trying to be “serious” writers.

As for the subjects, crime is timeless. Ask Rhys Bowen, James Ziskin, or Ann Parker, who write historical crime fiction. People have always been greedy, calculating, frightened, vengeful, covetous….look to the Ten Commandments and you’ll always have enough subjects to keep crime writers busy.

I’ll end with a bit of excitement of my own. The cover of my next Samuel Craddock book was revealed last weekend, and I love it. I hope you do, too.