Hi y'all.Read something recently on an literary agency blog I follow, and I'd like to throw it out there for general debate.
The agents were discussing genre trends -- what's hot and what's not. And according to one of the agents, the erotic romance trend has "cooled off". She suggests this could be because the genre is being diluted by the increasingly hot love scenes that are now commonplace in paranormals and historicals.
I know there'll be faction of people out there who'll be pleased to hear that the erotic romance trend might have peaked and be on its way down. To quote Emma Holly in an interview with the Smart Bitches quoted in Beyond Heaving Bosoms, "they would be happier if the erotic branch of the romance tree could simply be lopped off."
Now there's a visual for you. Ouch!
Take it from a girl whose introduction to "the deed" was being told "It's messy and painful and you only do it because you love the person", reading romances and realizing from what I read that I could expect a heckuva lot more than messy and painful, was pretty revolutionary. And reading erotic romance was even more of ahem! an eye-opener. More fun than an "insert tab A into slot B" manual, that's for sure ;-).
Sure, paranormals and historicals are getting "hotter", but I like the upfront, unabashed honesty of the erotic romance genre. It doesn't pussyfoot around with euphemisms or have to walk some unseen line that makes it still acceptable to the general reading public. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is. It's "out there". It pushes boundaries. And IMHO, an exquisitely written, emotionally heartwrenching love scene can also push boundaries and be an explicit, fully-realized sex scene, where the main characters are being honest and upfront about what they like, want, and feel comfortable with. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive.
In Beyond Heaving Bosoms, The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan say,
"There's more to erotic romance than "Yar! Here be buttsecks!" Kind of. Because pushing people's boundaries sexually means pushing the boundary in the narrative sense as well. Erotic romance has also helped challenge some of the heteronormative assumptions about romance in general. Bottom line, erotica pushes boundaries. Literally and figuratively."
Yar, me hearties! Let's hear it for the boundary-pushers!
So here's my question: Is erotic romance as a separate genre on its way out?
Personally, I sure as heck hope not!
Cheers,
M
3 comments:
Maree,
Interesting post, I hadn't heard this. If erotic is cooling off, fear not, it'll be back. Writing trends are cyclical. In the meantime, what the agent said about seeing an increase in hot love scenes in other genres tells erotic has staged a coup and is stirring the other romantic sub genres up.
I agree with Jen. Not to worry, erotic romance will be around as long as the publishing industry :)
I've been known to skip over to EC to download some hot stories, and with you guys writing for them and other houses, I'll be sure to read your work as well. Never fear!
Jennifer, I like that: erotic romance stirring up the other romantic genres. What struck me was that this agent obviously wasn't interested in seeing submissions for the genre, so I guess it would behoove people to pitch their work to her as "paranormal romance" or "historical" or "contemporary" and leave off the erotic part. I wonder how many other agents feel the same.
Kaylea, I love your positivity! Erotic romance will be around till the cows come home -- go ERom!
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