It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that paranormal romance has roots in the erotic romance market. In a nutshell, paranormal romance began as a niche genre nurtured by small/digital presses. Then it branched out into the erotic romance market where it fed readers’ needs for such stories. Later, authors like Christine Feehan bridged the gap between niche and mainstream. You know the rest of the story.
We’re seeing a similar pattern with science fiction romance. The sub-genre has deep roots in Star Trek fanfiction (which, like most fanfiction, isn’t without its share of stories that include graphic sex scenes) and small presses/digital publishers (with heat levels ranging from sweet to explicit). Currently, small/digital publishers are a significant source of science fiction romance books. Most of them are erotic romances, but not all.
All of the above is why I feel it's important to point out that SF erotic romance is simply another slice of the SFR pie. It’s another way for readers so inclined to feed their need for this sub-genre.
I asked author Jennifer Leeland (MARKED FOR PLEASURE) to fill in some of the background regarding paranormal and SF erotic romance for us, and here’s what she had to say:
[Begin quote]“…the popularity [paranormal romance] has now was certainly spurred by Ellora's cave. Though many authors had already written paranormal romances (Feehan's Carpathian series as an example) they certainly didn't have the same success that paranormal seems to have today.
Nora Roberts and other romance authors dipped their toes into the paranormal (Nora's three sister's trilogy is one of my favorites featuring three witches) but contemporaries were (and still are) their bread and butter. So, where did this popularity for urban fantasy, werewolves, other shifters and magic worlds come from?
Go to Amazon and put in "paranormal authors" and many familiar names pop up--Sara Reinke, Larissa Ione, etc. And Dawn Thompson who began at Highland Press. Sylivia Day began at Ellora's Cave. Anya Bast began at Ellora's Cave. Shiloh Walker began at Ellora's Cave. Names that are familiar to us in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance were once slogging it out in epublishing. The popularity of Joey W. HIll's ebooks have led to a good New York publishing career. Kate Douglas carried her successful werewolves to Kensington.
Heather Osbourne moved from editing for Ellora's Cave to the editor at Tor, the Holy Grail of publishers for paranormal, futuristic and fantasy authors. There's a connection between the success of paranormal on the shelves of Walmart and the continued success of paranormal erotic romance on Fictionwise. Believe it or not, it's working for SFR as well. Nalini Singh has created an audience for her Psy shifter series.
The audience is there.
I've written Romantic Suspense (under another name), contemporary erotic romance, BDSM contemporary erotic romance and science fiction erotic romance. Guess which ones are the most successful?
Yep. The BDSM contemps and the sci fi erotic. The audience is there. Hell, Kaitlyn O'Conner is kicking ASS on Fictionwise.
So, we have a subgenre in erotic romance that makes the top ten on Fictionwise regularly (Science Fiction Erotic Romance). We have paranormal authors that topped the erotic romance ebook best seller lists five and ten years ago that are now selling paranormal titles in the brick and mortar stores.
That's exciting for someone like me.
Like any genre, Erotic Romance has good writers who represent the genre, and not so great writers that don't.
For me, it's all win/win since I love Linnea Sinclair and I also love Robin Rotham who wrote "Alien Overnight" one of the HOTTEST, SMOKIN' futuristics I've ever read. So, I'm good. I can read "Grimspace" and be totally thrilled and I can read Mima's "In Service" and be thrilled in a totally different way.
As a writer, I like to write the erotic space adventures. I love the idea of sexual freedom leading to different moral, political and social issues for future man. That's my fun.
Right now? Nobody knows how to market it.
Is it possible to have dynamic world building, romance and erotic sex scenes? Yes.
Is it possible to have dynamic world building, romance and NO erotic sex scenes? Absolutely.
I love to write sci fi. It's the ultimate writer "What If". I also love writing the psychological aspects of D/s and other kink. I'm hoping the popularity that's beginning to come in ebooks will start to show in the NY publishers soon.”
[End quote]
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that SF erotic romance is another example of small/digital presses taking risks when others can’t or won’t. It’s about authors paying their dues and investing much time and effort for very little money in the hopes that the sub-genre as a whole will enjoy greater success down the line. Finally, it’s very possible that some or more of the mainstream SFR authors of the future are the SF erotic romance authors of today. These factors are important to acknowledge and embrace regardless of one’s individual taste.
Joyfully yours,
Heather
27 comments:
Didn't hold back much, did I? LOL. I do hope this opens up discussion.
I actually talked about this with a crit partner and she pointed out several differences that also made me think.
She reminded me that paranormal lent itself to sexual content (many based on fairy tales which were cautionary tales about sexual conduct) but Science Fiction has not had a sexual connotation to its genre, but has been political cautionary tales (rather than sexual).
I disagreed, believing that science fiction has explored erotic themes even while delivering a political message.
But I think some authors have proven that science fiction and erotic romance can be combined for some great books.
Wonderful post from both Heather and Jennifer.
I don't have much to add because you guys said it so well. Except-- as a reader, I enjoyed reading erotic futuristics and erotic SFR in ebook form before I became familiar with the print/mainstream/non-erotic side. This was from reading as much paranormal as I could & seeking even more through ebooks. This then led me to Fut/SFR. The author that tipped me into loving this genre was Leigh Wynfield & interesting note to the recent discussions, those books that hooked me blended SF/Fut and paranormal.
I believe you *can* have it all. The action, the science, the love, the sex. All in one book. I know you are all tired of hearing me say this but...
Love and rivets are not mutually excluding.
Yeah, I want it hot and kinky baby! Can't write it to save my life, but I do love to read it.
I think there is more than ample potential for erotic SFR to explore new worlds of sexuality, literally.
One of the fun elements of SFR for me is culture building. Take cultures, give them some interesting philosophies about sex and sexual traditions and viola, super steamy sexy sexy stories on starships.
The possibilities are endless. Add in some future "tech" in the bedroom and they open up even more.
I say bring it on. I'll happily embrace the erotic end of the subgenre, (and expand my reading list.)
Great post Heather and Jennier :D
I'm a geek who likes to write sex too. I like twisting science and making it do naughty things, lol and Erotic SFR has given me that opportunity. Like Jess said, there's a freedom to SF that means you can explore situations that other genres just can't touch. For me anyway.
It's early. Sorry for misspelling your name, Jenn :)
Also, since science fiction has always been a vehicle for social commentary, I believe the erotic aspect of society can be addressed in a positive way.
For example: Dealing with a society that views "kink" with a judgmental eye. Haven't we seen the current society reject, harass and judge alternative lifestyles?
For a contemporary, addressing such issues might be too heavy for book of fiction. But if I address it under the guise of an action adventure science fiction erotic romance? SCORE!
Isn`t sad though that our North American society can`t deal with two men loving each other, but can take massive amounts of violence from every media outlet out there, and not blink an eye. As if love is shameful and worthy of ridicule or something. Sad.
Hey! I just realize now...Jennifer Leeland, I did a cover for you :) The Christmas She Rules!
I experienced a few light bulb moments.
Is that what those were? :D (Hehehe.)
Ahem, as to the topic, off the list of my current top ten, okay, twelve, favorites (http://bevsbooks.com/notes/?p=389) three of them are science fiction/erotic romances .
D’Arc, Bianca: The Ice Dragon
Greene, Tilly: Zandia
Mima: Wild Within
Alright, one of those is probably really a fantasy/erotic romance (D'Arc's) but you get the idea. And if you look at the rest of the list, several of the others are erotic romances or at least tending that way, too.
But here's the thing, most of them only got on got on that top favorites list within the last few years, so that means they've replaced a lot of my old favorite traditional romances as my new favorites. Doesn't mean I don't still go back and reread the old ones or that I don't still love them. Just that when I honestly looked at what I was rereading the most nowadays, some of the the traditional stories had fallen off the list and been replaced with stories with definite erotic tendencies.
Oh, and two of the other ones that aren't erotic romances are SFR. Just so you know that if you offer it, they will come. Readers, I mean.
What the?? What's with all the repeated words in that last comment? Hope ya'll can make heads or tails of that mess. ;)
OMG! Nathalie, I LOVE that cover.
It is amazing what our society will accept but not accept homosexuality.
Again, something to write about.
"Isn`t sad though that our North American society can`t deal with two men loving each other..."
I suppose it isn't widely known that Canada passed a law in 2005 legalising same sex marriage.
@ Anonymous: Dude, I'm Canadian. There's a world between our society's ability to accept and deal with two men loving each other, and passing laws that legalise same-sex marriages.
And I was talking about the difference between what's shown to us in the various media (books included): that folks seem more ok with watching/reading "news" with body parts and blood splatters on the walls, then watching two men kissing.
But you're right. It's probably not universally known; and neither is the fact that the Canadian military not only allows same-sex marriages and all the benefits they come with, but also pays for sex reassignment surgeries. I was in the Canadian military many, many years and two people I know underwent gender reassignment procedures while serving.
Canada is a great land. Eh. :))
I now have a girl crush on Nathalie Gray. Just sayin'.
One of the first writers who really mixed SF and romance/erotica that I remember is Janet Morris. Both her Silistria and Dancer series feature fully-developed and well-thought out alien and future societies. The heroines are intelligent, and while not particularly "kick-ass" as defined by most, they still are in charge of their own destinies. It's a shame they're not in print anymore.
Helen Louise Caroll
Jennifer says the audience is there; Nathalie says we CAN have it all; Jess says the hotter the better. Like THEY said!! With y'all all the way.
Great post Jennifer and Heather.
I'm just coming to writing in this genre from paranormal and erotica, though I've been reading it for some time (Jenn knows how much I adore her Asberek series).
No doubt the audience is there. The combination of sex, romance, adventure and exotic worlds, the high-tech and the wildness, all lend themselves to amazing stories which can sweep us away from the mundane, while at the same time opening our eyes to the elements of the world around us the writer wants us to think more deeply about. SF has always done this. This is an opportunity to comment on sexuality and social mores.
And to write some really hot scenes! :)
There is definitely a place for erotic romance in sci-fi. Why shouldn't there be? Who decided that science and techno-babble can't mix with hot hot sex? Personally, I find science and techno-babble dead sexy (but maybe that's me. I am after all, a little odd)
What's better than a hero (or heroes? Or heroine?) smart enough to reconfigure the deep-space propulsion engines on a space craft, tough enough to take on a horde of malevolent insectoids from Planet 42 single-handedly and sexy enough to know exactly how to turn a woman on, and has no qualms about using every thing at his disposal to do so? A sexy hero who makes the reader as aroused as the heroine? Why should erotic romance only be the domain of the paranormal romance writer? Isn't that line of thought dismissing the power of both SFR and erotic romance?
i'm thinking about how mal met kailey (sp) on firefly. "engines make me hot." teehee. so true.
holy cow jenn and BevBB, thanks for the props. Bev it is SO WEIRD to hear you place wild within as a scifi. While it is now widely considered fantasy, when i wrote it i totally was thinking of a future-earth, after the cataclysm, after people had risen from the ashes. but i've never shared that before. are you psychic?
Mima, I always got the impression that your Within series was futuristic in nature.
Mima, I have your Within books listed as Futuristic, too. They have a fantasy feel also, but the setting struck me as a possible futuristic earth.
Vicky Woodard, who can't get her Google Account to list her name.
holy cow jenn and BevBB, thanks for the props. Bev it is SO WEIRD to hear you place wild within as a scifi. While it is now widely considered fantasy, when i wrote it i totally was thinking of a future-earth, after the cataclysm, after people had risen from the ashes. but i've never shared that before. are you psychic?
Nah, just not real big on paying much attention to genre labels or definitions. I tend to go more for actually identifying what's there in books content-wise. Just ask everyone that's been putting up with my little mini-rants about tagging here lately. ;)
And with your Within series, Mima, it isn't so much that I thought they were futuristics, because I don't even remember any mention of Earth, as they simply feel more like "lost colony" type stories to me - which I love - than anything else. I know that makes absolutely no sense with the whole society based on magical beings and shapeshifters - that should be fantasy. It still feels like science fiction to me for some odd reason.
Or at least a combination of science fiction and fantasy.
And I say basically the same thing about D'Arc's Dragon Knights series.
Which is why I prefer tags.
Ladies, you made excellent points all around and there's not much for me to add except thanks for a great discussion and insightful comments!
I was a Buffy fanfic writer/reader and stumbled onto Ellora's Cave paranormals several years ago, looking for vampires. The fanfic I read was erotic so I was already used to sexy reads.
I also had a background in scifi, especially as a young girl--Andre Norton,Robert Heinlein etc, so finding sci fi/futuristic romance has been a thrill. I can always find an offering through epubs, though the offerings on the Wal Mart paperback aisles are scarce.
As a writer I am thankful that epublishers are eager to look at and contract scifi romance. I hope it takes off like paranormal did but even if it doesn't I'm glad there is a market for it as a reader and as a writer.
Paranormal romance as a separate marketing category arguably began with Lori Herter's OBSESSION (1991), the first (as far as I know) vampire novel to be marketed as romance. NOT the first vampire love story, of course, by any means, but the first or one of the first to be sold AS a romance (aside from the occasional category romance) rather than an odd offshoot of horror. It was published by Berkley.
It's certainly true that small presses and e-publishers kept the paranormal romance genre alive during the period when readers craved it but for some reason the major publishers decided it "wasn't selling."
As a writer I am thankful that epublishers are eager to look at and contract scifi romance.
As a reader, ditto! I will follow my niche genre favorites come rain or snow or heat or gloom of night.
Oh, Margaret--fascinating piece of paranormal romance history, thank you!
but for some reason the major publishers decided it "wasn't selling."
I know niche is often niche for a reason, yet I find the journeys of breakouts such as paranormal romance to be very intriguing. I know it partly stems from satisfaction/pride on my part that a niche genre "made it" despite all obstacles.
Partly it's feeling frustration with the Powers That Be/the general readership/public--how can they not see what's so good about [insert niche genre here].
Partly it's anxiety--will I get to enjoy the stories I like to my heart's content before I die? Not just books, either, but films/tv shows. I need a good steampunk romance film so bad it hurts.
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