Is it Art?

By Madeline Moore


'Tawdry, misogynistic, and unrealistic.' I'd pressed one of my best friends, another writer, to read my first erotica novel, Wild Card. Now she was giving me her honest opinion of the book. I was stunned.

Tawdry? As in cheap, flamboyant, and tasteless? OK but …misogynistic? Impossible. Wild Card is a Black Lace novel – written by women for women. Unrealistic? The action primarily takes place in a hotel room over a couple of days – the classic dirty weekend. Or did my friend think a good paddling followed by twelve strokes of the crop was more than a real woman could stand? Not if that woman is a pain slut!

Then the kicker. She called me an artist, and said I have a responsibility to the world. Just like her.

Well, I'm a writer, I know that. But an artist? What's that even supposed to mean?

Is erotica art? Is genre fiction art? This is a just a little essay and my first post as a member of Lust Bites (as is evidenced by the ungainly topic I chose) so I'll get to the point. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on who wrote it and when. It used to depend on whether it originally came with a hard or paper back, and, although 'trade paperbacks' and the lovely new covers introduced by traditional erotica imprints like Black Lace have blurred the distinction a little, it's still possible to judge a book by its cover.

Here's what I think about art: It evokes a feeling. Sometimes, the public response to art translates into action, (Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe for example) but not always. Mostly, aren't we simply awed by art?

Genre fiction writers are charged to evoke a particular feeling. Writers of horror set out to scare the reader. The High Priest of Horror, Stephen King, has only recently been acknowledged as a possible literary figure. Mystery writers lure the reader into following the chain of evidence and puzzling over clues. Elmore Leonard is the latest mystery writer to make the cut as an artist.

We erotica writers are charged with the task of sexually exciting the reader. Anne Rice comes to mind as an author who has transcended the erotica and horror genres to take her place among the mainstream literary figures of the day. These days, she's writing about Jesus!

Genre writers only get to be artists when they're old. (Who wrote it and when.) Or, to put it another way, when they have amassed a quantity of high quality books. New writers who are published by the mainstream publishers have a shot at being considered artists. (Hard cover or soft.) Newer writers identified by their publishing house as genre writers, don't. (Hard cover or soft.)

These days, Black Lace is looking for literary writing and believable scenarios, more chicklit with our clitlit, if you will. Meanwhile, romance publishers are looking for more clitlit with their chicklit. Chicklit may be a perjorative term, but it's a name for the books that the female population wants to read, and that's exciting. Clitlit, of course, is just plain rude.

Artists are free to add dollops of incest and child abuse and alcoholism to their work, (Fall on Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald); it's almost de rigueur, these days, to imbue a book with substance by heaping on the substance abuse. Black Lace authors follow rules that prohibit that practise. Bestiality is another taboo topic for erotica genre writers that is used to good effect by literary authors. A Black Lace writer can't use it no matter how well-written it is. (No Bear by Marion Engle) for us! Our literary erotica guidelines forbid it.

We Black Lace authors are happy to move in the direction of literature, as much as the fairly tight schedule laid out in our contracts will allow. (Generally we get six months to complete a book.) If we create art, I know our editor would be overjoyed, as long as it's sexy art. But it isn't expected of us. We are expected to write extremely well and make our readers extremely horny. If we don't do that,it doesn't matter how pretty the prose is, we've failed. My book, Wild Card, like all erotica, is written for 'the one handed reader'. I think I accomplished that, and I think my editor thought so too. That's not only good enough for me, it makes me proud.

My friend said she wants her work to 'leave the world a better place,' and I said that my mission is 'to entertain, using my voice.' I also suggested that she is hobbled by her high ideals. While she struggles with the morality and message of her work, producing almost nothing, I write short stories (as Madeline de Chambrey)and novels (by Madeline Moore) that get published. There's no better way to become a better writer than to write.

In the volley of emails that ended a friendship, she had the last word. For the purposes of this essay, I thought I'd give the last word to Oscar Wilde...

'There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.'

...but then I decided, to hell with it, I'll give the last word to me.

From Wild Card by Madeline Moore:

'"After you cover my feet in your creamy come, Ray, I will spread my thighs and let you sink your fingers deep into my hot steaming naked cunt -" she made her words as crude as she could. The sudden revelation of her inner predator could shock a weak man into impotence but it always had the opposite effect on a strong one.'

Madeline's blog
Wild Card at Amazon

W is for Winner

Well, it’s actually scheduled for “Watching,” but… whatever…

The winner of the 4-book set is t’sade.

Please email me at msalisontyler AT yahoo DOT com with your mailing address, and I’ll get the ABCD books out to you asap.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. And here is a glimpse of one of the future covers. Oooh, la, la...

Girlcrush Wednesday

Uma The Great

To celebrate International Women’s Day tomorrow we’ve gone all womanly (well, even more than usual) and today is our first Girl Crush Wednesday.

And I got to pick the first girl for us to get all Sapphic over!

I toyed with Winona, flirted with Maggie, and even gave the entire cast of the Mediaeval Baebes a bit of an eye. But in the end, it had to be Uma.

She was deliciously wicked in Pulp Fiction. She even looks good in a yellow jumpsuit. She manages to make everything she touches look sexy, without ever looking like she’s even trying.

The crooked nose and the big sulky mouth. The way she’s kind of gangly and curvy at the same time. The lovely bosom and the big knuckles (why yes, I have a kind of a thing for big knuckles, since you ask!). The way she wields a motherfucking huge big sword….Hmm, yup, if I got to pick a girl to share my pillow with, it would have to be Uma.

Of course there's more to Women's Day than perving over hot girls. But, this being Lustbites, we're kind of focussed on the sexy side of things.

So, support IWD! Name your girl crush! Nominate the chick you'd like to lick!

(Uh, was that taking it too far?)

; )

Burning Bright US Publication This Week

By Janine Ashbless

Burning Bright is released in America this week, so I thought I'd let you poor unsuspecting people know what you're in for, via the medium of British reviewers. I've never had Reviews before, so forgive me if I'm a bit giddy! This one is from Forum, (Vol. 41 no.2) and I'll quote it in full:

"Veraine was a commander in the Imperial army and Myrna was the high priestess he stole away from her temple. As they attempt to make a new life together they are attacked by reivers: Myrna is taken to be a slave of the evil Tiger Lords, while Veraine is beaten and left for dead. Piecing together fragments of memory, Veraine begins to search for his lost love, but there are many erotic temptations on his way, while life with the Tiger Lords is so brutal and short he may not arrive in time...

Black Lace is branching out heavily into paranormal erotica this year, attempting to emulate the success of authors such as Laurell K. Hamilton and Sherrilyn Kenyon (but with better writing standards...), so expect lots of novels involving vampires, shape-shifters and general spookiness. If they're all up to the standard of Burning Bright then it's a gamble which should pay off. There's an art to making you believe in characters who are part-human, part-animal and Ashbless clearly possesses it.

Personally I don't particularly like lots of death and dollops of gore with my erotica, but the fight scenes are carried off well, and the Eastern tinges of mysticism which are woven into the plot and the characters' belief systems hold everything together nicely. And the sex never takes second place to the plot twists, which is always the danger with this type of erotica genre.
Careful, this one burns..."

No offence to LKH, but ... heeheehee!

However, my real favourite is from the journal of the Erotic Trade Organisation:

"Practically snuff"

I laughed till I fell off my chair...

xxx

Janine Ashbless

http://www.amazon.com/Burning-Bright-Janine-Ashbless/dp/0352340851/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9199407-3344131?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173093264&sr=1-1/

Coming Attractions

By Mathilde Madden

Janine Ashbless – the woman who once wrote hot dragon sex and made it work (my god, did she ever) – will be here on Monday to celebrate the US release of her dirty, steamy paranormal filth book, Burning Bright. Yes, it's scary porn: full of sweat and blood and other fluids. And as a semi-pro werewolf handler, I have to admit, I'm more than a fan of delicious monsters.

We move from Beasts to Breasts on Wednesday, when we celebrate International Women's Day in our own style. International Women's Day is fine by us, but truly, here on Lust Bites, everyday is International Women's Day – so we thought why not make it International Hot Women's Day? Yep – Girl Crush Wednesday: hosted by Nikki Magennis, who is the subject of more than a few girl crushes herself right now thanks to her post last Friday demonstrating the power of her sexy, sexy mind.

And then, just when you thought all we cared about was smut and jungles and frottage, we hit you with the big one on Friday when Madeline Moore takes a look at the dirty book you're currently reading/writing and asks, 'But is it art?' I am not sure how it works with books, but when it comes to men in the nude, it is clearly art if it is in black and white. Like the startlingly artistic image above.

Tilly aka Mathilde Madden
Locking imaginary werewolves in imaginary cellars for your pleasure since 2006

COMPETITION: And the winners are ...

It's the moment you've all been waiting for, the answers to our True or False quiz. Oh, okay ... you just want to know if you've won some dirty books or not, don't you?

And so, without further ado, I present you with the four lucky winners of our Valentine's competition: Shon Richards, Johanna, Katie and Bubble (aka Jacqui C). You each win a copy of the very hot and very lovely Sex in Public plus a 3-book selection of our fabulous fiction. And one person also wins a signed copy of Asking for Trouble from our mini-comp and that's Teresa. Congratulations winners! Send your name and address to us at lustbitesblog AT yahoo DOT com and your super-sexy goodies will be in the post.

Sadly, no one got the answers to our True or False quiz correct although there were a few near misses. Cast your eyes over the full revelations below if you want to know who to trust - although my best advice would be to trust none of us.

Massive thanks to everyone who entered the competition. We never know who's out there and it's fantastic when you pop up to say 'hello', 'gimme filth' and other sweet murmurings. Our next big lusty giveaway will be early May to mark the UK release of the Black Lace anthology, Sex with Strangers. In the meantime, there'll be mini-contests strewn fetchingly across the blog plus the usual mix of scintillating chat, steamy snippets and pics of hot hard men whose clothes have accidentally fallen off. And if you haven't already done so, check out Alison Tyler's gorgeous giveaway as she launches her stunning alphabet of smut.

True or false?

1. Madelynne Ellis (Passion of Isis) has a romantic boyfriend who once sent her a hug in the post by drawing around his hands and arms, and cutting them out of paper. TRUE: awwww!
2. Suzanne Portnoy (The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker) once held a small select Valentine’s party in her hot tub with 3 other guys. FALSE: although she does have a hot tub and I have it on good authority she's not always alone in it.
3. Mathilde Madden (Equal Opportunities) had a male escort called Mark Valentine in her novel, Mad About the Boy. TRUE: oh so very true.
4. Nikki Magennis (Circus Excite) was once picked up by a stranger who gave her a crushed Valentine's rose he found in the street. TRUE: tart.
5. Kate Pearce (Sex in Public) struggled with long-distance love and, after getting on the wrong coach one Valentine’s Day, ended up four hours late for a date with her boyfriend. That poor, poor boyfriend is now her husband. ALMOST TRUE: Kate was actually 7 hours late and, yeah, he still married her.
6. Janine Ashbless (Burning Bright) once proposed to all the men she knew on a leap year Valentine’s day. ALMOST TRUE: Janine proposed to all the ones she saw that day.
7. Sophie Mouette (Cat Scratch Fever) is made up of two people, Teresa Noelle Roberts and Dayle A Dermatis. One of them has single pierced ears and tattoos; the other has multiple piercings but no tattoos. If it’s true, can you guess which one's which? TRUE: Dayle has the tattoos whereas Teresa is tattoo-free but, oh boy and ouch, does she have some piercings.
8. Alison Tyler (Tiffany Twisted) once broke up with a boy on Valentine's Day. The last she heard, he was still holding a grudge. (Ah, young love. They were 10 at the time.) TRUE: and can you blame the guy? Wouldn't you be hurt if Alison Tyler dumped you when you were expecting extra kisses?
9. Alana Noel Voth (Best Gay Erotica) has a heart ‘n’ dagger tattoo on her ankle. FALSE: Alana's ankles, though they're not always together, aren't marked with this tattoo.
10. Portia Da Costa (Gothic Blue) has a double crush: two guys, one name. Valentino is the hero of her forthcoming novel, Suite Seventeen, and is also a character played by Vincent D'Onofrio in a film called 'The Velocity of Gary'. TRUE: of course.
11. Shanna Germain (Caught Looking) has been proposed to over a dozen times but only once said ‘yes’, to a guy who promptly broke her heart. TRUE: although I forgot to ask Shanna whether the 12 proposals were from one very determined guy or several doe-eyed hopefuls. Shanna?
12. Kristina Lloyd (Asking for Trouble) dreamed of marrying her first serious boyfriend whose surname was ‘Fullalove’. TRUE: well actually, I don't recall wanting to marry him but I didn't want to say 'the guy who popped my cherry' when all those people were watching. (Please note careful positioning of quote marks there.) It's just you and me here now, right? Competition launch over.
13. Madeline Moore (Wild Card) once hand made (yes - hand made) a shirt for her boyfriend on Valentine’s Day and he said, ‘Thanks, I didn’t get you anything.’ TRUE: I know, I know, I'm weeping for her as well.
    

Lusties, I hope I got that right. If I slandered any of you, treat me gently in court, won't you?

Kristina x

http://kristina-lloyd.blogspot.com/

Sexy v Beautiful

‘Just standing around looking beautiful is so boring…’
- Michelle Pfeiffer

Ah, Michelle. I feel your pain.

Actually, I don’t, because like most of the world, I don’t have a ticket to the Beautiful Club. They can be bought, of course, at huge expense and if you’re willing to spend a lot of time – a lot of time – primping and waxing and grooming and pouting. Air brush and botox and stand the right way and try not to smile too hard, and you might be allowed in to worship at the altar of Supermodel.

Like most young girls, I wanted to grow up and be beautiful. (Brush your hair a hundred times. Wash your face in the morning dew. Work on that blank expression.) Unfortunately I’ve failed so far - to either grow up or be beautiful.

Yet there was a moment, a few years ago, when I was looking in the mirror and despairing at my flaw-ridden reflection, and a light bulb went on.

I may never be beautiful, but fuck, I could be sexy. Sexy like Marilyn or Peaches or Debbie Harry or Macy Gray or Eartha Kitt or Patti Smith. (Feel free to add your own version of sexy to the list here).

Sexy is so much more various than beautiful. More powerful.

‘Hips, tits, lips, power.’
– Big Bad Baby Pigsqueal, by Silverfish

While the beautiful people are standing carefully on the red carpet, one hip arranged at the right angle and chin down, trying not to smile too hard, the sexy woman is out mud-wrestling in a ripped dress, screwing her hair up and not giving a flying fuck. A sexy woman has a sense of humour. A sexy woman doesn’t worry about her manicure when she’s raking her nails down a man’s back.



Really, all Beauty is fit for is preserving behind glass. It’s dazzling, sure, and we shrink before it. ‘It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness’ (– that’s Leo Tolstoy, and I’m not going to argue with him.)
But show me a beautiful character that has any hint of a pulse, and I’ll eat my eyelash curlers. There’s something cold about beauty, at least, beauty as we’re led to believe – cold perfection, symmetrical features, flawless skin. Aiming for size zero.


Yes, a woman knows she is beautiful when her dress size tells her she has ceased to exist. That’s the point. Beauty is a chimera. We’re being sold the Emperor’s New Clothes, because really there is no such thing as beautiful.

‘Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford’
– Cindy Crawford

But, now, let’s have a look at sexy. You can smell sexy. It’s about how you move, the certain quality of your smile, an attitude that knows all about the body and its mysterious, pulsing, sweating, heart-racing, blood-pounding ways. It has body hair and breasts and balls and fluids. (Yes, I realise I’ve just created a monster. Bear with me).

The point is, Sexy is about revealing our real self, gloriously flawed. It’s not about struggling to erase all the signs that show one is human in the pursuit of a mathematically perfect ideal.

Only one person decides if you're sexy or not - that's you. It’s about heat, and the suggestion of softness. How your flesh would feel cupped in the palm of a hand. It’s about feeling skin against skin and tasting the mouth of your lover and feeling that beat start inside you that turns your knees weak and makes you hungry and knowing that your body is meant for more than just decoration.
It’s about dancing like no-one is watching, the taste of chocolate ice cream, how your body jiggles when you move. Most of all, of course, it’s about fucking.

No one can stay beautiful and make love. I mean, have you ever seen yourself in the act? Face screwed up and sweating and mouth hanging open and hanging upside down off the edge of the bed is not a flattering pose.

Most of all, being sexy is about being a real, live, fuckable human being.

And that’s why when I’m writing, I look for the things that are ‘wrong’ about a character. All the ugliness that makes a character (or a person) unique and fascinating and memorable, also makes them real enough to fall in love with.

‘Give me a ruined complexion and a lost figure and sixteen chins on a farmyard of Crow’s feet and an obvious wig. Then you shall see me coming out strong.’
- George Bernard Shaw, to Mrs Patrick Campbell.

I say keep your Beauty. Give me ugly, give me crooked teeth and a soft belly and funny feet and a squint, and I shall show you sexy.



How about you?