My book, Harvest, is heating up. There's a lot of science fiction and action in it, but it's also getting a lot more sexual as the female characters exert their own agency in the story. I don't want to have a story where only the male characters are victimizing and sexualizing their prey. This is nothing too new since erotic vampires have been in the mythology for a long time, but it's a little new for me because it presents an issue.
How erotic should a vampire story be?
My favorite writers push the boundaries of these kinds of things. They make you kind of look over your shoulder on the subway to make sure no one is reading behind you. A book should be a dirty little secret. Some of my favorites, like Pynchon and Miller and McEwan and so many others get pretty raunchy at times. I remember reading The Illuminatus! Trilogy thinking "holy shit!" when the sex scenes happened.
I would like someone reading my book have the same reaction when my characters get down. I'd also like them to feel that way about the science fiction parts and the horror elements, of course. . . but in a way it's harder to shock when it comes to sex.
Sex is everywhere. A book takes your mind and shows it things. Do you want it to show you what you already know? Do you want it to show you what you've seen a million times before? Do you want it to be safe?
And if you are having sex, you have sexual fantasies, and if you're reading a book, don't you want it to poke at that?
Anyway, the second part of the book is under construction, and I think it's more violent and sexual and scary than the first part. Somewhere in the middle, I'm sure it will calm down a bit, but for now I want the sex to be like a treat for getting through the scary bits and the parts where science fiction has us flying through time warps and everything.
What do you think? How much is too much? And should we ever dial it down? Isn't there something pornographic about vampires anyway? Even something as horrible as Twilight is all about sex in a way isn't it? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
By the way, here's a top ten list of sexy vampire girls »
And here are some videos of hot naked vampire chicks biting one another in erotic ways »
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