Hi all, Tambra here

There's a debate going on in the romance writing community about erotic romance.
I don't think readers care what's going on. They want a good read, erotic romance or not.

THE GOOD:
Erotic romance is giving women readers what men have had for years. A choice.
Some women are saying their marriages have improved by reading erotic romance. My guess is they are finally speaking up to their partners about fantasties they have and would like to try.

Erotic romance has detailed love scenes and the language is plainer in what the body parts are called. We do not degrade our heroines and our heroes. Read any of my titles. ALL of them are romance. In fact, all of my publishers have guidelines for their erotic romance lines and they all specifically state, it must be a romance.

It is a fact that women who read romance give their husbands more sex than the women who don't, so I can see how the erotic romance readers would certainly fall into this category.

Women appear to be enjoying this newfound freedom because our sales prove they want to read it. The readers are showing with their pocketbooks what they want.

THE BAD:
Am I a bad person because I write erotic and sensual romance? No.
Am I prostituting myself to get published? No, again. My first published romance short didn't even have a love scene in it. I let my story dictate the best way it should be written.

Commercial fiction is all about entertaining the reader. Some readers desire to read stories where the bedroom door is open and want more than what traditional romance offers.


THE UGLY:
The problem the erotic romance writers are having is other writers accusing them of writing porn and prostituting themselves by writing in this genre. Professional jealousy? Perhaps. Are they threatened by the elements we incorporate into our stories? That's another possibility.

Number one, the accusers should do a little research before they start calling people names. It helps to know exactly what pornography is and does.

Here is what Pornography is: Pornography degrades and exploits women and represents them as nothing more an object for sex, not a fully functioning human with feelings.

Erotic romance writers stories do arouse and there's no doubt about that we who write it won't argue that point. But just because our stories are sexually stimulating doesn't make it porn.
We also have well developed characters and plot just like traditional or sensual romance.

Has any of these people read more than one erotic romance? I've read a number of books that were not up to standard, yet if I stopped there and proceeded to paint all the genre with a black brush would that have been fair? No. It would not.

There is plenty of room in the romance genre for all us. If you don't like what we write, then don't read it. It all comes down to choice.

Time will tell if this area of romance will be accepted by those within our ranks. What matters most is whether or not the readers decide if erotic romance is good, bad or ugly. If sales are any indication, they think erotic romance is a wicked good read.

Hugs to all,
Tambra Kendall
www.tambrakendall.com