I googled Maggie Robinson Means Romance while I was on vacation and got an ad on the sidebar that said “Women Deserve Orgasms." After I recovered from snorting with laughter, I decided I couldn’t agree more. But I’m thinking it wasn’t my name but the ‘romance’ part that connected with the orgasm ad, and it made me think. Fabulous, earth-shattering orgasms are de rigueur for romance novels, but are a little more difficult to come by in real life. Of course they’re multiple (*g*) in fiction, occurring by my unscientific estimate at least four times per book. And they are way hot---I just read a romance fantasy that had actual thunder, lightning and “electricity [which] raised the hair on her arms…burning through blocked passages into her womb, making her whole.” Ouch.
How important are sex scenes to the enjoyment of your writing/reading? Do you skim or steep yourself in sensation? Do they sometimes make you laugh rather than long? Do you object every time you read ‘pounding,’ ‘hot seed,’ or, heaven forbid, ‘spooge?’ Please share those words none of us should be writing so we won’t be struck down by lightning from the Writing Goddess.
43 comments:
Too funny. Actually I don't always give my characters orgasms. Sex can be just as fun, sometimes, depending on the situation for the characters...and it makes them crave that something more for later.
Orgasms not important in what I read... hot sex is... :)
I'm showing my naivety, but I have no idea what "spooge" is...maybe you shouldn't even tell me.
And I think that when building your story, when you're working to ramp up that sexual tension and you get to a point where the hero/heroine are hot for each other but still aren't going to go "all the way", it's perfectly fine to not have orgasms, probably better actually.
But I also think that when it comes to that major sex scene, unless there's a good reason why the hero (and/or) heroine must not orgasm that plays into the storyline, then they really should.
I came across spooge (semen) in a historical and was so flabbergasted that the book became a total wallbanger. It might be historically correct but it just seems snarky middle school boy-worthy.
There. I've done my enlightening for the day, JK.
And I agree. I've read some books where the heroine didn't climax and I'm okay with that. It just makes it better when she finally does.
Uhm... I don't think that is historically accurate--I'll check when I get home I have the best dictionary there. Tiff racking her brain trying to think if she's seen that word anywhere in an older book... nope not cum-ing to mind :) It's not just semen, it means to come. and a girl can do it too.
For some reason the books I've been reading lately have the hero bringing the heroine to orgasm first. And at times, he doesn't get his at all. Or not until later. I'm liking this idea.
I like reading hot sex scenes, but the orgasm is just sort of an accessory. If the lead up isn't good, the orgasm won't matter a bit.
I'm trying to think of no-no words. Jizz maybe. Not sure how to spell that. Either way, it's the same as spooge. And I can't imagine spooge ever being a good word even in a contemp. LOL!
hmmm, as much as i can tell online, Spooch (also to cum--semen type of cum) is from the 1980's... Can't wait to do some research tonight on spooge. *w*
Never heard of Jizz either. I need to visit urbandictionary.com way more often
Spooge has become synonymous with bad sex writing.
And trust me in that book, it gets bad both in sex and with the writing.
Sex scenes.
I remember when I first wrote sex scenes for TACOM and how badly written they were. So does Tiff.
In LAYLOM, the sex was more freeing... and easier to write. I think I've gotten better at "doing it" so to speak.
I'm not a big fan of "cunny" and sometimes "cock" in certain works can jar me. Especially when it coems from a heroine who you think would never utter well, sort of a crass word. But cock is better than "hardenend member."
There's been a lot more mention of "cream" in books too. As in he creamed her tight passage with his thick, hard cock.
Why is it always "tight" and why is his cock always "thick" and "hard"?
And has anyone else noticed that penises have been getting a lot more description in novels. To the plum-tips to the purple color to the blue veins...it's not exactly the most attractive image that comes to mind. Sure, it might be real but I want some distance. I don't need to know how "purple" or "red" his cock is. LOL
It's jiz... and seriously how can you not know any of these words? You're yankin' all our legs...
I love all the fruit synonyms attributed to the head of the cock... cock is one of my favourite words in describing body parts... the more derogative of cunny is another fave of mine :) So is the F-word...so very powerful.. and SO HISTORICALLY ACCURATE, you just have to read some Wilmot to see how far back it goes and in what sense it was used :)
As you can see, I love this topic way WAY too much *g*
Terri, I've also notice the heroine gets hers first too---a lot. Because books are written for women, and we love to live the dream, LOL. Ditto with oral sex being such a biggie (and almost automatic).
Yes, Ely, I'm glad it was YOUR consumer dollar that bought the spoogey book!
Tiff, glad to be of service!
Ely - I love that you want some *distance*. LOL! Wear some protective eye gear and you should be fine.
And I'm thinking the woman being tight is more a testament to how large the man is. Who wants to read, "He slipped inside and had plenty of room." He's either a pencil dick or she's well used. Neither scenario very romantic.
I don't mind cock if used in the right kind of book. And if the scene is in the guy's POV, it fits better than almost anything other than dick.
LOL, Terri.
Cock is better than dick.
And I did use a lot of cock in my last book...I think. I have to check.
It definitely depends on the POV you're in at the time, because there are just some words/terms that women wouldn't use, and vice versa.
And I'm serious. My reading history is very white bread, at least until recently, and I haven't gone all wild branching out. I'm taking it one book at a time.
Hot seed tends to make me laugh--and I can be pulled out a perfectly good sex scene with just those words. Fortunately SPOOGE has never been in any romance I've read. Thank God.
There are very few sex scenes I skip and it's one of two things (or both): characters who have all the sexual chemistry of a brother and sister (EWWW) OR/AND questionable word usage. Now I can handle "naughtier" words, if I feel it goes with that character. If there is some big, hulking alpha male using the words "tits" and "pussy", and it's not a Christian romance...I can keep with the program, so long as the chemistry between the characters is hot.
If it's not--and it doesn't...and it is a Christian romance, yeah, I'd have to return the book or throw it away.
The F word goes back to The Battle of Hastings. Okay, the ORIGIN does...though it didn't have the same "meaning" per say. The F word has been around a long-long-long-long-long time. Very satisfactory word. *LOL*
ELY: *LOL* I don't need to know what color it is either... I don't need an ode to the penis in my novels.
Though the obligatory and automatic oral sex is nice. *LOL*
Ely - did you use cock in your last book or in the writing of your last book. ;) Big difference there. LOL! Earlier I almost wrote, "I like hot sex" then backspaced and fixed my wording.
Not that I don't. Oh, shoot. Y'all know what I mean.
I've never seen spooge in a book either but I know what book Maggs is talking about. She told me. LOL!
J.K. - consider hanging with this crowd the masters program of dirty talk. LOL!
Hellion - you could so write an ode to the penis. Think of the blog that would make! LOL!
I so want to hear the ode to the penis... I talk cock in my newest book, even the difference between Muslim men and my heroines revulsion about the chopping off of skin and wondering if they are smaller than Englishmen who have an extendable neck :)
I think we need to talk spooge and cock more often in here... maybe on a Monday--sure to wake everyone up.
And yeah oral sex is on the rise in historicals, when all I can think is... they bathed like once a week 'whether they needed to or not' ewwwww... talk about gunge.
I just read a book, and the hero says a line to something along the effect that his former fiancee had a nice pair of titties and that he was looking forward to seeing those titties.
I snorted with laughter, which I believe was the author's intention.
Terri, who says it was one of those either/or situations??? *w*
Ode to a Cock. God, do we really need men more enraptured about their cocks than they already are? LOL
Terri, you have no idea how much I've learned already, hanging with these three! I'm definitely loosening up, although my ears would still be burning if I wasn't always laughing so hard!
titties and bubbies is commonly used in erotic literature during the Victorian age... Bubbies makes me laugh..and you know what, I think I used titties in Nick and Jocey's book.
I don't think I'd like titties or tits in a book. One sounds childish and the other crass. If crass is called for in a scene, it makes sense. Can't image childish would ever be called for.
I never think about that lack of bathing thing with the oral sex. Thanks for pointing that out, Tiff. Gah! Keep your reality out of my fiction!
LOL! Y'all are going to love Tessa's books. Ely will back me up on this. Toby is a total facegod.
Speaking of that, I said that to a friend of mine and she didn't know what it meant. We were chatting in her work email and I had the damndest time trying to explain that NOT in so many words. LOL!
Hah! I know what that means!
See, J.K., you're not hopeless. LOL!
Really. She thought I meant he was pretty. *rolls eyes*
oh good lord... I love me a facegod... they can pray at mount Venus whenever the fancy strikes them. :)
Terri, yes I will heartily back you up... Tessa Dare is awesome! Love her to bits and pieces. And she's so damn nice on top of it, too.
Toby is a facegod. Gotta love a man who knows how to seduce and pleasure.
And he's also pretty to look at, too.
Ely - one word.
Cravat.
'Nuff said.
*sigh*
Sigh.
Without mentioning names, what's the worst sex scene you've ever read though?
Any spooge or jiz? LOL
I can't think of a worst sex scene but there's a scene in an Erotica that stayed with me. Not for being bad but just a touch of the eeew factor. The heroine gives oral sex to the hero and it's in the hero's POV. At the end of the scene he says something like, "then she sucked me dry."
Just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
LOL!
there's an original [rolls eyes]
'suck me dry, baby'
I feel the need to wash my eyeballs as I'm reading this, but I take full responsibility. :)
It's all your fault, Maggie. You corrupted the rest of us. (I almost typed that with a straight face.)
So what kind of language did you use in that threesome anyway?
definitely not spooge :)
*LOL* This has been a lively blog, hasn't it? I swear, you mention sex...and suddenly we're all on it.... :)
Though probably not at the same time.
I wouldn't put anything past us...
yup... that sex stuff sure does sell :)
And it was spooge that got this shindig going...
Spooge gets everything going. LOL
in case anyone is still tuning in...
According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang---my bible for writing historical---Spooge is from the 1980's therefore anachronistic to an historical novel.
That reminds me of something I saw this morning. I was checking out a blurb contest and I think the books were supposed to be westerns set in the 1800s. One of the blurbs said the heroine suffers from Dislexia. I stopped reading there. LOL!
Ely - I think spooge is what happens AFTER things get going.
Okay, I for one am a whole lot more informed than I was half an hour ago! Sheesh! You gals sure know how to inform.
Maggie, you didn't know it was going to swing this way???!!! tsk * tsk * tsk * - know your audience Maggie!
I just want you all to know that I'm very appreciative. Since I've hooked up with you guys I walk around feeling oh so superior with my wealth of newfound knowledge - a feeling I can assure you I have NEVER had before.
Back to the question - I love sex scenes but the emotions are more important to me than the actual description of the act. I don't think orgasms are as important as the love between the H/H. You kinda expect the heroine to have at least one though, sorta like the obligatory HEA. Virgins having them one right after another the first time out is kinda silly though, IMHO.
And one of the words I really hate is cunt. Other than that I can deal with just about anything, especially if the cruder words are spoken by the villains! I believe I probably would burst out in laughter if I read titties though!
We are so happy to enlighten you Irish :)
I bet I could use titties in a story and not make you laugh :) [nah, I'm kidding myself] it is a funny one.
You are right though, it's the emotion between H/H that matter most. And if that emotion is poured into the characters (or poured into one another ;)] during the sex scene, it makes it that much more beautiful.
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