Wrong for erotica?

Sounds okay to me. I've seen similar stories--similar in that the hero is bi, or isn't human, I mean, not similar like you don't have an original idea. My cp Anna J. Evans wrote a short where the hero was an alien with two penises once, and it was accepted.

Yep, I've seen all kinds of sentient beings in erotica. The internalized masculine/feminine aspects will likely make for a wonderful character.

Sounds like he'd be a sensitive attentive lover, and one you can find in the dark :}

petronella63 said:

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It is him being more feminine than masculine in his mental character that is the problem. I am concerned this quality would make him unsuitable in an erotic scene -- a hetero scene, though at one point in the novel he does get involved in M/M sex.

Is my character wrong for erotica?...

Click to expand...

Hi Petronella,

Eek, I think I may have led you astray a bit when critting your piece. What jarred me was the fact that I didn't have a point of reference to work from in the first paragraph and made assumptions according to the descriptive work you did.

That could be one of two things. First you are in character enough that you recognize the alien-ness of the logic almost too well and I couldn't assimulate it. My failing.

Or, and not saying it's gospel at all, that you haven't stepped far enough into your character and still are letting you-the-author shine through your manuscript. That's not bad, it's a good thing. Just remember if you're female and "doing a male POV" not everyone is going to see it.

There was another post a while back where the poster was asking how to write in the opposite sex POV (I think a man wanting to write as a woman) but it brings up a very important exercise in seeing outside your own eyes.

For me, it was Hemingway who gave me insight. Now I find I write more like a man than a woman. (Scary, huh? but not surprising since my favorite authors except 3-4 are all men.) Because I'm attracted to that style, I write that way. I simply can't do "flowery" any more. Then again, I can't read "flowery" anymore either without wanting to throw the book across the room.

Having a gender bending character is not the end of the world, in fact it could be a boon in the erotica category. Seeing the world differently would lead to different reactions and opposing actions (gasp! and moan...) which would be quite interesting indeed.

Apologies if I gave you doubts.

Amy

Men in romance are often idealised, introspective, emotional. I think they can be all that and still be men.

so, if the gender bending is deliberate - absolutely, this is accepted and will be particularly hot for some readers. my closest friend prefers effeminate brit pop men with eyeliner, rail bodies, blonde hair, pink lips. she wants them to look almost female in their facial beauty, and androgynous in the rest of their body, til you discover the magical penis. she wants them soft, hairless, sensitive and emotional.

THAT kind of character, however, would drive ME absolutely batsh|t. i generally don't want my men (real or in a story) to have faces so beautiful they look like a woman, in fact, that makes me distrust and dislike them immensely right off the bat.

so it's a personal thing, and if you want that on purpose, a character who because of his non standard maleness redefines what maleness is, it is absolutely a fascinating subject and you'll have an audience.

if it's something that happens because you write from a female POV even though your character is supposed to be female and you haven't developed this inner voice on purpose, then per posts here, read some erotica written from the male point of view. specifically m/f sex written from the male point of view, and this isn't stealing ideas or anything or tainting, but adds more tools to your toolbox, is all.

as a personal note, i've got a character in my WIP who is decidedly female with extremely aggressive male tendencies. she resents societal expectations of what a female should be and how she should live. this is established early, so that when she does act in "nonstandard female" ways, you know why and aren't thrown. she also falls for a man who is bisexual and is intensely into seeing him with other men - not women.

sexuality is a complicated, varied, beautiful rorschach test of a mess. you find your own way to a pattern, and you tell us, your reader, just what you see. if you do your job right, it's beautiful to us, too, even if it's not even "our thing."