Who is on the forum and why?

InkFinger

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Everyone,

I have been absent from the Erotica forums for almost a decade and come back to find it much smaller than when I left. I would love to have a good discussion with a whole lot of really great authors. May I ask who is out there? And what are you looking for?

I'll go first:

Inkfinger, it's a pleasure to meet you. Enthusiast and a work in progress. Long ago I realized that learning to write good erotica made me a better author all around in every genre. Learning to take a tricky topic, make it personal, make it effective, and make it real worked wonders for everything. I actually got better at writing murder from learning to write good sex. I want more of that.

Who is next?
 

Maryn

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I'll go next, because I'm probably here more than anyone else these days.

Maryn, who started writing fan-fiction in the 1990s and found the erotica was by far the most popular. Like Inkfinger, I found it improved my "real" writing, suspense shorts, where to my horror the market was shrinking so rapidly that it's very nearly gone. Tried my hand at novel-length suspense and found I sucked at the necessary plotting. I mean really sucked.

Change of gears, wrote short erotica, sold some without much difficulty. Took a fresh look at the old fanfic and managed to remove all indicators of who and what from one, then sold it as a novel which did moderately well. (And nobody seems to recognize the source. Whew.) The next one didn't do as well. I still sell shorts occasionally.

In the last four years or so, I've deeply soured on trade publishing as so many erotica publishers have folded, some badly and/or dishonestly, yet I'm not moving forward to self-publish novels from my failed publisher or new material. Me low tech, it too hard! Waaaaa!

Maryn, big baby
 
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c.m.n.

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I'll go next.

C.M.N. here, and yes, those are my real name initials not my pen name. And you're right! There are a lot less regulars here than there were when I first joined in 2011(?). When I joined, I was searching for help and betas for my erotica writing. I remember trying to write my first love scene and feeling all sorts of discomfort, and just laughing at it. But everyone here was super helpful, and I quickly learned to take constructive criticism for what it was.

I'm sure everyone who once frequented this area of the forums are off doing their own thing, whether still writing or not. Folks pop in from time to time to say "Hi, I'm still here."
 

Maryn

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It's worth noting the obvious, too. This board has a whole lot of people who read but never post. I think they're hoping to see something hot.

Iron set to "linen"!

Maryn, making a swing top
 

JakeSTamer

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Hi InkFinger, I'm relatively new to writing, I've only been writing consistently for the last eight years or so (yeah I don't remember). I started writing short stories and publishing them on Literotica, I've left two stories there just so I can call myself an author, lol. Back then I didn't really know what I was doing, I just knew that I liked to write and I was having fun with it. The last six years I've been working on a novel that I wanted to self publish and I came here to try to become a better writer. I've learned a lot from all the good people here, but I think I still have a long way to go. Right now I'm hoping to have my first book published by the end of the year.
 

Filigree

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Hi, Inkfinger. I joined AW ten years ago this August. I'm not as active as I was.

I've had two agents in 30 years, both wanting more straight het fantasy than erotic LGBTQ romance, but for me both genres link up. I may not write sex in everything. I'd like to keep it as an option. I'm small-press now but gearing up to go self-pub.

Outside of writing, I'm better known as an artist. My day-job involves welding.
 
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InkFinger

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Filigree is a good name then. Is that work yours in your avatar? It will be fun to drive up the participation and get some really great work out of everyone. I look forward to working with you.
 

A.P.M.

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I'm still around, still writing. Like Maryn I've watched a lot of good erotica publishers go bust recently, and am still figuring out my next steps.
 

anaemic_mind

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Hi Inkfinger. I'm a very new writer, started on my first novel two years ago. That spawned a prequel, mostly for character development. But it turned into erotica fairly quickly so I lurk here, reading and pondering whether to seriously write and develop it.
 

veinglory

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I am somewhat lapsed as an erotica writing, it was a bigger areas for me through the 90s-00s as a way to make much needed income. I wrote a mix of erotica, horrotica and increasing erotic romance as that proved the most successful. I still do have some horrotica ideas kicking around that I should get back to.
 

Maryn

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I've only written one horrorotica, but man, it was fun! I should see if I have another one in me.
 

veinglory

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It is the one area where I wonder what people will think about me LOL. I see a lot of diversity in the field and some are basically monster sex with nothing terrifying, and others get into the modern terrors. For example I wrote a rather sweet story about a guy with a period blood fetish meeting up with a werewolf and ending up a very happy slave puppy. But another about a guy paid to fulfill rape role-play fantasies who may or may not have gone to the wrong hotel room.

I have an idea now about totally a nice guy who happens to indulge in very violent fantasies and starts seeing that someone seems to be playing them out.
 

Maryn

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I would totally read that.
 

kristin724

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I was wondering the same thing myself. I was about to click on the Resource Thread and saw the last post was 2018! That's an eternity in publishing let alone romance or erotica.

Was everyone just on the bandwagon striking while the iron was hot? Browsing PitDark today I noticed there isn't even any moniker for Erotica in the Dark Fantasy and Horror subgenres. It really made me take pause. When did that happen? :Shrug:
 

InkFinger

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Kristin724 - people seem to drop in to only look. it's time to rebuild the community, as no story is complete without relationships, some of them physical.
 

Liz_V

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Hi InkFinger, I'm Liz. Nice t'meetcha!

I lurk a lot, although I'd love to see more writing discussion to chip in on. I write all sorts of things. I've written erotica for fun, and I was thinking it'd be nice to write it for fun and profit, which is what brought me to this forum. Still mostly just having fun, but there's nothing wrong with that. :)
 

InkFinger

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We were a busy bunch when I left back when. I'd love to see that come back too. We are getting to the sharing on SYW, so hop on over.
 

Maryn

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Aw, geez, do I have to hop? I mean, arthritic knees and all. I'd like your permission to mosey.

Maryn, feeling silly
 

Animad345

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Hi! I've been regularly visiting this subforum for a few months.

I like reading erotica and I strongly admire those that can write it well. I struggle to do it myself, and have only written a sex scene once, for a fanfiction. In my current WIP, which is contemporary/mainstream, I really want to write a sex scene between the two protagonists. It feels very important to the story, and I want to 'get it right' so to speak. If I could build up to writing erotic short stories, I'd be very happy. I enjoy reading other people's excerpts in the SYW and hearing people's thoughts here on AW.
 

Jersey Chick

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Hi there! I joined back in 2007, and while I write mostly historical romance, I did have an erotic novella in an anthology that came out last year. I tend to write very steamy, but that novella was an experience, as my editor kept sending it back with instructions to "sex it up more!" It was fun, but novellas are tough because I'm used to the freedom of 100k words to delve into characters and their relationships.

Still, it was fun and I'd do it again. I learned a whole new respect for novella authors. That's waaaay more difficult than writing 100k historicals.
 

SAWeiner

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It's worth noting the obvious, too. This board has a whole lot of people who read but never post. I think they're hoping to see something hot.

That's basically me! I don't post much in this section and mostly read. I'm working on murder-mysteries BTW.
 

Meemossis

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Hi InkFinger. I'm probably one of the newest here. I think I'm asking more questions than answering them, which I feel a little badly about.

I've subscribed to many writing groups on Facebook, and on private discords but they all seem to turn their nose up at romance and erotica. Personally, I don't know why. I love the stuff. I love it so much I decided I wanted to write it, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Some of my proudest pieces of work are the chapters that have a little slap-and-tickle. I also love to add comedy to my sex scene, not all, but some.

I'm still trying to pluck up the carriage to post a little snippet in the SYW erotica section. I was both nervous and excited about asking for the password, that I misspelt "erotica". Facepalm.
 

Maryn

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You know, I bet everybody felt like that at one time. I know I did. What if my writing is way worse than I think? What if people think I'm a sick freak? What if, what if, what if...

But the feedback showing me the flaws, weaknesses, and outright mistakes of what I shared is uniformly tactful, and nearly everyone offers encouragement, too.

Maryn, who's funny but can't incorporate it into sex scenes
 

InkFinger

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Glad to have you in the conversation. Read all you like, but I assure you will get more by participating. We'd love to have you.