GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY: Weighing in on...Erotic Romance

by Hope Tarr
Website

As a Libran, I’m obsessed with balance or at least the illusion of it. “I feel so out-of-balance,” I’ve been known to lament—okay, whine—notably during the last few weeks of a deadline. 

But as we know, a perfect balance rarely if ever exists. As the late great Gilda Radner said in one of her popular comic personas, Rosanna Rosanna Danna, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” 

Indeed. 

I’ve been a proud member of Romance Writers of America since 1997 and on moving to New York, one of the first things I did was join the RWA/New York City Chapter. How glad I am that I did!

Among the benefits of membership is a monthly newsletter and the theme of the August issue was erotica. The editor for the issue, a friend of mine, asked me to give a quote on what erotica means to me. What the heck does erotica mean to me? For the first time in a very long time I hit a stumbling block, dare I say “writer’s block.” 
 
As a writer of steamy if not exactly erotic fiction—though as one reviewer rightly pointed out, THE TUTOR definitely cuts it close—I also know that sometimes imbalance can be…intriguing. So long as the shift doesn’t swing too far in one direction. So long as it swings far enough. 

In my July Blaze Historical, THE TUTOR, the heroine, Lady Bea Lindsey, approaches her brother-in-law’s private secretary and former East London street rogue, Ralph Sylvester on the night her engagement to another man, a very nice but apparently sexually clueless gentleman, is announced. 

“I wish for you to tutor me in…sex,” she says and to dispel any doubts, she slides off her red velvet cape beneath which she is wearing absolutely nothing. 

There’s something simultaneously titillating and empowering about a young Victorian woman, a lady, taking control of her sexuality and more broadly, her life. 

In MY LORD JACK, my July 12th single-title historical reissue with Carina Press, my heroine, French émigré, Claudia Valemont, likewise takes charge of shall we say…the situation. Only unlike Ralph, the object of her desire, Scotsman, Jack Campbell is…a virgin. And Claudia is an experienced woman, a former courtesan. Erotic? You be the judge. 

So I suppose for me good erotica, like good sex, is always about the delicate dance between the partners, the subtle and not so subtle shifts in passion and power, in tenderness and lust; the advances, retreats, and yes, submissions; the glorious imbalances that comprise any relationship, be it a long term love affair or a single sexy night.

Wishing you an end-of-summer filled with the “perfect” balance of naughty and nice. 

Hope

Check out the excerpt on The Tutor. 

Hope Tarr is the award-winning author of thirteen historical and contemporary romances including MY LORD JACK (Carina Press, July 12, 2010) and A ROGUE’S PLEASURE (Carina Press, August 16, 2010). For other in-person appearances as well as blog tour stops, check out the Media & Events page of her web site at http://www.hopetarr.com/.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY! 

Hope has very kindly sponsored a print copy of Vanquished for International giveaway! Yay! 

How to Enter/Rules: 

1. You must be a follower (GFC, at least).
2. Comment here or in the post tomorrow (until September 9), or

3. Ask Hope a question.

Note: Not a follower + no comment/question = no chance to win.

Additional Chances to Win:

1. Each time you spread news of this contest (via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc) earns you one point as well. Be sure to come back and give us the link of your tweet or announcement.

2. Follow us! Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Good Reads. Each "follow" earns you one point. (Old followers are automatically entered.)

Contest Duration: September 8 to 9, 1159pm EST

Contest Winner Announcement: September 10

The winner will be picked via Randomizer.org. Instructions will be given then on how to claim your prize, so be sure to come back and check because we won't hunt you down. If prizes are unclaimed after twenty-four hours, a new winner will be chosen.