The S-word, male vs. female authors

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Wed January 5th, 2011, 4:47 pm

[quote=""Kveto from Prague""]Oy! What a topic. I see none of the other lads on this site have weighed in here. I'll not touch this subject with a ten-foot (thrusting, penetrating) pole.

[/quote]

Kveto, you crack me up!

Unrelated: Ashton's button collecting went on for the rest of her days. The exact count is never mentioned.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Wed January 5th, 2011, 5:32 pm

I tried to read Jakes' books many years ago but was totaly repulsed by the character of Ashton. I think she is definitely an example of, as Margaret said above, the author writing out his own fantasy.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed January 5th, 2011, 8:55 pm

[quote=""Michy""]I tried to read Jakes' books many years ago but was totaly repulsed by the character of Ashton. I think she is definitely an example of, as Margaret said above, the author writing out his own fantasy.[/quote]

After Alan Savage, Jakes is pretty tame. There's a male author getting his fantasies out in the open. Eeeewwwww.

Kveto from Prague · Post by **Kveto from Prague** » Wed January 5th, 2011, 9:42 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Kveto, you crack me up!

.[/quote]

thanks, Lovehistory.

donroc · Post by **donroc** » Wed January 5th, 2011, 9:50 pm

I have resisted the self-serving temptation to offer a challenge on many of these threads until now. Read my HF, Rocamora, and see how well I did with sex/romance in context of the story. Male author, male MC, and I like to think, six interesting women, and a dramatic birthing scene.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Thu January 6th, 2011, 1:57 pm

[quote=""EC2""]The bad sex award has been announced today. Goes to a bloke. The hot snail has been joined by a companion...

http://m.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/ ... pe=article[/quote]

oh...my...god...

And here's me thinking the Bad Sex Awards ain't what they used to be.

lauragill · Post by **lauragill** » Fri August 19th, 2011, 1:52 am

When I'm writing a female character, I tend to focus on how she's feeling, whether she's into the moment or just going through the motions. Later, she might also be concerned about pregnancy, as in not wanting to conceive, or wanting a child. Writing a man is different, though. It helps that I have a male copy editor who's able to tell me up front what men are thinking before, during, and after sex.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon August 22nd, 2011, 6:06 pm

Moved the eye-color posts here.

http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... php?t=5001

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 4:41 am

Ash--"The scenes in George RR Martin's series worked. The ones in Pillars of the Earth didn't.."

I agree with Ash and I also find that unlike the TV show Martin does not spend copious paragraphs in minute detail -He gets it right. I did enjoy reading Pillars but I skimmed his sex scenes.

But I had to laugh at the below descriptions after visiting that site.

"...uncovered, her nipple poking out, upturned like the nose of the loveliest nocturnal animal, sniffing in the night(are they having sex or hunting rabbits? lol

)
.....He hooked his fingers into her waistband, caught the elastic of her underwear and began pulling down(are these Bridget Jones bloomers? lol

)

Misfit--""She was always the most fluid of women. He called it silky. She stood, half-lying, against the tree as he went so easily into her, penetrating the silkiest of women, entering the silkiest of girls."

Is the subject making love or sewing a skirt?lol

... All that 'silkiness'..Now that was eye rolling.

Another author that gets it wrong is Philippa Gregory and her worst book has to be The Wise Woman...The sex scenes were just too awful. I'd quote them but I threw the book away. I do enjoy her writing but when it comes to sex scenes she needs to learn less is best.

The writers I found who handle love scenes with finesse are Elizabeth Chadwick, Sharon Penman, George Martin & Susan Higginbotham...I think what these authors manage to do is to combine intimacy and at times humour in their love scenes which I think the reader enjoys, rather than the hardcore sexathons which read as unbelievable by the reader.

One of my favourite books of all time is 'Forever Amber' a very raunchy period in time and yet the author manages to convey so much without explicit detailing.

Anyway that is my two cents worth....

Bec

..PS: Misfit had me in stitches with those awful romantic quotes in another thread.

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Tue August 23rd, 2011, 5:56 am

When the sex scenes make me cringe, I stop reading. I suspect I'm not alone in that. So those OTT scenes that writers used to put in to attract readers are probably costing them more that they are gaining--especially in terms of repeat customers. Ick me out once, and I won't ever come back.