I Don't Write Sex

I think all my books should come with that warning - I Don't Write Sex.  Never have.  Probably never will.  It's just not my style.  If you're looking for descriptive sex scenes, I'm probably not the writer for you.

In fact, I don't read sex either.  More often than not, when I'm reading a book with sex in it, I flip past those scenes to get back to the plot.  Which is part of the reason why I don't write sex. 

Oh, I tried.  I tried to turn Dying Embers into a romantic suspense - because those sell well and I figured it would be easier for me to get an agent if I had romance in the book somewhere.  Needless to say, it didn't work.  Every time I would try to lead up to the sex between Jace and Ben, I would find Jace in my head saying 'We really don't have time for this.'  (Ben was all for it, but he's a man who knows when the right time is, and the pages of this book wasn't the right time.)  My foray into romantic suspense died as quickly as it was born.

That's not to say there isn't romance in my books.  It's just more like a thread woven in the tapestry to make the whole picture richer.  And that's all it is - a thread. 

I know sex sells.  In fact, I recently had it illustrated for me.  I hand sold a copy of Dying Embers the other day to one of the gals at my bank, and I don't remember the exact conversation - I was the only customer at the bank and we were all cutting up in there - but I felt the need to tell her there was no sex in the book.  She looked a little disappointed, but she had heard awesome things about the book from one of the other gals, so she still wanted to read it.  (Then we degenerated to talking about 50 Shades and I thanked goodness I was the only customer in there.  Whoa nelly.)

Sex sells.  I just can't make myself write it.  I can lead up to it.  I can hint at it.  I can set the stage for it.  Hell, I can even have the characters reminisce about it.  But when it comes time to fish or cut bait, I let them do it behind closed doors.  :shrug:

I can't be all things to all readers.  And this is something I won't budge on - even though the current wisdom is that certain genres require sex to be successful.  I'll muddle along and hopefully find those readers who aren't that interested in sex scenes either. 

And lest you misunderstand me, I don't have a problem with other writers putting sex in their novels, or with readers who want sex in the stories they read.  To each their own.  Hell, I love writers who have down and dirty strewn throughout their stories.  I just love the writers more for the other parts of those stories than for the sex.  It's a personal preference thing.  Like the difference between my daughter's taste in food and mine.  She likes loads of spice in her food and I don't.  It's no big deal - it's just tastes.

Now, since I'm not going to ask about your preference for sex in your books (cuz it's none of my damn business and I like to keep the blog on the PG side of R), how about you tell me whether you like spicy foods?  Or tell me about something you like to eat that a loved one can't stand?