BDSM in erotic romance

[eurydice72]

pepperlandgirl4 and I got a review yesterday for our BDSM vampire romance, Master of Obsidian that prompted a post at our blog, Writing in Tandem, about reader expectations in regards to BDSM in erotic romance. If you've got a moment, stop on by and give us your opinion. We're hugely curious.

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

I went to the blog, but don't think I can be very helpful. "Different courses for different horses" (or vice versa) would be my take on it. The genre is not my cup of tea at all, so have no clue what might be acceptable or expected; but, I suspect that even within the genre there are differences of opinion and/or taste that would make a particular scene more appealing to one person than another. Certainly, no one should be surprised at what they find in a clearly labled story - but you never know how many people actually read the warnings or understand them.

[eurydice72]

Yeah, it still amazes me that people don't pay any attention to warnings. They're there for a reason. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

[danaid_luv]

It's been a month plus since I've read the shared snipped of your Master of Obsidian so the details are a little muzzy, but I remember thinking, "OM*G, this is...melting the elastic in my socks. WANT MORE." I realize this isn't the case for everyone, 'different strokes for different folks' & all that, but BDSM implies light on the hearts & flowers, heavier on implements & pain. *shrugs*

I feel the urge to share that reading m/m is only a small dalliance for me, & even more so with BDSM; it usually makes me skitter away but yours? It works. ;)

[eurydice72]

Yeah, it's only a small dalliance for me, too. There is no way I'll ever give up my het, or my hearts and flowers, but the bdsm we've been writing - and as of the third book, it's a m/m/f menage so I'm getting my het, too - hits my kinks for when I'm in the mood for it.

We found the review a little puzzling, because that story in particular has warnings up the wazoo. She freely admitted to liking her bdsm light, so why she picked ours to review, we have no idea.

[danaid_luv]

I just nipped over to the page via your memories link (bless you for that, btw) & it really *does* have a ton of warnings. While she spent quite a bit of time warning her gentle readers, I was pleased to see that she used words like 'fascinating' & 'worthwhile read'. Hmm.

*hustles off to order* (Thanks for bringing this to my attention again--I'd forgotten about it in the meanwhile!) Oo, you once had someone ask which online format you'd recommend & I remember your answer made a lot of sense, but for the life of me I can't remember which it was...HTML?

[eurydice72]

Yeah, I think html is always the best one to get. Some people prefer pdf's because the format is getting more and more transferable, but for my money, html is the best. I can just read it in whatever web browser I want then. :)

[enigmaticblues]

Interesting. Your second reader's response would probably be much like mine, which is why I don't read BDSM. If you do read it, I think you've got to expect that sort of thing. Particularly if it's vampire BDSM.

[eurydice72]

It really surprises me, sometimes, because I get the impression that readers don't want vampires. They want sex partners who bite and have zero turnaround time. The question of morality or violence gets whitewashed (which I've been guilty of myself on more than one occasion). But then what's the point of writing about vampires?

The BDSM issue aside, I think those things should be expected in vampire fiction. The second reviewer commented about one or two scenes making her queasy, and I'm fairly positive at least one of them was an interrogation scene where Gideon, our vampire, uses holy water on an uncooperative female vamp. He doesn't use a lot, but he uses it strategically, which to me was perfectly in character. I think anything else is wimping out.

[_sharvie_]

I went and posted on another blog that wasn't LJ! I feel lightheaded. *swoons*

*bg*

Not sure that I answered the question you wanted answered though. I thought your warnings were pretty close. Though it wasn't as dark as I'd thought it would be, that was okay with me. Though I have a feeling things get a bit darker in later books....*shivers at the CBT*

I think I need to go and reread, it's been awhile. When is the next one coming out!? I finished MoO in like a day and a half!

[eurydice72]

Considering what you read in fic, yeah, it's probably not as dark as you're accustomed. But we've discovered it sure is for romance readers, lol.

The next book, Unveiled, comes out in August, and Mosaic Moon comes out in October. Unveiled is far more sensual and plotty, while MM is all about turning the guys into a menage. The fourth book, the one we're doing now, is where we start getting dark again, and I have a strong feeling it'll be more so than the first one. It's going to be dealing a lot with Gideon's past, so there's angst there, and then torture on top of that. Five is lighter again, but 6, which is called "Renaissance in Blood," will definitely be dark again. We don't want to keep doing the same things with these guys. :)

[eurydice72]

Thank you so much for your thorough response. :)

This was exactly what we were wondering. Different people have different needs when it comes to what they read, which we understand, but it was their definitions we wondered about.