Is there a line authors shouldn't cross? Are some topics just too taboo?
Is monster porn okay because we can see that's pure fantasy, yet pseudo-incest is just yucky because... it could happen?
I've seen the debate. It takes place in my Facebook feed a great deal. One author will reveal she wrote a monster porn story, and sure enough, three days later, she's posting indignant statuses seeking validation because some other author wagged a finger in her face and said "Tsk, tsk. That's just beneath you." Or, "That crap gives us all a bad name." Or, "Yes, my characters have sex, but I'd never go THERE." (implying that no one else should, either.)
After absorbing several similar posts, I got pissed off. Sex fantasies are just that--fantasies. Mine aren't 'better' than yours because the idea of sleeping with someone who's strictly off limits isn't what floats my boat. To be honest, my deep, dark fantasy is a three-way with Charlie Hunnam and Taylor Kitsch.
(Let's all stop and imagine that, shall we?)
It's no secret that I have a thing for blue collar bad boys, and this pair have played some roles that tickle that spot very well.
So, what if they were brothers? I'd still do 'em in my head so hard their bones would rattle.
How hard is to to take that next step and imagine they were my stepbrothers? Would I turn off that part of my brain that acknowledges they're hotter than hell, just because of one label?
Hmm, maybe not. C'mere, you two and let's find out.
That is called blurring the line. To move from a fantasy that once worked to one that's new and more forbidden is normal. And our fantasies are nothing to be ashamed of. If we write about some fictional character shagging the hell out of some fictional stepbrothers, it's not an idea that's going to sweep the nation and have kids bunking with their blended families.
I mean, do you see a bunch of young kids quitting school to go be billionaire BDSM Masters? Really, do you? Because I don't. (Well, maybe two or three, but they had to give up on their quest to become sparkly vampires first.)
Any more than these young minds I reckon some authors are trying to save are gonna grab their stepsister and drag her into a closet--or vice versa. And these shaming authors have to be fighting to keep young minds pure, because, frankly, dammit, it's too late for the rest of us. And they know it. So, surely they aren't saying to their PEERS, for God's sake, that they need to stop writing that crap because they KNOW some readers can' t separate fact from fiction.
But that's precisely what's being said. So, after I put some thought into the issue, I realized that what I was muttering was "Oh, get over yourselves already." And the next step was pretty clear. If I truly believed that, then I had to get over myself too, publicly as well as privately.
So, I wrote a book. It's not my 'normal' fare of erotic romance that ends with a HFN.
It's....wait for it...stepbrother porn--and I wish you could see my face, because I'm grinning like a mule eating briars. I decided, what the hell? Let's throw down the gauntlet. Could I write a story that had a riveting plot, plenty of taboo sex, and still come out the other side of the rabbit hole with something more than 'nasty stepbrother porn'?
You tell me. I think I nailed it. Beta readers have been consistent, with the most frequent comment being "I couldn't put it down." Your mileage may vary.
I'll defend a reader's right to hold to a hard limit any day. My rant is directed toward authors. If pseudo-incest is a line you can't cross as either a reader or a writer, no hard feelings. Just don't wag that finger in my face.
If, however, you're tempted to cross over to the dark side, yeah, that's my elbow you feel in your ribs.
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| Gas and Ass...coming April 17th. Available now for pre-order. |
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