Today's guest is Fran Tracey.
Naughty, saucy or cheeky?
Writing for the women’s magazines is, for me, about writing about and reflecting life, and a big part of life is, of course, sex. There’s no getting away from it. So, in the interests of ‘keeping it real’ a few of my recent sales to Woman’s Weekly have been on the ‘naughty’ side. Not full-blown erotica or erotic romance – I write those under a pseudonym – but certainly on the saucier side of romantic, often with a hint of comedy. Because, let’s face it, sex in all it’s glory, can, at times, be funny. In film terms my stories don’t feature actors who have to keep their feet on the floor when the bedroom door closes, they can tumble about together in a much more realistic manner. And not always in bed. An upcoming story of mine recounts a bit of cheekiness on a forest floor, also featuring a lab coat.
With my naughtier stories I aim for a bit of escapism that, hopefully, readers can relate to, following the usual womag tropes – a strong main character (usually female with the saucy ones) who’s faced with a ‘problem’ that she resolves herself, with a sexy adventure – or two – on the way, maybe making use of unusual settings (see above – forest floor). My character may be young, may be in the prime of her life, she’s definitely never perfect, and, by the end of the story, at least, is willing to embrace her man and her wobbly bits. Nothing like a bit of living vicariously, is there?
Personally I find achieving naughty but still nice for the womags is trickier to perfect than ‘straightforward’ erotica. It feels like a much finer line, requiring subtlety and a delicate touch, and, from my experience, much editing and re-writing to get just right. That’s not to say, of course that erotica lacks subtlety. My womag stories are never explicit, leaving much to the reader’s imagination, but not shying away from the fact that modern women engage in rumpy pumpy, and often initiate it too, hopefully making for grown up, fast moving stories that engage the reader, and maybe make them smile, reminisce or plan...
Where do the ideas come from? Now that would be telling.
If you would like to read something longer and saucier written by Fran as Izzy French here’s an erotic romance published by Tirgearr Publishing set in one of her favourite places.
