Put your hands all over my body
Linda Jaivin, Krissy Kneen and Nikki Gemmell, all writers of erotic fiction discussed the genre. The chair of the conversation, Peter Veitch, was obviously nervous, stumbling on words and making statements that his panellist didn’t agree with – his intentions were good though.
When Peter asked about guilt and its relationship to writing erotic fiction, all three women agreed that they didn’t identify with guilt when they wrote erotic fiction. Nikki said that when she wrote The Bride Stripped Bare, she found it liberating. She explained that everyone has a public, private and secret self, and she challenges anyone that says they know their partner’s secret life.
Peter asked about erotic fiction and if it stems from dysfunction – and Krissy quickly stopped him. Her debut novel Affection, is a memoir where she pretty much exposes her sexual life. I think it’s admirable that she has the courage to be so publicly honest. She explained that she didn’t think humans were meant to be monogamous – it’s not about dysfunction, she said, it’s about the world’s problem with this concept. She believes that you’re born alone and you die alone, and anyone that thinks differently is lying to themselves.
Another point discussed was the difference between pornography and erotic fiction. Nikki said pornography was sex without tenderness but then Linda said that she has read sex that isn’t tender and is classified as erotic fiction. For me, I think pornography is about two people having sex without much story behind it. Erotic fiction is sex woven into the narrative of a story, where a character takes some sort of journey and comes out a changed person (even subtlety) on the other side.
The three panellists agreed that the great thing about writing erotic fiction is that it can touch the reader on a very deep and powerful level. Nikki reflects on reading The Story of O and how it tore at her insides. Everybody likes reading erotic fiction but they don’t always admit it. People like to read it and think – I’m not a freak. It is healthy to read.
As an erotic fiction writer myself, I have to say I could relate to some of the points discussed. I do associate writing sex to guilt because of my ethnic upbringing, but I also find it liberating. In terms of being born alone and dying alone, I don’t agree with that mentality. But I think that is different with the concepts of monogamy and I intend to explore these concepts in my second novel.
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MWF: Put your hands all over my body
August 30, 2009 at 5:21 am (Creative commentary, Reviews) (Krissy Kneen, Linda Jaivin, Melbourne Writer's Festival, Nikki Gemmell, put your hands all over my body, Sex, writer's festival)
Put your hands all over my body
Linda Jaivin, Krissy Kneen and Nikki Gemmell, all writers of erotic fiction discussed the genre. The chair of the conversation, Peter Veitch, was obviously nervous, stumbling on words and making statements that his panellist didn’t agree with – his intentions were good though.
When Peter asked about guilt and its relationship to writing erotic fiction, all three women agreed that they didn’t identify with guilt when they wrote erotic fiction. Nikki said that when she wrote The Bride Stripped Bare, she found it liberating. She explained that everyone has a public, private and secret self, and she challenges anyone that says they know their partner’s secret life.
Peter asked about erotic fiction and if it stems from dysfunction – and Krissy quickly stopped him. Her debut novel Affection, is a memoir where she pretty much exposes her sexual life. I think it’s admirable that she has the courage to be so publicly honest. She explained that she didn’t think humans were meant to be monogamous – it’s not about dysfunction, she said, it’s about the world’s problem with this concept. She believes that you’re born alone and you die alone, and anyone that thinks differently is lying to themselves.
Another point discussed was the difference between pornography and erotic fiction. Nikki said pornography was sex without tenderness but then Linda said that she has read sex that isn’t tender and is classified as erotic fiction. For me, I think pornography is about two people having sex without much story behind it. Erotic fiction is sex woven into the narrative of a story, where a character takes some sort of journey and comes out a changed person (even subtlety) on the other side.
The three panellists agreed that the great thing about writing erotic fiction is that it can touch the reader on a very deep and powerful level. Nikki reflects on reading The Story of O and how it tore at her insides. Everybody likes reading erotic fiction but they don’t always admit it. People like to read it and think – I’m not a freak. It is healthy to read.
As an erotic fiction writer myself, I have to say I could relate to some of the points discussed. I do associate writing sex to guilt because of my ethnic upbringing, but I also find it liberating. In terms of being born alone and dying alone, I don’t agree with that mentality. But I think that is different with the concepts of monogamy and I intend to explore these concepts in my second novel.
Like this: