07 December 2010

The Challenges of Writing a Menage


by Stacey Espino



All my novels are character driven. I really like to get into their shoes,
and heads, when I write. While I'm in their POV, I am the character.
There is a balancing act when you're writing a menage. It's important to
make each player distinct from the others. When you're dealing with three
(or more) men that can get very tricky. You have to alternate using names,
pet names, and pronouns, while making sure the reader can identify each
character. Sex scenes really have to play in your head as you're writing for
everything to make sense to the reader. I don't want my books referred to
as porn or a gang-bang. I ensure that, even though scorching hot, there is
a strong storyline and memorable characters.
Emotions play a big role in my books. I tend to write characters with some
sort of damage that affects their life or ability to love. Damaged Cowboys
embraced three distinct men that dealt with grief in a different way. When I
wrote Cowboy Domination, I wanted to lighten things up a bit. Callie is a
fiesty heroine determined to get her farm back from the three sexy Black
brothers. It will be available at Siren on December 9th.

Secret #1 My husband came up with the idea for Cowboy Domination and I
expanded it into a novel.
Secret #2 In Fearless Desires, Selina's best friend was named after my real
life best friend, Melanie.
Secret #3 I wrote Saving Grace during a very dark personal time in my life.
I write certain books based on my moods.

8 comments:

  1. Stacey - I agree with everything you say - character driven, no gang bang - but an emotional bang for the buck - I love the way your write a menage. Very cool that your husband came up with the idea!

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  2. Thanks for having me, Beth! Glad you've joined the world of blogging ;)

    Thanks Julia :)

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  3. This was a great post. My husband tells people he is an erotic test dummy. I recently hooked up with a critique partner and he was hurt. Thought he was going to be out of a job. I let him know, his place in my literary world was rock solid.

    It's hard to write a menage that is more than porn, but when it's done right, it can be very erotically romantic.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Portia
    http://portiaspassion.blogspot.com

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  4. A well written Menage is great, a badly written one is no better than porn and yes it is a balancing act. Great post. I'll be looking forward to Cowboy Domination.

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  5. Love your blog. I can't agree more that character and emotions are the key to any sucessful book.

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  6. I totally agree with needing to make each character in a manage distinctive. I enjoy reading and writing menages and on that note, I've already bought Cowboy Domination. I can't wait to be able to download it later :) Have a happy holiday season.

    Missy Martine
    www.missymartine.com

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  7. Ditto on everything you said Stacey.I think it's awesome your husband helped you with the idea. I don't let my hubby anyehere near my writings.lol. So looking forward to Cowboy Domination...

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  8. Great post. Writing any sex scene is not easy and I'm in awe of people who right menage scenes well. I loved the three secrets you added. Cowboy Domination sounds like a fun read.

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