Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Mary Marvella on Writing Sexual Tension

Welcome my first guest author, Mary Marvella.
Great to be here, Roxanne.

My critique partners always told me I should write erotica. That always made me laugh. I write love to tease my characters and my readers. Make 'em beg is my motto!

My characters must want each other to the point of pain before I let them make love. I don't enjoy meeting a hero who looks at the heroine's legs and wants them wrapped around him while he makes her come three times. Nor do I like a hero who sees the heroine and thinks her lips are perfect to giving him a blow job, YERK!

When a hero sees the heroine sliding a popsicle between her lips over and over again, then he can imagine her doing that with a certain part of his anatomy. Or when the heroine slides that popsicle inside her mouth over and over again she can imagine doing the same with the hero's extra appendage. I used none of the erotic words, but did you get the point? Now, I could draw out the action and make it clear he has wanted her for a while before he wants the blow job and that she has seen that appendage she wants to taste.

Example:
Cara sat at the bar nursing her Martini. She glared into the mirror at Bill across the room, talking to Suzanne who rubbed against him like a hungry cat. Had he so quickly forgotten what they had almost done last night or was he planning to use his talented tongue on a new woman tonight?
Bill couldn't believe he didn't want to take advantage of Suzanne's obvious offer to get laid. Having her rub her tits against his arm and chest should have made his johnson hard.
He looked toward the mirror and spotted Cara. Would she be willing to pick up where they left off last night? He moved toward her, holding her gaze in the mirror. When she took the tooth pick from her drink and sucked on the olive he nearly swallowed his tongue. He wanted to share that olive and her soft, full lips, to taste olive and Cara, or just Cara.
Her eyes dared him to come get her and he planned to do that very thing. When he stepped close enough to touch her, he took the glass from her hand and put on the bar. He plucked the remaining olive from the toothpick she held, touching her fingers with his.
"Want to swap olives?" he asked. Pressing his lips to hers, he ...

Do you want to know what he does? Will he use his tongue? Will they swap olives? Will he nibble on her bottom lip? Will they kiss at the bar? Will he put his hands on her breasts? Not in the bar, but he will imagine doing it!

Protective Instincts began as a romantic suspense. I wanted the characters to really want to have sex, so I made certain they didn't manage to do what they wanted. When my beta reader and my critique partners begged me to let them do it, I did!

Sam wanted to relax for a few minutes. He’d stopped by to see the bar his old friend opened. Jesse had done all right for himself. He was startled to see Brit and Julie walk through the double doors. Teach looked scared to death.
While he’d done chores at his parents' farm, he thought about the way he’d been drawn to the teacher since he’d met her up close.
All day he’d helped his dad and brother repair fences and paint. He’d tried to work himself hard enough to forget how much Brit aroused him. The strain of wanting to approach her on a physical level, knowing how inappropriate that would be, strained his control.
In the shower, after he’d worked up a good sweat this afternoon, he’d thought about her. His body betrayed him as he imagined kissing her. Even after he’d turned the shower to cold, his mind left him hot. As he ran his Saturday errands he saw her face everywhere. And here she is now, in the flesh.
In his mind she was in the flesh. He hadn’t forgotten his view of her charms when he’d helped her to the bathroom after the attack. And now he sat in the shadows watching Brit feel her way back into the real world. He needed to let her do this without his help.
Mary Marvella

Blurb:
They met because he had premonitions and she was in peril. But you will never believe why they fell in love. Paranormal romance at its best. After mourning the loss of her husband, Brit Roberts manages to pick up her life as a teacher for a rural Georgia High school. Things are fine until anonymous phone calls turn creepy and her life is endangered.
Sam Samuels isn't just the father of one of Ms. Robert's students, he's a man with premonitions so strong, they make him ill. So when he meets his son's teacher and pain kicks in, he knows something's awry but can't put his finger on it until he interrupts an attempt to rape and kill the teacher. Sam makes it his personal goal to protect her, only he didn't count on falling for her. Someone wants Brit, and now Sam, dead too. Could the death of her ex husband be part of the reason? Can Brit and Sam navigate a relationship despite both of their headstrong natures?


 
 Kisses I had no idea I was writing an erotic romance when I wrote Protective Instincts!

17 comments:

Mary Marvella said...

Good morning! Did you spot the mistakes in this blog? Hmm? Reading it one more time before I hit send would have helped. I hope you enjoyed my scene and the excerpt. I need a popsicle.

Scarlet Pumpernickel said...

Don't you just hate it when you can't remember your password to login and then the witty, brilliant comment you had just made goes away? Yep, that just happened to me! Now I don't remember what I said, except that this was a great blog. Enjoyed the mini lesson on how to write sexy without being graphic. Will put it to good use!

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

Very good with the olives!

jbiggar said...

great interview, and I totally agree, sexy doesn't need to be vulgar to be HOT!! lol

Rose Anderson said...

I agree. Desire begins, and is held, in the mind. Nice post Mary.

Brenna Chase said...

Great lesson on how to be erotic without being explicit. :)

Barbara Monajem said...

Great stuff, Mary. I love a combo of suspense and romantic anticipation.

Mary Marvella said...

Thanks, Scarlet! You don't do too badly yourself!

Mary Marvella said...

Thanks, Vicki, and I don't even like olives. The idea of sucking on the olive, however, can be very erotic!

Melissa Keir said...

Wonderful post. There is so much about passion that is triggered by ordinary things. I think that's why I like it. Smells are a big trigger of mine!

Pat Amsden said...

Oh my, you do sexual tension well!

Mary Marvella said...

jbiggar, so pleased we see things the same way! Thanks for the comment.

Mary Marvella said...

Thanks, Rose. I enjoyed writing the teaser. Of course there will be a HOT scene at some time, but not yet.

Mary Marvella said...

Brenna, I hope you wanted an olive, even if you don't like them. Did you want to tease the hero in some way?

Mary Marvella said...

Barbara, thanks for stopping by. Did you want to see what would follow? I hope Protective Instincts has the right combination!

Mary Marvella said...

Melissa, would you want a scene to last longer? Did you take the scene and imagine more?

Mary Marvella said...

Pat, your response made me smile, then laugh. Thanks.

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