The Structure Of Erotica

In 2012, an editor at Simon &Schuster asked if I was interested in writing erotic fiction and in response I wrote up a proposal/synopsis for a full length book about what happens to one woman when she breaks all the rules she's been a slave to for one alluring and irresistibly mysterious man she meets in Vegas. Of course that one woman is Kasie, her mystery man is Mr. Dade and the book is JUST ONE NIGHT.

That proposal marked the beginning of what would end up being a rather long negotiation process. By the time all was said and done I had won terms that I felt were fair in exchange for agreeing to split JUST ONE NIGHT into three novellas (the first two with cliff-hanger endings) that would be released as ebooks.  At the time I was completely unfamiliar with the ebook-novella-series format that was rising in popularity. But when I looked at my synopsis I realized that my story lent itself to being broken up that way. In some ways segmenting the story helped me get a better handle on the very specific emotional transitions Kasie experiences. Plus by being pushed to come up with two cliff-hanger endings I had to really think about and fully develop the events that led to those transitions and eventually to Kasie and Mr. Dade's personal growth.

But mostly the formatting worked because it allowed readers to taste-and-try my writing for the low price of $1.99 before they decided to commit to spending an additional $3.98 for the rest of the story.

In the end the 3 novella structuring worked on all fronts. The $1.99 price point was enticing enough to get readers to give the JUST ONE NIGHT series a shot and many of those readers found that I had created a  story that really resonated with them. All three novellas made the New York Times bestsellers list and the book (which now has been combined into one full length novel sold as both a paperback and an ebook) is still enjoying strong sales around the globe.

Then the time came for me to write a proposal for yet another series. This time I thought I was ahead of the game by writing a synopsis for three novellas (DECEPTIVE INNOCENCE, DANGEROUS ALLIANCE and DELICATE VENGEANCE) which told the story of a woman hell bent on revenge (Bell) and a man who can derail her with a touch (Lander).  This would be the Pure Sin series. But when I gave the proposal to my agent she felt the synopses for the novellas were so well developed we should shop them as three full length books. Now keep in mind that I had written synopses for three 150 page portions of one story.  Now I was being asked to double the length of each portion. But in the end all that meant was that I had the space for strong character development and the time to really dig deep into Bell's psyche. So I agreed and we brought the proposal to Simon & Schuster.

...And then Simon & Schuster threw me yet another curve ball. They wanted me to break up DECEPTIVE INNOCENCE into three parts and then follow that up with a full length novel that would finish Bell and Lander's story. In other words, what I had originally intended to be a 150 page novella was now going to be a 450 page book broken up into three 100-180 page novellas and that would be followed by a 300+ page book that would complete the series (which means that the 300+ page book would essentially be what I had initially outlined to be part two and part three of Bell and Lander's story...confused yet?). This structure was totally new to me and I initially found it daunting. Part of me really didn't want to do it. It felt unnatural. But then, three part novella series were once foreign to me too and look what happened when I embraced that.

DECEPTIVE INNOCENCE broken into 3 parts

I think it's still an open question as to whether or not this structure will work for readers. But I can tell you that it worked for me as an author. Initially I didn't think there was enough story in part one of Pure Sin to extend it to three novellas but once again being pushed to stretch the story out helped me dig deeper into my characters' minds. It also gave me time to develop Lander and Bell's relationship at a more realistic pace. Readers now get to really see the progression from lust to genuine affection. We see the slow deterioration of Bell's anger and we come to understand why that deterioration is so terrifying for her. Now, because of this more detailed examination of Bell and Lander's beginnings the next book (DANGEROUS ALLIANCE) will be supported by the strong foundation of their shared history.

The third and last part of DECEPTIVE INNOCENCE comes out on March 17th and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I can see now that if I hadn't taken the advice of my agent and publisher DECEPTIVE INNOCENCE PART ONE, TWO and THREE might have felt rushed. Worse yet, it might have rung false. Too often writers refuse to adapt their original "vision" in order to incorporate the wise advice of others. I'm so glad I didn't make that mistake with this series.

I hope you enjoy the roll out of Bell and Lander's story and that you tune in when DANGEROUS ALLIANCE is available. In that book the passion, the affection, the anger and the revenge will all be raised to a whole new level.

In DANGEROUS ALLIANCE both Bell and Lander will learn what I learned: sometimes being open to new possibilities and challenges is what it takes to win. And if there's one thing we know about these strange bedfellows, they are all about the win.

Happy Reading!