Clare and Chrissy Turn Up the Heat ... or do they?

[chrissymunder]

Clare: and Chrissy: Good morning! Welcome to the April Shower Edition of The Clare and Chrissy Show. Being a new quarter, and a new month, we're feeling motivated! Let's grab our coffee and jump right in.

Chrissy: Wait! Wait!

Clare: What?

Chrissy: We need a confetti toss!

Clare: Really?

Chrissy: *opens mouth*

Clare: Forget I asked. Toss away, dear. Just let me duck first.

Chrissy: Wheeeee! It truly is the little things. You must need another vacation.

Clare: Holiday. The proper term is Holiday.

Chrissy: And there is our British-ism for the day. *wink*

Clare: One of the miracles of writing life is that there are just as many different readers and their personal preferences as there are writers eager to fill them.

Chrissy: But no matter how hard we might try, we can't please everyone.

Clare: It's guaranteed at one point or another an author will receive a comment from a reader who finished a story and didn't find it to their sexual taste.

Chrissy: Rather like Goldilock's porridge - some may find a story too hot, others may find the same story too cold.

Clare: (Porridge?? *shakes head*) Add to that we run right up front into the very solid wall of misperception if we write M/M…

Chrissy: …as for many readers, M/M fiction equals Erotica.

Clare: Despite our blurbs, despite the use of the word Romance…

Chrissy: …there are those who still haven't realized that there are just as many heat levels in M/M fiction as there are in any other type of fiction.

Clare: It's frustrating, because as authors, we welcome the opportunity to write a variety of romantic encounters between our main characters.

Chrissy: And as a reader, it's a pleasure not to have to skim through page after page of detailed sex, no matter the gender, when I'm not in the mood.

Clare: You're a skimmer?

Chrissy: There's been days. Sometimes life's too short and my head's just not in the game, no matter how sensual the writing.

Clare: The things we learn. *shakes head*

Chrissy: Pfffft.

Clare: One of the first questions we hear from many new authors is a simple one.

Chrissy: How do you know how much sex to add a story?

Clare: This always makes me chuckle, as I picture us sitting at our computers with aprons on and a large wooden spoon in hand to start stirring. This isn't a recipe we're following.

Chrissy: *gasps* What? You mean it isn't a case of mix two parts sex to every one part plot? Hmmm, or is that the other way around … I never remember.

Clare: As humans, we're lucky to enjoy the full spectrum of human interaction…

Chrissy: …why wouldn't our writing reflect that?

Clare: When asked, our answer is to write the amount of intimacy the story requires. No more, no less.

Chrissy: All right, we hear all the groaning out there. But that answer isn't a cop-out, it's true.

Clare: Common sense wins the day. We know the story, we know the characters, and we know the context. What heat level will those combined items support?

Chrissy: Maybe this is more like cooking than we first thought. Where did you put those aprons?

Clare: Down girl.

Chrissy: We've all heard the complaints from readers eagerly engrossed in a nail-biting scenario of imminent danger. The main characters are moments away from either a successful escape or dreadful discovery. Of course that's when they are suddenly overwhelmed with passion and drop their drawers, despite their approaching potential demise.

Clare: Gawd, I've written that scene myself *g*. But unless this is written in a framework informing the readers that the author is deliberately giving the characters one last opportunity for a quick shag before a horrible death, it tends to nullify all the hard work the author put into creating the nail-biting scenario in the first place.

Chrissy: And leaves the reader crying foul.

Clare: Or even worse, giggling.

Chrissy: We can examine our stories in the Winter Warmers anthology as examples.

Clare: In Chrissy's story, Butterscotch Kisses, Matthew and Andrew come to know each other through a series of brief encounters over the course of a single week. The gentle pace of their relationship and the sweet promise still to come would have made a suddenly graphic sex scene a jarring addition.

Chrissy: Or perhaps, turned the story into an example of a Penthouse Forum Letter.

Clare: Naah, if that were the case they would have only met once, and never exchanged names. And the adorable hats would be some weird kind of sex aid.... .

Chrissy: *cocks an inquisitive eyebrow*

Clare: *clears throat* Or so I've been led to believe.

Chrissy: Clare's contribution, Lucky Dip, gives us a humorously modern take on second chances. Greg and Andy already have an intimate history together, and the sexual tension sparking between them kindles into a satisfying rendezvous despite a few misadventures along the way.

Clare: In either case, the circumstances of the story appropriately support the heat level - and I'd say, so does the limit of the word count.

Chrissy: Could we decide beforehand what heat level we wish to write? Sure. But then we would deliberately tailor elements of the story to enable the desired intimacy.

Clare: We also need to factor in our comfort level when it comes to writing intimate encounters.


Chrissy: Some authors can make us tingle with just a single kiss.

Clare: Others make us wish they had stopped there :).




Clare and Chrissy: So we could say that the level of heat in a story depends on four C's: Characters, Context, Comfort, and Common Sense.

Authors, what methods do you use to determine how graphic a story will be? Readers, are you skimmers of intimate scenes or do you savor every syllable? And, just like in real life, does it all come down to our mood?

Leave us a comment and share your point of view. All entries will be used in a random drawer for some festive Clare and Chrissy swag. Winner to be announced during our next monthly blog post.

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SPECIAL NOTE: We're gearing up for a special "open forum" episode of The Clare and Chrissy Show later this year. Do you have a question about one of our posts? One of our stories? Love or Hate our characters? Interested in our favorite music? Reader's choice! All Clare, all Chrissy, all questions will be answered. But fear not shy soul, no names will be used, only questions.

You have between now and September 2012 to think of a question you'd like answered and email it to chrissymunder@yahoo.com. Be sure to mark which one of us the question is for, and then sit back and get ready to learn all.

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March Winner: sandra_lindsey- Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to Chrissy at chrissymunder@yahoo.com for your festive Clare and Chrissy Swag.

Missed a month? Follow the sticky post for these rambles of ours HERE

Be sure to catch the latest from Clare London. 3 Sexy Shorts featuring the men of True Colors.



And to learn more about us:


Here's Chrissy! website // blog.


Here's Clare! website // blog.