By: KL Ramsey
My first fan email arrived a few days ago, sent by a person who was interested in knowing how much of my stories are real. I reminded her that I write fiction but said that each of my stories have parts that come from my real life. For example, I only write about places that I either know of or have been to, while some authors enjoy writing about places that only exist in their imaginations. Of course, my newest fan had a follow up question, “How real are all of those steamy sex scenes?” and well, I never shy away from a question, even when it starts to get a little personal. I explained to my inquisitive new friend that my sex scenes are the parts of my books that are the most real. I mean, I can’t write what I don’t know, right? That was the last that I heard from her—no more questions, just radio silence.
Honestly, it’s not the first time that I’ve been asked questions about the sex in my books. It’s usually the first thing that my close friends ask about, after they’ve finished reading, and I’m fine with that. I have even heard rumors that a few of my neighbors have purchased my books, read them, and then took them to parties to read all the dirty parts to other neighbors. This made me laugh, knowing that they were reading scenes from what was essentially my love life, while drinking wine.
So, why all the steamy sex scenes? Well, for me, that is a simple answer—because it’s what I like to read. As a writer, I could not create something that I wouldn’t want to personally read and I’m sure that other authors would agree. We write what we enjoy and what we know. Sure, I could write a clean romance, but what’s the fun in that? I enjoy both reading and writing all the naughty bits that have my friends and neighbors talking at parties, and really isn’t that what being an author is all about. Whether you write historical non-fiction, science fiction or hot, steamy romance novels, you want people to talk about your work. That means people are reading and that’s all any writer could hope for.
