RWA2012 – Workshops, BDSM, and Seriously!

I am not a prude, I am not a prude, I swear I am not a prude, but…I am respectful of all genres, which means I don’t think I’ll write any BDSM anytime soon. I will admit, it would be a spanking new subject for me to explore, and one thing I learned at the fabulous talk at the Passionate Ink Party last night — you can’t fake writing BDSM–it will show:). The Passionate Ink’s RWA conference events are always excellent. They bring in expert guest speakers and in particular, this year, it was the cutting-edge topic (50 Shades of Grey Trilogy sold 20 percent of all books last month, if I remember the stat as stated).  So when The Darker Side of Pleasure author Eve Berlin (aka Eden Bradley, a self-proclaimed mid-list author who is getting better deals said Shades is leading a change in the industry that is very good for erotic romance writers), and an academic (forgive me I didn’t get her name in my notes) launched into their remarks it was one of the most informative, well-presented, sessions of the day. And oh, BDSM stands for Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism, Masochism (I didn’t know that).

And oh! Sylvia Day’s NYT Best Seller reportedly had a pre-order of 500,000 books – for Bared to You (number 4 on NY Times Bestseller list in paperback)..and check the best seller list for 1, 2, and 3, it’s still Grey. The Hunger Games and Twilight brought YA to the forefront – if you don’t think 50 Shades and Bared to You aren’t going to have a MAJOR impact on what is being bought by publishers, etc., think again:)…

Okay enough on how I ended the day, I started at 8:30 a.m. in Platinum Salon 2 (where I spent three hours:). The workshops were Deep POV, It’s Showtime (Show versus Tell), and Voice, all expertly presented IMHO. The next time you see me ask me about the red flag words — “when”, “as”, “tried to”, “sound of” and “wondered”. Janice Hardy was the presenter of “Its Showtime”, which was extra-fabulous!

Okay, I’ll announce the winner of  Alma Katsu’s The Taker book giveaway tomorrow.  In fact, let’s just do it again today – commenters will have a chance to win a copy of her first book of The Taker Trilogy! (I got hold of yet another copy:)!

So now take a moment to share your BDSM story – okay, just kidding:), but what do you think about the impact of 50 Shades on what publishers and editors will be looking to buy? Will the heat level in your romance novels go up a notch, or would you hint at a little bondage in your more erotic love scenes? Do tell…

5 thoughts on “RWA2012 – Workshops, BDSM, and Seriously!

  1. Hey Denny – after WRW hosted Erotica day in May, I started an erotica. We’ll see where it goes. So much I’ve read hasn’t kept my interest because the story is lacking in some way. Sex is easy, I think. Getting folks to care about the people having sex is a tad more difficult!

    I’m not sure I could do justice to BDSM either, but I definitely respect it. Cherise Sinclair is a fantastic BDSM author. If you ever have a hankering to, uh, bone up on the subject, I heartily encourage you to read her work. Sexy AND smart. Emotional with well-fought-for happily ever after endings. I can’t praise her enough.

  2. I will keep my opinions on 50 Shades to myself for the moment. Grrr!

    But sounds like you are sitting in on some fascinating sessions. Have I mentioned I’m super jealous of you yet? Not today? I’M JEALOUS! 😉

  3. Excellent post! I was fortunate enough to fall into conversation with the lead of Rainbow Writers right after the AGM and the challenge she sees to balance good love story with head bopping sex. This will NOT be in my future, but she is a terrific ambassador for writing to readers of all persuasions.

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