This year has flown by hasn’t it? And in a week or so it’ll all be over and we’ll be on our way in 2012!  What are you looking forward to as a writer of erotica in the coming year?  What sales techniques will you use or have you learned from WriteSEX that have or will help you sell more books?  And lastly, looking back, are you a stronger writer now than you were at the first of 2011?

The answer is probably a resounding YES!  That being said, we’ve had a long year despite how fast it flew by.

Publicist Deborah Riley Magnus launched The Author Success Coach

Jean Marie Stine of Sizzler Editions gained 14 new authors for our Intoxication line

M. Christian and I attended the very first Erotic Authors Association Conference in Las Vegas on behalf of Sizzler Editions as editors of quality erotica. And back at the beginning of the year, WriteSEX taught for Savvy Authors.

We’re teaching again only this time it’s for Lowcounty Romance Writers of America.  January 5th-29th, M. Christian, Oceania, Debbie Riley Magnus and I will be online teaching the business, tricks and techniques to a successful career in writing erotica.  Details can be found here.  Those are just a few of the accomplishments we’ve had overall from the WriteSEX group.

Lots going on and a lot more planned for 2012.  I would like to be the first, on behalf of all of WriteSEX to wish you a happy holiday season and blessings for the New Year!

In honor of the fact that starting August 15^th I’ll be teaching Male POV and Creating Better Heroes for anyone who signs up through Orange County Romance Writers of America Chapter, I’m going to give away a partial lesson from the Male POV course for the WriteSEX crowd.

It’ll be abbreviated but I’d like you to take time and think, and think hard about the characters you write.  If you’re a woman in erotica or erotic romance, this is especially for you.

Author Gender seems to be the biggest problem many writers face when creating characters and it’s just necessary!  I’ve been cross gender writing for years and the biggest compliment I’ve received was regarding how well I had my editors fooled when they finally spoke to me.  When asked how I write the other gender so well, I replied that observation was my biggest tool used to help me identify.  Look around you at TV, newspapers, music.  If men aren’t being portrayed as tough and rugged by the media, then they’re portrayed as angry and aggressive.  Or as one reader pointed out, men are stupid and buffoonish.

In reality, some of them are just that.  But the majority of men are just like the majority of women.  They’re human beings and to understand them may not be something we need concern ourselves unless we’re creating real life characters.

Authors have to be objective in their portrayal of their characters!  Men aren’t aggressive and angry for no reason at all (most anyway!) but unless we dig further into the depths of the man’s mind, and his soul, we’ll be lost forever in testosterone!

Before we start, I’d like for you to throw out EVERYTHING you’ve EVER HEARD by any other romance author regarding men unless you KNOW that romance author has a penis.  Or had a penis.

I say this not to tear down those writers, but to set the record straight.  The first thing I want you to understand is that man and woman are NOT equal.  Well, we’re equally stupid at times, and equally smart at times.  And some of us are equally attractive, others are equally ugly.  (Just calling a spade a spade!) but as a whole, men and women are not equal. Hell, not all men are equal.

Example:  I am very strong for my size. (Thin and tall) But paranormal author Stephanie Burke’s husband is 6’7 and weighs three times more than I do.  He’s pretty built too.  Strength-wise, we’re unequal.  Dennis is clearly stronger than I am.  I’m okay with that too.

The point is that externally or physically, which is what I believe we’re talking about when it comes to this notion of equality.  We are not equal.

INTERNALLY on the other hand…well that’s partially what you’re taking this workshop for.  I believe after we’ve finished our week that we’ll see a LOT of similarities between gender.

Next time we’ll cover a little more on the Way of Being, but for now, you can sign up for Male POV through the OCCRWA site

The course runs August 15th to August 28th.  For non RWA Members fee is $25, $15 for RWA Members I believe.