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Guest Blogger: Heather Long (Contest)
Monday, June 4th, 2012

Today’s the last day to enter the New Dragon Cup contest!
Click on the link for the entry rules! ~DD

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Why A Ménage

First let me thank Delilah for hosting me on her blog today. I might get a little deep because it’s been that kind of a week.

Have you ever had a fantasy? Men and women are different. They have different kinds of fantasies. To be perfectly honest, women are different—they have different kinds of fantasies. So have you ever had a fantasy?  Do you fantasize that you’re famous? Or maybe that you’re the go to girl or go to guy for someone who is famous? Do you want to be a sports star? Do you have to have Josh Hamilton’s batting record? Do you have a fantasy to be a rock star or actor or let’s just get down to brass tacks, do you just fantasize that you’re rich?

Fantasies are important because fantasies are goals. They provide us with an innate sense of reaching for more than who we are or who we want to be.  Sometimes they are simply escapes. An escape from our ho-hum life and too many errands and schedules and bills and frankly, who doesn’t want to fantasize their way out of the long lines at the grocery store on a weekend when you’d rather be sleeping in?

So if “those” kinds of fantasies are healthy, what about sexual fantasies?  Aren’t they healthy, too?

Not if you’re a woman…

There seems to be a common misconception in our culture that women shouldn’t have sexual fantasies. I mean there are booty and booby magazines by the hundreds, half-naked women on cars for men to lust after so they will go and shop for that vehicle and more—because retail and Hollywood figured out a long time ago that sex sells. But that’s okay, because it sells to men.

Then along comes a little book call 50 Shades of Grey and suddenly “Mommy porn” is born and it’s astounding just how many readers gobbled it up. It became the numbers 1, 2, 3 best sellers (with its two sequels) in weeks. It blew the top of this frothing pit of sexual fantasy for women from college co-eds to soccer moms to silver-haired grandmas and I know for a fact at least one great-grandma in a wheelchair.

As a romance reader for more than three decades and an author, was I shocked by this? Of course not, what is a romance novel but a variant of a sexual fantasy? What is the BDSM sub-genre but a sexual fantasy? What about a ménage?

But you’re not supposed to talk about it…

It’s 2012 and we’re not supposed to talk about liking sex. Apparently according to some people, we’re not supposed to talk about sex at all. Some people believe that if you add enough sex to a story it will sell no matter how good that story is and some believe that if sex isn’t an extension of an organic relationship between the characters (whether it’s an MF, MFM, MMFM, MMF, or MFMMMMM – yes ladies, those books do exist) then it’s just porn written to sell.

Wanna know a secret?

It doesn’t matter.  It really doesn’t. I promise you that two years ago, I used to say “I can’t write sex scenes.”  It wasn’t a matter that I couldn’t write them, I was just embarrassed by it.  Yes, embarrassed.  Like so many women I felt that if I said I “liked” to write sex scenes or that I wanted to write them, it should only be said quietly to those people who knew me very well and who would, of course, keep it private.

Because we’re really not suppose to like sex or talk about it.

When I was little, my grandmother always edited the sex scenes when she read her Harlequins to me and that makes sense, because seriously – who is going to read sex to a kid? Exactly – really creepy people. But for years, she referred to it as “cleaning” or “taking a nap.”  Even when I was an adult, she wouldn’t say the word sex – but I guarantee you that the books she was reading had loads of it in there.

We’re embarrassed by this because we’ve been told that in our society it’s not okay to like sex. I mean, you can, but only if you keep it to yourself.

I think I’m tired of keeping it to myself. I like sex. I like to read good sex scenes and I like to write them. I recently released a book in February called Cassandra’s Dilemma that featured a polyamorous relationship. I wasn’t really sure how that would go for me, but the characters refused to be anything else and I believe in going where my characters take me. But when it came to promoting it, I kind of choked a little—why?

Because it had sex and a lot of it.

I didn’t really think about that until recently when I finished Jacob’s Trial in edits and had it queued up for its release date. It’s the second book in the series after Cassandra’s Dilemma and it has sex – lots of sex in it. And you know what. I am thrilled about this book and I don’t feel any of those twinges that I felt with Cassandra’s Dilemma. In part because I realized that even though I’ve never been particularly shy about the subject, I was still trying to look at myself through the lens of a conservative culture that frowns and labels books with open sexuality “mommy porn.”

Why a ménage?

I started off calling this blog why a ménage and I’m going to answer this right now. Because it’s a great sexual fantasy to imagine two, alpha males who care about you so much that they put aside some of that innate, biological competitiveness to be with you emotionally, mentally and yes, sexually.  The physical intimacy in a ménage is just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a healthy fantasy and I loved writing Jacob, Cassie, and Helcyon’s journey to finding each other and finding a balance in that relationship.

Are sexual fantasies worth it? Absolutely. Because a sexual fantasy is all about you and that’s why we like to read books that explore the fantasies we might have and why many authors like to write them. Your fantasy is healthy, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

I like sex. I hope you do, too.  Because sex feels good and sexual fantasies should, too. Without our fantasies, life would be pretty dull.

I’d love for you to leave a comment on anything you feel like saying on the subject. I’m not going to ask you if you have sexual fantasies or what they are, but I will give away one copy of Jacob’s Trial to one lucky commentator and I’ll announce that here in the comments on Thursday, June 7!

12 comments to “Guest Blogger: Heather Long (Contest)”

  1. Marie Lisk
    Comment
    1
    · June 4th, 2012 at 12:36 pm · Link

    I have to agree that the idea of 2 alphas being so confident to allow another into their relationship with their mate is my very best fantasy…Marie Lisk melisk1966@yahoo.com 😉



  2. Tina D
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    2
    · June 4th, 2012 at 1:28 pm · Link

    I talk sex all the time to people. I used to be embarrassed to carry around my books but now I show them off proudly. I have even talked some of the people I work with into reading some of my favorite authors. When I am at work in the book department if anyone asks me for recommendations I always tell them I read romance and that alot of it has alternative lifestyles. Most of the comments I get back are positive and one woman asked me to write down a list of authors that I read because she liked the first book I recommended to her.



  3. Rana Adams
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    3
    · June 4th, 2012 at 2:12 pm · Link

    TWO HOT ALPHAS!!! Hell yeah, I would do them!! Stud might need to be one of those males, but I would be okay with that! As a matter of fact, I would so bring in a third if Stud would go for that idea. He won’t! Damn jealous man! 🙂 As for fantasizing, I do it everday. I even have my own fantasy man named Grayson. Now you two know a lil more about me. 😆 Oh and anyone else who reads this!



  4. ELF
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    4
    · June 4th, 2012 at 2:25 pm · Link

    I think that our society is terribly hypocritical but somehow don’t see it changing any time in the near future. I am amused to see 50 Shades of Grey flying off of the shelf in my local warehouse store even as people are denigrating it.



  5. Melissa Porter
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    · June 4th, 2012 at 4:15 pm · Link

    I like the idea of 2 Alphas. I have a bunch of books with that concept in them. I even carry mine with no problem either. Even at work. I have a few friends that I have gotten hooked on different books with two alphas. If it makes the person happy then I say let them do what they want. They are not hurting anyone. It is their life. Let them live it the way they want to.



  6. Jen B.
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    6
    · June 4th, 2012 at 8:48 pm · Link

    I H-A-T-E the term mommy porn. It is so stupid and thoughtless. I just hope that all of the attention that 50 Shades is receiving will open up people’s minds and they will start calling it by more appropriate terms. Romance, Erotic, BDSM. Wow, maybe someday we can all be mature adults.



  7. Barb Han
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    7
    · June 6th, 2012 at 10:27 am · Link

    Good morning and what a topic to start off the day! 🙂 Love that you’re talking about fantasies, and that every woman is different. It’s OK! Enjoy them. Great advice, Heather!!!



  8. Latochia Bell
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    · June 6th, 2012 at 11:51 am · Link

    I guess once I got married, my possibilities for a menage went out the window… So… I enjoy to lose myself in a good book that allows me to live out those fantasies. I don’t think I would have ever had the nerve to have one (married or not) but the are hot to read about!!!



  9. Becki Wyer
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    9
    · June 6th, 2012 at 1:08 pm · Link

    2 hot alphas…bring them on. The more, the merrier 😉



  10. Fedora
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    · June 6th, 2012 at 5:56 pm · Link

    Great post, Heather! I do think it’s fun to fantasize, and sometimes sharing fantasies can make them come true 😉 And other fantasies work best just as reads or daydreams for me, but that’s OK, too!



  11. Brandy W
    Comment
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    · June 9th, 2012 at 4:52 pm · Link

    Hi there…. I’m the PA. Brandy. Anyway…. I’m posting the winner of Heather giveaway. A copy of Jacob’s Trial goes to Becki Wyer

    Please send me an email so I can get your book off to you. bray829@gmail.com



  12. Rana Adams
    Comment
    12
    · June 9th, 2012 at 5:15 pm · Link

    Congratulations Becki!!



Comments are closed.