Melissa Harlow
The following are excerpts from Melissa’s Guest Blog post on the Sizzler Editions Blog.
[In each of my books there’s] a story, there is sex in it. It’s not mindless, continuous sex and it isn’t flowery, soft, romance. You might like it, you might not, but it is always, first, and foremost, a story.
The characters in my books are just people. I write erotic fiction, but I write real people, the waitress who is sick of her job and her life, the ex-convict, who knows he’s always done the wrong things — but can’t figure out how he can be any other way, the shy overweight girl who always got made fun of. .. To me these people are very real, and I have known many like them. In my mind the more alive my characters become, the better my stories are.
As the reader, you get to do something that in real life none of us get to do, you get to see inside of each person. Past the scars of drug addiction, or the man holding the gun, or even the homeless man by the dumpster, you get to see what they are truly like inside. Everyone has made mistakes, and as much as we all hate to admit it, none of us are perfect. In my books people who’ve never had anything really great happen to them in their lives get that shining moment of glory, people who have been dragging around guilt finally find a little peace — oh, and there’s sex, lots of sex, I guess I should mention that.
I will admit that I find it difficult to deal with rules. I’ve tried writing stories for a specific market or publisher, knowing that this or that has to be toned down, or I can’t write certain things, and then all of the sudden the story takes a life of it’s own and ends up breaking the rules or guidelines I have had set in front of me. In that respect I have found Sizzler to be a good fit for me.
There’s more to writing a good book than just typing words at the keyboard. It’s not about word count, or great sex scenes, or even good plot ideas. I have to feel something to write it. I’ve found that if I don’t, the story just isn’t any good. If I don’t cry when I write it, no one is going to cry when they read it. I invest a lot of emotions in my writing. Oh, and did I mention there’s sex?
The full text of this article – as well as much more information about her books and self – can be found at Melissa Harlow’s website.
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