I need your help!

[Cornelius Butterfield]

I have the guts of a book in My Documents, waiting for 'continuity.' (Get done!) I've just finished two books, (procrastination?) Max Allen Collins – Quarry
in the Middle. (Hard Case Crime), and James Patterson – Cross
Country, ($1 bin at the Good Will).

I liked Collins, minimalistic style, noir-ish, protagonist in charge.

Even though James Paterson sells millions, I found his story simply a well disguised chase scene, with an ending that was flat for me. But it sure kept me tuning pages.

I want to combine both styles.

Dilemma: My book needs punch. After reading these two books, character arguments that end in, “You're wrong. Look it up.” must end in physical violence. And the “Boy,
she sure had nice eyes,”

some kind of wild sex scene. Boring is death. I need punch.

So your favorites, it you will. Two authors who write believable sex scenes. And two for outright violence. Not to cut and paste, but to get the feel, (literally).
Main stream fiction, last four/five years or so.

Supposed to write about what you know. Well, I don't need to get into any more street fights, to gain new insights on how it 'feels' getting the shyt kicked out of me. And as for wild sex? That's a vague, very vague memory, at best.  And my idea of 'wild' back then
was...well...

Like I say, I need help.

Thanks,

Signed, In Need of Sex and Violence!

[I. J. Parker]

Lee Child is good for violence where appropriate. Don't know about sex. I don't see wild sex scenes as relevant to crime books. Occasionally, the sex scenes are given to villains in thrillers, but then they tend to be truly repulsive. The point is that the ugly stuff sells.

[Cornelius Butterfield]

Yes, the sex and violence will be part of the character's personality. Nothing really crazy or harmful for the main protagonists. Violence instigated by the antagonists. My heroes win out, in spite of the ugliness. Don't think it's in me to be really graphic, or wildly violent, with the action or the sex. But if it sells, well...just tell my daughter she can't read it.

[Jude Hardin]

Try Small Town by Lawrence Block. Plenty of wild sex there, and a goodly amount of violence as well if I remember.

I have to say, though, most sex scenes just aren't very good. There's even a prize every year for the worst ones, and it's amazing to see some of the big names who make the list. The scenes themselves are just comical, or end up sounding like Penthouse Forum letters or whatever. I don't write sex scenes. I just quick-edit to the next scene, the way they do in old movies.

[Cornelius Butterfield]

Thanks. I might get a copy of Penthouse. Might be all I need.

[John McFetridge]

LIke everything else, it starts with character. A good sex scene is a great way to develop a character further and show them at their most vulerable. Sometimes a sex scene will show a different side to a character - a tough guy being gentle or a shy woman taking control, though something less obvious would be better.

I use sex scenes to explore power in relationships. My books often have a theme of how the power dynamic in a realtionship changes over time and a sex scene is a good way to show that.

The thing is, whatever the scene - a fight, a chase or sex - it has to bethere to show something more than just the fight or the chase or the sex, it has to be another layer.

Just be warned, if you go online looking for wild sex ideas, you may be there for quite a while ;)

[Cornelius Butterfield]

Thanks for the reply. Good advice. I'll have to build the relationship, for the good guys/gals. My antagonists will indulge in the kinkier activities. (Better to read about it than watch it on the web, I think. You're right, could get lost and not find my way back.)

[Jon Loomis]

John M's right. How people fuck tells us a lot about them. Ditto how they fight. The important thing for me is to try to avoid cliché as much as possible when I go abroad in these well-traveled territories.

[Jude Hardin]

But really, how many ways are there to fuck? Sex scenes are boring, IMO, and most of them just end up sounding silly.

[Jon Loomis]

See, there's the thing. Sex scenes are boring if the characters are boring and the scenes progress and (wait for it) climax in pretty much the expected ways. It's not about hanging from the chandelier--it's about the characters being real and engaging and vulnerable and funny and...sexy. It's more about what they think and what they say than what their bodies are doing (I'd argue that the same is true of a good fight scene). You're right, though--most genre sex scenes feel kind of rote or obligatory. You have to like writing them to even have a shot at doing them well, I think. And it helps to have a sense of humor. Sex gone somewhat awry is a lot more interesting (and realistic) than sex in which everything's mutually orgasmarific.

[Jude Hardin]

Maybe that's why I remember Block's--some of his were funny.

Here's the short list for the most recent Bad Sex Awards, hosted annually by The Guardian. Some of these are hilarious, but for all the wrong reasons.

[Jack Getze]

I vote for Sex Gone Awry in Strange Ways. In my case, it's write what you know.

[Jon Loomis]

Every time I read this comment it cracks me up, Jack. True in my case, too.