Raunchy Words

At our last FAW meeting, several authors shared romantic pieces for critique which got me thinking…

What was the first non-literary, romantic novel that I read?

I was a teenager when my mom finally gave me permission to read more grownup (insert the word sex) stuff. She handed me a Harlequin Romance. It was published in 1972. Titled Bride of the Rif, Sarah, granddaughter of a hustling gambler, meets tall, dark and handsome. It was a pretty tame story of miscommunication, desire, and a happy ending- like most Harlequin’s are.

And then I got thinking…

What was the first novel I read that specifically explained the in’s and out’s between romantically intertwined characters?

That was Wifey.

I read it on the sly. At a friend’s house. I only read a chapter or two. Wifey isn’t a romance. In the story, someone was licking someone’s pee hole (my teenage brain’s interpretation). I got grossed out and that was the end of Wifey for me. You have to understand, if you didn’t live through Sex Ed in the 80’s, there was intercourse, pregnancy and STD’s. No one ever talked about oral, anal or, holy cow, anything that wasn’t straight.

Later, I would enjoy the characters from Pern, dive into Anne Rice’s Exit to Eden, and go from there.

So, I asked the attendees from the FAW 5/12 meeting, what was their first dip into the world of erotica?

Of course, the newest answer is 50 Shades of Grey, but here of some of the other novels & what was remembered.

Peyton Place – a small town where everyone was doing everyone

Forever – with the line “He came on my leg.”

The Devil Who Tamed Her – *blush*

Flowers in the Attic – * everyone nods *

We’ll be meeting again on Friday, 5/26. Yeah, it’s Memorial Day weekend, but you never know what will come up in conversation about books and writing. Come join us and check it out.