A Different Ending

Quite some time ago, I wrote a post about how libertines are portrayed in romance novels. I'd read a few of the novels my lovers had lying around and I'd noticed something about them. I'd found that all such novels ended with a traditional, monogamous marriage, without exception, no matter how "bad" the male lead had been in the story. I questioned why all romance novels must end this way and wondered why a subgenre featuring nonmonogamous relationships of all kinds could not be added. After posting this entry, I had input from two published romance authors in the mainstream press, Paula Reed and Kate Rothwell.

They both told me that while all sorts of situations may occur in the story, that publishers mandated a "HEA" (Happily Ever After) ending for all romance novels. And "happily ever after", according to these publishers, can only happen in one way: monogamous marriage. One size fits all. Yawn.

While this is indeed true for many or most people, it is not true for all. Nor does it follow that if one is monogamous, they will not enjoy reading about alternative happy endings, that they'd not choose for themselves. Reading fiction is, primarily, about fantasy, imagining "what if", and I, for one, enjoy reading about people in all sorts of situations, even ones I'd never think of choosing myself.. I see a requirement that all books in a particular genre have the same happy ending as a form of censorship, telling us what we should want out of a relationship. It hampers the creativity of authors and limits readers.

However, both authors suggested I check out a publisher,Ellora's Cave, who offers books that are more erotic than those from mainstream presses. I visited the EC website, paying particular attention to their submissions guidelines. Many men write romance novels under female pseudonyms, and I've idly considered doing so for quite some time. But what I found was ultimately disappointing. Ellora's Cave self identifies their books as being "romantica":

Romantica™ is the name for the line of erotic romance novels published by Ellora’s Cave Publishing. Erotic romance is defined by us as: any work of literature that is both romantic and sexually explicit in nature. Within this genre, a man and a woman develop "in love" feelings for one another that culminate in a monogamous relationship.

In other words, the same ol' thing, but written in more explicit detail. A cop out, in my view.

Several days ago, one of my lovers told me she'd found a book, a historical romance, by a publisher similar to Ellora's Cave, New Concepts Publishing, that ended in a polyamorous triad: "His Wicked Ways" by Jaide Fox. That is, it was a happily ever after ending, but with three people instead of two. I dutifully went to NCP's website and viewed their submission guidelines.

Why do readers read romance? For the experience of "seeing" two people fall desperately in love. Sex is a huge part of a relationship. Your romance should fully explore just how fantastic sex is between SOUL MATES. In the real world, would you continue dating someone that didn't excite you sexually? The most likely answer is no. Keep this in mind when writing your romance.

What we like to see in our CARNAL rated books are explicit love scenes that relate the FULL spectrum of making love/having sex between characters who are obviously meant for each other. Readers want explosive chemistry between the characters, with a heated buildup of sexual tension. What we want in all of our romances are love scenes that deliver exciting emotion once the characters come together sexually.

While it was a bit more progressive than EC, in that it didn't mandate a monogamous ending, here, too, were limits. NCP allows for polyamorous erotica, but the frankly libertine is still taboo. Nevertheless, it's a positive step in the right direction.

After seeing this, I entertained the idea of starting my own ebook/POD press. I would name it, naturally, "Libertine Press". I would include romance, erotica, and a combination of the two, told from both male and female points of view. All books would be about "alternative lifestyle" relationships, as the traditional monogamous ones are already well covered by other publishers. Included would be libertine relationships (of course!), polyamory, swinging, gay/lesbian/bi, BDSM, and the like.

If I had the business sense, experience in the publishing industry, and money, I'd seriously consider doing this. Perhaps someday, someone with all three of these things will do so.