This week I put together the plot for a series of books.  The working title for the series is “Stag-Vixen Journey.”  I’m thinking the first book I’m going to have the working title of “First Steps” or something along those lines.  As I looked at the outline, and the characters including the story arc itself, I realized that there is a moral dilemma faced by authors of erotica and erotic romance, science fiction, mystery and all the other genre's and sub-genres that include the words erotic, or erotica.

The Moral DilemMa

The biggest conflict I have is that writing erotica is not a family friendly venture.  Spouses tend to frown upon the one who ventures this way.  There is VERY good reasons for it.  In fact, they make a lot of sense.  So, I gave it a great deal of thought.  As I mentioned on the first blog post, End of a Journey, Starting Fresh, I started down this path in 2002.  I’m not new to this concept.  The difference is, if I take this to the ultimate conclusion, it is not a hobby anymore.

It’s only fair to think through the questions of the those that are worried about this course of action.  Would you tell your children about this?  No! Emphatically: No!

Well, then, how do you reconcile that you’re going to create art that you are ashamed of sharing with your sons and daughters?  Keep in mind they are all well passed the age of adulthood, the age of cheaper insurance, and the point of having their own families.

So, if you are ashamed of it, why are you doing it?

You have to admit, that is a good and cogent question.

First blabbering answer was: “Well, I’m not ashamed of it.”  There, that was a good answer, right?

Not backed up by the facts.  Is it?  That quickly spilled the wind from my sails. 

I like it because I think I’m good at it.  I like it because I think I can tell a story that is far more than the sex it will cover.  I like it because I think I can create four dimensional characters that through time will be better than at the start.  Through their journey they will show what people with real problems can do to overcome them.

No Simple Answer to the Moral Dilemma

I’m not a young man.  I have a large family, a large extended family, and an even larger family where I was born.  The thoughts about this question worry me.  I worry that it is simply out of inertia and stubbornness that I choose to write these stories and hopefully novels.

If I only look at it from a passion to write, then any subject should be good enough.  Right?  Why can’t I write Science Fiction, or Murder Mysteries, and stay out of the bedroom?

Can it be a simple business Decision?

If I look at it as a business decision, then the answer is much easier.  The market research I did last week shows clearly that Romance / Erotica are twice as large a market as the next competitor.  There is intense competition in the market.  There are, however, under-served segments of growing markets.

The HOTWIFE market is fair sized.  It is covered, but mostly covered by cuckold stories.  I think there is a market out there that is not into the humiliation typically attributed to the cuckold.  I think that market is defined more by the Stag – Vixen dynamic.  No humiliation.  Voyeuristic tendencies and adventurous spirits at a time in life when both partners consent to being adults in the full sense of the word.

There is the possibility that I take a more mature business approach to this and put aside some of the moral implications.  I also think that I may come to a point in this journey of mine, where I must stand up, quit equivocating, and make the final decision: Publish or Hobie.