I like the Anita Blake Vampire books, by Laurell Hamilton, Does that count as Erotica? Some of it is pretty steamy and I have to say that I like to read some chapters before I go to sleep and it usually inspires me to 'help myself'....Of course being a woman I might not need the same kind of visual as you boys do...I have a fertile imagination and like to use it!
What Laurell needs to write about is a strong bi character and then I could identify even more!
Good comments, you guys. I realize some people are so visual that they simply cannot make the jump from the black and white letters (no matter what they say) to the imaginative scene in the mind. I try to be as graphic and visual as possible without resorting to cheesy descriptions (like bell-end, heh) or purple prose (i.e., flowery language), but "he fucked her" just doesn't stir the imagination. The setup becomes even more important than the actual act, as is true of real life.
In videos, great camera work and a believable story setup is far superior, IMO, than those vids that start with the girl on her knees sucking a cock or two. Good erotic stories can give you scene setups and actual mental stimulation to go right along with the memories of your favorite videos or favorite actor/actress. There's a certain power in being able to stimulate readers and get them to imagine their favorite person (which is usually themselves, heh) in specific situations.
I can only with hope more videos pay attention to setup than the simple fucks we see now. Hell, we begin searching for something--anything--different in a scene to set it apart from the other thousand we've seen. I look for imagination in the actresses--how interesting and different are they when they respond to stimulus--to turn me on. Am I odd in that way, or in good company?
To specifically answer you, hillhopper, I haven't read Hamilton's vampire books, but I can give you enough criteria that you can decide for yourself how they are categorized.
A new sub-genre is emerging call "romantica" and this rarely depicts drawn-out sex, but it is more graphic than traditional romance. This genre won't always shy away from words like "pussy" and tends to be all setup with little actual description of the sex acts.
Erotica will focus on those sex acts when it gets to them, but also has a true story and good environment (setup) in which the sex is told. For example, my new story on Lit does not have a full-blown sex scene until almost 5000 words into a 7000-word story (20-30 minute read). But the sex will sizzle (if done correctly) and describe everything from the way the satin gown sounds as it slides off her skin, to how hungry she is when he dribbles precum into her mouth, to how they tremble when they finally burst into orgasm-land (and no, I don't use that term in my stories--ever :1orglaugh). No holding punches, know what I mean?
And lastly, we have "smut." Often called "stroke," these stories have almost no plotline, and are quick setups to get to as graphic of sex as the writer can manage. They are the literary equivalent to a quickie in sex--sometimes you are so hot and bothered that you just need a good stroke story to help you sleep at night and don't want to be bothered reading for ten minutes to get to it.
Anyway, hillhopper, hope that helps. And by the way, there is tons of bi-sexual erotica out there (including my story titled "Jen's Birthday"--also found on Literotica--which is a group sex story partially based on my experience, but many other stories out there that are much better and more involved than mine).
Cheers.
