Guest Post: Erotica vs Porn

Erotica vs Porn by Natalie Hancock

     Since I became an author of erotic paranormal romance, everyone has said the same thing whenever the topic ‘erotic romance books’ comes up. Erotica is porn.

     Is it? There is such a big difference between the two I wonder why someone could think erotica was porn in the first place.

     Erotic romance tells the entire story, including the sex. It’s there to stimulate the mind and the body with the romance and arouse emotions and the imagination with the erotic side of romance.

     Porn is exploitive and degrading. There are no other words to describe porn. Of course that is my opinion. Many people don’t find porn degrading and I would never tell them they are disgusting for watching it. If they want to watch it, then that’s fine by me. I know a lot of people who do, most for research, others just because they want to.

     The way I see it, and most authors too, if you take the sex out of porn, you are left with literally nothing. You take the sex out of erotic romance and you still have the romance.

     When you watch a film, and there are breasts out on display, any other body part or there are couples having sex, is that porn? I’m pretty sure it isn’t, even though a lot of people get aroused watching it, yet the majority of people, men mostly, say erotica romance is. How does that work?

     I write erotica romance because when I speak about the love my characters have with one another, the emotions they feel whenever they are together, I want to describe that in all forms, including sex.

     Is that so wrong?

     I have had someone tell me that if two people love each other and create a porn video, that’s romance.

     I laughed hysterically at that.

     In my opinion, you could be in love with someone, you could be the most romantic couple there ever could be, but when you have sex and put a video of that up on the internet for millions... No billions of people to masturbate over, you’ve lost your romance right there. Instantly. What you share with your partner or partners is meant to be private, for you only, not for everyone else to see.

     Yes, erotic romance books have detailed sex in it, but you can’t watch them have sex, you can only see it in your mind. And what do you really see when you read an erotic book? Do you see the couples described, or do you see yourself with your partner, or a partner you would like? Do you see all your wildest fantasies coming true?

            Just remember that when you say an author is writing porn, you are insulting them, and the people who read their books. Erotica is not porn and porn is not erotica. I know I can’t change most people’s minds about the difference between the two, but I do hope to change a few.

Natalie Hancock: Bio

Natalie is a hyperactive writer of Paranormal Romance books. She writes about vampires mainly, but would like to write stories of other paranormal creatures. She studied and graduated at the University of Lincoln, Riseholme College where she studied an animal course for two years, which is where she met her partner, Reece. He's as crazy as her, if not more, so they're the perfect match.

They live with their zoo in the middle of nowhere. Their zoo consists of a hamster called Crunch. A chinchilla called Hektor and three guinea pigs called Fluff, Smudge and Squig. They hope in the near future to add to the family and get an army of hamsters, chinchilla's and guinea pigs. Oh, and a goat.

Natalie loves to read, listen to loud rock/hardcore music, game, and look after her crazy animals. She also loves vampires! She's a true believer of all things supernatural and if she had the luck to run into one, she would either ask for his or her autograph, or jump on them just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Natalie’s Books:

Eternal Darkness is about the life of Layla, a half vampire, half human who is sent to live in a hundred acres of land full of vampires for her own safety. The only problem is she hungers for the vampires blood, so when she has lessons with them, not only does she struggle with the hunger raging inside of her, but she has to learn to trust those around her, something she can’t do because she has a dark past, and because of it, she has trouble trusting anyone.
She knows she’s in as much danger inside the land as she was when she was outside the land, and she can’t shake off the feeling that something, or someone is watching her, waiting to attack her, despite the guards watching her every move.
When she meets one of the tutors, she feels things towards him and wants both his blood and his body, but it’s forbidden to feel the way they do and Layla must fight her feelings otherwise the secrets she desperately wants to remain a secret will get out, and put her in more danger than she already is.

 

Dark Shadows continues the story of how half-breed Layla struggles with her hunger, and her desires for Shade now more than ever. She is also struggling to keep her hidden identity a secret as well as her secrets, but when there are attacks made on her, and it puts everyone in serious danger, the identity she has kept hidden is revealed.

In Dark Awakening, there is more security, more people watching Layla’s back now that everyone knows who she is. Layla wants to find the person responsible for the attacks made at her, as is everyone else, but when an attack happens to someone other than her, she and Nikalye are the only ones who know the truth of it and are determined to find the culprit once and for all, before someone else is seriously injured.

Layla continuously fights for survival to keep herself and those around her alive, but when more things sinister arrive in the hundred acres of land, and the culprit is revealed, the situation turns from bad to deadly.

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A huge thanks to Natalie! Visit her website here. (Don’t you think those covers are drool worthy? ;)

What are YOUR thoughts on Erotica vs Porn?