Heart of the Dragon

I've mentioned before that one of my listeners suggested I read some paranormal romances. So this week, after reading Allan Steele's Galaxy Blues, I picked up Gena Showalter's Heart of the Dragon.

It's a bit of rollercoaster ride switching from sci fi to paranormal romance, but also a bit enlightening. Steel introduces his main characters by their actions. Gena introduces hers by their emotions. Steel describes his character's escape from a space ship with detailed descriptions of the character's actions supported by his thoughts about those actions. Showalter's characters spend the first few chapters fighting unexpected sexual attraction and arousal. Their passion and their reactions to that passion are the main focus of her writing.

As a man, of course, I find it more enjoyable to read about space ships and alien encounters. But I did learn something very interesting from reading Heart of the Dragon. Showalter's characters experience intense sexual desire beyond their understanding or their control; as if their bodies had already decided to mate, and it just took a while for their minds to catch up. The overwhelming intensity of their passion made them feel more alive than anything else in their lives. The whole story reminds me of forced arousal sexual fantasies.

In these fantasies, a lover/seducer arouses your body beyond your control. No matter how hard you try to fight it, your body becomes driven by mind-numbing arousal, and all you can do is lay back and surrender until your body gets what it needs. There are at least two differences: 1) in sexual fantasies one person is deliberately trying to arouse the other, where Showalter has both characters fighting a mutual desire, and 2) in a sexual fantasy, it usually only takes a few pages for the seduced to be overcome, and Showalter's characters require most of a novel. But the primary plot is still about fighting your own body's desire.

When I wrote Demon Seed, I wrote it as a forced arousal fantasy. And I had thought (foolish man that I am) that this genre was completely separate/different than romance stories. But now I understand why my listener said the recording would appeal to readers of romance novels. Although the storytelling styles are somewhat different, the genres do overlap.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

I don't normally read paranormal romances, but after a conversation with one of my customers, I thought I should look into it. On her recommendation, I started reading Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1). And I have to say, I was a bit surprised. This is not what I expected from a romance novel.

None of that sappy pining away for the perfect lover. No mushy courting or poetry. Ward's hero makes women feel raw animal lust beyond their control. He turns two women's brains to instant mush just by his presence. In fact, the women's responses in at least two scenes very closely resemble many scenes in the mind control porn at The Mind Control Story Archive.

Naturally, Ward's hero is better developed and much more interesting than any character found in amateur porn. And the provoked lust is just a small component of her stories as a opposed to the focus of mind control porn. But now I understand why my customer said that my hypnotic audio stories would appeal to the same audience as Dark Lover. We both 1) aim to develop sympathetic and identifiable characters, and 2) aim to provoke intense erotic feelings in our characters and our audience.

The backstory for Wrath, the male lead, was also very interesting. This is a strong, but flawed character who doesn't understand his own worth. He is the hereditary king of the vampires, but he has refused to accept the throne because he blames himself for his parents death. After 300 years of living alone, he is surprised to find a woman that can make him feel any emotion beyond self loathing. And it is through the desire to be worthy of that woman that he finally starts to accept that he might be worthy of more himself.

I found the villains of the story to be superficial and a bit forced, but they played a crucial role in Wrath's decision to become more than he previously was.

Overall, Dark Lover is a fairly good book. Enjoyable even for those of us who'd rather read sci fi than romance.