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Pif Magazine
Pif Magazine |
The author Carolyn Heilbrun says, "Power consists in deciding which stories shall be told." Marcy Sheiner has chosen to tell erotic stories that explore our sensual and sexual selves, and it has made her one of the most powerful editors and writers on the erotic fiction landscape. But that choice has also stunted her growth as a writer by pigeonholing her as a writer of sex stories. "We who write about sex frequently get stuck in the ‘sex ghetto,’ and publishers and editors don't consider us for other kinds of books," said Sheiner, the current editor The Heroitca Series, The Oy of Sex, and Best Women’s Erotica of 2000. "I've written 2 novels, both unpublished. At one point I became so depressed about it, I completely stopped trying to write mainstream fiction," said Sheiner who has once again picked up her pen and is working on a new novel. "I was reluctant to write another novel because of the heartbreak of never seeing my mainstream work in print, but I’ve become a better writer." Unlike many unpublished novelists, Sheiner has had the satisfaction of seeing her shorter, erotic fiction published. In fact, for the last twenty years, since her first short story appeared in Penthouse Magazine, she has never been out of print. From those revolutionary "Fear of Flying" days of the 1970s, when it was somewhat shocking for women to use words like ‘cunt’ and ‘cock’ in their writing, Sheiner says the genre has changed. "For a time sex was the story, but not anymore. Now the story comes first." As an editor, Sheiner reads thousands of manuscripts "Most of the time, in the initial reading, I skip the sex scenes and just read the story to see how good the writing is." Often it is not. "My gold standard is Marco Vassi because of his attention to detail and to external and internal nuances. Few writers even come close." Of current erotic writers, Sheiner praises Susannah Indigo. "She's funny, honest, deep and writes wonderful characters. To me, that is the key to a story working. Any story really, erotic or not." Women writers are also going deeper into sex now, says Sheiner. "They’re not as afraid to talk about the dark side of sex. And that’s an exciting change." But Sheiner does complain that the category of erotica has gotten too broad. "We either need more categories or none because everything is getting lumped into erotica. From the sensual story with no actual sex in it all the way to raunchy porn." Sheiner is brutally honest when asked why she believes erotic anthologies sell so well. "Many people buy these collections because they want to jerk off. But there are also many women who learn from reading erotica and find validation in the stories." As a writer, Sheiner admits that writing about sex opened her up and gave her the freedom to go anywhere she wanted in fiction. Hopefully, Sheiner won’t completely turn her back on erotica in her new novel. A search on Amazon for the word erotic brings up over 1500 titles. Obviously sex sells, and no one deserves some mainstream success more than this self-described" Jewish grandmother who writes all this dirty stuff." Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com M.J. Rose, has been called the Poster Girl of e-publishing by Time Magazine. In March 1999, her erotic thriller, Lip Service, was the first e-book discovered online and published up by the mainstream publishing industry. This summer it will be released as a trade paperback. Rose also covers the e-book industry for wirednews.com |
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