S.E.X.

I was browsing the Smart Bitches' blog, when I came on At the Back Fence's post on the RITA awards and RWA.

As some of you gentle readers know, there's a debate brewing on erotica vs. romance, and how much sex is too much? Are romances getting too tawdry? Romance already gets a bad rep, does heating them up just lessen the profession?

OR...

Are some conservative elements simply refusing to recognize what women really want today?

If I may speak as a reader for a moment, I am not interested in sexless romance stories. When I go out to find a good romance, I pick up Sherrilyn Kenyon, Angela Knight, Kresley Cole, or Brenda Williamson. Are there exceptions to that? Yes--I adored Marjorie M. Liu's Shadow Touch, even though it was not as explicit as what I usually read and write. If you write a good story, you write a good story, regardless of the heat. What bothers me about this debate is that it cuts off perfectly good stories because we're still a little too afraid of S.E.X., and that's a shame.