Author Talk: Why So Much SEX Nowadays?

I've always made it abundantly clear in the *book description* that my books have depictions of sex. Both casual and romantic. The question is, why would I dirty my writing with such banal depictions of human biological copulation? The answer is simple, because to NOT do so would mean my fictions would be fantasies. 

Now, you might wonder, what do I mean by that? The truth of the matter is, I find books that avoid broaching the subject of sex all together FAR more fantastical and hard to believe that books that do. Sex is a part of life.

In my experience, those who shy away from it do so for personal reasons, most probably because of childhood conditioning where they were never properly informed or made comfortable talking about the subject. But while it's fine to personally find it a topic that you'd wouldn't likely freely discuss, not even in polite company, to assume the rest of the world shouldn't presume to discuss it either is projecting one's own insecurities on an otherwise perfectly normal, and healthy subject matter.

The fact that some people find sex repulsive, or, if not that, too intimate to talk about, says more about them than it does the nature of the discussion. Remember, birds do it, bees do it. Even educated fleas, do it.

But, I'm not here to try and make you feel like a freak if you have a certain reservation toward something that is natural as eating and breathing -- for what else is the act of sex than our basic instinctual drive to procreate? The problem arises when people realize sex isn't merely a basic instinct and it isn't necessarily about procreation either. That's when people get "weird" about it, so to speak.

They feel embarrassed by it. They feel embarrassed watching or reading about it. So, they avoid the topic.

I realized early on in my writing carrier that I'd get more readers if I kept my work "clean." That means, without sex. But, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Why? It's too UNREALISTIC.

Imagine an epic, sprawling, space opera without ever the hint of romance or sex? Imagine a Starship Enterprise without Captain Kirk's women (a term derived to explain his many promiscuous exploits) or the ever sexually adventurous Commander Riker, with his manspreading, over the chair leg swinging, bravado? Even modern Star Trek has depictions of sex. And, growing up watching Star Trek, I found this gave the series a certain credibility that safer, more kid-friendly science fiction seemed to lack.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying stories that don't have sex in them. I enjoy many stories too. Many science fiction films I love don't even broach the subject. Even serious ones. Robocop, Predator, the Matrix.

When it comes to literature, however, my favorite works of science fiction do, in fact, contain depictions of sex. Or makes allusions to it. Even Dune, which is fairly clean by nature, has concubine characters, prostitution, and makes references to pedophilia. Nothing is ever depicted in graphic detail, but you get a sense that behind the scenes, the adults are getting jiggy with it.

Then there's my recent favorite science fiction series the Takeshi Kovach novels, upon which the Netflix series Altered Carbon was based on. And these books have a ton of sex. The first series, sex played a large theme in the story as well. In the second and third novels, it's there, it seems, just to keep up with the first book and to satiate reader expectation -- for those of us who like to slum it with our dirty imaginations.

In my own books you'll find a strange juxtaposition of sex and violence. This is on purpose because we practically revel in violent entertainment. Its so saturated in everything from televised sports to your weekly cop procedural to your Hollwyood blockbuster that people don't even pay attention to it anymore.

But if there's a single nip-slip on live broadcast television, everyone loses their mind and the topic is still talked about decades later.

You can click on an ad on Facebook that will get you tickets to the next UFC match, follow your favorite fighters, and even see clips of their brutal blood-soaked matches. But if a girl shows even the slightest hint of an areola around a nipple, she has her account shut down and is banned from using Facebook.

That's a strange double standard. Why should even the mere thought of sex cause such a knee-jerk reaction in people but brutal violence and gore, that's just fine and dandy? I find it extremely perverse.

It may not be my most popular opinion, but I think something is wrong with you if you tolerate one and not the other. If you adhere to that double standard. Which is why I force and equal representation of sex and violence into all my works of fiction. It's there to make people feel uncomfortable on PURPOSE. Maybe they'll ask why? Maybe not. It's also there to add to that realism that, even if we do advance as a species, even is be become physically and mentally evolved beings, we don't stop having sex. Because that would mean the end of our species. And, not only that, but it would make for a very unrealistic story.

However, all this is merely to explain why I utilize depictions of sex in my novels. It adds to the realism that brings out the characters and creates interesting interactions and dynamics that wouldn't exist without it. It adds to the layer of realism and also allows me to expose a perverse double standard that is both unfair and irrational. As for others, they may do it for the entertainment value alone, ala Altered Carbon, or they may do it for the realism, ala Dune. Either way, everyone had their own reasons. I was just sharing mine.

In Jegra book 2, Imperatrix of the Galaxy, I write different types of sex scenes into it. But, like the first novel, they are tastefully done and each one serves in progressing the plot. If it wasn't part of the plot, and merely exploitative, I'd cut them out.

But if you read the first book, Jegra: Gladiatrix of the Galaxy, you'll know the sex scenes are necessary for her character development and (in no small way) serve the plot. And you'll also know by the Christian reviewer that they are tastefully done. Because, as a writer, that's a challenge I enjoy taking on. Getting those who are uncomfortable with the topic to still enjoy the story even if it means having to face a topic that makes them feel vulnerable of slightly uncomfortable thinking about.

And, as I stated last time, I fell that, as a writer, it's my responsibility to write worlds where we get beyond the narrow-minded prejudices of today and create a happier world for tomorrow -- one we can aspire to -- together.

That's the power as a writer. That's my responsibility as a storyteller. And that's why I write with as much diversity as I do. Whether it comes to the types of characters I write, to their diverse sexualities and genders, to the actual nitty-gritty of the sex.

But I try to do it tastefully. I try to do it realistically. And that way, my fictions won't be mere fantasies but will be visions of a future that represent unforeseen possibilities.