This is my weekly blog about life as an erotica author. These posts are suitable for general audiences, but probably not of interest to anyone under 50. Feel free to contact me with questions or for information about my 50+ erotica books. I Might even give tips regarding how to get involved. I encourage you to join my Patreon community.
1/12/2024
The Moral Obligation of Fiction—Even Erotica
A LOVELY STRIPPER friend of mine was talking with me a few weeks ago and said, “I didn’t go to work or on my date last night because I had a cold. Because morals, you know?” It turned out she was especially concerned about exposing me to her germs because of my age and my recent heart condition. What a sweetheart!
Morals!
According to Merriam-Webster—as good a source for definitions as I need—morals describe one’s particular values concerning what is right and what is wrong.
This is another case in which I find society has twisted a meaning to its own convenience. People seldom evaluate their own thoughts and actions based on their morals. Morals have instead become what we judge others by. “She’s a stripper. That’s immoral!” No, it’s not. She’s a fine young woman with a healthy understanding of what is right and wrong that is not based on a bunch of archaic rules that certain people attempt to wield over others. Her morals are based on care and concern for others, and rule her own personal conduct.
While that’s a good object lesson regarding what I mean when I say morals, it doesn’t really focus on why I think fiction has some kind of moral obligation. So, I’ll clarify the title.
My Moral Obligation when Writing Fiction—Even Erotica.
There, now you can breathe a sigh of relief because I am not holding all written fiction to the standard of my morals, as some people would do. (Like my ex.) I would suggest that all writers should abide by their own morals when writing fiction because as a reader, I attempt to decipher the writer’s morals from what he or she has written. Fiction tells a lot about the author.
Last week, I cited my sister complaining that the father was not like our father. I said, “It’s fiction. Not our father.” The problem was that I described an event and some physical characteristics of our father. But I then went on to describe the father I wished I had rather than the one I had. And in fact, I described the father I wanted to be.
That’s true in several of my stories that have a father figure. The father in Soulmates, hopefully releasing at the end of the month, is based on what I would want to do if I was in the position of being a single father of a five-year-old with a disability. Even as I was writing, I constantly questioned whether David was doing enough and whether that was the best I could hope to do. As in real life, I had too much opportunity to not live up to my own morals.
In Devon Layne’s Erotic Paranormal Romance Western Adventures, published in 2013-2017, I dealt with some touchy issues of incest. In Redtail, Cole is in love with his cousin Mary Beth. When he time travels, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be his great grandmother. But when they meet, they are the same age and not related. My morals say intergenerational incest is not right. It is voided by the situational ethics of their meeting.
On the other hand, Ramie and Kyle in Blackfeather are half-siblings. When there is no issue of power of one party over the other, I don’t have a difficulty with sibling or cousin incest. Note, however, that I won’t cross the line into incest if there is an issue of one party having power over the other.
In Yelloweye, half-siblings Phile and Caitlin share a bond with each other over centuries as they live two lifetimes simultaneously. In one they are not related, but in both they share a mystical connection that overrides their kinship.
But will you ever see a parent-child incest story from my pen? Let all the powers that be strike me down before I cross that moral line.
The Erotic Paranormal Romance Western Adventures are available as both a collection and individual eBooks on Bookapy. Paperbacks are available online.
I think that the primary moral obligation I have in fiction is honesty. I can create a new universe and establish the rules that govern it. 1+1=3? Okay, as long as I’ve developed a mathematical system for that universe that is consistent with that rule and I honestly follow it. Obviously, there are easier things to create in a universe. In the Soulmates universe, there are people who can hear others’ thoughts. But those people need to deal with the ethics of voyeurism! Maybe it’s okay and even unavoidable in some instances, but in others, people have a right to privacy. Much of the story revolves around finding that moral divide.
In the Model Student series, I created a character who was depressed. I felt morally obligated to honestly deal with depression. Having Tony cured because he has sex and awards for his paintings isn’t honest. That’s not how depression works.
Whatever construct around which I build a universe, I need to honestly fit my characters and action into. The most difficult aspect I deal with is creating a universe that doesn’t cross my own moral boundaries.
For example, I believe that all sexual encounters need to be consensual. If there is a rape, it is evil—no questions asked. I do not differentiate between ‘rape’ and ‘non-consensual.’ One is the definition of the other. Therefore, I consider all the mind-control stories I’ve read to be stories of rape.
So, how could I justify my Demon Bob taking possession of five women who will do anything for him? Well, in each of those cases, the women were given the opportunity to opt out. Each of the five asked to be possessed. Five in 4,000 years was pretty good because Bob actively attempted to avoid possessing people.
I mentioned last week that I wrote a story in 2012 that was a mind-control story. The woman was helpless to disobey the voice of command she heard in her head. But the voice of command proves to be her own split personality giving her commands, not an outside person. Reconciling her multiple personalities is the real crux of the story.
Whatever the issue, I believe I have to deal with it honestly, even if I’ve written a character who does not conform to my morals.
You will find that I deal with social issues like rich vs. poor, gay rights, women’s rights, transgender rights, depression, injury, autism, and Asperger’s, among others, as honestly and straight-forwardly as possible. I owe it to those characters to not take shortcuts with them or provide miracles.
And I owe it to my readers, whether I’m writing a literary fiction about a man with no memory, or an erotic figure who equates pleasure with pain. It would be immoral of me not to treat them honestly.
Pretty bold statements, right? Well, you might as well know now that I fail as often as I succeed. When you set a high standard for yourself, it’s really easy not to live up to it. Next week: “Failing.”
