Lory Lilian - A Man with Faults - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have the very great pleasure of welcoming Lory Lilian, the 'Queen of Hot Mush' to the blog. Lory has recently released a new 'Pride & Prejudice' variation, which I understand is an angsty read, 'A Man with Faults'. She's here with a guest post and is also giving away the winner's choice of her ebooks to TWO lucky winners.

Book Blurb

Resentment or love, anger or passion, guilt or hope—which will win?

How does a man with faults and a resentful temper act when the woman he ardently loves fiercely rejects his marriage proposal and accepts no explanation from him? How does he react when she finds him again in London four months later, asks for his help, and places all her hopes in him?

And what does he do if she is in a position to help him in return?

Guest Post from Lory

Hello everyone,

I am delighted to visit Ceri’s lovely blog once again and to meet you all!

I want to talk to you today about a subject that was always delicate and long debated in JAFF world: the sex scenes! I know some people prefer a little more steamy stories, as there are other who just cannot stand any mature scenes in Austenesque variations. I had both types of readers: some of them complained about too many hot scenes in my books, other about the lack of it. 

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen did not even describe a single kiss, or holding of hands, or even a touch. An aspect of Jane's genius is that she wrote little but implied so much about the hidden part of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship, and allowed the reader’s imagination to explore it. While she told us so little about the subject, we – those who love her book and cannot have enough of them – imagine so much! And – rather often – the result of the authors’ imagination is brought to life in the JAFF books.

I confess I belong to the first category; I enjoy a little “hot mush” in the stories I read and in those that I write.

I started to fantasize about more Elizabeth and Darcy after I watched the BBC version 1995. I had already been in love with P and P for many years, but I never considered imagining anything beyond what Jane Austen wrote. Well, after I saw the miniseries, my imagination turned wild.

The chemistry between Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth was so powerful that burst out from the screen. The hands held while they danced at Netherfield Ball, the lingering hand-touch when he helped her in the carriage at Pemberley, the stolen glances, the lock gazes, the exchanged smiles – and the kiss at the end of the miniseries stirred my imagination and made me wonder about their private interludes, about the time of their engagement, and about the marriage of the happiest couple in the world.

So, when I discovered the world of Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, it was a life changing moment. I realised that I was not alone in my madness LOL. From what I know, Pride and Prejudice 1995 had a dramatic and devastating impact on many people's sexual fascination with Darcy and Elizabeth – and started the extraordinary phenomenon that is JAFF genre.

What I like when I am thinking of hot scenes?

1.    Meaningful sex scenes that add to the development of the story and characters.

2.    More feeling and less descriptions (I want to feel what the characters feel).

3.    Hot mush to prepare the sex scenes, to build the tension between the characters.

What I do not like:

1.    Elizabeth or Darcy having sex with anyone else! In Regency stories, I am convinced that Darcy must have had enough experience. In modern stories, I can assume that about both of them. But I do not want to read – or even imagine – them with someone else. For me, Elizabeth and Darcy can only belong to each other. This is the appeal of the story for me. This is why their story is so loved 200 years later.

2.    Sex for the sake of the sex. Sex scene, after the sex scene, every other page of the book. I love reading about the passion, but too much is too much.

3.    Sex scenes that are lacking the feeling, the sensations, that are cold, that do not involve the readers.

In my books, I already struggle to use the sex scenes to show the development of the characters’ bond to each other. The sex scenes in my books are never the same, never repeated, as the characters are not the same.

If I look back, I could say that perhaps in "Remembrance of the Past" and "His Uncle’s Favourite", there are too many sex scenes. I should have cut off some of them. Note for the future  J

"Rainy Days" was my first book, and first I posted it on DWG, so it was PG general; I finished it, and 

I even wrote the wedding night, keeping it PG 13! Then, I started posting it on HG – which was an adult site – and some cyber friends begun to ‘demand’  enhancements to some scenes, to add a stronger touch of passion into their love. And, the readers’ reaction was very positive and increased the book’s popularity. However, though there are many hot scenes in Rainy Days, in my opinion – and in some of my readers’ opinion –  the hottest scene in the book is the one in the library during the Netherfield Ball when Darcy took off Elizabeth’s gloves and kissed her hands.  “The Rainbow Promise” – as a sequel – was focused on the Darcys' first years of marital bliss, so it was expected to be “hot.”

“The Perfect Match” has not a single sex scene, but it is romantic and hot.

“A Man with Faults” – according to some of my readers, has too little sex scenes. Again – note for the future, to be remedied in my next book LOL.

A few years ago, some asked me why I need sex scenes since I am so good at writing hot mush and keep it under PG-13 rating. Well, I confess that it is my guilty pleasure, and I most likely will continue doing it as long as my readers join me in this guilty pleasure. I also hope that the readers who do not approve of these kinds of scenes will find it easy to simply skip them and still enjoy the rest of the story.

What about you? What is your opinion about this? What do you feel about the sex scenes in JAFF stories? What do you like and dislike about it?

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Thank you to Lory for the guest post! My view on this topic is actually very close to Lory's. I quite like to have sex scenes, but I don't like to feel that they are just there to titillate us, but to move the story along too. I definitely don't like to think of our dear couple with anybody else either. I also very much agreed with Lory's comment that the sexiest and most romantic of scenes might involve hardly any physical touching at all, especially in a historical, where you'd expect to find hardly any touching so a touch can mean so much more.

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Giveaway Time

Lory is offering a giveaway of a choice of her ebooks to TWO lucky winners, open internationally. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post by the end of the day on Tuesday 6 June 2017. Please leave a way for me to contact you in case you're the lucky winner.

Thank you so much to Lory for this wonderful giveaway!

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