Looking at my publisher’s long, sexy booklist, it amazes me how many erotic novels are out there pairing human heroines with nonhuman males. Most significant in number of our fantasy mates are the vampires, werewolves and aliens. So what is it about these nonhuman men that get our creative (and other) juices flowing? Why are we writing about nonhuman men and why are so many women reading about them? A few thoughts on this:
No doubt you’ve noticed the glut of vampire novels, movies and television shows the last few years. It seems once Anne Rice’s beautiful Lestat showed his fangs, we all went ga-ga over the brooding and sexy bloodsuckers. We yearn for this denizen of the night.
The vampire has been sexually charged for a very long time. Pre-dating Bram Stoker’s infamous count was the novella ‘Carmilla’, the story of a female vampire and the young girl she stalks. The lesbian undertones to this classic tale of horror shocked many in its day, and even now it raises eyebrows. It’s not quite erotica, but it is hot.
They’re gorgeous. They’re dangerous. They take us places no mere mortal can. Lestat de Lioncourt. Eric Northman. Ivy Tamwood. Jean-Claude. Edward Cullen.
It’s no wonder we’re all mad for the deadly vampire. He’s eternally young and handsome. His ability to mesmerize makes him utterly irresistible to us. The penetration of our flesh with his fangs, the helplessness against his strength as he embraces us and his eager desire for what we offer all make it so easy to translate bloodlust into sexual lust. For that few minutes of his ecstatic embrace, we will dare to let him feed even though it might mean death.
Now the shapeshifters have joined in on the fun. Sexy werewolves are also prowling the pages of erotica, exciting us with their brutish appeal. When in human form, most novels paint them as muscular, alpha males demanding all to submit to their control…especially their chosen mates.
Man or animal, werewolves are unabashedly savage. Their bodies run hot, not requiring us to warm them with our blood as the vampires do. They run on the sheer instinct of the beast. Their drive to mate knows no morals, no boundaries. They excite us because they are untamed. What woman doesn’t dream of a man making wild love to her? Forget doggie-style. These days, we want our joinings to be wolfie-style.
Then there is the most inhuman object of sexual desire, the alien from another planet. While in most cases vampires and werewolves were human once upon a time, the extraterrestrial lover never was. What is the appeal of men not even of our own species?
Having written this type of erotica, I can tell you what I like about these otherworldly men. They do not have our repressions or our very human hang-ups. Because of this, they help free us to express certain uncomfortable sexual urges. I have delighted in creating alien anatomies that are deliciously different from the human male, yet not incompatible with our needs. Other fictional spacemen have abilities mere humans cannot offer. Remember, Superman was an alien from the planet Krypton. One has to wonder in what steamy ways he could have lived up to his nickname, ‘the Man of Steel’.
We can relate to the fantasy of being kidnapped and held prisoner by extraterrestrials. Alien abduction has been a common theme in our society since the Roswell incident, and the mix of fear and temptation appeals to many. It certainly gets my naughty mind in gear. In my book ‘Alien Embrace’ an entire planet of dark, dangerous and yummy men are in need of female mates, and in desperation they start kidnapping women of Earth. Can you say ‘may the Force be with you and against me’? I thought so.
No matter your preference in erotica, the nonhuman fantasy is here to stay. The sense of danger is a powerful aphrodisiac on its own, and the trappings of paranormal adventure only heighten the excitement. So whether it’s feeding the vampire’s fearsome appetite, answering the mating call of the werewolf, or going where no woman has gone before, leave your inhibitions behind. That’s what the inhuman lover is all about.
Alien Embrace by Tracy St. John
Amelia Ryan fled Earth’s fanatically religious government to live quietly among the aliens of Plasius. Her life of peace shatters when a three-man clan from the planet Kalquor kidnaps her and holds her prisoner.
With their people poised on the verge of extinction, the Kalquorians are determined to have Amelia for their mate. Amelia is equally determined to escape. But when her body thrills to the ruthless domination of her captors, she finds herself surrendering to desires she never imagined possible.
For the latest on Tracy, visit www.tracystjohn.com
