ALL SPICED UP

Helena Oliviero - Staff
Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Atlanta Journal Constitution

In Harlequin's new line of romance novels, it's likely that the leather reins will be wrapped around the heroine --- not the horse.

Coined "Spice," Harlequin's new imprint debuts this summer with novels reading like Penthouse letters --- without the photos, of course.

But with prose like this, who needs pictures?

Harlequin is not the only mainstream publishing house branching out into steamy storytelling for women. HarperCollins is joining the emerging market this month with Avon Red books titled "If This Bed Could Talk" and "Seduce Me." Kensington introduced its line of erotica in January with books such as "Pleasure Beach" and "Hot in Here."

Once banished to an underground following, erotica --- a rather girly term for written porn --- has finally hit the big time.

"It used to be with romances they would kiss and go into the bedroom, and then it would then be the next morning and they'd be eating eggs," said Jenna Petersen, who co-wrote the erotica book "Parlor Games" under the name "Jess Michaels." "But more and more, readers want to read about what really goes on in the bedroom when the door closes."

Sure, women have devoured for decades those Fabio-inspired summer romance reads featuring deep sighs, heaving bosoms, faces "flushed with desire." But this latest line doesn't shy away from explicit details and X-rated dirty talk --- in fact, it revels in it.

"If it creates an image and you are aroused, it works," said Lisa Wade, 50, of Roswell, who enjoys reading this type of fiction. "It's like foreplay. And if the writer can create an image in our head, it's effective."

The power of writing is far more enticing for women when it comes to sex, experts say. From fervent love letters to X-rated e-books, many women are more comfortable creating their own sexual fantasy than having it in living, close-up color in porn flicks or raunchy magazines. And it's not exploitative to women --- just words on a page.

And Bella Brodzki, a professor of comparative literature at Sarah Lawrence College, said the new erotica paperbacks, with their tame covers and sudden availability at any chain bookstore, make it easy to find and buy.

"You don't need to dig," she said. "You don't have to carry it out in a brown paper bag."

Even the name seems alluring, Brodzki said: "It sounds like ice cream."

Romance fiction is already a $1.2 billion-per-year industry and accounts for almost 40 percent of all fiction sold, according to a Romance Writers of America report, based on stats with R.R. Bowker, the company that maintains the authoritative industry database of books in print.

Nicole Kennedy, public relations manager for the Houston-based Romance Writers of America, said the organization is closely watching the trend of erotica, but it's too early to determine whether this genre of romance books has staying power.

But one chain of bookstores, Borders, has seen "double-digit growth" in the sale of erotica books since it started offering this niche writing in 2004, said spokeswoman Holley Stein.

Not shy about sex

Women's exploration of erotica has been fostered with such TV shows as "Sex and the City" on HBO and Sue Johanson's "Talk Sex" call-in show on Oxygen, which regularly discuss in detail what's going right and what's going wrong in intimate relationships. From Carrie's crick in her neck from "jack rabbit" sex in "Sex and the City" to Johanson's concern over the right size and speed of sex toys, very little is left uncovered.

"Women have become comfortable talking about sex, wanting to have sex and not being embarrassed about wanting to have sex," said Spice editor Susan Pezzack.

The story lines of erotica vary wildly to include mysteries and period pieces sprinkled with hot and heavy lovemaking to super-erotica, pornlike novels relying on thread-sized story lines to get the reader from one sexual interlude to the next.

"Women want to explore fantasy through the written word, but we demand good quality. It has to be intellectually stimulating --- not just sensually stimulating," said Ewa Omo Oba, manager of the Shrine of the Black Madonna.

Brodzki says she also believes women are drawn to stories featuring independent female characters.

"Here, the woman is the initiator. She doesn't need a man to take care of her. She calls the shots," she said.

A few days ago, Omo Oba sat a few hours in her chair at work devouring Spice's "Getting Even" --- a novel following the lives of three women who become friends at Spelman College. The characters include a TV anchor who hooks up with an ex-boyfriend from college who steals her money and a 30-year-old woman from a deeply religious family who discovers her sister is a stripper.

"You've got intrigue and a story about sisterhood and sex. It was good," Omo Oba said. "The only thing is that it was a little weird reading it in broad daylight. Some of my co-workers said I should go read it in another room. But hey, this is my job."

COMPARING LOVE LITERATURE

ROMANCE

Tame and flowery language

Monogamous relationships

Happy endings

EROTIC ROMANCE

Hero and heroine make love very early

No flowery euphemisms in bed, just straight-talking graphic language

Happy endings

EROTICA

Anything goes

Sex is the story

No happily-ever-after endings

Source: Avon Red

RECENT LANDMARK MOMENTS IN EROTICA

1992: Madonna's coffee-table book "Sex" causes a firestorm.

1994: Passion Parties is founded by women. It assists women in hosting sex parties that mimic Tupperware parties in homes across the country.

1998: HBO's "Sex and the City" starts, following the exploits of four NYC friends (from left, Kim Cattrall, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis).

2002: "Talk Sex With Sue Johanson," airs on Oxygen. It's a live call-in show starring the Canadian sexpert (and grandmother).

2004: Aphrodite's Toy Box opens outside Decatur, a novelty boutique catering to women that also offers weekly belly dancing and pole dancing classes as well as women's-only parties.

2006: HarperCollins, Harlequin and Kensington publishing houses release erotica lines of books.