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Happy Black

ince its auspicious start in 1993, over the past 15 years Black Lace has emerged as the leading purveyor of erotic fiction for women. By publishing a series of books based on female sexuality, Black Lace has single-handedly created a whole new genre of fiction written for wom-

hundred titles published and are translated into all manner of languages, indicating that the nation’s women were pretty keen to be corrupted. Black Lace accept submissions from female authors only, with no exceptions, as they argue that, in this genre, authors tend

The fact all of their writers are guaranteed to be women has been a valuable aspect of their marketing strategy en, by women, and to date has sold over four million books worldwide. When Black Lace originally launched amidst a media furore, one Sunday tabloid branded them ‘disgusting’ and accused them of corrupting the nation’s women. But the shops were selling their books by the truckload and the first four titles had to be reprinted five times in one month to keep up with demand. They have now had over four 72

to write better for their own gender. The fact that all of their writers are guaranteed to be women has also been a valuable aspect of their marketing strategy. ‘Although some Black Lace books are read by men,’ they say, ‘they are designed to appeal to women in of both image and content.’ The past few years have seen a number of changes in British society regarding women and sexuality and since the publication

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Birthday Lace

Rhalou Allerhand celebrates 15 years of Britain’s groundbreaking erotic imprint for women

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feature of the first Black Lace book 15 years ago, erotic fiction has also changed significantly. A whole range of new influences, technologies and media has affected sexual habits, lifestyles and opportunities for women and Black Lace have followed suit. They explain, ‘Our editorial policy has sharpened to keep pace with the demands of the market, and our guidelines, image and preferred writing styles have changed considerably from the early days. Black Lace will continue to be a broad church in of storylines and characters, but the bottom line is the actual writing.’ Winner of the 1997 Erotic Writer Of The Year Award, Cleo Cordell wrote one of the earliest Black Lace novels, The Captive Flesh. ‘I never expected to be writing erotica,’ she says. ‘A member of my writing 74

group saw an article in a newspaper, inviting writers to submit partials for a new imprint, which would be Virgin Publishing’s Black Lace. It specified that women only should apply, as the list would be “erotica written for women by women”. I sat down and started writing and then sent in three chapters and an outline of The Captive Flesh. Two days later, the editor phoned me and commissioned the book. I had found that I had an aptitude for writing erotica. It was as much a surprise to me as anyone!’ More women than ever are reading and writing erotica and fighting their corner in what has traditionally been seen as a male preserve. Cleo went on to write seven erotic novels for Black Lace. ‘It was really exciting and hugely enjoyable to be part of this groundbreaking new list and I think a lot of the earlier writers got caught on the crest of this wave of enthusiasm. Ideas seemed to flow easily and inspiration came from everywhere; my own fertile imagination, fantasies which friends shared with me, watching films and reading other erotic novels — all the usual places where writers get ideas.’ Black Lace have maintained their consistently high level of original and well-written fiction. As they say, ‘We’ve always favoured writing that hits the ground running, takes no prisoners and entertains as well as arouses its audience. Some titles could easily be classified as literary, others are populist — we just publish the best erotica we see that is written by women.’ ‘I think Black Lace was so successful because it touched the pulse of the time,’ says Cleo. ‘Women were ready to explore their fantasies within the pages of a book, which is so much more intimate and stimulating to the female imagination than the rawness of

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“butcher’s slab” porn on a screen. I think most women enjoy a measure of subtlety in their love lives. They prefer to be teased and tickled with a feather than slapped with the whole darn chicken. Which is why I think that women write better for women. Being women, we understand what goes on in women’s minds. The brain, after all, is the most sensitive erogenous zone.’ Portia Da Costa, one of the original writers for Black Lace and a long-time Forum contributor, agrees. ‘I think Black Lace has been so successful maybe because they were the first to publish erotica specifically for women and they established a quality reputation that’s stood the test of time. I think women writers understand the minds of women readers much better.’ Although Portia has written erotica extensively, she its that she’s a romantic novelist at heart. ‘When I started out I had trouble breaking into the extremely tough romance

characters happily ever afters.’ Portia has found tapping into your emotions is the key to writing good erotic fiction. She says, ‘To someone considering writing erotica, I would advise that they read the genre extensively, and when you’re writing, concentrate on the emotions, not the plumbing.’ To keep pace with an increasingly sophisticated audience, Black Lace books have moved with the times and developed considerably over the past 15 years. ‘In the Nineties,’ they recall, ‘we published many stories with historical themes, but at the start of the new millennium our readership wanted upbeat contemporary stories with loads of outrageous sex — in line with cultural trends and lifestyle changes heralded by the Sex And The City phenomena, and that’s just what we gave them.’ Georgina Brown wrote The Stallion for Black Lace in 1995 and went on to edit the first nine titles for Xcite Books, an imprint

I wrote about pure fantasies. That’s really what erotica is all about market. Then, a writing advisor friend recommended that I try writing erotica because she thought that I wrote brilliant sex scenes, and I might have a flair for erotic writing. She reckoned that I’d stand a better chance of becoming published if I shifted focus… I’m actually writing erotic romance now, so I’ve returned to my first love, but with a twist. I much prefer erotic romance to straight erotica. I’ve always enjoyed writing about emotions and giving my

featuring erotic short stories. ‘It took guts to start writing erotica, but I did it,’ she says. ‘My daughter thought it was cool. My husband reckoned he was responsible for the research. Now that is fiction! I started because it was a new market and the time was ripe. I wrote about pure fantasies. That’s really what erotica is all about. ‘Black Lace broke the mould, did the research and their marketing was second to FORUM

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none. I think it’s elementary that women write better for women. Women empathise with women. Men are from Mars, after all…’ Georgina agrees that societal views have changed somewhat. ‘People’s attitudes to sexuality have changed over the past 15 years. Sex is everywhere; television, advertising, mainstream novels and of course the Internet. It’s accessible.’ But she argues that well written erotica remains the same. ‘I hear tale that erotica has changed over the past 15 years, but I don’t really think so. Not the good stuff… To someone considering writing erotica, I’d say go for it. It’s a great way of letting loose and you can’t let loose and enter characters unless you can be incisive about your own. This isn’t about writing dirty, it’s about telling a story.’ Roxanne Carr was another one of the imprint’s launch authors and wrote various novels for Black Lace including Black Orchid and Avenging Angels. ‘I was writing romance fic-

that it’s a rare man who can accurately imagine the female experience of sex. Male writers tend to be too anatomical and in too much of a hurry to get to the climax of the scene. ‘To write good erotica you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously, except in of being professional — meeting deadlines etc. Take time to set the scene and involve all the senses and don’t forget emotional response. Finally, never underestimate the power of sexual tension… I believe that most women like emotional connection in their erotica as well as all the squelchy bits.’ Fredrica Alleyn wrote Cassandra’s Conflict, the first published Black Lace book, and went on to write various novels including Fiona’s Fate and Deborah’s Discovery. ‘I thought the idea of erotic fiction for women by women was a fascinating concept, and wanted to be part of it,’ she its. Fredrica also took an original approach to her research. ‘I got my female friends to come

Most women like emotional connection in their erotica as well as all the squelchy bits tion and discovered that I was good at going “beyond the bedroom door”,’ she says. ‘I just gave free rein to the feminine side of my imagination.’ She agrees that the policy of women writing for women owes to the books’ success. ‘Black Lace was the first imprint from a mainstream publisher that made it okay for women to like reading about sex. Having proofread many novels by both sexes, I can honestly say

round for evenings of wine and chat, and persuaded them to talk about the kind of thing that they would like to read about in erotic fiction, and also to say what they did not want to read about. They were my inspiration. I didn’t use any previously published erotic works because I wanted the books to be entirely different from anything that had been done before. The only book that influenced me at all was Jane Eyre, because so many of my friends FORUM

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feature said that the relationship between Jane and Rochester was one that they found very sexy. So, in Cassandra’s Conflict, I did use the premise of a governess and her employer, but there all similarity between the two books ends!’ She agrees that Black Lace has been so successful because women’s erotica tends

from throughout Black Lace’s history, alongside a revelatory new book of sexual fantasies, so look out for the original authors. ‘I believe there are still women out there who would enjoy these books but haven’t yet discovered them,’ says Fredrica. ‘Hopefully this anniversary will bring the books to the attention of a new group of readers, who

The right atmosphere, the right chemistry and a good storyline with believable characters are a vital part of a good erotic novel to be more emotive. ‘Women write better for women because women understand that for them the right atmosphere, the right chemistry and a good storyline with believable characters are a vital part of a good erotic novel. On the whole, men write in a more basic way, and frequently use language that turns women off rather than turning them on. A lot of women find the use of certain words very unsexy.’ Fredrica has also found that times have changed. ‘I think people are more broded now. In general they tend to accept people for who they are, regardless of their sexual preferences, which is a good thing, as it means that everyone can be more open about their feelings. There is still a long way to go before this is totally true, but the situation is far better than it was 15 years ago. I think it’s absolutely terrific that Black Lace is still going strong after 15 years, and I’m tremendously proud to have been one of the four launch authors.’ To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Virgin Books are reprinting a range of the most popular and groundbreaking classic titles 78

were too young to appreciate them at the time of the launch.’ For more details of the complete Black Lace booklist, including the 15th anniversary special editions and The New Black Lace Book Of Women’s Sexual Fantasies, visit www. blacklace-books.co.uk.

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