Saturday, June 4, 2011

Guest Author Starla Kaye on Ménage a Trois

Today, I'd like to welcome author Starla Kaye, who has some insights to share on writing ménage a trois.  Starla has published 18 novels, 17 novellas, and 5 anthologies with Blushing Books, Black Velvet Seductions, Red Rose Publishing, and iUniverse.  Take it away, Starla!

Writing a Ménage a trois

Any kind of romantic relationship can be tricky. Whenever you combine two people with their unique personal histories, their likes and dislikes, their varying views on life, and everything else encompassed in a relationship it takes patience and compromise. Adding a third person only complicates it all even more.

A ménage a trois, also known as a threesome sometimes, is a fantasy both men and women have about making love to two people at the same time. The most common fantasy situation involves one man and two men, but women tend to fantasize more about making love to two men. Sex between three people at once requires creativity, imagination, and being open minded. Positions used need to guarantee that all three people involved are satisfied.

These stories are intriguing not only for their ability to please each other, but also for that hint of the forbidden. The reader might enjoy the “naughty” idea of doing something that in reality they would never dream of trying. It is the “what if” that fascinates them.

Writing a ménage a trois story can be challenging. The author must weave together the facets of interaction of three complex characters. The reader must be convinced to care about each of the three characters involved in the relationship and be convinced that each of the characters care about each other. This is a balancing act to keep the necessary intensity of dealing with each character separately and all of them together.

And there is the matter of writing a satisfying-to-the-reader sex scene involving three characters. It is more than letting them know that Tab A goes into Slot B and Tab C goes somewhere, too. The reader needs to understand what each of the people is feeling, what they are doing, and how they are concerned about the other two people in the scene.

In my newest release from Black Velvet Seductions, a medieval ménage romance, Their Lady Gloriana, I wanted to create a story about three very unique people and how they managed to find happiness together. Each of the characters (Thomas, Rowan, and Gloriana) had complicated and tragic backgrounds. Each had strong reasons why they didn’t believe they could find true happiness. Yet each character found a person that gave them a small ray of hope, that surprising chance at finding love. Then the three people managed to discover something more amazing…a loving relationship with two other people.
 
For more about Starla Kaye, stop by her websiteTheir Lady Gloriana is available through Amazon: