Some interesting news

Diana Gabaldon mentioned something on Facebook and Compuserve recently that I thought many of her fans would be interested in.

She's going to write an e-book, about 40,000 words long, on "how to write sex scenes"!

Here's what she said when I asked about this on Compuserve:
Yes, in light of assorted things--the popularity of the SHADES OF GRAY books and the apparent consequential desire on the part of a number of people to write "smut," among other things--I thought, "OK--but why shouldn't they write _good_ sex scenes?"

    And I'd always intended to put a section in THE CANNIBAL'S ART [an unfinished book about the craft of writing that Diana intends to publish some day] about how to write about sex, AND I've got this little ebook venture going with the novellas, so...

   Yeah.  The text will probably be only about 15,000 words--I mean, it's really not all that complicated <g>--but the rest will be illustrative annotated examples, of which I have a few. <cough>
When I first read her comments, I thought for a moment she'd said "illustrated" examples <g> -- but no, as far as I know there will be no drawings to accompany the text. But the examples will all come from her own books.

Before you all get too excited, I should point out that this project is just at the beginning stages! Diana is still writing it, and she hasn't announced either the title or a possible publication date.  But I got the distinct impression that she intends to make this e-book available within the next few months.

And yes, before you ask, of course she's still working on Book 8 (WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD), which should be out in about a year (fall 2013). Diana often says that working on multiple projects at once helps to keep her from getting writer's block, so this little book on how to write sex scenes shouldn't interfere with MOHB at all.

Also as far as I know, Diana has not read the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY books by E.L. James, but she certainly knows what they're about. <g>

Diana has been collecting suggestions from fans on Compuserve of scenes they'd like to see "deconstructed", as she put it.

That's all I know right now. If I find out more details, I'll post them here.

1 comment

Genevieve Graham said...

No need for her to bother with 50 Shades - she has it exactly right when she says the public should read "good" sex. I can't wait to inhale her tips on this - hope it comes out soon!

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