Thanks for the links, Sara. They have made great reading. I just about agree with most things that were discussed. I suppose ultimately fanfic is all about that emotional "hook" that we get (and I get the usage of that term from an article I once read) from the characters and when a sex scene works, it works because the writer has got that emotional hook just right.

Have just read your 10 or so entries on writing sex scenes. I'm relatively new to your site so was not around when the entries were fresh. I really enjoyed reading them. I've found your comments really interesting but I'm now even more in awe and insecure about ever writing a good sex scene .... though really its as you say, just like any other scene that moves the story and characters along. Anyway, I'm off now to look for a copy of "Welcome to Temptation".

(Ah, Jacqui, another Cruisie convert . I owe Sara for that pleasure too, and have been able to spread the love to a few people at my office.)

Sara, I've been enjoying these essays all over again this week, and I'm so happy to see you getting the links because more people need to read them. And, I know, writing ABOUT your own scenes is even harder than actually writing them, isn't it? Very difficult to talk about your own process with writing such scenes for many reasons, not least the fear of sounding like a total pompous dork .

I have also spent several happy hours following links from the TNH piece, which led me to a whole gaggle of sites I knew not of. Thanks! In related news, while I was cleaning out files last weekend I came across a whole stack of chat and poetry and essays that we had shared around the betacircle during the writing of the Talyn Suite -- Will try to share some of that with you the next time I see a little daylight.