Octavia Hansen

Erotica Writers Convention, September In Las Vegas



Posted: Wednesday, September 21, 2011

by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen

Yes, there's always something that Las Vegas will do to be more than just the every day anything. Most recently, to keep the claim to fame that only Sin City can offer, there was the gathering of sex writers at the Erotica Writers Conference this September.

This is not Romance novels. This is not on the scale of world literature nor the impact of salacious crime headlines from a wicked reality. It was a think tank and note comparings from people looking strangely normal for such a titilating subject. People are hard wired for sex, continuation of the species and all, yet erotic writing is sadly over looked. Guess it's hard to hold a book with one hand and focus on the text; at least with a DVD it's hands free.

Erotica is the same sliding scale as Pornography. Exactly what it is, is subject to change with the media and the times. At one point Lady Chatterley's Lover was considered pornographic, now it's literature. Against today's headlines and television exposés, it's positively tame. As in all art, it's subjective, the eye of the beholder as it were. And as with any art, it's to evoke a reaction. Next to getting yourself off, it's the safest form of sex and much less guilt attached.

Erotic writing has mostly been minimized to specific periodic publications, short stories and novels. Somehow, the printed word seems more threatening than television or movies. This maybe harkens back to the time that writing could sway the masses and if the masses were busy with one issue (independence, equality) , they wouldn't have time for another (sexuality, pleasure).

Let me say at this time that I did not attend the Vegas conference. I wished I did. My out-of-town adventure could in no way measure up to the coverage and discussions I encountered after this sensually creative meeting of the minds. Being the closet prude that I am, reading erotica is a singular releasing experience I have enjoyed for many decades now. Most erotic writing is passed around by word of mouth. I know of no bulletin boards and few book reviews that consider writing for physical pleasure as having much merit.

Forums at the Erotica Writers Conference must have been lively indeed. I would love to have seen the categories and the very idea of having round table discussions of intimate acts and passions must have been on a liberating plane. Considering how much of anyone's time and thoughts turn to the erotic, why is it not more of an open topic?

The Marquis De Sade garnered an undeserved label of pornography on his work when it appears he merely was stating situations of the day or his own fantasy. Yes, there's more to him than Justine, but not enough to be as controversial. To truly appreciate his work there has to be a lot of study in the euphemisms of his day. Some references are so antiquely abstract as to produce no comprehension, much less arousal. Still, it's interesting. Every generation thinks they alone discovered sensual pleasures and no one else ever enjoyed themselves, or each other.

It's a shame that people don't read, learn and apply what they have to real life. I think it would make everyone better lovers, more satisfied with themselves and work better physically however they want to do it. The sex industry is substantial -- massage parlors, sexy clothing, marital aids, books, DVDs, sex workers -- and it's suppressed by the mainstream even though everyone knows about it. Everyone knows where to find it, what it is, knows someone who indulges, knows it is available and approximately for how much. If the human race were more open about sexuality, a lot of time and money could be saved by everyone. It's kind of like Prohibition of our own bodies.

And everyone saw how well Prohibition turned out.
Octavia (Yes, that's her real name!) is a busy gal in Las Vegas, NV. From New York City parents and Texas birth, she began in the best of both worlds, literate and comical. Extensive US family travel in her younger years, now she's on her third passport and numerous cars driven to pieces in the name of wanderlust. The Big O settled in Las Vegas, which she compares to running away to join the circus - IT'S FUN! Comedy and alternative thinking come easily. When she's not writing, she sings, she writes songs, produces her own CDs, attracted to shiny objects, looks stunning at renaissance festivals across the country and is only stopped by lack of time for all the projects she has in mind. What a woman!
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by The Old Gray Mare
 241 days 15 hours ago.
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Interesting! Titillating subject! Love your one-hand remark!

I'm not a prude. No, no and no. However, I am of the mind that there is way too much s-e-x being thrown about now. It's all over everywhere. Constantly in your face. I'm not caring anymore about how hard-wired we are, etc. So are my animals. It's just so overblown and so out there now. I'm thinking that anything done to the extreme becomes lesser. I mean everywhere and anywhere you pick up s-e-x. Too much. Having said all that, nothing surprises me and Las Vegas is in character with this conference.
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