The phrase ‘behind the bedroom door’ as it applies to the romance genre
Are you aware of the interpretation of the phrase ‘behind the bedroom door’ or ‘behind closed doors’ with regard to romance reading? Is it one you would search for on-line to find the type of romance stories you like to read? I’ve tried and it’s an unreliable keyword. The fact there is at least one book entitled “behind the bedroom door” does not help.
When I began writing, I considered myself a sweet or traditional romance writer. My intimate scenes were played out ‘behind closed doors’. I am not comfortable writing graphic scenes, but a contemporary story needs believable, realistic situations. In today’s world, that means some level of intimacy between characters. My intimate scenes occur ‘off the page’ but are still be part of the story.
The word “clean” has appeared to describe a romance which fits between ‘sweet’ and ‘sensual’. Myself and others now use this term for our stories.
Some weeks ago I got into an interesting discussion with others on Goodreads, (find clean stories here) as we talked about the behind the bedroom door/closed doors phrase and how it doesn’t feature anywhere in the selection processes available on line when choosing a romance story to read. The term “clean” has also been very slow in taking hold.
There is a gap between sweet and sensual romance. That gap is slowly being filled with stories that are neither Christian or Inspirational but do not contain details of graphic intimacy. These romance stories are now being labelled “clean” and are ones I search for to fill my reading quota.
With no desire to offend new readers, I tack on “more suitable for 16+” when I use the “clean” label. My stories do mention physical reactions under clothing – something a sweet reviewer once told me is an indicator to whether a story can be labelled sweet or not – so I try to be careful when saying I write clean romance.
Do you search for no graphic sex stories, too? Then try searching ‘clean romance’ and you’ll find some beauties.
Please note, two of my stories, “Wilderness Liaison” and “Impossible Liaison” are actually labelled as sensual.
