I started a new story recently that is basically a 2020s-style straight-up happily-for-now romance about a girl who meets a guy online, finds out (when he tells her) he’s into kink, and decides to give it a try. I haven’t gotten that far in the story yet, but I’m sure she’ll turn out to enjoy enough of it to want to stay with him for a while. Oh, and the girl has an OnlyFans and a sexy Patreon, so it’s not like she’s a prude or anything.

Not going to lie — Lee, my main character, is based on a combination of three people: a woman I follow on Twitter, a woman I follow on Instagram, and my ex-girlfriend Sarah. I’m sure that I’d be glad to try dating the first two, and I did enjoy dating Sarah while it lasted; I guess when I get down to it I write about people I would date. (Well, maybe not Lizzie. She’s a little too rough for me. Although she seems like a nice enough person, outside of the stuff she’s into.)

Sometimes I just want a little romance in my stories. Sometimes I just want to read about people getting together who have similar, or at least not-dissimilar, interests and passions, seeing them hit it off, and watching them fuck, enjoying each other and learning what the other likes in bed. Maybe there’ll be some tension — I rarely write PWP — but in the end everyone goes home happy. This story is one of those. Well, so far it is; I’m 2400 words into it and they’re just about to meet in person for the first time. I figure this will go anywhere from 5000 to 10,000 words by the time I’m done with it. Maybe it’ll even turn into a book; I don’t know. (But I doubt it. Novella at most is my guess.)

What’s interesting is that I don’t seek out romance in my life — or, at least, I don’t seek out traditionally-romantic activities. I (usually) don’t go out to nice dinners, or buy (or get given) flowers, or plan extravagant weekend trips. I like quiet romance — giving someone a gift that might be inexpensive but really matters to them, or spending time watching TV with them and making fun of the show together, or just cuddling before bed. I write that stuff in my stories too.

I know erotica readers are usually there for the sex (or, in my case, the spanking), but a little romance never hurts.