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Book Blurb
Time is on their side and they can be together, assuming the truth doesn't ruin everything first.
Immortals born in the thirteenth century, Lucien Riordan and
Ranulf Styr have waited centuries to be reunited with their love. Want for her
cemented their friendship through time even as it tore it apart. She changed
their lives, made them want better, and they plan to show her that. There’s
only one catch—she’s never met them before.
Eris Brue is flattered by Lucien and Ranulf’s attention but
they are her bosses. She doesn’t want to get tangled up in an office romance,
especially not with two men. Their joint seduction overcomes her resolve and
she gives in even though she knows they are keeping secrets that could doom
their relationship.
Centuries of planning have finally come to fruition. Lucien
and Ranulf have a short amount of time to make Eris love them, because once
time has her, everything could come to an end.
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Guest Blog
I've written MF, MMF, and MFM. I plan to write FFM and MM as well. Menages can be fun to read and to write. The age old question of "Which will she choose?" becomes "Why not have both?" when writing a menage story. That's what I like about it. From an MFM stand point, the heroine no longer has to decide between the two guys whom she loves. The question then becomes will the heroes share and/or how will they react when asked?When writing a menage, no matter what flavor, it's important to establish the love between all three main characters. Sticking with the MFM example, the heroes aren't together in a sexual relationship, but the story is going to end with them living together along with the heroine. That can't happen if the heroes hate each other. A deep bond of friendship prior to the start of the threesome relationship or even the familial bond of brothers/cousins is the easiest way to show the emotion between two heroes who won't be physical with each other.
However, having a story with two men who don't know each other until the heroine brings them together does create more conflict. It's just a matter of making sure that conflict doesn't escalate to the point where the relationship can't work. The heroes won't be sharing the heroine in bed if they can't get along. And the threesome sex scene is one reason readers love menages.
Threesome sex can be tricky. You now have two people in bed who are the same gender (authors who write MM and FF have this same issue, of course). Anytime the heroine is interacting with both men at the same time means there are more chances of pronoun confusion. The author is forced to use names throughout the scene so the reader can keep everyone straight.
On top of using everyone's names continuously, there's also the matter of making sure everyone is feeling good and gets off. Even if you keep the sex scene in the heroine's POV and she's on the receiving end (excuse the pun :P), she still has to describe for the reader the actions of two men and how those actions make her feel. I usually establish one man's movements first and then hop over to the second man to show what he's doing. To get the choreography of the scene and positioning of bodies right, I go searching for porn clips. Three people can get into more positions than some people think. Having a visual aid helps to describe those positions.
But menages aren't all about sex. The genre is Romance and readers expect to see that. The heroes are getting along with each other and the author has to present a heroine with deep love for both men. One-on-one time is a great way to do this -- both in bed and interacting in normal circumstances. For an MF author trying MFM for the first time, one on one will be familiar territory. But it's important to give each hero equal time.
If the author favors one hero over the other, then that will show in the writing and thus the heroine will seem to as well. The reader is left feeling like the menage relationship is forced and unfair to one hero. That's when readers start asking if the second hero will get a book of his own. You want to avoid that. One of the reasons I find writing MFM so fun is to introduce two different types of heroes that I find attractive. The heroine can have tall, dark and handsome with an attitude AND she can have the lovable light-haired joker who doesn't take anything seriously. Or maybe the heroes have similar personalities but different appearances. Or similar appearances and different personalities. What the heroes have in common is an indication of the heroine's type when it comes to choosing men. Having the heroes realize that fact can be fun.
Another fun thing about menages is the on-hand mediator. There's no need to bring in a secondary character who helps solve the issues in the relationship. If the heroine is mad at one hero, the second hero can be the one who helps smooth it out. If the heroes are fighting, the heroine is the one who gets them to make up. Secondary characters in menage stories usually have one of two settings -- they are either happy all three are together and want to see it work, OR they want the heroine to stop being greedy and choose. One can help the relationship come together. The other can put a strain on it. Both can be a recipe for more conflict to up the word count.
In the end, it's all about the love the characters feel for each other and how that love will build their relationship so it'll last. I didn't set out to write my first menage. As the story progressed, I couldn't see it any other way. The heroine loved both heroes and I had fun giving them both to her.
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About D. Renee Bagby
Whether as D. Reneé Bagby or Zenobia Renquist, Reneé lives in her imagination. When not traveling through her fantasy worlds, she can be found in Hawaii living with her husband and two cats.
She is an Air Force brat turned Air Force wife, which means she’s accustomed to travel and does it whenever possible (so long as she doesn’t have to fly). Her favorite pastime is torturing her characters on their way to happily-ever-after for the enjoyment of her readers.
On the few occasions her muse flees the scene of the crime, Reneé likes to read (comics, manga, and romance), go to the movies, play a few levels of whichever puzzle game has hijacked her interest or experiment with a new chain maille weave.
Thanks for sharing how you go about writing MFM, Renee. Very enlightening. I giggled when you said you peek at porn clips for help with choreography.
ReplyDeleteEris looks amazing. I will be checking it out for sure.