Hey all,

I'm working on a story and during a discussion with others the subject of sex came up which lead to a discussion of graphic sex in fiction and at what point does it become erotica with a sci-fi bent vs sci-fi with spicy scenes.

Also, i noticed that fantasy gets a huge pass when it comes to graphic sexual content. Hundreds of books right now are almost more smut than story but are huge on the Fantasy lists. But when it comes to sci-fi, you can mention, elude, and suggest some of the most raunchy things out there, but showing it is almost unthinkable before it gets shunted to the erotica list.

(Note: I have no problem with erotica, smut, or whatever else you call it. I just needed a term to work with.)

Now I write what I'm happy to embrace as Space Opera. It has all the starships, magic, and the rest of the bells and whistles without being strictly HARD sci-fi. My last published work had three graphic sex scenes (two and half if you want to get technical) which were connected heavily to the plot. Has this now passed into erotica? My next work I plan to have a number which again, are part of the story and part of character development. But should I try to "cut to black" as much as possible? I'm a believer in the George RR Martin quote about Sex and Axes in Heads so for me sex is part of life and part of a story about love. And like I said, in fantasy, there are many more cases of sex and sexuality than sci-fi.

So there is the question:

How much sex is too much in a standard Sci-fi story before people write it off as another erotica book? How would you see the difference in your writing? Is any graphic sex acceptable or should it all fade to black or elude? Should I be "free" to add as much as I like and risk not being taken seriously as a writer?

What say you?

Thank you for your time and let me know if this is in the wrong group. If it is, please point me in the right direction.