Sex. I write about real people in unusual and extraordinary situations. Because they're real, or as real as I can make them, they have relationships and sex. When I write the stories, I write all of it and edit the sex out. I did that because I'm shy and reserved. I wonder whether a fifty-plus man should be writing about sex at all.

 In the first book, Metamorphosis by Decree: The Beginning, I edited it all out. There's a mild implication, but nothing more. In the second book, The Nightmare, T'az comes to a lesbian relationship. It's an important part of the story, so I've left it in, but still muted it.

Some argue this wasn't necessary. I disagree. To win, the heroes need their friends. They need love. I think if you go back and look at The Beginning, it's pretty obvious to me that Ta'z has strong feelings for Kate that no one acknowledged.

T'az in a committed lesbian relationship wasn't the goal. It took a lot of rewrites to end up here. I wanted T'az to end up with Bear. The first book wouldn't close out until their relationship failed and everything wrapped up easily. I accepted that and started the second book to get them back together.

It didn't work. Even after Kate's end, I couldn't bring them back together. Sorry. I tried. What really happened is that I had to reread everything to see it: Lacern fell for T'az the minute she showed up. Exploring that gave me the partner T'az actually needed to succeed.

So, of course, me being me, I wrote it out. That's when my Beta readers said something I didn't expect. The messages were simple. "Stop that. Leave it in. Do more."

I couldn't get explicit. I'm too much me to publish porn. I can write it, but too embarrassed to publish it. Metamorphosis by Decree was too established in my head to change to a very spicy trilogy, particularly after I'd already released the first book, so it only gets a little spicier. 

The Danagors. A Cold Journey Home and The Dark Lady series are getting a lot more sex written into them. I still edit most of it out because it comes across to me as real but gratuitous. I only leave it in if I feel it's important to the story.

For example, in the soon-to-be-released The Danagors: Myken, she's forced into marriage, and she considers the husband she didn't want forcing consummation of the marriage to be rape. I think it sounds like rape to me, but in their world it's legal. So, the kissing, touching, and eventual sex represent a big part of the story behind the adventure. She learns to trust and love again after over nine months of her friends trying very hard to win.

I'd love to hear what more readers think. I could leave more in. I probably won't back off much. I don't write kids' books, so it feels right. Let me know if you have an opinion.