Seems to me there's a great deal of graphic sex in many novels being published today, much more so than in the "olden" days! While I don't mind so much if it's an integral part of the plot, I don't approve if it's only thrown in quite obviously to "spice up" the book. For me, that's a no-no.
In my books my characters' love-lives are, for the most part, strictly private. I respect them enough to grant them their privacy in certain areas. We've all read books where, in an attempt to achieve "realism", every gritty detail of life is included---not pleasant to read and almost always completely unnecessary to the story being told.
Stephenie Myer's "Twilight" saga is one example of a well-handled, tasteful occult romance. The two main characters, a teenage girl and a hundred-year-old vegetarian vampire, fall in love, wait until marriage, then conceive an unusual child as an integral part of the plot. Every scene is tactfully depicted; in this situation we don't need all the graphic details. In my opinion that would add absolutely nothing to the story.
As you will soon be reading ( I hope! ) True Son of Tartarus has some tasteful love scenes. And there are a few other type of scenes that are not so pleasant, examples of evil run amuck. In this case, the brutality can't be avoided, since True Son is largely about the battle between good and evil. Nothing is included to sensationalize or "spice things up". Did a lot of soul-searching about this and won't know how well I succeeded until I get readers' feedback.
All for now,
MRTighe
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