WTF? My Thoughts about Things Like MMF, MFF, and Other Interesting Types of Romances

posted in: Various Musings | 0

If you’d asked me four years ago (when I was writing Tangled Web, the first book I published as an indie author) if I would ever write a sex scene involving more than two people, I would have laughed.

Hard.

I look back and now I laugh because, man, how things have changed!  It all started with Bullet.  One of the scenes that pissed off readers the most was the scene now referred to as “the party scene” or the “LSD scene.”  In it, there is a little threesome action, but Val, the main character, is totally not into it, nor is it consensual, and as soon as she’s aware of what’s going on, she removes herself from what was about to be some hot MFF action.

Fast forward to late summer of that year, and one of my fave bloggers devoured all the Nicki Sosebee books I had to offer.  At that time, it was books one through eight (Got the Life through Blind).  Those of you who have read the series know that a big part of it hinges on a love triangle in which Nicki is torn between the two main men in her life–Sean, her dream guy, a man who owns a motorcycle repair shop, and Jesse, the quintessential “loser” who finally decides he wants to do something with his life and enrolls in school to become a firefighter.  Anyway, said blogger (Angie of TwinsieTalk) suggested that I should write a scene involving the three of them.

I suppose, before I venture further, that I should explain the MMF and MFF acronyms a little for those of you who don’t know what they mean.  If you already know, skip this paragraph! 🙂  M means male and F means female, so MF would indicate a male/female romance.  Simple enough, right?  Therefore, you can extrapolate what a MM romance or FF romance might be.  Now, when you get to more than two, it changes a little.  MMF, for example, means that there are two men and one woman, but it also means that they are all interacting sexually (that’s why the MMs are touching).  If it’s MFM, that means there’s a threesome, but the guys are all about the lady.  That make sense?  So you can have a MFF or a FMF romance, and while they’re similar, they’re actually a little different.

So, back to Nicki Sosebee.  I laughed (again) when Angie suggested I write a threesome, but I already knew the plot of Fake and had, in fact, written several chapters of the book, but–as my mind toyed with her idea–I envisioned it.  And then I wrote my first full-fledged MFM scene. [UPDATE 7/21: This particular Nicki Sosebee book has since been retitled as Yesterday’s News.]

It was HAWT.

So I was open to new possibilities but still didn’t see that I’d write a whole lot of those scenes.

Yeah.  Never say never.

When I began thinking about Nick’s book (Bullet 5), I knew almost from the start that his love interest, bassist Sabrina “Sinna” Moreno, was bisexual.  That alone complicates any relationship he might pursue with her, but it gets even stickier when he realizes she is already in a relationship–with a woman.  Eventually, Nick joins the action.

I wasn’t sure how Slash and Burn would turn out.  I didn’t know what kinds of scenes I would write.  That said, I’m a “pantser” kind of writer, meaning I write the story as it comes to me.  I usually know the ending (I did with this book) and I often know key points in the story, but I don’t always know the path I’ll take to get there.  In this case, I definitely didn’t.  I could only see ahead of the story about one chapter at a time (not the first time I’ve written this way), and that was fine.  I had to keep writing to see what would happen.  So, it wasn’t until I was deeper in the book that I realized Nick was going to be having sex with not one but two women at once.

I didn’t panic.  I trust my characters and the story to tell me what to do.

I asked readers on Facebook a few weeks ago what kinds of acronymic (HA!) books they like to read…MM, FF, MF, MMF, MFM, MFF, etc.  Most readers were open to a lot of possibilities, so I wasn’t too worried about the book.  However, something unexpected happened.

I wrote some of the hottest scenes ever in Slash and Burn.  I never expected that.  No, there’s not a ton of MFF action, but there’s plenty, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to write something that steamy when I myself am only attracted to men, nor did I think I would find the scenes hot (but I do).  I think it all comes down to this:  I know the characters and I’m invested in them.  You, as a reader, will be no different.  I think that many of you will be pleasantly surprised.  I definitely was.

Right now, Slash and Burn is available for pre-order on Amazon, and it will be available everywhere on January 19.  I am so excited for you to read it!

Amazon
Amazon UK
Amazon CAN
Amazon AUS

JULY 2021 UPDATE: This post still gets a lot of hits! So if you’re here, let me know if you’re looking for romance books with threesome sex. If you were just wanting to find out what all those letters mean, I’m glad I was able to help!

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