Zane: Black Erotica

A friend of mine loves to read erotica. She sometimes talks to me about the 50 Shades trilogy and other novels she’s enjoyed. At a recent lunch, we giggled over a few shared passages from her current read. But as I told her, I just don’t read erotica. Typically, my eyes glaze over and I zone out when I get to the sex scenes. I’m definitely not a prude, but I just don’t need sex on every other page to drive my reading—or to drive a story in general.

I asked my friend if she’s ever read any urban or black erotica. I also questioned if she’d ever heard of Zane. She replied no to both questions. If we weren’t in China, I’d love to hand her a few titles just to hear her thoughts. I don’t think she knows that according to Time magazine:

When it comes to bestselling erotica, Zane has been a trailblazer. The 44-year-old, Washington, D.C.–based author had sold more than 5 million copies of her books worldwide before anyone had heard of  Fifty Shades of Grey. While E.L. James, the author of the latter book, dropped an atom bomb this year on the competition (30 million copies sold worldwide in four months), Zane was indisputably there first. She is known as the queen of urban erotica, famous for its no-holds-barred, raw sexuality, juicier even than more restrained-by-comparison books such as Fifty Shades, a genre which has been labeled as “Mommy Porn” by critics. (Read more . . . )

Personally, I’ve only read 2 books by Zane and that was some time ago. If you’ve never picked up a Zane novel—for whatever reason—here’s an excerpt from one that I found on her blog. This is not appropriate for some blog readers:

. . .Less than twenty‐five minutes later, I was sitting in the parking lot at Baker’s Creek Park. That’s the beauty of small‐town life. You could shower, get dressed—oh yeah, take a morning shit—and still be anyplace in town within a half hour.

There wasn’t a soul out there that time of morning. It wasn’t like Central Park or South Beach or the Santa Monica Pier or the other places they showed in movies. People weren’t riding bikes, jogging in expensive spandex, or rollerblading at Baker’s Creek. The only things getting exercise around there were the squirrels, possums, and raccoons. And shortly, my pussy was going to get a workout.

My clit started throbbing at the thought of it. I tried to decide what I was going to demand that Phil do to me first: suckle on my tits, eat my pussy, or lick my ass. Yes, my ass. I showered after my morning shit. Did you? (Read more . . .)

I know there are numerous Zane fans out there. Obviously so if she’s a best-selling author. Again, I just don’t get into erotica and I tend to shy away from “urban /street fiction.” But to each his own. Maybe I’ll read something by Zane soon just to stay in the know. Especially after watching the interview above. I just wouldn’t even know where to begin. Keep doing your thing, Zane.

Happy reading, y’all.