I think that scent is kinda fraught. It's such a powerful cue, but people really differ on what they like and one person's catnip is another person's rotting fish. You don't want to lose a reader because a scent has bad associations. I often skirt this by describing scent in terms of emotion.

So many words like that

Bergamot is one of only a tiny handful of florals that aren't inherently "unmasculine," largely because of its association with Earl Grey Tea. Most of the other male scents are musky (which has negative associations for some) or wood scents. So Bergamot suggests complexity but doesn't map as femme

At least gaming memes are amusing and kinda upbeat?

You sign up for Renee Vivien expecting sapphic smut or at least naughty details about intimate encounters with Nicole Barney and instead it's all "didn't eat again today, no appetite, drank two quarts of vodka. The world is ashes in my mouth, going to go do laudanum."

Hey, we post what we post. People follow me expecting Succubus smut, and FF focused bi stuff, and instead get Political memes about literary freedom :P If you're following a writer, you're getting an insight into what's going on in their head. Imagine the Social of some famous past writers?

Passion and arousal I suppose...followed by...yearning? Need? Desperation?

I mean demigods might make quite the impression. Is that going to be something they can just kinda let go and leave behind like that yoga instructor from Chino? Or is it going to eat them up like Salim over the Efritt in American Gods? Curious minds want to know?

"The words of the Prophets are written on the subway walls...and tenement halls..."

It's the problem of real serial killers (usually rather dumb, clumsy, and lucky...yeah Bundy was *kind* of an exception) versus movie serial killers (often incredibly smart, thoughtful, clever). Fictional bad guys are interesting. RL bad guys are often bland and somewhat stupid.

My take is that sex is vivid and raw. It's not so much about descriptors as authentic, provocative, descriptors that trigger a feeling in the brain that "this is happening." I'd just ask myself with every sentence "does this feel sexy to me?" If not, what would?

Reedsy has a search function. You can select contests by date, and the type you want to find blog.reedsy.com/writing-cont...

Things I learned while writing. Sharks have a twin external appendage like a stingray spine (or knife) that functions as a penis (their true penis is internal). On a proportionate megalodon, the "claspers" would be the size of a longsword.

I actually kind of enjoy writing opposite season. Writing things set in the winter slush when it's in the nineties, or in the summer heat when it's freezing outside. Not sure why, but I seem to be able to conjure it more vividly at a remove.

Option #2 is more traditional erotica. It features one of the victims in a shallow water attack (these do happen with fairly large sharks...a lot of research went into this book!) I am not as in love with the image but I think it might work better?

Option #1 features our heroine in a dive suit. It's very conservative and the concern is that it doesn't exactly convey "erotica," and we don't want to bring in the wrong readers.