Since the kind of magic practiced by the witches in the Lakeland Witches Trilogy is sex magic, I was asked once if I believed that sex magic is real. My answer was something along the lines that I believe sex is the only kind of magic, and certainly the only kind of magic we all have access to and we all have a knack for. But the question itself got me thinking.

We authors know that writing always exposes us, though it’s sometimes more obvious than other times. As I thought about the question, ‘do you believe that sex magic is real?,’ I realized that my entry into the realm of paranormal writing and the choices I’d made in what I wrote is very much my Psyche doing the full Monte. I’ve written lots of blog posts about the magic of sex, about what happens when we cross that final barrier and get inside the skin of another person, about what happens when we make ourselves vulnerable. Though it certainly wasn’t a conscious part of my decision, choosing to make the witches of the Elemental Coven practitioners of sex magic speaks very powerfully of my own psyche, my attitude toward writing and what I believe is important.

There’s a quote from the first chapter of Riding the Ether, book two in the Lakeland Witches trilogy, that probably sums up sex as magic in a nutshell. My character, Anderson, who is the high priest of the Elemental Coven, is about to participate in dream magic, which is always enhanced by sex, and these are his thought about sex in magic:

It was the foundation set in motion, the drive to rut, the ancient need that brought humanity to the very edge of ecstasy while at the same time driving it to the brink of its own destruction. And in between ecstasy and destruction, the next generation is birthed into existence. And there, on that knife-edge in between, the magic happened as it could happen nowhere else. Again and again Anderson had experienced it, always new, always wild, always almost beyond his control.

Sex is that one little sliver of our life in which real magic happens. It’s the place where our boundaries are most permeable; it’s the place where two people become one flesh. It’s the place where we experience our own bodies most deeply, and at the same time we’re most likely to be transported beyond our bodies with the ecstasy of the experience. And of course we can never forget the stunning reality that it’s the place where new life begins.

I started writing erotica mostly to see if I could, and because I had always enjoyed writing sex scenes. But it was the sex magic that kept me writing. It was what that act of sex revealed about my characters, it was how it exposed them in more than just their state of undress, it was how it made them more human and more animal and more real all at the same time. In the sex act, there was always that impossible contradiction of somehow being brought closer to our humanity while at the same time increasing the chance we might also experience our own divinity, and that of our beloved. It was the excitement of knowing that the very act of sex between two people could completely change the course of the novel. All of these elements of sex kept me writing erotica and kept me seeing the magic as it unfolded.

In magic there are words spoken in only certain circumstances, words spoken only for certain purposes. Words have power and weight and import. Used in the right combinations, repeated in the right numbers in the right circumstances in the right order, they bring about change. The word made flesh is the way the Bible describes the incarnation of Jesus. Interesting that in one of the Wests most sacred texts the marriage of word and flesh births the divine. I don’t find it surprising that sex and words are so closely linked, and certainly they are in the world I’ve created for the Elemental Coven in the Lakeland Witches trilogy. So I’m brought back to the idea that it may very well be sex magic I practice every time I put word to page, every time I create a new character, every time I allow that character to have sex.

That being said, sex magic was the perfect jumping-off place for my foray into paranormal erotica, and it’s not surprising at all that I chose witches and magic over vampires and werewolves. Sex is the true creative force in the world, so it makes sense that the place where two people become one, the only place where we can actually get inside another person’s skin, the place where life begins with la petite mort would be the place where the magic is most powerful. That’s the premise for the Lakeland Witches trilogy and for the spin-off, Demon Interrupted; that’s the reason I chose to write about sex magic.


Giveaway: And to help me celebrate the relaunch of The Lakeland Witches Trilogy, I’m giving away a $50/£30 Amazon gift voucher. Enter via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the post!

Elemental Fire Blurb:

Book Three of the Lakeland Witches trilogy (Click here for: Book One | Book Two)

Obsessed with revenge, KENNET LUCIAN makes a deal with a demon, a deal he comes to regret when he meets TARA STONE, head of the Elemental Coven, and a powerful witch with a desire for revenge at least as great as his. Even though the attraction between the two is magnetic and the lust combustive, Kennet must betray her to accomplish his goal, which is ultimately her goal as well; to put a final end to the demon, Deacon’s, reign of terror. But can Tara trust the man who has wormed his way into her heart and the heart of the Elemental Coven? Can she trust LUCIA, the demon with whom Kennet is allied, a demon with her own agenda. The path to Deacon’s destruction is far from clear, and the price that must be paid to be free of him forever may be too high, even for Tara Stone.

About K D Grace/Grace Marshall

Voted ETO Best Erotic Author of 2014, K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she is, otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening. When she’s not gardening, she’s walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about it. She and her husband have walked Coast to Coast across England, along with several other long-distance routes. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots. She also enjoys martial arts, reading, watching the birds and anything that gets her outdoors.
K D has erotica published with SourceBooks, Xcite Books, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, Fulfilling the Contract, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Witches trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Books two and three, Riding the Ether, and Elemental Fire, are now also available.
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall. An Executive Decision, Identity Crisis, The Exhibition are all available.