"Look, Grandma! I wrote a book!"

"What kind of book are you writing? Can I read some?"

I'm truthful with my friends and some family members. To be honest, I sometimes like to see the reactions I get from people.

My girlfriends are absolutely giddy anticipating reading the completed book. I did email them--with a warning--one of the hottest scenes I've finished so far, and I was surprised at their reactions. The friend whom I thought was the most conservative is the one begging loudest for more.

But what about everybody else? Do I want my co-workers to know my sexual self? Will I want to do a public reading in a bookstore? Should it be a racy scene, or something more neutral? And what if they are expecting a stunning sex goddess and are disappointed to see, um, well, me--a somewhat average looking middle-aged woman.

Heck, this is what a writer of erotica looks like. Deal with it!

What happens afterwards?

I have two couples interacting in a very intense sexual encounter as a foursome. Each person has a history with at least two of the others, so I have opportunity to explore lots of possibilities.

But, one of my problems is: How do I know when it's the end of the scene? It seems simple to say it's over when the last person has had an orgasm, but that's not really true. There are consequences. The participants have learned something about themselves and each other. How have they changed? How do they behave with one another now?

Two are staying (it's their home). The two who are leaving have been estranged up until this scene and still haven't reconciled. There's still some unfinished business and healing to be done. Do they retrieve their underwear and say, "See ya" and that's it? Of course not.

Some of this can be explored in later scenes, but I am having trouble thinking of how to wrap up this particular scene.

There's no generic answer--a lot depends on what happens in the scene, what happened before, and the characters themselves. I have plenty of time to work this out. I just finished the first few chapters, and this encounter happens near the end.

I've discovered there are two kinds of writers--those who have to have a plan, and those who need to discover the story as they write it. Even though I like to have the whole book outlined from beginning to end before I even start to write, I think I'm going to have to let this scene resolve itself as I get to it.

That's not easy for me to do, but if it was easy anyone could do it...