The Questionable Content

For those of you not familiar with my earlier plight, Amazon refused to distribute my most recent work, Entranced, because my publisher had labeled the story with a rape warning. I feel the warning was overkill on top of the violence issue. In a book 57000 words in length, the questionable scene was a paragraph long (two technically in the overall scene) and occurred between the villain and a minor character. The scene was meant to show how bad the villain truly is, not to be titillating or to overtake the story, which is a psychic romance/romantic thriller. 

Not wanting this one small scene to overshadow the story, I changed it in five minutes. (Honestly, had the scene been of critical importance, I would not have changed it. But I felt the notion of its offense just bothersome. Fixing it was annoying but didn't insult my artistic integrity, if that makes sense.) So now anyone purchasing the book gets the "revised" story.

I promised to show what had changed, so here it is. Please be warned, this is not a nice scene. A woman is violated, but in context of the story, I thought it rang true. Here's the old scene from Entranced:

“I thought I told you to talk.” He took himself out, letting his brother get a good look at what he intended. He pulled Nera’s ass cheeks wider, demanding entry into the place she’d begged him never to go again. “I can’t hear you, dearest.” He moved closer, loving this power, the rush of satisfaction growing stronger.

She sobbed and talked while he rutted without mercy, telling him everything and anything while Klaus watched with wide eyes. When Ernst finished, he cleaned himself up and left her sobbing in a huge, bloody mess. In a much better mood now that he had information, he nodded to his brother.

 Now, the new scene:

“I thought I told you to talk.” He took her hand from his crotch and bent it nearly backward. She cried out, but he wanted to make his point clear. He snapped her wrist and twisted so the bone broke the skin. Blood trickled from the wound, and she shrieked as she went to her knees. “I can’t hear you, dearest.” He moved closer, loving this power, the rush of satisfaction growing stronger.

She sobbed and cradled her hand, telling him everything and anything while Klaus watched with wide eyes. 

When she finished, he yanked her head back by the hair.“Next time you answer as you’re told. No question.” 

“Yes, Ernst. Yes,” she panted, looking faint. 

In a much better mood now that he had information, he nodded to his brother.

So now you know what caused the ruckus. And yes, in the entire story, this one small section was apparently enough to make the book objectionable. Again, I DO NOT condone rape, but bad people do bad things. And overall, though brutal, I didn't think the scene was too over the top. But now it's changed, and I really don't think the change hurt or helped the story in any way. 

And that's as much drama as I can stand on a Monday morning without caffeine.