Do you sometimes wonder why your fantasies head down such dark paths? We all do it...we all think about things we would never dare do, or even enjoy, in real life. In your dreams you let the vampire take you, give in to the bad boy, cheat on your husband, seduce the married guy, surrender to all those dark urges no one knows you even feel. To paraphrase the question: Why do bad fantasies happen to good people?

These issues have been a lot on my mind lately. You see, I just published my newest "erotica with soul" collection, Soulful Sex: The Darker Side. I also just published a spinoff of my vampire romance novel Bloodchained in comic book form (yes, I did say comic book!) called Sign of the Bloodletters. So for the past few months I've been fantasizing about blooddrinking fiends, stalkers, aphrodisiacs, inappropriate infatuations, adultery, and all kinds of sinister stuff. Fun, hey?

Well, it is fun, that's the funny thing. So why is that? I have my theories. The central one is that the psyche strives for balance. I mean, if you are focused in real life on doing the right thing, there's going to be a part of you that yearns for the Road Not Taken. You would never seduce your married boss, so your psyche longs to see what it would be like. You're too careful to give in to that really hot jerk you know, but wouldn't sex with him be exciting? Well, just as all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl, so all good behavior and no naughtiness makes a person go crazy.

Some people would be tempted to talk morality here, but for my purposes the issue is a psychological, not a moral one. That's why I'm not one of those people who think violent TV shows, movies, and video games are harmful. On the contrary, normal people use these media to experience the "bad stuff" they would never do in reality, and in fact the exercise leads to better mental health. (The kid who kills his classmates "because he plays too much Grand Theft Auto" was going to do it anyway.)

It's the same with sex as it is with violence. By venturing into dangerous and forbidden territory in our fantasies, we work out our negative yearnings in a safe environment. I'm sure I've been at my most mentally healthy while writing The Darker Side! LOL

So I'm convinced that in most cases it's really not a sign of "perversion" or other psychological problems when people daydream about dreadful things. Why should you be surprised that your dark fantasies outnumber your "wholesome" ones? Heck, we can do wholesome in real life, why bother imagining it? Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point.

And one of the services we writers perform is serving as "tour guides" to the darker side. That’s why authors like Stephenie Meier, Stephen King, my personal fave Neil Gaiman, even Charlotte Bronte, are so popular. They create worlds populated by sexy vampires, ghosts, demons, and crazy wives in the attic, and we love visiting those worlds.

As for me, I love creating them. And if you think Soulful Sex: The Darker Side is sinister, you should see the stuff that happens in my head that I don't write down! :-)

Diana Laurence is the author of the Soulful Sex anthologies of erotic romance fiction, and the vampire romance Bloodchained (www.bloodchained.com). Diana's works are published by Living Beyond Reality Press (www.livingbeyondreality.com.) Visit her at www.dianalaurence.com or enjoy her blog at www.eroticawithsoul.blogspot.com.