D. L. King dlkingerotica.com is a New Yorker with a penchant for smut writing. She is the editor of Where the Girls Are: Urban Lesbian Erotica and the up-coming
Smut specialist - D L King
anthology, The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica, both from Cleis Press, she is also the publisher and editor of the erotica review site, Erotica Revealed.
Some of her most recent work can be found in anthologies such as Broadly Bound (Phaze), Girl Crazy, Swing!, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Frenzy, Best Women’s Erotica, Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica and Best Lesbian Erotica. You can find her also in the soon-to-be-released anthology, Like a Sacred Desire: Tales of Sex Magick (Circlet Press). She is the author of two novels, The Melinoe Project and The Art of Melinoe.
LL: Who is your toughest critic?
DLK: I’d really have to say that I am my toughest critic. I tend to think whatever I’m writing, at any given time, isn’t really very good. I’m disciplined enough to soldier on and finish what I begin. (Unless, of course, I’m right, and the story does indeed turn out to be utter crap, in which case I file it away with the rest of the unfinished stuff—because you never know, sometimes you can turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse…) Usually, given distance, I’m pleasantly surprised when I go back and read a story.
But that’s why I really do rely on a couple of other people to give me an objective opinion when I’m working.
LL: Does your family/significant other know and support your writing? What do they think?
DLK: The SO is also a writer of erotica; as a matter of fact, that’s how we met. So, yes, he supports my writing. I really value his critical and editorial skills, too! And—he doesn’t get mad when he recognizes certain lines, descriptions or sexual escapades…
As for my family, my mother died many years ago, but I know she would have been supportive. My sisters know what I write. They are both supportive, although one will actually read my work, while the other is a bit more reticent to do so. My father learned that I wrote erotica (after I expressly told one of my sisters not to mention it) and was quite a bit less than happy to hear about it. I never mention it, which is a shame, as I would like to share my successes with him.
LL: Name an author whose work you’ve read for the first time that you enjoyed.
DLK: Donna George Storey recommended Susan DiPlacido’s book, American Cool (iUniverse) to me. We reviewed it on Erotica Revealed and it sounded like an interesting read. I’ll tell you what, that woman can write! I read a lot of books, many of them extremely well written but Susan DiPlacido’s use of language blew me away. She has three other books out, as well: 24/7 (Zumaya), Trattoria (Mundania) and Mutual Holdings (Magic Carpet). I’d recommend her—and she’s a Las Vegas junkie, as am I!
LL: Name a few references every writer (or writer in your genre) should have.
DLK: I have the following on my desk, by my computer: the Royal Shakespeare Company’s William Shakespeare: Complete Works (Bate & Rasmussen, 2007, Modern Library Edition, NY, NY), a well thumbed copy of The Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Third Edition, Oxford Pocket American Thesaurus of Current English and The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases. I also have a copy of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.
But, I’ll tell you, in Donna George Storey’s interview, she recommended The Synonym Finder (1978, Rodale Press). I bought a copy and haven’t looked back since! I LOVE THIS BOOK. Thanks Donna!
I also use a version of the OED on my computer. (As you can tell, I’m an OED snob.)
LL: Who or what has been your best teacher when it comes to writing?
DLK: I credit my 10th grade English teacher with teaching me to write. Her name was Ms Welch. She was ancient. I’ve no idea what that would translate to now. Ancient is relative when you’re fifteen years old. She was mean. She didn’t take any guff. She corrected absolutely everything. She used red pencil. She took pride in correct usage of the English language. Because of Ms Welch, I can write clearly and concisely. (I even named one of the characters in The Melinoe Project after her. It’s OK, I’m pretty sure she’d dead now.
LL: Describe your experience getting published for the first time. Would you have done anything differently?
DLK: My first two novels are very hardcore, explicit works of fem dom. (Recently, a friend who just finished reading both books told me that she was happy to discover my Melinoe books were indeed, “extremely explicit, hardcore BDSM” as she is usually disappointed when she reads that on a cover and later finds that the book in question doesn’t come close to her idea of “extremely explicit, hardcore” fiction.) There aren’t a lot of imprints that publish that sort of thing. It took me over two years to get the first book, The Melinoe Project, published.
At the time, there were only three print publishers that would be interested in the title. The first had signed all their titles for the coming year and asked me to resubmit in a year, if the book was still unpublished. The second, through a series of mishaps, actually lost my manuscript—twice—before finally going out of business. The third publisher seemed to be too squicked by the small amount of forced bi male action in the book. (I don’t know—go figure. I’m just telling you…). By the time I got back to the first imprint, they had changed editors and the new editor needed me to begin the process again. That editor liked my writing but felt the book was a bit too much for them at the time.
It was then, after having exhausted what looked like my only print options, I began looking at electronic publishers. Let me just say, “I don’t write romance, erotic or otherwise.” With that on the table, there weren’t a lot of electronic publishers who would be interested in The Melinoe Project either. I found Renaissance E Books and sent the publisher a query letter. She was interested in seeing the manuscript, so I sent it to her. She got back to me within the week and offered to publish it.
So, about two years and a week later, I got a contract! Renaissance have since published the sequel, The Art of Melinoe and a short novella, The Marrying Kind. The Melinoe books are also now available in print (CreateSpace) through Amazon.
LL: Where did the idea for The Melinoe Project come from?
DLK: Such a good question, that. You know, I’m not really sure. I can tell you exactly when I began writing it (the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2002). I can tell you the circumstances (friends and their child had driven down from upstate NY for Thanksgiving and stayed over. They left that Friday morning and after I saw them off, I sat down at the computer and began writing). What came out was this really extreme piece of fem dom erotica with elements of science fiction. Oh yeah, and a lot of medical fetish. Where the hell did that come from??? I really have no idea.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
LL: Does your writing turn you on?
DLK: Abso-fucking-lutely! If it doesn’t turn me on, how can I possibly expect it to turn anyone else on?
A HUGE thank-you to D.L King for the interview, and good luck with your new projects!
Jim Brown
LL-Publications
Logical-Lust Publications
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