Hello, I’m Randall Lang and I’d like to thank Jim and Zetta of Logical Lust for inviting me here
Randall Lang, author or romance and erotica
today. For those who are unfamiliar with me, I am a writer of erotic and romantic stories and have been plying my trade for many years. My works include a story contributed to the recent smash success anthology SWING! edited by Jolie DuPre. Please visit me at my website at www.randalllang.com or my blog at www.randalllang.blogspot.com.
Name an author (or authors) whose work you have read or the first time that you enjoyed.
I’m sure that it comes as no surprise to anyone that, as a straight man, I don’t actually read a lot of romance. The numerous books by Morgan Ashbury delicately straddle the line between romance and erotica. Morgan’s work continues to appeal to me because of the unique angles and plot twists that she brings to a story. As much as I hate to admit it, Morgan’s romance stories are usually more ‘hard edged’ and less ‘mushy’ than mine. Now for erotica, we are neck and neck.
How/when did you decide to become a writer?
I had enjoyed writing in high school, although the ‘forced’ aspect of theme production took most of the joy out of it. With the required reading in both high school and college, I formed the mistaken opinion that a writer had to have a PhD in literature and be fluent in several languages in order to produce a readable book. My technical education soon took me away from writing and the idea of writing stories was quickly left behind.
Years later I developed a desire to read books about local history and, in particular, the history of the underground coal mines that were the keystone of the economy where I lived. One of these was Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam, the book that later became the hit movie October Sky. The man had a way of telling his stories in simple language that flowed along as I read, creating clear mental images of the people and places about which he was writing. I found that so impressive that I read several more of his books and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well, if he could do it, maybe I could also.
My work at the time was underground, and required me to walk for mile after mile during the twelve hour shifts. With only the sound of my own footsteps in the dark and nearly silent environment, my mind came alive with thoughts, ideas, and stories that would otherwise have been lost to the din of surrounding noise. Hour after hour the thoughts would appear, take shape, and develop into romantic and erotic stories. During my break periods, I began to hand write the stories into a spiral bound tablet that I carried with me. Soon I had numerous stories, and it seemed that, as soon as one was written, another would pop into my head. Once I started compiling them on a computer, books began to take shape. With a pile of stories completed, I began to wonder, “Are they good enough to publish?”
Describe your experience getting published for the first time. Would you have done anything differently?
As I sat with my collection of stories, I had NO idea even how to look for a publisher. A few Google inquiries taught me that what I had written qualified as “erotica”. When I began looking for publishers, I quickly hit what I call the “pink ceiling”. The first publishers I found were interested in works by “Women only” or “GLBT only”. I compiled a long list of publishers and, one by one, read their submission guidelines. My dirty little short stories simply did not seem to fit any of them. Looking back, I sorely wish that Logical Lust had been around. Eventually I stumbled upon a publisher who appeared to deal predominately in whips and chains BDSM books, but also carried some straight erotica. With my ‘what can I lose’ attitude in place, I formatted my stories to that publisher’s requirements, wrote up a transmittal letter with all requested information, and attached my stories. To my surprise, I received a personal reply from the publisher in about a week. Among other recommendations was a suggestion to change my pen name from the “Randy Rider” I had submitted into “Randall Lang”. I am eternally grateful for that. In my naïveté, I had assumed that the author of erotic works was required to have a ‘porn star-esque’ campy name. After a few more communications, I received a contract form that I quickly signed and sent back. With no edits and no further communication, my books shortly appeared on the publisher’s website bearing a couple of completely forgettable and meaningless covers, and entitled, “Sweet Nothings” and “Sweet Nothings 2”. It was an amazing feeling to see my work published and available for sale. In the years that followed, I developed another book of erotic stories and a five volume series, all of which were plopped onto the website without edits, previews, cover design consultation, and in some cases, without signed contract forms. It was not until I began to explore the book loops that I began to get a picture of how the system actually works.
Would I have done anything differently? Probably not. The exhilaration of seeing each new book come up for sale, even with a crappy cover and inaccurate blurb has to be better than submitting endless queries and receiving numerous rejections.
What is one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?
Considering that most of my work is erotica, I actually get little feedback from readers. My only gauge until recently has been those beautiful blue lines at Fictionwise. As long as the lines are blue or green and not brown, I’m happy. I did receive some nice words from Editor Jolie DuPre after she read my story for the SWING! anthology. Kind words from her are high praise indeed. My newest release, Magnificent Man, was very well received by the editors, but, at this time, I am still awaiting critical reviews. My fingers are crossed.
Does your family/significant other know and support your writing? What do they think?
Before Magnificent Man hit the streets, I had kept my writing a secret from my grown children. Having a Dad who writes ‘dirty books’ is probably not something that they would brag about to their friends. I’ll send each of them a signed copy of Magnificent Man, and if they care to research Randall Lang, they will learn what they will learn. Otherwise, the undertaker can fill them in after he fills me in.
Does your writing turn you on?
Oh HELL yea! If it doesn’t ‘starch me up’, it certainly will not be interesting to the reader. The mind is the most sensitive erogenous zone, and that is the one I wish to stroke.
Name a few references every writer (or writer in your genre(s)) should have.
Let me scream this from my well-worn soapbox! D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y! For GOD’S sake, learn to spell and learn to use a dictionary! Misspelled words are giant gaping potholes in the story that distract the reader from the journey that you have written. DO NOT depend upon ‘spell-check’! Get a dictionary and USE IT! The spelling on the book loops I visit is appalling, and that is from published authors.
A grammar guide is essential. Again, DO NOT rely upon the grammar-check of MS Word. It was developed by Chinese people who went to Argentina for a one-week training course in English. It does not even know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ or ‘its’ and ‘it’s’. If you wish to call yourself a writer, you must learn how to punctuate and when to capitalize. One of the absolute best reference sources I have found is http://www.getitwriteonline.com/ . In the archives, they have actual answers for those sticky grammatical questions.
Finally, every writer should have a good thesaurus. When the editor screams about a writer overusing words, the thesaurus will help to correct that problem. I was always taught that, “You don’t have to remember this stuff now, but you must know where to find it later when you need it.” AMEN to that. A writer without reference guides is a blind man driving a bus. Your writing represents you and you DO NOT want it to say ‘moron’.
How do you overcome writer’s block? Any suggestions?
YES, and this was confirmed by a recent discussion in a book loop. When the writing becomes stalled, jump ahead to a scene that you know will be part of the story later on and write that scene. Then simply continue on from there until the muse delivers the connecting prose. I have written as many as three scenes ahead of time and connected them up as the ideas came to me.
Where did the idea for Magnificent Man come from?
Magnificent Man is Don Quixote on a motorcycle. Not literally, but figuratively. I am by nature anachronistic. I believe in the old values of honesty, chivalry, nobility, and faith and I wanted a hero who could share those values, without question, in the face of tormentors who wished to tear him down. But how could I create such a man in today’s world and where could I put him so that he would be accepted and admired? Once I had a hero and a location, the story fell together like the last pieces of a puzzle.
How and where do you do your research?
Most of Magnificent Man takes place in the desert county of the American Southwest. I spent two weeks in Arizona researching the desert, the history, the towns, the people, even the roads of that area. The rest I did using internet research. Magnificent Man takes the main characters on a journey through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and if you use a road map, you can follow them route-by-route, town-by- town, and reservation-by-reservation. I created an imaginary town where my hero was born, La Mancha, California; everyone should get THAT one, an imaginary town near the Mexican Border, and an imaginary county where an ugly incident occurs. Other than that, places, buildings, etc. are real. I started to use the names of real people but changed my mind.
SWING!
This is the point where I shut up and the reader says, “Finally!” Once again, I want to thank Jim and Zetta Brown of Logical Lust Publications for the courtesy that they have extended to me, and I wish them much success on the launch of the print edition of SWING! available now. Please feel free to visit me at my website, www.randalllang.com, or to direct question to me at randymann64@yahoo.com. I remain,
your most humble and obedient servant,
Randall Lang
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