Interview with erotica author, D. L. King

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 10^th 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

Interview with Randall Lang, a Magnificent Man!

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

Interview with Jeremy Edwards

This week we’re interviewing the writer with a pose for every mood – Jeremy Edwards!

Jeremy has his own unique ways...

Jeremy Edwards is a pseudonymous sort of fellow whose efforts at spinning libido into literature have been widely published online (at Clean Sheets and other sites), as well as in numerous anthologies offered by Cleis Press, Phaze Books, and Xcite Books. His work was selected for the two most recent volumes in the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica series. Meanwhile, out on the newsstand, Jeremy’s stories have been seen in Scarlet and in Forum (UK). In addition he appears in the star-studded line-up of erotica authors in SWING! Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers, published of course by us at Logical-Lust! His first erotic novel will be unveiled soon.

So, Jeremy, what’s one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?

“I’ve been reading your stories to my lover.”

What makes your writing different from your peers? What kind of reading experience can you give your audience?

I love how, as writers, we all have our own distinctive voices. I think some of the elements of my writing personality that inform my particular flavor of erotica are a passion for witty, self-actualized women; a taste for offbeat “romantic” situations; a keen interest in the subtleties of language; a bottomless appetite for gentle laughter and both physical and psychological euphoria; and a zest for the elemental, animal urgency at the foundation of human sexuality.

Does your significant other know and support your writing?

My wife has been familiar with my erotica-writing efforts from the first, and once I got a feel for how to do it she became an enthusiastic admirer of my work. She’s truly wonderful and always supports me in everything I do; but it’s great to know that she actively appreciates my erotica, beyond simply supporting it out of general supportiveness.

Does your writing turn you on?

Yes indeed! (But not by the time I’m on the fourteenth draft)

Name a few references every writer (or writer in your genre(s)) should have.

I’m a big fan of the Chicago Manual of Style. There are other style manuals, of course (and I’m not familiar with all of them); but one thing I especially like about Chicago is the way it combines an authoritative, well-considered, and remarkably comprehensive and detailed exposition of the many stylistic questions that a writer can face with a refreshingly realistic acknowledgment of the gray areas, compromises, judgment calls, and shifting sands we encounter as we attempt to make our prose conform to standard conventions. Using the manual not only answers my specific questions, it also enriches my overall perspective on language use.

How do you overcome writer’s block? Any suggestions?

If you have the luxury of spending many hours at a time in your writing place, I recommend leaving the stubborn writing project open on your screen while you nibble away at other tasks. Keep going back to that open document, from time to time, to glance at what’s there and give your subconscious something to chew on . . . and—if you’re like me—after a while, on one of those visits, you’ll probably find you can add a little something to what you have there. By the end of the day, maybe you’ll find that you’ve added a bunch of little somethings, or perhaps even a medium-sized something, and that you’ve reestablished your engagement with the work in progress.

Going for a walk is also often helpful, in my personal experience. (And even if it doesn’t immediately help you surmount the writer’s block, well, hey, it’s good for you in other ways.)

Thank you, Jeremy, for a great interview! Jeremy Edwards can be followed at his blog

Jim Brown

Logical-Lust Publications

SWING! out in paperback today!

Get swinging!

SWING! Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers, edited by Jolie Du Pré, is released by Logical-Lust in paperback today.

SWING! has a wonderful line up of top erotica writers:

Jacqueline Applebee; Neve Black; M. Christian; Jolie Du Pré; Amanda Earl; Jeremy Edwards; Rowan Elizabeth; Emerald; Michael Hemmingson; Jolene Hui; D. L. King; Keeb Knight; Randall Lang; Ashley Lister; M. Millswan; Claudia Moss; Alicia Night Orchid; Karmen Red; Rick R. Reed; TreSart L. Sioux; Donna George Storey; Tawanna Sullivan; Sage Vivant; Beth Wylde; and Lara Zielinsky.

Honestly, you will rarely see so many great gathered together in one book, and SWING! does not disappoint!

“SWING! SIZZLES! – Intelligent … Evocative … Provocative … Enticingly Exciting and  …  Very, Very … Very  HOT!” – Farlight Press, http://www.farlightpress.com/

“Swing! is a fun and frisky flip through the pages of planned non-monogamy.” – Bill Brent, http://www.litboy.com/

“Fun, revealing and incredibly erotic! You’ll definitely want to keep this one on your nightstand.” – Dan & Jennifer, www.AskDanAndJennifer.com

“…I was impressed by everything – the cover, the intro by Ashley Lister, and the quality of the stories. It was a real treat to read new stories by some of the authors I’ve come to know since I’ve been in erotica:  Jeremy Edwards, M. Christian, Sage Vivant, and some I’m just getting to know now, like Neve Black, Donna George Storey, D.L. King and SWING! editor Jolie Du Pré.” – Madeline Moore, http://moremadelinemoore.blogspot.com/

Get your copy from Amazon, Logical-Lust, or many other retailers!

Jim Brown

Logical-Lust Publications

Interview with Donna George Storey, author of “John Updike Made Me Do It”

Donna George Storey

Donna George Storey is the author of Amorous Woman (Neon/Orion), a semi-autobiographical tale of an American’s steamy love affair with Japan (see the provocative book trailer here). Her short fiction has been published in over ninety journals and anthologies, most recently in Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers as well as X: The Erotic Treasury, Best American Erotica, Best Women’s Erotica and Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. She currently writes columns for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association: “Cooking up a Storey,” about her favorite topics— delicious sex, well-crafted food, and mind-blowing writing and “Shameless Self-Promotion” about book promotion for erotica writers. Read more of her work at www.DonnaGeorgeStorey.com.

How/when did you decide to become a writer?

I’ve always enjoyed creative writing. I was one of the only kids in class who smiled rather than groaned when the teacher told us we had to write a poem for homework. I continued to pour out my adolescent angst in poetry during high school, but I didn’t get serious about fiction until my mid-30’s when my first son was born and I took a break from teaching Japanese to take care of him. Something about the creative act of motherhood freed me up to take the risk of writing. My first paying publication was a memoir piece for a breastfeeding magazine!

Somehow, as I sat down at the computer during my son’s naps, I just naturally gravitated to erotic themes. Sex—and desire and power and all the other delicious things that nourish the erotic mind—have always fascinated me and I never felt that the “great” male writers expressed my experience as a woman. So it’s very empowering to give my version of the truth through my own stories.

Who or what has been your best teacher when it comes to writing?

I’ve definitely learned the most from reading the work of other writers. The Mammoth Book of International Erotica and Best American Erotica 1997 were the first two contemporary erotica books I read, and I was fascinated and inspired by the amazing variety and high quality of the writing. I wanted to do what they did, too!

Now when I read, I read as a writer, which you might think destroys the enjoyment, but I just love observing how a good writer tells her story. Even not-so-good writers teach me how to improve my craft. Sometimes when I’m stuck for an opening or an ending, I’ll open a book of Alice Munro short stories and just read several examples of how she did it. This usually helps get me over my hurdle.

Name a few references every writer should have.

I love my Synonym Finder, by J.I. Rodale. I got it from a half-price mail order bookstore about twelve years ago and I’ve consulted it for every story. For me it works better than a standard thesaurus.

Actually, I’m a bit of a how-to-write book collector so I have many favorite references, although when I’m actually writing, I lose myself in the flow and never think consciously about technique. Right now I’m reading a great book by sex therapist Jack Morin called The Erotic Mind. Morin defines eroticism as the process through which our innate capacity for arousal is shaped, focused, suppressed and expressed, in short, the way sex becomes meaningful. To me, this is exactly what erotica writers do when they write a story! This and other insights in the book are really helping me focus on my goals as a writer.

Another book I turn to regularly for inspiration is Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. It’s nominally about screenplays—which is not my focus at all–but it’s really about what makes a compelling story. Somehow the indirect route of “watching” a good story then translating it back to fiction gives me an extra boost of good intention to do my job right.

But I know every writer has her own way to fill the well that doesn’t always involve buying more books (as you might expect, my house is jam-packed with books), so whatever works for you, keep doing it!

How/where do you do your research?

I love to read, and enjoy researching historical fiction, but for erotica hands-on research is key. The other day I was writing a story about a woman getting pleasantly groped by a stranger in a crowd, so I called over my trusty number one assistant and editor. “Honey, could you come over here and feel up my butt?” Always ready to help the cause of good erotic literature, my husband obliged. I know those teasing fingers and the resulting sensations gave my story an extra dose of authenticity.

How do you overcome writer’s block? Any suggestions?

I think writer’s block comes from the common fantasy that a truly talented writer can just sit down and type out the perfect story in one sitting. This may occasionally happen for some people, but I’ve found that my good stories are the result of a lot of rewriting. I definitely still feel anxiety when I confront a blank computer screen, but I know I need the raw material first, so I tell myself I’ll just start typing out “notes” that no one will ever see. Before long I get caught up in the story and usually get some good material. I kind of have to sneak up on writer’s block and trick it into submission—the joy of creativity will win out in the end!

Another trick for me is to focus on the idea or image that sparked the story at hand. I’d say all of my stories start with a question, a mystery, a situation that makes me feel a bit uneasy or curious to find out more. It’s a desire not unlike a sexual yearning—and the story that comes out of those questions and feelings is sort of my attempt to satisfy the yearning. What makes power play so alluring? How does swinging enrich a couple’s relationship? What new things can you see through a blindfold? My lust for knowledge usually propels me past any nasty editorial voices.

Where did the idea for “John Updike Made Me Do It” in Swing! come from?

I’ve always wanted to work with Jolie du Pre, who is a wonderful editor, so when her call for Swing! was announced I knew I wanted to send in the best work I could manage. I couldn’t write from personal experience as I often do, but the idea of swinging has intrigued me since I first read about it in the novels and stories of John Updike. Plus, my husband and I do sometimes play the “swinging game” that the couple in the story uses to amuse themselves on a long drive up to Lake Tahoe. Mixing this all up with the liberating atmosphere of a hot tub scene in the clean mountain air, I let my characters act out their long-time fantasies in a way that taught me about my own sexual and literary desires as well. The lessons never stop in erotica-writing….

How is the experience of writing a novel and a short story different?

I’d say writing a short story is like a steamy get-away with a lover at a country inn. I can throw myself into it and enjoy the nice change of pace of a little vacation, but it doesn’t impact my life beyond those few weeks.

Writing my first novel was a much more demanding effort. Amorous Woman is the story of an American woman’s love affair with Japan, but it’s also about my very intense love affair with the novel-writing process. During those six months, I ate, slept (though not much) and breathed my heroine Lydia and her erotic dalliances. I think a novel has to be more consuming because you are creating another world, another life. Another interesting aspect of writing a longer work is that my characters really did take on wills of their own. Several of them simply refused to go along with my plot outline and insisted on doing something else. Invariably, their decisions made for a richer story. So writing a novel is definitely like a long-term and very passionate affair, which eventually leads to a birth. You lose part of yourself, but you gain a nice little bundle of a book you can hold in your hands and coo at and then send out into the cold, cruel world. But that’s another story!

What is one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?

Each time someone has made the effort to compliment one of my stories, it has truly meant the world to me! I wish I could send along a picture of that big, grateful smile on my face. But when Amorous Woman came out, it really hit me how much I was asking of a reader—hours of time and attention taken from their busy lives. So I’d have to say the most touching honor has been when someone has read my novel twice and said they enjoyed it even more the second time!

What makes your writing different from your peers? What kind of reading experience can you give your audience?

For the good or the bad, I tend to write stories that I believe could happen in real life with the bounds of my sensibility. That means satisfying sex usually happens between people who know each other well or at least make a friendly emotional connection beforehand. But within those limits, there’s plenty of room for pushing boundaries and exploring the darker side of eros. I also hope to leave my readers aroused intellectually as well as physically, with lingering questions as well as a warm tingling feeling down there. To this end, I spend a lot of time on every element of my story—realistic plot, careful word choice and patterns of imagery, humor, realistic characters, sex that goes beyond cliché. I don’t always succeed, but I do always break a sweat trying! My readers deserve nothing less.

Week long event with SWING! authors!

Hey everyone, we’re having a week long event with the authors of SWING! at the vibrant and active JeanieandJayha group on yahoo. This is THE liveliest (and loveliest) group on the web!

Why not pop along and join us there? As well as invigorating chat with the J&J ladies and the authors of SWING! there will be prizes to win daily http://bit.ly/lsdkR

See you there!

Jim Brown

Logical-Lust