Thursday, June 16, 2016

Confessions of Erotic Writers Part 2: The Questions You're Afraid to Ask


We are exposed to sex through the media, fine art, and literature, making sex a source of  pleasure, pain, liberation, and form of expression as far back as documented history. But what about the people creating the materials we're exposed to? Where do they fit in? How does creating sex effect them?

I've recently interviewed multiple authors (whose info you can find at the bottom) who place themselves within the categories of those who write erotica, smut, or porn. Definition of these categories is irrelevant; the idea is that explicit sex scenes are an element of their work. I've asked them a series of questions that are typically not inquired about due to societal restraint and the inability to broach the topics the world tells us we should be ashamed of. But there's no shame here, only the god's honest truth.

Be sure to check out the answers from multiple other authors in part one of this post HERE

Where do your ideas for sex scenes come from?

"Everywhere.

Okay, so that’s quite a broad answer but it’s true. I pick up my ideas all over the place. Some ideas come from my own sex life, others pop into my head at the strangest times like when the idea for Restoration popped into my head whilst watching a very dry documentary on art restoring. Public transport is good for ideas too and I spend a lot of time on buses and trains as I don’t drive. My character in Uncovering Heather from the Inked Anthology was inspired by a very smart looking business lady on a train in a brown suit, but when she stretched I saw the lining was pink, the inside of her briefcase was pink, the cover of her phone was pink...I was struck by that contrast. It stuck in my brain for a couple of years before her story came apparent though. 

Having a dirty mind is a wonderful thing. I can make anything into a sex scene!"--Victoria Blisse


"
It really depends upon the story. Most of the time the ideas for the scene comes from the story itself and is molded by the setting that the characters find themselves in. From there the characters more or less let me know what they’re in the mood for.

Only rarely do I ever revolve a story around a sex scene. For example, Trail Magic was written with the idea of having a blowjob scene on the side of a mountain. That scene came from a hike I took where I reached the summit, noticed the summit marker embedded in a large rock, and thought of how awesome it would be to sit at the top, looking over the miles of mountain tops and get blown.
"--JC Winchester

"I try to think of the most unusual things that can be done sexually, and start from there. I’m not a trope writer, who likes run-of-the-mill, so my scenes are highly unusual. Even the most eyebrow-raising scenes are tastefully written, though. As a result, I lean more toward medical play or higher level kink."--Scarlet Darkwood

"Most are from experience, however, I do a ton of research for accuracy in different kinks, then create my own scenes from what I learn."--Vikki Alan


"It may sound like a cliché, but ”while walking down the street” is really my best answer. I do my best thinking while walking around my hometown of Berlin - and the ideas for sex scenes come about in one of two ways: Either I come across an everyday situation and think ”how could this lead into a sex scene?” (What if that man on the corner was an insatiable sex fiend - unable to keep his hands off that gorgeous woman crossing the street?) Or my mind just wanders - and eventually comes across dirty thoughts."--Frank Noir

"Porn, erotica, and hentai. I read a lot of erotica in my developmental years, and I've always had a mind for stories. Then I start wondering what happens if you do this or that, basing what I write on personal experience, what I've read or watched, or just letting my imagination speculate."--Reed James

"Most come from personalexperience. I've had some incredible encounters with amazing people over the years. Some are mashups of different experiences with different people."--AJ Charms

What state of mind do you need to be in order to write your standard of a "good sex scene" ?

"Horny. 

Hey, I’m getting good at these one word answers aren’t I? To really get into a sex scene I’ve got to be at least a little turned on. Now, that doesn’t mean everything I write about turns me on per se, but it certainly gives the scene a little extra steam if I’m in an aroused state of mind. I can’t write a sex scene if I’ve just indulged in some good loving though. The number of times I’ve been pounced upon by my sexy hubby whilst I’ve been writing and then had to leave the scene alone are numerous. I always tell him off for it but I don’t really mean it. After all, it counts as research in my line of business, right?"--Victoria Blisse


"Loose and relaxed. I struggle writing them during periods of high stress, such as finals time during my classes. There are plenty of times I'll crack a beer or have a pour of bourbon to help loosen me up."--JC Winchester


"Though I say I’m more awake in the evenings, I’m usually better in the later morning when I’ve had some decent sleep. I need to be clear-headed and have a solid picture of what I want to accomplish, what I want the people involved to do, and get out of being together." --Scarlet Darkwood

"Usually kind of Dark. I find certain music gets me there."--Vikki Alan


"I’d say aroused – but not too aroused. I should be so excited by the thought of sex that I can precisely imagine what it would feel like and describe it graphically. But of course, at the same time I should be just detached enough that my writing doesn’t turn into sex-crazed ramblings."--Frank Noir

"I find any sort of writing relaxing. I just sit down with my laptop and start writing. As long as there aren't any major distractions around me, I can usually get lost into my writing pretty fast. Even when I get popped out, it only takes me a minute or so to get back into writing."--Reed James

"I need to be aroused. Sometimes I have a glass ofwine and scroll through Tumblr or put on porn. I love real couples who post their own pictures."--AJ Charms



Sex writing usually involves research. How far have you taken your research in pursuit of your craft?

"Now that lead on from my last comment nicely didn’t it? Of course that kind of thorough, personal research is on going and when my sex life is smoking hot so is my writing. Google is most certainly the friend of any author but you can’t beat actually experiencing something to add a depth to your writing. I’ve discovered many things by going to Club Lash (A BDSM club in Manchester) Twisted Sin (I got a lovely lap dance. Boobs are pretty!) and events at MARS and Miss T’s. I’ve also seen a lot of burlesque acts at Dr Sketchy that have powered the imagination and had lots of fun and found new implements and fun toys at the Alternative and Burlesque fairs I run a stall at. 

I’m constantly looking for new events, experiences and people to inspire me, this is my constant research for my art. I very rarely seek out a specific thing then write about it. I usually see/feel something and make a story up around that."--Victoria Blisse


"My research has taken me to sites and forums I’d never read. I’ve found myself perusing adult toy sites in search of the next inspiration for a scene, and I’ve ended up on sites where females tell how they’ve dominated men. I’ve also researched medical supply sites."--Scarlet Darkwood

"I've taken classes, interviewed people in the sex industry, and of course; experimented."--Vikkie Alan

"When describing the physical sensations of sex, I draw on personal experience from my own sex life. And some of the dirty talk is inspired by certain sexual encounters as well. But as for the situations themselves, they are mostly more extreme than anything I’ve ever tried – or wanted to try. My stories are meant to be outrageous fantasies – but realistically described."--Frank Noir

"Not far, really. I just read and watch a lot of porn and erotica. I never set out to research one specific thing. I just write kinks that I have already consumed porn or read erotica on."--Reed James

"Besides my personal experiences, I like having one on one conversations with authentic people to hear about their experiences and fantasies. Hearing about the mechanics of their threesome is always interesting but I am more interested in the circumstances that brought them to that point and how it made them feel. I am not shy and I love to ask questions"--AJ Charms


Are you turned on by your own sex scenes?

"Yes. 

Oooh, back to the one word answers! Now this isn’t to say that everything I write about is my own personal kink, it isn’t. However, I will find something within every scene I write arousing. I mean, if it doesn’t work on me then how the hell can I expect it to work for my readers? Some of my books are very much about my own kinks. Something Brave is particularly personal to me and maps a journey I have only just started to make myself. I’m hoping to go further, just like Felicity, soon."--Victoria Blisse


"Quite often I am. If it doesn’t turn me on why should I expect it to turn on someone else?"--JC Winchester

"Honestly, it depends on how tired I am or how in the mood I am. Again, I may be more aroused in the morning than at night."--Scarlet Darkwood


"Sometimes I have to stop I get so flustered. Especially first drafts. After a few reads though, it doesn't hit me the same way."--Vikki Alan

"Absolutely! After all, they are based on my own sexual fantasies. And whenever I get it right, I find them highly arousing. In fact, when I began writing erotica as a teenager, it was mainly meant as a masturbatory aid for myself. I found that both the process of writing down and afterwards reading my sexual fantasies made the experience more detailed and vivid."--Frank Noir 

"Yes. Earlier when I first started, I would often have to stop to take care of things. I usually don't have to now, but I still get turned on. (Which can be a problem during editing more than writing)"--Reed James

"Since many of them are drawn from real life, the memories of those encounters are highly arousing."--AJ Charms


Do you act out any/ Have you acted out any of your scenes in order to write a sex scene more effectively?

"Oh, how my husband laughs at me at times. When I’m writing a particularly complex action I very often try to emulate it sitting in my seat as I write. I can get into some pretty interesting positions I can tell you! It really can be useful to try the positions out to make sure they work and that you don’t have to be a sex Olympian to achieve it. As I said in my research question I tend to write about experiences I’ve had not try something out because I want to write about it. So more often I am recapturing a moment that has physically happened in my fiction rather than acting out something I have penned."--Victoria Blisse

"A few times I have. Sometimes it helps to understand if a position will work or if it would be pleasurable. That said, there are times I do take artistic license for the sake of making the scene hot, much how not all positions in porn are comfortable in real life.

The most daring one I'd say I've acted out was learning how it felt to be a nudist. I was at a convention of about 75 people where there were a couple of nudists and so the environment was welcoming to exploration. I spent the bulk of the weekend wearing nothing and learning about how to interact with people when nude, polite things to do (like always covering a seat before sitting on it), and how people react to someone being in the buff. It's an interesting experience for sure.
"--JC Winchester

"Definitely not! As a healthcare worker, I’d be saying, 'Um, I really wouldn’t put that there …!'”--Scarlett Darkwood

"Definitely."--Vikki Alan

"Never. Among other things because some of the situations I describe (more or less non-consensual scenarios) would get me convicted! But on the other hand, whatever I find to be a turn-on in real life may well end up in a story one day ..."--Frank Noir

"I have not. But I've always had good spacial awareness. I went to school to be a mechanical drafter (drawing blueprints of parts). You see three dimensional objects represented in two, often in exploded isometrics and you have to able to visualize how the object would look like from different angles. It's very useful when picturing people and how their naughty bits can fit together in various ways to keep a sex scene realistic. And, well, I also write in genres that you can't act out (monsters, futas, magical fun, tentacles)."--Reed James

"I acted out some scenes from my books. The anal scene from Delicious Little Passions was fun to revisit."--AJ Charms


How would you describe your sex life before and after you started writing erotica/smut/porn ?

"My sex life has always been varied, fun and experimental. The smut writing hasn’t necessarily changed that at all. What it has changed is how I experience sex. It always used to be a private thing for myself and my husband. Now I’m involved in public foreplay a lot more. From reading at one of our Smut Events to being spanked at a real life dungeon, I find my kinks are far more out there in public than they were before I started to write erotica. It’s fantastic. I’ve discovered a whole new world of kinky, sex embracing and empowering people, and that is a real joy."--Victoria Blisse


"Hmmm that actually is a tough one as I started writing smut over 10 years ago. I think the best answer to that is before was fairly vanilla and after became very experimental. I became more interested in trying different fetishes and positions that I read in other people's work and researched for my own. Even beyond sex, I have had to research a number of other topics that has allowed me to broaden my horizons and gain a level of respect for various career fields, locations, and personalities."--JC Winchester

"Unfortunately, no change!"--Scarlet Darkwood


"This may seem shocking, but I think it was wilder before I started writing [sex scenes]. It certainly didn't make me vanilla, but I feel like sometimes my mind wanders to technicalities. (From research) I'm having to learn to separate the two worlds."--Vikki Alan

"Actually, I started writing porn before I'd ever had sex! So there really is no before and after. But of course my real life sexual experiences somehow influenced my writing - and vice versa: I like to think that I explore my sexuality both by having sex and by fantasizing and then writing about it."--Frank Noir


"The same. Just me and my hand. I'm not really a social person. People wonder why I can write so much, well, I don't have a lot of friends and I'm not dating anyone. So it leaves me plenty of time to do what I love--writing my filthy fantasies."--Reed James

"I have a very high libido and a wicked imagination. The frequency is about the same as before I started writing but it certainly spiced things up. My wife recommends my books to her close friends, which sometimes leads to interesting conversations. I find it very exciting that so many people download my books to masturbate or use as inspiration to spice up their sex life (why else would you read erotica?)"--AJ Charms


Meet the Authors

Victoria Blisse

Website
FaceBook
Twitter 



JC Winchester


Smashword
     Scarlet Darkwood






Vikki Alan


Frank Noir


Reed James





AJ Charms








Monday, June 13, 2016

Sheri Velarde: Stealing Hearts

Welcome fellow author Sheri Velarde! She has a wonderful new story to tell in "Stealing Hearts". Let's here a little about it.


Sophia had fled New York and the feelings that a certain detective had stirred within her. Now she found herself alone in LA on New Year’s Eve, the former goddess of love reduced to having to look for a date. Hitting the Sunset Strip she finds the last thing she was looking for, but exactly who she was yearning for, Detective Bruce Stoker in the flesh. A night of passion leaves her with high hopes for the future, until an art heist threatens everything.

Bruce had followed Sophia across the country in order to rekindle the passion he felt during their one night together and to get some much needed answers from her about who he really was, what her really was. Just when he thought he would get his answers, Bruce begins to wonder if he can truly trust Sophia at all. Only time and a mystery will tell.

Buy Links:


Lost Souls: smarturl.it/puu78m

Stealing Hearts: smarturl.it/tl3f7k

Sheri: Why Greek gods in modern times?

When I decided to try my hand at an actual book series, the first idea that popped into my mind was that it should be about Greek gods. That is where the idea for the Gods Behaving Badly series started. People since then have asked me why Greek gods? Why not? Not only are there plenty of gods to choose from, which means lots of potential characters for a book series, but they are fascinating to me. I believe that you should write what you know and love, so ancient gods from mythology just made me want to write them. Plus let’s face it, all those overgrown personalities make for some pretty good fiction! Talk about drama! For my own personal deities of lore stories I chose to place them in modern times with diminished powers. Same egos, but more challenges. So far I am liking the results. Looted, the first in the series was pretty well received and I am hoping Stealing Hearts does just as well. I am loving writing this series and in the latest book have already brought in more gods and that means more stories to tell. Here is a little sneak peak from Stealing Hearts.

Author Bio:

Sheri Velarde lives in New Mexico with her husband and their two dogs.

Being an avid reader since an early age, she has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. She has been writing all her life, but only recently started to actually try to pursue her dream of writing for a living. She specializes in all things paranormal and that go bump in the night. Her heart truly lies in exploring unknown worlds or adding the supernatural to our world. If it goes bump in the night or has magical connotations, Sheri writes about it.

She is constantly putting out new material with various publishers, so it is best to keep up with her on her website www.sherivelarde.weebly.com.

In her spare time Sheri is an artist, jewelry designer, independent comic writer/artist and freelance non-fiction writer. Hiking in the mountains, going to live concerts, art openings, museums, and hosting intimate dinner parties.

Links:




Excerpt:

The next morning Bruce awoke feeling happier than he could ever recall feeling. Suddenly he snapped open his eyes to make sure that Sophia still lay beside him. Sure enough, she slept peacefully next to him, a slight smile played on her beautiful features, her long auburn hair mussed, making her even sexier. Thank god, or goddess in this case. He had been afraid she’d disappear despite her promise the night before. Now that his need for her had been abated ever so slightly, maybe he could get her to answer some questions that had been eating him alive since their first meeting. His stomach growled; he forgot when his last meal had been and he had certainly worked up an appetite the previous evening. Quietly, he slipped out of bed, praying that goddesses kept a fully stocked kitchen. Maybe a little breakfast in bed would make her more talkative about the magic she seemed to have awakened within him. He still needed to know what an empath truly was, what he truly was, and what he was capable of doing. It seemed too farfetched to believe he was anything but human. However, he certainly felt different when with Sophia.

Making it to the kitchen, he was thrilled to see Sophia had all the makings for a fine breakfast. He turned on the small television on the counter as he began to get the eggs and bacon ready to cook. Mostly, he just wanted a little noise as he got to work, but something suddenly caught his attention.

“This is the highest profile art heist to hit Los Angeles in history. What is even more puzzling, there is no evidence as to who could have stolen the painting. All cameras and security systems are working properly, and the guards on duty didn’t see or hear anything. No alarms sounded, and the Getty’s systems show that no one entered or exited the premises last night. Van Gogh’s Irises is valued at over fifty-five million dollars, but many consider it priceless. If you have any information please contact the police. This is certainly not how we wanted to start off the New Year…”

Bruce’s heart sank. As he lay asleep last night, exhausted by lovemaking, it appeared Sophia may have been up to her old tricks. How could he ever learn to truly trust a creature such as her? She seemed to be getting bolder too, now she wasn’t just stealing from nefarious rich men, but from the Getty Center, and a high profile piece as well. He must not have provided her with enough excitement last night after all.



Thursday, June 9, 2016

Confessions of Erotic Writers Part 1: The Questions You're Afraid to Ask


We are exposed to sex through the media, fine art, and literature, making sex a source of pleasure, pain, liberation, and form of expression as far back as documented history. But what about the people creating the materials we're exposed to? Where do they fit in? How does creating sex effect them?

I've recently interviewed multiple authors (whose info you can find at the bottom) who place themselves within the categories of those who write erotica, smut, or porn. Definition of these categories is irrelevant; the idea is that explicit sex scenes are an element of their work. I've asked them a series of questions that are typically not inquired about due to societal restraint and the inability to broach the topics the world tells us we should be ashamed of. But there's no shame here, only the god's honest truth.

Be sure to stay tuned to this blog for answers from 7 other authors in part two of this post

Where do your ideas for sex scenes come from?


"We live in a world of repressed emotions and desires. The repression fuels temptation, although, most people never yield to it. I simply ask the question "what if...?" and voila! A sex scene." --Blue Spectrum

"It depends on what I'm writing. The funtanari stuff is pure impossible fantasy sex that turns me on. The DD/lg stuff is partly based on my own life." --Bryce Calderwood

"Several of my ideas come from my own experiences, just embellished a bit. Thought sometimes it's a matter of fantasies--whether my own or people that have confided in me. I take them and run."--Chenille Moon

"[They come from] my fantasies usually, although some are based on real life happenings."--Kassandra Wylde

"Mostly [from] what I find hot or attractive in some way. I watch a lot of porn when I'm bored (not for research or personal fun--I'm just bored and I need some noise on in the background), so sometimes I find inspiration there, but that's pretty rare."--Alana Melos

"If I’m creating a sex scene from already-existing characters, then the scene comes from the characters themselves and the situation that they’re in.Other times I start off with a specific sex scene in mind, like a man and a woman having sex on a huge pile of money. Then I work backward, starting with the original image/vision/fantasy, and figuring out who the people are, where the money came from, and so forth. This kind of image can come from so many places that I can’t list them all: dreams, daydreams, a movie or book scene where I want to make my own variation, or finding a new or interesting sexual position (or emotional reaction, or other element) in a sex manual or article."--Richard Bacula

"Two places – whatever serves the story, but also from my own hottest fantasies. For my last book, the idea for the story was created out of my own dirtiest, naughtiest fantasies and what gets me hot. One reason [was because] my husband was like, "All right hon, you have to write under a pseudonym. That’s too dirty and people at my work know I’m your husband!'"--Elizabeth Anastasia

"[Some ideas come from porn] then I adapt them to fit the particular scene that I am writing. [Also from books] I try listen or read the scene carefully and see where it will end."--Anonymous

"My ideas come from the natural progression of a story, adding the type of scenes that organically grow from the personalities/experiences of my characters. Although sometimes I begin a story with the intent to write a specific type of sex scene that I've never written about before."--Angora Shade

What state of mind do you need to be in to write your standard of a "good sex scene"?

"I find that syncing my emotions with that of the POV character in the scene make the words flow easily, and the scene turns out pretty good. Kind of like method acting but with an oomph!" --Blue Spectrum

"I just need to have the time to do it without being interrupted."-- Bryce Calderwood

"For me, it's the getting started part. If I can just get started with a story, I generally get so into it that my mind is in the story deep enough to be turned on to the point that the proverbial juices can pull a good sex scene out." -- Chenille Moon 

"I have to be sex-starved, unfortunately. Otherwise the scenes won't come (excuse the pun)."--Kassandra Wylde

"[My state of mind is] that I need to write and have a quota to fill per day. There's no sexy state of mind, but I know I'm writing a good scene if I keep thinking sexy thoughts. Initially though? [It's] work time." --Alana Melos

"Mostly it’s the same frame of mind that I need to have in order to write anything: I need to be well-rested and clear-headed as a rule, and I need to have some kind of inspiration. Sometimes it helps me to be a bit aroused in order to write a sex scene, but there’s a middle-ground where I’m hungry enough to find the scene interesting, but not so pent up that my own lust is a distraction from my work."--Richard Bacula

"Relaxed - not particularly after just watching a sex scene; that could lead to being lazy and just copying what was on screen."--Anonymous

"Usually I just start writing and that gets me in the mood. I do turn on good music though." --Elizabeth Anastasia

"I have to be calm and able to visualize what I what to happen. This means no distractions (mental or physical). If I can't see the actions and details inside my head, I'm unable to write them."--Angora Shade

Sex writing usually involves research. How far have you taken your research in pursuit of your craft?

"I'd probably be disowned by my family if they ever peeked at my browser history. There are a ton of studies on human sexuality out there and it is hard to sift through the lot to find proper studies. I use the data from these studies to debunk my own prejudices. The hardest thing for me was coming to terms with consensual consanguineous relationships. Just too many 'con's." --Blue Spectrum

"I've interviewed women about what they feel during sex, and I've researched all kinds of crazy things: the late 40's (fashion, cars, guns, technology), myths/apocrypha concerning angels/demons; all kinds of stuff about vampires and blood and how what we feel changes as we lose it; octopuses, BDSM practices, abandoned subway stations...a majorly weird and eclectic list for sure." --Bryce Calderwood

"I often lean towards BDSM-swinger lifestyle-type writing. My research has involved living some of the lifestyles with my spouse in addition to "researching" videos and other erotica to gain perspective." --Chenille Moon

"I write what I know, so I haven't done too much research beyond my own experiences."--Kassandra Wylde

"[I] mostly just research particular positions or BDSM or weird off-niche kinks. I spent an hour or so just last night on macro and microphilia, which is the fantasy of either being ravished by a giant woman, or ravishing a lady who had been shrunk."--Alana Melos

"I already have my own library of books on human sexuality, as well as a respectable collection of various kinds of pornography. A lot of research can be done simply by browsing through my collections, or by searching for information online. Other information needs to be acquired through more direct, physical means, and I have certain volunteers that assist me in that regard.

The farthest I’ve personally gone is expanding the scope of my BDSM experiences, which is not something that I’m naturally into. There are simply certain sensations and physical reactions that should be experienced from one or both ends before one attempts to describe them being carried out on the page. In order to understand BDSM scenes well enough to describe them in detail, it helped a great deal for me to expand my own understanding of the physical and emotional effects giving and receiving pain, as well as of dominating and submitting."--Richard Bacula

"Well, I read a ton, obviously :) I definitely research the more elaborate sides to kink I explore in my writing to make sure I’m doing it justice, including reading real life accounts and watching…er…videos. All in the name of research, of course ;) "--Elizabeth Anastasia

"I'm currently doing a story on a bit of light bdsm, and have spoken to a few practitioners and a dom (anonymously) and have asked them the needed questions."--Anonymous

"I believe that research is essential to not only understand a concept, but to be able to convey a concept to others well. Readers will call "foul" when the details aren't right. No one would believe a description of an orgasm by a person who's never had one. I've taken my research as far as having my partner pee on me in order to try to understand the allure of pee in sexual situations. Turn out that pee is not my fetish, but the experience helped me to more accurately describe the sound and feel of pee within a scene that called for it."--Angora Shade

Are you turned on by your own sex scenes?

"I don't usually write something that doesn't do it for me, but there are times when the story demands something that I don't agree with or find arousing, like doing it in the biotech lab. Disinfectants are not sexy! Neither are deadly bacteria!"-- Blue Spectrum

"Yes"--Bryce Calderwood

"Absolutely! If I can't get turned on while writing/reading my own story, then I'm doing something wrong!" --Chenille Moon

"Oh yes. A thousand times, yes!"--Kassandra Wylde

"Yup. A few of them are recurring fantasies. The one in "The Devil and Delilah" still is my favorite to this day. I think it might always be." --Alana Melos

"Yes, sometimes, to a degree. Early on in my erotica-writing endeavors, I was very much aroused by what I was writing. The more titles and pages that I get under my belt (so to speak), the less intensely I’m affected on a sexual level by what I write, and the more my appreciation of written erotica (my own or the work of others) tends to be an aesthetic and mechanical pleasure derived from the writing itself."--Richard Bacula

"Almost always. That’s when I know I’m doing it right!"--Elizabeth Anastasia

"Yes, because the emotional investment I put into them is what is also important."--Anonymous

"A scene is so much better when I am turned on. If what I've written doesn't come across as sexy to me in some way, it probably won't to my readers either, which is why I typically scrap the ones that don't give me tingles at bare minimum."--Angora Shade

Do you act out any/Have you acted out any of your scenes in order to write a sex scene more effectively?

"Maybe." --Blue Spectrum

"It's more the other way around. Sex with my current partner inspires my sex scenes."--Bryce Calderwood

"Oh yes! In experiencing the act itself, I can more fully understand what my character is feeling. For example, my submissive characters: the right mindset needs to be had when expressing that personality. Plus, writing turns me on to the point that I feel like I need to experience what I've just written about." --Chenille Moon

"My genre doesn't grant me that option, so except for past experiences, the [scenes] come from my imagination."--Kassandra Wylde

"Not intentionally. I know other authors might be like "Oh, teehee I'm writing about hot sex and going to act it out with my SO." Not me. Not that I'm opposed to it, but it's a job. I treat it like a job. In the beginning, when I wrote, I was so turned on all the time it was ridiculous. About two months of writing erotica changed that. Now words are words. I think in the long run, this is good. I wouldn't want to be disappointed if I or my husband couldn't perform as I had envisioned in any particular sex scene, and thus I can keep my person life separate from my professional." --Alana Melos 

"Yes, although I write a lot of stuff involving fantastical creatures, non-humans, and people with superhuman powers. When going into the mechanics of a scene, sometimes a situation becomes complicated enough that it helps to work with real people in order to make sure that everything and everyone can work as described."--Richard Bacula

"I wouldn’t say I’ve staged any exactly, but I’ve definitely been writing a scene, then jumped on my husband as soon as he gets home. We watch porn together and I’ll ask to watch scenes that are more risqué like what I’m writing to get us in the mood, and might talk dirtier to him/request some spanking."--Elizabeth Anastasia

"Not yet - Might seem strange, but my partner is not a very lusty/libidinous person."--Anonymous

"I've never acted out a sex scene that I've written exactly as I have written it. But I have experimented with a handful of elements that are also included in my writing, like the Gummy Bear Game."--Angora Shade

How would you describe your sex life before and after you started writing erotica?


"Growing up in a pretty conservative society, I tended to repress my sexuality and there was a lot of guilt whenever I transgressed. It was absolutely depressing at times. Now, though, I have made the effort to unburden myself of the guilt and enjoy being human. Writing erotica has helped me address my fears and prejudices and has forced me to look at human sexuality from different aspects without being dismissive or judgmental. Yes, I'm talking about necrophilia vampire sex." --Blue Spectrum

"Before I started there wasn't much of [a sex life] as I was single, but after I started, I met my parter."--Bryce Calderwood

"While my sex life was already in "decent" condition, I can say that there was definitely an increase [in sex] as well as heightened pleasure after I started writing. I stopped writing for a bit and noticed a dramatic different [in my sex life]. To put it bluntly, I've been the horniest I've ever been in recent years."--Chenille Moon

"I think writing smut facilitates great sex in a lot of different ways. Giving yourself the freedom to express your thoughts and fantasies is very positive. For me, it also amps up my hormones and puts me in the mood. My husband always know when I've been writing a good scene since he benefits from it. Before writing smut, thing were definitely quieter in the bedroom."--Kassandra Wylde

"[My sex life is] exactly the same. Again, it's a job. It may be unsexy to hear it, but I treat what I write seriously. I want it to be hot and sexy, but being distracted why writing is actually very bad for writing, or at least for me."--Alana Melos

"It was good before, and it’s good now. One of the reasons why I got into erotica in the first place is that sex has always been a rather important part of my life, and I had already invested a large amount of time and effort researching and exploring it in a variety of ways. It’s easier to write about things that you already know and understand than it is to research whole new bodies of knowledge. Granted, my less mundane stories do include things that I never experienced first-hand, things that are physically impossible due to the annoying lack of magic, supernatural creatures, and super-powers in our own world, but even my more unusual stories involve a lot of extrapolation based on my body of real-world knowledge."--Richard Bacula

"My sex life definitely got hotter/less inhibited after I started reading erotica. Writing erotica is a newer venture, but I think it's just the next step. Although I do think writing erotica is helping me get more vocal in my dirty talk in a way I was just too embarrassed about before. It’s thrilling to find fresh things in the bedroom after being married for over a decade, ya know? I might look like a wholesome mom on the outside, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a slut in the bedroom."--Elizabeth Anastasia

"Before, boring/average - After, definitely better, more emotional involvement, more intimacy and better communication."--Anonymous


"My sex life wasn't awful before I started writing sex scenes, but it's certainly improved tremendously. I think that thinking and writing about sex on a regular basis is healthy. Doing so gives me a larger push to satisfy my natural human curiosity through exploration of my body and partner."--Angora Shade

Meet the Authors


Blue Spectrum


Bryce Calderwood

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Kassandra Wylde

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Chenille Moon

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Alana Melos

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Blog        Naughty Book Snitch       Pinterest


Richard Bacula

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Elizabeth Anastasia 


Friday, June 3, 2016

Story A Day in May Ends

At the beginning of May, erotic fiction author Richard Bacula set out to complete the "Story A Day in May" challenge, requiring himself to write one story each day of a certain word count.   Now that May is over, I wanted to hear all about the process, the stories, and the impact his strict regiment played in his life. You can read about his 2015 May Challenge here.



Find Richard Online: TwitterFacebookGoogle PlusAmazon Author Page

1) Where you able to meet your goal?

Short answer: Yes, with an hour to spare!


The last two days of the contest, I had to scramble to catch up, cranking out five stories per day, but I made it under the deadline.

Long answer: Technically, no, because my goal was to write (or finish) a short story for each day in May, with a minimum word count of 2,500 words. I managed to write 31 short stories in 31 days as planned, but there were two exceptions to the minimum word-count:


1. I wrote a horror story for a small press under a pseudonym. It was under 1,800 words, so that’s a technical foul. I’m not counting it because the point of the word count was to make certain that each story was long enough to be its own title. In this case, the word count didn’t need to be that high in order to get published.


2. My short story “Research Assistant Renee” was about 500 words short of the goal, but I do plan to pad it out to the full 2500 words when I hear back from my over-worked volunteer beta-readers. Enough of my other stories were far over the minimum word count that I am quite content to ignore this technical failure as well.

Next year, I plan to word things more carefully, to make my goal more manageable.

2) What struggles did you encounter while attempting to puke out a story of a certain word count for 31 days?


I encountered many struggles, primarily that my FDJ required much of my time and attention, and I wasn’t able to focus my month solely on writing. Toward the end of the month, I had to request a full day off in order to make the goal, and that plus other compromises meant that I took a minor financial hit in order to commit to this project: More hours writing meant less hours actively getting paid.


In the long run, I am confident that the vast increase in my number of titles will bring in significantly more money than I lost.


Similarly, I have certain dogs and certain women in my life that require regular attention, and I have some making up to do in that regard as well. My social life also dropped essentially to nothing for the duration of the month.

Writing-wise, it was a constant challenge to pick not only a story idea that I could write, but one that I could write Right Fucking NOW. Normally when writing even a short story, there is more time to let things sit a bit while you mull them over in your mind. With this project, I had no such luxury. I had to spend virtually all of my free time either sitting at the keyboard actively writing, or sleeping until I was rested enough to write. The pressure of the deadline made me commit a lot faster to plot angles, and to learn to write more freely with fewer hangups.


At the same time, I did make two or three false starts, where I wrote a thousand words or more on a story, then realized that I needed more time to think things through in order for the story to work. I had to put those stories aside, start a new story from scratch, and finish the new story as soon as possible in order to make up for lost time.

The main challenge toward the end was that I was simply exhausted from writing so much about sex and orgasms for such a sustained time. There are only so many ways to describe the sensation of climax, and only so many useful metaphors and synonyms for special anatomy and sensations.

*Fucking Day Job

3) What types of stories did you write and why?

I focused heavily on my “The Serpent’s Gifts” setting, which is a world in which a giant snake flies around the planet, then disappears, leaving random people with superhuman abilities, or “gifts.” It’s a setting that I’ve wanted to expand for a long time now, and it was nice to have the opportunity. It was also quite fun, allowing me to have characters in unusual situations. In writing a sequel to my Werewolf Erotica story Moonheat, I decided to roll that story into my Serpent’s Gifts setting as well, because it gave me a lot of ideas for future interactions.

I also got to finally crank out a series of short, silly stories that I first envisioned a couple of years ago. These would be the least erotic of all my works, since they involve a deranged backwoods would-be-Romeo who goes around seducing inanimate objects such as a tree stump, a rock, and a bale of straw.

I also did some one-off Beast stories, just for fun and to get titles out. These are silly, fun, quick stories, unlike “Satisfied By A Stegosaurus,” which I had the luxury of expending much, much more time and energy on. I wrote one about a woman who wanders into a Unisex bathroom, and ends up having sex with a sleazy unicorn. Another one is titled “One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple Pussy-Eater,” and I think that says enough about that one.

The third was the very last story that I wrote, when I was dead out of good ideas. I follow @MagicRealismBot on Twitter, which generates random Magic Realism plots. I found one that was as follows: A game show host is climbing up the side of an octopus. But she will never get there. I was inspired, and managed to crank out some tentacle-porn involving Greek mythology.

4) Which stories were stronger or weaker and why?

I think that the best overall erotica that I wrote in May, with the broadest appeal, would likely be a series of four stories that I’m collectively referring to as “The Perils of Nadine.” They’re all fun, kinky sex fantasy stuff. In the first story, Nadine is tied up on the bed by her boyfriend, when her boyfriend’s roommate shows up and seduces her. In the second story, she makes it up to her boyfriend by letting him have a three-way with her and the girlfriend of the guy who seduced her in the first story. The stories just fed on each other, with each story coming as a kind of demented sexual consequence of the last. They were all “I Know I Shouldn’t But I Can’t Help Myself” sort of things. Always fun.


The overall best stories that I wrote--the stuff where more was involved than just the sex and the emotions of the moment, are most of my new Serpent’s Gifts stories. Moonheat #2 has perhaps the best emotional connection. Homewrecker has one of my favorite characters that I’ve ever created. Stuff like the two Granite Jack stories, Hard Cash, and Tomday include appealing non-sexual fantasies--superhuman healing and endurance, free money, and free time--that should be quite satisfying to many readers in addition to the arousing sex scenes.

It’s actually easier to pick my weaker story, as I turned out to be so satisfied with so many of the stories that it’s only the very few that I’m discontented with that stand out. I wrote two Pigmalion stories, which are set in my Serpent’s Gifts setting, and which revolve around a mysterious man named Pigmalion who can transform women physically by having sex with them. The first story is essentially about an older women watching a video of this kind of transformation, and while it’s a decent story, it’s nowhere near as arousing as most of my work. The second story more than makes up for any lack of eroticness in the first, but as it sits right now, the first Pigmalion story might need some editing or reworking.

Off to the side is the Tiny Humps A Trilogy, composed of Tiny Humps A Stump, Tiny Humps A Stone, and Tiny Humps A Strawbale. Because they are so unique in nature and tone, some people will consider them to be my absolute, hands-down worst writing, and other people will consider them to be my best writing. They’re absurd, surreal, and as erotic as they could possibly be… given the premise of each story. Beta-Reader reactions ranged from (paraphrased) “Please never make me read another one of these” to “I don’t get it” to “This is the most hilarious stuff I’ve read.”

Overall, they came out almost exactly as I had envisioned them.

5) Have you learned anything new about your writing abilities after partaking in this exercise?

I learned one hell of a lot of things that are too subtle and esoteric to even understand, much less explain. The more you work at any craft, the better you get at it, even if you don’t fully know exactly how or why.

Of the quantifiable things that I learned during this project, I grew better at hitting a specific target length. As I’ve said in other interviews, my first erotic short story--An Innocent Haircut--was intended to be a short and simple piece, but the sex scenes were so involved that it ended up being 9,200 words long. I tend to be very explicit, and that makes it hard to not go well over my projected or intended word count.

I also realized something new about arousal, or learned how to better put it into words. This was through a combination of listening to some of Reed James’ work via DirtyBitPodcast, and through writing the Perils of Nadine series. Specifically: human arousal and orgasm comes from being overwhelmed by a combination of sensation, thoughts, and emotions. Erotica readers participate vicariously in imaginary sex acts, but the best way to bring their arousal to its peak is likewise to overwhelm their senses with arousal triggers.

That’s why some of the best erotica is some of the dirtiest, because of utility of emotions in overcoming resistance to arousal. This is clear in Romance novels, where a minor sex scene can be incredibly arousing simply because of all of the emotional investment that a reader has in the characters. In dirtier erotica, it often comes from conflicting emotion, often from the kind of “I Shouldn’t, But I Can’t Help Myself” kind of setup that shows up in Reed James’ Fingered Next To My Husband and other stories. It’s the emotional equivalent of pain or ice play, where conflicting sensations heighten the sexual experience. In real life, such emotional conflicts are dangerous, but in a fantasy story it simply allows the reader to safely be overwhelmed.

6) What are you plans for these stories?

I’m looking at publishers, if only because I don’t want to have to come up with so much new cover art, and because I’m not very good at self-promotion. I want them to go on sale as quickly as possible, because the sooner they’re up, the sooner I make money, and the sooner I make money the sooner I can quit my FDJ and write full time.

7) What do you plan to work on now that you've met your goal?

Mostly, I’m going to relax. I need to let my beta-readers catch up to all I’ve written, to go over their feedback, and to make some changes and edits accordingly. As I mentioned, I’m also looking for a publisher. Other than that, I’m planning to avoid doing much writing for this month, although I do have a hefty editing project that I’m doing for another writer.
Also, I’ll probably drink a lot.