Category: Author Interviews

Do you use a pen name? If yes (or no), why?

Yes, I do use a pen name; I’ve always been very open about this. I tend to write some fairly extreme fetish stories, which I realize many people would not consider acceptable. I have a day-job which would be put in jeopardy if my anonymity became compromised; hence I am very careful to protect my anonymity. sabrina

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

I’ve found myself writing chastity and forced feminization more than anything, venturing into castration fantasy and transgender stories. I think the reason, is when I started – I started by editing and re-writing a story my boyfriend had written. He wrote it in the first person, and I kind of ‘got it’ but it didn’t flow very well. I sorted it out for him, and in doing so found myself drawn into the genre. The story that he’d originally wrote was ‘The Receptionist’ my first attempt at a story was ‘The Clinical Trial’ and because I’d written in first person I wrote a few like this. ‘The Beautician Trap’ was also one my boyfriend wrote originally, but the version on sale now is so different to his original it’s more or less my story now. I think I continued writing the forced feminization and chastity theme because they are popular, and they are so much fun to write!

Is there an area that is BDSM/kink-related that you haven’t written about yet that you’re interested in?

Tenille Brown

Bio: tenille

Tenille Brown’s writing is featured in over fifty print anthologies including Best Women’s Erotica, Chocolate Flava 1 and 3, Curvy Girls, Going Down, Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and 2012, Sapphic Planet, Suite Encounters, Open, Best Lesbian Erotica 2013, Only You, Sudden Sex and Smut Alfresco.  She writes for Mischief Books, and has non-fiction included in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Writers. The southern wife and mother blogs at http://therealtenille.com and tweets @TheRealTenille.

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

I never made the conscious decision to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica. Early in my writing career, I was lucky enough to receive a personal request from an editor to write a story for an anthology with a Spanking theme. My writing up until that point had been pretty vanilla, and I had never even considered writing about spanking, but I saw it as a challenge that I looked forward to facing down. After successfully pulling off the story, and several thereafter, I was, well am, hooked.

Was there something that happened to you in your life or career that made you want to begin thinking about writing BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

It didn’t occur to me at first, but there are many things I deal with in my everyday life that I have absolutely no control over, and I find that when I’m writing, especially BDSM type writing, I put my energy there, I vent out any frustration there. That is the one thing I know I can control, if nothing else.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

When you first started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre?

Nope. Up until three years ago, I didn’t even known the erotic romance genre existed, let alone the existence of BDSM/kinky books. In fact, the only way I searched for BDSM reading material was through www.adultfanfiction.net.

I’ve always devoured mainstream romances, and I still do. My first two (trunked) manuscripts, though on the explicit end of the romance spectrum, would not be considered erotic by my current publisher. But then I stumbled upon works by Angela Knight and Lisa Marie Rice, and my eyes were opened. I always toned down the sex scenes in my writing, and I wondered what it would be like to let my imagination run wild. I dipped my toe into writing light BDSM with my first published novella Tower in the Woods, and I was pleasantly surprised when it was accepted by Liquid Silver Books.

Now that I’ve found my place in the erotic romance genre, I’m sticking with it. I’m writing a contemporary romance right now where the characters don’t seem to want to do anything BDSM/kinky, and so it’ll probably turn out to be a straightforward contemporary erotic romance.

Do you use a pen name? If yes (or no), why?

Yes, I do. My real name isn’t a secret—I tweet under it and that twitter account is linked to my website. With a few clicks, any reader can find out what my actual name is.

So why the degree of separation? My husband’s work is one where I’m often introduced to his outside contacts. We are also sent overseas to work in conservative countries where wearing a dress is considered culturally insensitive, let alone writing kinky books. I thought it prudent not to have “writer of erotic BDSM romance” pop up if my husband’s work contacts Google his or my real names.

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

I started reading it first. When I found the appeal for myself personally I knew I had to write it.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

Bondage and domination. Mostly because that is what appeals to me personally. I like a man who takes control in the bedroom and frankly, tying me up probably wouldn’t hurt my feelings any. ;-)

Is there an area that is BDSM/kink-related that you haven’t written about yet that you’re interested in?

Not so much an area, but I am toying with a Domme for a heroine and a submissive hero…it might be part of The Market Series. But I haven’t fully decided.

At this point in your career, do you think you’ll write more BDSM/kinky erotica?

Oh yeah. I enjoy the test of wills that comes with the power dynamics. Because BDSM can be so empowering it is a lot of fun to write strong women who love giving up control.

If someone new to your work is going to start with a story, which one would you recommend they read first?

Oh start at the beginning of the series. Love Revealed, then read Love Redeemed (although it isn’t really kinky much), and then hit up Love Reclaimed, but in truth you could read the first two in any order. It’s really the third one that should come last.

Who is your favorite BDSM/kinky author? Movie?

I love. Love. LOVE. Cherise Sinclair. Her Shadowlands books are all so freaking hot. I can’t get enough of them. I may or may not have reread them. Multiple times. Okay, I lost count. *Glances around innocently*

When you started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre?

I did not consider BDSM/kinky books when I first started writing. I originally tried penning YA action-adventure novels. The first book I wrote, Tomorrow Cries (which is not published under Michele Zurlo,) was a vampire novel. It took me almost four years to write that epic story and then trim it down into a manageable tale. Unfortunately, it came out at the height of the Twilight frenzy. Bad timing on my part–especially because my heroine was powerful and strong-willed. I recently self-published the prequel to that novel, and I have plans to continue writing in that series. I’ll include the address to that website in the links below. After I wrote Tomorrow Cries, I read my first erotic romance novel, thought I could do a better job, and so I wrote Letting Go. My Awakenings series is my most popular series to date. It’s the one I get the most emails about. While I have vague plans to continue that series, I’m focusing on expanding my Safe Word: Oasis series and my BDSM romantic suspense series (which doesn’t have a name because I can’t think of one.) Mina’s Heart (Safe Word: Oasis #5) is out March 19 and Re/Paired (Keith and Katrina’s story) will be out April 30.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

I had no idea I’d ever think of writing erotica of any sort, let alone with a BDSM/kinky theme. A few years ago a friend told me about the local kink community, which I had never heard of before. When I went to my first munch, it was the first time I had ever met people who were openly kinky and embraced this part of them. All my life I had thought I was very much alone in my kinky side, and my experiences with a few lovers left me believing there was something very wrong with me. After finding the kink scene, I was so relieved to find out I wasn’t a freak (in a bad way!) that I started putting elements of kink in my stories and sharing my fantasies. The enthusiastic feedback was so wonderful I decided to finally submit my work to publishers.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

I love writing about the process of submission. I’m naturally a sub, but outside of kink I have such a strong and dominant personality that it’s difficult for me to trust that someone might know just as much as I do. I’m a bit stuck-up intellectually speaking, and it’s a personality flaw of mine that makes submission so difficult. But when I can write about the process and share the strength and understanding that happens on both sides, the magic of being a submissive shines.

Is there an area that is BDSM/kink-related that you haven’t written about yet that you’re interested in?

When you first started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre?

When I first started writing I did literary short stories. Then one day a sexy story formed in my head and I had to write it down simply because it wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t set out to write kinky stuff, that’s just what came out. Erotica is where I’ve had the most success, in terms of publishing, and what I’ve realized I have the most fun with and feel the most passionate about. I have done some creative non-fiction recently but I stick to the kinky stuff almost exclusively now.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others?

I write most about tease and denial. There is some element of tease in every single piece of erotica I write. Why? Because that’s what interests me most! I write what turns me on. I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

Is there an area that is BDSM/kink-related that you haven’t written about yet that you’re interested in?

I am very interested in pet play. It is something that came about organically for me, before I even realized it was a ‘thing,’ if you know what I mean. I thought I was just really weird until I started looking into it and realizing, no, lots of people have an interest in this. I actually did write about it a little bit in Mischief’s Cougar anthology, in my story “Dear Fuckbook.” But I would like to do more, perhaps a whole novella involving pet play in the future.

When you first started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre? No, I never thought I’d head down the BDSM/erotic romance route. I started out on a creative writing course that covered all genres from children’s books to magical realism. I found my niche, however, when I stumbled across a writing competition run by online sex shop LoveHoney – http://www.lovehoney.co.uk – and fired off a naughty story about the first US female president up to naughtiness in the Oval Office with the British PM and much to my surprise I won first place! That was it, I was off on a roller coaster ride of sexy stories and I haven’t looked back since.

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica? After winning the competition I began reading the genre more and more, naturally my writing headed down the same route. I always like a good deal of romance with my stories though, I guess I’m a big believer in love and that it really does make the world go round.

Do you write BDSM/kink erotica based on what you find interesting or sexy, or do you write more for your audience? Definitely what I find interesting or sexy myself, if I didn’t ‘feel’ the storyline then I wouldn’t be able to write it. Having said that, I don’t want to try out everything I write about, I guess that’s the beauty of being an author, I can slip into my characters head and experience wild, edgy things vicariously.

When you first started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre?

I started out writing paranormal romances for Harlequin’s Nocturne line and it became a sort of game of mine to see how far I could push the envelope before my editor would freak out. To her credit, she only ever encouraged me to write hotter. But it wasn’t really hotness that I was after.

To me, if a sex scene doesn’t provoke the reader–there’s no point to it. That’s why the head games and self-discovery that are part and parcel of kink and BDSM are fun to write about. They create a story within a story.

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

I’ve been writing romance for a number of years and felt constrained by the conventionality of mainstream sex scenes. I always try to say something with my work, and BDSM has a lot to say. It’s about power games. It’s a thumb in the eye of society’s constraints. It’s about self-discovery and trust on a level that many vanilla love stories cannot reach. So the first opportunity I had to write a provocative love story–I took it. It was LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME which includes a consensual slapping scene that has freaked out some less open-minded readers for sure.

Was there something that happened to you in your life or career that made you want to begin thinking about writing BDSM/kinky-themed erotica?

When I was growing up, someone very close to me was a battered wife who continued to go back to her husband again and again. I never understood the near-fatal attraction. And I was terrified he was going to kill her. Because of this, I think it became important to me to understand the difference between an abusive relationship and a consensual relationship that did not fit the norm.

When you first started writing, did you have any idea you’d be writing BDSM/kinky books? Do you write in any other genre? Yes, I knew. Yes, I write in several genres.

Do you use a pen name? If yes (or no), why? Several. A pen name must suit the genre plus some of what I write could get me lynched, stalked, or both.

Are you actively involved in BDSM? If so how do you identify yourself? Dom(me)/sub? Top/bottom? Switch? Yes, I’m still active, though not as much as I used to be. I’m pure Dom.

At what point did you decide you wanted to write BDSM/kinky-themed erotica? The moment I found out I could sell it.

Is there one area of BDSM that you tend to write about more? Why do you think that area creeps into your writing more than some others? Spanking, cropping, caning, etc..

Do you write BDSM/kink erotica based on what you find interesting or sexy, or do you write more for your audience? If I don’t find it sexy, it’s hard to write but I enjoy turning my readers on, so most anything goes.

What have you written in the past that you think your BDSM/kink fans might find interesting? Dominant!  It’s the tale of one man discovering his own true dominant self, and of the woman who worshipped him. It’s based on my own life, with names etc. changed to protect the guilty.

Do you do any “hands-on” research when you’re writing BDSM/kinky themed erotica? Been there, done that

What is your favorite fetish? Why? The crop. It’s intense and very direct communication.

What might be something of interest to your fans that you don’t think they know about you? I made my own cat-o-nine-tails, from scratch. She loves it.