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 had no idea! I started out as an essayist and then moved into speculative fiction, mainly fantasy. It was all because I had an idea that beauty and the beast was really a BDSM story longing to get out that got me going. (That story became “Petals and Thorns.”)

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

I wrote “Petals and Thorns” under the pen name Jennifer Paris. At the time I had the idea that I needed to draw a line between my BDSM/kinky books and the fantasy novels. Since then, I’ve come to see how much my fantasy fiction draws from the same dark threads as the kinkier works. I tend to revisit the same themes of power, control and deep intimacy. I won’t use Jennifer Paris anymore.

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

I saw a call for red-hot fairytales and decided to finally write my BDSM beauty and the beast. It didn’t get picked up in that collection, but another press published “Petals and Thorns.” And readers were so enthusiastic about it. I loved that they loved the same things in the story that I did. I discovered more about myself, my work and my storytelling. In some ways, writing that first story allowed me to own and be proud of these kinky themes. I went on to write more and I discover something new and challenging each time.

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?