Tagged: Mitzi Szereto

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

Not really! Though to be honest, I consider myself more so a multi-genre fiction writer rather than a writer of erotic books, especially since most of my books cross into other genres as opposed to being straight-up erotica. I prefer to do projects with a much broader appeal. For me, it’s more interesting and inspiring and I think my readers prefer it as well. The fact that I don’t struggle with writing erotic content might stem from having read some of the Victorian erotic classics when I was younger. I always preferred the more literary styles of prose, which no doubt had an influence in my own approach.

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

Not for a long time, no. I realize there are certain instances when a writer might see the need to take on a pen name (such as to establish a “brand” in one or more genres), but it’s a practice I tend to discourage when asked by new writers or when I teach my erotic writing workshops. My view is this: write something that has quality, value and literary merit. The fact that the material has a lot of sexual content is irrelevant. You can find a slew of books on the mainstream bestseller lists that have just as much sex in them, if not more, so that shouldn’t be the deciding reason to take on a pen name.

What was your inspiration for Thrones of Desire?

Red Velvet and Absinthe
edited by Mitzi Szereto
Cleis Press [link to buy]
ISBN-10: 1573447161
ISBN-13: 978-1573447164

Rating: 4 out of 5 Paddles

BDSM Book Reviews sent me another book to review, this one an anthology called Red Velvet and Absinthe. This is a collection of ‘paranormal erotic romance’ edited by Mitzi Szereto. What are ‘paranormal erotic’ stories, you ask? Well, simply put, they’re stories where one or more of the main characters are some type of paranormal creature (i.e. vampire, werewolf, ghost, etc.) and they have a romantic erotic encounter with another character.  With the whole vampire/werewolf craze these days, its no surprise to see it represented in erotica as well.

All together, this book contains fifteen stories by different authors.  The stories vary in length with the shortest being twelve pages and the longest being twenty pages.  There are also sections about the authors and the editor which bring the book to a total of 225 pages.  As always, here are a few of my favorite stories:

Snowlight, Moonlight by Rose de Fer: This story is about a woman who wakes up disoriented in a strangers home.  She remembers snow and blood and the sounds of wolves howling in the night, but that’s it.  She thinks she’s alone at first and then a man comes into the room.  When she wakes next she feels as though she is burning with fever and she has two hungers.  Food and sex.  She wants her host so badly but he doesn’t take advantage of her.  She sleeps again to wake to him waiting for her and to discover that she has been attacked by werewolves and that is why she has been feeling so strangely.  They talk about what this means to her life now and he offers to let her stay and during this talk they finally break and have intense and dangerous sex.  She attempts to turn him with a bite and he springs into dominant action.  He ties her tightly down to the bed to allow her to calm down and tells her to come find him when she does.  She finds him in his lab where another hot scene ensues and then he does as he says he will.  He takes care of her from then on.