Check out what Silk Jones had to say about in our private interview and feel free to ask a few questions of your own.
What got you interested in writing BDSM?
I’ve always had in interest in reading erotica and I’ve always loved to write. My decision to write BDSM erotica merges those two interests. As a child, I read every book in my parents’ collection which included “The Joy of Sex” as well as novels by Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon. Later in life, I discovered erotica. My favorite authors in the genre included Anais Nin, Anne Rice, Henry Miller, and those Victorian spanking novels written by “Anonymous.” In recent years, I’ve read BDSM novels by Cherise Sinclair, Red Phoenix, Sadey Quinn and others and thoroughly enjoyed them. I am a novelist who writes romances under a pen name, so I decided to try my hand at BDSM erotica. I started by writing spanking erotica stories for my friends. They loved the stories and encouraged me to publish them. So, here I am.
What resources or research, if any, have you done into BDSM to make your stories realistic?
In reading BDSM erotica, I recognized some things about myself and my past relationships, so I made a decision to learn more about the BDSM lifestyle and to explore it. I joined online BDSM communities and read numerous articles, blogs, and other online resources geared toward educating novices in the lifestyle. I found an experienced Dom to mentor me. I read books about the lifestyle including but not limited to: “SM101: A Realistic Introduction” by Jay Wiseman, “The Ethical Slut – A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships & Other Adventures” by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy, and “The New Bottoming Book” by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy. I attended munches – monthly meetings with experienced local BDSM practitioners who made presentations about various aspects of the BDSM lifestyle and BDSM practices. I also attended “Newbie Night” at a local dungeon where they demonstrated various BDSM skills, techniques, and play practices to those new to the lifestyle.
What differences or difficulties, if any, do you see in writing D/s stories as opposed to your typical romance?
In a typical romance, tried and true classic storylines are accepted, desired and even demanded to a certain extent by the average romance reader. When you write D/s stories, however, an author has to be ever vigilant about authenticity with respect to the lifestyle and avoid clichés. To achieve authenticity, you have to put yourself in the mindset or at least the point of view of a Dom, submissive, Sadist or masochist which might prove a bit difficult if you haven’t been exposed to the lifestyle or if you’re not that experienced in the areas of play about which you’re writing. How does a masochist experience or process pain stimuli? What does a Dom feel or experience when he’s flogging a submissive? Are all submissives masochists and vice versa? The answer to the last question is “no,” but if you don’t know that, you could make a mistake in your novel that might throw your reader out of the story. So writing a D/s story can take more research and more attention to detail and characterization than an average romance novel.
Why have you chosen to attend BDSM Writers Conference?
A Domme I met at an event (she sold me my very first leather paddle) commented online about what a great time she had at the 2014 BDSM Writers Conference and added a link to the conference website. I clicked on the link and was very happy about what I read. The conference seemed tailor made for me. I can interact with my readers, find new ones, get new ideas, learn more about BDSM, and have tons of fun at the same conference. Sounds like the perfect weekend to me.
Silk Jones has always been a lover of all things sexy. Silk writes erotica, erotic romance and erotic poetry. Although she has written several erotic spanking stories to entertain her friends, “The Interview: Law Firm Erotica Book I” is her first foray into the publishing world.
