Joey W. Hill
Former Keynote Speaker 2014
Golden Flogger Award Winner 2015
Golden Flogger Award Nominee 2016
shares with us about life, writing and more…

Do you participate in D/s activities or merely write about them?
I’ve embraced D/s since my late twenties, when I wrote my first erotic romance, Make Her Dreams Come True. It was then I started exploring my lifelong submissive orientation with my husband and through the available literature at the time. We finally live somewhere that I can attend regular meetings of the local BDSM group, and I’ve now attended a couple conferences, so it’s lovely to have the option of being what I am in a supportive environment. I’m still very much a voyeur, though, with most of my active explorations happening behind closed doors with my husband.

I love that there are currently so many resources available, like this conference, as well as local groups and online forums like Fetlife. When I first explored my submissive side, it was pre-Internet, and I lived in a place where I couldn’t seek out a community. Writing-wise, that was good. I explored the psychology of it without getting bogged down in the mechanics. As such, even though I occasionally screwed up terminology or mechanics (thank goodness, I committed few safety goofs, letting common sense keep me mostly out of trouble – grin), the deep psychology of D/s was what set the bar in my stories and gave me the compass for how I explore D/s with my characters to this day.

Where did you get your information on this lifestyle?
As noted above, when I was initially exploring my submissive side, I went for hardcopy books (pre-Internet, so that was what was available). Three of those key texts are still on my shelf today: Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns by Phillip Miller and Molly Devon, The Loving Dominant by John Warren and Sensuous Magic by Pat Califia. I also give credit to fiction works like Exit to Eden by Anne Rice and Roarke’s Prisoner by Angela Knight (Secrets, Vol. 2). While these were erotic romances, the Dom/sub power exchanges were portrayed accurately enough to guide me to a deeper understanding. On that note I will also sing out a Hallelujah for the oh-so-delightfully-politically-incorrect 80s bodice rippers that fueled my earliest imaginings (grin).

These days I also expand my information through Fetlife as well as attending local workshops and weekend conferences. Now that I live in a more urban setting, I have way more options to explore. I just have to find the time between deadlines to take advantage of that!

Where would you like to see the BDSM genre head? How will it get there?
I’d love to see the erotic romance genre as a whole be judged on the quality of the writing and not marginalized because eroticism is a key part of the work. I’ve never understood why in this current day and age we continue to treat sex as anything less than what it is – a sacred and powerful form of expression that can open the mind and soul to a deeper connection with others.

When I first started writing, any author who incorporated “too much” sex in a book was considered a “lazy writer”, using sex to replace writing craft. Yet in the present AND past I’ve read so many fabulous books in the erotica genre that are every bit on par with “literary works”.

How to get to that place? Whew, that’s the tough one. It’ll require patience. In lieu of sternly wagging my finger at society and demanding it to “Grow up! Stop acting like a bunch of adolescents with a skin mag when you think about sex!” I think we have to wait on the results of what we’re already doing, because I think it’s having a gradual but lasting impact. More and more people are reading and enjoying erotica/erotic romance and not hiding it or apologizing for liking it. They’re attending BDSM conferences like this one or seeking out local groups to learn more. We’re no longer living in a society where 99% of the population views alternate sexuality as deviant or criminal behavior. As education spreads on the realities of BDSM and other forms of erotic expression, I think the literature supporting it will likewise gain more mainstream acceptance.

Will you be attending BDSM Writers Con or other events we can meet you at?
I SO wish I could attend one of the 2016 events. I loved my experience at the first BDSM Writers Con in 2014, and am envious of those who have the opportunity to take advantage of all the experts and resources the con provides. Alas, though, the only con I’ll be doing in 2016 is the Authors After Dark conference in Savannah, Georgia, August 3-7. Come see me there! But in the meantime, you can find me online anytime at FB, Twitter or the JWH Connection fan forum. I also have a place on Pinterest now that tells you a bit about what I’m imagining when I write the books.

Tell us a little about yourself and your writing works.
I’m about as exciting as the color beige. All my other color goes into my writing (smile). I live a quiet, happy life with my wonderful husband of 27 years and my dear fur babies. Respect for all life is an important cornerstone of my existence, evidenced by about ten years of being active in the animal rights movement. Which I now exercise in whatever ways the daily grind will allow in my post-activist (aka middle-aged) life (grin). I worked as a secretary for about 20 years before becoming a fulltime writer. I’m a self-admitted workaholic, so most of the interesting things I have to discuss relate to writing. As such, I kind of prefer to listen when I’m in a group, though no one would ever know it because I do that nervous babbling thing in social situations.

Right now I’m working on a new book in the Nature of Desire series called Worth the Wait because the heroine, Julie, has been waiting for her Dom hero to appear since 2007! If you want to read about my books, you can find free excerpts and blurbs for all of them at my website under the Books dropdown menu. The latest book coming out is Naughty Wishes, which released January 19, 2016.

A little about Joey W. Hill:
Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has published over forty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids.

Free excerpts from all her works are available at her website, www.storywitch.com. Additional vignettes, character interviews and graphics inspired by the work are at the fan forum site, accessible through www.storywitch.com/community.

Twitter: @JoeyWHill  Facebook: www.facebook.com/JoeyWHillAuthor.

Thanks so much for the nominations, and I wish all my amazingly talented fellow nominees good luck!