Delving

If you write erotic fiction, fantasies you would never share with anyone become the grist for your story. I try to turn myself on with what I write. I figure if it's making me hot, it might do the same for you. I work to turn my characters inside out, so that their deepest personal feelings and the most intimate reactions of their bodies are more visible than their skin.

For a native of the Midwestern US, this took some learning. A wonderful writing teacher—a fast talking and boisterous New Yorker—used to berate us for not baring the souls of our characters. In this part of the country, people tend to say little about themselves. We're considered intrusive if we ask any question more personal than "How are you?" (The accepted answer is, "Fine, thanks.")

The characters in my Fair Warrior Chronicles go through this. They've had an experience that leaves them confused and isolated. They want to keep their thoughts private. But they are thrust into situations that cause them to share their minds and bodies freely. Group sex is their key to power. Forced intimacy opens them to love. The shattering of their isolation leads to happiness.