Tell us about Body Language
Body Language is my new collection of short stories published exclusively as an e-book. There are eleven stories in the book which where written over a period of about seven years. I began putting together the collection last summer when I realised that I had a wealth of material in my files that for one reason or another had not been published before. Some were written for magazines or anthologies that didn’t happen; others were written for my own pleasure with no real target market in mind. So I chose my favourites from the archives and put them together in two loosely themed collections: Bedtime Stories and Body Language.
I write the kind of erotica that I want to read. The literary porn market has changed incredibly over the last ten years; the traditional publishers have disappeared while on-line niche markets have blossomed. As a reader I have never been wholly satisfied with the trends in porn that have followed. There is a lot of gay porn now written by female writers where the emphasis is placed heavily on romance rather than sex. That’s great for some people but erotica romance is really not for me. Please don’t think I’m having a go at female writers. Some of the best gay porn I’ve ever read is by a female writer called Dale Chase. Her recent collection If The Spirit Moves You is absolutely amazing.
In my stories men are men and they fuck like men. They have big appetites and big libidos. I also like them to be fully developed characters with physical and emotional flaws and imperfections. The kind of porn I like to read (and watch for that matter) features real men having hot, passionate sex, and that’s what you get in Body Language.
When and why did you first start writing erotica?
I must have been around 14 when I used to write stories in my note books at school. While they weren’t strictly erotica, there was always a strong sexual content. I had my first erotic story published in 1994, in a magazine called Overload. The story was called Love Hurts. I had been reading a lot of short stories in magazines and thought I could do better. Of course I couldn’t, that first story was terrible, but it was a beginning. From there I began to take it more seriously as a genre and to improve.
I can’t really explain why I write erotica or what drew me to it as a genre. I have tried to leave it behind and concentrate on other kinds of writing, but I always come back to porn. I think it’s just instinctive. I don’t even question it anymore.
Do you have any other jobs as well as writing?
I do have a day job in the Criminal Justice System. This maybe answers the previous question. The day job is very intense and stressful, dealing with difficult people and situations, so my writing is probably a way of escaping all that, into a more ideal fantasy world.
How do you enjoy reading erotica? Are you a paperback, ebook or audio book lover?
I like paperbacks and e-books. Like a lot of people I’m new to e-books and e-readers. I wasn’t sure I would really take to the format but I absolutely love my Kindle. I actually read more on the device than I ever did before. It’s so easy to use, to buy new titles, to get hold of books that have long since gone out of print. It’s brilliant.
What do you feel has been your greatest achievement to date?
I’ve had two traditional novels published and two e-book collections of my short fiction. For any writer, getting your work into print is a wonderful achievement. To have people read it and tell you how much they enjoy it makes the lonely hours worthwhile.
What would you like to have achieved in 5 years time? What are you doing to help you achieve it?
I hope to still be writing and doing what I love. I aim to publish more erotica as well as fiction in other genres, particularly horror. In order to achieve this I’ve set myself some very strict deadlines and goals for this year. Books don’t write themselves, it’s all about sitting your arse on that chair and doing the work. I’ve set myself a daily writing target, of 3 pages every night and 14 pages over the weekend.
I’m writing an erotic novel right now and have set myself a deadline of 1st May to complete the first draft. Then I’ll have a couple of months to rewrite and revise, before deciding how best to proceed with the finished book. I haven’t quiet decided whether to search for a traditional publisher, or whether to go it alone with a self published e-book. Both have their pros and cons, so right now I’m concentrating on writing the book and will worry about that later. Either way I intend to have the book finished and delivered by the end of August.
September is holiday time, after all that work I’ll need it, and then from 1st October I’ll start work on my next book – a horror novel, with a target to complete the first draft in 5 months.
I need planning and goals to achieve the things I want.
If you could have a fantasy dream date who would it be with and what would you do together?
That’s a really hard question. Most of my fantasies make it into my stories in one way or another. I don’t really dream about celebrities, I’m more interested in the guys I see on the street, or at the gym, or the supermarket.
My dream date is pretty boring, it would involve a good meal, probably Italian, lots of good wine, good conversation, plenty of laughs and great sex.
What keeps you awake at night?
This sounds a bit depressing but it’s the decline of society and morality. The people I work with in my day job cause a lot of despair. As the third and fourth generation of families who have never worked and live on state benefits, their attitudes are completely entrenched. State hands outs are their right and if they can’t afford something they want, then it’s perfectly acceptable, in their opinion, to steal it. If they are challenged about their behaviour or attitudes they retaliate with anger, verbal abuse and violence. Last year my office was burned down because someone didn’t like being challenged over their behaviour (they had been making threatening phone calls to staff). It’s a scary world out there.
In what television show would you most like to be a cast member? Why?
It would have to be something exciting and fantastical. Something like Torchwood. I would love to be a character in a James Bond movie; that would be my ideal. Or a in an old Hammer Horror film, one of the 70s classics like Vampire Circus or Lust for a Vampire.
Who is your favourite celebrity? Why?
I’ve been a fan of Kylie Minogue since she first appeared in 1987. Initially I was a fan of her music but over time I’ve come to admire her strength and attitude. Her willingness to break away and experiment in the 1990s, her return to pop success in the 2000s and her triumph over illness. I’ve been inspired many times throughout my own career by her music, videos, concerts and imagery. I find her more recent output less interesting that what she has done before, but I am still a massive fan.
