How I got into writing Erotica

HOW I BECAME A WRITER OF EROTICA

(First published on Sue Howe's Blog)

Some years ago a woman I knew through a writing group I used to attend submitted a story to Black Lace and had it accepted. It was published in one of the Wicked Words collections. I read the story and others in the same anthology and I realised I could probably write it. That's not to say it's particularly easy to write but I felt sure I had the right mind-set to produce saleable work.

So I gave it a go.

I wrote The Celibate and sent it off to Kerri Sharp at Black Lace Books and within a very short time I had an acceptance. Wow, I thought, my very first erotic story got snapped up!

So I wrote another one.

The Black Lace Wicked Words series was only published three or four times a year so while I was waiting for the next submission period, I sent my latest story off to For Women. I was astonished and immensely gratified to find it was accepted as well.

So I wrote another one. And another one. And... well, you get the idea.

I looked around for other markets for erotica and sent pieces off here and there. Everything I sent off got accepted, except a short story I entered for a Cosmopolitan competition. Cosmo rejected it because it 'contained illegal activity'. Not illegal sexual activity, I hasten to add, but an account of a break in. In this story, Collar and Cuffs, a young burglar is accosted by the the raunchy lady of the house with predictable consequences. It was later published by Scarlet Magazine, who obviously weren't as fussy about the depiction of crime.

I started writing an erotic novel a while ago but didn't finished it (yet!) as I found there was a ready market for short stories and they were much easier to dash off. I've been thinking recently I should get to work on it again. Got to keep my public happy!

Some of the magazines I wrote for are no longer in existence sadly, so the print market has narrowed. Another market has arisen with the rise of online publishing, but the financial rewards are not as high and the quality is not always as good.

This is why I decided to publish some of my previous work as an ebook, The Stiletto Heel and Other Stories. It is available from Amazon for Kindle and Kindle Apps.

So, erotica provides me with my best writing sales and seems to be likely to keep on doing so for the foreseeable future.

Sex, it seems, sells.

For tips on writing erotica, see my other blog.

The Stiletto Heel and Other Stories UK

The Stiletto Heel and Other Stories USA
The Stiletto Heel and Other Stories Germany
Also available at amazon.fr, amazon.es and amazon.it.

Sexy Excerpt from Thriller

Sammy leans across and kisses the blue veins in her wrists. A pulse throbs where the leather thongs cut in. She moans. He kisses her lips, bites them lightly, tasting the blood from her mouth.

Moving down her throat, across her shoulders to the pungency of her armpits, he kisses, licks, nips. Her breasts harden beneath his hands, the nipples stiffening into peaks. He could spend hours like this, days, years, eternity.

‘Pussycat,’ he whispers into her navel.

Her belly rounds softly, sloping to the damp mound of her sex. He tastes her. She moans again. Breathing in her musk, tasting her salty-sweetness, he lingers, exploring the tender folds and hollows. Her legs are spread wide, her ankles tied to the bedposts. Her right foot twists and turns in its bindings, rotating like a creature trying to break free. He watches it squirm, sees the toes clench, then presses his face back into her groin, nuzzling – right thigh, left thigh, middle...

A mewling sound gurgles in her throat and he moves the gag back into place. No one must hear.

From:

DON'T LOOK DOWN  for USA