Today’s interview is with Vivien Jackson, author of three erotic short stories published via Paper Bag Press. She shares with us how she got started writing erotica, her future stories and what makes for a terrible romance novel.

LZ: You just released your third short story via Paper Bag Press — can you tell us a little about Come Hither?

VJ: Come Hither is a short romp about two very driven professionals who take their competition right on into the bedroom. It’s heavy on the lead-up and kind of frothy on the sex.

LZ: Have you been published elsewhere?

VJ: Not in fiction. I have publication credits on a couple of software manuals, but they aren’t very entertaining.

LZ: What prompted you start writing fiction and seek getting it published?

VJ: I workshopped a sci-fi story about ten years ago, and the response was thrilling. For the first time I let myself believe that it was possible to make money at this hobby. Since then, I’ve been looking for the niche, the sort of story that melds best with the way I write. Not sure erotica is it, but writing this stuff sure is fun.

LZ: Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?

VJ: I think I come at erotica from a wonky angle. Instead of starting with the fantasy or fetish and then building a story around it, I typically start with the character, get that character hooked up with another one, and then figure out how those two (or three, or four) would go about gettin’ nekkid.

LZ: How did you fall into penning stories for the erotica genre?

VJ: Years and years of reading bad romance novels and thinking, “Dude, that is simply not how real folks copulate.”

LZ: What constitutes a bad romance novel? What did the characters/author/etc. do that was off-putting?

VJ: Folks who’ve been reading romance for a long time will be familiar with the term “too stupid to live.” (It even has an abbreviation: TSTL.) Sadly, most heroines (and a good portion of the heroes) are just that. The next time a hero ditches a heroine for her own good and lies to her to make the ditch stick and she buys it, I think I’m going to pinch my eyeballs ’til they pop. Or maybe just send the book through a cathartic shredder.

LZ: Do you have any full-length projects, such as novels, in the future?

VJ: Of course! (My guess is that most scribblers do.) Two of my works-in-progress are past the half-way point now. One’s a historical and very naughty; the other is a paranormal contemporary featuring angels, and it can’t decide whether it’s a sarky chick-lit thriller or a smutty-goodness adventure.

LZ: What do you have in store for readers next?

VJ: Depends on what they want. Two of the three stories on Paper Bag Press were written with specific requests in mind. Reader feedback is such an incredible boost to the muse.

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To purchase Come Hither from its publisher, Paper Bag Press, visit www.paper-bag-press.com/ebook/come-hither.

To learn more about Vivien Jackson, visit vivienjackson.blogspot.com or
www.myspace.com/vivienjackson.

To suggest a story idea to Vivien Jackson, e-mail jacksonvivien@gmail.com.