Today’s installment of the Dirtyville/Kinkyville interview series features May Deva, author of Little Loan in the Kinkyville collection. She shares with us her thoughts on the positive outcome of negative critique, her participation in Alison Tyler’s Smut Marathon and writing for #wankwednesday.

LUX ZAKARI: What initially prompted you to submit your story for the Kinkyville collection?

MAY DEVA: Little Loan is the first piece I’ve ever submitted for publication of any kind. I had written a few pieces for my blog and received some lovely feedback. That prompted me to look at calls for submission, just in curiosity, which lead me to Sommer Marsden’s blog and call for entry. I wrote the piece, agonized over it for a week and then hit “send” before my brain could veto the motion. Lol. Sommer is so lovely that I felt even a rejection from her would be kind enough to not squash my fragile writer’s ego entirely. Happily, it fit the Kinkyville book.

LZ: How did you get into writing erotica?

MD: I have always been interested in human interaction, from a simple hello down to the most intimate sex. I started writing for a boyfriend, who had gone off to college in a different town, something to spice up the distance in the days before instant internet satisfaction. (It worked really well, by the way, and to my surprise he wrote wonderful pieces as well!) I dabbled with it for a while, picking it up and putting down as the mood struck. Then I found this lovely bunch of smutters on Twitter and found so much support to actually put my writing out there to be read.

LZ: On your blog, you have two stories written in a Twitter format. How did this idea come about, and do you think you’ll continue a #wankwednesday series or develop an anthology?

MD: #wankwednesday is the creation of @Your_Dreamer, and a fabulous exercise in structured writing. The 140-character limit on each tweet makes you really consider what is necessary and what is not when writing flash pieces. I have been absolutely blessed to be surrounded by magnificent writers via Twitter, which has been quite important to me as I develop my own voice for erotica. I am continually amazed at the acceptance and willingness to share between writers in this genre. I try to participate in #wankwednesday every week, though life intrudes on that occasionally. An anthology of #wankwednesday would be fabulous though, what a great idea!

LZ: What #wankwednesday piece have you written that you are most proud of?

MD: It would have to be the first—As You Wish. It was such a challenge, for me, to keep to the 140-character limit and still make each tweet interesting. It changed how I edit my work, made me more aware of the well-placed word.

LZ: What is one of your favorite stories in either the Dirtyville or Kinkyville collection and why?

MD: I was afraid you would ask this question. I have to admit that my favorite is a toss-up between your Desert in Kinkyville and Grip by City Different in Dirtyville. Desert is such a filthy little tale with a lovely twist at the end, it amused me while arousing me, and I enjoy that in my erotica from time to time. Grip takes my breath, there is something about the way City Different wields his words that always sends me. Very different stories, but able to make the necessary connection in both cases.

LZ: What was the most meaningful feedback—positive or negative—you’ve ever received?

MD: It was both negative and positive, from a fellow Twitter-ite and writer, who told me that sometimes you can trust your reader to fill in your blanks—that not everything needed to be explained in great detail. When I write, I tend to conjure an image or an ending sentence and work from that. Sometimes that works well, but I do have a tendency to over-explain and over-analyze a scene. It’s what a reader brings to your story that makes it work, if you give them space to fill in the blanks. So, I always comb my pieces for wordiness, over-explanation and too much detail. I try to allow readers the freedom to exercise their imagination.

LZ: You mention you tend to over-explain in your stories—what is your advice to writers who do the same? How do you decide what to keep, what to cut?

MD: Usually, I write everything down that pops into my head at first, I don’t plan my stories out yet. Then I put the story aside for a while—a couple of days, sometimes more. When I do revisit it, I try to edit as if I were reading it for the first time, without my preconceived ideas of how it goes, as most authors do I’m sure. I often ask someone else to read it through, see if it flows well, when I get stuck. I try to weed out lengthy descriptions, unnecessary adverbs (I use them shamelessly in drafts) and useless asides—hopefully to leave the story clear and clean for the reader.

LZ: What can readers expect from you next?

MD: Well, right now I’m participating in Alison Tyler’s Smut Marathon, which is a blast. #wankwednesday pieces will crop up on my blog more frequently, as well as the beginning of a flash serial which starts in the next week or so, and there are several pieces in the works for submission. Oh, and interpretive tap dancing. Lots of interpretive tap dancing.

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For info about the Kinkyville collection, Dirtyville collection or both, visit dirtyvillecollection.blogspot.com.

For details about May Deva, visit maydeva.wordpress.com.