Here’s an author interview with Lexie Bay. Take it away, Lexie…
- How did you start writing erotica?
I started writing when I was a teenager. It wasn’t quite as hot or as evolved as my stories are now, but I had so many fantasies in my head I needed to get them onto paper. I liked to spend time imagining the big romances that would come my way when I was older and it helped with the disappointment of early relationships!
- What’s your favourite published work of yours and why?
My favourite story that I’ve had published so far would have to be Decadent Velvet in Smut for Chocoholics. It was so much fun to write and I based it on a huge crush I had at the time so it still makes me hot under the collar to read it.
- What erotic authors do you enjoy reading?
I love to read anything that grabs my attention but my favourite author at the moment is Kay Jaybee. I just love her work, especially Making Him Wait. It walks the fine line between hardcore BDSM and total romance and I love that.
- Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I get my inspiration from everyday life and people. I like to imagine how the people I know might be behind closed doors and then put them in my stories. I also draw on my own fantasies and invent the men I would like to date.
- Do you have any unusual writing rituals?
Not really.
- Where’s your favourite place to write?
I tend to write sitting on my sofa with my laptop, or in my bed. Somewhere I’m cosy and comfortable and preferably not likely to be disturbed. But with two kids that’s unusual!
- Who is your favourite character from one of your stories and why?
I totally love Nathan from Decadent Velvet. As I said he was based on a huge crush so I have a soft spot for him. I also really like Dahlia in Best Supporting Actress from the Sex Toy Stories 2 anthology published by Ravenous Romance. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it.
- Do your nearest and dearest know what you do, and if so, what was their reaction when they found out?
Everyone knows what I do because I can’t keep it to myself! My mum is really proud of me but she won’t read my stories. My dad on the other hand came to a reading at Sh! which was really cool of him but a little off putting for me when it was my turn to read! My family has been really supportive and so have my friends. Work colleagues are fine too although I sometimes wonder what some of them really think. You know how it is with erotic writers…. People assume we live the stories!
- What was your ideal career when you were a child?
When I was younger I wanted to be a rock star or a journalist. I played bass guitar in a punk band for a while but I’m tone deaf so that didn’t really work out! My biggest regret in life is not going to University. I wanted to study English to help me with my dream of being a journalist but I got sidetracked by boys…..
- How do you get yourself in the mood to write?
I have to be calm and sometimes this really isn’t how I come home from the office! I like to do breathing exercises and do visualisations (mainly of hot guys!)
Alternatively if I see someone that looks like they have an interesting back story, or if I wake up from a particularly good dream then I have to make notes and then I can spend all day when I should be thinking accounts, putting together little stories in my head until I can get home and write them down.
- What’s the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?
Just bloody get on with it! And get off Facebook and Twitter 😉
- If you get writer’s block when you’re writing, how do you get around it?
I just leave it for a few days. I try to read some erotica to try and get the mood back but often if I stop stressing about it, then the story comes back to me.
- If you could bring one of your characters to life, which one would it be and why?
Oooh… well most of my characters are based on real people so they are already brought to life…. I guess if we’re talking coming to life and me being able to get with them then it would be Nathan from Decadent Velvet or maybe Sebastian Darcy-Rothschild from Teaching Her to Play, from the Hot Summer Flings anthology by Ravenous Romance. He’s hot and rich and a bit of a Dom…. *fan self*. Yeah he’s gorgeous!
- Which author, erotic or otherwise would you love to meet and why?
I’m so lucky to be a part of the Brit Babes and be able to hang out with some of my favourite erotic authors throughout the year, and I have been lucky to meet some of my erotica idols at the annual Eroticon conference too. Outside of the erotica world, I would love to meet Jackie Collins because she was my favourite author growing up.
- What’s your favourite genre within erotica and why?
I like a bit of BDSM because I think I would like to know a lot more about it but I’m a bit shy 😉 I can feed my submissive side with some of the saucy stories that people write about it instead! My joint favourite would have to be some of the hot M/M and F/F stories that there are out there.
- What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on two novels under my alter ego Ruby Madsen. The first is provisionally titled “Diary of an Affair” and the second is “A Stranger’s Touch”. These are the first long stories I’ve attempted but I’m really enjoying writing them. It’s nice to take things a little darker than my normal style too.
- What’s your biggest writing achievement? Why?
My biggest writing achievement is going to be finishing my first novel. I’ve never managed to finish one yet and I always blame a lack of time. Circumstances have changed this year and I have plenty of time on my hands. 2014 is going to be the year to really get my stories out there in the big wide world and I hope you’ll all enjoy reading them.
Love Lexie xx