Here’s an interview with Caroline Stephens.
Take it away, Caroline…
- How did you start writing erotica?
I admit it – I started in fanfiction. Wrote my first general story in the Due South fandom. Then I found some slash stories by accident, read a few, and thought what the hell, let’s have a go. After a few years of writing in a couple of fandoms, I decided to create my own characters and attempt to get published. It was a big step and my finger waivered over the “send button” for days!
- What’s your favourite published work of yours and why?
Pendragon’s Legacy, mainly because I love the “Arthur legend” and really wanted to do a story combining a modern day detective meeting Merlin and fighting evil Knights of the Round Table. However, Riding Drag is a very close second because it’s my first western and I love cowboys.
- What was your ideal career when you were a child?
I wanted to be a teacher. Haven’t done that, but done lots of other stuff including Operations Manager for a wild animal park! May be there’s even a story there.
- Where do you draw your inspiration from?
No one particular place or person. An idea usually pops into my head and I run with it, and see where the characters take me. My notepad is full of scribbled ideas that need to be made into stories.
- What’s the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?
Not really a writing tip, but one for catching your mistakes! Read the sentence backwards. Sounds weird, but it really works and helps you find the little words you’ve missed out or mis-spelled.
- If you get writer’s block when you’re writing, how do you get around it?
Banging my head on the desk didn’t work so now I walk away and do something else. Polish, cook or go out into the garden and potter for a bit. I find myself working stuff out in my head, and usually when I drift back to the computer, I am ready to go again.
- Who is your favourite characters from one of your stories and why?
It’s really difficult to choose. I like them all for different reasons. But if I had to choose, it’s a toss up between Dean Ryder from Pendragon’s Legacy, or Ryan Michaels from Cover Art. They are different ends of the spectrum – Dean is confident and sure of himself whereas Ryan is shy and unsure of himself, but despite all their faults and insecurities, they both get/have their happy ending with a man who likes them for who they are.
- What are you working on at the moment?
I have three ideas at the moment bubbling under the surface and in pieces on the computer. I just can’t quite decide which one to concentrate on first – a battle with long dead Egyptian god, a confident trapeze artist and a shy clown with a secret, or an adventure on the Iditarod trail.
- What’s your biggest writing achievement and why?
I definitely have to say getting my first novella published. The switch from fanfiction to my own characters and settings was a challenge, but I was pretty pleased that I managed and lived through the whole experience. And of course, every time another story is accepted, I get stupidly excited!