FIRST LOVE IS TRUE LOVE
September 2017
I remember being in love for the first time. It was euphoric and all-consuming, filled with constant admiration and unbridled lust. Yes, my first love was indeed a true love.
It was in high school that I began reading Johanna Lindsay and Virginia Henley romance novels under my desk in class. My girlfriends and I would pass the books around to each other and then on to our sisters and their friends. No one even knew where the books came from. There was no such thing as online shopping and we certainly weren’t going into any bookstores and purchasing these taboo novels. We all understood the magnitude of our actions. These were novels that had to remain hidden. Pictures of bare-chested muscular men and half-naked women along with very suggestive titles that would have made our mothers blush. It was perhaps the longest running book lending club ever and we never even knew who started it. But what it started for me was a lifelong love affair for the over the top romanticized alpha male and the erotically dirty things he could do to make me blush. It was no wonder that high school boys never held my interest. Romance books killed any chance they may have had.
Fast forward through life and I found myself back in a place that I had long forgotten. Adulting was distracting for a while and the focus was cemented on work, marriage, and babies. It was only when all that chaos had finally settled down that I found myself searching for something to read. Having read every classic and best seller out there, I finally found my way back home and back to my first love. To the trashy, sexy, fun-filled fantasy world that is erotic romance. I read and I remembered. I remembered how those books of my youth transported me to another world. It was like rekindling a long lost love affair, except this time I knew it would end with my very own happily ever after.
To all the authors whose works I have read and been inspired by. Thank you for being my first true love.
Cassidy -xo
**********************
ELEVATING EROTICA
August 2017
So the question is, why erotica? With a degree in English Literature and a voracious appetite for many different writing styles and genres, why did I choose to write in the least respected one? Now I don’t say this to be narcissistic (although I acknowledge it may be construed that way) but I chose erotica as it’s a genre that desperately needs better writing. I truly believe that it is time to elevate erotica.
Erotica is one of the least respected but often most popular of the written art forms. The mass appeal and ensuing celebrity status of erotic romance novels in the last few years show that the desire (no pun intended!) for such material is overwhelming. Yet still, the writing of many of these best sellers is lackluster at best. As authors, it is our job to give the people what they want and to do so to the best of our ability.
I am a firm believer that debauchery deserves better than to be described in a crude and vulgar fashion. We need to challenge ourselves as artists of the written word to use metaphors and descriptive adjectives that provoke the reader. Moreover, erotic pleasure is a physiological human need that merits a higher reverence than elementary grammar can possibly provide.
Then there was the subject matter. Personally, I am intrigued by the experiences of a particular group of people that are often misunderstood in popular culture. Unfortunately, the swinger lifestyle is still taboo even in the most open-minded of circles. Although group sex is common in erotica, there is more to being a swinger than just the sex. At the heart of it, it is a lifestyle that directly affects a couple’s relationship, either for the positive or the negative. This brings numerous possibilities to the characters and opens up the gamut of emotions that are ever present in all real-life relationships. Using this lifestyle as a backdrop for my characters, I am able to fulfill both the emotional needs and the sexual fantasies of my readers.
So after reading thousands of pages of erotica that did not titillate my own intellectual needs or sexual desires, I decided to embark on a mission for change. My goal is to provide insight and ignite arousal for my readers via quality literary art.
Happy reading!
Cassidy -xo