Erotica 101 and Erotica 102

After many years as a professional erotica writer, I like to think I've learned a few things, most all of them the hard way. So, when I received an offer to write a bi-weekly column for AbsoluteWrite - Erotica 101 - I jumped at the chance to share my thoughts, feelings and insights. Not only did it sound like a lot of fun, but I also very much enjoy helping other writers along their own personal road to publication and success.

And I found that there's something immensely satisfying about writing a regular column. It's a challenge to come up with new ways to explain and define the art of erotica writing, as well as to describe the equally important art of selling said writing. A sometimes frustrating, but always enlightening, challenge, and one that has taught me a lot along the way.

These 24 essays - Erotica 101 and 102 combined for the first time into one book - are the culmination of that journey. Each one focuses on a particular aspect of erotica writing, from "Creating Characters With Personality" to "Targeting Your Markets" to "Learning From Rejection." Along the way I touched upon some of the more amusing aspects of erotica writing; "What Will The Neighbors Think?" talks about coming out as a porn writer, "Fetish Writing Can Be Fattening" covers the rich, lush world of genre writing and "Some Sad Truths About Porn Writers" reveals the mundane lives most of us erotica writers lead.

Hopefully I've managed to amuse and enlighten a few aspiring writers along the way, whether by positive example, or, more often the case, as a glaring illustration of what not to do. Either way, I hope that in the pages of Erotica 101 and 102 you will find all the inspiration and guidance you need to forge a career writing in the strange and wondrous erotica genre.