Golden Flogger Nominee, Judith Anderson Interview
Today we have a special guest, Judith Anderson. Judith is a Golden Flogger nominee for her Anthology, “Pretty When You Cry”
In your bio you mention being in the BDSM lifestyle for a time. When was it you decided to write about BDSM, anything in particular trigger it?
I’ve always been a writer and so always wrote about things I was involved with at the time. When I got involved with the local BDSM community, I wanted to write about BDSM as a person actually involved in the lifestyle and its customs, as opposed to a FSOG type of arrangement.
Nadja’s Choice is not your first work. Tell us a little bit about your other works.
“Pretty When You Cry” was my first release. I self-published it on Amazon in February of 2015. It slowly gained some traction and eventually got over 40 5-star reviews and sold a few hundred copies. It ended up getting nominated by the BDSM Writers Con for a Golden Flogger award in the ‘Anthology’ category. Its a collection of BDSM Erotica short stories I wrote from 2006 – 2015.
I noticed you had self published before, what motivated you to go the more traditional route with Nadja’s Choice?
PWYC got me a lot of exposure through the help of my PA, Lindsey Courtney and my wonderful street team, Judi’s Jewels. Maren Smith is a Blushing Books author and a friend who helped me proof and get PWYC ready to self-publish. She introduced me to Tabitha Black, another Blushing author, who said in the wake of FSOG, Blushing was getting deluged with BDSM manuscripts by people who had no idea what they were talking about, they were just trying to cash in on the craze. She encouraged me to write a BDSM romance. That was the start of “Nadja’s Choice”.
What was the creative force behind you writing Nadja’s Choice?
At the time, I was getting tired of the fact that whenever I saw BDSM on popular media, like TV, there was a chalk outline on the floor. Or the sadist was a deranged villain. I just wanted to tell a love story about two individuals that just happened to have BDSM in it.
In reading the book I noticed two unique features, the first is Jack doesn’t come off like the typical hot alpha male we read today. Was that a conscience decision or just happen?
I understand that most romance has elements of fantasy, so the hero is usually unbelievably handsome and hot and the heroine is a ravishing beauty. I believe that my characters are attractive people, but perhaps not the obvious kind.
The second thing, and it was more obvious is that the heroine, is a full figured woman. Can you share what motivated you to go in that direction?
Being in the BDSM lifestyle, you come across all shapes of people and most heroines in romance novels are usually skinny things, which isn’t inherently bad, but I just don’t think its representative of people in the lifestyle or really society at large. So I wrote a novel that’s perhaps a little more on the realistic side. Although there is BDSM activity in the novel, its not discipline. No one’s being taught a lesson or being corrected. Its just about people who love to spank people who love to be spanked.
If there was anything you could change in Nadja’s Choice what would it be?
There’s a part of the novel in the last quarter where things fall apart for Jack and Nadja that I feel I may have skimped on a little. I still think the novel as a whole is effective, but I think I could have made the situation more dire and grim. The worse things seem, then the ending is just that much happier.
What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your genre, that isn’t so?
I guess there’s a concept that its violent or abusive and its not. All the activity in “Nadja’s Choice” is consensual. It was kinda tricky to make pre-scene negotiation ‘sexy’, but I think I pulled it off okay. :)
What author or author’s have had the greatest influence on your writing?
Douglas Adams (“The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy”) for his humor and ability to play with words and Lawrence Block, a well-respected and honored author in the Mystery genre with over 50 books to his credit.
Last question, what can we expect in the future from Judith Anderson?
My second novel has just been accepted by Blushing Books. Its the first in a series about an exciting new character, Kimber Cassidy. She’s a beautiful plus-size amateur sleuth in her mid-20’s, if Rebel Wilson and Albert Einstein had a love child, it would be Kimber Cassidy. She sexy, smart, brash and bold and I think people are just gonna love her!
You can get your copy of Nadja Choice here.
Judith, thank you for taking the time to join us today and sharing your insights to your writing and your views on the BDSM lifestyle. To you the reader, all of Judith Anderson’s links are below:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/authorjudithanderson
Judith Anderson FB Fan Page : https://www.facebook.com/Judith-Anderson-Author-703982799706360/
Blog : judithanderson.blogspot.com
Twitter : @Jandersonspank
Email : judithandersonauthor@gmail.com
Amazon Author page : amazon.com/author/judithandersonauthor
