Pollygraph (interviews with erotica authors): Arthur Mitchell

Why erotica?
Erotica offers plenty of elements thatother genres don't. It's exciting, sexually arousing, and intelligent, whenit's done right. Good erotica is incredibly flexible too.

I've never been a writer who commits tojust one thing. With erotica, I can incorporate elements of horror, sciencefiction, or mainline drama. Yes, the sexual journey usually takes center stagein most of my stories, but it's compatible with an ethical or aestheticviewpoint in a way that other genres aren't.

What kinds of erotica do you write?
I believe that my job is delivering talesthat push people's buttons. The psychological and sexual creativity infetishism is highly appealing to me as a writer. I enjoy telling stories thatinvolve BDSM, breeding sex, cuckolding, and several other kinks.

Many would say I lean toward the "darkerside" of the sexual spectrum, and I think that's a fair assessment. There'snothing wrong with perfectly consensual vanilla sex, but it isn't as much funfor me to write about. I prefer to explore the sexual and psychic implicationsof extreme power play.

This is why you'll often find that mycharacters are rich snots who enjoyed getting tied up and put in their place,or mysterious elites who find that domination in the financial sphere isn'tsatisfying enough. Others are men and women of waning innocence who toss asidesocial and moral restrictions in favor of irrational pleasure. To me, theserelationships and lust driven transformations are fascinating and sexy.

Tell us about your experiences as anerotica author. What have the big challenges and successes been?
I started out toying with erotic elementsin niche horror stories I used to write, but I usually ended up removing thembecause they veered off into unacceptable territory for most publishers. Later,when I started writing true erotica, I found that the words just flowed in away they never did with other types of fiction.

The biggest challenges have come from theparts of self-publishing that have little to do with writing. It took some timeto learn about the many platforms for distributing ebooks, as well as covercreation and basic marketing. I still have areas where I can improve, and Ihope to make steady progress in the coming months.

I think that my success stems solely frommy own creativity. Fortunately, I believe that some of my best selling titlesare also my most imaginative ones. Bound and Bred: A Tale of ForcedImpregnation and Breeding Bondage, A Rich Girl's Discipline, and Bred bythe Order are among the most rewarding stories I've published.

Do you write in other genres, too?
I used to write a fair amount of literaryhorror and non-fiction. Unfortunately, I soon realized that high brow horrorisn't exactly in high demand, as much as I appreciate it. Zombies and vampiresare far more in vogue, and probably always will be, as opposed to the moreabstract horrors of writers like H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and theirsuccessors.

My other writing is pretty cut and drystuff on personal finance and hobbies like coin collecting. I'm pretty happywith my current writing schedule, where I can let my creativity flow witherotica, and then take a break and jump back into more sobering subjects.

Do the people around you know what youwrite? How have they reacted, or how would they react?
Only a couple people know about my dirtysecret. I'm pleased to say that all who know are supportive.

Tell us about your most recent titles.
My latest works continue to fall squarelyin the breeding sex, BDSM, and cuckolding realm, but I'm experimenting withother kinks lately. For instance, my story Taming a Cat Girl gives amildly supernatural twist to the kitten play side of the BDSM world.

Another recent story called Punishmentfor Peeping Tom mixes stringent voyeurism with female domination. Standalone kinks are great, but I'm having even more fun combining certain fetishes.By the time I'm done planning a new erotica story, I try to make sure that twoor three elements are well represented, like a wild chemist who wants to invent,rather than imitate existing concoctions.

Do you have a favourite, or favourites,among your stories?
I feel that Bound and Bred and Bredby the Order are stories that get to the heart of the themes and a certainaesthetic sense I'd like to express in my erotica. These stories are arousing,dark, and maybe a little bit demented.

They carry a strong aura of mystery aboutthem, which is something that's always appealed to me. While the sex is crystalclear, the motives of the actors and the underlying atmosphere aren't. Gooderotica should be sensual, and I think that these stories take that and run upagainst nagging mysteries that even the author can't quite explain, creating apowerful and memorable reading experience.

How do you normally go about writing anerotic story? Is there much, ahem, research involved...?
I begin with a certain idea or a slate ofcharacters in mind. I only start a story if I know I can finish it, so Iusually let the thought rattle around in my head for a good week or two beforebeginning, just to make sure it's worth writing.

As for the research, I try to make sure Iknow what I'm talking about if a story involves a certain kink or practicethat's new to me. Fetish communities and interviews with practicing kinkstersare an enormous help to my research. Getting information about certain fetishesfrom devotees in their own words is very valuable.
Do you have any favourite eroticaauthors?
Among the current rising stars ofindependently published erotica writers, I admire the works of Selena Kitt,Virginia Wade, and Katie Cramer. All three of these writers are pushing theboundaries of creativity. They are also writers who are happy to discuss theirsuccess and support other authors, which is heartening to newer folks in thefield.

Otherwise, I greatly admire the eroticspeculative fiction tales of Stefan Grabinski, a little known Polish author whodied in the 1930s. His bizarre ideas and heavy, mysterious atmosphere mixedwith erotic scenery serves as a strong literary model I'm trying to recreatewith my own style and modern sensibilities.

Anyone with an interest in dark andrefined erotica should check out Grabinski, starting with his unforgettabletale, "Szamota's Mistress." He was unknowingly writing paranormal erotica wellbefore the genre we know today was ever clearly defined.

And finally, what can we expect to seefrom you soon?
To date, most of my works have been shortstories. I'm hoping to branch out to longer, more intricate tales in the nearfuture. You might see a couple novella length pieces and plenty more shortstories over the course of the next year. I think that longer works will allowme to revisit some of the eerie sex cults and lust bound characters I'vecreated in a more involved way that I think my readers will like.

If you're interested in following mylatest developments, I recommend peeking at my erotica blog and following me onTwitter. More complete profiles and author pages on both Smashwords and Amazonwill be forthcoming.


More about Arthur Mitchell:
Blog:http://arthurmitchellerotica.blogspot.com/Twitter: http://twitter.com/mitchellerotica