Pollygraph (interviews with erotica authors): Hunter Darkly

Why erotica?
I think in part this can be answered in the next question as well, but put simply, I really enjoy doing it. I started writing erotica in a period between novels where I had written myself into a hole and was quite exhausted with the prospect of continuing for the third book. Erotica came as a refreshing and welcome break that was also extremely fun to do - and now I am hooked. Whether anyone else enjoys my stuff as much as I do writing it remains to be seen.

How did you get into it?
I’ll be completely honest here. I filled my Kindle with erotica, both free and paid - good grief… it was like being a teenager again! So I was inspired by other writers really, the ‘I can do that too’ syndrome. At the time I didn’t know that I would enjoy it quite as much as I do.

What kinds of erotica do you write?
I’m not quite sure how to describe it really. Whenever I read one of my stories I often wonder whether they’re a bit too ordinary, a bit too British maybe. They remind me sometimes of the ‘Carry on’ films, though my tales seem to have a messier ending. I quite enjoy giving ‘ordinary characters’ a jolly good time. It’s not very romantic and borders on the hardcore I suppose, but everyone has a good time.

Tell us about your experiences as an erotica author. What have the big challenges and successes been?
It’s too early in my erotica career to have had many successes - or challenges for that matter - which is of course a way of saying I haven’t sold many yet! I did though receive some Twitter messages from a lady in the States who went into great detail as to what my stories did to her state of mind and body. That was a very positive experience for a writer new to a genre - I’d gotten something right for at least one reader.

Do you write in other genres, too?
Yes I do. I’m not going to give out pen-names or anything but it’s safe to say I’ve been writing for as long as I could hold a pencil, including a stint in magazine journalism.

Do the people around you know what you write? How have they reacted, or how would they react?
Only my wife knows what I do. I didn’t tell her for at least six-months, I wasn’t sure what her views would be, whether I would be thrown from the house or exiled to the shed up the garden. Then I was a bit sneaky. I asked her whether she was going to read that book everyone was talking about, ‘Fifty Sheds of Brown’ or something…’ Well the plan worked you see… she loved it so much she read all three books in a matter of a week or so. That gave me the courage to confess my smutty secret! She has read most of my short stories and says she enjoys them. I do think she’s a little shocked at the depths to which my depraved mind sinks though.

My family on the other hand would be horrified to discover that I had not been busy writing something for the ‘Booker Prize’, but had in fact been writing something for the ‘Stroker Prize’. I would be removed from the will without a doubt.

Tell us about your most recent titles.
My most recently completed stories are the two shorts in the ‘Erotic Adventures of Dave Everyman’ series which as I begin to describe them fills me with a fear that they are just a tad too ordinary - not a billionaire in sight - just a leaking drainpipe and an attractive neighbour… and a work’s party and oh yes… a horse-tail butt-plug...

Do you have a favourite, or favourites, among your stories?
I’m very fond of Rachel from my ‘Rachel’s Awakening’ shorts. I had great pleasure in releasing this lovely lady from her inept and uncaring husband and giving her a good time. It was also the first time I was really pleased with one of my covers - my initial attempts had been pretty appalling.

How do you normally go about writing an erotic story? Is there much, ahem, research involved...?
My stories stem from scenarios that pop into my head at random moments. I’d really, really love to say I write from life experience but that would be a big juicy lie. Maybe I’ve written about courageous heroes because I lacked the courage to be one in the real world, and maybe I write about super sexy guys and girls at an orgy because I never got my invite - who knows?

Do you have any favourite erotica authors?
Eleanor Black. I thought her ‘Dirty Little Fuck Doll’ was very courageous, raw, explicit, and honest.

And finally, what can we expect to see from you soon?
Well, I’ve missed the vampire and werewolf boom, and now the billionaire boom, so it won’t be jumping on the bandwagon to resurrect a story I started in 1995 (very pre-Twilight) about werewolves and vampires - only now they will be (get this) billionaire vampires that shag a lot! I’m only joking a little bit but I do want to write about someone who is not quite as nice and ordinary as most of my characters.

Thank you so much for the interview Polly.

More from Hunter Darkly:
website: http://hunterdarklyerotica.wordpress.com/Amazon (US) Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Darkly/e/B007QMFUHS/Amazon (UK) Author Central: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunter-Darkly/e/B007QMFUHS/ Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/hunter-darklyKobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=%22Hunter+Darkly...