Pollygraph (interviews with erotica authors): Tanya Korval
Why erotica?
I'm hesitant to put a label on things, but I think what I write is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between full-on erotica (all sex) and full-on romance (all romance, no sex). I think I sit roughly in 'erotic romance', although My Secret Life is an exception to that: it's more 'erotica with a story and a bit of romance'. I like erotic romance because I like characters and this means I get to write two of them and have them spark off each other, rather than write one central character and a lot of supporting roles. So erotic romance over erotica because I like the relationship. Why erotic romance over romance, then? To me, erotic romance isn't the same as a straight romance with some sex scenes thrown in. If it's erotic romance, it's about an erotic relationship: the sex infuses everything they do, on some level, even if it's subtle. In fact, you could in theory have an erotic romance without any actual sex; it could still be intensely sexual. I prefer that extra intensity.
How did you get into it?
Actually there's a story to that. I was living between London and New York for a while, so was in a sort of pseudo-long-distance relationship with my boyfriend of the time, who was in NY. We started writing each other letters: proper, old-fashioned, fountain pen on paper letters. After a while the letters turned into fantasies and I did a whole series of letters about 'what if I became a part-time call girl in New York?'
Anyway, my boyfriend shared his apartment and, because he's an idiot, he left one of the letters out on a table and the other guy read it. The next time I went over there, this guy kept telling me I should write something for publication. After much blushing and the letter doing the rounds of about five people, I relented and wrote My Secret Life. I really enjoyed it - it was quite a surprise that people wanted to read this sort of thing (yeah, yeah, I'm British and therefore sheltered: I'm less sheltered now!) So I kept doing more and I now have seven books out.
What kinds of erotica do you write?
Contemporary erotic romance, although I've ventured into fantasy erotic romance with 'The Elf Princess's Lover' and My Secret Life is really more towards erotica because the romance isn't the main thread. A common theme is forbidden love. In The Elf Princess's Lover it's a high-born princess and a lowly hired sword. In The Prince of Asteria it's a commoner and a prince. My next book is about a privileged young musician and her super-hot but penniless boyfriend. I'm a sucker for love conquering all.
Tell us about your experiences as an erotica author. What have the big challenges and successes been?
My Secret Life was my first time publishing, so I had to learn the ropes of Kindle Direct Publishing pretty quickly. I've got it down-pat now, though. Covers took me a while, but I think I'm getting better at them: though I have a way to go to match yours, Polly. But probably the biggest challenge has been marketing myself. I've never been one of those people who are good at shouting about themselves and I think a lot of writers are the same. We just want to be left alone in our caves to write. Unfortunately with 10,000 new books on Amazon every second (probably) that isn't an option anymore (if it ever was). So I'm definitely still feeling my way in marketing.
Do you write in other genres, too?
No, not at the moment. I wouldn't rule it out in the future.
Do the people around you know what you write? How have they reacted, or how would they react?
Some close friends know and they think it's great.
Tell us about your most recent titles.The Palace of Asteria is the sequel to The Prince of Asteria which was a real success for me. In the first book Lucy, a shy translator for the UN in New York, sneaks into an embassy party with her much more confident friend. She spills red wine over herself, goes off to find a bathroom to clean up and finds herself in a bedroom with Jagor, who's the crown prince of a small European country called Asteria. Asteria is known for three things: it's very wealthy, very secretive and they say that women have a completely different role in society over there: they're actually collared and owned by men. Lucy, being a bit of a languages geek, is one of the very few speakers of Asterian outside the country... and she's in a bedroom with the heir to the throne, who's as alpha as they come. He seduces her, but they're interrupted and she panics and runs. The next day he hires her as his personal aide and persuades her to fly off to Monaco with him, where he starts to bring out her submissive side. That's the first book: it really seemed to connect with people. I think the idea of a fantasy nation where you actually have female slaves and male masters appealed to a lot of people - we didn't actually go to Asteria in the first book, but we got a feel for it through Jagor.
Now in the second book, we have a lot more of Lucy and Jagor's relationship. They're sneaking around, stealing kisses (and more) behind unlocked doors whenever they can. It's all very furtive and hot: if you've ever tried to keep a relationship a secret you'll know what I mean. The looks across the table at someone; the 'accidental' brush of their arm... all that. Then: disaster strikes. I don't want to spoil anything, but as the name suggests, we do go to Asteria in this book and Lucy has some tough decisions to wrestle with: is she ready to try life as a slave to the man she loves?
Do you have a favourite, or favourites, among your stories?
I still have a real soft spot for The Elf Princess's Lover, actually. It's not my most successful, but I really enjoyed writing it and the people who like it really seemed to love it. I'm a bit of a fantasy geek (Tolkein, a little World of Warcraft, D&D) so, seriously, elf princess meets roguish human swordsman who'll thoroughly ravish her? I was all over that one.
How do you normally go about writing an erotic story? Is there much, ahem, research involved...?
I do quite a lot of planning. I do a rough story arc and then plan out scenes. For something like My Secret Life where there's a lot of plot, I have a column for what's happening in each thread in each scene so that I don't forget anything (for example, clients, her job, the romance). I don't start writing until my plan's clear: of course, I never stick exactly to the plan, but it gives me a starting point.
Do you have any favourite erotica authors?
Kristina Lloyd, Aimélie Aames. Kristina writes fabulously textured, dark and edgy stuff. Aimélie does very rich, romantic flowing prose: if you like werewolves or billionaires, you should check out her 'Her Billionaire, Her Wolf' series.
And finally, what can we expect to see from you soon?
I have something completely different coming out. Not in the 'alpha billionaire' sub-genre; this is an erotic romance about young love. Remember when you fell for the 'wrong' guy and you didn't care that everyone said he was unsuitable; that your parents and your friends all disapproved, that his friends didn't trust you, because the two of you were so in love? This is that! A very shy, sheltered cellist called Charlotte, from a privileged background, falls for a young, virtually penniless rapper called Saul. She's white. He's black. They're in love. Everyone else will have to deal.
More from Tanya Korval:
Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/Tanya-Korval/e/B008A10SSK/Blog: http://www.tanyakorval.comTwitter: @TanyaKorvalFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/TanyaKorval
I'm hesitant to put a label on things, but I think what I write is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between full-on erotica (all sex) and full-on romance (all romance, no sex). I think I sit roughly in 'erotic romance', although My Secret Life is an exception to that: it's more 'erotica with a story and a bit of romance'. I like erotic romance because I like characters and this means I get to write two of them and have them spark off each other, rather than write one central character and a lot of supporting roles. So erotic romance over erotica because I like the relationship. Why erotic romance over romance, then? To me, erotic romance isn't the same as a straight romance with some sex scenes thrown in. If it's erotic romance, it's about an erotic relationship: the sex infuses everything they do, on some level, even if it's subtle. In fact, you could in theory have an erotic romance without any actual sex; it could still be intensely sexual. I prefer that extra intensity.How did you get into it?
Actually there's a story to that. I was living between London and New York for a while, so was in a sort of pseudo-long-distance relationship with my boyfriend of the time, who was in NY. We started writing each other letters: proper, old-fashioned, fountain pen on paper letters. After a while the letters turned into fantasies and I did a whole series of letters about 'what if I became a part-time call girl in New York?'
Anyway, my boyfriend shared his apartment and, because he's an idiot, he left one of the letters out on a table and the other guy read it. The next time I went over there, this guy kept telling me I should write something for publication. After much blushing and the letter doing the rounds of about five people, I relented and wrote My Secret Life. I really enjoyed it - it was quite a surprise that people wanted to read this sort of thing (yeah, yeah, I'm British and therefore sheltered: I'm less sheltered now!) So I kept doing more and I now have seven books out.
What kinds of erotica do you write?
Contemporary erotic romance, although I've ventured into fantasy erotic romance with 'The Elf Princess's Lover' and My Secret Life is really more towards erotica because the romance isn't the main thread. A common theme is forbidden love. In The Elf Princess's Lover it's a high-born princess and a lowly hired sword. In The Prince of Asteria it's a commoner and a prince. My next book is about a privileged young musician and her super-hot but penniless boyfriend. I'm a sucker for love conquering all.
Tell us about your experiences as an erotica author. What have the big challenges and successes been?
My Secret Life was my first time publishing, so I had to learn the ropes of Kindle Direct Publishing pretty quickly. I've got it down-pat now, though. Covers took me a while, but I think I'm getting better at them: though I have a way to go to match yours, Polly. But probably the biggest challenge has been marketing myself. I've never been one of those people who are good at shouting about themselves and I think a lot of writers are the same. We just want to be left alone in our caves to write. Unfortunately with 10,000 new books on Amazon every second (probably) that isn't an option anymore (if it ever was). So I'm definitely still feeling my way in marketing.
Do you write in other genres, too?
No, not at the moment. I wouldn't rule it out in the future.
Do the people around you know what you write? How have they reacted, or how would they react?
Some close friends know and they think it's great. Tell us about your most recent titles.The Palace of Asteria is the sequel to The Prince of Asteria which was a real success for me. In the first book Lucy, a shy translator for the UN in New York, sneaks into an embassy party with her much more confident friend. She spills red wine over herself, goes off to find a bathroom to clean up and finds herself in a bedroom with Jagor, who's the crown prince of a small European country called Asteria. Asteria is known for three things: it's very wealthy, very secretive and they say that women have a completely different role in society over there: they're actually collared and owned by men. Lucy, being a bit of a languages geek, is one of the very few speakers of Asterian outside the country... and she's in a bedroom with the heir to the throne, who's as alpha as they come. He seduces her, but they're interrupted and she panics and runs. The next day he hires her as his personal aide and persuades her to fly off to Monaco with him, where he starts to bring out her submissive side. That's the first book: it really seemed to connect with people. I think the idea of a fantasy nation where you actually have female slaves and male masters appealed to a lot of people - we didn't actually go to Asteria in the first book, but we got a feel for it through Jagor.
Now in the second book, we have a lot more of Lucy and Jagor's relationship. They're sneaking around, stealing kisses (and more) behind unlocked doors whenever they can. It's all very furtive and hot: if you've ever tried to keep a relationship a secret you'll know what I mean. The looks across the table at someone; the 'accidental' brush of their arm... all that. Then: disaster strikes. I don't want to spoil anything, but as the name suggests, we do go to Asteria in this book and Lucy has some tough decisions to wrestle with: is she ready to try life as a slave to the man she loves?
Do you have a favourite, or favourites, among your stories?
I still have a real soft spot for The Elf Princess's Lover, actually. It's not my most successful, but I really enjoyed writing it and the people who like it really seemed to love it. I'm a bit of a fantasy geek (Tolkein, a little World of Warcraft, D&D) so, seriously, elf princess meets roguish human swordsman who'll thoroughly ravish her? I was all over that one.
How do you normally go about writing an erotic story? Is there much, ahem, research involved...?
I do quite a lot of planning. I do a rough story arc and then plan out scenes. For something like My Secret Life where there's a lot of plot, I have a column for what's happening in each thread in each scene so that I don't forget anything (for example, clients, her job, the romance). I don't start writing until my plan's clear: of course, I never stick exactly to the plan, but it gives me a starting point.
Do you have any favourite erotica authors?
Kristina Lloyd, Aimélie Aames. Kristina writes fabulously textured, dark and edgy stuff. Aimélie does very rich, romantic flowing prose: if you like werewolves or billionaires, you should check out her 'Her Billionaire, Her Wolf' series.
And finally, what can we expect to see from you soon?
I have something completely different coming out. Not in the 'alpha billionaire' sub-genre; this is an erotic romance about young love. Remember when you fell for the 'wrong' guy and you didn't care that everyone said he was unsuitable; that your parents and your friends all disapproved, that his friends didn't trust you, because the two of you were so in love? This is that! A very shy, sheltered cellist called Charlotte, from a privileged background, falls for a young, virtually penniless rapper called Saul. She's white. He's black. They're in love. Everyone else will have to deal.
More from Tanya Korval:
Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/Tanya-Korval/e/B008A10SSK/Blog: http://www.tanyakorval.comTwitter: @TanyaKorvalFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/TanyaKorval
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