BDSM Writers Con is All Joey Hill’s Fault!

(reprinted with permission from RomanceBeatcom)

At the opening ceremonies of the First Annual BDSM Writers Con in Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel, founder and hostess Dr. Charley Ferrer tearfully confessed that the reason the conference exists today was because she’d read a book; in particular Joey W. Hill’s novel The Vampire Queen’s Servant. Doctor Charley stated, “…it was the first BDSM book I ever read that depicted a Dominant woman respectfully and with great empathy. This was especially important to me as I identify as a Dominant woman and it’s rare that I find a book that doesn’t portray me as a club owning ProDom servicing men,” she explained.

Impressed with the author, Doctor Charley jokingly states she wrote “Joey” a fan letter that started with the line, “I’m really disappointed to find out you are a woman because I wanted to kidnap Jacob…” (Jacob was the hero in the story.)

Doctor Charley said that she started the BDSM Writers’ Conference because she wanted to help decrease the level of misconceptions and prejudice that exists and help other authors create realistic characters where the BDSM practiced was authentic and the characters were real. Doctor Charley stated that BDSM is a very individual experience, and that she did not see that diversity in popular culture, so she wanted to bring that variety to the written page.

When Joey W. Hill got up to give her keynote address, she said that Dr. Ferrer had almost taken the wind from her sails, because the point Joey wanted to make was that the real life experience of BDSM is so very personal. She then went on to share how she never understood that she had a submissive streak in her until she became a writer, but looking back, as a little girl, she always had “Ken hold Barbie captive in a dungeon” and she had been awed by the service the Knights of the Round Table offered to their King and Ladies. Joey shared that the first time her husband, who she said is “not a dom - he considers himself ‘vanilla with a mean streak'” tied her up, she had a cathartic release. But she explained that this was before the internet, so for her it was a very personal journey “explored in solitude.”

Joey then commented that for her, the practice of BDSM is “Soul Love - love that speaks to the need to connect and trust, to be safe and accepted in a very lonely world,” adding that if she can give her readers a “one-handed read or a revelation, or both, it’s a win-win.”

Joey W. Hill ended by saying that she would consider herself “a success as a writer if her books made a positive effect on just one reader” and Doctor Charley’s tearful confession of inspiration for the conference seemed to bring her full circle. Joey and Dr. Charley Ferrer both laughed about the fact that they had not shared notes prior to giving their speeches, and yet had a very similar message to share with participants. You can review their speeches at the Riverdale Avenue Books blog, riverdaleavebooks.blogpspot.com