I was recently asked to talk about my working methods, so I thought it would be a nice idea to share some of my responses with you on this blog and add a few extra comments that I thought of afterwards!
Q: Do you have a set writing routine, Cat?
A: I have quite a busy life, with many different demands, so each day is different. What I tend to do is set aside a particular time each day for writing - I usually decide when that will be on getting up and looking at my schedule, or sometimes the night before if I've got an early start - and then try hard to stick to that time. If I don't, it's too easy to let things slide and not get any work done at all. Which would definitely mean a spanking was in order!
Q: I've been dying to ask ... is there a man (or woman) in your life who keeps you on the straight and narrow?
A: I don't know about the straight and narrow! But I do have a partner - very firmly male! - who supports me in everything I do, both career-wise and in my personal life. I did have a girlfriend for a few years before I met my current partner and she was very supportive of my writing too, though I hadn't started writing erotica at that time. I've been lucky, somehow always finding the right people to share my life with. During the short periods when I've been without a partner, I've found it quite difficult to work. I don't know whether it's the companionship and support, or the sex on tap that does it for me, but I'm really much better at everything when I'm sharing my bed with someone special!
Q: Some of the relationships described in your books, easpecially the early books, are very intense. The men in particular seem highly dominant and even cruel at times, sort of anti-heroes, behaving in a very sadistic way towards your female characters. That's a standard line in SM fiction, of course, but I was wondering whether you were drawn towards that kind of extreme fetish behaviour because it paralleled something in your own life?
A: You mean, am I an eager submissive who gets wet at the thought of dominant males with broad leather straps and canes? Not really, no. I've explored that sort of sexual territory in the past, sure, and found it hugely exciting at the time. How else could I write about it so frequently in my novels and in so much closely-observed detail?
But sadomasochism is just one of many interesting places I've visited mentally and physically and emotionally in my life. It's not a fetish for me, if you define a fetish as something which someone actively needs in order to get off, in order to get aroused and achieve orgasm. I often think about such scenarios initially, to 'get me going', and I'm certainly still exploring SM behaviour and power games in my books.
Q: Your new book, the one you're working on right now, that's about female domination, isn't it?
A: It's called LOVE SONG OF A DOMINATRIX, yes.
Q: And how are you researching that?
A: (Laughing) Mainly by slapping impudent reporters like yourself!
Q: Okay, I'll change the subject! We were talking about working methods. Do you work the old-fashioned way with paper and pen or with a laptop?
A: Both, actually. I love writing in cafes and other public spaces where you can watch the world go by while you work, so I often slip out of the house to be alone and work on my laptop with a coffee - and a cigarette in the past, but I've given up now! Sometimes I've forgotten to charge the laptop or it's inconvenient to take it, so I use the old-fashioned stand-by of a notepad and pen. The same applies to those sudden flashes of inspiration you get while you're out shopping or whatever, and you just need to jot down a line or an idea before it fades. At home, I use my main computer, which is a Mac. I love Macs!
Q: How long does it take you to write a Nexus novel?
A: Nexus fiction is usually about 70-75,000 words long. I write about 1000 words a day on average. So some days I can write a blue streak and manage nearly 3000. Other days I roll over and go back to sleep. I dislike routines so I prefer to run my writing life in a very flexible way. I try to achieve between seven and ten thousand words a week. How I get there is left up to chance and inclination. When I fall behind, I beat my naked back severely with tied-together stalks of nettles and strap myself to my computer desk without even so much as a toilet break for five hours or until the work is done. Seriously though, I do beat myself up about a low weekly word count if it goes on too long.
The word-count is everything. Although I love writing erotica, I don't believe in the inspiration of the muse, I believe in the inspiration of the gas bill. You write enough pages, you have a chapter. You write enough chapters, you have a book. It's as simple as that. Though much more fun than it sounds, especially when you're writing an erotic novel!
Q: You only write one or two novels for Nexus a year now. Would you call yourself a professional writer?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Well, that's brilliant. Thanks for talking to me, Cat.
A: Not at all. Perhaps we could talk more off the record now about my research into being a dominatrix ....
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS YOU'D LIKE TO ASK ME, LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW.
CAT SCARLETT is an established erotic novelist. This blog is for over 18s only. Please remember these stories are just fantasies and behave responsibly.
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