Literotica Authors 08: Ann Douglas

I am conducting a series of interviews with authors on Literotica. This is the eighth in the series, with the author Ann Douglas. I've been reading Ann's work for literally decades, back to the days when she was posting stories on the alt.sex.stories Usenet group, but she has recently returned to Literotica and has been posting her stories here. I've been a long-time admirer of her work, and I think you will find it well written and very erotic as well.

I have reached out to a variety of authors, some of who have been on the site for a while, others who are newer, but all write stories that I admire. I hope you enjoy this series; please feel free to send me your feedback, including suggestions of some of your favorite authors you would like to see interviewed. These are the words of the authors themselves; I have only conducted a light edit for formatting, typos, and consistency.

Is there anything about you and your background, beyond what is in your Literotica profile, that you would like your readers to know about you?

I saved this question for last, but I think I've covered most everything in the questions below. If there is something else that readers would like to ask, they should feel free to do so.

Do you remember when you first discovered that you liked reading erotic literature? How did this come about?

I really can't remember when I first read an erotic story per say, but I do remember the first erotic scene. I must've been about thirteen. My Dad had been reading a novel that he kept sort of hidden in the folds of his recliner. Curious as to why he felt the need to "hide it," I of course skimmed through it at the first opportunity. It was just your average novel with a few hot scenes, nothing too graphic, but what blew my mind (pun intended) was a scene where the central male character was said to have been orally satisfied by a male masseur. It was barely a paragraph in a several hundred-page book but it was my first inkling that sex wasn't only between a man and a woman.

As I got older, I would occasionally come across more graphic stories in other novels, including books I would find in my younger brother's secret stash -- along with any pictorial magazines he had managed to procure. It was over the next few years that I came to realize that the naked female form had as much attraction to me as it did to him.

Many years later, with the advent of computers and BBS's, I came across a few that were adult in nature that featured adult fiction, or more importantly lesbian fiction. It was on one of these that I first tried my hand at writing -- the story being an early version of what eventually became my story "Prom Night." I think my total readership was four, based on the response I got. I later did two other stories, one that I never rewrote (it was that bad) and one that I no longer remember what it was about.

Jump ahead to 1993 and a friend introduced me to the Internet or more specifically Usenet in the form of the alt.sex.stories newsgroup. At the time, I really didn't understand the size and scope of the Net, thinking it was some sort of larger BBS set up. Wanting to contribute and not just read, I rewrote the earlier BBS story and posted it. In my ignorance however, I posted it under my friend's ID which I later corrected when he set up an account for me.

You say in your bio that you've been writing erotic stories since the early 1990s. What prompted you to begin writing your own?

As I pointed out in the previous question, it was just a matter of wanting to contribute and just not take. I really had no thought that I would be any good at it; I just figured that it couldn't be any worse than some of the things that I was reading.

I should also point out that other than the occasional letter, I really hadn't written anything since high school or the scattered college classes I managed to take in the years afterward -- the last being nearly two decades before. Not in my wildest imagination did I think that I would be any good at it or be doing it for the next twenty-five years.

You also say in your bio, "None of my stories should be taken as autobiographical. They are a mix of real life experiences (both mine and others) coupled with liberal embellishment fueled by an active imagination." Can you say a little more about this - when you are writing a story, how do you decide how much of the story should be based on real life experiences versus embellishment? When you are incorporating real life experiences of other people, how did you gather that information to include in your stories?

The real life aspect in most of my stories is usually background and/or situational settings. Once in a while, a story might be based on what might have been.

When I create a character, there is a certain amount of back story that goes with that character -- at least in my head. This allows me to decide how the character reacts as the story unfolds. In creating that backstory, I might use real attributes of people I know, both personally or because they are well known in the public sphere. What an individual looks like, again at least in my head, might also be based on someone real.

In writing about a place, be it a town or just an office or house, I'll usually use someplace that I've actually been. It just makes it easier to describe. For example, writing about Air Force basic training itself, as opposed to what happened in my story "Basic Training" would not have been as good if I hadn't actually gone through it myself.

In my story "Jackpot" most of the story was actually true, at least up to the point where Shirley went up to the room with Bobby. After that, everything is pure fiction.

Over the years, I've collected little bits of life that have eventually have found their ways into stories. For example, right after high school (early 70s), a good friend who went on to college was standing in the gym watching a girl he had an interest in go through her gymnastic routine. As he watched, another girl came up next to him to also watch. After a few minutes, she said "She's really something, isn't she?" To which my friend replied without taking his eyes off the gymnast, "Yes she is." A beat passed and then the new arrival asked, "Do you think she's straight?"

It took my friend a few moments to digest the fact that his world (as opposed to the one he'd known in high school) had now suddenly expanded to include elements he'd never considered before. His final reply, in case you're curious was "Oh God, I hope so." Life is full of moments like that and I like to use them in stories.

You write across a wide variety of categories, everything from Celebrities & Fan Fiction to Transsexuals & Crossdressers. When you are writing a new story, do you decide on a category first and then start writing, or do you start the story and after getting into it a while, then decide what category it will fit into?

I'd have to say the story comes first and where it would fit category-wise comes later. I don't always know where a story is going to go. The categorization system here on Literotica is a bit more narrow than I might like, but as I've said in reference to other matters as well, when you are playing in someone else's sandbox, you have to play by their rules.

I've had stories totally change in mid-writing. My story "Silk Scarf" was originally started as a conventional older woman story when I was suddenly inspired to make the older woman a transsexual. I've had other stories that were originally plotted out as MF or FF that were changed when I realized it would work better as a different genre.

What is your typical writing style - do you work in shorter bursts, writing a section of a story and then putting it aside and returning to it? Or do you sit down and write a story from beginning to end? Do you work on just one story at a time, or do you work on multiple stories at once?

When I first started writing, I used to write stories in a single sitting, from beginning to end. Since I posted my stories chronologically, those works can be easily found. As time passed and the stories grew longer and more complex -- as in actually being thought about, or even plotted before I sat down to write, that grew rarer.

I tend to write in short bursts, writing as much as possible in a single sitting. Occasionally, I'll find that I've gone off the road and have to back track a little to get back on it. Depending on how badly I've veered, I might take a while to regroup and in the meanwhile might work on something else. Sometimes, I'll find that the story didn't work after all and put it aside totally. Occasionally, at least part of the story, usually background or setup winds up being worked into something else.

I usually work on two stories at a time, each in a different genre. By alternating themes, it allows me to sort of cleanse my pallet so to speak. Otherwise, I find that if I go right from one story to another in the same category, it feels like I'm still writing the first.

Most readers read erotica in order to be aroused, and many (hopefully!) are also looking for a good plot. How do you balance the need for plot in your stories with the "hotness" factor necessary to get attention on Literotica?

I've always said that, regardless of the genders of the parties involved, there are only so many ways that A is going to fit into B. So with me, the story comes first. How the characters wind up in bed together is much more important than what happens once they get there. While stories that are little more than sex scenes can be fun, and I'll readily admit that I've written a few like that, my real enjoyment is the story around it.

I really don't get hung up on the "hotness" factor. In fact, on my original ASSTR page, I didn't even have the setting that counted how many readers any particular story had turned on. I much prefer even short notes from readers saying what they liked or disliked about a story rather than just a numerical count.

I'd much rather have a dozen readers who appreciated the story than a hundred who just got off on the sex.

When you're not busy writing your own stories, what are your favorite kinds of stories to read on Literotica, and why?

Well, I obviously like to read the same sort of stories as I write, which would include lesbian or bisexual, intergenerational and fan fiction. I've noticed that the last receives the least attention here on Literotica, at least based on the response to my own offerings in that category. Which I think is a shame because good fan fiction, defined as stories that not only do justice to the original subject matter, but can stand alone as an enjoyable story for people who have no idea of the subject, can be just as outstanding as original work. In fact, it's been my experience that fan fiction is even harder to write because there is only so far you can stretch an existing character before you break it beyond recognition. So there is a distinct satisfaction when you get it right.

It might surprise readers to know that even though I'm now old enough to qualify for social security (barely), I always identify more with the younger woman in my intergenerational stories. When I was young, I was greatly attracted to older women and tended to prefer encounters with them over my peers.

The older woman/younger man takes are a favorite of my husband's; he also preferred when possible the company of older women when younger, and I write them for his enjoyment.

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Many readers wonder about the sex lives of the authors they like reading. We all know that most stories on Literotica are fantasy, but do your stories provide a window into your own sexual being that you'd like to share with our readers?

I came of age in the early 70's, back when safe sex meant that you were on the pill or simply you had a private place to indulge in it. As a result, casual sex was much more prevalent. I won't say I was promiscuous, at least no more than most of my peers.

What was probably different as far as my sex life went was the number of women in it -- particularly the number of older women. I lost my virginity (in the technical if not physical sense) to an older woman on a summer job in my late teens. If there was any seduction involved I was the one that had done it. Sex with a guy didn't come until a year later by which time I was a confirmed bisexual and continue to be so to this day, notwithstanding 30 years of marriage. My husband has been aware of that since the day we met and we have an understanding that has allowed me to continue to pursue that part of my identity.

I describe myself as an average wife and mother in the fact that aside from the occasional extramarital adventure, that's pretty much what my life has evolved into. I didn't get married and become a mother until my early 30s and while the years before that had their share of sexual exploration, the second half of my life has been more filled with PTA meetings, juggling the monthly bills, and making sure my daughter avoided some of the pitfalls I didn't while growing up.

Outside of your erotica, do you do other types of writing, either for work or pleasure?

Not really.

Any specific advice you would give to authors new to writing erotic literature on Lit?

"To thine own self be true," the Bard wrote and that is exactly what I say to new writers. Write what you want and not what someone tells you to. This is supposed to be fun and it's not like you're getting paid for it.

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Anything else about you or your writing that you would like our readers to know?

Not sure what else to say other than I love hearing from readers and do try to reply to them as much as time allows.

Thank you, Ann Douglas!