Literotica Authors 09: Lovecraft68

For a few years now I have been conducting a series of interviews with authors on Literotica. This is the ninth in the series, with the author lovecraft68. He came highly recommended to me by a number of readers, and while not originally that familiar with his work, after reading a few stories I understood why people were so enthusiastic. I think you'll appreciate the very personal history, experiences, and insights that this author has shared with us.

I hope that you enjoy this series of interviews. 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 conducted a light edit only 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?

As you can guess by the name, I'm a fan of all things horror. Books, movies, horror themed heavy metal, art, and I also collect occult works. If it's dark or creepy, I'm into it. I'm also a huge comic book fan. I've been reading and collecting since the late seventies and fulfilled a childhood dream of owning a comic bookstore, 'Shadowland Comics," from 2002-2009.

I'm married to an amazing woman who is far better than I deserve and who is supportive of everything I do, from the comic bookstore, to my writing, and everything in between. Most importantly, she's the light in my darkness who has been saving me from me since we met. She believes in me when I don't believe in me. I wouldn't be doing this interview if not for her as I would have never had the confidence to start writing without her pushing me to never give up on a dream or goal.

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

I was precocious when it came to erotica. At an early age, I recall having bondage and foot fantasies due to finding some BDSM and fetish magazines in a basement my friends and I had snuck into.

My older cousins had a lot of XXX VHS tapes that I'd "borrow" and watch when I was home alone. I think the real turning point is when I found one of those 1960's paperbacks written by "anonymous" with the lurid covers and XXX stories.

This one featured incest stories and they did it for me like nothing else ever had. For some reason, reading sex stories stimulated me more than watching, like the words created a movie playing in my mind that was better than any I'd seen because I was imagining what was going on rather than having it directly presented to me.

What prompted you to begin writing your own erotic stories?

My wife and I have always loved to role play and try to do it at least once a week for a date night. About twelve years ago when she was away visiting family, I had this great role play jump into my head. The scene was so vivid I decided to type up some details so I wouldn't forget anything.

Somehow that turned into me describing what I thought characters would look like, then having a dialogue exchange that led to sex. I kept adding to it and tweaking it and when she came home, I read it to her and her response was, "Damn, that's sexy! What happens next?"

I wrote another scene, then another, and have been writing ever since. Some of my fans might be interested to know "Home is Where the Heart Is," "Karma," "That's What Friends Are For," and "Siblings with Benefits" all had their beginnings in role plays.

The two characters in that first story, Mark Phillips and Allison Saunders led to the creation of the "Circle," a secret BDSM club, and my first full length novel "Welcome to the Circle." Of course, Mark also starred in "Siblings with Benefits."

You write across a wide variety of categories, everything from BDSM to Mature, but the vast majority of your stories are in the Incest/Taboo category. Can you tell us a little bit about how you developed an interest in these types of stories?

It started with that taboo anthology I found. That and Kay Parker's "Taboo." What intrigued me then, and still does now, is the idea of crossing the ultimate line. Not just sexually, but emotionally. The concept of lusting after and falling in love with the one person you're not supposed to is what I find most appealing. It's also a challenge to write a plausible incest story.

There are categories here on Literotica that by their nature suspend belief and allow much more leeway in what the reader will buy into. Science Fiction Fantasy, Non-Human, and Erotic Horror, all deal with things not of this world and don't get bogged down in the speed bump we call reality. "That would never happen" does not apply in a category where none of it would ever happen.

The rest of the categories deal with sexual fetishes and situations between real people. All of them can,and do, happen every day (unfortunately even non-consensually) and although glorified and exaggerated for more erotic appeal than real life generally provides, they are experiences many people have or can have.

Incest, on the other hand, is not so easy. First and foremost, real life incest is often child abuse, rape, abuse of power in the case of parent-child and all around an ugly thing. I say this because its important people see these stories as fantasies both in the true sense of the word, or some harmless catharsis for someone who may have a desire for a family member but would never act on it.

However, here we have Taboo "erotica style." Literotica's requirement that characters are 18+ takes a lot of the aforementioned creepiness out of the topic. Most of the stories are consensual. As an aside, want to get flamed as an author in incest? Write something nonconsensual. Why is that? Because it ruins a fun fantasy to have the specter of rape and abuse rear its ugly head and turn the story into grim reality.

The challenge is how to write a story about something that in real life just doesn't happen, and make it seem like it can. What would push a son or daughter to desire their parent? A brother to see his sister as an object of desire?

My style is to write slow burn stories that feature conflict. My characters feel guilt over their attraction; they question what's wrong with themselves. "Jesus, Ken, you're a sick bastard," a son will say in my stories as he awakes from a sexual dream about his mom.

I use the device of real-life situations such as stress, trauma, heartbreak, even a couple of stories where family members in dire financial straits have taken money from wealthy kinksters to "put on a show." Most of all, I portray imperfect characters who make piss-poor decisions like we all do at times. Stories like "The Return of Molly Minx," "Siblings with Benefits," and "That Damn Red Dress" are not typical incest stories that are found here, and because of that, they have an air about them where a reader will think at points, "Wow, I can see this happening."

When I receive a comment along those lines, I take pride in it. The true mark of a good storyteller is getting people to buy into that story as reality; one the author created and pulled them into. Convincing someone a mother and a son can become lovers by using situations many of us can relate to, but stretch it just enough to cross that line, is a nice trick to be able to pull off.

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?

For the first few years I wrote one story at a time. Now, I split time between erotica and full-length erotic horror novels. When I feel I'm pushing too hard or need a break from the novels, I write something strictly erotic. It's a good breather from the more intense stories, but keeps the creativity flowing.

I tend to write around 1500 words or so a night during the week after work, but on the weekend, I'm a binge writer who holes up in my office until the wife drags me out. If the flow is there, I can put out several thousand words each day.

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?

To me, there are two kinds of stories here: stroke and erotica. There is nothing wrong with either, both have their advantages and their audiences, but they are very different and each has its dedicated readership. There are readers here who won't click a story longer than a couple of pages because they're here to get off.

Others won't read anything shorter than a few pages because they're here to enjoy a good build up and work themselves up. I see it as a sort of "edging" where you're teased for long periods of time and it makes the climax so much better.

Now because of those factions, a longer or shorter story will eliminate some people right out of the gate. Your audience is already predetermined to an extent, but some "one-handed readers" can be won over if you can dole out some flashes of heat in your slow burn.

I use the devices of dreams, fantasies, or daydreams during my story to keep sexual tension brewing. As the story and characters develop I will have the main character staring at the object of his affection -- and there is always a reason he shouldn't -- and have him experience a waking fantasy about what he'd like her to do for him or to him. Even outside of taboo, conflict is what drives that much anticipated release.

If done well, you can give a mini sexual encounter in a paragraph and it gives the reader a reward for sticking with the story and whets their appetite for more. Starting a story with something like that is a good way to hook a reader who may not always prefer longer stories because you're giving them something spicy out of the gate.

Another device is to have the main character have sex with someone other than the main attraction. For, example, I might write about a son having sex with his girlfriend, but wishing she were his mother the entire time. It gives the reader some hot sex, it shows his desire for his mother (or another person in a non-taboo story) but takes nothing away from the main event because he's not with her.

Those are just a couple of examples of how I spice up a long, more character and emotion-based story without compromising the slow-burn style. As I'm fond of saying, "My smut has depth, dammit!"

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

Pretty much what I write. Taboo and MILF stories. My personal kink is for brother-sister stories that have an element of love as well as lust. Paco Fear captured that in his iconic "Words on Skin," and his lesser known, but in my opinion just as good, "Stolen Kisses."

I'm sure many reading this are doing so because they know my name mostly from the Incest/Taboo category, so it will come to no surprise to any longtime Incest/Taboo reader that Alwayswantedto was the master of mother-son stories. I read most of his work and admired the blend of conflict and emotion with some seriously hot taboo sex.

Some of Alwayswantedto's stories had a hint of darkness to them -- not over the top, just a general all is not well feeling -- and I love stories like that. Reading stories by someone who does them well inspires me to try and one-up them. I'm competitive by nature and you need to know what the acknowledged best in the game are doing to be able to give them a run for their money.

You note in your bio that two chapters of "Siblings With Benefits" were removed by Literotica. Do you know why they were removed?

I'm thrilled you asked this question so I can clear up a point of contention I deal with from the occasional reader. For those not familiar with Literotica's rules, they state you're not supposed to start a story here, hook people in, then put the rest out there for pay. That was not the case with SWB.

"Siblings with Benefits" is a 39-chapter story and the final installment has a definitive ending. The conflict building throughout is resolved. "Siblings with Benefits The Finale" was a five-chapter sequel that takes place one year after SWB 39 and shows Mark and Megan's life as a couple and takes them down a new and even darker path than the first series.

It was on Lit for several months, then a reader e-mailed to tell me chapter three was missing. It was removed with a message about the level of violence in the story. I then noticed chapter four was missing with "did your story contain underage sex?" I assure you it did not. There was a reference to the main character being under 18 when something horrific befell her.

I was pissed off. Not over chapter four -- that could have been republished with a simple request for the site to look at it more closely. But chapter three incensed me. It wasn't removed for violence; it was removed for violence against men. There is a double standard in what can be done to a woman -- as in no level of violence seems too extreme -- and men here. I will not compromise to appeal to those few who suffer from cold male insecurity.

The entire "Siblings with Benefits" series is for sale under the title of Broken with some additional material never seen on Lit. I added the Finale as Book 8, the Final Fate of Mark and Megan. Having it for sale breaks no rules as it's a sequel and one once published here.

You note in your profile that you have moved your new works to a fee-based platform, saying that "I am no longer able to do it for free." Can you tell us a little more about your decision behind this? Are you trying to make a living from your writing, or just supplement your income?

Writing as a full-time income, especially in erotica, is something very few achieve. There is just too much competition and hundreds of thousands of erotic e-books for sale. But a decent part-time income can be earned and that's what I do. When I first started selling, it was all material previously published on Literotica.

Many authors, when they do this, remove their work. I left all of mine up as a gift to the readers who supported me and gave me the confidence to take things to another level. Once you start selling, its counterproductive to take everything new and put it up for free and try to sell it at the same time.

What I meant by not able to do it for free was that it doesn't work to do both. With a full time job and family, there is not enough time to write something for sale, then something to put on Literotica and keep going back and forth, so I focused much more on building a library and a following on various platforms where my work is for sale.

The last three or four years, I have not put many new stories here. Most of the ones I have added were for sale for a while and were past their shelf life, so to speak, so I put then up on Lit to keep a presence here and as a thank you to the readers, old and new, who enjoy my work. I've begun to put stuff here more frequently the last few months, and it's nice to see comments saying they missed me and am glad I'm back. Whenever I post something here now, it gives me a feeling of coming back home, it's a nice feeling.

Do you get different types of reactions from readers of your stories on other platforms than from readers on Lit? If so, how do these comments and reactions differ?

The other platforms my work is on are all for pay. You rarely get reviews -- people don't want their name on that nasty smut book they bought -- but you do get money, so dollars become the reaction. Someone liked my work enough to pay for it.

The reviews I do receive are more positive than some of what an author receives here. When people are paying for something, they tend to be more selective, plus leaving too many trolling reviews can have that privilege revoked on some sites. Here, where it's free and readers can remain anonymous, there are a lot more nasty and abusive comments. Sad but true, it's the nature of the Internet.

On the plus side, I sell my paperbacks at horror conventions and comic cons, and since I've been doing it for four years now, I have people looking for my booth every year and for my newest book. I get a lot of good feedback at the shows, and there is no better feeling than someone buying your book and asking you to sign it.

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

I write erotica horror novels that I sell both in e-book and paperback. Two of them, Abigail and Every Dog Has its Day, were originally posted here on Lit several years ago, They have the same hardcore sex I write here, but with elements of horror and a lot of violence. I'm enamored with fight scenes and enjoy writing them. I tell people at cons those books are all the vices wrapped up in one package.

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

The three most powerful words in marketing history were coined by Nike. Just Do It. Don't worry about it, don't think about it, don't ask anyone what they think, don't listen to any outside voices or noise. Just sit down and do it and do it and repeat.

Write unfettered, write without care. Know the saying, "dance like no one is watching"? Write like no one is reading other than you. Write from your heart as much, if not more, than from your mind. Write with confidence, and passion and for the joy of it. Always for the joy of it, and that last line is something I need to remind myself of at times.

Just as important, always write the story you want the way you want. There is far too much obsessing that goes on in the writer forums about scores, views, votes, top lists and the Red H. I understand that the only way an author is 'paid' here is in statistics.

The problem is not every category is viewed equally, and within each category there are factions of readers who like, or dislike, certain aspects of a story. Because of that there are ways to write a story that has more appeal in its category that may get you some more votes or a higher score, but the issue with that is you are now tailoring your writing to masses so to speak. You're now writing their story instead of yours.

One of the best things about Literotica is its vast and varied readership. Just as there are stories for every reader, there are readers for every story. The numbers will come. They will come when you keep adding new stories. They will come when more and more readers discover your work over time.

Depending on the category you write in, that can come quickly (Incest, Loving Wives, Mature) or take longer if you write in a lesser-read category. Patience is key; patience and not selling out your style for the sake of mass approval.

There are authors here who post detailed graphs of their votes and scores. There's thread after thread of discussing how to get higher scores or complaining their votes are down, or why is this story higher than another.

I'm not disparaging them, but focusing that much on numbers can take you down the wrong path. The story no longer matters, the writing no longer matters, its all about the holy grail of a certain score and maximum number of eyes on your story.