Welcome — or welcome back — to another Author Spotlight! If you’re new and want to know more about how the series got started, go check out the introduction post.
Today the spotlight is on Canadian erotica author, Jean Ecrivain. Don’t worry, this post is PG, even if her books aren’t. 🙂
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Let’s start with the most important. What’s your most recent/next book, and where can we go to learn more about it and you?
My most recently published book is Steamy Shorts 4. My most recent books are Steamy Shorts 5 which is getting ready to be published [Note: this is now published], and Well Met in Dragon Light, which I’m currently writing. They’ll all be available on Amazon before Christmas but the best place to find out about them before then is my website https://jeanecrivain.wordpress.com/ . I post my news about sales and information on my new books there. You can also sign up for my newsletter there as well as get links to my Facebook and Amazon pages.
Has anyone ever made a suggestion for one of your stories that you liked so much, you altered said story to include it?
Oh, yes. I’ve never actually altered a story because of a suggestion. But I’m always asking for suggestions for my Steamy Shorts series especially. And several of the stories in that series were written because somebody asked for a particular fantasy. In the intro to Queen Bee, I talk about how someone asked me to do a scene between two males and I couldn’t do it properly because I was too hung up. Queen Bee was written specifically because I didn’t want to leave the request undone. I wanted to do a proper job of that request. So, yes, I take suggestions and requests seriously and I’m always writing what my readers ask for.
Do you write in a linear or non-linear fashion?
Usually a linear fashion. I’m a little bit lazy. I’m always looking for an easier way to write. When I write short pieces like short stories, I usually have only the barest idea of what I’m going to write. The idea being that even if I mess up the investment of time isn’t that bad. Unfortunately, lately I’ve had a couple of serious setbacks with pantsing on short works, so I’m not sure if that was false laziness or not. We’ll have to see. Hen Party ended up way out of hand at almost twice its target length. And I really wasn’t that happy with the result although it was good enough. So I may rethink my process.
However, when I’m writing book length stories, I always plot them first. There’s a number of advantages to being a plotter, one of which is that I can write non-linearly if I wish. But I’ve always preferred to tell the story the way the reader will read it. That is linearly. That way if I decide to make a change, I don’t have to throw out any work. For example, in Well Met in Dragon Life, I decided to add a whole chapter. If I had jumped to write the chapter after and then added a new chapter, I’d have had a major rewrite. However, from time to time, I do suffer from writer’s block. I just don’t want to write the scene I’m working on. In that case, I’ll jump ahead, write a different scene and then come back to the scene I was having problems with. But generally I dislike writing non-linearly.
What’s the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?
Pay off my debts so I’m not always worrying about money. Then I’d either travel or buy a tiny hobbit house in the woods somewhere.
Since I already live in a cottage town, the only reason to buy a hobbit house is because I’ve always wanted to live in a fantasy house. It used to be a real castle but now I’d like a hobbit hole. Not a nasty, slimy hole but a proper hobbit hole. One that doesn’t need the cleaning that this place does.
As for travel, I’ve always wanted to see the places that gave rise to the fantasy homes I’ve dreamt of. New Zealand and the movie hobbit houses. England, Scotland and Wales for the forests and castles and Doctor Who. Oh, and Harry Potter, of course. France … well, Paris, Toy and I. What can I say?
Maybe I’d just hire a maid service.
Living the dream that’s me.
What is one question you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview?
The question I’d like to be asked is, “If you could do anything else with your life, what would it be?” Because I’ve done many other things. I still have to do other things to keep the wolf from the door. And the truth is they all suck. The thing that makes me feel most alive, the thing that I most want to do, is write. I’ve always wanted to write. I’ve always dreamed of writing for a living. So the thing I most want to do is to be read. Because if enough people read my books, I can keep writing and publishing my books for a living. And that would make me very happy. And horny. Mustn’t forget that. There is another advantage to writing Erotica, after all.
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Thank you, Ms. Ecrivain for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. If you’d like to know more about Jean Ecrivain, you can check out her Facebook and website, and you can find her books on Amazon.
