Author Interview with Erotic Romance Author Natasha Carter and Discussion of Sexuality in the Media

Ep 261: Writers chat! Author Interview with Erotic Romance Author Natasha Carter and Discussion of Sexuality in the Media. Natasha reads chapter 1 of her erotic romance book Unfinished Business for us. Then she and I chatted about writing, the writing process, and what we like about it, and what we don't. She shared her views about how regular romance books are missing all the juicy goodness of relationships because they are vanilla or limited in their delve into the sexuality of relationships. We both believe romance lit needs sex in it! Sexuality is a part of being human and in our society, we aren't allowed to live it freely. We discussed sexuality in books and the media and how society suppresses women with regards to sex--if women like sex they are a slut and if they don't, they get labeled a prude. There's no safe space for women along that gradient, it's chocked full of shame all along the spectrum. We talked about self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and how people should self-publish. She shared how she wanted to create a character in charge of her sexuality and owning it and felt strongly that her story needed to be in the world. She also shared about her WIP books. Thank you, Natasha!

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Connect with Natasha on her website: https://www.booksbynatasha.com
Natasha on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NatashaCL7

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Transcript

Hello, this is Ruan Willow with the Oh Fuck Yeah! With Ruan Willow podcast. I'm so excited you're here today.

I have an amazing guest and she's an author of a new erotic romance book. On my podcast I talk about all things related to sex and sexuality. I have guests on who help you have better sex and better relationships with yourself and with others.

And I also have erotica. I read my erotica and others. I do erotic improv. All things related to sex and sexuality. So baby love if you are under 18, this is not for you. You must leave the podcast now because this is for adults only.

Now my guest today is Natasha Carter. And we bumped into each other on Twitter because we had a mutual troll. So we bonded over that and then I congratulated her on her book and then we talked about her coming on the podcast. That was her second connection. Of course I was excited to have her on.

And then our third connection, which was totally amazing to me, is when I started investigating her I realized we're from the same state. In fact we only live a very short distance apart. How crazy is that in this world, right? We bump into each other on Twitter multiple times and then we find out we don't live that far away from each other.

Okay, so Natasha Carter is an independently published author who resides in rural Minnesota with her family. She writes fiction novels in several genres. Her first completed novel is an erotic romance. But she's also halfway through a mystery suspense thriller and has several other projects in the works.

With her background in psychology, Natasha has a knack for connecting to people through her words, which is evident by her following of nearly 145,000 people on Twitter. Woohoo! That is an amazing thing. Good for you Natasha. Natasha loves animals, nature, spirituality, astrology, tarot cards, and serial killer documentaries. She is open-minded, inquisitive, and enjoys engaging with people from all over the world. Her writing is both inspiring and evocative. She is skilled at writing complex characters that readers become emotionally invested in within a few pages or so she's been told.

You can get her book on Amazon and her website is booksbynatasha.com. You can find out more about her in those spots, but we had a great chat. We had a lot of fun and she reads for us. She reads chapter one from her book, which is called Did I Even Say the Book, Name It? Unfinished Business by Natasha Carter.

Okay, this is really exciting. We had a great time. Hope you enjoy this and let's go. Before we get into that though, I do have a quick word from my sponsor for this podcast episode. Thank you, sponsor. Love your body. Men love your body, but if you do want to change it, you can try this.

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Malehanger.com, male, like the gender, M-A-L-E, hanger, like what civilized people hang their clothes on, all one word, malehanger.com. Check it out. And don't forget to use the code O-F-Y-10 for 10% off at malehanger.com. Okay, now we're on to the interview, but first we get to hear from Natasha Reading, and then we chat all about her book and sex in the media, sexuality, how it's portrayed, especially with regards to women. So it was really fun, and I hope you enjoy. 

Let's go. Hello, everyone. I'm so excited to talk with this person. I found her on Twitter. Actually, her and I had a very unusual thing that actually brought us to meeting each other. Maybe we'll touch on that. Maybe we won't. 

She is an erotic author, erotic romance, and her name is Natasha Cardoo, and she just published a book, Unfinished Business. Welcome, Natasha. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited to chat with you and find out more about your book, and I love talking to other authors, so it's just always fun for me. And so tell us about your book, and I would love it if you would read some of it once. Would you be willing to do that? Yeah, I can do that. I can read the first chapter. I'll just do it. 

If you want me to read first or talk a little bit about it first? Maybe talk a little bit about it first and what it's about, and just anything else you want to mention before we dive into the juicy stuff. Basically, this book was written on a dare. A fellow writer challenged me to try my hand at the genre, and I was like, no, no, I couldn't do that. I couldn't write that. And so it was just supposed to be a writing exercise, and when I started writing it, it just kept going and wanted to be a book. So that's how it happened. That's awesome. That is a very good way to start, right? I mean, you shouldn't expect to, but then it became this, took out a life of its own, in other words, right? Yeah, yeah, definitely. There was a lot of times where I had planned on writing a certain way, and the characters disagreed with me and did their own thing. 

So I totally get it. That's awesome. So I would love it if you'd read some of Unfinished Business for us. Okay, I'll start. Awesome. 

Standing at the podium with shaky hands and sweat trickling down my chest, I read a passage from my novel, my first novel. Every pair of eyes in that bookstore were glued to my face. It was the moment I dreamed of ever since I first held a book in my hands. All the late nights I spent pouring my heart and soul onto those pages were finally worth it. 

Just as I got into the flow of the story, the sound of a bell jingled at the front of the store. The breeze from the open door tossed my blunt locks into my eyes as I looked up. A soft give-up escaped my throat because walking in late was usually my thing. 

Then I felt him. His presence entered the room before he did. Across a sea of faces, his dark familiar eyes drilled right into my soul. Robert Lachlan, the one that got away. 

I drew a breath to steady the tremble in my voice. My fans were waiting so I pulled my gaze back to the book. Thoughts rattled around my brain as I failed to focus on the words in front of me. Did he really choose the most pivotal moment of my career to pop back into my life after years of not speaking? Yeah, dasy. 

I tried to hold onto my anger as his eyes fixed on me like a hunter stalking his prey. But raw, unbridled lust simmered beneath my rage. No longer invested in the words coming out of my mouth, I wondered if he was picturing his lips unmindfully stared. I stole a glance and a mischievous smile lit his handsome face as if he'd heard my thoughts. 

The vengeful part of me wanted to stomp across the room and slap him. But my body, weak for him as always, yearned to shove him against the wall and rip his pants off. I had not seen Robert in over a decade, but the second her eyes locked, I became reckless and uninhibited. I would have stripped naked in front of the entire crowd just to see the hunger I evoked in him. Instead, I ran my tongue across my bottom lip and nibbled the corner before looking him again. 

An irresistible fire still burned between us. Minutes passed before I finished the opening scene. The sound of my heart skipping rope against my breastbone drowned out the syllables in my mind. Finally, it was over. I addressed the audience and avoided his gaze. 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to my words. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I loved writing it. After the applause faded, I made my way to the book signing table. I had no idea how I would get through the small talk expected of me when the only thoughts in my mind were of his hands on my skin and the feeling of him inside me. I made it through the hour. 

My cheeks soared from the incessant speech and smiling. Robert and I couldn't keep our eyes off each other. I ignored the wetness between my thighs as the sound of my heart pounded in my ears. It was difficult to breathe with him watching me. 

The last person headed out the door and Robert removed his hands from the pockets of his jeans. He took slow measured steps toward me. I stood, refusing to engage in conversation with him from a submissive position. 

The chemistry between us was undeniable, but I was so angry and confused by his vanishing act years earlier. His devilish smile almost made me forget, though, while his eyes devoured every inch of me. Hey, Rissa, the nickname rolled off his tongue as the wits spoken just yesterday. His smooth voice made my knees tremble. It's been a while. 

My tone was arceded. I pretended thoughts of him didn't permeate my mind and invade my dreams with regularity. Although I wanted him to take me in his arms and throw me on the table, I projected a cool and calm appearance. His wicked grin told me he saw through my facade. He always did. He looked damn good and he knew it. He ran a hand through his thick dark hair. 

I almost forgot how sexy you are when you're mad. I didn't trust myself to speak. I bet you're wondering why I'm here. 

His words were quick and jittery. I straightened. Happy, he sounded nervous. 

Of all the bookstores and all the towns and all the world, you just happened to walk in in mine. I smirked, unable to resist. The look that flashed across his face indicated he got the reference and remembered the night we shared a blanket under the stars. I was a series of coincidental events, he said, bemused. My heart raced. 

He knew I didn't believe in coincidences. I walked out of my local coffee shop this morning and someone bumped into me knocking my cup from my hand. When I went to pick it up, your big brown eyes stared at me from a fire on the ground. If I was the type of guy who believed in science, I guess you could say the universe pointed me in your direction. 

He winked. I moved closer. I couldn't help it. I wanted to touch him. He needed to feel his beard on my neck as he left a trail of kisses down my chest. The magnetism between us was primal, instinctive, and unavoidable. He looked at me like the first drop of rain after a severe drought. I wasn't going to fight it. He could have me however we wanted me, even if only for the night. Well, you did it. I knew you would. 

He gestured to my book on the table. Overwhelmed with emotion, my words caught in my throat. I nodded. 

He had no idea how empowering his encouragement had been. Do you want to get a drink and catch up? He asked, his eyes holding a different question. Yes, I didn't hesitate. I knew I shouldn't, but neither of us had time for games. We both knew what would happen the minute you walked through the door. Denying it wouldn't change anything. 

It was the reason we kept our distance all those years. We were equally drawn to the flame, both fully aware we were bound to get burned. Looking outside, we walked to a wine bar down the street, making small talk along the way. We kept it light and casual, acting like two old friends who ran into each other. Nothing more. 

But knowing looks from past your body indicated the sexual attention was obvious. He held the door for me like a gentleman, but I felt his eyes scoping out my ass through the tightness of my black skirt as I walked by. I slid into one side of the booth and he sat across from me. He aged gracefully with just a hint of gray at his temples and a tinge throughout his beard. The tight blue t-shirt clung to the muscles on his chest and accentuated his biceps. 

Our young were not stopped by the table the greatest. Welcome to Mullins. Have you had a chance to look through the menu? Would you like to try a couple of fights? I started to open my mouth with Robert and injected. Two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, please. He remembered my favorite wine. I hurt ganced inside my chest as I excused myself, anxious to freshen up. Upon entering the restroom, I was surprised by how attractive I looked in the mirror. A bit wild, but alive in a way I hadn't appeared in a long time. My dark almond-shaped eyes sparkled along with my pearly white smile. My eye makeup was still intact, but the liner was smudged on the bottom, adding to my feline like sexual prowess. The heat from within gave a rose tinge to my defined cheekbones. I highlighted my full lips with tinted glass before spritzing, aptile scented perfume on my wrists and between my breasts. I ran a brush through my hair to smooth out the tangles and popped open the top two buttons on my fitted fuchsia shirt. 

I wanted to provide a generous amount of cleavage for his viewing pleasure. Back at the table, we kept to save topics until I brought the first sip of tart liquid to my lips. Setting my glass down, I uttered the words, I promise myself I wouldn't. I've missed you. 

I burst from my mouth and I couldn't take it back. We were both stunned into silence. He blinked several times and then whispered, I missed you too. I think about you all the time. 

Here's the end of the leak from the corners of my eyes. I had longed to hear those words from his lips. Instead I stuffed those feelings down and flashed a seductive grin. You're always on mine, mine too, especially in the shallower. I ran the tip of my tongue along the rim of my glass before finishing it. The desire in his eyes will forever be etched in my mind. 

He slid out of his side of the booth and sauntered over to mine. I moved over to make room. He rested his arm across my shoulders. Even that minimal contact aroused me. He rested his hand on my thigh, rubbing my bare skin with his thumb. I would have let him take me right there on the red leather cushion if he wanted to. 

He leaned in and teased my earlobe with his teeth. How is it that you've gotten even sexier since the last time I saw you? My nipple's hardened from his hot breath on my neck. He slid a hand beneath my skirt and grazed my lips through my panties. I would carry you into the bathroom and fuck you on the counter, but I want to take my time with you. The sink sounded fine to me. However, getting caught probably wouldn't do great things for my career. Or perhaps it would. 

Publicity is publicity after all. Let's go to my hotel. It's just down the street, I suggested. Done. 

He took cash from his wallet and threw it on the table. I was such a dirty little slut for him. Was I going to bring him back to my hotel without asking any of the questions on my mind and continue to make excuses for a man that didn't bother to make them himself? Yes, yes I was. Barely made it five feet from the door before his hands grip my shoulders and sent me backward against the brick building. His weight pressed against me as his lips met mine and the last of my defenses crumbled like a sandcastle against the surf. His lips were as soft as I remembered and I still tasted the delectable wine on his tongue. His kiss was slow at first and hungrier. He grabbed my ass as I was about to export our forbidden desires. I forgot how much I loved kissing him. 

Again, I felt compelled to let him bend me over right there. He pulled me long. He pulled back long enough to stare into my eyes. I could kiss you forever. 

His voice was barely a whisper. Those words stirred up the mosaic of emotions. Once upon a time I wanted to ever with Robert. I'd be lying if I said I didn't any longer. But at the same time my body had a mind of its own and she wanted to take her panties off and get fucked on the sidewalk. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him with reckless abandon. I couldn't get enough of him. The need to become one was animalistic and unyielding. 

He stole his mouth from mine again and held me at arm's length. Professor, if you keep kissing me like that we won't make it to your room. I winked embracing the vixen he turned me into. Then stepping away I walked forward. Come on then, better hurry. 

Yes ma'am. I love that. Oh, that was awesome. I loved hearing you read it. I really love that part where you said she wants to take off her panties and get fucked on the sidewalk. That's really fucking hot, right? I mean, that's not hot. 

So okay, so that was so much fun. And so what you said you were inspired to write this because someone challenged you to write? When you first set out, did you have an outline for the entire book or did you just have a little bit at the beginning? Not at all. So this was my first even foray into fiction because before this I was just writing nonfiction like blogs and personal essay type stuff, poems. But I'd done maybe a little bit of fiction for writing exercises and that's kind of what this was supposed to be. An erotica author that was a friend of mine was like, you should just try it. I think it would be really natural for you to write an erotic story. 

And I was just like, I don't know. And I was like, I'll just give it a shot. We'll see how it goes. 

And so I didn't outline anything. I just had kind of like this vision in my mind of a kind of a fantasy type of thing that popped into my head that I was like, okay, this would be an interesting. Story. So I just started and then like the first chapter, the first two chapters I'd say where all that I had originally written and I thought that was going to be it. And then I just had like another idea that connected to another one and it just kept going and had a lot of fun with it. So that's really cool. 

So I just kept growing and growing. So then as you were expanding it and you know, building on it at that point, did you say, I know where this is going to go or is it something that just kind of like unfolded in front of you as you were writing? It unfolded in front of me as I was writing. I had no idea where it was going to go. I didn't even know how it was going to have an end until I wrote it. And then, you know, over the course of this took a while because like I 

finished the first draft probably within like eight months, I think, because I started it. It was during the pandemic. Actually, I started writing it in the summer. And I finished it in like February of 2021. Okay. And then I went through multiple rounds of editing revisions and everything. And so that's 

what took the longest part. And so yeah, when I was finally like sick of looking at it. Okay. I'm not changing anything else and I'm just going to put it out there. Exactly. You get to that point where you feel like you've done enough and just, 

it's just time. But yeah, you do get to that point. I get to that point too where I'm like, I don't think I can read through this again. Like, you know, like you just can't. Because every time you read through it, you change something and then you sometimes change it back to the way you had it before. And it's like, I just enough. And my problem is every time I go back through something, I add more. Never take anything out. So then I'm like, it's getting longer and longer and longer, which is okay in certain times, but not other works. You don't want it to keep growing sometimes. So tell me about your writing. And you said you started writing nonfiction. Did you 

write as a child or is it something that you started as an adult? What's your writing history? I've always loved writing. And I used to write it as a child all the time. And really, like when I was, you know, 10 or so, I was like, I'm 

going to be a writer when I grow up. And I was like 100% sold into it and was like telling everybody I was going to be a writer. And I don't know what happened, but like during my teenage years or something, I just, it kind of, I like let go of that dream. Maybe so much discouragement from other people like, oh, you're never going to make it as a writer. You're not going to make it as you need to focus on something else. And 

so I did. I totally went the opposite way and I studied psychology in college. I was going to be a psychologist and then I got pregnant. So I didn't go to grad school and pursue that one. But I did take a couple creative writing classes in colleges for fun because writing was still my passion. And I still felt that inside me. But I just was like, I can't focus on it, but I can still dabble. And then after, you know, becoming a mom, I took some different directions. I worked 

at a school with special needs kids and I'd wait just for a long time before that. And then I worked at a healthcare company and then I worked for the county as a child support officer. And just all the kinds of things. And after like four years of being a government employee, I was so bored. Like the same routine of doing the same thing every day for that long was just like, oh, soul crushing. And so then I was like, you know what, I'm just going to start a blog because I still want to be ready. Yes. And I was like, and I don't know what to do, but I'm just going 

to do it. So I started a blog. And then I came across something called elephant journal, which is like an online magazine. And I saw that they were accepting submissions and they're like, you know, I'm just going to give this a shot. So I sent a story to them and they loved it and they promoted it in their magazine and I was like, cool. So I wrote for them for a while. Then I put some stuff on medium just because I was like, what's this? I don't know. And then somebody actually approached me from one of my articles on elephant journal and 

asked me if I did copywriting. And I was like, no, no, but I can. And I started doing some stuff for them. And then I just started a business and started doing all kinds of copywriting and social media stuff. Nice. And then, like I said, I started writing fiction and I actually have like nine books in progress right now. Nice. But I just don't like the crazy person. No, you kind of sound like me 

because I have too many things in the works too. Like I have, I'm like, I don't write just one thing at a time. I mean, some people do that. And that's not me either. I need to bounce around. I'm the same way. So I totally get it. Yeah. 

Well, some of them are just like, I don't need to be done yet. So 

they need a time. Yeah. Exactly. And for me too, sometimes, you know, after I write something, I like to let 

it sit for a little bit. And then I go back to it. You know, it just somehow there's that does something. I think that's common for everybody. Like, I think they even recommend like once you finish your first draft of a 

project, leave it alone for a few months. Before you start revising it. So I mean, that's what I did with this book. And yeah, I have one that I've left alone for a while that I'm ready to tackle again. Yes. The mystery suspense thriller genre, but there's still some spicy content in there too. Nice. Nice. So then so common, I hear that from a lot of writers that they like 

to write as a child. And even if they left it for a while, which I did too, it has a coming back. Like it's in you. And so it ends up somehow coming back to you. And so many people do that. And eventually in life, they start to do it again in some way, shape or form. It's just a part of you. Yeah. Yep. It's almost kind of like people who become writers. It's like they've tried really hard 

not to become writers. Yeah. They're like, okay, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I'll just do it. I know. But I, you know, I was like you too. 

Like everybody's like, Oh, you're not going to make it. You're not going to, it's going to go nowhere. So then you think you got to do the responsible thing and not do it, even though it's screaming in you to do. Yeah. Yeah. You can only shush it for so long. Exactly. That's, that's, I think 

that's very true. It'll find its way back into your world and it will happen. Yeah. So your book is on Amazon, right? Is doing anywhere else or just strictly 

Amazon solely? I'm still right now. I'm just doing strictly Amazon. I self-cublished through them. So I haven't utilized any other avenues at this point and it's only been out 

for a little over a month. So I'm just kind of seeing how it all goes. And then I might try some other options as well. Yeah. And you have to be careful because once you're exclusive with Amazon, you, you 

can do some things to change it, but you can't, you don't get certain perks when you're exclusive with them. But if you're going to declare exclusive with them, then you can't put it elsewhere. So they do have some like rules about all that kind of stuff. And, you know, Kindle Unlimited is a really nice perk that they have and you 

can put it on sale. So there are benefits and you can get, you make more money on the books if you do it, you know, strictly through Amazon. So there are benefits to only doing Amazon. For me, what I like to do is I like to put some in Amazon and some wide to kind of do both. So you can maybe pick and choose different projects to do that with to just kind of expand your reach, you know. Yeah. So I did just enroll in Kindle Unlimited yesterday. So right now the Kindle 

version is free to read. I don't know how long I will keep it on there for that. It's more 

of just a test run to see how that goes. Right. Because you can, you know, and you do get paid for people who read that you get paid for how much they read. And then it just, it can help to, to help you get more reviews too, just because people can read it. You know, it's there for them to read. So it's a good tool. The less of a risk for them, for a new author. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So what was it in you that made you want to write erotica rather than 

like a romance? Like what was your trigger? Well, it's kind of both. I say that it's an erotic romance because even though there are a lot of spicy scenes, that it still has a lot of the emotional piece. And it has a happily ever after whatever. So happily for now, whatever. Yeah. Yes. But I honestly, when I read a lot of romance novels, I feel like there's 

something missing because there isn't any sex or if there is, it's very vanilla and almost male centered. And I'm like, what, leaving reading it wondering if the author has ever even had an orgasm. And I think there's something to love to be desired for me and I can do a much better job. I totally understand. That's 100% why I did it too. Because I was writing just plain romance before too. 100%. I'm like, it's just missing something when it doesn't have sex in it for me 

because it's just a part of life. It's a part of relationships. So for me, it was like just like, like a shell of what it really should be or could be. So, yeah. I mean, and you can find out so much more about a character 

by how they behave in the bedroom. Like I really use those scenes as character development because it shows so much about a person. It does. And what I think it's cool too is it can add more layers 

because you may act a certain way in the bedroom and different outside of the bedroom. So it adds more layers to a character. 100%. And people really are more sexually driven than. 100%. society allows us to act 

like. I feel like we're trying to hide some part 

of ourselves that's so normal and human and healthy. It's like, this needs to not be this way. And then yet we almost like promote violence and it's like, for most people aren't violent, but everybody's pretty sexual. Right. 100% agree with you. And I think it's totally messed up, but I totally 

agree with you. And so we need more stories like yours and what I like to write too with sex in it out there to make it more normalized because it's so taboo and hush hush and yeah, don't talk about that. But yeah, all this violence is just okay. Is it makes no sense? The natural act of sex is like, come taboo in 

so many places. And it's like the opposite of what it should be. I mean, the act of like creating life, which is like the closest we can ever be to spiritual things is like shame and like that seems so backwards. I mean, no, right? It's something that's so integral of relationships too. Not even just 

even that part for sure, but also it's an integral part of relationships. And if you're not having sex, then you're not really in a romantic relationship. I think you're in like, you're married to your cousin or your sibling or something. If you're not fucking, you know what I mean? That's the way I think of it anyway. Anyways, then you might as well just be roommates. Exactly, exactly. Might as well just be roommates and not the friends with benefits and roommates. So what's your favorite part of the writing process? Is it thinking up the characters 

or the storyline? Do you like editing? I always cringe when people tell me editing is our favorite part and I'm like, what? No, I hate that part. It's my least favorite part. Me too. Like I think that's probably why a lot of my books are still left unfinished is because I love drafting the best and then I'm like, I don't wanna edit or revise it. I'm just gonna start a new project so I can draft again because it's that moment where you get into the flow of the story and conscious thought stops and you just are writing and you don't even like know what you're writing and you're just going and it's almost like you're taken over and it just happens. And then you read it back and you're like, wow, I wrote that. I don't even remember writing it. That's kind of similar what happens to me. Like I kind of feel like I'm 

in a movie and it's just kind of like playing, you know what I mean? Yes, yeah, that happens to me too, which is really cool. And you just zone out to what else is going on around you. You're just so entrenched in it, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm definitely a panster. I don't ever outline or plan anything. It just happens and that's where the magic happens for me. Right. Yeah, I hate 

people who have those opinions about, oh, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do this. You can't pan. Like, shut up. Everybody's different, you know? I'm trying 100%. And it's like, if that 

works for you, cool, but that doesn't work for a lot of people, including Stephen King. He didn't outline. He didn't outline. Oh, I never knew that. No, yeah. So that's fantastic to know. It's in, I know he wrote a book. I've read 

a part of it. So I actually have it, but I haven't finished it yet. He wrote a book on writing, but I haven't finished it. I read that book too. Did you? Was it good? I need to get back into it. I think it's helpful. And I mean, it wasn't like what I expected, but it was helpful and interesting. So good to know. I'm one of those people too. Like, I'm reading too many 

books right now also. Not only am I writing too many books, I'm reading too many books. That happens to a lot of us. I always kind of feel like I'm cheating on one book when I start another 

one at the same time, but it's unavoidable because I don't know. Like, just that you get excited about something. And you're like, oh, but I want to start this, but I'm already reading this, but oh, well. And same with writing. And, you know, I talked to somebody the other day. I was like, haven't you 

read my book yet? And she was like, no, because I'm already reading three right now. Yes, wait till you're done with those three this time, please. You had a fourth in there, right? So do you have a favorite character in 

your book? Yeah, I'd say that the main character, Karissa is my favorite. She's a little bit, like I wanted to write a character that was both like soft and strong to show that you can be both feminine and masculine as a woman, as a person, as a human, like to show both sides of the duality of a person. And she can be, you know, go after what she wants and still be like sensitive and emotional at the same time. So I also like wanted to show that, because I feel like society is especially repressed for women when it comes to sexual. And I feel like it's so unfair. Like we're not really like ashamed for enjoying it and also ashamed if we don't 

like it. So it's like you're here, there's a letter approved and it's like, where's the middle ground here? Right. So I wanted to write a character that was very like in charge of her sexuality and owning it. And then I also wanted to push the boundaries a little bit of what society expects from women in the bedroom. And, you know, there is, I will say, a threesome in this novel. Okay. Two men and a woman. Nice. Because there's often, you often see threesome's in the TV shows or movies or whatever, 

but it's almost always two women and a man. So I wanted to do something a little different. And I wanted to like focus more on her because like I said, I'm sick of the male centered sex that's portrayed most of the time. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you did. It's so true though. I totally agree with you 100%. 

And it's really sad. Yeah, it's, you know, you're seen as bad whether you love sex as, oh, that's bad. And if you're approved, that's bad. So no matter what we do, it's like somehow, somewhere we're being shamed. And it's 

totally fucked up. It is. And I'm sick of it personally. Me too. I totally am. And like it's so annoying too, because so many people have such an opinion about 

sex. Like if they find out, now what do people say? Do you tell people you wrote this book or are they like, do they, are they judging you? But like, oh my gosh, you wrote about sex. Do you get any of that kind of shit from people? So I was really nervous about how it was gonna be received. Actually, my husband was probably way more nervous than I was because I don't care as much about what people say about sex. I'm kind of like, okay. But we do live in a small town, so he has these concerns. But honestly, 

the feedback has been, we're willingly positive from people even in a small town. Like just the other day, I went and dropped my little one off to register for kindergarten and the lady at the table was like, I just ordered your book. And I was like, and I'm always like really like warning them, like, hey, just so you know, it's really explicit content. It's a very unconventional storyline. And they're just like, oh, I'm excited, you know, because 

it is different and it does kind of, is a color outside the lines in this story for sure. That's awesome. And that's great too, that you're getting that kind of response and people aren't like judging you and looking at you like, oh, you wrote what? You know, like, that's awesome. Well, they might be. And I did tell my daddy probably shouldn't read it. Yeah. Probably not, exactly. That's probably a good thing to say too, but he doesn't 

want to go there. He doesn't need to. He can read lots of other books, right? Right. I'm like, maybe wait for the next one. Right. There'll be others that will be more appropriate perhaps for a dad. Because even if 

you think about like other books that are considered spicy books and like consumed mainstream, like Fifty Shades of Grey, she's still a virgin. And I was like, this is so, like, why are we still in this mindset with these books here? Oh, fuck that. Yes. Like that. We've all lived lives and had sex, especially if we're in our 

30s and 40s and we have kids and families. Yes. Exactly. Like we're pretending like that whole area of life doesn't exist, you know? 

Like, and I just feel like it's actually getting worse. Like in the media, it's like getting worse, where it's even more hush hush, you know? Like, it's going the wrong way. Yep. Two things I've noticed even just since publishing Amazon will not allow me to 

do an ad of my book. Yeah. Because it's adult content. And my ad on Twitter was taken down because of that. 

And I was like, this is so I can't even advertise. And it's like, but I could, but if it was like a story of like a mass shooting or something, then it would be OK. Like, how's that OK? That's my beep all the time. And I always, I talk about that a lot too. And it really pisses me off because someone who's, yeah, writing about serial killers, murder, 

war, they can advertise. And we can't when we write about the natural act of sex. It's just, it's so fucked up. It's so backward and so just wrong. You know, and what bugs me is that on Amazon, they can funnel it. They 

can funnel it to people who are already buying that kind of content. They can funnel it by age. They can funnel it to the right people. Why don't they let us advertise? It's horrible, isn't it? It is. It's frustrating because 

as a society, I think people would have much healthier, better marriages if they were more open and willing to talk about sex. And I think that's something that's really missing is that communication aspect. And the big part of it is because we're just hiding everything and we can't promote books that have sex in them. I joke about getting a big blood blood letter and sewing it on my shirt when I walk around town. Exactly. I know, isn't it so true? And because it's like that, then a lot 

of people in their marriages don't feel like they can talk to their partner about sex. So that becomes a thing too. Like people can't permeate even relationships where some people can't talk about sex. With or even their partner who they're having sex with, it's totally messed up. So what? There are a few places you can advertise. Shameless book deals is one 

that you can advertise, but you have to put your book on sale to advertise with them. But they have a base of people who like books and they have a base of people who like erotica. So it's one place I have tried selling, but you do have to put it 

on sale. So then you have to use the Amazon, how you can do a free promotion or a reduced promotion. I don't know if you've looked into it that far, but you can do every three months, you can do promotions. So that's one place that you could do it. And then you just hook it up with Shameless book deals when you have it on sale. And then they can advertise it to there. But yeah, there aren't very many places to advertise, which is just really ridiculous. Social media is one place, which you know, because you have a very ginormous following on Twitter. How did you do that, by the way? That's pretty amazing. So yeah, I mean, 

it kind of just like took on a life of its own at one point. I just got on Twitter because someone said, if you want to be a writer, you need to go on Twitter. And I was like, yes, okay, fine. I've never been on Twitter. And this was in like 2019. So I got on and I had no idea what I was doing at first. 

Like, I was just like saying random shit. And I like that. Like I was just like tweeting out my random, most random thoughts and people really liked it. And I had had zero censorship on myself because nobody I knew was on there. So I just was myself completely. And that's what kind of grew my phone. Now everyone knows about it and everybody's watching me. And so I feel like I'm more restricted. It's different. Yeah. So like people who will come up and say something to me about something I posted on Twitter, I'm like, I didn't even know you were watching my Twitter. This is great. Imagine. But I'm getting really frustrated with Twitter. Maybe this hasn't happened to you and hopefully 

it won't is that they are restricting words. So like anytime I use a word erotica, sexy, sex, there's there's a whole stream of words I cannot use. And if I use them in a post, they slam a sensitive content warning on my post and it reduces the reach. And so this is what happens on Instagram. But now it's happening on Twitter. And it didn't used to be that way. This is something relatively new. And it's really frustrating for me to try and I mean, I can't even say 

the word erotic erotica, sex, sexy. Oh, and I said milk the other day and they flagged me for milk. It's unbelievable. I have not encountered that yet, which is surprising other than just having my ad taken down. Right. But I haven't encountered any of my posts being flagged for sensitive content. But I 

have seen that on other people's posts that have just been like erotic or erotica or something. And I'm just I just think that's crazy. I tend to use the word spicy instead because that's supply under the radar. Yes. And that does on Amazon too. So I do that a lot too. I 

just switch it to spicy. But I even did steamy once and they caught it. So yeah, it's really getting sensitive. So so frustrating. You know, it's like especially for someone who's trying to advertise their books where there's nowhere to advertise with social media and Twitter has always been one that's kind of open to that. It's disappearing. It's changing. Now we're even losing that in this stupid environment we're in 

that everybody's so taboo sex, you know, it's just so frustrating. It is frustrating. And I've had my issues with Twitter since it was purchased by Elon a number 

of ways. Like it used to be really easy to grow because as part of my freelance businesses, I grow other people's Twitter accounts. I help them grow. Okay. And even like so the accounts I manage are having a lot less growth and 

even it's even impacted me. I used to just collect 100 followers a day without doing anything without even trying and that doesn't happen anymore. Like I don't know what he's done to the algorithm, but it sucks now. It does. And even before he came on, I wouldn't grow. And so like I don't hardly 

grow at all. And what I don't understand is people follow me all the time. But my notes don't go up. Right. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Like I'll 

see it myself, you know, just doesn't make any sense to me. And I flip flop between 11.7 and 11.8. And that's all I do. Flip flop 

back and forth. And I don't ever grow ever, even though people are following me. So I don't understand it either. It doesn't, it seems rigged. I don't know. Well, 

I feel like I feel like I do because like I'll grow a couple hundred and then I'll set in those couple hundred are gone, like within a few days. And I'm like, I took two weeks to get that. And now it's just gone. And I'm like, they're not all bots. They can't be. No, they can't be. Exactly. 

I know. I don't know what's going on with it. But yeah, I think 

it's, it's messed up. And then people had people say that I've unfollowed them and I haven't unfollowed them. So I don't know. I've had people get mad at me and be like, why did you unfollow me? 

And then like, or like, just get mad and be like, Oh, I was unfollowed for that comment. And I was like, I didn't follow you. That happens to me too. And I know people do get hurt by that. And you're like, well, I didn't 

even do that. So something is doing it for us. And it's not cool because, you know, and they have bugs me is that people 

actually have relationships on Twitter. And so, you know, if you think you're getting along with somebody and all of a sudden they don't follow you, that's kind of hurtful. You're like, well, what did I do? You know, right, right? Depending what kind of person you are, you may not say anything. And you may just like be hurt by it. And that's just even more to 

think about. Like, what if I, what if it's been happened to other people who and they just don't talk to me anymore, because I don't think about it or hear about it. And that's what I don't like. It's like these people like him, you honor making all these choices that are impacting all of our lives, our businesses, he just doesn't seem to give a fuck. Right. And I'm like, fuck you, you know, like, I just think that's fucked up. 

And I just said fuck a lot. But it's okay. I don't know. It just bugs me. It's like they just don't even care. Like, you know, these 

are people's lives or relationships or livelihoods, their businesses are being impacted by him making these decisions, which he doesn't care. He's rich. He doesn't care about anything or anybody apparently, because he's just doing whatever he wants. So annoying. Okay, so I got some more writer questions for you. Now, for a quick word 

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this podcast. Search for that. You can get all the info right from there. Check it out. Okay. And now back to the interview. Let's go. Okay. So I got some more 

writer questions for you. Do you do any research for 

your writing? Do you feel like, you know, if you're going to have a certain topic or something you haven't done or particular sex toy or something, do you do research? So I did have to do some research for this just because I wasn't sure like what the process of having a book turned into made into a movie was. So I had to kind of look into that. So things like that I've had to look into. And then for my next book, which is more of mystery suspense, I've had to do a lot more research because like I mean characters are detective and I don't want to just guess and make things happen that don't make sense. So So things like I do a little bit, but usually after the fact. So I'll write draft and then go back and be like, okay, so I have to find out whether this actually makes sense or not. Right. And that's a nice thing too, is that you can write your story and go 

back and put those details back in. You know, in your editing, you can be like, oh, this still feels kind of hollow or doesn't feel solid. I want it to be more realistic. You can add that stuff back in, you know? For sure. And so how would you define, I like to ask writers this question, authors, what 

for you defines your success as a writer? What is it to you? It's hard because I, like everybody's been congratulating me on my success right now and I'm like, I'm not even there yet. To me, it's for my standards, because I'm not stopping until I'm on that New York Times best sellers list. Awesome. I'm not slowing down, I'm not stopping. That's the goal and I'm gonna get there. 

It may not be with the first book, second book, it may be the nice seventh book, but I'm not stopping until I get there. It may be not even. I love that, because that's kind of my attitude about things too. I'm not stopping. 

I'm not stopping. And I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna write probably the rest of my life on some level. Yeah. When I'm a 70, I'll still be writing the most spicy story. That's right. I love that. I love the nursing home. Exactly. Hey, there are probably 

very many books like that, so maybe there'll be a 

niche for that someday. An entire market. Exactly. I think that's true. Honestly, I really do. So what's a typical writing session 

for you? Do you plan out a time of 

day? Do you do any things to trigger for you? Like some people have certain snacks, some people have a certain drink, some people have a certain time of day, some people say, I'm gonna write an hour and a half every day. Do you have any of that kind of stuff? My life is pretty chaotic. So, no. I just recently made the switch. I was working full-time in marketing, and I just recently made the switch back to doing more, focusing on my business again. So, I'm hoping to have more time to write, because I haven't had much time to write over the last few months. And I randomly fit in 7,000 words last weekend while in the car. So, nice. So that was actually really nice. I've become better at being able to, 

I used to need silence to write. And now I'm like, I can just write no matter what chaos is going on. And it's helpful. I used to prefer to write outside in nature with no silence or with no 

one else around. And now I'm like, well, I can just write right here. And it's fine. That's good. That's good. It's nice to be able to be more flexible with that. Because yeah, sometimes it's 

really hard to do that. And sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate to be outside, right? Right. And so, when you're writing, kind of touched on this a little bit already, do 

you develop your characters fully or do you start with the plots or do you feel your characters kind of evolve into their fullness as you're writing? Yeah, so I don't always know exactly who a character is until I start writing. I'll have a vision of them maybe, but they kind of fully actualize throughout the process of the story. Yeah, I think that too. And that's kind of how mine are too. Some people have it so dictated out, and I find that kind of hard and restrictive. If it's so, yeah. You can't go where the story is going or let the characters kind of take 

it like we were talking about earlier. If you have it so strictly defined and rigid. Somebody said before, we're just a vessel, and the characters, they make their own decisions and write the story. We're just writing up the incident report basically. I totally understand that. Because yeah, I like that too. Sometimes for even the sex 

scenes, I'm not quite sure what they're going to do. I might have a little bit of an idea, but it just sometimes they just start to do something. Like, okay, yeah, this is what's going to happen. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Especially those kinds 

of scenes. Well, because you're trying to make them different enough. If you have a lot of 

them throughout your story, you want to do something different for each of them so that they're not, it's not repetitive. Right. So I'll start with like, okay, I'm like a general idea of I'm going to do this so that it's different from the last scene, but then just see what happens. Yep. I totally agree. Absolutely. And one of my favorite questions that I asked people 

who'd like to write and 

have wanted to have written since they were a child. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? I always kind of think about the book that first got me to want to be a writer. And that was, that's why I'm like something to my tongue right now. Madeline Langell is the writer is the author. And it was turned into a Disney movie recently, a wrinkle in time. Oh, gotcha. Okay. So that book I read when I was probably in fifth grade, I think. And 

you know, I'd loved reading before that I'd been reading. So maybe this isn't the most impactful thing because I had already developed a love for reading. Like as soon as I started reading, I was just in love with it and would go to the library all the time. And like when I was even younger than fifth grade, I'd ride my bike to the library and read the books and I, you know, bring my chips and my Snapple. I love it. I was in the library after school. I was quite nervous. But when I read 

that book, that book made me want to be a writer. So that was the difference because I read it and I was inspired to write my own story as like almost a sequel to that book. And when I, and then I ended up using it for an assignment. And that was the first time that a teacher was like, you know, you're really talented. And that was when I was like, I'm going to be a writer. And we already recovered that, but that was the most like powerful moment for me. And there, you know, and I've interviewed quite a few writers and there are so 

many writers that have a teacher story where a teacher said to them, you, this is good, or you can really write or you can write poetry really well. And it's just astonishing to me how that is a thread among so many writers who are writing today and how wonderful that is that those teachers planted that in our brains and we didn't let go of it. We held onto it and it was a nugget that stayed there and maybe grew like it's, it's really cool. Yeah. Because it wasn't just one teacher that said that to me. I wrote something for 

a math project with all the things, but it was the same like flow that happened that took over and just wrote this. I didn't even know anything about baseball. I was like, I'm going to write baseball story using all the numbers and fractions that needed to be used for the seventh grade and my teacher kept me after class and was like, how did you do this? And she's like, I don't know. Just came to me. But that's so cool too, because that was like seeds in 

your brain for later. Like, okay, now I'm going to do this. You have those memories in that they planted that in your head, you know? Yeah. And then it will say to anyone out there that wants to write, you know, 

I'm going to write a blog for you because that's the biggest thing for me is I've had a lot of roadblocks and I've had a lot of things come up. Like, I, before I started my own blog, I first made it something to a blog, a mom blog. And one of my friends was like, you should just write for a mom blog or something. Like your social media is always really great, whatever. And so I was like, yeah, so I submitted it and they denied me. And 

then I was like, I couldn't let that stop me. And then instead I was like, I'm just going to start my own blog. And same with querying for my novel. Before I started my own blog. What's your name? I think it was the queer 

person, I don't know, she was my manager. She was her assistant agent. Including. What's her name? Colleen Hoover's agent. Oh, okay. I queried her because when I read 

her book and realized our writing style was very similar and I was like, I'm going to just clear her agent. And that was my first full request. And it was also. Then the last time I queered an agent because it was still a no. After 

a full request and it was, so they read my whole book and they still said, to do this myself. I don't need the validation of an agent. And a friend of mine had already had an agent for over two years and 

still wasn't published at that time. I was like, I don't have time to waste waiting for this to happen and when I can just do it myself. And that was kind of the biggest trigger because for a long time I was like, I didn't know if I should go the traditional route or the self publishing route, but that was that switch. And I only queered for like six months or something. And I probably only sent it to a dozen agents. I wasn't super deep into 

the trenches when I just was like, I also didn't want to change anything about my story. Yes, the control. Yes, I was like, I don't want someone to tell me that I have to change this or that. I want this story is the way it is because that's what wanted to be written and I'm not going to have anybody change that so that it's marketable to stream. I'm like, I'm trying to write something that changes the way the society is and opens people's minds and makes them think. So I don't want to be stuck back in a box. I can't be in 

a box. That's not me. So that was the other thing that was like, I don't want to adapt my style to me. it. I don't know. Doring. I totally know what you mean. You know, that happened to me once too, where 

I had a full and they read the entire book and they loved it. Yeah, she didn't want to take it because she said, it doesn't fit with my context of who I get what I can get published. And so that was heartbreaking for me to be like, you love my book, and yet you don't want to represent me. And I'm just like, fuck that, you know, like that sucks. Yeah, it does. That's so but you're so right. The just the full control the cover, the control 

of the cover, the control of everything, you can hire editors, you can hire as many as you want, you don't have, you know, which I think, you know, even if you're self publishing, you should have somebody else look at it for sure. Right. Right. I mean, I had, I had two of my friends read that are writers and 

self published, right? Authors read through it. Actually, one was is a traditionally published author and ones yourself. They both read through it before I even then hired an editor to go through it. So I had three different, went through three different revisions and hands before it went out. And it's still they're still mistaken. Yes, isn't that crazy? Like you can have it like I've had the same thing happen where multiple read it, people read it, an editor, maybe two editors read it. There's still is one is because, you know, our brains just sometimes fill in words 

are just like skims over a word and it just doesn't you don't catch it. It's amazing how it slipped through though, but it happens. I mean, I even gave proof copies to several people to read before I figure and it wasn't caught by any of us. And then reader pointed it out to me and it's not a huge deal. It's, it's picture and it's supposed to be a picture, like a water picture, and it's picture like, but your brains just correct it and miss it. It does. And of course, that's not going to get caught by a spell check because it's spelled right. Yes. So mad, isn't it? Yeah, it happens. But yeah, the readers do tend to 

point that out to you. I know it's kind of frustrating. So do you have any long term or short term goals you would like to 

share with us for your writing? Yeah, so I plan to work really hard at getting my next book out by December. That's my deadline. And so then beyond that, I want to release the next one after that. That's because it's a series I'm planning to do it as a series. So the next one in the series will go out, hopefully, like, shortly after that. So I don't want people to have to wait too long to continue that story. So I mean, my plan, I mean, plan is to have two more books published by my 40th birthday. Perfect. Which is like a year and a half. Well, it's good to have goals. And you can kind of keep you online, be 

like, Oh, that's coming up. I need to get writing, you know, it gets yourself to focus on writing. And long term goals, I guess, is just to get all my little book babies out there. Because I have, like I said, I've like nine projects started. I need to get them all out there. So exactly. So then do you hire, you make your own covers? Do you hire 

somebody to make covers for you? So I hire, I'd hire to cover artists. His name is David Collins. And I tagged him the other day, because he's starting my next cover. So even though the book is not ready, I still want to get people excited by having a cover ready and building on momentum, I guess. So if anybody's looking for a cover, artist, he does great work. So does he like do the art of it? Or does he do it digitally? Or how does he do it? You know, I didn't even ask. Okay, I'm just so I guess this first cover was really easy, because I already 

have the image. And I was like, I want you to use this image, but I want you to change the colors, because it was in color. And I'm like, I want it in black and white, but I want the red, the lips red, and the fingernails red. And then we went back and forth over different variations for the rest of it. 

And like how we wanted it to be on the cover. At one point, I was like, I want it to be like a rip page. And then I changed my mind. He was really good at dealing with my, okay, 

like, that's no, I don't actually want to change this. And like, back and forth. So right. He was very patient with me. That's awesome. So do you have any authors that you love that you would like to share 

with us that you admire or that you like to read? Well, I'm actually to, you know, really like Colleen Hoover as an author. Other than I feel like this vaccines could be improved upon, but like the style and pace is good. And I for some reason, they're just they catch your attention and make you want to keep reading. And to me, that's the best biggest sign because if I get bored, you lost me. Yeah. And, and so I've had a lot of books. Since I became a writer, it's 

been really hard for me to stay focused on a lot of books. And I don't know what it is that I'm just kind of like, if it's too much of an information top of the beginning, which used to be like, the way that you're supposed to write is set up the story with setting. And I hate that I don't like that I'd rather have a backstory come out naturally. It's how I originally wanted to write my book, but then too many people are like, I don't know who these characters are. And so I had to write a prologue because I needed to find a way to show a little bit of backstory in the beginning so that you'd care more instead of just showing it later. But, but it's hard for me when it's too much like, this is the person 

that was my neighbor growing up. And you know what I mean? Where it's like, just too much. And you're just like, I can't even read this because I'm bored. Yep. Oh, I totally know what you're saying. And I've done that too. You know, you 

add the prologue and add some more. So I exactly know what you're talking about. And I like mind unfold too. But some people, yeah, it's not enough for them. And so yeah, prologue is a 

really good way to do that. For sure. As far as like writers I've admired growing up, I loved Dean Coons. I have probably every one of his books on my show. Hey, Hooper is a really good one that I've really enjoyed. And then also Lisa Gardner. Now those two are more of like the mystery suspense genre. Not list, but I really like their style. That's nice. Yeah, for me too, like ever since I started writing erotica, if I write us, 

if I read a romance that doesn't have enough sex in it, I'm like turned off to it. And I really don't want to read it, which is so interesting to me how writing in a genre can actually impact your taste. Yeah, when you read other, isn't it? Yeah, right? Then you're like, this is too mild. There's none of that. Yes. Exactly. This is boring. Is this who gets really excited 

about a kiss on the hand? No one. Exactly. 

You know, that's like for that's like for young girls or boys or boys or girls for sure. That's for them. It's a it's not for me as an adult. I want to I want to 

sex I want the meat I want it to get wild and crazy or maybe even nasty, you know, like just let's go, you know? Well, that's the other thing is I don't like reading these books that are written about like 20 somethings, I'm like that have zero life experience and don't have relationships. And I'm like, as a nearly 40 year old woman, that's not what I want to read about. Like, I'm over that. That's not even close to what's going on in my life. So that's why I try to make my characters more older, like more in their mid 30s. Yeah, I love that because and it's so interesting that you say that because interview 

that's going to go live this week. So yours is going to go live on the 18th. And then the one that's going to go live on the four on Friday, this week with the podcast, she says the exact same thing. Like she wants to write books about people that are in their middle age. And people love that because there isn't as much of it out there. So it's 

just so interesting that you saw that and that both of you are this week. I think that's fantastic because it's true. It is true. It's very, I don't know how to explain it. But yeah, like the teenagers can read those books about the 20 somethings and like, excited about it. But that's not for us. Exactly. Exactly. So we need more books like that with 

people who are in their mid midlife somewhere along the way, you know, so yes. And I think that's what, you know, prevents men somehow from reading romance too, because like, man, our age, let's say, isn't going to want to read a romance novel about some virginal 18 year old. Right. Exactly. That's like, this is like, this makes me feel weird. And then also 

like those books that are missing that sex aspect, especially for men, 

they're going to be like, which is why I think that when you write an erotic romance, you do capture that. And then you do, you get more men. I joke about like, I write romance for men because it's more like, yes, there's emotion and stuff, but it's connected. It's not so much focused. Like, oh, he did all these sweet things for me and held me hand and like that's just boring for men. Right. 100% because I had some male male readers too. And 100% I agree with 

you. And yeah, that's more of a draw for them than the sweet, sappy side of the romance. You can have some of that there, but there's nothing else. It's, yeah, it's not appealing to them. Right. The other thing I was thinking about with this whole age thing talking about characters 

is You're you have like a 20-something year old and they're acting as if they are 40 and it just doesn't resonate It doesn't feel right because that's not reality. That doesn't happen So it's stupid that our our again our culture is like kind of culturing that they're like, oh young people It's a focused on young people But it's not realistic and it's like just you know, it's fake and it looks stupid Like no 20 year old is gonna know if I was 20 year olds, but you still haven't lived all those years No, so don't make the characters sound like they're 40 when they're 20, you know Well, especially in regards to sex like you had no idea. I would mean I had no idea what the fuck I was doing when I was Sure is when I came for sure and so like Writing a story like that which wouldn't make sense because it and that's kind of what we need to write these stories for Then they should read them so that they do like no more like usually Right a lot better than porn right? I mean not in porn. There's it's entertainment But yeah, you're gonna learn you're gonna learn probably more about sex realistic sex from from erotica than you are gonna from porn It's like a play-by-play of what you should do here you go Exactly Formulator exactly So we've talked about advice do you have any other advice for people who want to get in to do and what you're doing? with Just not letting anything stop them and being determined like there's gonna be a ton of role blocks along the way and You just have to you believe in believing yourself. That's my main thing You have to believe in yourself and you have to like there's been so many things that could have stopped me from publishing this book and I couldn't let it because I just had this feeling that it needed to be out there and It needed to be out there soon Yes, I Love that too in it. You know people need to also not let a negative review stop them You know, 

you're gonna get negative reviews. You have to expect them. What take them to heart because People don't like everything. I don't like everything. I don't sit down neat need to go bash the author personally That's not me, but I don't love everything. I write a read. You know, of course, I like everything. I write I don't love everything I read Nobody does so you can't expect that 

you can't let negative review just totally derail you and Writing is subjective so everybody has different tastes, but it is interesting Some of the I've only had two real negative reviews and one of them seemed more like an attack on me than it did on my mom Yeah, you know, and so just like mentioning my following and stuff It was like this doesn't even seem like did you even and it was written like a day after the release So I'm like, did you even read it? Probably a troll? Yeah, I just want to cut you down. They don't want you to succeed There's people out there unfortunately that are like that and we'll do that too. I have the same thing happened to me too You know, and it's really, you know, you wonder what kind of a person that is that does that kind of thing I call miserable like there's been books that I haven't liked but I didn't feel the need to go write a horrible review about them Exactly. So I mean you can just be like, oh, it wasn't for me. You know, you don't have to You can be honest very no Yeah, some of 

them you just gotta realize that they're just being a jerk They're being a troll and they're trying to cut you down But it's hard because they're out there and they're writing about something that you have poured so much It's almost like people don't have respect for that either like, you know how much time it takes to write a book for somebody Just like just trash it like that. It's just like they have any heart like I don't It's like I've spent years of my life Putting this book together. Like did you really need to bash it there? You know and that's the one thing that you have like you have to have thick skin as an author You have to be okay with rejection and you have to be you know, because tough crowd out there And that's one thing that and that's the other thing for authors is just along with believing yourself There's so many out there that are just querying or needing an agent and needing a publisher because in all of this and it's like I just want them to know that they can just do it themselves Right like you can do it yourself and you can and it's it's doable and it's there's a lot of self-published authors out there That are doing really well Mm-hmm. There are and you know, there's there's some opinions out there that think it's just not as good But if you do your work and you get it edited and you make sure it's as air-free as possible We can break down those those opinions and get rid of them You know so be a part of the solution and just do your best before you put it out And people just like plop it out there what hasn't been edited You're just gonna contribute to that negativity that people have about self-publishing. Yeah Well, you know, that's why it's like I had three editors review it for before I put it out there and I made sure Yes, there's still one mistake that I'm I think I can fix it actually not Books that are already out there are just stuck with it, but I'm I can't think I can get up fix that one error Yeah, you can you can totally do that and oh this just popped into my head There is another place that you can advertise sort of through and maybe you want to check it out yourself It's called story origin app And I'm a part of it too and it's a conglomeration of a lot of self-published writers and we publish or we cheer each other's work and there's so many different things you can do through that and You know through your newsletter. I don't know if you've developed a newsletter yet for your writing. Oh You should totally do that. So you you can start the one I just there's the Mailchimp used to be 

free, but now they're not anymore But I've been using send fox and it's really nice because it's just a one-time purchase So you just pay I think it was like 50 bucks for the software and it's a one-time pay Some of these other services once you get over 500 people on your list, they start to charge you monthly For that so that's something you should totally do because the nice thing about that is We share each other's work to our audiences our own audiences And then you can grow in that way because these people already want erotica It's not just for erotica. It's for any kind of writing. So that's something that maybe you could check out So it is a way to sort of advertise Through them and you can create like a reader magnet to get people to sign up to your list Like you could take like a little portion of your book and give that away as like a little excerpt sort of so check that out Story origin app is what it's called. It's a great. It's a great resource for writers authors Yeah, well, is there anything 

else you want to talk about that we haven't touched on? I feel like we had a great conversation I really enjoyed it, but is there anything else that you want to say or touch on or bring about or Thank you. Yes, thank you for coming on this was really fun. I enjoyed it. Yeah me too. I appreciate it And it will be live obviously people listen to this. I'll be 

live on the 18th. So It'll be there For ever right Whenever they want I put it all over the place so it'd be in all the podcast apps and all that so thank you so much And I hope you have an awesome day you too. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast episode I hope you enjoyed it if you like my podcast Please follow my podcast by subscribing to it. Give me a review and a rating. It really helps me grow Down in the podcast notes the show notes you will 

be able to find links to Natasha's book and her website And you can find her on Twitter obviously she's there and let me get her Twitter Let's get her Twitter at Because I'm not sure we said that in the interview. So let's get it out there right now. So y'all can go follow her Okay on Twitter. She is Natasha CL 7 and the CL is capital so capital N for Natasha and a TASHA capital C capital L 7 you can find her there and Get her book unfinished business on Amazon links down the podcast notes I will have my links down the podcast notes as well where I am all over the internet I have erotica novels also not erotic romance novellas and erotic romance and erotica Audio books not safe for work. I have quite a few well over I am getting close to 50 now 50 audiobooks So you can check those out on Amazon and other places all the sellers online I have stuff kind of spread out all over so you can find my stuff there as well Don't forget to enjoy your body. Don't forget to masturbate. Don't forget to have sex with your partner Get yourself some 

orgasms today get off today. That's what you need to do stress reliever It will help you feel better. It will give you all these amazing wonderful hormones feel-good hormones to help heal your body restore everything in yourself Through your own orgasm. It's true. It works try it. Okay. You have amazing fucking day I love you 

and you have a great day come back again. Love you. Bye