Love Bites by Elizabeth Cage

by Lucy Moore | 27 February 2013

Love Bites

What can you tell us about your short story collection Love Bites?

Love Bites can be described as passionate encounters in unexpected places, comprising 3 sensual, quirky, erotic tales as follows:

Private Dancer
Allegra loves dancing. Then she discovers she’s being watched from a window by her neighbour, the enigmatic John Goodheart. At first she’s annoyed, but then she starts to put on a private show for him, night after night. She enjoys these erotic games. But could he turn out to be a stalker – or a lover?

Room Service
A weekend in a Cardiff hotel turns out to offer unexpected delights for Cherie. While her boyfriend is at the World Speedway Championships, she anticipates spending a quiet evening in the hotel sauna and jacuzzi. But after an earlier brush with the maintenance staff, things are about to get steamy - and Cherie gets the chance to relive her favourite sexual fantasy.

Love Bites
Kelly’s rampant appetite for sex has given her a reputation as a voracious man-eater. But when she flirts with the shy deejay at a boring office party, has she bitten off more than she can chew? 

Why do you feel there has been a rise in readers of erotic fiction?

I don’t know if there has been such a huge rise, more that people are now a lot more open and less inhibited to share what they are reading, and erotica has come out of the closet since FSOG.

Have you always found it easy to write about sex, or was this something you had to develop over the years?

It did feel self-conscious at first, but over time, like any other skill, you improve with practise. 

How more powerful do you think erotic fiction is in short form rather than as a novel?

I’m not sure.  It is maybe easier to sustain intensity and to keep things fresh with a short story.  I have not written a full length erotic novel, so I am not speaking from personal experience, but I imagine it might be more difficult to avoid repetition with an erotic novel.

How do you feel about the way erotic fiction can affect the way readers think about the author?

Great question! I know from speaking at events that people can have preconceptions about writers of erotica. But that can add to the fun!

In Private Dancer, Allegra is passionate about dancing. Is this a love of yours too or fictionalised for the character?

I love dancing and have learned many forms, from ballroom, to rock and roll, belly dance, Argentine Tango and pole dance! When I wrote this story I was crazy about Egyptian belly dance, which I was learning at the time.

In Room Service, the story is set in Cardiff. Is this a place close to your heart?

I think Cardiff is a fabulous place and for several years I spent a summer weekend there with my partner, for the speedway championships.  The atmosphere at night is vibrant and there are great cafes.  My favourites were Walk to Wok and The Pancake House. 

What is your writing process?

It depends on the brief and if it has a theme or word restrictions.  Left to my own devices, my short stories generally tend to naturally fall within 1500-2500 words.  I like brevity! After the first draft, I may put the work away and come back to it with a fresh eye and then start the editing process.  There are likely to be several edits before I am happy with the result, and even then, I can come back to a story a year later and want to re-edit.

Do you have any authors in mind who you feel have affected your own writing?

I admire writers whose style has a certain detachment, such as Josephine Hart in Damage and Pauline Reage with Story of O.  I try to keep things simple and avoid overcomplicated plots.