Nicola Jane
Remember those books you read as a kid where you got to choose where the story leads? Follow Your Fantasy is an erotica version of that. So instead of choosing whether to jump out of the plane or wrestle control from the pilot, you're deciding whether to jump the two guys in the bar or oil wrestle a girl. It's pretty steamy but the reader has the control so no more waiting for the heroine in the story to act out your fantasies for you, you make it happen when you want. Or go back if it's not turning out how you wanted.
What made you decide to explore a new type of erotica?
I just had an idea I was excited about. That feeling is why I write, it's as exciting as falling for someone - maybe more. Then I had to see if I could write erotica as I hadn't done it before. I never set out to do it, I'd written a very tame chick lit before that where all they did was kiss. Stories write themselves into what they need to be and this one needed a whole other level!
What most people won't realise is that I wrote the first draft two years ago, before I’d even heard of Fifty Shades, so erotica wasn't anywhere near as big as now although it was growing because of e-readers so I'm not sure exactly why I was thinking about Erotica at that time. Life was pretty miserable and dull for me then, so maybe that's why!
How does it compare to other books in the genre?
It's pretty graphic but there is some humour. There are a couple of characters you get involved with but the main character is always the reader. That's quite a big difference in itself, actually. In fiction, second person, ("you") is not a common viewpoint to write from. Because it's a non-linear narrative you have lots of different reading experiences rather than seeing one story through to the end. Maybe the story ends up being the journey the reader goes on, for example, from safer to more risky choices.
For a first time reader of erotic fiction what will they take away from your book?
Are there any first time readers of erotica anymore since Fifty Shades? I hope any reader, first time or a long-time fan of erotica, will feel empowered and have fun in a completely safe environment where they can explore their own imagination. I think they'll be turned on!
You are very well travelled. What made you want to explore the world, and where is your favourite place to be?
I left university with no idea what to do so off I went in order not to think about the terribly scary question of What To Do When I Grow Up. I worked while I travelled as I was teaching English, so I could pretend to myself I was being sensible, and I didn't stop moving for about ten years. Favourite place is hard...Istanbul was one place I tried to stay and I was back there recently and it has a magic and a pulse nowhere else has. But for lifestyle I'd love to go back to Sydney. Prague is very special - I never got to that stage of taking a place for granted when I live there. Thailand is stunning and the people are so welcoming. In the UK I love York where I did my MA and that’s where I would live if I moved back home. I don't know - how long have you got?!
What prompted you to settle in Madrid?
It was more that I didn't decide to leave (for the first time), rather than that I've decided to stay. That's too scary a thing to contemplate. The reason is simple - I've made some amazing friends here, mostly through joining a writing group, but also through internet dating. I've finally found what maybe I was always looking for - a community to be part of. Strangely for someone with new place addiction, the staying is not really about Madrid itself at all.
Did the men in your life inspire your writing?
They all wish they had, haha! There is one character in Follow Your Fantasy who just came into my head looking like an old boyfriend so he had to have the same name. He's married in New York now and I wrote to him and told him. He says he has to read it before he can recommend the books to anyone.
I feel like the hero I always write a version of, in this case the guy from the hotel, is the sexist, wittiest, best looking man I've yet to meet.
What made you want to embark on a new platform and take a bit of a risk in your first publication?
It's very hard to get a publisher or agent to take any notice of a new writer. I hadn't been having much luck - even some erotica agents turned Follow Your Fantasy down because it didn’t fit in with their existing lists without even reading it. Something new was not what they wanted at all. When I same across the ad for Harper Impulse, I knew they were the right fit for me because pushing boundaries and taking risks is at the heart of everything they're doing.
As for taking a risk, I've written less risky things and been published in other areas, so this is not my first. I just write what I feel inspired to write - selling it to someone else is a separate job and not where I start from in my head so I don't think of it like taking a risk. Maybe it's from moving country so often - the risk of the new aspect doesn't occur to me as an obstacle.
What is next for you?
I'm working on the follow up and have a third one also partially written, as an idea appeared and got scribbled into a flow chart one day last year. Next? Well, I never know the answer to that, I can only cope with life in three month chunks I've realised. I'm about to start a second year as a non-leaver of Madrid, that's pretty new for me.