Ask the Author: Joy Zelig
Answered Questions (7)
Joy Zelig
And . . . back to "The Story of O" I go; important to periodically refresh oneself on the classics!
Joy Zelig
The ongoing and enraging mystery of "Singleton Socks." Maybe a book for children? But I think it has broad application.
Joy Zelig
Maybe a slightly obscure reference. Elia Kazan (screenwriter, director, novelist who ratted people out during the McCarthy era—good artist, crappy human being) wrote a novel called “The Arrangement.” Frustrated, wealthy, married ad man Eddie Anderson falls in love with Gwen Hunt, who works at the agency. Won’t spoil this: things happen. We live in “orbits.” Orbits can be stable or unstable. Sometimes we crash out of our orbits as individuals; sometimes orbits intersect and we crash into each other. That can work out or . . . not. Either way, it makes for compelling fiction and compelling romance.
Joy Zelig
I am in the process of separating out my work from that of my (five-minutes-older) twin brother Jon. Having finished the first in a trilogy, “A Bisexual Femdom Romance: Book I, Grace: Under Pressure,” I’m working on plotting out the second and third parts of this triptych, figuring out how to balance this interesting stew: the wife who got off on humiliation being guided to freedom from her toxic marriage—one of her key allies being Angela, a dominant lesbian, powerful but tender, with whom she went to college. Is submitting to Angela what she ultimately wants? Is she gay? Is she bi? Can she really say that being dominated by Angela would be “healthy” while the domination of her husband Finn is exploitative?
Joy Zelig
Make your own hours, work in your own head, follow your own plan.
You can even go low tech and bring your equipment costs damn close to zero: a pile-o-paper and a pen you steal from the ten-minute oil change place down the block.
You can even go low tech and bring your equipment costs damn close to zero: a pile-o-paper and a pen you steal from the ten-minute oil change place down the block.
Joy Zelig
I write erotica and I’m interested in that—perhaps slightly odd—place where love & respect meet dominance & submission. There is a lot more erotica accessible and available these days, across a broad variety of interests, identities, and fetishes. But erotica is still viewed as something less than respectable, and sexual/romantic/emotional relationships with an *explicit* power exchange dynamic at the center are downright suspicious.
What’s ironic about that is that “explicit” is more upsetting to people than “sexual.” We can DO things, societal etiquette seems to tell us: As long as we don’t TALK about them. I’m inspired by the challenge of talking about it, having the characters explore and (at least try to) explain themselves to themselves.
"If I get something out of my husband spanking me--both physical and emotional pleasure--and it's clear that we respect and love each other, that we have a "deal" that works for both of us, is 'loving BDSM' a problem or a solution? Why are we supposed to be ashamed of a relationship that works?"
What’s ironic about that is that “explicit” is more upsetting to people than “sexual.” We can DO things, societal etiquette seems to tell us: As long as we don’t TALK about them. I’m inspired by the challenge of talking about it, having the characters explore and (at least try to) explain themselves to themselves.
"If I get something out of my husband spanking me--both physical and emotional pleasure--and it's clear that we respect and love each other, that we have a "deal" that works for both of us, is 'loving BDSM' a problem or a solution? Why are we supposed to be ashamed of a relationship that works?"
Joy Zelig
Figure out who to listen to. Some people will be toxic; some people will be unable to formulate useful feedback; many people simply won’t understand or appreciate what you are trying to do. You NEED to find people who can respond to your work constructively, who understand what you are doing, who share your tastes AND are able to explain where you are succeeding in doing what you are aiming to do, where you aren’t quite there yet.
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